NationStates Jolt Archive

The Administrator and the Agitator IC Thread. (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=562889)

The Overview...

The Sacred Combine of Chivikistan is a sprawling Asian nation of, at last count, almost four and a half billion souls, most ethnic Chiviks, who have since time immemorial lived by the Chivikista Code, or imperial adaptations thereof. The Code tells Chivikistanis right from wrong, caters for their good health and that of their world, and, in theory, fosters a peaceful and harmonious society in touch with the gloried ancestors and their otherworldly domain.

The Sacred Combine is managed by Administrators, chief amongst them today a woman named Xchu Amberblott, much to the consternation of clumsy-tongued foreigners seeking interaction with Chivikistan. Administrators are held to be sage and fair so long as they have the guidance of the ancestors and the complicity of mother nature and father Chivikistan.

In recent decades, Chivikistan's mountain-locked isolation has been interrupted by the coming of foreigners to the shores of the Sacred Combine. Baffled by the beastless mobility of improbably giant carts of the sea and initially unable to understand how a rifle could take a man's life from twenty paces, the Chivikistans soon surrendered great concessions to more foreign powers than they could shake a spirit-rattle at. Numerous coastal and riverine towns established sectors of foreign control, missionaries began to penetrate the forbidding interior with the aim of rubbishing the Chivikista Code with its Sunday-roast-unfriendly vegetarianism and godless ancestor worship, and the essentially feudal economy staggered under competition from abroad.

Today, and for several years previous with relatively little notice abroad, revolt creeps across the nation, having fermented beyond the mountains that sweep through the heart of the enormous Tszinqi Province and divide the large coastal plain and hills from the untold vastness of the Chivikistani hinterland. Not exactly born revolutionaries, nor warriors, the Chivikistanis are being gradually carried off on the red tide of Communism as resentment at the foreign-lead erosion of national pride and tradition is co-opted by the notion of freedom from the feudal bonds of the Chivikista Code.

...and You

There ought to be plenty of scope for foreign involvement. The foreign concessions are innumerable, and one or more could be yours. Missionaries too are beyond number, and the coasts and interior trade-routes of the Sacred Combine are stalked ever more by marauders and all kinds of piratical wretchedness, both local and imported. Then there are the Communists, who must have got their political awareness from somewhere!

Register your interest! Prod the stripy dragon!*

*In Chivik tradition, dragons, and their intentions, are identified and codified according to the number, orientation, width, and colouration of the stripes that adorn their serpentine bodies. Dragon's don't actually exist in this RP, but you try telling Chivikista traditionalists that!

Chivikistan is pre-industrial. I don't want to exclude RPers based on the tech-levels of their nations, but obviously I won't be accepting dictates on the future of Chivikistan from an interstellar hyper slug with a laser-firing jetpack or anything. Er, not unless it's exceptionally well played, anyway! The rebels are fighting with everything from farm-tools to bolt-action rifles and hand-cranked machineguns, and the Combine army... well, there isn't really a Combine army, hence the ease with which the foreign concessions were established. With foreign backing, some individual army groups have been raised and sent into action with rifles and machineguns et cetera, as in Dzje Aip Qying's recently lost Army of the Delta. So far I'm assuming that the foreigners aren't taking the revolt seriously, as it hasn't come anywhere near the concessions, and the Combine has actually run up debts to private merchants et cetera who have agreed to sponsor expeditions such as that of the Army of the Delta.

I'm very interested in this! Daytanistan is a Central Asian Communist nation which might be a good source for support for Chivikistan's rebels. Daytanistan is a modern tech nation, and a backwards one at that. It is theoretically governed by a nebulous executive body called the Supreme Daytan People's Council, but in practice the General Secretary of the Daytan Communist Workers Party, Farrokh Nugat, the grandson of the leader of the Straw Hat Revolution, rules the nation.

You can read more about Daytanistan on NSwiki here: http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/daytanistan.html

Hm, sounds good. Do you still play a restricted six million population? I suppose that fits in quite well, since such a small nation as the chief source of support in the early stages of the Communist revolt would help to explain why it isn't taken seriously to begin with.

So, yes, you're welcome to get involved. I imagine that Chivikistan is probably mostly to your east. I don't know if you have already established who all of your neighbours are, but if not, perhaps you'd like to share a border? Most of Chivikistan is mountainous, but it's such a huge nation that most terrain types are represented somewhere. The main thing is that, with the exception of the coast in the eastern half of the nation, most of Chivikistan is notoriously difficult to access, cut off by mountains, raging rivers, and stretches of desert. All of which speaks to our technological and in many respects political backwardness.

So, I don't know, if you want to assume that some Chivik Communist leaders have been or are currently hiding out in your nation, that's fine.

Would you be upset if at some point the fighting spilled into parts of your nation, as the authorities and their bands of contracted thugs try to stamp out rebel support? Ultimately you'd be quite able to repulse them if you felt too much wrecking-stuff was going on! They're not well armed or experienced.

Nice wiki page(s), by the way.

Thank you. I haven't decided to still play a restricted six million population (NSwiki has just been in a non-edit state for nearly a year), but let's take it for granted that Daytanistan's population is much smaller than Chivikistan. Daytanistan is supposed to be a small nation by NS standards, that's the main thing, which means its population could be absurdly high by real world standards, I just prefer not to think about it :)

I would like Daytanistan to share a border with Chivikistan. The mountainous east is good. Perhaps a silk road passed through the mountain passes in ancient times, but the way was difficult enough that nomadic settlers never really bothered in any serious numbers. And I would be quite happy for the fighting to spill into parts of Daytanistan at some point, although naturally the Daytan People's Army won't be and will probably react as you might expect an army to react.

And let's assume that some Chivik Communist leaders have been/are currently hiding out in Daytanistan! Naturally they would be welcome guests of the Daytan Communist Workers Party and the workers and peasants of Daytanistan.

I'd like to get involved in this, if I may. Iansisle is (according to its foreign office) a 'post-colonial' state. The facts are, however, quite often different from what the official government line proclaims them to be. The major colonies -- mainly Gallaga -- have been spun off into nominally independent republics, although these new states remain tied to Iansisle through an economic federation that greatly infringes on the rights of its member states to normal diplomatic and trade relations with other countries. Meanwhile, the tools of unofficial colonialism -- unequal treaties, gunboat diplomacy, Iansislean 'compounds', missionaries, special rights for Iansislean merchants etc. -- continue unabated.

About ten in-game years ago, Iansisle suffered through a massive revolution. The old regime was quickly swept away, but internicine strife between the victors (cumulating in regicide of the deposed king and the execution of popular but moderate revolutionary Charles Bradsworth) threatened to tear down the new Gull Flag Republic. Nicodemo Ranalte, the general who had defeated a royalist uprising and beaten back the reactionary Effitian assault on the Jaizar River Valley, overthrew the National Assembly in a coup d'etat and had a new constitution written. He was quickly elected president of the Republic and, over the past four years, has consolidated all power to himself in a virtual dictatorship. In the latest elections, running unopposed, Ranalte took home over 98% of the vote.

While the working-class population of Iansisle is very revolutionary and would probably support the People's Liberation Army, the administrator class of the country is still rooted in pre-Revolutionary concepts. Furthermore, the common Iansislean is notoriously xenophobic and would have a tough time understanding that people with different skin colors probably have the same hopes and dreams as themselves. The Liberation Army would be seen less as brothers-in-arms and more as a threat to the economic stability if its success continues. In the mean time, however, the Iansisleans-on-the-spot would watch the fight with detached and somewhat amused indifference -- unless it threatened their interests.

Perhaps an Iansislean missionary can get into some sort of trouble upstream -- be in the path of the revolutionary army, for instance, and it can be the job of a gunboat to extract them back to the legation until it is safe to return.

PS: NSwiki (not as out of date as you might think!)

Oh, and the population figures are accurate. Just about 400 million people in the Federation, although the majority of them are Gallagans and not ethnic Shieldians. There's some 70 million "real" Iansisleans. Our tech level is hovering in the early 1960s.

Sounds good, both of you!

Update on the situation, since I get to rambling and just painting Chivikistan in my head when I should be telling a story or reacting to an event:

Qiantok, a city given over in large part to foreign trade concessions, in Shohan Prefecture, a relatively northern part of Tszinqi's coastal plain, which I imagine to probably lie on the shores of the Pacific (without worrying too much about what countries that puts us in or on top of or beside), has become the first significant city with a major foreign presence to be directly threatened by the Communists, as vanguard elements of rebel General Hma Uqemot's II Corps CPLA have been sighted in the approaches. Over land this is relatively remote from most of the big concessions, but as the most northerly concession-town of note it has people from many nations.

I should draw a map, but I just don't have the facilities. Hm, I wonder if anyone offers decent map-making services these days...

Anyway, apologies if this moves slowly, I tend to come to the forums briefly at some point during the day and read what's happening and then try to save it in my head for when I have time in a cafe or some such to scribble down notes towards a response.

If it's all right, I think I'll assume that the Iansislian missionary is amongst the first outsiders to be encountered by Hma's scouts, or at least to encounter them in some sense. Why can I already read the concluding words to this part of the story? "Have rejoined the fleet off Qiantok... God save the Republic."

That's....a very spooky and accurate guess of how the sequence WOULD end! Do we know each other from somewhere?

Aside from that, I'm guessing there are some major navigable rivers in the country? Perhaps one near Qiantok? The right to police riverways against piracy would probably be among the first concessions demanded by Iansisle.

Perhaps we exchanged fire between the deck of HMS Amethyst and the banks of the Yangtse at some point ;)

Unfortunately I have completely forgotten what I had to add, because when I tried to post it yesterday the forums went down, yet again, and it seems that I neglected to make any effort to save my post. Ah well, we're on Chivikistani time, now. Since it's nearly 5, I might whip up some breakfast.

I'm rather ashamed to admit it, but I'd never read up on the Amethyst incident before. "God save the Republic" has just been part of standard revolutionary parlance in Iansisle, which is why I wondered. ("Long live..." seemed a bit too cliché, even for me =P)

I would be interested in getting involved. Though Aerion is a very modern tech nation it would probably only have a very small diplomatic mission with embassy to Chivikistan, and perhaps consider it more as a novelty than anything. Perhaps as a remote exotic tourist destination for more adventurer wealthy tourists (Well since the country is having problems there would be travel alerts).

There could also be Makan Buddhist missionaries in Chivikistan. Though Aerionians are more Arabic or Persian in appearance, and not an Asian style culture. Makan Buddhism is a native religion to Aerion brought by a lama in ancient history to the nomadic clans of the mountains.

Of course Aerionian megacorporations are always interested in building factories, and plants in foreign countries for cheap labor though that is slowly changing somewhat. Maybe these factories could be somewhere.

That sounds okay, too.

There isn't really a native Chivikistani religion of much note, but a local version of Taoism has some history in the nation, though it is mostly 'folk' Tao and philosophical Tao rather than in the form of an organised religion. It has had some influence on the Chivikista Code around which behaviour and government are traditionally based.

You're welcome to have some factories in Chivikistan. Of course we have a pretty poor skills base, and infrastructure isn't exactly modern, but with the low cost of living wages would indeed by rather modest as well.

Shohan Prefecture in the northeast is where most of the early action is likely to be, and the biggest port cities are some hundreds of kilometres south of it, where the population is concentrated. I'll leave it up to you to decide whether your factories are in the bustling south or to the north (or inland, if you like, though you'd probably have to rely heavily on riverine transport to achieve much that way).

By the way, I am in the middle of writing a new post. I'm afraid I may end up rushing it a bit, now, but I want to get something done, at least.

I might be interersted in getting involved also, sounds quite interesting...

Midlonia itself is a large state that enjoys the odd bout of blatant imperialism.

There's also the Protestant Church of Midlonia who may start sponsoring various armed groups to help compliment it's own and extend it's power-base. [Think the Church of England with teeth]

On top of that we'd happily flog off a load of old weaponry [bolt action rifles, machine guns, even the odd, machine-gun armed light tank] to any side bar the communists as well as establish ruthless trading points and probably nab a city placed under our nominal control for trading purposes.

EDIT: though it may be amusing to put the Midlonians and Iainislians together. Just for the distrust and waryness factor of fanatical monarchists in the vicinity of those who killed their monarch to form a republic.

The Confederated Peoples of the Resurgent Dream is a modern tech, multi-racial, post-colonial, federal, social democratic constitutional monarchy. Confederal Members exist on three continents and as islands in two oceans. The CPRD has a large foreign aid budget as well as a very open diplomatic and trading policy and an idealist foreign policy based upon peace, national sovereignty, democracy and human rights, goals which sometimes conflict.

It's possible that there is a Confederal diplomatic mission to the Sacred Combine or that the Confederated Peoples is providing foreign aid of some kind, especially in education or agriculture. It's also possible that individual Confederal businesses are involved in Chivikistan although the Confederal government would not have pressed for any concessions above and beyond national treatment. Another possibility might be that individual Confederal citizens are involved either as missionaries or with the Communists. Whatever works best for you.

Suppose I better say a spot more on Midlonia also. It’s very much a “Falling Empire” of sorts, so still happily has “last hurrahs” such as this to forge out new colonies, or attempt to do so anyway!

It’s a “Near-to-far Future” Tech nation [though personally I hate to label it] but a lot of it’s technological marvels are given a very retro 1950’s to 1960’s or so feel. Or as I put it “Modern Guts, ancient exterior”.

It’s entirely likely that the Midlonians will be started to take a more pro-active role at the behest of the various Consortiums that dominate the country. Entirely likely to have been a joint venture between two giants of the Consortiums, the Crunn and Bannister Tea Consortium and the National Coal Consortium [which despite it’s name, does any kind of energy it can exploit]

Basically think along the lines of a “Post-Modern East India Trading Company” taking the reigns in the area more and more.

Working on a new post now. Also drinking, so we'll see how it goes.

Midlonia, would you like to be the principle foreign state operating in the Chhatt Concession? In the first post I have it that, basically, some foreigners are demanding charts of the mysterious interior, presumably because they are weighing up the risks of going in to look for resources or what have you.

Possibly coal is suspected west of Iinaq, and then maybe you could have some adventurous soul put together a prospecting expedition and go traipsing off with a bunch of bemused porters and an load of suspect charts full of dragons and Shangri-las to look for proof of economically viable deposits that will actually get the funding for a more serious operation.

Obviously if you came in with the full force of a future tech nation, the RP would just turn into a Scramble for Chivikistan amongst future nations and the rest of us would just be watching, so if we start out with the prevailing attitude being that Chivikistan is too big, too unstable, and too under-developed to get excited about, that'll explain a lot and enable you to take part without wondering why your corporations aren't just running the entire show. It's only the maverick pioneers who have faith in Chivikistani profitability at this stage.

TRD, yep, some aid charities or such may well find Chivikistan interesting, be they governmental aid organisations or NGOs, it's up to you. The rural majority survive through subsistence agriculture, and there are growing numbers of displaced people heading to the towns since the start of the Communist rebellion, where of course many are being exploited by foreign companies. At the moment there really is nobody -except the rifles of the CPLA- to advocate for the rights and well-being of Chivikistanis employed by the numerous foreign firms operating in the nation, nor many laws protecting Chivikistanis from foreign justice imported through the concessions, so if, for example, Nation X empowers its corporations in Chivikistan to hang Chivik workers for showing up late -as they are prone to do, what with being used to living on 'Chivik Time' and all-, the Sacred Combine is usually unwilling or unable to prevent it. Then there's the attendant opportunities for more ethical employers to command the interest of the best workers, too, if they can pry them away from the clasps of other companies.

Working on a new post now. Also drinking, so we'll see how it goes.

Midlonia, would you like to be the principle foreign state operating in the Chhatt Concession? In the first post I have it that, basically, some foreigners are demanding charts of the mysterious interior, presumably because they are weighing up the risks of going in to look for resources or what have you.

Possibly coal is suspected west of Iinaq, and then maybe you could have some adventurous soul put together a prospecting expedition and go traipsing off with a bunch of bemused porters and an load of suspect charts full of dragons and Shangri-las to look for proof of economically viable deposits that will actually get the funding for a more serious operation.

Obviously if you came in with the full force of a future tech nation, the RP would just turn into a Scramble for Chivikistan amongst future nations and the rest of us would just be watching, so if we start out with the prevailing attitude being that Chivikistan is too big, too unstable, and too under-developed to get excited about, that'll explain a lot and enable you to take part without wondering why your corporations aren't just running the entire show. It's only the maverick pioneers who have faith in Chivikistani profitability at this stage.

Sounds absolutely perfect to me. Would also explain the definitively "toned down" technology on our part also. It's not as if the stuff gives people a shed load of more "magical" abilities and all of it can still go wrong. All it does is make my logistics the tiniest bit easier than any definitive advantage.

I have no magical shields on naval vessels and laser weapons that can slaughter an entire battalion in one go [Still stuck in RnD].

The most advanced weapon I can think of is the Friction Powered Rifle [FPR-3], which is effectively like an 1871 Wincester Rifle with the problem of needing to work the handle at least 3 times between shots. And the digital Camoflague used by most Midlonian Forces. Which basically allows them to have Red Coats on Parade, and camouflage when in the field, which is something presently being trialed and used by the United States Military.

Only other bit is Future Infantry Soldier Technology [F.I.S.T] which is, in real life, only a few years away from completion and would only be on the Midlonian Consortium troopers, and not on any local militias the Midlonians may try to sponsor or raise.

Sound good enough as a toned down thing? I'm thinking "East India Trading Company" rather than outright government involvement, hence the lack of resources and bleeding-edge technology. If the full weight of the Midlonians had come down on it they'd just have "more of the same."

Putting replies together bit by bit. Don't really have time to stop just now, but to Aerion, I hope you don't mind, I put your factories in Longin, the capital and largest city. That's fairly far south, with a couple of major cities between it and the bulk of the Communists, for now...

Looks like a good RP; something I would typically get involved in. Questarians are always abroad, looking for ways to exploit ethnic "minorities" and create some kind of profit. The backdrop of a strife-ridden Chinese republic dotted with western concessions, to me, sounds like the perfect place where your average Questarian colonial would try forge out some scheme or another.

In terms of tech, I'm strictly 'MT'; but slightly backwards, stuck somewhere between the 1900s and 1960s and wondering how to get out of it. Any Questarian soldiers would like like something out of the Borneo Confrontation or the Rhodesian Bush. You won't have to worry about any neat FT gadgets. So, if you'll have me...?

Is it OK for me to presume Hma Uqemot will have a "neutral observer" from the Daytan People's Army along with him?

Well, not that Chivikistan is either Chinese or Republican but, those things aside, the Questarians are welcome to stick their oar in.

The main concession cities are Longin, the capital and largest city, on the coast and relatively southerly, where Aerion's factories are concentrated; Qiantok, smaller and much further north and relatively remote from other major cities but connected by the northern arm of the Chivris to the interior of the vast steppe across which the Communists are rumoured to be trudging, possibly with the Iansislians as the leading foreign element; and Chhatt, back in the south but inland, reached by the main southern arm of the Amazon-dwarfing Chivris river system, currently dominated by Midlonian concessions.

Everyone is free to have some presence, at least a character or two, if they like in any city or almost any part of Chivikistan, but I think I'd prefer that most concentrate the bulk of their operations in one part so it's marginally easier to keep track... things are getting pretty crowded (which is good, but somewhat taxing)! So, yeah, fell free to try wedging your corporations or whatever into one of those areas, or I can come up with another city near the capital in which the Questarians are already dominant if you like (I assume there are more there, I just haven't created them yet!).

Daytanistan, yes, that would be fine. It'd probably help to have political and military attaches from your nation, to be honest, or the Chivikistani Communists are liable to wander off the ideological track and end up in some obscure cultist siding or other.

To everyone, I have to apologise in advance because I'm not sure what my internet access will be like during this week. I'm stealing half an hour on line now, but this isn't the only thing I want to get done. It may be fine, but if things are quiet for a couple of days, just hang on and I'll get back to you.

No problem. My own access time is rather spotty this week. Labor day here in the states, ironically enough, is when I have to do the most work. >.<

Well, not that Chivikistan is either Chinese or Republican but, those things aside, the Questarians are welcome to stick their oar in. Perhaps, but that is exactly what it reminds me of :P Will think up/get up a post soon.

Chivik, waiting on you to make a move with anything concerning my Cultural Mission before I can post anything further. Maybe some citizens, government members, or pro-government fighters want to seek refuge there? The mission is virtually ready to support any anti-communist militia (in secret, of course).

All apologies for that unexpected ten week absence, everyone!

I am back, and though partaking of whisky, and with some abandon, I am committed to resuming this adventure.

I quite understand if any of the prior participants have lost interest, moved on, or become distracted, so if I reply to something you posted, don't feel obligated to pick it up again if you don't want to or can not easily do so.

Now, I have to re-read the whole IC thread and figure-out who may be waiting for a reply to what. To anyone still interested, a thousand thanks for your patience!

On the bright side, I found Chivikistan's old flag.

http://www.nationstates.net/images/flags/uploads/chivikistan__0.jpg

I don't remember it looking so shoddily off-centre, though!