It was a century past that the world had seemed an ocean of opportunity.  Graced by the wind we had learned to traverse the oceans to lands unknown and ripe with untouched riches.  Set upon by inspiration we had learned sciences that seemed to throw open the doors of possibility and challenge the very notion of what men could accomplish.  We were prepared for everything and eagerly awaiting the marvelous new age that undoubtedly laid around the next bend in that promising land of the future.

Alas, a century ago we knew nothing.  The cold and relentless turning of time has brought about not an era of learning and prosperity, but a terrible and frightening new world.  In all lands the machines we thought our salvation have burdened the labours of men, but those same men have become slaves to them.  Industrialism, progress, wealth.  It was with these words spoken with wide smiles that we sealed the covenant selling our collective souls.  It was these words that set about the inexorable forging of a new hell on earth.

Now the sky has blackened like in the myths of old and from it the tempest of war has been born.  Our leaders tell us this has been a revolution, and true to their world none have ever died in such number under the hammer of guns, nor have so many been subjected to the hateful sting of the lash.  Across all the lands it seems the soil runs red and the rain falls an iron grey as if nature were mourning the total degradation of all Human races.

We have sold all we are, and now the world will tremble under the marching of hollow feet.

[center]0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0[/center]

This is [i]Iron Rain[/i], an RP focusing on on the darkest aspects of Industrialism and the changes that swept the world in the late nineteenth century.  This RP is going to take place in an alternate world, but one populated by Human beings and Human subspecies who have suffered under the Industrial revolution as much as or greater than people did in our world.  The RP will be story driven and focused on the interactions between intelligent beings, meaning no broad commands of 'x soldiers went to y' but rather the journey shown through the eyes of one of those soldiers.  For the purpose of internal consistency a hard limit of 1910 is going to be set on tech,  meaning tech that didn't exist by 1910 in our world will not be permitted, period.  Player freedom is going to be valued, but be aware I will deny any application that I feel abuses that freedom or seems to ignore historical consistency with other players nations in the area.

As for backstory, I intend to leave that up to you.  All I will say is that Human being and their various subspecies first evolved on the greater eastern continent, and that the first real civilizations started in the last twelve thousand years.  As for subspecies I am willing to permit an unlimited number, but I do want it to be taken into account that normal Homo Sapiens are the most prevalent intelligent beings on the planet.

[u][i][b]Map: [/b][/i][/u]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/MfUf5fo.jpg[/img]

[u][i][b]
Rules:[/b][/i][/u] 
1. Follow the rules of the guild: http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/531-fundamental-rules-of-the-guild/ooc
2. Follow the basic rules of RP.  That means no powerplaying, godmodding, metagaming, etc.
3. Human subspecies are allowed, and a great deal of freedom is going to be given in making these subspecies.  That said if I see something that is inconsistent or potentially problematic it’s not going to pass.
4. You will set a basic scale for your military.  This doesn’t mean I’m demanding you detail every man, rifle, and boot.  Give me a rough outline and we’ll all be better for it.
5. The tech limit is 1910, but that doesn’t mean you can have tank battalions because a single tank had been built before then.  If the technology was barely a prototype in real life, it will be the same thing here.  You can develop things like tanks, but it will be a long and laborious process you need to be willing to see through IC.
6. Steampunk, we all know it comes up in these settings and we all know how disruptive the guy with air battleships can be.  So let’s be clear, this is a setting built around the horrors of the turn of the century, not some idealized vision of it.  Airships are as powerful as airships were in 1910 and we are limited by the same engineering problems the people of that time were.
7. Airplanes, they exist and to be honest this is one area I’m going to permit a bit more leeway.  You can have planes roughly in the first generation of fighter aircraft, but note this is the ONE area there will be any exception to the tech limit.
8. Please try to be active, you won’t be penalized if you’re not but do try and keep up an acceptable post rate.
9. This is a casual-advanced RP.  You can be as articulate and expansive with your posts as you want, but posts that I feel don’t meet the standard of this RP will be pointed out.

[b][u][i]Sheet:[/i][/u][/b]
Nation Name:

Flag: (Optional)

[hider=Government and Economy]
Type of Government: (Try to go into some detail here, every government is different and even if you just say absolute monarchy you can still provide some information about how that monarchy works and its internal politics.)

Head(s) of Government: (Who holds the highest office in the nation, if anyone?)

Economy: (Wealth and the flow of it, you should know the effect this can have.)
[/hider]

[hider=History, Demographics, and Culture.]
Primary Species: (Only Humans and Human subspecies are allowed.  If you choose the latter a description and overview will need to be made.  Be as detailed as you want.)

Population: (Self-explanatory, be internally consistent and fit your population to your nation.)

Culture: (This is often the most neglected, yet most important section.  How you fill this out determines how other nations see you and how the normal people in your nation will act in nearly every situation.  What norms have been prevalent, what acts are taboos?  Why have these things come about?  Try to remember culture is a vital part of any NS.)

Religious and other Beliefs: (Spirituality or secularism can be a huge part of peoples identities, so what do your people believe?)

History: (This is one section you really can’t fill out alone.  Iron Rain is indisputably a sandbox in that you’ve only been given vague details and a theme.  So it is VITAL you collaborate with your neighbours and other players not just to craft your own history, but to craft the history of the greater world around you.)
[/hider]

[hider=Geography, Agriculture, and Industry]
Territory: (Be considerate of others, but also be aware we need space filled.  Put your map claim here.) 

Climate: (Our world is warmer than Earth, but not by too much.  Northern climates will have the same difficulties as they would have in the real world and other climates can be said to be much the same.  Feel free to be detailed here; a temperature doesn’t make a climate so be specific about any geographical details.)

Cities, bases, etc: (This can be a list, or an internal map.)

Agriculture: (Dependant on your climate and other factors, this can be shorter but as always detail means a better world to RP in.)

Industry: (It’s an RP about this, so tell me what sort of industry does your nation have?)
[/hider]

[hider=Military]
Military: (I don’t really have a set way for you to do this, and people usually tend to differ a lot in these sections.  So have some freedom, write what you like, but don’t abuse it.)
[/hider]