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[ANIMA]

 

 

 

RISE OF NATIONS

Ride Forth Victoriously!

PREMISE
Welcome to the Tabula Rasa, a world whose history has yet to be written. In this RP you shall take the role not of one or two characters but that of an entire nation! In your hands you will hold the fates of thousands of people and their prosperity or disaster shall depend on your actions.

What kind of nation shall you lead is entirely your choice. Will it be focused on commerce or military? Will it be a country of sentient fungi or possibly a state of clockwork men? You will be given large freedom when creating it and I will strive to keep it as sandbox as possible. There will be no predetermined storyline and no end boss. Sure, from time to time I may send a “natural” disaster your way, but otherwise I will limit myself to mediation when conflict arise between players and to making sure everyone follows the rules.

However, this is still largely a concept, and there are a stuff that I need to do before the RP can start.
 

MAP

Spoiler

 

Pick a hex as your starting province and give it a name. Also, be kind like the 3 who already claimed their hexes and mention how'd like for its terrain to look like on the map.  

53- Darkoda

145- Katia

142- Siderealmight 

 

 

MECHANICS

Spoiler

Because I’m writing this stuff across the span of several days, and because this is Wall of Text: The RP, there may be some conflicting info. So, anything written bellow takes precedence over anything written in CS or elsewhere. If you feel there are some inconsistencies between things written here, let me know. 

::Time and Actions::

- Each update lasts one year in RP and one week in real life.
- How many actions per update you can take depends on the number of Officers. Each Officer can take only one action per turn and once you assign Officer with a task you can't change it.  
- Actions an Officer can do aren't limited by their class, they are just more efficient at tasks related to it.
- Spending money on constructing buildings or recruiting armies don't count as action so you don't need Officers for them and can do it as long as you have money.
- Armies and buildings you paid for this turn will become active next turn. Until then you can’t move them or use them to defend your provinces.
- Because it would be a huge hassle (in my opinion) to keep track of the age of each Officer, they are “immortal” as far as natural death is concerned. They can still be assassinated or die of some unexpected circumstances. 

::Provinces and Expansion::

- Each province on the map is marked with a number. If the province is explored (and thus named), write down the number next to the province’s name every time you refer to the province. Only exception to this is in-character posts.
- Unless you border another player right at the start, your nation will first expand through exploration.
- To expand this way you first need to send an Officer leading an army to the un-explored province bordering a province you already control. Once the exploration is finished (which may take several updates, depending on Officer’s skill and your luck) the provinces becomes part of your nation.
- You can annex an unexplored province as soon as your army arrives, but this may damage the army and the province may end up having worse stats than it would’ve had originally.
- By expanding through exploration there is a chance you get a perk from the new province.
- When trying to take a province from another player you need to move your army into his province and defeat any army he has stationed there. If there are Fortresses in the province, you need to defeat enemy armies one additional time for each Fortress.
- If enemy doesn’t have stationed army in the province and no Fortresses, then you automatically take the province.
- If enemy province has no armies but has Fortresses, then your army needs to spend one turn per Fortress in the province in order to occupy it. During this time enemy can move his armies to stop your annexation attempts, but in this case he counts as “attacker” for the purposes on deterring who benefits from Ramparts.
- Each Fortress taken in enemy province remains yours even if you didn’t annex the province and gained benefit from it. To take them back enemy has to station his army in the province one update per taken Fortress, but this starts in the update after he expelled your army from the province.
- You can station your army in the enemy province where you own Fortresses. This means enemy will have to fight you to retake them.
- However you choose to expand, you’ll start to benefit from the province in the update after the one in which you acquired it.

::Armies::

- There are two types of armies: standing and levied.
- Standing army is hired once for 10g per unit of Size and afterwards it is always ready for action.
- Standing armies have superior stats to levied armies.
- When you raise levied armies, an army spawns in each province you own with Size equal to province's population. 
- Levies don’t contribute to the nation’s Might.
- You can choose specific provinces from which you wish to raise levies. 
- Levy army name is same as the name of its origin province. 
- For each loss of Size in Levied army you also lose population in the origin province. 
- Levied armies can't be merged, but several of them can be led by the same Officer, in which case they move as one army. 
- Both standing and levied army cost 1 gold per update per Size unit to keep.
- Army which isn’t led by an Officer can’t attack other armies or invade other provinces, but can move normally within owned provinces.   

::Movement and Battles::

- Armies can only move 1 hex per update without suffering from fatigue. Each subsequent move order will make them less effective at battles.
- Moving through unexplored or enemy province may damage your army (attrition).
- Battles occur when to hostile armies are in one province.
- If Army fights more than one battle in update it will increase fatigue per battle fought.
- Army which has lost a battle by being broken, and has no friendly Fortresses in the province, will retreat to nearby province. Unless specified by player before the battle, retreat will prioritize friendly provinces.
- Army can move over sea, but then it moves up to 2 hexes per turn. If the sea voyage started from the friendly province with Dock building, then the movement can go up to 3 hexes.
- Sea battles work in same manner as land battles (and with same armies).
- Defending armies will usually have terrain advantage.
- Fatigue of armies is completely reset if army spends an entire update not moving or battling. If army splits then all new armies inherit the fatigue level.  

::Misc::

- Morale is usually lost or gained depending on the results of battles and expansion. Winning or losing battles gives a chance of Morale change, but winning or losing a province will affect Morale 100%.
- Upkeep of Armies and Officers is deducted from your national Income. If it exceeds it, you will lose money each update. If you would go below zero you will have to take a loan. Too many loans will result in bankruptcy and that will wreck your Morale, Prestige and some other scary stuff may happen.
- Population naturally increases 1 unit per 5 turns.
- By roleplaying actions of Officers you gain bonus dice to the dice rolls which affect their chances of succeeding at actions given to them.
- At the start nations don’t know about existence of other nations. You have to send Officers to find them and length and difficulty of this task depends on how far away their borders are from yours. Officers can’t be sent to find a specific nation, only in their general direction (North, East, West, South).
- At the bottom of each post put a spoiler with the list of all your Officers and Armies with their location next to their names and short description of what you want them to do.   
- This is not a video game. If you are uncertain about some mechanics, ask. If you think your actions are limited, consult me about what you would like to do.

Anything after this is not necessary knowledge. Read it only if you’re interested in how mechanics work behind the curtains. 

::Army Stats::

Standing Army Stats

Size: Determined by the player.
Attack: 2
Defense: 2
Discipline: 2
Speed: 2
Fatigue: 0

Levied Army Stats

Size: Determined by the player.
Attack: 1
Defense: 1
Discipline: 1
Speed: 1
Fatigue: 0

::Officer Stats::

Warfare: 1
Subterfuge: 1
Scholarship: 1
Health: 5

Note: As Officers level up their stats increase depending on their class. The class’ main stat is increased by 1 each level while other two are increased by 1 every 2 levels. Also, because Officers are level 1 they immediately get +1 bonus to their class’ main stat. Classes are: Soldier (Warfare), Spy (Subterfuge), Scholar (Scholarship). Health is a universal stat determining how hard it is to kill the Officer, not just through assassinations or battle, but by disease and other natural and supernatural causes as well.

:: Dice::

- I will use ten-sided die for this RP (d10).
- The level of stats determines how much dice that stat contributes to the dice pool which I will roll to see if actions taken are successful.
- When rolled, all dice showing result of 7 or higher are counted as “successes”. Some actions can be done with one success, but most will require several.
- If result showed by a die is 10, then that die is re-rolled while keeping the success, allowing you, if you are really lucky, to have more successes than the initial size of the dice pool.
- Depending on outside circumstances, dice pools will be modified with penalties and bonuses outside of the limits of stats.
- If, for some reason, the dice pool is reduced to 0 or under, then one die is still rolled to determine success, but now only the result of 10 is counted. The re-roll on 10 is still possible.
- If you have no successes and a result is 1, it critical failure and will result in harsher consequences than normal failures.

Battle Dice Pools:

Damage Roll=(Size+Attack+Warfare+Misc.)-(E.Defense+E.Discipline+Fatigue+Misc.)
Damage roll is done at the same time for both armies involved in battle. Each success on Damage Roll is subtracted for opposing army’s Size.
Morale Roll=(Size+Discipline+Warfare+Misc.)-(Fatigue+E.Size+Misc.)
Morale Roll is done when Army suffers damage (when enemy Damage roll is successful). Only one success is needed. If it succeeds then the army continues fighting. If it fails the army breaks and starts to retreat.
Speed Roll=(Speed+Warfare+Misc)-(Fatigue+Misc.)
Speed Roll is done when you attempt to chase/escape enemy army. It is a contested roll, meaning the army with more successes gets its way. Also, a Speed Roll is done when the army retreats during battle after being broken. If pursuing army wins the Speed Roll then it gets one additional Damage Roll against enemy force without retaliation.
Recovery Roll=Number of Size units lost during battle
Once the battle is done Recovery Roll is used to determine how many battle casualties recovered. Those who ran away during battle and wounded who can still fight return to the ranks.

 

CS

Spoiler

::General Info::

Spoiler

Anthem: Basically, a theme song for your nation. Try to make it fitting.

Name: Self-explanatory.

Race: In this field you name and describe the main race of your nation. The term “race” encompasses all inborn physical, mental and magical characteristics the people of your nation possess. It is possible for two or more players to have the same race as the main population of their nation. Be descriptive. Even if you pick vanilla humans, there should be at least some distinct physical trait, such as blonde hair, dark skin or slanted eyes.

Culture: Give us a brief overview of your nation’s culture. What kind of arts and crafts do people usually appreciate? What do they do in their spare time? What kind of traits are the most appreciated? At what age is one considered mature?

Religion: What do people of your nation believe in? Do the worship it? How do they worship it? Is there an organization dedicated to worship? How do their beliefs interact with their daily lives?

Administration: How do people of your nation govern themselves? How do they travel? Do they have good schools, hospitals, fire brigades? Who enforces the laws?

Economy: What do people do to make a living? What kind of resources are around? Is the trade developed? What is the nation’s currency?

Military: What is more prized in your nation when it comes to warfare: discipline or ferocity? Is the army professional or levied? Are there advanced war machines? Do they use beasts, both mundane and magical, in warfare?

::Stats::

Spoiler

The power of your nation represented in numbers.

Total Population: No, I will not force you (or myself, for that matter) to keep track of your population in tens, hundreds of thousands or millions. Population in this RP will be represented by an abstract number. You raise that number either by expanding (annexing other peoples) or after certain time period (natural population growth, currently considering 1 every 5 updates). Population has 2 main purposes: it acts as “army cap” for your armies and it affects how much money you get each turn. At the start it's 10.  
Morale: This number represents several things: how content your people are, how much faith they have in the nation and how much they are willing to give for the nation. The higher the number the better, because at low values riots, rebellions and other kind of disturbances will start popping up, which may spell the doom for you. Starting default is 5.  
Prestige: This stat is similar to the Morale, only it represents how people outside of your nation view it. Higher the Prestige, the greater the chances your culture and religion will “infect” other nations, even if you don’t do anything. Also, persuading foreign Officers to join you will also be easier. Nation starts with 0 prestige.  
Might:  Not to be confused with Total Population, which represents the army cap, Might is the number of the armies you currently have active. It has two edges: the higher the Might, the more likely that the enemy nation will lose Morale simply by being invaded by you. On the other hand, high Might means you have large number of armies, which means you expanded a lot and peoples of other nations will see you as militaristic and will dislike if their government cooperates with you and will also encourage it to enter alliances against you. It's initially 0, but if you buy armies with starting money it will be equal to the total Size of your armies.
Total Trade: Number representing the amount of trading that goes on in your provinces. Each province has it's own value that contributes to this stat. Total Trade can also increase by getting trade agreements with other nations.  
Wealth: This one is 2 stats in 1: the number of piled up funds and the income per turn/update. Money is represented in "gold" and the starting amount is 50g. Your income per turn equals to your Total population plus your total Trade. So, with default stats, this field should look 50g (+11). 

Perks:
All the perks you have are listed here. 

::Provinces::

Spoiler

 Each province has its own set of stats which will influence how it interacts with the rest of your nation as well as other nations. 

Province Name: Self-explanatory. Your give the name to your starting province, as well as any province you get through exploration. When you take provinces from other players they will already have their own names. Next to the province's name write the number of its hex.
Province Population: How much pop this province adds to nation’s Total Population. Starting province's default is 10. 
Race: Main race of the province. This will probably always be different from your nation’s main race, except for your starting province. 
Culture: Same as above, though you can convert the province to be your culture, though it will not be easy. 
Religion: Same as the above 2, and like Culture you can convert Province to your religion. Depending on your Prestige, your Religion and Culture may spread to provinces adjacent to the ones you control. 
Order: Something like “Morale” stat for each individual province. It has the same value as Morale, minus 1 point for different than main Race, Culture and Religion each. 
Trade: This stat shows how much of the income coming from the province is from trade. Starting province's default trade is 1.  

Buildings: 
Not sure if I’ll go with this, but I may add option to create buildings. The buildings will only affect provinces they are in. I may create a list of buildings, or allow players to create their own, not sure. 

::Officers::

Spoiler

Officers are your hands and eyes in this RP. If there’s anything you want do, like send armies to conquer stuff, convert province or spy on the enemy, you will need an officer to do it. There are several ways to get new officers: either you handcraft an officer suitable to your needs a promising individual rises from the masses and you get the option to hire him or you get an officer from other nations, either through persuasion, bribes and/or blackmail. You start with 3 Officers. You are free to choose their classes, but they start at level 1. Only one of the starting Officers can have an Officer perk (only one perk). Handcrafting an Officer during RP costs 20g per Officer. Each Officer, no matter how you got him or her, costs 1g per level per turn to keep.

Appearance:  Put the Officer’s appearance pic here. This field is not necessary.  
Name: Self-explanatory. 
Race: These and the next 2 fields work for the Officers in similar way they work for provinces. They affect how loyal the Officer is to you. Depending on your national policies, once you expand you will probably get a lot of officers who don’t belong to the main Race, Culture and Religion. 
Culture:
Religion:
Loyalty: The lower this stat is, the higher likelihood of Officer betraying you. Its value is usually your nation’s Morale minus 1 point per Race, Culture and Religion different from your main. There will also be other miscellaneous modifiers which will affect Officers loyalty. 
Class: Officers have 3 classes: Soldier-in charge of leading armies, Spy- in charge of sabotage, uncovering other’s intentions and stuff like that, Scholar- in charge of converting cultures and religions, exploration and some other miscellaneous tasks. Officers aren’t limited by their classes, you can have a Spy lead an army, but they will be the most effective by doing jobs suitable for them. 
Level: Officer’s level. The higher it is, the more effective is the Officer. The Officers you handcraft will start at level 1, while Officers got in other ways will be usually be higher level.
Perks: Not always, but Officer may possess a perk (or two) which makes them more effective. 
Background:  Short description of officer life and personality. 

::Armies::

Spoiler

If there is a host of 100 000 soldiers at your gates, bent on burning your city, raping your women and tearing you to pieces, no amount of money and scholarship will stop them from doing it. That’s why any nation planning to survive will have an army, a way to defend itself, and this is where you list all the armies controlled by your nation Each unit of army size has an upkeep of 1 gold per turn. 

Name:  Any proper army has a name, even if it’s just “1^st (or 2^nd or 3^rd ) Army”. In brackets next to Army's name write the name and hex number of the province the army is currently in. 
Leader: Name of the Officer who leads this army. 
Size: Each unit of army Size corresponds to one unit of Total Population and one unit of Might. Thus, an army Size of 5 increases your Might by 5 and takes up 5 points of your Total Population. Army must at least be of Size 1, otherwise you may split and merge your Armies however you want (though remember to edit your sheet so I know how many armies you have). Army must be led by an Officer, so that's probably the only limitation to the number of armies.

BUILDINGS

Spoiler

Each province can only have one building of the same name. Only exception to this is Fortress.

Ramparts (20g): +1 Defense to the defending army in this province.  

Assembly (20g): +1 Order (if starting province, to Morale as well), +1 Prestige.

Temple (30g): +2 Order if province's religion is nation's main. Otherwise -1 Order, but increases the chance of conversion.

Market (20g): +1 Trade.

Training Fields (20g): +2 Size to levied Army.

Dock (30g):  Speeds-up naval transportation, +1 Trade.

Courthouse (30g): +2 Order if province’s culture is nation’s main. Otherwise -1 Order, but increases the chance of conversion.

Highway (30g): Excessive movement through the nation’s provinces with Highways doesn’t raise army’s fatigue.

Barracks (20g): Decreases upkeep cost of standing armies.  

Fortress (40g): Increases the number of won battles needed to take this province by 1.

University (50g): Increases chances of getting a good Officer, +1 Prestige.

Manufactory (30g): +2 Income.

Farm (30g): +1 Income, Increases population growth.

Palace (50g): +1 Prestige, +2 Morale, +1 Upkeep. Can only be built in starting province.

World Wonder (150g): +3 Prestige, +3 Morale, +3 Income, +1 Perk (player-made).

Edited by ANIMA, 18 January 2015 - 09:32 AM.

[themantarays]

Are flying manta rays allowed?

[ANIMA]

If you think you can make it work, I see no reason to say no. 

[Rainbow Dash]

Spoiler

Anthem: not ready yet
 

Name: The Maunya
 

Race: Mau are humanoids with cat-like features. Feline ears, retractable claws, a tail and vertical slit pupils being the obvious differences. Mau also have three fingers on each hand instead of four. They have physical superiority over humans; they're more agile, stronger and have great reflexes. Their hearing and night vision is spectacular. Because of their sharp teeth they have a slight limitation on speaking and tend to drag out or miss some sounds. Maunya go into a very regular estrus cycle once very 3 years and have litters of 4-8 kits.
 

Culture: A very strong sense of community and morality connects the Mau. Despite being a nation that thrives on the concept of trade they are both selfless and generous. They also have a very strong attitude towards agriculture, the idea of creating growth appeals to them. They have slow technological progress in all areas outside of agriculture.
 
Because of their fairly fast birth rate, the Mau risk genetic inbreeding. To combat this, the Mau tend to travel across the nation to other villages when they leave home. This tradition has led to excellent genetic diversity as well as an even stronger sense of family and friends as almost every Mau has a relative in almost every village.
 
The Mau like to hold festivals and are open towards foreigners. Their generosity should not be taken for naivety though; to anger one Mau is to anger an entire community.
 

Religion: They have only a very simply religion. The Mau's goddess Wajt brings fertility, luck and the harvest if you pray to her. They do not attribute supernatural causes to anything unknown.  
 

Administration: The Mau have a council of professionals from various fields who run the country at large. These professionals are unpaid for their work; they believe a leader who leads only for reward should not lead. Since the Mau lead fairly simple lives, the government has heavy taxes. This income is then divided and spread out to individual communities to use which are run by another council. The overall result is actually very efficient. Any left over is often given to explorers and traders who bring back things from foreign lands.
 

Economy: Mau have a very heavy emphasis on trade and agriculture. So much so in fact that the country produces a lot more food than it requires. Tradesmen are not very common, as the only use for them is for tools for expanding agriculture. Specialized professionals such as doctors and engineers are taught as needed, with each village usually having enough to cover the populace and extra. The Mau have an odd form of non-physical currency regulated by the government. It meticulously records each Mau's credits. Many Mau prefer to barter despite this simply because of the interaction and community.
 

Military: Mau take two extremes when it comes to military. Should something threaten the country, most of it's populace will immediately rise up. The core of Maunya's military force is trained militia; farmers who regularly prepare themselves for emergencies. They have large numbers, but are not as disciplined nor as well equipped as proper soldiers.
 
The second part of Maunya's military are the Nya. They are relatively few in number but spend their entire lives training for their purpose. The Nya are elite special operations soldiers. Unlike other Mau, who use primarily basic weapons, the Nya are trained to wield a large variety, including other weapons imported or stolen from other nations. Nya are chosen from birth for their strong magical blood, meaning most Nya are also mages.
 
Aside from the militia and Nya, the Mau have no real military force.

[Socrates]

Anima, how does time progress in this RP?

[Siderealmidnight]

Interest shown. Though the old really good art I used for the omf one has been lost to the sands of time.

[Vafhudr]

Spoiler

 

 

Anthem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVY8LoM47xI

Name:  The Keyumars

Race:  The Keyumars are, appearance wise, regular human beings. Genetically speaking, they are a rather diverse bunch, but on they whole they tend to be light brown in skin tone, with brown or red hair. Their eyes tend to be brown or green. They are a tall people, with median average being 5'11 among women and 6'1 among men, across the board, mostly due to a commitment to good nutrition. They are a magically adept people. All Keyumars sport a red mark in the shape of a flame on their forehead, a proof of being endowed with the sacred fire of intelligence and magic.

 

Culture: 

 

Every man his own king. Every man his own priest. Every man his own soldier. Treat all things the right way. These are the principles upon which the Keyumars base their life.

 

To understand the Keyumars, one must first know that they are exiles and heretics from a much prosperous land. The name of the empire is forgotten, for it was a long time ago – it is recalled in the form of polemical names, locations that no one recognizes anymore, and a general discription of the old people as ''The Wicked Ones''. It was a rich and mighty empire, heavily centralized and aggressively stratified backed up by a sotorelogical worldview. Keyuma, the first teacher, taught a different set of doctrines centered on the idea that humans were mortal, that there was no afterworld, and that the world should be arranged according to these truths. The Teacher garnered many followers, until it was actively and aggresively repressed by the central authority who saw in it an attack upon the very fabric of society and the integrity of their power. The Teacher and her follower, unable to convert enough people to cause the upheaval she desired, ran away with her disciples. Many died in what is remembered as the Great Trek, as the homeless people now followed the North Star in hope of finding a homeland. Soon the rich land gave way to the poor soil and accidented terrain of the northlands.

 

There, out of reach of their pursuers, they settled amongst the tall pine forests, the fjords, the mountains, the swamps, and the lands by the sea. Upon the construction of the first city, Ithaqa, they made a covenant – to follow the ways of the Teacher, and to never, ever, fall prey to the same evils as those of the Wicked Ones. To this narrative of escape and settlement is added the natural landscape – their country is not country, it is winter. The springs and summers are short, but the fall is long, with a second wind of heat being not uncommon, but the winters are longer by far. While in many countries people simply curl up and hope they have enough food to live through the crucible, the winter is a time of great energy for the Keyumars – winter time is the time for playing, relaxing, travelling (sleds, skis and snowshoes are all widely used – and the terrain is a lot more practical during winter), and craft production, while the warm season is devoted to cultivation and its attendant burdens.

 

While the city is the center of the citizen's life, the household is regarded as the basic human unit. A household is created through the partnership of two members of the community for the purpose of reproduction. A household is expected to have children – if they don't have them already. A household loses considerable legal weight without the generation of children. Family and friends are considered sacred, and so are children – which is why considerable amounts of wealth and effort is devoted to education. The Keyumars have imported with them some of the advanced education of the scribal class of the old empire. Literacy is near universal among the Keyumars, instead of being relegated to specific classes. Similarily, magic is taught to every children, as opposed to a magi class. Unsurprisingly, an intense anti-authoritarian strand traverses Keyumar society and so teaching is often to done more obliquely than in many other societies and often through the form of friendly apprenticeship. The Keyumars take very seriously the notion that it takes a village to teach a child.

 

Speech is greatly respected among the Keyumar. Orations, recitations of stories and poems, songs and chorals – they are an almost omnipresent feature of everyday life. To be silent is considered almost queer among them. To speak well is a skill taught to every children. Silence, it is said, is a tool of the King and his minions. On a similar note, Keyumars are a very litigious people. Most of their dealings are conducted via juries and through the Assemblies. They have a robust tradition of law and are very proud of it.

Religion: The central feature of Keyumar religion is ritual. Ritual, rite, right, arete (excellence) – these are the keywords that dominate a lot of Keyumar culture through an intense focus on the proper relation of things, specifically the relation between humans and humans and humans and the natural world and its spirits and gods. These are considered to be the only true domain of the sacred. They are also idolaters, who firmly believe in the symbolic value of their precious totems. Their towns and homes are covered in statues and etchings and runes. Nature and the seasons play in important part in the daily life of the Keyumars and their calendar of ceremonies. They are animists, though a lot of among them mostly honour the rituals and not the spirits. Gods and Godesses are generally acknowledge to be concepts – though some believe in them in a more literal sense. They pursue what they believe to be the spirit of progress, which is opposed to the spirit of destruction. These are the two forces that they believe to be at work in the world of man. It also rejects any afterlife – man is born an bound to die. There is nothing to be done about mortality, and so we must endeavour to make the most of life. The practices that are considered to be a detriment to this are considered evil and destructive.

Administration: 

 

The Keyumars are organized primarily in cities – they make up an archipelago of cities and settlements, which in turn makes up the Commonwealth. Every city is dominated by its Town Hall, the space in which communal decisions are made through citizen consensus. From the citizen bodies are elected through a combination of lots and direct voting the main magistrates that oversee everyday administration. Envoys, messengers, commanders of expeditions – all these posts are filled by citizens on an annual basis, or more often depending on the post. Keyumar philosophy claims that anyone should be able to do anything in the service of the city. Schools are merged with libraries and serve more broadly as learning centers and repositories of knowledge. Most Keyumar organize themselves into guilds and groups to insure that the basic necessities and not so basic necessities are cattered to on the principle of self-organization. It is firmly believed that government should be practiced purely for the good of the people and the community. Those who pursue power for selfish interest can be denounced in the assembly and banished, or even executed.

Economy: The Keyumars' speciality is craftsmanship. Liberated from the crushing bias against craftsmen under the regime of the Old Empire, they now make up the core of Keyumar society. To possess a trade is, in itself, almost a mark of prestige, and to be skillful invites great recognition. Craftsmanship is doubly important due to general scarcity of other resources to which more southernly nations may have access. Agriculture is difficult, and revolves primarily around hardy grains – such as barley – and very tough vegetables, like potatoes, carrots, kale, cauliflower, and cabbage. Squash, maize and climbing beans are also widely cultivated. Despite their city-based life, a considerable amount of resources is drawn from hunting, gathering, and fishing. Many of these activities are highly ritualized and controlled to avoid depletion. Herding is a major source of food and income through the domestication of reindeer, along with sheeps. Horses are raised in some parts, but they have largely been supplanted by the reindeer in the Commonwealth. Trapping is widely practiced, though due to lowering populations of beavers and muskrats and predators such as coyotes, foxes, and wolves, restrictions and management practices have been implemented. Seal, walrus, and a myriad of fish, along with berries and fruits, supplement their diet.

 

The Keyumars have a currency and even banks. Credit is illegal, as debt is conceived as a putting another man in a subordinate position and therefore unrigtheous. Their banks, in other words, tend to be simply money-lenders in the most literal sense of the word and exist to simply make financial transactions easier. Interest is strictly controlled.

 

Trading missions often leave the communities during the winter, along with loggers and hunters, to make fortune among other people or in the wild. Prospectors leave the communities mostly during the summer. Traders are often heavily armed and have a reputation for turning into raiders when they don't make the kind of return they were expecting.

 

Military:  Every city sports a core of at least 10 000 citizen soldiers, at the minimum. Military training is integrated as part of the education of the young. To become a citizen, and therefore an active member of society, is to become a soldier of that society. Keyumar military operations can be divided in two categories – expeditions and raids. Expeditions are large scale military operations, involving the combined forces of the commonwealth against a common enemy. Raids are independent military or simply banditry taken by cities and settlements without any backing from the Commonwealth. Their belief system clashing with most people they come across, they have changed their otherwise peaceful doctrines to accomodate a much more predatory practice. It is considered generally acceptable to raid from Wicked Ones and Keyumars have a tendency to not uphold their rigorous standards toward those they consider fundamentally evil. It requires quite a bit of double-thinking on their part, but even for them the lure of wealth often makes the stronger claim. Raids are conducted almost exclusively through the extensive river system or the sea, unless dragons are involved.

 

Which brings us to the part about dragons. Dragons are one of the 5 great companions, along with the working dog, the cat, reindeer, and the sheep. Dragons are the main reason these lands have been only sparsely populated in the past, for they have proven to be aggressive and territorial. Not without considerable effort they were finally domesticated – a process mostly attributed to magic. Dragons are not widespread pets because to become a dragon rider means to become magically bounded to one of them and not everyone is willing to make that kind of commitment. On the other hand, to be a dragon rider means to be able to raid among the most famous of adventurers and privateers. They are also a lifelong companion. They form the elite core of the Commonwealth army in war time. Dragon imagery is widely used in the military and in the boat. 

 

 

Edited by Vafhudr, 14 January 2015 - 04:56 AM.

[ANIMA]

Anima, how does time progress in this RP?

 

I don't have anything set in stone. I originally considered it to be one year per turn/update, but if people don't find having immortal Officers to break their immersion, I may change it to a larger timespan. 

[Darkoda]

And the dragon girls return.

Spoiler

 

 

Anthem: Not yet

Name: Okami

Race: The Okami are all humanoids that possess reptilian traits – most would say closer to draconic traits. Much like humans they have wide varieties in appearance, though they all have in common the presence of scales, claws, tails and wings. The Okami are an entirely female race; the very rare male birth results in a dragon, fortunately the race is genetically compatible with most others. They lay clutches of eggs, their genetics ensuring that their children will be Okami as well. Okami are all physically powerful, durable – given enough time, they’ll eventually recover from most injuries - and in possession of sharp senses, mostly due to their unique magical nature. They have long natural lifespans, much like their ancestors.    

Culture:

Be Strong, Be Merry, Be Family. The creed of the Okami, the race’s culture is one of taking things lightly and having fun with life. Given that the race has a tendency of living for extremely long times barring any accidents along the way, they’ve taken a far less serious approach to things, especially compared to their more reclusive ancestors. Descended from dragons that were more amicable to integration with other races, the resulting unions led to the more humanoid race. Even more open than their parents, they spread across the land, meeting and mixing with others until they gradually started meeting up with each other, choosing to settle down in the mountains close to the sea.

The Okami live together in communal villages, houses of stone and gems, sometimes carved into the walls litter the area. Children are raised by the entire tribe, the eggs themselves minded by the mothers until hatching, but each adult takes part in teaching the children speech, writing, and channelling their abilities, children then cycling with the hunters and craftsmen as they seek a field that interests them, learning under the adults until they are deemed capable enough for the trials of adulthood.

 

Okami respect strength above all; strength in mind to lead and inspire, strength of will to craft, strength of body hunt and fight. The harsh lands they inhabit, with tougher animals shaped by their environment are a paradise for them, choosing to live with nature, hunt food from the land and sea as needed, gather shiny gems and ores from underground, and have frequent meetings which most others would consider constant parties. These tend to be very rough parties, given their pride in their abilities and far more cavalier attitude to what would be serious injuries to others.

 

This respect of strength combined with the importance of family also leads to the Okami maintaining relations with their dragon kin, frequently visiting their dragon ancestors – and in some cases their siblings. They have a deep belief in the unity of family, treating their villages as one large family and extending that designation to all other dragons. And much like family will rise to protect one another, they will always look out for their family.

Besides contests and spars, the Okami have an appreciation for gems, jewellery and shiny objects that are durable enough to not shatter around them. They tend to decorate their buildings and bodies with the precious objects, having no monetary consideration for them, instead hoarding them in their villages. The few crafts they actively pursue are in the harvesting and shaping of those gems and the ores and metals (precious or not to others, shiny is shiny), the race occasionally managing to bring themselves to trade their precious shinies for other goods. Funny enough, the other thing that they’re good at is making high quality alcohol, despite the need to trade for all the components of brewing. Outside of these, the Okami not very technologically minded at all, preferring to keep things simple.

 

The Okami tend to try to maintain good terms with other races. They are naturally friendly if a bit wild, and enjoy making connections with others, especially those who impress them. These excursions tend to take quite a few years depending on just how much fun the Okami is having on their journey.  Note though that Okami are prideful and take great value in family; while they are easy going, offending one means offending them all. Straightforward as a people, they appreciate honesty and have little respect for lies and trickery. They greatly enjoy their free spirited nature, and consider any attempt to tie down or draft any dragon related race into servitude to be a grand insult.

Religion:
The Okami believe in the strength of nature and magic, and in their draconic heritage; it’s common for Okami to make journeys to the deep caves and territories where their dragon ancestors dwell, to both maintain relations with their family and to learn under them.

 

Administration:

The Okami, in reflection of their free spirited nature, don’t have a set government. Decisions that affect the tribe are made by group meeting where each Okami has a voice in discussions, and those respected for their decision making skills keep things organized. Education is dealt with by all adults contributing to the raising of the next generation with informal apprenticeships, again with those proven to be strongest at various forms of education taking the lead with organization. It’s a fluid system that works for them; no one has absolute authority, but everyone’s opinion is respected. In the same vein, the few criminal matters are decided as a group, in the event that a majority cannot be reached or depending on the situation, the accused can choose to settle things in a trial by combat.

Economy: What do people do to make a living? What kind of resources are around? Is the trade developed? What is the nation’s currency?
 

Okami don’t have a set currency; while they take interest in precious metals and gems, that’s used mainly for decoration and metalworking, and isn’t considered to have a set value. Their economy is based heavily on bartering, using meat, gems, metals and the crafts and alcohol they produce as barter for what interests them. Amongst themselves, it’s common for Okami to trade in favours or work; their own pride enough assurance to ensure that they will keep their word, preferring to use their metalworking and brewery for trade with outside races who might require more tangible payment. Despite this, they’ve worked out over the years stable trading with their friends from other races, not in little part due to the guarantee that they won’t attempt to cheat anyone, such antics far beneath them.

 

They also have a small storage of various currencies and items in their villages, mysteriously topped up every now and again, coinciding with a few groups of Okami travelling over the land and seas, a significant reduction of bandits, pirates and raiders and the cashing in of a few bounties. These are for mostly emergencies when they crop up; even with the Okami’s durability letting them bounce back from most things given a few weeks or months, there are the things that need medical intervention all the same, and medical supplies aren’t exactly in easy supply in their area.

Military: What is more prized in your nation when it comes to warfare: discipline or ferocity? Is the army professional or levied? Are there advanced war machines? Do they use beasts, both mundane and magical, in warfare?

In times of warfare, practically every adult member is very much capable of combat. All Okami are trained to use their innate magic ability to gain the race’s signature physical might and elemental breath and are armed with simple armours. While lacking any set military, the Okami have a tendency of all being sent out on hunting parties against particularly tough prey as part of their trials for adulthood, cutting their claws and teeth against powerful animals and annoying raiders and criminals and giving those who might be more capable at tactics and hunting a chance to shine.

 

While all Okami know how to fight to some degree, there are a few who show exceptional skill in magic or hunting. These are taken and given special training, sent to live with dragons and the strongest warriors to learn to truly fight like their dragon ancestors, the elite warriors embodying the full might of the dragons. There are of course also the occasional dragons who still remember their parents and descendants that frequently visit.

[Siderealmidnight]

Spoiler

Anthem:Ghost Waltz

Name: Mawuri

Race:  The country of Mawu is comprised of two main "races". The first are Mawuri, ebony-skinned humans with irises that are predominantly shades of red with medians of 6'5 in height for men, and 6'1 in women. They tend to be on the thinner side and possess a series of black tattoos (nearly invisible against their skin tone) denoting their skill with magic, profession, and familial rank, along with others that serve purely aesthetic purposes. The second are known as the "Returned" and while they possess the same basic physical traits as the Mawuri their eyes burn with inner fire, their heads sport anywhere from two to six horns, their bodies are covered in a complex array of stitches that seem to serve a purely aesthetic purpose, and their tattoos are white instead of black.

Culture: Every object its place, every person their station, everything in reverence, the spirits always watch. 

 

The Mawuri believe that everything has a spirit, from the planet itself to the smallest pebble, and because of this belief every action they perform is done with a certain amount of deliberation and ceremony, so as not to upset the spirits they interact with. To be seen doing otherwise is shameful and in some cases a punishable offense. This belief causes the Mawuri to think of time as a relative state dictated by the will of the spirits, not their own desires. As far as how the spirits are honored, outside of a litany of actions the Mawuri cannot perform in the presence of certain ranks of spirit, it is left to each family to decide how they honor the spirits within their own home.

 

The most honored of spirits, outside of the spirits contained within natural landmarks such as rivers and mountains are those of the Mawuri themselves. Ancestor worship is common practice, with shrines dedicated to deceased ancestors and each family possessing a detailed history of deeds performed by their ancestors and their kin. The Mawuri reveal their own people to such a degree because theirs are the only spirits that can return from death and become a being known as a Returned if they prepare their body for it in the proper way. Not every Mawuri can become a Returned, they are required to have great skill at magic and spend several years preparing their body for possession through rituals and stitching the appropriate runes into their bodies. People who meet these requirements called "Andantu" (vessels) spend the time in between life and death in the priesthood and, when their body is ready, undertake a Pilgrimage. This can be any act that will end in a glorious death, from preaching of the spirits in a hostile nation, to fighting one of the deadly beasts that populates the swamplands where the Mawuri live. After their death in the course of this task their spirit possesses their corpse, becomes one of the Returned, and finishes their Pilgrimage. The Returned possess far greater magical power and physical strength than they did in life, and as far as anyone within the Mawuri are aware can live forever so long as their is a vessel to house them.

 

Being one of the Returned is considered a mark of highest prestige both for the Returned and their family and it affords them a great degree of social standing and political power, though it is assumed that the Returned will use this power for the advancement of their family. Family status is everything to the Mawuri, as it decides everything from where you can live to how many children you can have. The more powerful Returned a family has, the more status they are accorded, so it is very rare to see a skilled magician not choose to become one of the Returned. Their are other ways to gain status, such as creating a masterwork in honor of the spirits or offering one's body as a vessel for a Returned to inhabit, but having strong Returned in the family brings the most status by far.  

Religion: The Mawuri believe that their nation began with a small tribe in the heart of the marshlands. They were starving, cold, and on the verge of death, when a gateway appeared in the air that disgorged beings from another plane of existence. These beings, known as the Uwandi (Horned Ones) aided the tribe in hunting and providing for their wounded. Trapped as they were in the inhospitable marshlands the two tribes eventually interbred, and with their breeding the Mawuri were born. The first Mawuri found themselves torn between two planes of existence, the Waking World, where life existed in its most constrained form, and the World Below, where the spirits roamed unconstrained by form or thought through a realm of light. As their perspectives were torn, so were their spirits between the two worlds, caught in agony as they sought freedom in the World Below by tearing their bodies in the Waking World apart. The Mawuri pleaded with the great spirits to grant them release from this agony, until finally the agony of their spirits was so pronounced that Tsuna, the spirit of the moon, took pity on them and offered a solution.

 

"Yours is an existence that wishes to lead two lives, one in the Waking world and one in the World Below, yet it can have neither. I shall teach you a technique to bind your spirits to your bodies so you may live one life in the Waking World, and then when the day comes to shed that life may lead another as a resident of the World Below. In return all I ask is that you never forget the World Below so you never draw the ire of another of the great spirits."

 

"But Tsuna," said the Mawuri, "Where will we go after our second life?"

 

"Once you release yourself from the World Below I will shelter your spirits until you wish to rejoin the Waking World once more to see it through new eyes."

 

And so the deal was struck between Tsuna and the Mawuri. Tsuna taught them how to stitch bindings into their bodies so their spirits would no longer be in conflict, and in return the Mawuri made sure to keep respect for the spirits as their foremost concern.

 

Many Mawuri households possess alters to the great spirits along with those to their ancestors and any spirits their family patrons. To the Mawuri every dwelling is a shrine, every glenn a temple. As the spirits dwell in everything they live their life in a kind of subtle worship.

Administration: Mawuri society is governed by the Returned. Each city has its own council made up of Returned from different families, with the strongest of those Returned serving in the national assembly as needed. These councils of Returned decide how their cities are run, though most councils tend to keep their cities egalitarian outside of things that it is known are associated with familial status because they may not be the strongest Returned forever, and it is known that no one has longer memories for a grudge than the Mawuri. The national assembly is led by the oldest Returned, regardless of strength, valuing that person for having the most wisdom of all those gathered.

 

As far as making sure those policies are carried out the Returned use artful constructs of wood or metal which they unite a spirit to called fetishes to observe the enforcement of laws and punish those who break them. This only applies to the Mawuri people though, as Returned are above any judgement save by those of their own status which can range from dishonor on their family to the forceful removal of their spirit from its andantu.

 

All Mawuri are educated to the point of knowing the basics of how to treat the spirits, the stitching of runes, and the tenants of magic, but more specialized education outside of one's profession is gated by family status.

Economy: The Mawuri don't often trade with outsiders as they tend to become enraged when they see how poorly they treat their spirits in other countries. Instead they use a barter system based around the exchange of well-crafted items. The second-best thing to being a Returned is to be a masterful craftsman, as the more skillfully crafted an object is the happier the spirit that inhabits it will be. Outside of that the Mawuri have a largely self-sustaining economy as the marshlands are full of wood, and although their food resources are rather limited the fact that the harsh nature of their land and that Returned do not need to eat means they can usually keep their cities fed with little difficulty.

Military: When military force is called for the Mawuri are a force to be reckoned with. The bulk of their army consists of fetches, which feel no pain and are not considered killed until enough of their bodies are destroyed for their spirits to be unable to cling to them any longer. The remainder consists of those who have made being a hunter or warrior their life's work and the andantu, who see dying in defense of their home a good way to complete their pilgrimage. While each is a strong mage with a strong body (it is known that the stronger the body is in life, the better it will serve the Returned in death) in life, when they fall in battle they rise as an even stronger mage, and while their main form of magic has to due with manipulating spirits, their intimacy with death gives them knowledge of branches of magic akin to necromancy. Of course the fact that the majority of their forces are either Returned or beings created by the Returned it does mean their armies are smaller than those of most nations.

 

Wanted to do something different this time because my old idea is literally in the description of the RP.

[Muninn]

Whats the overall tech level?

 

I'm kinda making a Norse/US mash-up type thing, but need to know at what level the technology is in general.

[Vafhudr]

Most of us seemed to have assumed that it was something like classical era stuff. Mine is modeled on Ancient Athens and the Icelandic Commonwealth, so somewhere between 500 BC and the 10th century. 

[ANIMA]

Whats the overall tech level?

 

I'm kinda making a Norse/US mash-up type thing, but need to know at what level the technology is in general.

Like Vaf said, ancient to medieval, though some degree of modernity and/or sci-fi will be tolerated. Last time we had clockwork men, but BDM made them such that they didn't feel out of place, so if you can do it, I'll be lenient

[ANIMA]

So... I went and made Stats.

Spoiler

::Stats::
The power of your nation represented in numbers.

Total Population: No, I will not force you (or myself, for that matter) to keep track of your population in tens, hundreds of thousands or millions. Population in this RP will be represented by an abstract number. You raise that number either by expanding (annexing other peoples) or after certain time period (natural population growth, currently considering 1 every 3 updates). Population has 2 main purposes: it acts as “army cap” for your armies and it affects how much money you get each turn.
Morale: This number represents several things: how content your people are, how much faith they have in the nation and how much they are willing to give for the nation. The higher the number the better, because at low values riots, rebellions and other kind of disturbances will start popping up, which may spell the doom for you.
Prestige: This stat is similar to the Morale, only it represents how people outside of your nation view it. Higher the Prestige, the greater the chances your culture and religion will “infect” other nations, even if you don’t do anything. Also, persuading foreign Officers to join you will also be easier.
Might:  Not to be confused with Total Population, which represents the army cap, Might is the number of the armies you currently have active. It has two edges: the higher the Might, the more likely that the enemy nation will lose Morale simply by being invaded by you. On the other hand, high Might means you have large number of armies, which means you expanded a lot and peoples of other nations will see you as militaristic and will dislike if their government cooperates with you and will also encourage it to enter alliances against you.
Wealth: This one is 2 stats in 1: the number of piled up funds and the income per turn/update.

::Perks::
All the perks you have are listed here.

::Province Sheet::
At this point I may have gotten too much into this Each province has its own set of stats which will influence how it interacts with the rest of your nation as well as other nations.

Province Name: Self-explanatory. Your give the name to your starting province, as well as any province you get through exploration. When you take provinces from other players they will already have their own names.
Province Population: How much pop this province adds to nation’s Total Population.
Race: Main race of the province. This will probably always be different from your nation’s main race, except for your starting province.
Culture: Same as above, though you can convert the province to be your culture, though it will not be easy.
Religion: Same as the above 2, and like Culture you can convert Province to your religion. Depending on your Prestige, your Religion and Culture may spread to provinces adjacent to the ones you control.
Order: Something like “Morale” stat for each individual province. It has the same value as Morale, minus 1 point for different than main Race, Culture and Religion each.
Tax: This is tax efficiency of the province and can’t be higher than Province Population. Tax, combined with Province Pop and Trade stats show how much Income per Turn this province contributes.
Trade: This stat shows how much of the income coming from the province is from trade.

Buildings:
Not sure if I’ll go with this, but I may add option to create buildings. The buildings will only affect provinces they are in. I may create a list of buildings, or allow players to create their own, not sure.

::Officers::
Officers are your hands and eyes in this RP. If there’s anything you want do, like send armies to conquer stuff, convert province or spy on the enemy, you will need an officer to do it. There are several ways to get new officers: either you handcraft an officer suitable to your needs a promising individual rises from the masses and you get the option to hire him or you get an officer from other nations, either through persuasion, bribes and/or blackmail.

Appearance:  Put the Officer’s appearance pic here. This field is not necessary.  
Name: Self-explanatory.
Race: These and the next 2 fields work for the Officers in similar way they work for provinces. They affect how loyal the Officer is to you. Depending on your national policies, once you expand you will probably get a lot of officers who don’t belong to the main Race, Culture and Religion.
Culture:
Religion:
Loyalty: The lower this stat is, the higher likelihood of Officer betraying you. Its value is usually your nation’s Morale minus 1 point per Race, Culture and Religion different from your main. There will also be other miscellaneous modifiers which will affect Officers loyalty.
Class: Officers have 3 classes: Soldier-in charge of leading armies, Spy- in charge of sabotage, uncovering other’s intentions and stuff like that, Scholar- in charge of converting cultures and religions, exploration and some other miscellaneous tasks. Officers aren’t limited by their classes, you can have a Spy lead an army, but they will be the most effective by doing jobs suitable for them.
Level: Officer’s level. The higher it is, the more effective is the Officer. The Officers you handcraft will start at level 1, while Officers got in other ways will be usually be higher level.
Perks: Not always, but Officer may possess a perk (or two) which makes them more effective.
Background:  Short description of officer life and personality.


::Armies::
If there is a host of 100 000 soldiers at your gates, bent on burning your city, raping your women and tearing you to pieces, no amount of money and scholarship will stop them from doing it. That’s why any nation planning to survive will have an army, a way to defend itself, and this is where you list all the armies controlled by your nation.

Name:  Any proper army has a name, even if it’s just “1^st (or 2^nd or 3^rd ) Army”.
Size: Each unit of army Size corresponds to one unit of Total Population and one unit of Might. Thus, an army Size of 5 increases your Might by 5 and takes up 5 points of your Total Population. Army must at least be of Size 1, otherwise you may split and merge your Armies however you want (though remember to edit your sheet so I know how many armies you have). Army must be led by an Officer, so that's probably the only limitation to the number of armies.

 

I'll need feedback on this, because it is possible I got carried away in the process. 

Also, map.

Spoiler

 

You are free to pick any one hexagon as your starting province. 

Edited by ANIMA, 12 January 2015 - 10:44 AM.

[Rainbow Dash]

Maunya is located in an area of fertile plains. If your map already has intended zones, let me know

Otherwise it will be located at 145

Edited by Katia Managan, 12 January 2015 - 08:03 PM.

[Siderealmidnight]

Mawuri are in the swamps and relatively isolated, so I would say 142.

[Darkoda]

The Okami live in a very mountainous area by the sea so 53 seems best.

[Siderealmidnight]

By the by, in regards to the stat system I don't see any serious problems with it outside of creating baselines (a ranking system to denote what putting points in a thing actually does) and starting us off with only a set amount of points to distribute in our starting region based on them.

 

The way this is designed also leads me to believe that the perks our races possess will all have to do with these stats, or potentially give us unique special abilities that effect the way these stats do or do not work (a la Endless Legends), is that the case?

[Vafhudr]

Just a thing about armies, Anima. Most of the nations so far don't really have a standing army. Most of our civs, in fact, could probably not support one. They lack the centralized organization to do that kind of stuff. 

 

For instance, my civ can 'raise' an army, kind of like in Crusader Kings II, when they engage in expedition mode or in raid mode, but they aren't exactly a standing army. Each of my 'cities' would be a province, and since each city can muster a citizen army I would get a temporary 'army' that then gets disbanded once its finished. 

 

Also I'll take 83 or 92 since they are the ones that look the most northern-ish without being on that island. 

[ANIMA]

Yes, perks will mostly revolve around stats and special abilities (what else?   )

 

About armies... How about having 2 types: standing armies and levied armies. Standing armies will function as originally intended: you pay to make them, pay for upkeep, they permanently take up part of your population and they are always ready for action. Levied armies will be "invisible" until you decide to raise them and raising them will cost nothing (though you'd still pay for upkeep), they'll give 2 units to army's Size but every time you lose 2 units from levied army you permanently lose 1 pop. Also, levied armies will be less effective. 

Edited by ANIMA, 14 January 2015 - 02:39 PM.