The Warmaster
20-05-2007, 03:01
THIS THREAD IS CLOSED. YOU WON'T UNDERSTAND THIS IF I HAVEN'T TALKED TO YOU ABOUT IT. IF YOU FEEL YOU SHOULD BE INVITED, TG ME, AND I WILL CONSIDER IT.
***
Link to IC thread: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=527404
Greetings! This little summary that you’re about to read may look a little lengthy, but bear with me.
Perhaps you’ve seen the two previous volumes of the Succession Wars drifting through the forums. I hope you took a look at it, but I’ll assume that you haven’t, so that nothing is missed. The fact of the matter is, not only is Kregaia a very complicated place, but also the Succession Wars involved at one point five separate factions, as well as foreign agents and observers, and...it’s a lot. So here’s a history of what has happened, as well as some basic information on the Kregaian Imperium and the Empire it rules.
To be honest, fellas, chronologically speaking, the Succession Wars are practically at an end. There are some flashback posts that detail what happened between Volume Two ending and Volume Three beginning, but there are mere days left on the clock: things are finally winding down. We started with five High Lords and a Crown Prince: only two High Lords are still standing. I have constructed certain pieces of Volume Three ahead of time, because this to me is the culmination of well over a year of work. I could throw out countless metaphors about what is happening; there’ll be time for that in the IC thread. The point is: this is art. This is the peak of my RP skills as they now stand: I will do as best I can, and do my best not to let RL detract from the quality. I urge the rest of you to push yourselves as well. I want Volume Three of the Succession Wars to remembered, for a long, long time.
CHARACTERS AND CONCEPTS
Emperor Lucifer I of Domain Halcyon: The current ruler. He seized the throne years ago by murdering his decrepit and inept predecessor, and since then has enjoyed great popularity and awesome political power. However, he has always had a seed of insanity, and during the Succession Wars that condition became fully apparent. He now is plagued by unceasing voices in his head which prevent him from sleeping, paranoia (recently overcompensated for by the “death” of the Betrayer; see below), and other mental instabilities. He is extremely strong, an expert shot, and a certified genius. Mad or not, he is still the most powerful man in the Imperium, and it would take immense force to blast him from his throne.
High Lord Rahvin: Rahvin is perhaps the consummate Kregaian hero. The plan he and Lucifer created, along with the victories Rahvin personally directed, brought the resounding triumph of the Czardaian War; he is honorable, vicious in war, pious, wealthy, charismatic...he is the perfect servant of the Imperium, one of its chief generals, and is the only High Lord to remain loyal to Lucifer. Recently, he crushed several of Jahvan’s armies, inflicting horrendous casualties at minimal losses, and accepted the surrender of Slivan. He is currently pacifying the territories formerly loyal to High Lord Jahvan, far away from Korronis.
High Lord Ishamael: Ishamael is something of a latter-day Augustus. He is very similar to Rahvin, and they were close friends before the war; however, Ishamael often challenged the doctrine of the priests, a habit that amused his patron Lucifer to no end. However, Ishamael very rarely flies into fits of fury like many other nobles; he is much calmer and more serene, and the anger he does possess is cold. His talent for organization is supreme, and his character and authority is such that those who follow him revere, fear, and love him. Ishamael is closely assisted by his chief general and friend, Anton Malustar, a sharp and friendly leader of armies. Ishamael recently defeated Avaru, having enticed the Borman armies to support him; as they defend Ishamael’s domains, he leads a huge army south onto the Palatine Peninsula, to attack Korronis.
Lord Regent Seth Jamaane: As Lord Regent, Seth is the honorary protector of the Sacred Emperor and the commander of his Immortals. However, the boundary between friend and guardian are often blurred: Seth has lived with Lucifer his whole life, and continues to offer advice and support. Of late, however, Lucifer’s madness has caused a rift between them, with Seth unnerved by the god-king’s insatiable craving for power and vengeance.
Imperator Jakran Vuell: The Imperator is the commander-in-chief, second only to the Sacred Emperor, of the entire Armed Forces. Vuell is a common figure in such an office: he is overly aggressive, a heavy drinker, and often slow to consider the consequences of his actions. Because of this, Lucifer closely watches him; he may manage a battle well enough, but his talents of organization and foresight are lacking, and for a long time he has been regarded by the rest of the Inner Court as replaceable. During this war, especially, he has been upstaged by such generals as Rahvin, M. Shadows (the commander of Korronis’s defenses), and High General Yataghan.
Lord Varus: Lord Varus, a Generian, has had a reputation as one of the world’s greatest diplomats for years; around the outbreak of the Succession Wars, he was sent to Korronis to be the official liaison between Lucifer and the Generian Embassy there. Lucifer has never trusted Varus, considering him a cold manipulator, and prefers to keep him at a distance. This is actually rather justified, seeing as Varus knew of the assassination attempt on Lucifer and didn’t warn him. Sooner or later, the friction between these two is going to have to resolve itself.
The Seven True Gods: This is the pantheon of deities worshiped by Kregaians. The Creator is self-explanatory, the Modeler makes small changes to the world, and the Renewer preserves life. These three gods, although important, are secondary to those four that will accept human sacrifice: the Torturer, patron of the Inquisition and god of pain; the Deceiver, god of trickery and visions; the Destroyer, god of war and soldiers; and the Dragon, the deified form of Typhon the Warmaster, the first Sacred Emperor, a god who can loosely be described as the god of glory. Mention must also be made of the demons, fallen spirits, the most powerful of whom is known as Dispater, the Betrayer; Lucifer has been seeing visions of him for some time now, until he killed an assassin, under the impression that his victim was, in fact, the Betrayer.
Imperial Honor: The Kregaian code of honor is immensely complex, riddled with exceptions and provisos. Nobody is able to follow all of its tenets leading a productive life, but honor is still very important. This includes soldiers never surrendering alive, the nobles acting like nobles (displaying their wealth, studying the arts and war, practicing politics), the good of the Imperium being everyone’s goal, practicing regular worship of the gods, and obedience to the law.
The Succession: The Succession is a process that is clearly regulated and defined by Imperial law. At any time the Sacred Emperor may appoint five of the most capable nobles to receive the rank of High Lord, marking them as a candidate for the throne and beginning the process of Succession. The Sacred Emperor’s eldest son, the Crown Prince, is also eligible, and in fact is the default heir unless he is killed (perfectly legal during the Succession). The High Lords then compete either by war or by negotiation to determine one to be the heir; this is usually decided by one being chosen by the others in exchange for concessions, however, there are exceptions. For example, when Lucifer was a High Lord, before he took power, he assassinated the ruler and crowned himself. Other times, the High Lords have waged a five-way civil war against each other. Once the new Sacred Emperor, wearing the Iron Crown, sits upon the Iron Throne, the Succession is over.
Casualty List: Crown Prince Antiochus was captured in a raid on the Palace by Ishamael’s men; Ishamael sold him to Asmodeus, who tortured him to death and in doing so insulted Lucifer, who then had a grudge against Asmodeus. High Lord Jahvan, after the defeat of his fleet and armies, was shot to death by assassins in his own home. High Lord Asmodeus killed himself during the battle for his capital city, after which his forces surrendered. High Lord Avaru was defeated on the Devil’s Dance Floor when Borman armies attacked his rear in support of Ishamael, captured, and executed after the battle.
Other references: Typhon the Warmaster was the first Sacred Emperor and founder of the Imperium; some of his personal possessions still exist and are owned by the Sacred Emperor. The Iron Throne is the throne of the Imperium, and the Iron Crown is an iron circlet ringed with long spikes. The adjective for my nation is Kregaian; Kregaia being the actual continent on which this war takes place. The Empire is the name for the lands/people that are under the rule of the Imperium; the Imperium is the bureaucracy that administrates the Empire.
SUMMARY
Volume One: Terrorism has increased greatly in the brief period of relative peace since the end of the Imperium’s recent major wars; strife against the reign of Sacred Emperor Lucifer I is now much more widespread. In an attempt to exorcise the chaos soon, Lucifer names the five candidates to succeed him, who then begin assembling the forces loyal to them to wage war on each other, a strange Kregaian tradition perfectly legal under the doctrine of Succession. However, since the Crown Prince legally has priority to the throne, he is kidnapped by Ishamael’s men, sold to Asmodeus, who tortures him to death on live TV, insulting Lucifer in the process. In the meantime, foreign agitators set off bombs in Korronis itself, and Ishamael and Avaru clash violently in the city of Mazellian, marking the true beginning of the Succession Wars.
Volume Two: Although none have noticed it yet, Lucifer’s sanity is crumbling amid visions of both a possible death and a possible triumph in the war, reflecting the disintegration of the Empire. Asmodeus leads an army to the Loyalist fortress of Shield Vale, and is turned back after days of combat that claim countless thousands of lives; Rahvin invades Jahvan’s territory and crushes three armies, with help from Boozian troops, on the way to Slivan. Avaru invades Ishamael’s territory and is halted on the Devil’s Dance Floor, beginning a slugfest that would last weeks, during which time Mondothian and Borman troops invade Asmodeus’s territory, closing in on his capital from two sides and crushing all resistance. Jahvan’s fleet is crushed at sea by a combined Loyalist-Jipleastani armada. Asmodeus is driven insane by the stress of his hopeless position, and during the battle for his city he throws himself off a building. In Korronis, Lucifer’s madness becomes apparent to his Inner Court; sleep deprivation, rampant alcohol use, and schizophrenia lead to his seeing visions of the Kregaian demon known as the Betrayer. During an assassination attempt, Lucifer hallucinates and believes his would-be killer to actually be the Betrayer, and when Lucifer shoots the living being, Lucifer believes that the Betrayer (and betrayal itself) is dead and thus that he is invulnerable, deluding himself that the possible future leading to his death has been averted. Meanwhile, Rahvin conquers Slivan after Jahvan is killed by Loyalist assassins.
***
The setting for the IC thread is the huge city of Korronis, capital city of the Empire and seat of the Imperium, as well as one of the largest cities in the world with tens of millions of citizens. The Sacred Emperor, the Inquisition, High Command, the College of Priests, the Council of Prefects, the courts, and practically every other institution in the Imperium is based in Korronis. Because of this, it has historically been an extremely tempting target; knowing this, the Imperium has kept it well fortified. A massive army defends it at all times, and all approaches are amply defended: mines float offshore, the islands in the strait it straddles are heavily fortified, as is the coast itself. It is common to see huge artillery batteries or anti-aircraft guns on the roofs of buildings or in squares. There are several military airfields in the area, and the passages along the Palatine Peninsula into the city are all defended by three massive rings of fortifications.
There are many districts of Korronis; they are labeled on the map below. The most important is the Sacred Precinct, where most of the temples, government buildings, and such things are. It is very old; a lot of the buildings are stone, however, over the centuries they have been modernized and restored at a very high cost, while still maintaining their ancient design. The Palace itself is here, a massive building that has many sniper platforms, anti-air batteries, and artillery guns mounted on it, and countless traps within. It is defended by the Immortals, an elite order of troops who are coldly efficient and extremely skilled. In short, any attempt to enter the Palace would be an incredibly bloody affair. Right in front of the Palace is the Great Forum, capable of housing hundreds of thousands of citizens to hear speeches by the Sacred Emperor, and across from the Palace, on the other side of the Forum, is the Sanctum of the Hierarchs, a tomb for the greatest Kregaian heroes and kings. In general, the southern coast houses most of Korronis's industrial facilities, the west coast of the strait is a mass of port facilities and docklands, and most other areas are residential. The extreme northwest (as well as the Sacred Precinct) is particularly heavily fortified, and contains the Korronis Defense Command, a structure that is actually a bit superfluous, as all its tasks can be performed by the War Room facilities in the Imperial Palace.
Map of Korronis: http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u308/TataliaLW/Korronis.jpg
***
If there's any other questions, post them here and I'll resolve them.
***
Link to IC thread: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=527404
Greetings! This little summary that you’re about to read may look a little lengthy, but bear with me.
Perhaps you’ve seen the two previous volumes of the Succession Wars drifting through the forums. I hope you took a look at it, but I’ll assume that you haven’t, so that nothing is missed. The fact of the matter is, not only is Kregaia a very complicated place, but also the Succession Wars involved at one point five separate factions, as well as foreign agents and observers, and...it’s a lot. So here’s a history of what has happened, as well as some basic information on the Kregaian Imperium and the Empire it rules.
To be honest, fellas, chronologically speaking, the Succession Wars are practically at an end. There are some flashback posts that detail what happened between Volume Two ending and Volume Three beginning, but there are mere days left on the clock: things are finally winding down. We started with five High Lords and a Crown Prince: only two High Lords are still standing. I have constructed certain pieces of Volume Three ahead of time, because this to me is the culmination of well over a year of work. I could throw out countless metaphors about what is happening; there’ll be time for that in the IC thread. The point is: this is art. This is the peak of my RP skills as they now stand: I will do as best I can, and do my best not to let RL detract from the quality. I urge the rest of you to push yourselves as well. I want Volume Three of the Succession Wars to remembered, for a long, long time.
CHARACTERS AND CONCEPTS
Emperor Lucifer I of Domain Halcyon: The current ruler. He seized the throne years ago by murdering his decrepit and inept predecessor, and since then has enjoyed great popularity and awesome political power. However, he has always had a seed of insanity, and during the Succession Wars that condition became fully apparent. He now is plagued by unceasing voices in his head which prevent him from sleeping, paranoia (recently overcompensated for by the “death” of the Betrayer; see below), and other mental instabilities. He is extremely strong, an expert shot, and a certified genius. Mad or not, he is still the most powerful man in the Imperium, and it would take immense force to blast him from his throne.
High Lord Rahvin: Rahvin is perhaps the consummate Kregaian hero. The plan he and Lucifer created, along with the victories Rahvin personally directed, brought the resounding triumph of the Czardaian War; he is honorable, vicious in war, pious, wealthy, charismatic...he is the perfect servant of the Imperium, one of its chief generals, and is the only High Lord to remain loyal to Lucifer. Recently, he crushed several of Jahvan’s armies, inflicting horrendous casualties at minimal losses, and accepted the surrender of Slivan. He is currently pacifying the territories formerly loyal to High Lord Jahvan, far away from Korronis.
High Lord Ishamael: Ishamael is something of a latter-day Augustus. He is very similar to Rahvin, and they were close friends before the war; however, Ishamael often challenged the doctrine of the priests, a habit that amused his patron Lucifer to no end. However, Ishamael very rarely flies into fits of fury like many other nobles; he is much calmer and more serene, and the anger he does possess is cold. His talent for organization is supreme, and his character and authority is such that those who follow him revere, fear, and love him. Ishamael is closely assisted by his chief general and friend, Anton Malustar, a sharp and friendly leader of armies. Ishamael recently defeated Avaru, having enticed the Borman armies to support him; as they defend Ishamael’s domains, he leads a huge army south onto the Palatine Peninsula, to attack Korronis.
Lord Regent Seth Jamaane: As Lord Regent, Seth is the honorary protector of the Sacred Emperor and the commander of his Immortals. However, the boundary between friend and guardian are often blurred: Seth has lived with Lucifer his whole life, and continues to offer advice and support. Of late, however, Lucifer’s madness has caused a rift between them, with Seth unnerved by the god-king’s insatiable craving for power and vengeance.
Imperator Jakran Vuell: The Imperator is the commander-in-chief, second only to the Sacred Emperor, of the entire Armed Forces. Vuell is a common figure in such an office: he is overly aggressive, a heavy drinker, and often slow to consider the consequences of his actions. Because of this, Lucifer closely watches him; he may manage a battle well enough, but his talents of organization and foresight are lacking, and for a long time he has been regarded by the rest of the Inner Court as replaceable. During this war, especially, he has been upstaged by such generals as Rahvin, M. Shadows (the commander of Korronis’s defenses), and High General Yataghan.
Lord Varus: Lord Varus, a Generian, has had a reputation as one of the world’s greatest diplomats for years; around the outbreak of the Succession Wars, he was sent to Korronis to be the official liaison between Lucifer and the Generian Embassy there. Lucifer has never trusted Varus, considering him a cold manipulator, and prefers to keep him at a distance. This is actually rather justified, seeing as Varus knew of the assassination attempt on Lucifer and didn’t warn him. Sooner or later, the friction between these two is going to have to resolve itself.
The Seven True Gods: This is the pantheon of deities worshiped by Kregaians. The Creator is self-explanatory, the Modeler makes small changes to the world, and the Renewer preserves life. These three gods, although important, are secondary to those four that will accept human sacrifice: the Torturer, patron of the Inquisition and god of pain; the Deceiver, god of trickery and visions; the Destroyer, god of war and soldiers; and the Dragon, the deified form of Typhon the Warmaster, the first Sacred Emperor, a god who can loosely be described as the god of glory. Mention must also be made of the demons, fallen spirits, the most powerful of whom is known as Dispater, the Betrayer; Lucifer has been seeing visions of him for some time now, until he killed an assassin, under the impression that his victim was, in fact, the Betrayer.
Imperial Honor: The Kregaian code of honor is immensely complex, riddled with exceptions and provisos. Nobody is able to follow all of its tenets leading a productive life, but honor is still very important. This includes soldiers never surrendering alive, the nobles acting like nobles (displaying their wealth, studying the arts and war, practicing politics), the good of the Imperium being everyone’s goal, practicing regular worship of the gods, and obedience to the law.
The Succession: The Succession is a process that is clearly regulated and defined by Imperial law. At any time the Sacred Emperor may appoint five of the most capable nobles to receive the rank of High Lord, marking them as a candidate for the throne and beginning the process of Succession. The Sacred Emperor’s eldest son, the Crown Prince, is also eligible, and in fact is the default heir unless he is killed (perfectly legal during the Succession). The High Lords then compete either by war or by negotiation to determine one to be the heir; this is usually decided by one being chosen by the others in exchange for concessions, however, there are exceptions. For example, when Lucifer was a High Lord, before he took power, he assassinated the ruler and crowned himself. Other times, the High Lords have waged a five-way civil war against each other. Once the new Sacred Emperor, wearing the Iron Crown, sits upon the Iron Throne, the Succession is over.
Casualty List: Crown Prince Antiochus was captured in a raid on the Palace by Ishamael’s men; Ishamael sold him to Asmodeus, who tortured him to death and in doing so insulted Lucifer, who then had a grudge against Asmodeus. High Lord Jahvan, after the defeat of his fleet and armies, was shot to death by assassins in his own home. High Lord Asmodeus killed himself during the battle for his capital city, after which his forces surrendered. High Lord Avaru was defeated on the Devil’s Dance Floor when Borman armies attacked his rear in support of Ishamael, captured, and executed after the battle.
Other references: Typhon the Warmaster was the first Sacred Emperor and founder of the Imperium; some of his personal possessions still exist and are owned by the Sacred Emperor. The Iron Throne is the throne of the Imperium, and the Iron Crown is an iron circlet ringed with long spikes. The adjective for my nation is Kregaian; Kregaia being the actual continent on which this war takes place. The Empire is the name for the lands/people that are under the rule of the Imperium; the Imperium is the bureaucracy that administrates the Empire.
SUMMARY
Volume One: Terrorism has increased greatly in the brief period of relative peace since the end of the Imperium’s recent major wars; strife against the reign of Sacred Emperor Lucifer I is now much more widespread. In an attempt to exorcise the chaos soon, Lucifer names the five candidates to succeed him, who then begin assembling the forces loyal to them to wage war on each other, a strange Kregaian tradition perfectly legal under the doctrine of Succession. However, since the Crown Prince legally has priority to the throne, he is kidnapped by Ishamael’s men, sold to Asmodeus, who tortures him to death on live TV, insulting Lucifer in the process. In the meantime, foreign agitators set off bombs in Korronis itself, and Ishamael and Avaru clash violently in the city of Mazellian, marking the true beginning of the Succession Wars.
Volume Two: Although none have noticed it yet, Lucifer’s sanity is crumbling amid visions of both a possible death and a possible triumph in the war, reflecting the disintegration of the Empire. Asmodeus leads an army to the Loyalist fortress of Shield Vale, and is turned back after days of combat that claim countless thousands of lives; Rahvin invades Jahvan’s territory and crushes three armies, with help from Boozian troops, on the way to Slivan. Avaru invades Ishamael’s territory and is halted on the Devil’s Dance Floor, beginning a slugfest that would last weeks, during which time Mondothian and Borman troops invade Asmodeus’s territory, closing in on his capital from two sides and crushing all resistance. Jahvan’s fleet is crushed at sea by a combined Loyalist-Jipleastani armada. Asmodeus is driven insane by the stress of his hopeless position, and during the battle for his city he throws himself off a building. In Korronis, Lucifer’s madness becomes apparent to his Inner Court; sleep deprivation, rampant alcohol use, and schizophrenia lead to his seeing visions of the Kregaian demon known as the Betrayer. During an assassination attempt, Lucifer hallucinates and believes his would-be killer to actually be the Betrayer, and when Lucifer shoots the living being, Lucifer believes that the Betrayer (and betrayal itself) is dead and thus that he is invulnerable, deluding himself that the possible future leading to his death has been averted. Meanwhile, Rahvin conquers Slivan after Jahvan is killed by Loyalist assassins.
***
The setting for the IC thread is the huge city of Korronis, capital city of the Empire and seat of the Imperium, as well as one of the largest cities in the world with tens of millions of citizens. The Sacred Emperor, the Inquisition, High Command, the College of Priests, the Council of Prefects, the courts, and practically every other institution in the Imperium is based in Korronis. Because of this, it has historically been an extremely tempting target; knowing this, the Imperium has kept it well fortified. A massive army defends it at all times, and all approaches are amply defended: mines float offshore, the islands in the strait it straddles are heavily fortified, as is the coast itself. It is common to see huge artillery batteries or anti-aircraft guns on the roofs of buildings or in squares. There are several military airfields in the area, and the passages along the Palatine Peninsula into the city are all defended by three massive rings of fortifications.
There are many districts of Korronis; they are labeled on the map below. The most important is the Sacred Precinct, where most of the temples, government buildings, and such things are. It is very old; a lot of the buildings are stone, however, over the centuries they have been modernized and restored at a very high cost, while still maintaining their ancient design. The Palace itself is here, a massive building that has many sniper platforms, anti-air batteries, and artillery guns mounted on it, and countless traps within. It is defended by the Immortals, an elite order of troops who are coldly efficient and extremely skilled. In short, any attempt to enter the Palace would be an incredibly bloody affair. Right in front of the Palace is the Great Forum, capable of housing hundreds of thousands of citizens to hear speeches by the Sacred Emperor, and across from the Palace, on the other side of the Forum, is the Sanctum of the Hierarchs, a tomb for the greatest Kregaian heroes and kings. In general, the southern coast houses most of Korronis's industrial facilities, the west coast of the strait is a mass of port facilities and docklands, and most other areas are residential. The extreme northwest (as well as the Sacred Precinct) is particularly heavily fortified, and contains the Korronis Defense Command, a structure that is actually a bit superfluous, as all its tasks can be performed by the War Room facilities in the Imperial Palace.
Map of Korronis: http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u308/TataliaLW/Korronis.jpg
***
If there's any other questions, post them here and I'll resolve them.