NationStates Jolt Archive

This is the sign-up and rules thread for this (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=11047239#post11047239) plotline.

1) So, what the blazes is this?
In the far future, a mechanoid intelligence (Shodey, for those in the know) has gone off and built her own planet and installed herself as planetary god... but that's backstory. This is an opportunity for people to RP things on a Homeric scale (or more mundane, if they'd like) where technology debate is essentially a non-issue. Stats are irrelevant, heroes are rare, and the cultures can be many and varied.
2) Why "Hellenistic-tech?"
Because calling up the Hellenistic era and applying it to technology instantly brings up the image I want. I don't mean Hellenistic (Greco-Roman) culture, I mean technology. No guns, no gunpowder; bronze and iron with the occasional stone mixed in for fun.
3) What am I supposed to do?
First, use the Priority System described below [See all of 6)] to establish the starting attributes of the culture you're going to make. There are five categories; they must be prioritized from most important (A) to least important (E). These attributes are the primary limiting factors to what comes next.

Second, after reading the creation post, as it were, come up with a culture which could be reasonably derived from that after the span of several thousand years. Note that this is an extremely broad range. There could still be eerily accurate Shodey cults, or something completely different as the mother-religion fell apart for whatever plausible reason. Creativity is so good, it is essential. Borrow as many themes as you like from real or imaginary ancient cultures but they do have to show originality (no simple stealing of entire 'canon' cultures) and creativity. The more nifty it seems, the more likely I won't do any editing. Finally, the culture has to follow the limitations of the priorities previously set. No one gets to start out with a huge, unified, technologically advanced superpower that's surrounded by mountains so traders can get in but armies can't and has literal rivers of milk flowing through it.

Third, figure out what kind of terrain you'd /prefer/ your culture to have (keeping in mind the limitations enforced by the priority system). Possibilities would be a group of islands, a large island, plains, mountains, deserts, and the like.

Finally, sum all this up in an abstract--priorities chosen, the culture, and where it should somewhat be--and send it to Zero-One in a telegram. As much as I like to read, you have /one/ telegram to sell your idea to me. If I like it, then I'll put you on the map with some others and go to it; if I don't, I'll send back suggestions and recommendations (and downright edits) until it fits.
4) What are the rules?
a) NS standard rules. All the usual NS roleplaying rules and customs apply, save for one. Don't godmode, call damage, or metagame (ESPECIALLY the latter, for Shodey thy god hates it). The only thing that does not apply are ignores. There are none. Any culture which ends up having to be 'ignored' by everyone else will (will) be wiped out in a Shodey-induced hellstorm of Biblical proportions.

b) There is no god but Shodey and she is her own prophet. Each culture can have its own concepts of god. That's fine, but Shodey simply uses each image as a mask. She is the god of the planet and therefore I reserve the right to play gamemaster. If there's going to be any godmoding, I am going to be the one to do it--I don't expect to have to do it except for plot points, but still.

c) Shodey's word is law. Given that she can annihilate cultures at will, Shodey as IC god has the last word. If two players can't work things out between them, you can apply OOCly to me (and/or ICly to Shodey/whatever god she's seen as, for that matter) to act as an arbiter. I'll roll dice or research and make a call; that call is final.

d) Having fun would be nice but I won't demand it. ;)

e) No MT/PMT/FT/anyT other than what is specified by the priority system. Interstellar incursions are instantly crushed by Shodey. There's a Stargate: Atlantis episode with a planet defended by an Ascended Ancient. Shodey's exponentially more powerful and has the entire system under complete lockdown... pending something that sounds like an interesting plot point. Which naturally seguays into...

f) I reserve the right to break my own (not NS's) rules at any time. Which I have to, because Shodey the god is F^11T.
5) It's been going for months now and I'm new. Can I join?
Most certainly! It's a big planet, so there will always be room on the map to add another culture. You'll just be written into the storyline as newly discovered by some other culture.
6) What's the Priority System?
It's the way I'm going to try and maintain at least a semblance of balance when this starts out. There are five categories: Unity, Technology, Location, Size, and Wealth. These categories are prioritized in order from A to E, creating a balanced set of built in strengths, weaknesses, and limitations to whatever culture gets made up around them. These will be enforced by power of god if not adequately followed in RP.

Unity measures how cohesive the culture is and how stable it is internally; a high Unity priority means the culture is stable, not prone to rebellion, and changes of power are not too traumatic while a low Unity priority means that power is a matter of who's got the biggest stick and power transitions are long, drawn-out affairs of anarchy if not civil war. Technology measures how technologically advanced a culture is; a high Tech priority puts a culture on par with the early Roman Empire or late Greeks while a low Tech priority puts it as just coming out of the stone age. Location is a measure of where a culture is in terms of defense first and trade second; a high Location priority puts a culture in easily defensible but accessable terrain while a low Location priority puts a culture in terrain that's hard to defend and may be useless for trade. Size is self-explanatory. Wealth is a measure of how much in the way of utilizable, useful resources a culture has; a high Wealth priority puts a culture on par with Ancient Egypt while a low Wealth priority means the culture is made up of dirt farmers who either lack or simply can't use resources available to them (although this doesn't prevent them from taking advantage of being on a lucrative trade route and being a trade center).

These priorities make up the boundaries of what makes a balanced starting culture:

UNITY
A: Unified Governance - a combination of indoctrination and imperial consciousness leads to a unified culture that feels like it is part of the system and, hence, willing to support it. The Roman Republic and the early Turks are good examples.
B: Balanced Legality - through custom, tradition, and law powers are balanced so that transitions are relatively peaceful. Violence is the exception, not the rule. Most Greek city-states meet this definition.
C: Smiles and Daggers - power is based in individuals and not groups so much; politics are more subtle and violent overthrows usually less disruptive. The later Roman Empire fits this.
D: Clans and Family Ties - the culture is bound together by relations and family, leading to more stability broken by massive power shifts and internecine strife. Imperial China and Japan are good examples of this.
E: Anarchic Despotism - he with the power, wins, and things are so shaky any warlord has the means to acquire sufficient power to buck the system. The early Mongols exemplify this.

TECHNOLOGY
A: High Iron Age - Iron is prevalent, simple alloys of tin and copper are common, and some VERY early steels become available. Large-scale stoneworking is taken for granted. Complex machines, while not common, are known.
B: Low Iron Age - Iron is beginning to find common use, but bronze is truly commonplace. Large-scale stoneworking isn't uncommon. The first tinkerings with complex machines start.
C: High Bronze Age - Bronze is prevalent and iron is just beginning to appear, although sometimes it isn't appreciated. The poor still have to use wood and stone, although most can augment it with at least a little bronze. Simple machines are commonplace. Stoneworked buildings are special but not particularly rare things (temples, fortifications).
D: Low Bronze Age - Bronze is just starting to become commonly used, drifting down to the better-off farmers and replacing stone in weapons. Simple machines are being developed. While still difficult, large-scale stoneworking is only merely rare instead of nearly unheard of.
E: High Stone Age - All tools are made of stone, stone, or animals. Agriculture (farming and domestication) is common but simple machines haven't been invented yet. Workarounds such as sleds and log paths, of course, are common in places where there's enough wood to do so. Metals are essentially limited to copper and are so rare as to be signs of status. Large-scale stoneworking is astoundingly difficult and is only brought out for things of extreme significance (henges, barrows/crypts of the obscenely wealthy, et al)

LOCATION
A: Decisive - The civilization is both easily defensible and easily accessible, being able to transport goods in, out, and through whilst being protected from invasion by seas, mountains, or other terrain. Not impervious, but close to it.
B: Strategic - The culture's location allows it to affect its surroundings and protect itself, but is still threatenable. Most major sea trading hubs meet these criteria.
C: Accessible - The culture is just that--accessable. People can get to it, either to trade or to fight, and they can get out. Minor trading hubs and coastal civilizations classify.
D: Out of the Way - While not the easiest culture to get to, they also don't have a particular advantage once people get there. Foothills and mountainous terrain qualify; it's hard to move goods and while defenders have an advantage their protection mostly lies in that no one else wants to make the effort.
E: Booneys - Flat plains in the middle of nowhere, like the steppes of the Ukraine. Even if it's in the middle of nowhere, travel is not too difficult and there are little to no natural impediments to movement... including the movement of armies. It's horseman country.

SIZE
A: Huge - The culture spreads over a tremendous area that more like than not will never be conquered by a singular army (Rus, Mongols).
B: Large - The culture is big, perhaps covering a handful of regions (Gaul).
C: Moderate - The culture fits in a single distinct geographical region, be it a valley, some plains, or a particular coastline (Trojas, Mesopotamia).
D: Small - The culture may contain a couple of proper cities and a handful of smaller towns but is still limited to part of a region (Sparta, Athens and associated territories)
E: Dinky - The culture fits neatly inside a city and its immediate surroundings. A particularly small island-bound Greek polis would be an excellent example.

WEALTH
A: Unreal - This society dominates the region economically. Its traders, and its trade goods, are everywhere. Everybody knows it and most other cultures envy it. It has sufficient disposable wealth to build huge public works with disturbing regularity (Egypt).
B: Vale of Plenty - Thanks to plentiful harvests, productive mines, and efficient laborers this society has enough to do as it pleases. It can support military adventurism, feed itself, AND save up for a rainy day simultaneously. Trade goods from here are (or should be) common most other places (Athens).
C: Comfortable - The culture has sufficient resources to do most things that aren't utterly fantastic. It can raise and equip armies without too much trouble but it'll never threaten anything larger than itself (Brittany). There are sufficient trade goods to make a living off of it rather than a suppliment.
D: Sustainable - The society has enough to get by and a very little thensome; there's things worth trading, but not for too much, and while life isn't easy there are some luxuries (Palestine).
E: Dirt - There is nothing of real value but dirt and trees here. Resources for whatever technological priority there are /scarce/ (although the resources for a different tech priority may not be) and most existence is subsistence.

So I sign up via telegram right???

Or can i do it on here???

So I sign up via telegram right???

Or can i do it on here???

S'in the post with the rules. :p

Sent you a telegram as you know, but where's this map?

Finally, sum all this up in an abstract--priorities chosen, the culture, and where it should somewhat be--and send it to Zero-One in a telegram. As much as I like to read, you have /one/ telegram to sell your idea to me. If I like it, then I'll put you on the map with some others and go to it; if I don't, I'll send back suggestions and recommendations (and downright edits) until it fits.
We can discuss ideas and whatnot here if you like, but I'd like the actual sign-up to be done by telegram so I can have everyone's summaries at the same place when I develop the map.

Sent you a telegram as you know, but where's this map?
I've already got a fractally-generated planet map that I'm keeping to myself (as the Athenians didn't have the Americas on their maps, no?) and I'll use that to develop a sufficiently detailed local map wherever I can fit most of the cultures that sign up. By keeping the larger planetary map an OOC secret I can allow for exploration and also filling in the blanks with other cultures if people who come in late need to be written into the storyline.

sent a TG with my culture.

sent a TG with my culture.
Replied. Interesting, but I've added some notes with my intent.

Replied. Interesting, but I've added some notes with my intent.

TG Zero-One.

TG Zero-One.
Replied. Hopefully that clears things up.

sent a very long TG

I didn't get a TG, Zero, send another one.

sent a very long TG
I haven't gotten it yet; which is rather odd... may just be the length. I'll let you know if you should resend it.

I didn't get a TG, Zero, send another one.
Resent.

got the TG. Change size to D. I'll make name changes later.

Replied.

Replied.
Reply sent.

A refresher word: the priority system exists for a level of balance. Each culture has to prioritize the five categories in order of importance, so one could have:

A: Wealth
B: Size
C: Unity
D: Tech
E: Location

or

A: Location
B: Unity
C: Tech
D: Size
E: Wealth

or so on. Having multiple of any given priority (A, B, C, D, or E) skews the system because it removes the restriction of someone choosing all A priorities.

Yes, I know that Question/Answer #6 is somewhat long. It's there for a reason, though. ;)

The following is an overview of the Novistranan empire, and it should be used in roleplaying.

---

Brief:

Novistrana was first colonized by a group of nomads who desired to settle down and form a stable culture of their own. The nomads in question were one of many tribes who co-existed on the single large island, and as they were not warriors, they maintained good relations with a large proportion of the tribes who had already begun to form civilizations. Settling in the south-eastern ‘corner’ of the island, the knowledge they had cultivated of farming techniques - collected mainly from observing those of other cultures - allowed them to carve out a niche of their own, and since they were contained within another culture’s lands - those of the Khazaerians - they were effectively safe from attack.

The Novistranans developed a good relationship with the Khazaerians, and it grew into one where the Novistranans were almost a colony of Khazar used solely for food production. However, the Novistranans were cleverer than to let themselves be exploited, and in exchange for their crops, they were told the secrets to a vast amount of technologies; the Khazaerians were already good bronze and stone workers, and with a little help, Novistranan scientists began to outclass those of Khazar. They were first to complete a method to create an alloy of metals stronger, and more suited for war than bronze, and they also had a degree of ballistics knowledge; these secrets were kept from Khazar, and when the Novistranans announced the formation of a small army, the Khazaerians dismissed the notion that they would be any threat to their much larger army.

Pride comes before a fall. In 219 CE (Common Era by the Novistranan calendar), Emperor Ivan II ordered the attack on Volapak, Khazar’s capital city. Taken by surprise, the large Khazaerian army was hit in vulnerable areas by the better trained and better equipped Novistranans. The fall of Smotrysky, another major Khazaerian city, came nine months after, and it signaled the end of the war. But now Novistrana had established itself as a power within the island, it didn’t stop - one by one, all of the tribes fell, and when the Skazhis were finally defeated in 228 CE, all of the threats were eliminated.

But to say that the entire nation became instantly harmonious overnight would be ignorant - for many years afterwards, the Novistrana army had to fight off many insurrections from within, all intent on gaining control of the fledgling empire. It is now 259 CE, and the insurrections look to have died down, a generation having passed since the Novistranans first took hold of their destiny.

Government:

While Emperor Alexander is the supreme leader of the empire, each individual region has its own council, or Tokamak, that controls the affairs within the region. It is despotism, but every three years the populace of the region goes through an election to elect the members of the council. These elections are, however, for show, as while two or three of them might be allowed to carry on unadulterated, the Emperor and his personal staff see to it that the majority of the seven members of each council are put into office and obey the Emperor’s wishes.

As has already been said, the Emperor holds total control, and his word is law. However, more often than not an Emperor will allow his personal council to do their jobs without interfering too much. This council is formed of six members - men in charge of the Armed Forces, of science, of religion, of the economy, of the law and of labour. When the Emperor delegates tasks to these men, it means the Emperor has given them carte blanche to do whatever they can to improve the empire.

Technology:

Being a nation classified as 'Low Iron Age’, the technological status is good compared to other nations. Iron working has reached a high standard, and so the weapons and armour of the Armed Forces are of better quality than of others. Mining of the northern mountains has provided rich seams of gold, silver and metal ores, with the result that the production of fine jewellery is a lucrative trade good for the empire. Further, foremost ‘free-thinkers’ have formed systems of religion that have evolved from simple atheism to the overwhelming belief that there is one God, Lord and Creator of all, who has at his command a pantheon of lesser gods. This concept is where the system of government originates from - if you see the Emperor as God, his personal council are the lesser gods.

Military:

The high level of technology has bred a well-equipped armed forces, who are led by intelligent leaders with knowledge of tactics and logistics. Of note here is a new creation known as a ‘ballista’, which is effectively an oversized crossbow, and is capable of doing a lot of damage. Also, the ballistics knowledge developed from the Khazaerians has allowed the creation and training of archer units capable of exceptional ranged damage. Further, the use of cavalry has become more and more popular, and these knights are considered to be the elite of the army. On a similar level are cavalrymen who are such excellent marksmen that they are able to use longbows and crossbows while in full gallop.

TG'ed. Can resend briefer abstract if required.

got my TG yet?

got my TG yet?
Afraid not. You should probably resend it.

"Republicae Ossicbee"
"Eternus Visio Inubo Vos"
Map (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v160/Midlonia/random%20pictures/Ossicbee.jpg)

Priorities
a) Technology
b) Wealth
c) Unity
d) Size
e) Location

Abstract

Set on a section of coastland Ossicbee has sat as a bastion for the trade lanes for as long as people can remember, its grand city of Alexarta has remained unfortified since its founding, its people relying totally on the elite guards of the Goddess "The Eternally vigilant" to save their holy city from destruction of outsiders. Technology and wealth have remained high priority, while the unity of the people devolves to a series of city-based councils.
The Ossicbee worship the great Goddess known as "The Eternal Face" who's golden visage is suspended by solid gold supports in a grecian style temple-building. [see religion]

There are three principal cities in Ossicbee, the "capital" of Alexarta, which has remained unfortified since its founding, relying on its elite hopliti and cavalry to defend the city from outside intruders known as the Eternal Vigilant, where they defend and watch over the Goddess of The Eternal Face.

Haretafa, the second largest city nestles on a large hill and has its impressive marble-defences shining out as a beacon of security and safety to travellers who happen across it, crime is almost unkown in that city, the town watch and militias helping to keep the citizens safe both day and night and criminals found, and criminals punished by the law and for the shame of actually being caught.

Athrio is the smallest of the three cities, but by no means the least important, it is here that the legendary Hero has decided to make his home and where he has set up a school of thought and enlightenment and it is here where he trains the next generation of inventors for his grandiose designs. His most promising student, Athrius of Alexarta, is on the brink of developing new materials for helping people in their every day lives. Janic of Haretafa, however, if planning to harness the concept of the steam jet for naval ships, but Hero advises caution to his students.

Each principal city has a council, or senate where the elders of each city meet and discuss what should be done for their own respective city-states. There have been times when the city-states have broken out in conflict with eachother, its not common, but not overly rare either as they resort to either trade wars or actual wars in an attempt to take over the peoples of Ossicbee.

The Grand Senate meets in the Golden Temple of The Eternal Face before the Golden Visage when severe crisese arrise and all three senates must convene to decide a course of action, here they petition for blessings from the Great Goddess in their workings and plans to ensure that the homelands, and her holy shrine is kept safe from harm and ransacking.

Technology:

With the latest inventions of the great Hero being the invention of a steam jet, which has rapidly been put to use in a new transportation system with the approval of the Preists to allow transportation to the Templum. Rumours are abound that they will be experimenting using this technology for other things, such as heavy lifting and maritime. Otherwise it remains like any other "high-end" iron age society with mines and smelting industries becoming more prominent across the cityscapes.

Military:

The Ossicbee military is small and elite, mostly relying on Hopliti, archers and cavalry, with aided boosted ranks from citizens serving their term as guardians of the republic, who are lesser armed but still essential in helping to keep the Republic of Ossicbee safe from outside harm.

The Mightiest weapon in the arsenal of the Ossicbee is the Grand Onagers, they are few and far between, but few walls have stood well against such devices. Ossic Fire is also a prominent weapon, many beleive it to be the wrath of the Great Goddess who purges unbeleivers and heretics with cleansing, sweet oil.

The Hopliti are the principal troopers of the Ossicbee and are raised from birth to be soldiers, they are the revered and the elite who remain soldiers to their dying days, usually this is far before nature takes its course.

Those that are not deemed to be of the Hopliti still serve their purpose however, when they reach a certain age they are drafted to become guardians for 9 seasons [spring, summer, autum, winter], they are not as prestigous or well armed as the Hopliti, but serve their purpose with the same vigour, its here from the Guardians that the Ossicbee draw on for archers and cavalrymen, leaving the genuine footslogging to the elite Hopliti, but the Mucro Vir, or Swordsman still serves his purpose, usually for scouting ahead of the main force, or rather ungloriously as sword fodder, pinning the opposition in place before the Hopliti arrives to destroy them.

Ossiric Armour (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v160/Midlonia/random%20pictures/Ossiricarmourcopy.jpg)

The mighty warfleets of Ossicbee stand ready to either agressively expand, protect trade, or defend against enemies that threaten the small glory of the republic.

Religion:

Templum Evertnus Viscio (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v160/Midlonia/random%20pictures/Templumeternusviscio.jpg)

The Viasge of the Great Goddess of The Eternal Face is ancient, the building is old and the people who guard her sercrets do so jealously. The Preists themselves have laced their faces with Gold, (in some cases this is applied in molten form and thus fused permenantly) in order to be pure and closer to the Great Goddess.

Worshippers arrive via the "Pilgrims Mile" which now has the Holy Sky Chariot built along-side it to transport the offerings and the Grand Senate when it convenes before the holy visage to discuss truly grave matters concerning the Republic.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't know what planet you're on, but 'high Iron Age' means Renaissance-era, possibly earlier, not steam engines and smelting.

Actually, High Iron Age generally, at least in a mediterranean context (which is how it should be interperted, what with it specifically being called 'Hellenistic') is early Roman Republic or the end of Greek independence. Even the Renaissance seems too high, given the statements in the OP, and the industrial revolution is right out.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't know what planet you're on, but 'high Iron Age' means Renaissance-era, possibly earlier, not steam engines and smelting.


Hero's toy is an actual device invented in the 1st century B.C

HOW my dear man, do you expect to make early steel and iron? Banging the ore till it magically becomes the material I need? No you make it by smelting it.

"High Iron Age" means just that, [i]before the fall of Rome we're dealing with ancient civilisation here, not renaissance or I would be calling upon the wrath of Da Vinci and every design he made from his tank to his helicopter in my army and technological base.

"Hellenistic" means "Helen of Troy-esque" swords and sticks, stuff during Rome.
You're on the wrong planet with being somewhere in the 15th Century with the reneissance, which happens many centuries after Rome falls. [around 4th Century A.D]

The Hero's Toy [google it] is 100 years Before Christ, with a little conversion, and running on guide-lines of wood, you could suspend it above on stone-columns and use it as a mode of transportation, in effect, "Hero's Chariot".

That and those concepts are actually cleared by Game Master, who I PM'ed about this because it uses technology of the era in a different way and light, rather than sticking to canon tech, or completely missing the boat and thinking the "High Iron Age" is somewhere in the 15th Century rather than during the era of the Roman Empire.


Another side note: Here's my choices, unlike some folks I did read the thing the whole way through.

a) Technology - High Iron [allowing me to exploit the concept of Hero's Toy and put it to pratical use.]
b) Wealth - Wealthy enough to have stuff saved for those rainy days and problems
c) Unity - I have my city-states fight eachother because there's technically three different governments
d) Size - roughly the same size as Sparta
e) Location - Small crappy islands, makes it harder for me to interact with other folks.

Submission sent. Thank you for putting so much detail into your setup post; I found it very helpful in trying to come up with a concept. This looks like it has a lot of potential.

OOC- I assume by these terms that a culture similar to the Vinci would be out? (I.E. the Vinci of Rise of Legends)

Concerning Hero's toy: Fiddling with steam power and complex machines is well known in the later Grecian period. Most were toys that used potential energy storage (pebbles held up to prevent from falling) to turn gears and make little plays or valves to make metal steamwhistle birds sing, among other things (http://www.e-telescope.gr/en/cat05/art05_021129.htm) (skip the bit on Talos, that's simply legend). Tech A is capable of making similar things, but remember: just because people have a working steam engine doesn't mean they have railroads or long-distance transportation out of it. Railroads require large amounts of steel (iron being too brittle) and without the manpower nor the processes to rapidly produce steel...

The Egyptians had similar devices for temple robots (perhaps that's too strong a word; perhaps a very early version of animatronics) that essentially panhandled for monetary sacrifices. I do expect Tech A societies to have the occasional complex machine but not, say, clockwork armies a) because said devices are still rather delicate and pointless in battle and b) the lack of effective mass-production, which is still a faraway concept because there aren't that many people to serve and society probably hasn't specialized to that extent yet. Most families probably still make their own clothes, and because no one needs a million hammers no one should have come up with a way to make a million hammers efficiently.

Concerning the Iron Age: Technically the Iron Age (in the Mediterranean) ended when recorded history started, i.e. with the Greeks (Hellenism). It's primarily a prehistoric moniker; once a society has history, it's not Iron Age anymore. The idea here, if you'd like to think it as such, is essentially the dawn of history. Certainly things happened previously, but this is when records start being made. Some will evolve into legend, other (like tax records) will be prized by archaeologists for their mundanity.

Still, even though some cultures have bronze, iron, and steel others will still be using stones for whatever reason; it'll be up to the players involved if they want low-tech societies to be 'savage' or if they've achieved history in writing but haven't quite caught up when it comes to materials science.

Submission sent. Thank you for putting so much detail into your setup post; I found it very helpful in trying to come up with a concept. This looks like it has a lot of potential.
Thanks and welcome; I've already got some ideas and I'm hoping they'll turn out.

OOC- I assume by these terms that a culture similar to the Vinci would be out? (I.E. the Vinci of Rise of Legends)
Essentially, yes. The Vinci are basically a steampunk Renaissance culture; the primary difference is that in the Renaissance complex machines were common whereas in the Hellenistic period they weren't. One prominent example: clocks. Gunpowder is also involved, which I'm decidedly leery about in this setting. Finally, the Vinci use waaaaay too much metal for even Renaissance metallurgy.

Some things, just to make sure they're clear:

Homeric heroes are possible, but rare. Most people are just baseline humans but, because of the recessive genes mentioned in the opening posts, occasionally people with some exceptional attribute will show up. A person with the strength of ten men, or faster than a horse, or limited telepathy/telekinesis, or perhaps a patternmonger capable of 'seeing' the future--sort of... just not all in the same person. In all the Grecian isles and city-states there was only one Heracles, after all.

This allows for main named characters, if desired, to have some sort of reasonably heroic superhuman attribute (invulnerability being right out). This is purely optional, and they're still vulnerable; even Achilles and Hector got killed.

There are monsters. This I didn't make so clear, but I was thinking: why not? There are things akin to hydras and chimeras and whatnot wandering about, but they're all nonsentient (pending Shodey plot point) and while they're common enough that people know about them and that unexplained disappearances are often blamed on them, they're not so common that someone can go over the next hillside and have a rite of passage where they slay a gorgodragon or something. Monsters generally live on the edge of human experience and so are only an issue if someone is looking for trouble...

...or if Shodey is feeling creative and it's time for a plague of some sort. At that point Revelation Locusts may become a factor. To sum up, monsters are known and generally believed in although very few people have personal experience with one.

Hero's toy is an actual device invented in the 1st century B.C

It's simply to rationalise dates across the world. It doesn't matter, the dates are the same anyway.

HOW my dear man, do you expect to make early steel and iron? Banging the ore till it magically becomes the material I need? No you make it by smelting it.

From the context of your post, it sounded like you were going for mass-production of smelting, hence my objection.

"High Iron Age" means just that, [i]before the fall of Rome we're dealing with ancient civilisation here, not renaissance or I would be calling upon the wrath of Da Vinci and every design he made from his tank to his helicopter in my army and technological base.

...Da Vinci's designs were technically flawed. The only reason they're admired is because Da Vinci was thinking way ahead of his time with them.

"Hellenistic" means "Helen of Troy-esque" swords and sticks, stuff during Rome. You're on the wrong planet with being somewhere in the 15th Century with the reneissance, which happens many centuries after Rome falls. [around 4th Century A.D]

See below

The Hero's Toy [google it] is 100 years Before Christ, with a little conversion, and running on guide-lines of wood, you could suspend it above on stone-columns and use it as a mode of transportation, in effect, "Hero's Chariot".

The Hero's Toy was, get this, a TOY. To attempt to use the Toy, even with the massive amounts of conversion you'd need, would require a hell of a lot of fuel and/or upgrades that would effectively turn it into a steam engine.

That and those concepts are actually cleared by Game Master, who I PM'ed about this because it uses technology of the era in a different way and light, rather than sticking to canon tech, or completely missing the boat and thinking the "High Iron Age" is somewhere in the 15th Century rather than during the era of the Roman Empire.
This is just insulting. We're given no designation other than 'Hellenistic-Era'. I don't like history as a subject, but even I knew that to claim use of steam engines is way, way off a 'High Iron Age'. I picked a time period I thought would correlate well and used it.

*points up towards post above*

Don't make me do any smiting before anything starts out ( ;) ); let's keep any argument to TG. Given that Hero's engine is just a wood-burning steam jet engine, having one pull a little cart around is not beyond the realm of reason. It would be difficult enough, though, that it would be relatively unusual and novel enough that multiple cultures wouldn't develop it simultaneously barring sharing or stealing.

Smiting? He argued, I argued back. This is the OOC thread, after all. And while the Toy might work on a small scale, the use of it for a railroad system is ludicrous, and that was my bone of contention.

This is going to be the first application of 4c). I discussed this with Midlonia and, from my own engineering background, I agree that a railroad system is unlikely. As a small wooden-track temple system, as we discussed, it is certainly feasible because religion would account for the effort put into maintaining such a thing. Such a thing would still be inefficient and maintenance-intensive and is being applied in a role that really has no wherewithal to commerce or anyone else, and so I am going to allow it.

While I'm glad you're interested this is not the place to argue things with other players, especially technicalities (At least, not yet).

Smiting? He argued, I argued back. This is the OOC thread, after all. And while the Toy might work on a small scale, the use of it for a railroad system is ludicrous, and that was my bone of contention.

Ok, I'll beat myself with that one, I should really have specified its only in existence between Alexarta proper and the temple, its mostly used as a symbolic worship of technology and to move the senators when the Grand Senate appears. [it also occasionally moves some food supplies for the temple-preists and offerings to the Great Goddess] Its less than a mile long and is mostly symbolic. I did a a very rough conceptual sketch (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v160/Midlonia/random%20pictures/Heroschariot.jpg) where, as you can see its suspended above on hefty stone columns, which immediately makes it hard to build, and the rails are made of wood, the engine itself is made up of copper and iron.

Uh, what I meant by smelting becoming more commonplace, is that its simply becoming slightly more used, not on a giant scale, but there's actual places belching some smoke up and out where its being made, half a dozen smelteries or less would be kind of alot in three cities that come to the rough size of Sparta, ergo "more commonplace" regardless of wether said smelteries are making enough for half-a-dozen swords and hopliti pike-heads a day.

Again, I'll just beat myself over the head or something and make stuff clearer. :p

The Kolmyrathan Hegemony of States

Governance: D
Technology: B
Location: E
Size: C
Wealth: A (But really B, maybe even C, depending.)

The Merchant City-State of Golith

WEALTH
A: Unreal - This society dominates the region economically. Its traders, and its trade goods, are everywhere. Everybody knows it and most other cultures envy it. It has sufficient disposable wealth to build huge public works with disturbing regularity (Egypt).

TECH
D: Low Bronze Age - Bronze is just starting to become commonly used, drifting down to the better-off farmers and replacing stone in weapons. Simple machines are being developed. While still difficult, large-scale stoneworking is only merely rare instead of nearly unheard of.

UNITY
C: Smiles and Daggers - power is based in individuals and not groups so much; politics are more subtle and violent overthrows usually less disruptive. The later Roman Empire fits this.

LOCATION
B: Strategic - The culture's location allows it to affect its surroundings and protect itself, but is still threatenable. Most major sea trading hubs meet these criteria.

SIZE
E: Dinky - The culture fits neatly inside a city and its immediate surroundings. A particularly small island-bound Greek polis would be an excellent example.


Overview:

The Golithians settled into the area around Golith origanally because of the rich fishing waters in the area. The natural harbor served as the perfect place to protect their fishing boats, and a small village quickly grew into a bustling city. The mollusks in the waters were soon discovered to possess a rare pigment that could be extracted to create Purple dye, which became highly valued, not just in Golith, but also throughout the region. With the discovery of both Tin and Copper in the hills bronze became their primary trade good, however purple dye remained an important, and unique trade good as well. Golithian Ships sail up and down the coasts trading with their neighbors. In particular Golith has had a long standing trade relationship with the Kolmrathan Empire, NieknRynn, Schydin, Bney Elohim, and Ossicbee.

The City itself is a marvel of the world, the taxes collected by the King are put into public works. The Great Lighthouse, a giant Ziggarut built upon the Plateau, with polished bronze walls at the top capable of shining a beacon over 150 nautical miles out to sea, is the oldest of these structures, the other two being the Cathedral of Kelm and the as yet unfisished Wall of Golith, which will eventually protect the entirety of the Upper city with massive granite walls.

Golith is a large Metropolis, with a huge bustling harbor and the lower city a constant buzz of activity. Timber, Gold, Slaves, and Agricultural Products are commonly traded goods, the Bney Elohim provide the Golithians with wool, meat, and sheep. In addition the Golithians are always on the lookout for new sites to establish colonies that will be profitable for the Golithians. Despite their size the Golithians are a relatively minor power in the world and relatively insignificant, remaining mostly purple dye traders and metal merchants.

The Golithian Religion is fairly simple, the world was created by three great beings working in concert with one another, Hali, the god of life, peace, and good fortune, Kelm, the God of Trade, War, and Struggle, and Yengwe, the god of moderation and civility. They were said to work in concert with one another to create the world, and though Kelm is the patron God of Golith, it is believed that one can only live a good life if they keep a balance in their life between the three. In reality however Kelm is worshipped far more than the other two because she is believed to be responsible for financial success.

The Golithians are expert Archers, though their standing army is not large it is populous enough to defend their high walls from attack. In addition much effort has been put into the construction of a large naval force of longships and trieremes.

The Golithians are run by a nobility, who (at least openly) swear fealty to the King of Golith. The basis of power for these noble houses is their own personal merchant fleets, and though when in competition with non-Golithians they will work together, when there is little competition the Nobles will soon fall into their petty squabbles for power. Each Noble is required to keep their named heir at the palace with the King, where the learn the affairs of state and serve as part of the Royal Court of the King. In addition each Noble House tithes 10% of their profits to the Royal Court, who collectively is able to maintain the city itself and finance the Golithian Military.

"Antoris"

Priorities:

A) Unity
B) Wealth
C) Technology
D) Size
E) Location

Abstract:

On a small, obscure island placed in no tactical location, the people of Antoris are efficient and dedicated to the fairly simple lives they lead. Devoted worshippers of Ochya, a dolphin goddess that has the awesome power to turn her fins into thin, yet resilient wings, Antori are ever-peaceful and content with simpler things in life. They place a high importance on unity and have a strong work ethic.

The government, headed by Queen Parali, is strongly centralized upon the "capital" of Ochyadis. One of four cities, it is geographically the highest of them all, resting upon the flat plateau of a rocky hill at the far end of the island. The empress has full power and her strong will (as well as the pacifism of her people) make the government stable. Her eldest daughter will take the throne when she dies, continuing her legacy. There is a small Council, headed by the Queen, that has executive, legislative, and judicial powers. Its purpose is to hear grievances and carry out the will of the Queen.

Antoris is fairly wealthy, especially due to its strategic location as a trading post. Due to this, it also has the ability to export its own goods and import others. Antori fishnets and pots are well-received amongst its trading partners and theirs. Although public works are limited, the economic vitality of Antoris is at least admirable and respected.

Although not excelling in technology, Antori make good use of what they have. Rather than focusing on advancing through leaps and bounds technologically, the Antori prefer to keep their work ethic alive by maintaining and enhancing their current tech as they go. The army of Antoris is highly trained, as is its small navy. The fortifications for Ochyadis are stone for the most part, though in higher elevations wood and brick mixtures are used. The Ochi Palace is fully stone, as well as the Temple of Ochya.

There are four cities on the island nation of Antoris. They are ordered in importance: Ochyadis, Nantor, Ptoleras, and Disaad. The island is large enough that each is fairly spaced out, being about five miles apart. There are small towns and villages in between. The island is nearly completely flat save the rocky hill upon which most of Ochyadis sits. Crops grow well in the center of the island, away from salty sprays from the sea. Although it is quite a distance from most civilization, Antoris is strategically placed in a way that allows passing traders to stop and rest, as well as exchange extra goods and services.

Okay. We've got about fifteen showing interest so I'll start penciling a map. I think initial sign-up will continue through tomorrow, at which point there should be plenty of material to start off with.

This looks really interesting. I'm game. Well here we go with the Albel society.

Unity C
Technology A
Location E
Size D
Wealth B

Overview:

This small militarisitic society are a bunch of raiders (like the Vikings) that live on the steppes. They are known for their harsh cruelty in war and thus despite their location are quite well off as when they raid they win and use that wealth to be able to have a comfortable society for all involved. Because of their great use of technology and their knowledge of horses the Albel are known around their region as some of the best fighters and are frequently used as mercenaries that only helps their already vast wealth (in comparison to their size).

The government is not as organized as while there is one leader often times he is just a puppet for someone else who holds the "real" power and power struggles get quite violent quite quickly. This does not generate into anything that big as the relative size of the nation everybody understands that if they lose unity they will all die in the wilderness.

What they are most known for is their use of horse technology and being superior horseman. The Albel were the first to invent the stirrup and have started to experiement with the horse shoe. (That's not too far ahead is it?) They have also made wonderful weapons to use on their horses and were one of the first civilizations to utilize horse archers. This foresight have also led to more riches as many have sold their inventions but are now silenced by the government.

They have a sphere of influence that extends to several cities through their raiding and their religion which is a mostly monotheistic religion worked around a god called simply called HaShem who is believed to be all powerful except that his brother Sharodi can play on his emotions and make him do bad things. (Sharodi represents all wicked and HaShem all good) They are fanatical in their belief and they want to spread to whoever are willing to listen to it.

Edited the last paragraph and the first sentence of the first paragraph. Also slaps self on head for not thinking of that.

Finally no switching is neccesary because the Vikings were quite wealthy as raiders.

Good effort, Milchama, but there's some problems with that setup.

Nomadic raiders don't build cities proper, else they wouldn't be nomadic. Nomadic wealth is also naturally limited to what a clan can carry (for the reason of not really having cities). Nomads also rarely have a high level of technological advancement because smithies and the like are not portable. Now this could be a raider society, but Wealth B would naturally to prevent that from evolving.

I'd say that if you're looking for nomads, swap Tech and Size. If you're looking for raiders, swap Wealth and Size or Location (the technology can be explained by theft and a small amount of innovation). Wealth is a measure not of cash so much as resource availability; a raider nation would naturally augment its poor resources through raids (and essentially live beyond its means).

NieknRynn is a semi arid mountainous island with natural harbours, one major freshwater lake and a large central volcano. It suffers severe earthquakes every 50 to 100 years or so.

UNITY : D
TECHNOLOGY: C
LOCATION : B
SIZE : E
WEALTH : A

NieknRynn is hopefully to be based on Minoan culture in roughly the end of the Neopalatial period with a primarily mercantile people engaged in overseas trade. It is to replicate the Minoan cultural areas with its egalitarianism, female priesthood and gods and strong theocracy and inheritance being matrilineal. I would like to feature bull jumping. Given the small size of the island I also er ..prepared this http://www.deviantart.com/view/34047939/ . Given it will be virtually a spot on the map ur aye.

Its location hopefully will be in the form a single island with a large Santorini style semi dormant volcano.

NieknRynn will hopefully trade in saffron, sulphur, ceramics, glass, wine, oil, wheat and silver with high level manufactured bronze goods being manufactured from external sources (primarily Golthian) of base materials and decorative silver pieces being manufactured from local silver.

NieknRynn towns are connected with stone-paved roads, formed from blocks cut with bronze saws to each other and the capital. AlkRynn. Streets are drained and water and sewage facilities are available to the upper class, through clay pipes.

Nieknrynn buildings have flat tiled roofs; plaster, wood, or flagstone floors, and stand 2-3 stories high. Typically the lower walls are constructed of stone and rubble with mudbrick used for upper stories. Ceiling timbers hold up the roofs.

NieknRynns towns are built around “palaces”. These “towns” are more like late medieval monastic settlements in there scale and fulfil a plethora of functions: they serve as centres of government, administrative offices, shrines, workshops and storage spaces (e.g., for grain).

Architectural features like ashlar masonry, orthostats, columns, open courts and the presence of diverse basins have been used to define palatial architecture. Most older village palaces had only one storey and no representative facades. They are generally smaller than the later palaces, but with a big central court. The plan is U-shaped.

NieknRynn has a defensive fast navy and a large trading fleet made up of galley type vessels. The vessels are based on Roman biremes for trade and a force of over 60 monoreme penteconters for war , each about 38 m long, with 25 oarsmen on each side. The penteconter's size required that its builders stretch cables between the bow and stern to distribute the stress evenly. Each town supporting a single onager armed septireme (17/20 metres long) by royal decree with a royal squadron of five being supported by AlkRynn itself. NieknRynn marines are armed with short swords or Riekynn, a double handed wooden based bronze edged weapon designed for close combat without a shield given the low quality of shields issued to the marines. The marines are at best issued with simple unadorned bronze breast plates with leather and bronze helmets and wood and rough tanned hide shields. More usually especially on the penteconter crews they are un armoured simply being issued with there slings, a leather vest and a Riekynn. They specialise in the use of small hand held slings hurling burning wax or shot. They are conscripts razed from the dregs of the cities port area and must serve for 15 years. Hereditary slaves may similarly elect if there masters allow it to join the marines for the same period but non hereditary (those made slaves due to an infraction of the law, fresh prisoners of war) slaves may not. They are all branded with the sigil of NieknRynn on there left shoulder and a number. If caught escaping from the navy before there "number is up" their ear lobes are removed and there service extended for a further 15 years. If caught again they are executed.

AlkRynn is a walled city of 87,000 souls with an extensive sheltered and sea walled harbour split into two halves by the “great aqueduct” a large structure that brings water direct from the islands main freshwater lake in the mountains 34 miles above AlkRynn. The Eastern half is dominated by the priesthood and the high temple, the western half is dominated by the Royal Palace and the docks.

AlkRynns city guards are known as Preceptors, they are the largest standing military land force and are religiously “tied” to the land and cannot leave the islands shores. They serve under the command of the King and the Royal Dynasty. They operate in phalanx and specialise specifically in the defence of AlkynRynn, manning the sea defence large fixed onagers. They mostly originate from the upper and middle classes.

http://www.deviantart.com/view/34046151/ This is an example of preceptor armour and their standard in city defence trident who’s main use is not warfare but crowd control. They are armed with short swords and javelins in ordinary combat.

The Rynn priesthood has its own female Preceptors, these serve under the high priestess directly and defend the high temple in AlkRynn and the villages and palace towns. No other face of the godess has access to Preceptors. There is continual strain between the male and female preceptors as the priesthoods and the royal dynasty vie for power. Only female preceptors may gaurd the high temple and the Eye of Rynn.

The Rynn priestess’s maintain a variety of faces of the goddess with the primary one being that of Rynn herself (shodey) . The priesthood is very hierarchical with each town palace usually being dedicated to its own form of Rynn with only the high temple in AlkRynn being dedicated to Rynns true form. The high temple is topped with the “Eye of Rynn” or the eye of shodan, a series of silver parabolic mirrors and lenses built to Rynn’s (shodeys) design that must never be moved from the high temples mount. This is used in several ceremonies and in defence of the city, its true purpose however is to at all times line up with larger silver reflectors on Mount Herikin (the central volcano) to monitor any change in its state. The Schydin undertake an annual pilgrimage to the eye . The secondary towers of the high temple are used for extensive astronomical observations. Internal struggles between the forms up to and including religious warfare between the female preceptors is not unknown. Glasswork being part of the Eye is highly prised and is manufacture is carried out by the priesthood’s male members. What is not used for the greater glory of Rynn is sold. This quantity is ever on the increase as the glass making industry is one of the cornerstones of NieknRynns economy and the wealth and power of the priesthood.

The Palace Dynasties are the matrilinealy inherited male headed noble houses / civic rulers of each town palace area, the Royal Dynasty controls AlkRynn and in theory every male preceptor on the island, in practice the local preceptor battalions remain under the direct command of there local dynasty and given that every palace dynasty wishes to be the Royal dynasty preceptor versus preceptor coups are far from unknown especially after a run of bad harvests and ruined trade. It is however seen as taboo to kill the female members of a dynasty. This unfortunately leads to long running feuds and blood debts. The Royal Dynasty is always awaiting natural disasters (ussualy earthquakes) to prove that the priesthood has failed in some way to appease the gods and a chance to restrict the Rynn priestess’s power. This usually fails given the rather unified manner in which the female preceptors of all the “forms” act when threatened from the outside. The Palace Dyanasties power is based upon the oil and wine trades.

The art of poison is taken to be the high ideal as it is seen uncouth to spill blood within a palaces walls during years of good harvests and trade. Each Form of Rynn maintains its own small sisterhood who specialise in this craft.

During times of extreme danger such as threat of invasion the entire population of both the minor fishing villages and the palace towns make there way to Alk Rynn where a unified preceptor force forms the core of the army.

The Shadani, barbarians with culture.
Size, A.
Location, B.
Unity, C
Wealth, D
Technology, E

Everything in the TG to 01.

Did you get my telegram, Zero-One? I can re-send it or e-mail it if it's necessary.

This looks interesting, I've sent in a TG for appoval

I'd love to get involved in this as a small, technologically advanced, tribe of people coincidentally known as the Aumanii...because I'm far too lazy to start a puppet!

The Aumanii somehow managed to become very skilled metal workers...who have begun to solve the riddle of steel, though the majority of weaponry is still made of your typical metals. Good fighters, the Aumanii (Working title) are still hampered by low populations and a shitty economy. They are located in a mountainous region which allows them some semblance of security from invasion...though if a stronger nation wished, they could easily over come the tribes.

If Scolo would allow me, I will submit my statistics:

The Aumanii Tribes:


A: Technology
B: Location
C: Wealth
D: Size
E: Unity

Also, the name of the Tribe is just a working title...I've heard complaints already...always with the complaining...Anyway, I'll figure out a name for them before I start writing.

"Wethia, the Beloved of Sho"

Priorities
a) Technology
b) Wealth
c) Unity
d) Size
e) Location

Abstract
The city of Wethia Primus is seated at the conflux of several major rivers cris-crossing the rolling and fertile plains which it controls. The City is fortified to a limited extent, but in the main it has outgrown the walls funded by the Wethian League. With a population in the high tens of thousands the city is the dominant economic and political centre within Wethia, with other cities of little political importance, mainly acting as service towns for the farms that surround them, thousands of acres of cereal crops and pastoral land, the main exports from Wethia being food and soldiers.
Governance of the country and the various cities is handled by the individual conclaves of those cities, whereas Wethia Primus is controlled directly by the Supreme Conclave and it's elected head, the Archon.
The current Archon is Alexius, who achieved supreme power at the end of the League Wars after rising to the top of his faction through sheer moral authority, and then acruing military power to his faction in opposition to Abpatomenes, the dictatorial former Archon. With the latter's defeat and the exiling of his followers Alexius has concentrated on restoring civil order; recently however, he has begun to look outward into reclaiming the ex-cities of the Hegemony.
Oddly for the locality, Wethia is relatively gender balanced politically and socially, the majority of the clergy and health practitioners being women, it being regarded as blessed by the Sister Godesses for a woman to take either path.

Technology:
Technology within Wethia is advanced for the context, most of the Equites serving in the League Wars wearing iron armour and the very rich or extremely lucky having steel weapons.
Outside of the military, shipping is also advanced, the galleys of the urbanites-sailed Navy mounting ballistae and naptha cannon in addition to the navy and merchant sector having deep ocean capable vessels.
A few imported steam engines exist, but mainly as curiousities in the houses of rich men, far more attention is paid to the new farm equipment appearing and rebuilding the infrastructure neglected during the league wars when it comes to technology.
Towns, due to reasonably good hygiene (baths and sewers) and depopulation caused by the League Wars, are both large, relatively clean and empty, gradually refilling as refugees return to the cities. Most centre around the Conclave forum at their centre, generally adjoining to the town Sister Temples as well as the Field of Mars-Ti. Again, as a result of the League Wars, most have some sort of walls, ranging from pallisades to Wethia Primus's impressively high and thick inner walls.
Virtually unaffected by the wars were the broad and straight roads, it was imperative to keep them in excellent repair for the legions to move on, and given the generally temperate climate of Wethia, when it was impossible to maintain the roads the weather did them little damage.


Military:
The Legions of Wethia are a relatively small force at present, being recruited back into shape after the devastation wrought on them by the League Wars, the spear-armed heavy infantry being professionalised and the recruiting processes shifted away from the feudal emphasis of the earlier legions, where each sub-polis Conclave/Urbe Arbiter was responsible for funding and organising the training of a certain amount of legionaires. Cavalry, equipped with the new stirrups and using the traditional horse-bow of the herdsman remain almost entirely feudally recruited, in part because the sub-polii Conclaves are yet to surrender control over the last localised military units in their control.
Also formerly important but less so now are the Wethian Miles, literally "Man of Weth/Soldier", the feudal class responsible for war-making. Through the course of the League Wars nearly all of this class were fell or their feudal bonds broken/passed to the central government.
The largest 'group' of them remaining outside of governmental control were the supporters of Abpatomenes, who were exiled en masse at the end of the wars. They are not however, a unified military force.
Miles are trained from their early years, following a system called "Mars-Ti", which requires them to be capable foot soldiers or cavalry, depending on the landscape in which they are raised, the more rural tending towards cavalry archery, the closer to city being heavy cavalry and those from the polii themselves generally the commander of centuria of legionaires.
A properly trained Miles is easily the most devastating individual soldier on the planet and the exiles have developed a fearsome reputation as mercenaries.
The legions are equipped with (iron) stabbing spears designed to be used one handed, they can also be thrown by a sufficiently powerful individual, short (iron) stabbing swords or (bronze) falcata, depending on the individual, and a heavy shield. Generally armour is made up of a sleeveless bronze mail tunic, with iron full-face helmets and arm guards, no leg armour other than heavy leather boots being worn.
The Miles are similarly equipped, with the better-off/luckier replacing bronze with iron and the extremely fortunate having Sho-Metal (steel) swords.
Heavy cavalry and infantry Miles tend to wear metal-capped boots in addition to this, prefering longer swords (up to great-sword length) for anti-hoplite work for the infantry and traditional long swords for the cavalry.
Also important in the cavalry equipment are the composite bows of the Wethian herdsman, the vast distances involved in moving herds across her necessitating herdsmen be horsemen, and the heavy lance which evolved from the goads used by the same herdsmen.

Religion:
The Sister Godesses
Wethians worship Sho and her sister T'an. Sho, also known as Grey-Faced Sho, is symbolised by, and in some sects, incarnate in, the Sun, the Face of Sho. T'an is symbolised by, and again, in some sects, incarnate in, the earth and is viewed as a Mother Goddess, her rites are associated with Spring and the harvest. She is patron to farmers and women, the Great Mother.
Sho herself is the patron of War and Wisdom, the god of soldiers and artificers, punisher of sinners, purging their souls of evil in her great forge in the sun, where as those who die in a state of grace are warm within T'an's embrace for eternity.
People swear by Sho and pray to T'an, with some groups being more likely to call on Sho as well than others.
Within the last few centuries a third religion has emerged, though it is yet to be formalised in any respect, the worship of Wethia the Nation-Spirit. Followers of this idea view their nation as being the daughter of the Gods, a step between them and the world of men. Wethia the Godess is generally portrayed as a grey-eyed blonde in the simple robes of a Sister-Priestess and those who call on her are generally poets and merchants. Her symbol is the same as Wethia propers, the rippling blue/black pattern of wave and plowed earth.

Did you get my telegram, Zero-One? I can re-send it or e-mail it if it's necessary.
I got it, but you didn't specify a name (or perhaps I missed it).

Bazalonia]This looks interesting, I've sent in a TG for appoval
Telegram recieved and approved.

I'd love to get involved in this as a small, technologically advanced, tribe of people coincidentally known as the Aumanii...because I'm far too lazy to start a puppet!
I haven't seen anybody else make a puppet specifically for this, so certainly you could come up with a different name. As for "mastering the art of steel" I'm thinking the only thing appropriate is a mastery of a particular kind of steel which won't throw things off. Telegram me with an original name and we'll discuss it.

---

Coincidentally, I'm getting a little tired of Tech A societies. I had hoped there would be a more normally-distributed spread by now (silly me, this is NS--tech is rawr!) but it's just a commentary. I don't expect anyone to do anything any differently because of it. ;)

so i guess this a game of some sort but its not to clear to me on how this is to played:headbang:

As you said in youf first post to do so, I sent you a TG with my application 0-1. I'll await your responding TG now.

Given the technologies some Tech A cultures have developed, I think the Novistranans would probably be more suited to a Tech B status, so that is what I'm changing it to. I'm also changing Wealth to A - Unreal - so the section about our jewellery being prized becomes more significant. Basically, the majority of trade goods in markets will be related to us in some way.

As you said in youf first post to do so, I sent you a TG with my application 0-1. I'll await your responding TG now.
Read and replied.

Given the technologies some Tech A cultures have developed, I think the Novistranans would probably be more suited to a Tech B status, so that is what I'm changing it to. I'm also changing Wealth to A - Unreal - so the section about our jewellery being prised becomes more significant. Basically, the majority of trade goods in markets will be related to us in some way.
Noted. The position you've been penciled in on the map won't change, and do realize that any crossbows in this period are going to probably be rather clumsy, underpowered, and not at all the weapons banned by the Pope. This is more of a general statement rather than to just you, but anyway.

Read and replied.

Reply read, but not yet replied at. I'll give you the full description some time tomorrow.

BTW, location doesn't seem to be a very popular choice. I guess there will be a lot of desert on our map. (More or less the same for size really.)

Well, a location of E is steppe and not desert, but so it would seem! All the more for my nomads to rampage across.

Thanks, Scolo - at that point my random word generators were down so I couldn't come up with a name. They're the Qessai now.

Technologically they're a bit of a mish-mash, since they don't mine their own ores, don't build permanent structures, and don't have complex machineries - but they do have knowledge of ironmongery. I picked B mainly so they wouldn't have to use stone, though.

Auman, you may find this site useful - http://www.ruf.rice.edu/%7Epound/.

I TG'd you, Zero-One.

Sent.

Current listing of who's on the map and therefore accepted, by culture name:

Erinak
Serenysis
Wethia
Qussai
Albel
Alea
Kolmrathan Empire
Quibilah
Auman (tentative--needs a new name at the very least!)
Hakaa (although he wants to shift some things around)
Exodia
Novistrania
Aphinimer
NieknRynn
The People
Goran
Kalus
Zerowon
Shadani
Golith
Ossicbee
Schydin
Bney Elohim
Shodaya
Antoris

If I'm missing someone, let me know here rather than by TG because I still need to save some telegrams before they flood out.

Telegram recieved and approved.

Could you post it up here? I forgot to save a copy of the TG before I sent it and when I tried to browse back, it wasn't there. Thanks


so i guess this a game of some sort but its not to clear to me on how this is to played

This is pretty much a pure RP version of nationstates. We decide the areas our fictional nations (not in anyway actually related to our nationstates nations) are strongest to weakest in... Technology, Wealth,Location,Unity and Size is the order for my nation. And these are like the nationstates statistics they act as a limiting factor in this Hellenistic RP.

My nation can't go and raid a Size A nation just because we don't have the man power to do so, and a Wealth E nation might actually be dependant on a few wealth A/B nations.

How it is played though is by pure RP. People post what there nation does, or how people from that nation react and then some one else... usually someone starts a story-line.

Bazalonia']Could you post it up here? I forgot to save a copy of the TG before I sent it and when I tried to browse back, it wasn't there. Thanks
The City State and Trade Hub of Goran

Size, E.
Location, C.
Unity, D
Wealth, B
Technology, A

The city of Goran is a quite a prosperous city partly thanks to it's tradition of explorers that has brought itself the wonders of technology from afar.

Made up of a number of powerful families all aspiring to sit on it's throne as the ruling family usually has the city focussing on internal matters rather than trying to invade anyone else, hence why it is a city state.

Depsite it's smallness Goran weilds immense political power in the sense it is THE trade city in the region as it is so easily accessible as well as providing access to the wonders that it's explorers find. The city has fortifications but the only real thing that prevents the city from being under attack, even with it's small but iron-weapon based army the only thing really protecting it is the reactions taken by other nations once they found out that Goran was under attack.

The city's main pride and joy is the Clock tower that stands in the near dead centre of the city. Travellers have said that it look like it reaches to the stars, but the tower also serves other purposes. Military purposes, the tower is both a lookout for invading armies and brigands in the area as well as a semaphore-based communication system. Letting other nations know about events in the town, whether it is under attack, quarantened, open for business, or wishes to have diplomatic discussions.

Goran is located near the sea, not on it but it does have a port that is used to load and unload stock from ships as they head out on a new adventure or come back laden with goods.


How it is played though is by pure RP. People post what there nation does, or how people from that nation react and then some one else... usually someone starts a story-line.
That's pretty much the idea. The next post in the IC thead will be the official unveiling of the finalized starting map, and I'll include a summary of the cultures involved from some IC historian-mook (think Herodotus). Then people can flesh out their cultures IC, figure out reasonable arrangements and whatnot, and go from there. The IC thread is for IC posts only (of course) and OOC things can be discussed in this thread.

If the IC thread gets too cluttered, we can start making daughter threads (well, not technically, but new threads) just like anything else. If people end up being shy about getting involved or a particular person feels unloved/unwanted, then I'll step in (as Shodey) and either subtly or blatantly manipulate things.

There's going to be IC conflict, so there will be OOC disagreements. If we can't freeform the disagreements out, I'm the arbiter (IC and OOC). I'll also occasionally throw in plot points (NPC insurrections, heresies and traitors; plagues, famines, monsters) to keep things going... or, perhaps on request. Careful what you wish for, though...

Thanks... Just like to add religion to that...

The Gorans worship "The one who guides", the one that shows them the way to go. They believe that this being lives with the stars in the heaven as it is the stars that do guide them when out exploring as well as showing them the way to go home. As part of this; despite being technologically advanced, they are also extremely superstitious and tend to consult the stars through a complicated system of Astrology on a regular basis. There is no formal institution in this religion as it is from the stars one must get their guidance. People have their own variations within this system as well.

Shalrirorchia is officially declaring intent to enter, but I am still working on the specifics.

Are non-human races allowed?

Are non-human races allowed?
Non-human sentient races were not seeded on the planet, as per the opening post. Sorry.

Priorities:

A – High Iron Age
B – Balanced Legality
C – Comfortable Wealth
D – Out of the Way
E – Dinky Size

The Holy Bibliocracy of Zerowon is a small, relatively isolated city-state dedicated to the acquisition of knowledge, which is the task placed upon them by Our Celestial Lady the Emceepee so that they may return to the stars. This Great Work takes the form of what may be the greatest library in the world, with collected texts from a vast span of time and space, copied and maintain by a class that is half priest, half librarian. Another class, called 'technicians' use this information to better appeal for the divine intervention by the Celestial Lady and her subordinates such as sectoos.

Zerowon is a democracy, ruled by a Central Board comprised of three elected Processors - one from each class: technician, warrior, librarian– who serve a single four-year term, with one new member being chosen each year. The senior-most is the head of state and government, the Seepeeyoo. This makes for a fairly stable government, with no single group gaining too much power. There is also a second, larger assembly that is comprised of members elected from set districts, which controls taxation, from which jury members are drawn, and which can, by supermajority, veto actions by the central board. Most policy is decided by consensus of those involved, with a few permanent committees tasked with overseeing day-to-day tasks.

The classes are based on occupation, and quite flexible – while its common for one to go into the family trade, its not unheard of young person to go into a different one. Women are considered coequal to men, because of the importance society places on knowledge and thinking, not to mention the fact that few men want to have an angry goddess answering an oppressed woman's prayers.

Religion plays an important part in everyday life, not only because of the directive to Learn, but because it can produce practical results with enough effort and skill. Most people know a few basic household prayers, and a few more associated with their work. Almost all are literate, as children spend the long winter at the sides of librarian-teachers. Some librarians spend their lives studying the texts and histories to formulate new prayers, both everyday and greater ones. Greater detail leads to better results, and thus the study of the natural world is an important part of their craft. Of course, the greater the thing being asked for, the more complex the prayer, and the more likely (possibly deadly) failure is to result. Zerowon recognizes many faces to the Emceepee, and in particular the Celestial Lady as Storyteller. She favors the virtues of utmost honesty, charity, and wisdom. The relationship of the people with her is particular close and personal, for reasons that will be explained later.

Geographically, Zerowon is isolated. It's in a very mountainous region, with little in the way of flat land. Most of the population is located in a central valley that the city itself is located, although there are a number of tiny hamlets perched preciously around the place that are more-or-less under the city's control. There are some true roads, but its mostly trails. Thanks to a well-designed series of aqueducts and terraces, it produces enough food to feed itself and save up a little bit for hard years. The same can be said for its production of metal and other valuables, to the point that any large-scale trade in most goods isn't worth the difficulty of bringing things in and out. The city is fortified, with a wall blocking the only major road in in out. While an invading army could take the place, especially the small hamlets, it would be horribly inconvenient, and cost more than anyone could expect to gain from the place. Between this isolation, a very good albeit small military, and being generally inoffensive, Zerowon has had relatively little trouble beyond occasional raids in the past.

The Star Solidarity of Shodaya: An Out of Character reference guide.

Firstly, the indicators and their ranks:


A : Tech

B : Size

C : Wealth

D : Unity

E : Location


Geography...

The Star Solidarity of Shodaya is a large nation (Roughly at least two-thirds the size of modern-day France, or Germany) comprising mostly flat, open plains with little in the way of natural obstacles bar the sweeping coastal deserts which make up a percentage of the country’s western and southern borders with the sea. To the north vast chains of towering mountains effectively inhibit meaningful outside trade or communications and a concentrated effort is required to reach civilisation through any northern routes.

Politics, sub-national government and Organisation …

The fundamental unit of power in Shodaya beneath the very top tier of national government are the Families who control the Fiefs themselves. The important industries of the country are the respective domain of individual lines which can trace their involvement to the beginnings of their particular fields. For example one of the most powerful Families in Shodaya, The Beatrices, collectively manage and own all the farmlands in over two-thirds of the fiefdoms and thus have a strangle-hold on food production.

This is not seen as an insurmountable problem however, as the Families must rely on each other’s abilities to function. Whilst The Beatrices might have overwhelming influence in growing, they must rely on the skill of the Artificers to produce the farming machinery and tools, as well as the Architects caste in order to survive.

With the vastly different needs of all the Families, it is difficult for any one to rise above all others and so have their way totally. Even the smaller and lesser groups can exert strong influence if their expertise is suitably obscure—The Verihona for example being scribes and linguistic experts but counted amongst one of the smallest Families.

Each Fiefdom is headed by a King (Or Queen) and council, who rule in all matters unless otherwise overridden by the National Capital. It is therefore the prerogative of each Fief’s King to rule as is desired as long as it does not conflict with the national decisions of the time.

The King or Queen is usually the eldest son or daughter of one of the Familial Houses (Again usually one of the two most powerful) who ascends to the throne only when there has been however reluctant an agreement between viable claimants. Such agreement can often come in the form of threats, bribes or downright blackmail in order to place their own on the throne and therefore exercise considerable power.

Though the King is head he is not without those to answer to, as the Advisory Council beneath is made up of those Houses who were not successful in choosing the Monarch and therefore are compensated somewhat by receiving a place by which to “advise”. The council can be any number of people, and expands or contracts depending on the influences of the Familial Houses.

The King and Council are based in each Fief’s capital. For reference each capital is likely to be similar in design, construction and location as Edoras, the villages seen frequently in the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy films.

Reference Photos:

http://www.tolkien-movies.com/images/archive/moviesets/christpress-edoras.jpg

http://jsnake69.tripod.com/edoras.jpg

http://www.designertravel.co.nz/photos/edoras.jpg


National Government and Organisation.

The capital of Shodaya and seat of the country’s national government is the City of Zey, which has occupied many positions in the history of the nation as a result of countless incidents and conflicts which have seen it burned and sacked to ruins, before being moved and re-built. The city is considered eternal despite this, and its claimed age ignores such instances.

Reference Photos:

http://wallpapers.in-world.info/fantasy/fan16.jpg

http://www.simonho.org/images/Italy/Rome_Pantheon.jpg

http://robinhall.com/images/Roman-Fountain.jpg

The same Familial influence that exists in the Fiefdoms of Shodaya continues in the capital where they have de-jure control of much the same specialities, services and facilities they do elsewhere. In Zey however they are neither at the top of the power structure nor immune to influence as they are in rural areas, submitting to the controlling authority of the City and the country at wide.

The Head of State for Shodaya is known as the High-King of the Solidarity, differing somewhat from the conventional Kings of the Fiefs in that he is not appointed, rather it is a hereditary position from which one line since records began has occupied. The High-King likewise has a Council underneath but rather than those rewarded it is composed of representatives from each Fief as well as from the Military and any invited Familial ambassadors.

Also attached to the High-King but standing alone is the Star Prophet, or to give the full title, “The Star Prophet of the Celestial Goddess, The Lady of the Sea-between-Stars”. The Star Prophet is a genetic peculiarity, a woman (For the Prophet is invariably female) who has the gift of divination—able to foretell the future and events occurring that have yet to pass.

In decades long passed the Prophet disseminated potentially sound moves, disasters and situations of interest so that the High-King could safeguard Shodaya, and bring profit to its people. With this frontiers as smelting, linguistics and tradable goods increased success was plotted rather than truly earned.

Unfortunately the gift mutated further so that last half-dozen prophets’ divinations became darker and more melancholy until they became portents of ever-doom—tales of imminent destruction and catastrophe that seemed to endanger Shodaya yearly.

Shodaya today is much changed—a society where paranoia is the norm and even superficial change regarded with fear and suspicion. Even the most innocuous event can begin a chain of causality which brings destruction, and so individuals or even entire buildings can disappear, be raised to the ground or rebuilt in a new fashion on the wave of a prophet’s latest vision.

Along with increasingly dire visions the Prophets of new are unstable, flighty individuals. Rarely do they enjoy prolonged periods of even semi-lucidity, often falling into terrible depressions and self-perpetuating cycles of destruction between receiving images.

Prophets are not ever-present and when one dies, whether accidentally or through old-age (For they seldom meet a suspicious end) it can be many years, or even decades before a new individual is born or becomes old enough to receive visions. During these periods where there are no forecasts of the future progress is made in the arts particularly—the forges of Shodaya produce new construction techniques and theatres, rather than belching weapons of war. Intolerance of poetry, music and drama is lessened and the streets become awash with travelling carnivals and plays.

Almost all the progress is inevitably washed away with the coming of a new Star Prophet; only the scribes and intellectuals brave or wise enough to vanish into the shadows surviving to record and long for what was had briefly but now is lost. With the new Prophet come new war, and conflict, and paranoia which despite the cost in social development has seen Shodaya survive.

The relationship between the High-King and the Star Prophet has changed through history. In the past the advisory role of the Prophet, coupled with the tendency of her visions to be variable and informative tended to produce strong-willed High-Kings with excellent knowledge of the reach of their powers and more than enough charisma and character to see their orders fulfilled.

With decades of doom and death forecast however the strength of the Prophet’s place in society has been elevated until she arguably stands at least as importantly as the High-King itself in terms of respect and awe. Such an imbalance has lead to a disastrously weak-willed string of Monarchs fearing and doubting themselves to the point where the De-facto head of the Military is the Star Prophet herself, with the High-King existing almost only to rubber-stamp decisions in the theatres of war.

Religion.

The overwhelming religion of Shodaya is known as Celestial Divinity; with the Star Prophet as the direct mouth-piece of the monotheistic creator of the world, known as The Celestial Goddess, more commonly referred to as Our Lady of the Sea-between-Stars.

The tomes containing the teachings of Celestial Divinity are a threesome known collectively as the Solar Trinity; The Book of Predecession, The Book of the Stars and The combined Shodanimicon. The first contains the story of creation; the second the role of the Star Prophet and the third containing guidelines on life and also the sum visions received by every Star Prophet since records were first written. As such the combined Shodanimicon is ever-growing and is technically many distinct volumes treated as one.

There is no collective term for subscribers to this religion, which is the State religion also—all citizens of Shodaya and the incorporated Fiefdoms are expected to be adherents at birth and more often than not those people featured in the Star Prophet’s visions are not followers; a fact that more often than not leads to trouble.

A note about the name; it's Qessai, not Qussai or Quessai. Probably my fault in choosing a non-English orthography, there.

For the elucidation of passers-by and fellow participants, below is posted the abstract I wrote for the Qessai;

A for size, B for technology, C for wealth, D for unity, E for location.

These are nomads and pastoralists, herding cattle and horses from pasture to pasture with the seasons and the needs of their herds. As nomads, they have several inherent good points and bad points. Among the bad points are lack of centralised coordination, little cohesion above the level of clans, a lack of material goods (as everything must be carried), an inability to raise a standing army, and a lower birthrate than agrarian peoples, not to mention the fact that they simply don't have enough arable land to support farming; by neccessity they are pastoralists.

Among the good points are significantly higher mobility, and the fact that almost all adult males can double as light cavalry in a pinch; the skills of herding and hunting from horseback translate fairly well to the skills required to cut apart more static military formations with relitave ease (of course, if anyone manages to pin them down they're toast).

Societally, this culture is peculiar in that it is matrilinear and to some extent matriarchal; descent is reckoned through the female line - initially, perhaps, because one can (almost) always be sure who one's mother is, but less sure about paternity, but after several thousand years it now bears the full weight of tradition. Goods held in common by the clan - such as horses - are administered by the clan matriarchs, usually the oldest woman and her sisters, and marriages are arranged by the matriarchs.

They are, however, by no means amazons; the chieftains are men, (almost) all the fighting troops are men, and the khans of their warhosts are invariably men. Ownership of the recurved cavalry bows which are their primary weapons is the priveledge of men. Society is dominated by women within and between the clans, and by men outside the clans. Outsiders will most likely never see a nomad woman, as they venture out-of-doors heavily robed and veiled, and foreigners are not invited into the clan's pavilions; this has created an aura of mystique around the nomad women, and helped fuel all kinds of wild rumours. When asked, their husbands smile, shake their heads, and decline to comment.

Shodan is remembered as a mother goddess, robed and veiled in grey, but Her teachings have been distorted rather a lot. A clan-based, disunified culture means that different clans clash rather often, warfare (internecine and major) is common, and the religion has been slowly adapted to suit the needs of a culture more interested in ruling the steppes than peace and fraternal love.

Perhaps the most pertinent adaption of Her teachings is the linguistic shift in the word "siblings"; in their language, this has become /junior/ siblings, definitely inferior. As eldest sons and daughters of the mother goddess, they are destinied to rule the world. Younger children do not get much sympathy from their elders in nomad culture.

Shodan's (albeit much corrupted) word, and the oral history of the people, is preserved by lineages of matrilineal priestesses, the Blue Speakers. The Blue Speakers are a power apart from the matrilineal leaders, but are sometimes the same individual and often a close branch of the matriarch's family; they preserve, alongside history and theology, the songs recording routes to good pasture and other points of theological interest.

Shodan thus provides the nomads with an origin myth, a framework by which to judge their world. But She is no longer the only figure in their pantheon; another god has been added to the mix.

This is Qutan, the Red Sky Lord - a mythologised hero, a man elevated to the status of saint or demigod. While at one point he was merely human, albeit a megalomaniacal khan strongly convinced in his own divinity (Alexander the Great comes to mind, if Alexander the Great had managed to set up a cult centered upon himself), over the generations he has assumed the status of war god and totem figure, a latter-day son of the Grey Mother Herself.

Qutan conceived of, or possibly adapted from pre-existing folk belief, the existence of a supernatural host of spirits permeating the world - benevolent if appeased, malignant if affronted, but on the whole largely amoral. The Red Sky Lord's companions and cadre of accumulated mystics became the first Red Speakers, the wizards and shamans of the nomads, and similar myth grew up about them.

It is to the Red Speakers that the people turn to ensure the successful birth of a foal or calf, to call the rain or the animals they hunt, and to ensure victory in battle; war is sacred to the Red Sky Lord, and those killed in battle are sacrifices to ensure His goodwill.

Unlike the Blue Speakers, the Red Speakership is not based upon descent but upon initiation; it is a wholly more experiential, intuitive faith, in which young men consume certain hallucinogenic plants to gain entry into the spirit realm.

Based as it is on a more direct means of controlling the spirits of the world, the Red Speakers are considerably more popular in some aspects of daily life than their female counterparts, and at their urging standing stones are raised to mark spots particularly favoured by the spirit realm; hot springs, lakes, hills and caves all have their associated markers, as do the sacred sites of the Grey Mother - in recent centuries the Blue Speakers have taken to erecting stones at their own holy places, as they seek to compete with the slow usurpation of their power by the war god.

Some Blue Speakers have gone so far as to prophecy the coming of a Blue Earth Lady, a consort goddess to balance out the warlike tendencies of Qutan - since nomad wives have sharp tongues and tend to keep their husbands very strictly in line, this is certainly believable. And like the Red Sky Lord, the Blue Earth Lady will be born first in the world before becoming a goddess among the spirits, ushering in an age of prosperity when the steppes grow lush and green and the people may ride from one end of the world to the other without ever leaving their domains.

This sect, however, is disapproved of by the majority of the Blue Speakers as falling too far from the words of the Grey Mother, and the extent of the Blue Earth Lady cult is impossible to tell - it has assumed the status of a mystery religion, a secret among women.

The other power among the nomads is the blacksmiths, largely but not entirely synonymous with the Red Speakers; as these men can control the process of turning ore into metal, of forging copper arrowheads or iron lanceheads or swords, they are automatically held in esteem by the rest of the community (who naturally depend largely upon them for metal implements) and hide their skills within secrecy and code (something like the alchemists of Europe). The nomads do not mine ore themselves, but they do trade for ores or ingots, and on the edges of the steppes there are places where they charge a portion of the output in return for granting foreigners the right to mine on the steppes.

While they can hardly match the output of their distant agrarian neighbours, or the technical prowess of those more advanced cultures who have begun to experiment with steels, for what they have the nomad blacksmiths are quite good - their goldsmithing, like that of the Scythians, is fairly well known outside of their homelands.

It should be noted in passing that the nomads have invented both the stirrup and the wheel, although only the blacksmiths make much use of the latter, transporting their forges in lumbering ox-drawn wagons.

In terms of location, it's a steppe, it's big, and it's flat.

As you can see, the technology is a bit all over the place; their metalworking is good, but their stoneworking extends to erecting standing stones and carving petroglyphs on them. A nomadic culture seems something of an exception to how you've laid out your priorities list - I hope it's OK. As I outlined above, they do have their downsides.

I'm thinking of dropping the bit about the mobile blacksmiths, on account of it being probably kinda difficult/impossible/whichever.

A flavour note I didn't mention; in combat, the warriors of the Qessai hosts adorn themselves with ornate masks - these are decorated with simple pictograms (nothing near writing) representing the prior conquests of the wearer.

Some handy words;

A Tei is the leader of a warhost or clan; a Khan, more or less.
An Usaltei is a Great Khan, someone who's managed to unite a majority of the Qessai.
A clan is an Erre, usually preceding the name of the clan in question; Erre Aserras, Erre Alaztan, and so forth.

Plurals are formed by tacking -m or -im on the ends of things, so many khans are Teim, and many clans are Errem. The exception to this is Qessai itself, which is a group noun and considered a plural as it is.

Here's a nice little ethnicity description of the Qessai, the product of a handy little generator (http://nine.frenchboys.net/eth.php);

These people are generally 5' to 6' tall and their build tends to be compact. They have fine, wavy hair that varies from light to medium brown, eyes that are brown, grey, or blue, and chocolate brown skin. They typically have triangular faces, with flattish noses and eyes that are almond-shaped and close-set.

I got it, but you didn't specify a name (or perhaps I missed it).


Telegram recieved and approved.


I haven't seen anybody else make a puppet specifically for this, so certainly you could come up with a different name. As for "mastering the art of steel" I'm thinking the only thing appropriate is a mastery of a particular kind of steel which won't throw things off. Telegram me with an original name and we'll discuss it.

---

Coincidentally, I'm getting a little tired of Tech A societies. I had hoped there would be a more normally-distributed spread by now (silly me, this is NS--tech is rawr!) but it's just a commentary. I don't expect anyone to do anything any differently because of it. ;)


I've editted it to say they've just started to dabble in creating steel...the Tribes, which I will find a name for obviously, is just good and making metal. Other than there ability to dig up rocks and turn them into things, they aren't very hightech at all. Just your typical Barbarians, who occassionally come across a "magical" sword and go on adventures.

Just a quick note that I'm still interested, but a lil' busy, heh. Right now, looking to go with:

Unity: D
Technology: C
Location: n/a
Size: E
Wealth: D

If you remember my original concept, I think that fits best. If not, I can flesh out via TG in a week or so.

Yes, I know I'm not using priority right, but having a pair of D's that fit the concept is better than forcing in an A or B, ne?

A: WEALTH
B: TECHNOLOGY
C: SIZE
D: UNITY
E: LOCATION

Name: Derdon

Abstract-
Located on one giant Island, the Derdon used to be a cohesive and peaceful people on a fertile heaven. Power was given to a King, who ruled over his subjects with the aid of the royal family. For two hundred years, this pattern repeated. During that time, liberal marriages with commoners and savages from the East gradually tore the family apart. When King Oordin died in a boating "accident", he had only a 17-year old daughter. Thinking her to be harmless, her brother and his wife attempted to rule through her. Angered, Queen Argis castrated and neutered her brother and sent him to the tribes in the woods and had his wife married to a cow. Her younger brother, furious over this travesty, declared an open civil war. After a few indecisive battles, a meeting was called at the royal palace. Drugging her 13-year old brother, the Queen sent him to be sacrificed at a local temple.

For two years, the Queen ruled the Island with an iron fist. Male members of the Royal Family were either killed if they were older than five or neutered. However, Prince Voshko, a 3-year old cousin of the Queen, ran off and lived on the other side of the Island, where a family disguised him as their daughter. While the Queen spent her resources chasing the young Prince, bigger problems arose.

Many normal people and outsiders had their bloodlines literally cut off by the mad Queen, and formed an army. Wild battles raged across the island, killing thousands. During this time, the Queen contracted a rare disease and found Prince Voshko, who was now 11.

Knowing that her fractured empire was teetering on the brink of collapse, the Queen let the young Prince be and drug him back to the city. There, not knowing who was his family, he was married off to an aunt. The Queen, whose disease disfigured but did not kill her, ordered the aunt to run the empire behind her new husband.

Somewhat appeased by this supposed ascension by the young prince, the armies of the people rested. At the same time, the old Prince was allowed back into the city and to re-marry his wife.

For another seven years, this went on. Early reforms were believed to be the beginning of the old waya again, but soon it became weird. The Queen, through the aunt and therefore through the new King, banned males from the palace, banned them from the temple, banned them from the games, etc. As the rule of the "King" became more and more despotic and insane, calls for the Queen to take control were starting to be heard.

Inside the castle, politics were simple The King actually stayed to his own personal quarters, trotted out for speeches and hearings. The aunt busied herself with whatever was needed. The neutered prince would die in his room of a self-inflicted wound after his wife ran off with one of the female servants. The Queen sat on her throne, recovering from her illness. She regarded the King as a non-factor. He had been kept ignorant on all things, even the topic of sex, and as long as he stayed ignorant he would stay alive.

However, the King had fallen in love. At 15, he had been smitten with a young house servant(Who, oddly enough, were given better quarters than the males.) named Rebecca Derst. For three years, they exchanged letters and glances. Rebecca was terrified of what to say to the prince, two years her senior, and was even more so scared of what would happen to her. Then, one night when the King was 18, she sneaked into his room and told him the truth about everything. Then, they decided to have sex.

The next morning, they awoke to the aunt and two guards with their swords draw, ready to kill the servant and mutilate the King. The King flew into the guards, disarmed one, and killed the other while wounding his aunt. He then decapitated her and walked towards the throne room. Along the way, he recruited several other palace guards to his cause. Bursting into the room, the naked King(ha) and his small following killed the Queen.

Upon hearing the news that the "Mad King Voshko" had murdered members of family, a mob descended upon the palace. Fighting guards loyal to the Queen and a massive mob, King Voshko was pushed back and back until he and a few other were killed in the dining room. Hacking the corpse to pieces, the mob grew bloodthirsty and rampaged throughout the city and palace as factional violence grew in breadth and ferocity.

Rebecca was killed, as was more than nine thousand others. After the violence was over, people with ties to the old family meet and decided upon what to do.

It was decided that a new Queen would be put into place, and the line would continue in that vein. But, it was also well known that hardliners would disagree with it. So, a body of the People would be made up of entirely males. In practice, the Body could be overrided for almost no reason.

So, for sixty years, two Queens have ruled. Extreme sexism is on the decline in some areas, increasing in others. The Body meets weekly, but is meek and unwilling to challenge the Queen. Multiple fringe groups tie themselves to the old family and keep their own private armies, but are checked by the powerful militias run by the people, and therefore, The Body. The People's Army, The Royal Military, and the Families move together, but every so often a small battle will leave dozens of comrades dead.

RELIGION
The people of Derdon believe that four spirits make up the single god for which there is no name.
1- Fire Spirit-Kiuti- Bringer of destruction, anger, war, famine, death. Head of the Male House.
May
June
July
August
2- Water Spirit- Uiko- Bringer of life, refreshment, good luck, prosperity. Head of the Female House.
September
October
November
December
3- Wood Spirit-Beubon- Bringer of peace, tranquility, feasts. Head of the Sterile House.
Janurary
February
March
April
4- All-Seeing Spirit- Io- Bringer of all things to come and gone. The Queen is born with it.
Those born in the months under the sign are believed to possess those traits. Women born during the first two months are spayed, men during the next two neutered. It is believed that by relieving both sexes of their sex drive allows them to focus upon helping the Queen's spirit remain intact to move onto the next. They work as religious leaders.

Those born under the fire sign are trained for war. Women trained for officer and other leadership positions, men for the larger combat roles. In the Water sign, both sexes are trained for work. Men mostly for manual labor, women mostly being business owners and scholars.

The ultimate goal is sustaining the soul of a single queen through the Sterile House so long as to find the perfect Queen. God, thought by these people to be a female, would then transfer all her gifts to the Queen, who would then bring peace to the world.

TECHNOLOGY
A quick advancement of technology is what eveyone Queen wants.
*In all honesty, what I have to say here has been said maybe a thousand times.*


SIZE
The main city of Derdon is a massive, sprawling metropolis where 90% of the people live. The rest live in small towns situated around the Island.

WEALTH
Thanks to her excellent maritime operations, Derdon is a major player in world trade despite her poor location. Jewels and resources, as well as people studying in Derdon and their governments paying for it, account for much.


MILITARY
Has an advanced, well-trained, and veteran Navy. Armed with weapons fully capable of ship-to-ship combat, Derdon Marines are feared for their boarding capabilities. Marine Archers are armed with teh most advanced bows are extremely well trained. It is said a boatload of Derdon's is worth a hundred ships in ersm of training, expertise, experience, and technology. Her land army is well done on all acounts, but falls back on the militias and other support.

Mainly the result of me deciding that a 'wealth = A' civilisation with size = E is sorta silly. And as size = E and location = c are desirable (TM)... So wealth and technology were switched.

Also included are some now worked-out details with neighboring player nations and a (Very) basic description of the local script(s).

And... Well, so my neighbors know what they have to deal with, about.

Alea

Unity: D
Technology: A
Location: C
Size: E
Wealth: B

The city of Alea is located on a smallish peninsula of the same name, and enjoys a semihumid climate. The peninsula had once been covered with woods, however, the majority of them has since been cut down in order to supply extensive mining, particularly iron ore, although some (Minor) deposits of gemstones and even silver can be found further inland.

The population is small, largely due to agriculture, while enjoying relatively advantageous environmental conditions, being limited by the sheer size of the peninsula, or more specifically, its lack thereof (Alea's relatively young age is the second reason - it simply hasn't had the time to grow). Effords to colonialise the (Fairly open) hinterland and thereby supporting the growing population are comparatively minor, the people tend to prefer the sea (Fishing) to agriculture. All in all, about sixty thousand people are considered Aleans (Or the property thereof, although slavery is comparatively rare), with about a third of those living in the city itself.

Alea has actually been a fairly active location during the neolithic, due to the - at that time - considerable amounts of flintstones found there, which had created economic ties with other regions throughout the (Local) neolithic, resulting in the acquisition of amber and pottery over transcontinental distances.

This changed with the (Equally local) advent of bronze, as Alea itself - while being a (For that time) extensive city didn't possess tin, nor copper. This and the lack of sea-based trade (Which was only just developing) eventually resulted in the old settlements losing drastically in size and importance.

However, the region began to re-establish itself after methods to produce iron had been developed - local, and fairly extensive iron ore deposits quickly resulted in Alea once more growing. However, the presence of iron didn't actually result in similarly advanced forms of political organisation.

Having 'Missed' the political developments during the local bronze age, especially with regards to centralisation and legal structures, Alea's own society remained largely what it'd been during the neolithic and the bronze age (When the city had been largely depopulated, and the countryside filled by more-or-less self sufficient farmers). Several family clans are in effective (Though not necessarily total) control of the city (And its laws, which can be bent at will, although such is rarely done, due to economic issues - better to be calculable) and the surrounding countryside, with political marriages and mutual gifts (Not to mention the need to keep everyone else down) forming the framework that is supposed to prevent major unrest - which it usually does, though every twenty-five or thirty years, minor or major forms of internal violence are involved in breaking the dominance of one family in favour of another.

Alea's economy is considerable - producing an extraordinary amount of high quality iron tools, weapons, and the likes, its products tend to be desirable. However, the relative lack of agriculture, relatively few other valuable minerals/ metals, and - to no small part due to the lack of agriculture - a notably underdeveloped textile industry, mean that it doesn't actually have much else (Pottery and coloured glass being exceptions to the rule), all of which (As well as its small population) results in its luxuries (And, for that matter, profitable trade at large, though this is in part due to its location not being at the centre of everything - it's good to import from, it's good to export to, but it's not so good to meet with strangers) being relatively limited.

At present, three family clans - the Altani, the Nesati, and the Ugana - are in effective control of Alea, with the Altani and their elder Nasapa being the most influential of the clans. Together, the three clans control basically the entirety of Alea's trade - either directly, or indirectly, by way of what amounts to being licences.

Alea isn't a particularly aggressive society - its agriculture and fishing are barely self-sustainable, and its desire to acquire more luxurities is considerable (Especially as it does have a certain inferiority complex towards the older, if technologically less developed, societies and their vastly more refined cultures, which drives the locals - especially the higher classes - to copy just about everything said older cultures have produced, or are producing), and trade does offer rather more efficient ways to acquire both, especially considering Alea's comparatively insignificant size, and not particularly safe (Or well-travelled) location. This said, potentially aggressive tendencies are present, but would require extraordinary circumstances to become dominant.

Alean religion is about as 'Backwards' as their society at large, with SHODAN most commonly depicted the way she was during the 'Golden Age' of Alea, the neolithic - essentially a hunter-goddess, reminiscent of the greek Artemis, combining kindness with strength and skill (Incidentally also the reason why during neolithic times, a 'Sustainable Exploitation' mindset among the hunting parts of the society was actually in existence).

However, due to this somewhat old, and not quite up-to-date religious believes, said religious believes are actually collapsing, with SHODAN cults more based on older metal-based civilisations in the local neighborhood (For example from Qessai) gaining an (Bemoaned, as far as the older elites are concerned) entry into the Alean society, together with attempts by the elites to combine the many different religious leanings now entering the society into a 'Useful' cult - here, like in most aspects of the society, the three clans tend to have notably different opinions, forming the potential for a rift throughout the society.

Due to Alea's 'Backwardness' up until relatively recent times, the home-grown cult(s) aren't particularly impressive, with the temples being small, and worship being a relatively 'Private' topic (Although the major clans are growing in importance, as far as rituals and religious functions are concerned), which, due to the recent influx of wealth, has resulted in further weakening the native cult in favour of 'Imported' ones, which are in the process of creating a vastly more impressive infrastructure in the form of large temples and centralised worship, with the former being in no small part responsible for their attractiveness - on the other hand, parts of the society reject the foreign influx, and are growing ever more militant. Likewise, attempts at 'Modernising' the old cult are being undergone, although the society's lack of identity makes those (Often slightly ridiculous, and usually rather unsuccessful) attempts rather futile.

Alea's architecture - as far as everything except the major clans and the temples are concerned - is still rather unimpressive, with old, and partially even neolithic-resembling structures being dominant throughout the peninsula, although the relative lack of wood is now slowly resulting in buildings of stone replacing those made of wood.

The exception to this is the city itself, which, although it still features many of the old, and comparatively unimpressive/ primitive buildings, is growing in size, and quickly adding vast mansions and temples, especially close to the seaside. Still, like with most other things, Alea's comparatively backwards with its architecture, although it desires to change this as soon as possible, also as with most other things.

As far as 'Status' buildings like temples are concerned, bulky, 'Hard' forms are preferred, with massive (If rare) constructions not necessarily pleasing to the eye. That its architects aren't quite so far as to make them more impressive is another, and more-or-less permanent problem.

Trade is conducted primarily by sea, although the land isn't far behind. A problem is, once more, wood - while Alea has a sizeable fleet (Its land-based strength is rather less impressive, and cavalry basically unextant), it is forced to acquire the wood necessary to build more ships from further and further off its actual boundaries.

Also noteworthy is that although its (Military) products tend to be desirable, its lack of other products and its relatively small population means that it isn't actually a major trade hub by itself (Although it'd like to be one), but more an 'End of the route' region.

Internally, the society is likewise undergoing change - the major clans are generally conservative, with comparatively strict ethics. Sexual excess, although popular with the wealthy top of the new generation, is frowned upon - conversely, women aren't particularly oppressed (If supposed to not randomly change their role within the society, but then, neither are men), largely due to the hunter-goddess cult - and luxuries, albeit desired, are also seen as 'Sinful' by a large part of the society, esp. its rural population. Mild forms of patriarchal family structures are the most common ones.

As is hardly surprising, given the notable lack of importance over the course of the bronze age, Alea's script isn't particularly wlel-developed and in large parts resembles that of its neighbors - the Kolmyrathan Empire in particular has had a considerable influence on Alea's script, which 'Imported' roughly three-hundred symbols (With some changes - writing on parchment required certain stylistic changes to the original cuneiform, turning them into a more flowing script) - they are most common to describe higher social functions, religious cults, the likes. Added to this is about as many symbols for a locally developed syllabary script that is most often used together with the Kolmyrathan-inspired cuneiform, as far as everyday life goes (Roughly 10% of the population can read and write). However, especially among the higher classes (That is, the major clans and the various priests) and for religious purposes, using the original Kolmyrathan cuneiform (And often the language itself) is considered a sign of education and skill.

As mentioned before, modern Alea is a fairly recent development - it has been an insignificant, and largely agricultural spot throughout most of the local bronze age. However, about a generation after the Qessai incursion in the Kolmyrathan empire, Qessai assaults on the Wethian League, as well as the leagues' interal fracturisation, and the dawn of iron (As well as its surprisingly quick development) in Alea eventually resulted in the formation of an independent Alea.

(Forgive the meandering of this passage, my mind wanders between points fairly easily unless I force it to do otherwise.)

The Kolmyrathan Empire is an ancient nation-state at the very top of the western sea. It consists of several city-states, each of which now controls its own territory and army. Over the past century the Kolmyrathan Empire has been slowly imploding, the city-states fighting cavalry engagements for mastery and occasionally pulling up greater armies to repel coalitions or invaders. In recent years siege warfare has become more common, with the mighty city of Trys being utterly razed to the ground by combined forces from Kolmyr and Rud.

While unstable, the Empire will normally unite to repel any foreign invaders, as in the case of the attack by the Qessai, who reached the gates of Ar-Beis before being violently repulsed. Until recently warfare was confined primarily to the soldiers and leaders, with most people being left out of it unless called upon to fight. This has allowed agriculture to flourish, as has the mining industry, because peasants are resources who need to be taken care-of or else they stop being useful. The new trend of the cities sacking the smaller villages and slaughtering all inhabitants is a disturbing one, showing the gradual breakdown of their culture.

Scientific progress has suffered too, with the university city of Trys' destruction setting back many of the sciences back years, especially in the fields of medicine and metallurgy. Before the current round of instability the smiths of Kolmyrath were amongst the finest smiths on the continent, but now their work has slackened

In the past, the Kolmythrans were far more united then they are now. While there was another period of disunity 600 years ago, also prompted by an attack by the Qessai savages, it was quickly subdued and the Sarkon of Kolm restored his power.


Because their civilisation is based in an easily accessible system of plains, and thus there are little natural defences apart from the rivers and lakes, many of the cities are amazingly well-fortified. It has often been said that the wonders of Kolmythra are her fortifications, which are amongst the mightiest, if not the mightiest, in the world. Through out her history, the walls have always remained strong until this very year, when in quick succession the cities of Ar-Beis and Tyrs have been destroyed, the first by Tyrs, which itself was wiped out by forces from Rud and Kolm working in unison, combined with mercenaries from other more vital nations, such as Wethia.

Their iron has high amounts of carbon in it and is thus very high-quality, though they don't know that's the reason for it. A lot of revenue comes from selling the iron, but a great deal of wealth draws on from from selling their surplus grain to NieknRynn. For the most part, though, Kolmyrathan wealth is based upon the glories of the past, as the instability has crippled it considerably and now many of the cities are eating into the surpluses of millenia.

The Empire's cities are becoming more and more open to international influence as the Empire itself crumbles around them. The nation of Alea has established two trading ports in the cities of Nekwer and Kurst, whilst the nation of Nieknrynn has done likewise on the opposite coast in Kwen and on the island of Nwe-Kwen.


Militarily, the Kolmythrans when they go to war are an imposing sight. Shining ranks of cataphracts are dwarfed by the mighty war elephants and accompanied by the spearmen, who fight with iron-tipped spears while wearing iron-studded armour. Archers with composite bows ride on top the elephants or on swift mounts, though with nowhere near the skill of the Qessai neighbours. The walls of their cities are guarded not just by girth, but also by large numbers of archers and ballistae. Their seige-weapons tend to be primarily ballistae and battering rams, with trebuchets occuring in those cities most influenced by the island states of the Nieknrynn.

Only three of the four major cities currently have navies. Kurst, Klen and Nwe-Klen. Nekwer used to have its own fleet, but the others united and sunk it, leading to much bitterness by that formerly prosperous city against the rest of the nation. Most Kolmyrathan warships are triremes and quadriremes, with the primary armament being archers and ballistae, though onagers that make use of Kolmyrathan Fire are not unknown.

Much of the wealth of the cities goes to hiring mercenaries forces too, especially from Wethia.and the Shadani, though other forces have been hired on occasion. Occasionally the captains of the Nieknrynn nation are hired to eliminate 'piracy', in which the Kolmyrathans would declare, seemingly arbitarily, a single nation's navy to be piratical, then pay for it to be attacked. This is much less common now.


The Kolmyrathans use a cuneiform script with approximately 700 characters currently in common use, and 3722 characters in total. Two of which are never used. The spoken language is a complicated one to listen to, spoken quickly and with little effort under most circumstances to make it intelligible to foreigners.

The Kolmyrathans have never been particulary religious people. At the time of the Old Kingdom (roughly 1230-550 years ago)the Sarkons spent a fortune and the lives of hundreds of slaves on carving a sandstone mountain into the likeness of a woman's face. They did this for no real purpose except to demonstrate their wealth and power. After the collapse of their dynasty from the slave revolts, invading barbarians, and sheer lack of funds and the foundation of a new Kingdom the rulers declared, arbitarily, that the statue was of the Great Sha, supreme being of the Kolmyrathan pantheon. This despite the fact that Sha had never before, and indeed has never since, been portrayed in image, unlike the lesser deities.

The Kolmyrathans are a very relaxed people about many things. Little attempt is made to hide the nature of the world beyond basic decency. The traditional clothing for most women is a thin shift that clings to the curves and reach the knees, but avoids being fully transparent. Men wear thicker robes that reach down to the shins, at the highest. Most men have beards and short-cropped hair on the head, while women pride themselves on keeping their bodies free from all hair apart from that on their heads. The infantry uniform is a thick leather tunic that reaches to the knee and a peaked helmet, while cataphracts wear chainmail. Slaves, including women, will rarely wear more than a long loincloth unless working in the mines, in which case a leather robe will be provided.

Kolmyrath is a very patriarchal society, with women relegated to secondary roles almost universally. Many of the more wealthy Kolmyrathans have harems or practice polygamy.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v369/Roania/Kolmyrath.jpg

Jachrillrae, your culture and the sexism within it disgusts me. That's some damn fine roleplaying. Fancy having a war at some point?

Size - A
Wealth - B
Unity - C
Technology - D
Location - E

The Republic of Erinak
(note: was thinking of a setup similar to India, possibly about the same size for territory, not exactly sure what you had in mind for my size...)
A fledgling empire on the rise, Erinak is a growing power, mostly overlooked by the other nations as of yet. Settled in a rich fertile valley, the Erinakians origanally were farmers. Barbarians from the north moved in on these simple people however with their superior, Bronze weapons and quickly subdued them, however these invaders, called the Fardonese, were quickly absorbed into the culture of the Erinakians. Though the Fardonese still retain much of the political power they have established some semblance of a Democracy, giving the landowners the right to elect their representatives who meet in the Senate and set general policy for the people. In times of war, a Chancellor is chosen to lead the people however his reign comes up for review every year. The Fardonese are careful to rig these elections to ensure their dominance over the native Erinakians.

The land of Erinak is mostly open plains, however to the north lies a light forest, easily traveled through that serves as a good source of lumber for the people. The land also has some Tin resources, mostly in the foothills by the sea.

Currently the territory of Erinak spreads across the plains where they raise elephants, zebras, and other (African) animals. The Erinakians themselves have dark black skin and are tall and skinny. The Fardonese have a lighter skin and are stalkier people, coming from the mountain regions.

The Erinakian Military is mainly centered around the Zebra drawn war Chariot and the War Elephants, which serve as mobile archery towers. The Elephants are covered in a series of leather hides that are resistant to arrows and similar weapons, which pass through the first layers but are then caught underneath.

Due to their tremendous food output, the Erinakians are able to field a massive population, with 8 cities lining the Erinak River (source of their name), along with 2 more natively Fardonese cities farther into the mountains and another city near the forests that serves as the hub for the Lumber trade throughout the Republic.

Hmmm... Transhumanism, when you said "India" I thought "subcontinent" and so that's sorta where you are on the map (you'll see). There's still room for valleys and rivers, though, albeit more hilly valleys than mountain valleys. We can work it out.

Finally no switching is neccesary because the Vikings were quite wealthy as raiders.
I wrote (emphasis mine here):

"Wealth is a measure of how much in the way of utilizable, useful resources a culture has; a high Wealth priority puts a culture on par with Ancient Egypt while a low Wealth priority means the culture is made up of dirt farmers who either lack or simply can't use resources available to them (although this doesn't prevent them from taking advantage of being on a lucrative trade route and being a trade center)."

Wealth from raiding and wealth priority are two different things, but I'll simply look at it as the raiding has been successful and so you've managed to get some decent things on a permanent basis--that or perhaps the natural wealth is underutilized for whatever reason.

Serenysis Freehold Overview
Capital: Serenois

Priorities
Technology: A
Wealth: B
Location: C
Unity: D
Size: E

Profile
Serenois is a small city-state located on the isthmus west of Wethia. It is governed by what is loosely termed as the Freehold, a confederation of the major Hagia (Houses Noble), Nuseria (Houses Ordinary), and Muketis (Guilds) who select a chief of state and head of government—the Amaldris (Lord Protector)—and an executive council—Imradari (The High Council) every two years during the Matrida (Common Congress).

The Serenysis are a people dominated by the pursuits of trade and learning. They maintain a vast trading fleet and a considerable navy given the relative size of the Freehold. While the government of the Freehold may be a place of Byzantine political struggle and intrigue between the various factions and their allies, the business efficiency of the Hagia, Nuseria, and Murketis have lead to rise of a common banking system, the formation of common currency, a belief in the need for unrestricted trade abroad (even if it is dominated by the various members of the Matrida within the Freehold proper), and several other economic accomplishments.

The Freehold uses its navy to give the appearance that it wields considerable military power and possesses a heightened level of military prowess. In reality the navy was established by the Freehold in order to provide for the security of Serenysis trade and to combat any attempts at an attack the Freehold feels most vulnerable to—an invasion by sea or a blockade against their trading fleets. The Serenysis maintains only a small standing army that’s soul purpose is the defense of the city and to work in cooperation with the local militia/police force in the events of emergency. On land the Serenysis still maintain a very defensive policy, with the city being protected by the Curtain Wall that is maintained at state of readiness and constantly manned.

The intellectual community of the Freehold—excluding the religious schools of the Order of Sabbat—is centered on the Pardus, a vast university forum for all forms of knowledge in the Freehold. Thousands of the city’s best thinkers and their pupils throng to the Pardus every day to advance the common knowledge of the Freehold. The Pardus also has special sections of its campus devoted to those minds that work under the patronage of a member of the Matrida, although their ultimate results are published to the entire community the original creator and his patron are accredited with the acclaim and initial use of any devices created. Finally the Pardus has a smaller campus devoted to the education of the city’s youth, who receive rudimentary education in language, mathematics, and a few cultural areas.

Every Murketis also maintains its own schools and educational facilities specific to their area of expertise in their main compound, most of which are located in the same city district as the Pardus and the Matrida’s forum. The facilities of the Murketis are restricted to members and apprentices only.

Religion

The religion of the Serenysis is the Order of Sabbat, centered on the Great Goddess Sabbat who governs the powers of the oceans and the waters that dominate life in Serenois in the form of its impact on trade and agriculture. While there are a pantheon of local and house gods and goddesses, these are lesser beings when compared to the majesty of Sabbat and cannot be held above Her. The Order of Sabbat is dominated by the atayani priests and priestess. While a core element of the atayani are the atayani tempulus, those consigned to guarding and maintaining the temples and shrines of Her Holiness Sabbat, the larger portion of the atayani are the atayani imhava, the priest-pilgrims. The imhava support the main calling of the Order of Sabbat, the duty of all Serenysis to either spread the faith abroad through exploration and manifesting their culture or support these vast pilgrimages.

While the Order of Sabbat remains a considerable presence in the life of Serenysis, as well as a convenient explanation for their wanderings abroad, it has fallen by the wayside as additional emphasis has been placed on more worldly affairs of learning and trade. Today the Order of Sabbat supports the underlying faith of all Serenysis: superstitions found in the world around them. The Order of Sabbat is now looked to every time a new Amaldris (Lord Protector) and a new Imradari (Protector’s High Council) are elected at the beginning of every two years. This includes an ornate ceremony of accepting the office covering a week of sacrifice and penitence to Sabbat, as well as interpreting numerous signs that hark to what the new Amaldris and Imradari will bring to the Freehold.

The Atayani-ayt-shrinus, the high priest who governs the Shrinehold of Sabbat in Serenois itself, have all been aware of the power they hold over the Amaldris and Imradari especially when it comes to public opinion of their reign upon its induction. While not an active political force, the atayani know well how to make their own designs and machinations present in the Freehold. And often do so with even greater subtle manipulations and clandestine designs than the greatest Noble Houses, Houses Ordinary, and Guilds ever have demonstrated.

I wrote (emphasis mine here):

"Wealth is a measure of how much in the way of utilizable, useful resources a culture has; a high Wealth priority puts a culture on par with Ancient Egypt while a low Wealth priority means the culture is made up of dirt farmers who either lack or simply can't use resources available to them (although this doesn't prevent them from taking advantage of being on a lucrative trade route and being a trade center)."

Wealth from raiding and wealth priority are two different things, but I'll simply look at it as the raiding has been successful and so you've managed to get some decent things on a permanent basis--that or perhaps the natural wealth is underutilized for whatever reason.

The Albel are like the Russians. They have many utilizable resources just in hard to get and rather odd locations. Also the resources may just be beyond the time period and the world might need to advance in order for them to actually get to their vast abundance of resources.

Jachrillrae, your culture and the sexism within it disgusts me. That's some damn fine roleplaying. Fancy having a war at some point?
I see no problem engaging in war. See what happens when I've been up for five days with little or no food?:cool:

I've got some stuff written down for eventual entry into this- I'll try and catch you online tomorrow to go over some stuff ^_^ (Waaay too much to cram into a TG)

Shalrirorchia

At least most people had the good grace to read the instructions and wait to be accepted before posting here--that being the intent of a telegrammed application, after all.

Given you chose size E, I'm thinking "Empire" is a misnomer at best and blatant propaganda at worst. Additionally given that the northern-by-sea-reckoning coastline is already filled up, I suppose you mean the northern coast of the continent, which, if it exists, is seperated from everyone else by a large chain of mountains as per the map already posted.

You see, this is why applications are telegrammed to me and why I vet them; we can write them in so they at least make some sort of sense, rather than being yet another dominating-everyone-else-in-some-fashion-or-another-because-it-is-said-so culture.

Errr.... sorry, telegrammed application.

Zero-One, kindly check your telegrams, as I wish to have a word with you..

Errr.... sorry, telegrammed application.
Read and replied. As stated in the telegram any new applicants will probably have to be added off the edges of the map, basically in a new map/region (perhaps on the other side of Shodaya). Hopefully that wouldn't be a problem?

Zero-One, kindly check your telegrams, as I wish to have a word with you..
Word read and replied to.

Tech: A
Loc: B
Gov: C
Eco: D
Size: E

Hakaa is the sort of tiny city-state that had always been independant. It's located on a peninsula protected by a rocky coastalarea, with only two small fortified tradingharbors, and a tiny bit of land between the mainland. Combined with a highly disciplined national army the city has been able to stay out of the grasp from nations like Kolmythra.

The cities coast is often terrorrised by a heavy northwind, making trading sometimes difficult and in early days creating the states religion for the God of the North Wind, Támás. The religion has far less influence as it used to do

The city is a cultural bloom with a well cenralised government under the current High Marshall controling everything. The High-Marsall is elected once the old one dies, this position is not heriditary at all, even so that a law forbids people of the same family to be elected straight after eachother.

The city of Hakaa is a cultural and liberal capital with a high ammount of inhabitants for such a small nation. Food is traded with other nations creating a sensitive weakness that has been disastrous in the past so always immense stocks are laid.

The army of Hakaa is highly disciplined and armed with the latest technologies. The nation also has a military service of 3 years for each man and some mayor manouvres every year, usually in october that will call up every able-bodied man to join. During wartime the state would take but a week to gather an army of 20 000 men.

Size: E
<snip>
During wartime the state would take but a week to gather an army of 20 000 men.

For some reason, I think that a size E 'nation' wouldn't even have 20.000 inhabitants alltogether, let alone that many soldiers. (After all, how many cities with 20.000+ inhabitants existed back then?)

Size is not population, a large city can have alot of inhabitants, even if it does not control much land.

I think the total population of our 'Empire' hovers around the 55,000-60,000 mark at any one time, and that's probably the maximum we're having as being Size E. The figure I set for the army was around 10%, so we're summoning up five to six thousand soldiers; to compensate for the size, we have excellent military technology and the soldiers are trained to a high degree. It's the quality vs. quantity argument, really.

As the Scythians failed to keep censuses, I have no idea what the Qessai population should be, although I'm thinking a couple hundred thousand. They're definitely on the quantity side of the debate - heck, they don't have a standing military as such.

zero-one i sent a TG if you're still open for more countries

Size is not population, a large city can have alot of inhabitants, even if it does not control much land.


Actually if you read the descriptions in detail, size technically is population.

D: Small - The culture may contain a couple of proper cities and a handful of smaller towns but is still limited to part of a region (Sparta, Athens and associated territories)
E: Dinky - The culture fits neatly inside a city and its immediate surroundings. A particularly small island-bound Greek polis would be an excellent example.

So, uh, probably not so many as to start welding definitive numbers of 20,000 soldiers to it, 20,000 is a hell of a lot of soldiers considering that you're size E, which'd probably place you as Thebes sized, one of the smaller city-states.

Unless you decided to go for a Sparta-esque army, which mobalized everybody and buggered off to fight, of course this'd collapse horribly when the food ran out and nobody was there to harvest any crops.
Which it kinda did in a number of occassions.


But do remember that a city-state isn't just a single city.
Its an independent, self-governing city that incorporated its surrounding territory, including smaller towns and villages.

So perhaps folks dumping up to their entire populations [or 90% as spotted in one entry] into them should actually consider the implications attached to them.

Farmland isn't exactly high-quality when shut up inside city-walls. And the less said about livestock in a confined space the better.

Waste disposal becomes another issue as so many people confined in such a space would inevitably produce, aswell as the food necessary for animals and disposal of said animal waste produced.

Ontop of this is all the industries and food supplies needed to support such a large city that can weild said numbers.

So at the moment you're probably thinking that they could just walk out of the city and farm instead.

This is true, they could but it'd probably only be in a short range due to the necessity of tilling the fields and harvesting the crops, working from sun-rise to sunset then having to walk home is not a pretty idea for people to have a grueling 6 mile round trip.
This slowly puts a limiter to the amount of food you can produce when you have just a single city, large population or not.

Now say you disperse said population to a few named townships in a slightly expanded area rather than focussing so religiously on a single-city then you can potentially have more crops and more lucrative agriculture as a result at the sacrifice of hiding the entire population behind a massive city-wall.

Also, organizing an army in an entire week would perhaps only really result in peasents with swords, actual organization would take vastly longer, aswell as training said 20,000 to actually use said swords/pikes/whatever without killing more of their own men or cutting their arms off.

But at the end of the day its up to the Games Master if you all starve to death or live and die, or set your population. :)

Okay, Zero-One gave me the go-ahead via Telegram and he/she came up with this Priority System and so, here you go, along with a (moderately) brief description of my culture, along with various other tidbits.

Aniaveran Overview

Location: A (Played as D)
Tech: B (played as C for basic base; the rich get their iron from trade)
Wealth: C
Size: D
Unity: E

Welcome to Aniaveras, a land where everything seems fine on the surface, but on the inside, tensions flare, hatreds expand, and the entire area is on the verge of explosion into full-fledged war. The most important thing about Aniaveras, the thing which has ruled the land for ages is its rich-poor divide. The rich were once condensed into a single aristocracy, but a series of family feuds and breaks split the upper class apart, into clans. The country is ruled by the clans, who keep these old, old fights alive, and the poor suffer for it.

There are four main powers in the land of Aniaveras; the Septimarchy, the Priesthood, the Havedi, and the assassins. The first of these are, officially and internationally, the "rulers" of the country. The Septimarchy is a set of seven people who form a council to "control" the land. It is for this prize that the clans fight for. The clan that currently holds the Septimarchy (all seven "rulers" are members of this clan) is the clan that has the "official jurisdiction" in the land, the clan which has legality. The other clans look to hire assassins to kill off the Septimarchs and gain control of this "throne" for their own.

The second of these powers is the Priesthood. The Priesthood are priests to mysterious "gods", "gods", which, for some very, very, odd reason, demand quite a bit of money in order to "protect the people of Aniaveras". While the Aniaveran people are not (that) stupid, they still give money and goods to the Priesthood, often at knifepoint. The gullible ones enter service to the "gods". The Priesthood's ultimate goal is to get a puppet clan as Septimarchs, and so ensure their strength and power. Thus, they often enter alliances with rival clans, playing enemy against enemy and friend against friend, all to consolidate their own power.

The third power in the land are the Havedi. The Havedi are a clan, but the word "Havedi" itself is a title. There is only a single trade route leading out of Aniaveras and the Havedi rule it. This is the other prize for the clans to fight over, for whichever clan is Havedi controls the only source of iron to the country. There has never been a clan which held both the Septimarchy and the Havedi positions and it is rare that there will ever be one. The Havedi are powerful and strong, but they too must face the power of the assassins.

The last power in the land are the assassins. The assassins are trained killers, men who are born and brought up to slay. They are trained from birth in acrobatics, fighting with several different kinds of weapons, fighting with no weapons, and various other things. All clans use the assassins to kill their opponents, which the assassins do...for a price, often a large price. Thus, the assassins are the richest of the factions. When in public (which is rare) assassins wear cowled black robes, that scare away and warn bystanders that these are assassins passing. The assassins live solitary lives, inside stone enclaves that dot Aniaveras. They are isolated from the rest of the country and, if rumor is to be believed, the own one of the largest collections of ancient books in the world. But rumor cannot be believed.

Iron is a prized commodity in Aniaveras. The rich all own it, but the poor use mainly stone and wood tools. The poor are oppressed, forced to work for little or no money, and are slaughtered if they do not. Women are considered, generally, to be less than men (the Priesthood was once run by chauvinist who spread rumors that the "gods" hated women, which resulted in mass killings and imprisonment, until someone with intelligence realized that a culture needed women to survive). It is not the best place to live.

The clans struggle against one another, poisoning, slaying, and backstabbing. They form alliances, play each other against one another, and, if they were to raise armies, the land would break into war. Aniaveras is hell for some and heaven for others. It all matters on birthright and money.

Actually if you read the descriptions in detail, size technically is population.



So, uh, probably not so many as to start welding definitive numbers of 20,000 soldiers to it, 20,000 is a hell of a lot of soldiers considering that you're size E, which'd probably place you as Thebes sized, one of the smaller city-states.

Unless you decided to go for a Sparta-esque army, which mobalized everybody and buggered off to fight, of course this'd collapse horribly when the food ran out and nobody was there to harvest any crops.
Which it kinda did in a number of occassions.


But do remember that a city-state isn't just a single city.
Its an independent, self-governing city that incorporated its surrounding territory, including smaller towns and villages.

So perhaps folks dumping up to their entire populations [or 90% as spotted in one entry] into them should actually consider the implications attached to them.

Farmland isn't exactly high-quality when shut up inside city-walls. And the less said about livestock in a confined space the better.

Waste disposal becomes another issue as so many people confined in such a space would inevitably produce, aswell as the food necessary for animals and disposal of said animal waste produced.

Ontop of this is all the industries and food supplies needed to support such a large city that can weild said numbers.

So at the moment you're probably thinking that they could just walk out of the city and farm instead.

This is true, they could but it'd probably only be in a short range due to the necessity of tilling the fields and harvesting the crops, working from sun-rise to sunset then having to walk home is not a pretty idea for people to have a grueling 6 mile round trip.
This slowly puts a limiter to the amount of food you can produce when you have just a single city, large population or not.

Now say you disperse said population to a few named townships in a slightly expanded area rather than focussing so religiously on a single-city then you can potentially have more crops and more lucrative agriculture as a result at the sacrifice of hiding the entire population behind a massive city-wall.

Also, organizing an army in an entire week would perhaps only really result in peasents with swords, actual organization would take vastly longer, aswell as training said 20,000 to actually use said swords/pikes/whatever without killing more of their own men or cutting their arms off.

But at the end of the day its up to the Games Master if you all starve to death or live and die, or set your population. :)

You've only read the 20 000 men thing, right?

1. I have hardly any farms, I live off import and big stocks
2. I have explained a military service, I don't need to farm so I can do that
3. I could have been a larger state that was brought down by the more powerfull Kolmythran Empire and only have some area left with the former capital in it.
4. The reason I don't have an economy(D) is because of the food imports
5. I do have an other two towns, posted that aswell


Read my whole post before commenting next time, The game master can decide the result. I might rewrite things to fit to the whole history of the game and my neighbours.

As promised to Zero-One, here the longer version of the Proicians overview. I think everything that is neccesary is in there, but feel free to correct me.

The Proicians

Proica, a medium-sized volcanic island not far from the coast of the mainland. Fifteen generations ago, the island was born out of the seas after a large eruption noticable from far away. When stone and ash stopped falling, the vulcano remained there, and it wasn't too long before life came to it. Currently the vulcano is still active, and occasionally blacks out the skies with its clouds. On the northern side, there is a spring of water, which creates two streams running down from the vulcano. At its feet, there are plenty of plants and even a minscule forest, although most of that has been cut down by the Proicians.

On this vulcanic island, the four Proican tribes live.

The Ignis tribe lives halfway up the vulcano, and honours the element of fire. They are the most dominant of the four tribes, as they specialise in creating engines of destruction, used to impose or threaten the other three. This tribe is the second-smallest, as its inhabitants tend to argue a lot about whose creations are superior (which inevitably leads to testing it out, often resulting in one of them - if not both - dying in those tests.)

At the feet of the mountain, there is the Terris tribe, consisting of mainly craftsman. They are the ones that have specialised in the building with stone, and have proved that by building a wall around their tribe. Because of this, they aren't that impressed by the Ignis tribe, confident a big wall will keep them out. They use the stream running past to power large stone constructions helping them to get as much valuable ore from the mountain as they can.

Then there is the Fluis tribe, living in the middle of the patch of workable land on the island. In this tribe the rivalry in technology is the highest, as those with the best tools can make the most out of their land, giving them more to trade with the Aeris tribe for other goods. For their larger machinery they use the second stream as power, but others are still simply powered by hand. They also use the stream as a source of fish, and are the only tribe that can produce much more food than they need themselves. However, as they are living in a relatively flat area of the island, they do need the help of the other tribes to protect them.

Finally there is the Aeris tribe, living at the coast of the island. They are the main connection with the rest of the world, using their ships to travel and trade goods. Because of this, they are the richest of the four tribes, and are the only ones able to bring riches from far away to the island. Although they are also dependant on the other tribes for help during wars, they have payed the Terris tribe to build a wall around the Aeris tribe too.

When the four Tribes originally came to Proica twelve generations ago, they were still one large group, honouring all four elements as a single entity instead of four seperate ones. Back then there was still unity amongst the people, and for a while they lived there without any problems. But to everything must come an end some day...

It isn't certain who were the first to start to argue it, (OOC:Perhaps this
could have been "Her" doing as the Proicians where living just a bit too comfortable?) but somewhere eight generations ago, people started choosing a single element above all others, instead of honouring them all as one. This
was the beginning of a conflict that would thrive the tribes apart and would
devastate the relations between them. For five years there was a large
conflict, sometimes with words, but ofthen with arms. This conflict is also
the sole reason for the small population on the island, as over half of the
original population died while fighting over the single city.

Finally, after the city they had been fighting over was destroyed by the Vertus tower - it is said that those who were the tribe leaders at that time
did it themselves, to stop the inhabitants from further killing themselves -
the conflict was stopped, and each of the four tribes moved away from the
ruïned city to the places they live now. But although peace came back towards the island, the Proicians would never be as united, or as wealthy again as they were before.

There aren't many reminders of those old times, but those that still exist, are those that are likely to last for many generations to come.

First, and most prominent, there is Vertus, the sole ender of the war. It is a prime example of the great things the tribes could accomplish if they would only work together for once. On top of a massive stone tower, five men high, there is a platform, shielded from attacks by chest-height walls all around. At this platform, there is a large catapult. The catapult is able to fully turn around thanks to a system powered by the stream running past the tower. Apart from large rocks, there are also a number of Adurus spheres around. If these break when hitting something, flames sprout from the sphere, engulfing all that is too close. To avoid the tower being abused by a single person, the Proicians of the past added a lock to the iron door of the tower. A lock that can only be opened if all the four keys are there. Currently, each tribe owns a single
key, and the tower isn't used anymore, unless someone - or something - wants to attack the island. Although several inventors of the Ignis tribe have managed to uncover the secrets of the Adurus spheres, the other technologies of the tower still remain a mystery to the current Proicians.

There is also Fanus, a small sanctuary on top of a plateau inside the vulcano. A narrow bridge hangs from this holy place to the edge of the vulcano, and in front of that is an arc of stone, engraved with unknown glyphs. The sanctuary consists of four curved pillars, bending inwards, and supporting a large sphere together. Around this is are many shorter pillars with glyphs engraved on them, standing for almost all different natural events in the world. Each of the pillars stands for a particular element, and the sphere is the world, making the place a painful reminder of how things could have been if the Proicians wouldn't have lost their unity. While it was often visited in the old times, the sanctuary is now only visited by the leaders of the four tribes to discuss the coöperation, or by lone pilgrims, who seek contact with the lost past.

Finally, there are the ruïns of Proicos, abandoned long ago and mostly overgrown by nature. As it was abandoned quickly after a period of war, there are many things to be found inside the ruïns. Most of what is there is broken beyond repair, or was never useful to begin with, but there are also objects from the Proicians' best times, before the war started. Nobody comes here anymore, but if someone would come here, he could find himself items that haven't been seen for many generations.

A: Wealth – Unreal, at least so far as living standards in regards to population are concerned. More than ample resources, the ability to utilize them, and the ethic of working together for mutual gain all coming together. Gardens are common, homes are decorative, the temples being the most adorned and elaborate, the largest of which has been built directly into the face of the cliff nearest the city, linked via passages to the burial crypts. People live quite comfortably overall, many metals and stones and jewelry are ornamental, and though not focused on to the point of abstraction, are plentiful enough to seem more commonplace, to the Quibilah in any case.

B: Unity – Balanced Legality, being run as a theocratic matriarchy, see below.

C: Technology – High Bronze Age – given the ample resources, and the ability to use them, things like ox-drawn tools for farming are commonplace, as are traps for fishing and hunting, carts for hauling, and things like pulleys and such for building purposes. So far as weapons go, knives, spears, slings, swords – the idea of which has been borrowed from other nations – and bows are not uncommon. Larger warlike devices have been limited, but are not unknown. The use of precious and semi-precious stones is fairly common, as well as knowing how to polish bone and wood and metals for decorative purposes – the latter of which is used often, especially among the priestesses, and the manufacture of glass or clay beads has been a more recent discovery that has captured the interest of many artisans.

D: Location – Out of the Way – large valley with limited access, tucked neatly away in the mountainous region well away from the rest of what counts as the Known World.

E: Size – Dinky – 30k or so spread out over a reasonably large enclosed valley, several ‘large’ towns of 1k or less at more or less regular intervals along the valley, small gatherings of around 100 or so people, various encampments or ‘farms’ comprised of a family or two, and one main city where the seat of power is, containing the majority of the population.


The basic layout of the Quibilah is a theocratic matriarchy – women are highly regarded in society, all due to the traditional Goddess worship that’s been passed down through the generations. The birth rate, for reasons unknown to them, has always been low, and so the miracle of creation, also traditionally associated with the Goddess, is also highly regarded – another factor in how things are set up. There is, unbeknownst to them, a chemical in their diet that is the cause of the low birth rate, though it’s not bad enough to be toxic to an unhealthy degree, so much as just cuts down on fertility.

The people are not a particularly warlike race, though they are not completely helpless. The emphasis is on hunting however, not finding ways to kill their fellow humans – the tradition of life being sacred, and the idea of family has remained strong. This isn’t to say they are without crime or anything bad happening, it just isn’t the norm, and is dealt with as swiftly and mercifully as possible. If a person has to be killed for the greater good, say in the case of rape or murder or the like, it’s counted as an additional loss, and they’re mourned for as well as their victims, albeit in a slightly different way.

As traditions run strong, and given the smaller, more close-knit way the society has developed, order and cooperation are things the people tend to strive for – their survival over the years has depended on it. Rule tends to be gracious and just, with the focus on the good of the society as a whole, without disregard for the individual. Considering the respect for procreation, and the low overall birthrate, the family unit is also very important, and children considered a blessing – the more a family has, the more favor with the Goddess they must hold. This being said, anything more than one, or possibly two, is considered very rare. Families with more than 4 are unheard of, and according to traditional mythos, has happened only once so far back the names have been lost to antiquity.

Natural resources in the area are rich, as is the farmland. Geographically, they have been more isolated by the high cliffs that surround the large valley they’ve made their home in – the remnant of an ancient riverbed that carved deep into the rock. It isn’t impossible to get to, but the north-east end of the long, twisting valley is more of a sharp incline and falls, making it less accessable, while the exit to the south-west is where things slowly downgrade, following the path of what’s left of the old river that currently meanders in large oxbows through the main body of the valley. The climate is fairly mild, with ample water, forest/jungle areas, and an abundance of rich farmland along the valley floor closest to the river.

The people overall tend to be tall, with fine-boned, aquiline features, eyes ranging from dark brown and nearly black, to hazel, with some rare lighter shades of gray or green. Normal skin tones are rich and coppery, hair in various shades of black, auburn, and brown, with a tendency towards tight curls – in the case of the priestesses, worn in long, adorned dreadlocks in reference to traditional representations of the Goddess. Also traditional is the application of body paint or tattoos for mostly religious or ritual purposes, along with decorative jewelry, also intended to emulate traditional representations of the Goddess, as has been handed down first by verbal, then pictorial, then written tradition.

The Goddess is most often referred to as Mother – Chioné in their own language. The temple is both the focal point of the city, and the seat of temporal authority. It also serves as the center for learning, not limited to only women, but with an emphasis there in regards to the priesthood.

Men and women are not subservient to one another, regardless of the place in society women have. It is out of respect for the Goddess that they have the ‘power’ they do, and so long as it is used for the good of the people, there are no problems. Careers are not seen as ‘men’ or ‘womens’ work for the most part, as an individual’s abilities an interests dictate more what they can and cannot do, rather than their gender.

Men and women are viewed as being partners in a relationship. There are no formal marriages perse, though often a joining is celebrated among friends and family. There is no concept of ‘husband’ and ‘wife’, but rather of a ‘Chosen’ – one who has been chosen apart from the others, to share a life with. It is not unheard of for these partnerships to be made up of different combinations of men or women, or even more than two sharing the status of ‘Chosen’. Family is family, and though pairings that result in children are the norm, others are not frowned on. Love, after all, and unity, are a large part of the teachings of Chioné, and if two people, or more, can find happiness together, all those around them are also blessed.

The high peaks are considered sacred, and people of both genders make a spirit trek in times of need, or when they feel they need extra guidance, as well as one special trip for coming of age. One of the things they take with them is a plant which induces visions – drug-induced hallucinations, actually – that can be chewed, and/or burned for effect. Among some, there exists the belief in spirit guides in the form of animals, thought to be direction from the Goddess via her creations, and should one appear to them during their rite of passage, they believe that animal to be a sign of favor an guidance through the rest of their lives.

Livestock consists of sheep or goats, cattle, poultry types. Common wild animals in the area are large cats, antelope of sorts in the valley, mountain goat sorts in the mountains, thick-furred large rodents of the rock hyrax variety, smaller mainly herbivorous bears, wild boars, lemurs or monkeys, and many wild birds, both colorful and predatory – one in particular being a very large variety of eagle up in the high peaks – large snakes and such what with the river and all, crocodiles, fish, amphibians etc…

The high peaks are sacred, and people of both genders make a spirit trek in times of need, or when they feel they need extra guidance, as well as one special trip for coming of age. One of the things they take with them is a plant which induces visions – drug-induced hallucinations, actually – that can be chewed, and/or burned for effect.

The people prefer burial in excavated caves in the cliff walls – buried by family, or in the case of the priestesses, in a holy sepulcher set aside specifically for the priesthood. Some things of note may be buried with the departed, (but not on the level of the Egyptians for example), as the belief is that after this life, they will be reunited with the Goddess again, and will ascend to a higher level of existence, not needing the same sustenance and support from this life. Passing is mourned as every life is sacred, but with a touch of the whole appreciation of the life lived, and a belief that they will be reunited. Births are celebrated, and the priestesses also serve as midwives. Each small gathering of Quibilahni have at least one priestess among them, with larger towns and the main city having many to effectively serve the people.

There is a limited belief in reincarnation, so far as believing that there are some unique heroes or servants of the Goddess who come back from generation to generation, when needed – born again, with perhaps new names and faces, but with the original spirit’s essence an strength.

They refer to themselves as the Quibilah as a people, or less regularly, Quibilahni in reference as a descriptor or small group or person.


More to come, or more clarification, as inspiration dictates. Zero-One: Let me know if anything here is off or needs adjusting.

Priorities:
A: Technology
B: Unity
C: Wealth
D: Location
E: Size

The Kvar as of the present are split into two main factions that only loosely associate with one another due to religious differences. The larger group is a small city-state on a mid-oceanic shield volcano. (Much like Hawaii, actually.) The smaller splinter group are seagoing nomads, primarily traders.

Both groups follow variations of one base religion. The original pantheon consisted of the Four Mothers: The quiescent Black Mother who cultivated the dark land, the eternal Blue Mother who brought life-giving water to the people, the temperamental Red Mother who builds and destroys with Her fire, and the Sightless Mother that all feel but none can grasp. They represent the elements of earth, water, fire/lava, and the wind respectively.

The Creation of the Akvo Kvar and the Alia Kvar-
A thousand generations ago another god descended from the sky on a black chariot pulled by beasts of fire. He possessed powers strange and wondrous, could summon light that could kill at his command, that made the Black Mother and the Blue Mother shatter and boil. The Red Mother could not resist him, and he rode the Sightless Mother as mortals might ride tame beasts.

The people fell to their knees in fear and worship, neglecting the Four Mothers, for surely if this newcomer could command the Four Mothers at his whim, then the people should honor him! The priests warned the people not to abandon the pantheon, that to worship this false god would arouse the ire of the Four Mothers. Sure enough, the Four Mothers roused in anger against the interloper, remembered in lore as the Detrui. The Black Mother heaved and raged, bringing the hills down and tearing the fields asunder: the Red Mother roared her anger, her belly swelling as she gave birth to three warrior children; first Spiri who breathed deep and choked the sky; then Pafi who spilled forth the creeping fire that covered the land; and finally Tegi, the fiercest of the three, who rained clouds that were not clouds upon Detrui and the Kvar, clouds that killed all they touched. The Sightless Mother's fury was the worst of all, Her many eyes dancing with fury as She gazed down upon the disloyal Kvar. She convinced the Black Mother and the Red Mother to join Her in destroying the Detrui and in punishing those who chose to follow the lies.

The three met in the heavens. The Black Mother brought a great mountain to crush Detrui. The Red Mother gave it fire to burn Detrui. And finally, the Sightless Mother gave it great wings of light with which it could fly from the heavens to strike Detrui and his followers down.

Those who were wise and had not forsaken the Four Mothers cried out and pleaded for mercy, that they not be punished for the sins of their kindred. The Black Mother and the Red Mother would hear nothing of it. However, the Blue Mother convinced the Sightless Mother to spare some few, those deemed worthy.

"Come to me, my children. My sisters of land and fire will not consent to let you live, but come to me, and I shall protect you. My sister of the wind has consented to guide you. So long as you shall remain with me, you will be safe." Many fled to the blessed caress of the Blue Mother, heeding Her warning.

After some great time, the Black Mother and Red Mother grew tired of their work, and bid their Sightless sister to reveal the land to the stragglers who survived. Detrui and all who followed him were gone, the land cut and scarred, leaving no trace of the interloper but for a great crater. Frantic to appease the Black Mother and the Red Mother that they might never see such divine horrors again, the survivors dedicated a great temple in the crater to all Four Mothers, though the Black Mother, the Red Mother, and the Sightless Mother were given the greatest altars of all for their fury was the worst of the four, therefore they must be given the most honor.

The Blue Mother and the Sightless Mother tended and tested their chosen, their Akvo Kvar; while the Black Mother and Red Mother were satisfied with those who remained, the Alia Kvar. The two could not reconcile their differences, for the Akvo were appalled by the Alia's disregard for the Blue Mother; while the Alia were horrified by the Akvo's worship of only the Blue Mother and the Sightless Mother. The Four Mothers appeared to the Kvar and reminded both tribes that they were all children of the Four Mothers, and that to raise a hand against one another would be to raise a hand against the Mothers. A peace was forged, the Alia building a great city in which they lived upon the Black Mother, defended by the Red Mother, and watched over by the Sightless Mother; while the Akvo crafted fine ships, each in dedication to the Blue Mother who saved them and the Sightless Mother that guides them.

General information about the Kvar:
Both tribes of the Kvar are pacifistic, preferring peace and discussion to war, though they are not so pacifistic that they will not fight back if attacked. The tribes have a thriving trade among themselves- the Akvo provide goods from abroad to the Alia in exchange for supplies and a landing where they can build and maintain their ships.

While both cultures are different, there is considerable mingling between them: Not all Alia are content with living on the island, and not all Akvo are content with living on the ocean, and it is not unheard of for Alia to join the Akvo on the water, or for Akvo to give up the ocean for life on the island. These cross-cultural people help ensure that relations between the two tribes do not turn too sour, but these individuals are often considered as lesser beings by their adopted people and as irredeemable outcasts by their native people.

Further information: The Alia Kvar
The Alia live on their island in their city-state (properly named Hejmo-Kvar, but sometimes simply called Alia Kvar), hewn from ancient lava flows from the volcano. Their society is both matrilineal and matrilocal. The men perform the hard labor of construction, agriculture, and metalworking, but it is the women who are the priests and leaders, as women are seen to be closer to the Four Mothers.

The Alia Kvar tend to employ elaborate ceremonies and craftworking toward their religious lives, plundering empty lava tubes for amythest and other magma byproducts such as obsidian with which to adorn their temples and priests. The society is largely agricultural, though fishing and manufacture of goods are also part of the local economy. Unlike the Akvo Kvar, the Alia do not have any large ships, using only smaller boats; likely a societal extension of their reduced emphasis on the Blue Mother.

The Alia trade metals and gems from the volcano as well as food and timber with the seagoing Akvo. The Akvo do not actually keep many of the gems and valuable metals such as gold, as their lifestyle has little room for such trinkets. Instead, the Akvo trade these things with outsiders on their voyages, bringing further trade goods back to the Alia. The Alia do not know where the Akvo obtain many of these things (the Akvo are probably the reason horses and such beasts were originally introduced to the island), nor do they really wish to, thinking it is some strange working of the Blue Mother.

The Alia have no real standing army, merely an elite guard for the Unu Konduko. Most men do have some ability with swords or bows, a poorly organized militia at best. The leader of the Alia (the Unu Konduko) is chosen from among the priests and always a woman. Sometimes treachery does play out among the priests, but for the most part transitions of power are peaceful.

Further information: The Akvo Kvar
Unlike the Alia, the Akvo are born, live, and die on the sea. They are indeed loathe to set foot on dry land, and it is considered the greatest curse to be born or to die on land and not on the sea. They are a nomadic people, sailing the oceans in their great ships. By necessity of the difficult life on the sea, the Akvo women do not have quite the same level of domination as their Alia cousins. Also due to their lifestyle, both Akvo men and women tend to be shorter and of a more muscular build, likely a result of the cramped living on board ships.

Compared to the Alia, the Akvo have virtually no special religious ceremonies- they view their entire lifestyle as a dedication to the Blue Mother and the Sightless Mother, and the ships (or sanktavazo) are the very altars upon which they offer themselves in all ways to their chosen deities. These ships come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, from tiny house boats to large, low-slung trimaran craft.

Their entire society is largely driven by trade between other cultures and the Alia, as they are severely limited in their ability to produce things for themselves. They do produce their own water and salt from seawater however, knowledge they attribute to the Blue Mother providing for Her children. The masts and sides of the Akvo's ships are veritably adorned with hanging metal devices, crude evaporators consisting of a metal bucket full of seawater sitting in another larger bucket slung tightly beneath a metal dome. Particularly wealthy ships may have one or more of these devices made from glass, though it is not common. Tending the devices is a job generally given to children, and combined with water and supplies traded for on land likely is why the Akvo can live almost exclusively on the sea.

The Akvo have an overall better level of technology than the Alia, as in their voyages they trade and obtain things from many cultures, incorporating the practical things (such as iron) into their ships. They have no direct contact with any inland cultures though, as the Akvo are loathe to set foot on dry land and will do so only as long as is absolutely necessary to secure supplies or trade goods.

The Akvo are better fighters than the Alia, as all children are trained in close-quarters combat to defend their homes against raiders. They are by and large unskilled at ship-to-ship combat, as they adhere to the same mostly peaceful way of life as their landbound cousins. Every so rarely a group of the Akvo get a taste for battle and take to piracy, but they are the exception, not the rule. They are all almost fanatically loyal to their ships, and would rather set fire to it themselves than let it fall into heathen hands.

The Akvo follow a very loose structure of leadership: Each ship is commanded by a captain, or a Tordi Okulo- the person on board who is the best at predicting the wind and weather. Of all the Tordi, the absolute best of them is given the title of Ventego Okulo, and may command the others. In reality however, the Ventego has little power to enforce these commands, as the Akvo's ships seldom travel en masse, and on board any given ship, the Tordi's power is absolute. Small fleets of ships traveling together may select an interim leader in the absence of the Ventego Okulo, selecting a Vento Okulo from the Tordi present. Despite the lack of concrete leadership and the presence at times of multiple Ventego, there is little conflict among the Akvo, likely due to their nomadic and independent natures.

Also of note, they will sometimes use the traditional names for the Four Mothers, but they are more likely to use their own names for the deities, reflecting their own worship bias:
Black Mother: The Island Crone/Stone Cradle
Red Mother: Blood of the World/Mother of Three Demons
Blue Mother: Laughing Girl of the Waters/Tears of the World
Sightless Mother: The Winds/The Whispering Guide

Linguistic notes:
Due in part to their ongoing close contact, the Alia and the Akvo for the most part share the same language. The Akvo are better able to communicate in multiple languages, a necessity for a trader culture. On the other hand, the Alia are better able to communicate more complex ideas in the Kvar tongue. Both groups have their scholars, but the knowledge of the Akvo tends more toward practical matters of wind, water, and navigation, while the Alia tend more toward philosophy and knowledge for its own sake.

In naming, an “i” ending denotes the masculine, while an “o” ending generally denotes the feminine. An “a” ending is gender-neutral. This alone reveals the matriarchal roots of both cultures- Detrui, the bringer of evil; Unu Konduko, the female leader of the Alia, Ventego Okulo, the highest command of the Akvo, and so on. Nouns with the i, o, or a suffix have no plural form, plurality is assumed by the context and it is for this reason that the legend is unclear whether Detrui was a single being or a group.

The Alia and Akvo differ slightly in how they identify themselves. The Alia use a simple naming structure of given name, and clan name/occupational name. (For example, Fventi of Senvo, or Zalta of the Black Mother.) The Akvo use a different naming protocol, citing ship first, then Tordi, Vento, or Ventego and then finally given name. (For example, if Fventi was Akvo, he would introduce himself as Senvo Zalta Fventi- Senvo presumably being a ship, Zalta the ship’s Tordi, and then Fventi his given name.)

Landform notes (Alia Kvar):
The island is actually a complex volcano, something like a cross between Hawaii and Mt. Etna. Given the volume of basalt, this is probably why the earth element is called the Black Mother. The lower coastal plains sit on the ancient shield volcano. The “three children” of the Red Mother are actually volcanic phenomena, and despite the local mythology, probably occurred over a span of thousands of years rather than all at once. “Spiri” used to be a composite volcano (explosive, pyroclastic). Now all that remains are the hot springs at the foot of the blasted out cone. “Pafi” is the younger shield volcano well north and east of the original caldera. This one is quite active, spilling magma into the ocean much like that one really active Hawaiian volcano that currently escapes me. The highest current point on the island is Tegi, the new composite volcanic cone growing almost on top of Spiri. (The two are probably part of the same magmatic plumbing system.) The lowest point on the island is a mile-wide depression in the southern part of the island, that looks to be the ancient remains of a meteor crater or perhaps a Shodey-induced hellfire of Biblical proportions. The bottom of the crater is very slowly flooding out with seawater that seeps slowly in through sections of the crater wall that are pumice, and it is in the center of this shallow salt lake that the Alia Kvar have built their largest temple to the Four Mothers in their efforts to appease the deities. The lowest and oldest portions of the temple are already underwater- the Alia Kvar keep dumping more rock in to build new altars and such above the waterline. The Akvo Kvar see this as the Blue Mother showing her displeasure at being neglected by the Alia.

Lessee... Who's Who of the First Set:

Erinak == Transhumanism
Serenysis == Valinon
Wethia == Britmattia
Qussai == Tsaraine
Albel == Milchama
Alea == Der Angst
Kolmrathan Empire == Roania
Quibilah == Schadow
The Tribes == Auman
Hakaa == Hakaa
Proica == The Exodians
Novistrania == McPsychoville
Aphinimer == Cayr
NieknRynn == Zeppelin Manufacturers Inc
The People == The Territory
Goran == Bazalonia
Kalus == Kajal
Zerowon == Cetaganda
Shadani == The Atheists Reality
Golith == Pilon
Ossicbee == Midlonia
Schydin == Genesis Corp
Bney Elohim == Bney Elohim
Shodaya == Kaenei
Antoris == Muranis
Derdon == Jachrillrae

And so far, who we have for the second set is (Stats in format of Unity/Tech/Loc/Size/Wealth):

Araedos == Revenia (D/A/E/B/C)
Jariss == Tynelia (A/B/D/E/C)
Kvar == Reploid Productions (B/A/D/E/C)
Aniaveras == Yafor 2 (E/B/A/D/C) [E/C/D/D/E]
? == The Macabees (D/C/E/A/B)
Loyatians == Breitenburg (E/A/C/D/B)

I think for the second set they'll be placed in a nearby yet somewhat isolated region (think Subsaharan Africa or the Indian Subcontinent in relation to the Mediterranean), make a map for them, and then not say where in relation they are to the first map (although they won't be TOO far away; trips between them will just be decidedly longer than trips within them).

TG Zero.

Exodia == The Exodians

The Proicians live on Proica, as the old hermit says in your second post, so not on Exodia. It doesn't matter much, but it would be nice for them to be called correctly.

Now, about time I finished my first IC post in the thread...

(BTW, my population is 'pending' untill I get a good definition of what the sizes are supposed to mean.)

Acknowledged. Playerlist edited.

Updated.

To the second string:

You're not placed so it'd be counterproductive to start in the IC thread at the moment (That's an oblique way of saying 'don't post in the IC thread yet'). Reppie can get away with her current exploring bit because she has my authorization. It's still too early for the rest, who aren't stuck out in the middle of the ocean, to start doing things.


(BTW, my population is 'pending' untill I get a good definition of what the sizes are supposed to mean.)
I'm not exactly concerned about exact sizes of populations down to the numbers of heads. So far the group's been sufficiently well-regulating to keep things from getting absurd; because this RP is an escape (for me) from statistics and solid numbers, the vagueness to the sizes are intentional.

So, small island, Size E, so far the consensus is a few tens of thousands.

I'm working on an offsite board now. The IC portions will require validation, the OOC portions not.

The thread's already getting pretty tangled. I have an offsite forum set up (mostly) but I'd like to know what we all think. Should we a) use an offsite forum (invisionfree) or b) keep everything on the NS boards, but in different threads?

Off-Site forum would probably work better.:)

Offsite, please.

My logic involves things remaining in a centralized location (one forum) while still being distinguishable as to who is doing what.

I sent a TG, oh I'm so happy...This is such a great idea!

OH!, and I would prefer an Off-Forum, yet that would shorten up the recruiting, just to...point...

Offsite. It will be easier to manage, assuming that we can keep it active.

I think we should do an Invision Board, it will help keep things more organized.

I wouldn't mind an offsite forum - it would put everything in one place where I could find it more easily, not to mention cutting down on how many topic slots we use in the NationStates forum. We can link to it in our sigs or something.

Offsite would be smarter, yeah.

For The Macabees, it would be Natasar. But it shouldn't be too confusing as I have a puppet named Natasar that has no role - and now it has one. :)

http://s7.invisionfree.com/Iron_Ages_of_Talene/

There's the offsite forum; "Talene" was the working name I was going with but it's purely OOC except from a Shodey standpoint.

Registerinated, pending approval. Will you be copying this thread over to the IAoT board or should we copy our own posts?

This thread I was planning on keeping here for new signups and the like, or anything else we'd want to make NS-public.

As for the IC thread, seeing as you guys wanted a centralized place to keep threads, I figure you can copy over the IC thread as you wish--whether you want to split it into multiple threads or just leave it as it is is up to you, although I'm glad to facilitate in whatever way I can.

As for who's been validated so far:

Alea
Bney Elohim
Derdon
Erinak
Golith
Goran
Hegemons of Kolmyranth
Jarokontes
Kvar
Qessai
Republicae Ossicbee
Schydin
Serenois
Shadani
The Quibilah
Zerowon

For those who are still awaiting validation: I am going to validate them as the second-string comes online. You should still be able to post to The Campfire OOC section.

Natasar
Nations at the Edge of the World
Farisel
Aniaveras

Uggh. My internet is going to be disconnected, as it was aleady shoddy for a week or two. I'm going to have to pull out. Sorry.

Understood. Sorry to hear that--would you like me to try and hold your space, or no? If not, hopefully you can come back soon and we can arrange something else for you.

For all the unvalidated people I've made a thread where you can at least discuss things on the forums.

http://z7.invisionfree.com/Iron_Ages_of_Talene/index.php?showtopic=19

I've been tinkering with it and while invisionfree says it should work with the permissions I've set it hasn't been so far.

Erm, I was TGing the information to you, Zero-One, when I accidently hit the 'send' button. It's only partially complete, so you probably want to ignore it.

EDIT: Here, the completed version:

The Kutolah

A: Size (Huge)
B: Wealth (Vale of Plenty)
C: Technology (High Bronze Age)
D: Unity (Clans & Family Ties)
E: Location (Booneys)

A tribal people living on the plains, the Kutolah are primarily farmers and traders who have long cultivated the fertile plains they reside in to their benefit, using what they need, and storing or selling the surpluses. The Kutolah are also accomplished horsemen, having used horses to traverse and transport goods and people across the large plain on which they live.

Most of the Kutolah reside in various small cities scattered about the plain. These cities have evolved from earlier farming communities and trading posts, and serve as the headquarters for the various Kutolah clans. Each of these Kutolah clans are headed by a leader known as a dayan. Surprisingly, conflicts between clans are rather rare. However, even though most clans are not confrontational against one another, united efforts between the clans are just as rare as conflicts.

Kutolah military structure varies from clan to clan, but there are a lot of similarities. Kutolah military strategy emphasizes speed, and light cavalry dominate most Kutolah military forces, usually supported by light infantry. Most use long, thin, curved, single-edge swords, evolved from blades used as farming tools. Bows also find much use. On the other hand, weapons such as spears and axes are foreign, and are rarely used. Heavily armored units within Kutolah forces are unheard of. Also, some young Kutolah warriors will venture out into foreign lands to serve as mercenaries for a time, before returning to their respective clans.

A wide variety of materials used in various trades have been found in the small, rolling hills that pop up every so often from the wide plains. The resources are rare for the Kutolah themselves to find or craft, the immensity and variety of the foodstuffs cultivated by the farmers of the Kutolah enables them to be able to trade for pretty much any resource they might need.

A surprising fact about the Kutolah is the complete absence of gender roles within Kutolah culture. Both Kutolah men and Kutolah women serve as warriors, farmers, merchants and craftsmen. In fact, most Kutolah are confused as to why other cultures assign certain jobs for women and certain jobs for men.

Shodan appears in the Kutolah faith as Sulyn, the Heavenly Horsemaiden. While between clans there is some variation, Shodan/Sulyn is almost universally depicted as a beautiful red-haired woman riding a white, winged steed, carrying a bow. Shodan's teachings are more or less intact, with the main message of the Kutolah faith being 'Share the bounty of the earth with your brothers and sisters.' However, the Kutolah usually only consider other Kutolah to be their brothers and sisters, and in extreme cases only within one's own clan. It should also be noted that with the exception of a few religious festivals, most view that faith is shown through hard work, and a specialized time for worship is pretty much non-existant in the Kutolah culture.

The red-haired aspect of Sulyn also has some social importance, because red hair is an extremely rare trait for a Kutolah, and when this trait occurs, it almost always appears with an extraordinary physical characteristic. Thus, red-haired Kutolah are considered 'blessed by Sulyn' and when red-haired Kutolah are born, they are usually adopted by the dayan of the clan in which he or she was born, usually becoming the heir.

The thread doesn't seem to be working so I'm just going to validate everyone and trust that the Second Set doesn't really fiddle with the first set quite yet. I'll start looking into a region now for the Second Set and pencil in a map tonight.

Now, time to telegram the people who haven't gotten on the offsite board yet...

First Set: (Unity/Tech/Loc/Size/Wealth)

Erinak == Transhumanism (C/D/E/A/B) VALIDATED as Erinak
Serenysis == Valinon (D/A/C/E/B) VALIDATED as Serenois
Wethia == Britmattia (C/A/E/D/B) VALIDATED as Jarokontes
Qessai == Tsaraine (D/B/E/A/C) VALIDATED as Qessai
Albel == Milchama (C/A/E/D/B) VALIDATED as Albel The Raider
Alea == Der Angst (D/A/C/E/B) VALIDATED as Alea
Kolmrathan Empire == Roania (D/B/E/C/A) VALIDATED as Hegemons of Kolmyranth
Quibilah == Schadow (B/C/D/E/A) VALIDATED as The Quibilah
The Tribes == Auman (E/A/B/D/C) VALIDATED as The Tribes
Hakaa == Hakaa (C/A/B/E/D)
Proica == The Exodians (D/A/B/E/C) VALIDATED as The Proicians
Novistrania == McPsychoville (D/A/C/E/B)
Aphinimer == Cayr (B/D/A/E/C) VALIDATED as Aphinimer
NieknRynn == Zeppelin Manufacturers Inc (D/C/B/E/A) VALIDATED as NieknRynn
The People == The Territory (E/A/C/D/B)
Goran == Bazalonia (D/A/C/E/B) VALIDATED as Goran
Kalus == Kajal (A/B/D/E/C) VALIDATED as Kalus
Zerowon == Cetaganda (B/A/D/E/C) VALIDATED as Zerowon
Shadani == The Atheists Reality (C/E/B/A/D) VALIDATED as Shadani
Golith == Pilon (A/D/C/B/E) VALIDATED as Golith
Ossicbee == Midlonia (C/A/E/D/B) VALIDATED as Republicae Ossicbee
Schydin == Genesis Corp (A/B/D/E/C) VALIDATED as Schydin
Bney Elohim == Bney Elohim (A/C/B/D/E) [D/C/C-D/D/E] VALIDATED as Bney Elohim
Shodaya == Kaenei (D/A/E/B/C)
Antoris == Muranis (A/C/E/D/B) VALIDATED as Antoris
Derdon == Jachrillrae (D/A/E/C/B) VALIDATED as Derdon

Special case: VALIDATED as Nations at the Edge of the World

Second set (Unity/Tech/Loc/Size/Wealth):

Araedos == Revenia (D/A/E/B/C) VALIDATED as Araedos
Jariss == Tynelia (A/B/D/E/C) VALIDATED as Jariss
Kvar == Reploid Productions (B/A/D/E/C) VALIDATED as Kvar
Aniaveras == Yafor 2 (E/B/A/D/C) [E/C/D/D/E] VALIDATED as Aniaveras
Natasar == The Macabees (D/C/E/A/B) VALIDATED as Natasar
Loyatians == Breitenburg (E/A/C/D/B) dropped
Farisel == Aelosia (C/A/D/E/B) VALIDATED as Farisel
Shea == Weyr (E/C/D/A/B) VALIDATED as Shea
Olaria == Aerion (D/B/E/A/C) VALIDATED as Olarians
Kutolah == Geisenfried (D/C/E/A/B) VALIDATED as Kutolah

I've validated everyone who's registered so far and I know where I want the second map to be. Thursday was busier than expected and Friday is hang-out-in-IRL day so I can probably get at least a test version of the second map up today.

http://server106.totalchoicehosting.com/~tpjzdd/albums/Drawings/iron_map_2.sized.jpg (http://server106.totalchoicehosting.com/~tpjzdd/gallery/Drawings/iron_map_2?full=1)

Map #2 penciled in. Any comments or concerns?

Yeh just one quick question, where is this map in relation to the original map?

I think for the second set they'll be placed in a nearby yet somewhat isolated region (think Subsaharan Africa or the Indian Subcontinent in relation to the Mediterranean), make a map for them, and then not say where in relation they are to the first map (although they won't be TOO far away; trips between them will just be decidedly longer than trips within them).
Sorry, can't say.

I like it. It make me feel isolated. ;)

Second string map is up and the forum's been opened.

http://z7.invisionfree.com/Iron_Ages_of_Talene/index.php?showforum=5

This had the potential to be really cool and was going really well before it fizzled out

Anyone still out there that played there and can we resurrect it?

Also the Woven Rivers and Crescent Sea is now connected, at least OOCLy, just have to ICly connect them through roleplay.

... And dead it just went...

I don't really know... if we get a decent number back I think so otherwise... eh... not much point really.

As I posted in the actual forums, I'm still around.