Nations of TWWLI RP

From Egs Mayhem

Revision as of 15:10, 9 October 2007

This is for The World We Live In RP.

Duchy of Cimmeros

Surrounded on three sides by inhospitable mountains and the sea on the other, the Duchy is a rich and wealthy human maritime trading nation (most consider it the maritime trading nation), with ships visiting practically every port. Its wealth allowed it to construct the High Cathedral of Turaer - even though its people are not particularly devout followers of that particular deity (they're a pretty eclectic, cosmopolitan bunch actually). It has very little land to build on though - the country is little more than the capital Cimmeros, farmland, forests for timber and rugged mountains known for coal and iron deposits, but little else.

Although it has only a small army (chiefly concerned with watching what few mountain passes exist in the interior of the country and maintaining order in the capital), it has a large and well-run navy, feared by pirates and known for enforcing the Duchy's free trade ideals.

Beyond trade though, the Duchy has few plans: what colonies it has abroad are either small and rather insignificant or little more than a port for Cimmerian ships, and its good relations with most countries means it is often a mediator between them.

The Duchy also has a fairly strong following for Fnarl Bostron, as the god of trade, but they tend to gloss over the whole atheism business.

Kruge Empire

If the Duchy of Cimmeros is the political heart of Turaer's church, then the Kruge Empire is the religious heart of it. A sprawling, heavily forested kingdom, it grew from Krugedorf to encompass first the mercantile Union of Valdspar, followed by Kittle, Bren and Oschland. Further expansion was halted by the jagged peaks of the Bren Mountains and the tenacious warriors of the neighbouring nations. Despite the occasional small victory though, these countries still resist to this day.

A primarily human nation, Kruge nevertheless has a sizeable (mostly civilised) orcish and (civilised when sober) dwarf population, both of which contribute heavily to its excellent army. Whatever the species though, most Krugans share a stoic, serious attitude and are very devout - more Divine Champions come from the Empire than any other single nation.

If the strength of Kruge is its large and professional army (at close to a hundred thousand strong it's one of the largest around), its weakness is its size: with a population of some four hundred million spread over such an area, the Emperor's Chancellor of the Arcane Arts spends much of his time co-ordinating the Empire and ensuring that the central government knows what is happening. Somewhat inevitably, things slip through the cracks despite the best efforts of the Imperial Bureaucracy and the Chancellor's spellcasters.

Despite its aggressive nature, the Empire gets on fairly well with the Duchy of Cimmeros, its northern neighbour. The Duchy is canny enough to realise what a vast market the Empire is, which in turn leaves the Cimmerans alone and helps it police the long Krugan coastlines.

The Empire is also well known for its overseas... interests. There have been half a dozen invasions of Hyksos and Kultaln, with varying degrees of success, but as of the latest round of negotiations the Krugans are more-or-less back to their own borders, with just a few fortified colonies abroad.

The kingdom of Hyksos

The Kingdom of Hyksos is a nation in the north of Dolor Sit-Amet. It used to be a multitude of smaller nations, but these were conqurered, their lands added to it. Because of this, there are many cities and large towns dotted around the country. The kings of Hyksos stopped their expansion long ago, but the country still has a large standing army, which is often loaned out as mercenaries to allied nations. As well as the main Kingdom, there are a couple of small colonies on the northwestern coast of Lorem. The kingdom's main exports (other than soldiers) are furs- mainly bear, wolf, ETC, worked bone products (Knife/sword handles, combs, ETC), whale oil, timber, amber, silver and iron. (Raw materials as well as worked goods)

The religion of the kingdom is very diverse, with pretty much every deity worshipped. Majority worship of a particular deity in some regions is common. Cruach's following is mainly in the northeast and the God of metalworking is worshipped mainly in the west.

The climate is pretty cold, with snow most of the year. The North has snow year-round, while the South has a wet spring and a temperate summer. The kingdom is heavily forested with pine in most parts.

The Kingdom has a problem with pirates. While generally not as good as the Cimmerans, coastal Hyksos often make good sailors. Some trade, others pirate. Many do both. These pirates sometimes venture down to Cimmeran waters and they often prey on ships, no matter what nationality, off their own coastline and those of their neighbours. The Hyksos Navy does try to combat them, but many officials are corrupt and so little is actually done, and when something does happen, the pirates soon know of it, so the Hyksos navy often makes a raid on a suspected pirate base to find a peaceful fishing village. Once they're gone, the pirates return from the island or cove they were hiding out in and laugh.

Hyksos is divided into eight provinces-

• Hyksos Province- The original kingdom. The seat of government and the richest province. Home of the world's second largest temple to Cruach. Majority religion- diverse

• Temple Province- Owned by the Great Temple. Not required to pay taxes like the other provinces. Provides the Hyksos Army's best troops. Majority religion- Cruachist.

• Northern Province- Snow, rocks and trees. Was invaded mainly to stop raids into Hyksos territory and attacks on shipping by bands of natives. Northerners considered 'barbarian savages' by most other people. Many Northerners join the Hyksos Army, where they are often used as skirmishers and berzerkers. The poorest province. Majority religion- Mainly Cruachist and Verslarbaeshraekist

• Helvinthona province- A province. Nothing special. Majority religion- diverse.

• Erycya Province- Mainly agricultural. Majority religion- possibly Verslarbaeshraekist (animals) or an NPC God of Agriculture.

• Itium Province- The location of most of Hyksos' iron mines. Majority religion- Mainly Cruachist in the east, [Lohti's god]ist in the west.

• Silberneslund Province- Name means 'land of silver'. Source of pretty much all Hyksos silver. The second richest province. Majority religion- almost entirely [Lohti's god]ist.

• Ostkaste Province- The East coast of Hyksos. There are a couple of large ports in this province. Its main industries are fishing, whaling and piracy. Despite the risk of being attacked by pirates, many traders frequent the ports. Hyksos Navy ships are available as escorts, but these come at a high price for any ship not being used for official Hyksos purposes. Silver from Silberneslund Province is often taken here by road or river and then either sold to traders in the ports or stored until summer, when the Northern waters are passable, ten taken to the treasury in Hyksos (city). majority religion- Luniaism and Fnarl Bostromism.

Ellarwi Territory

The Ellarwi, Omo's chosen race, inhabit a rainforest basin in Lorem's southeast. Being a "lost race", they have no cities, though they suspect they did have some, once. They tend to just generally wander around in the basin, living a nomadic life in touch with nature. At least until they try to wash it, that is. Then nature gets irritated. Things aren't so pretty after that.

The Ellarwi territory is separated from the rest of the continent of Lorem by the nigh-impassable Armes mountains.

Etaoin Shrdlu

Omo's followers who are not Ellarwi live in this somethingocracy. It's called a somethingocracy because nobody's quite sure who runs the place- it just sort of happens. The two main cities of Etaoin Shrdlu are its capital, the bustling port city of Port Aliqua, and Radion Pass, a city that fills up the only navigable pass through the Armes Mountains into Ellarwi territory. Its primary exports are minerals, crops and rare jungle products. The Etaoinians regularly send expeditions into the Ellarwi's rainforest basin to collect fruit, bark, leaves, roots and so forth. These more often than not turn out to be useful, like containing medicines and stuff. The Etaoinians are not aware of the Ellarwi, mainly because the Ellarwi, as has been established, are lost.

Kingdom of Peraldor

The chief opponent to the Kruge Empire's expansion over the continent of Ipsum, Peraldor is dominated by vast prairies home to herds of buffalo and the like. The prairies are also the heart of its army: its cavalry are exceptionally good. It has had some success recently against the Krugans, capturing Perasgarde and holding it in spite of the Empire's best efforts.

Unlike the Krugans, the Peraldans don't worship any particular god, although Shraek, Turaer and Cruach figure prominently, given the nation's military bent. Like the Kruge Empire though, Peraldor is a primarily human nation, with substantial dwarven minorities in the Bren Mountains & Frozen Mountains.

Miritin Republic

Miritin was until fairly recently a part of Peraldor, and the breadbasket of the kingdom. Inhabited by a mix of humans, gnomes and elves in the north and dwarves and goblins in the south, it tended to be largely untouched by the war with the Kruge Empire, and so a more peaceful culture flourished: Myst Kumorigachi, Flux, the God Mage, Lunia and Dream all featured prominently.

These religious differences eventually came to a head when the central government in Peras attempted to form a national religion - but one severely lacking in the gods worshipped in what would become Miritin. Fighting broke out just as the Kruge Empire invaded: facing a war on two fronts, Peras itself was almost captured by the Krugans. In desperation the revolutionaries were granted independence, and thus the Miritin Republic was formed.

Since then, the Republic has grown in standing: it's capital is, if not as cosmopolitan as Cimmeros, very nearly so, and it has many excellent schools of engineering. No longer just the breadbasket of Peraldor, its foodstuffs can be found from Hyksos to Kultaln, as can many of the engineering marvels it produces. Although the Republic does have a well equipped and professional army, it is fairly small, and used more to discourage its neighbours from invading than anything else.

Kingdom of Antior

An old elven kingdom, Antior once stretched as far south as No Man's Jungle. It was pushed back not through war or disease, but actually through the rapid influx of humans into its southern territories. These humans, living apart from the elves, formed their own unofficial government and militia, until eventually Peraldor simply swallowed up the territory; the elves having long been resigned to this move and unable to seriously oppose the human nation in battle.

Since then, Antior has remained hidden behind the treacherous swamps in its south and the Bren Mountains to the west, preferring to ignore and be ignored than get involved in international affairs. Although it does a fair bit of trade with various other nations, it is nonetheless an isolated kingdom, content in its worship of Lunia, Turaer and Omo.

Kingdom of Ourest

A large orcish kingdom, without Ourest it is likely that Peraldor would have fallen to the Krugans many centuries ago. Although central authority is weak in this clan-based, Cruach & Shraek -dominated kingdom, most of the tribal chieftains have realised the danger the Krugans pose to their own way of life and as such regiments of Ourest mercenaries are a common sight whenever Peraldor's army takes to the field of battle.

Despite many humans and other species thinking them similar to the trolls that follow Fnarl Bostron in the west, the Ourest orcs have little to do with Fnarl's followers - save for the usual cross-border raids and the like. Even the Cimmeran colony is raided occasionally - once it was even sacked - but the rulers of Ourest have little direct control beyond the capital, and it is generally understood that raiding the clan responsible isn't a problem so long as the attack isn't too disproportionate.

Lorem City

Lorem City was founded by all the nations of Lorem (other than the Ellarwi, of course, seeing as they're... y'know... lost and all) as a neutral place for said nations to meet, trade and negotiate. It is home to Lorem's equivalent of the UN. Lorem City and its surrounds are not a "country" per se, but it does have laws, the most significant being that no nation may attack any other nation within the borders of the "neutral zone" (the grey area surrounding and including the city).
Lorem City has a largish population and thriving commerce. There is no predominant religion in Lorem City; every god of Lorem has at least one temple there.
Lorem City also has a Thaumaturgical Research Institute, which is constantly developing new magitech-type devices. The magitechnology produced is available to all nations in Lorem, should they happen to desire it. The current focus is on transport: Lorem being a large continent, quick and easy methods of getting around are quite necessary.