[OOC] An Age of Empires [Low Fantasy - Advanced]

[Sini]

Actually that brings up a good question, how old can we be, Sini?

@OneEyedChurro

Thousands of years, let's say 2000 to make it easy on us.

@Cyclone and @OneEyedChurro, it is also possible that Cyclone's nation did not exist yet in the south-west, but moved there after a disasterous conflict with Churro. Much like the Ostro- or Visigoths travelled through the Balkans, Italy, Gaul etc. to finally found kingdoms in Gaul, Spain and Illyria. States and nations are not necessarily fixed in time and place.

Edit: I'm working on the map. Those who have not yet shared their location (mostly those without a sheet), please let me know.

[Cyclone]

There's some rather considerable distance between your two nations, which eliminates expansion as an easy excuse for war. One side (or both) would probably have had to been very, very angry with the other in order to mount enough effort to send large armies that far.

Otherwise, a mere cold war and political interference would probably have been the more sensible eventuality.

@Terminal

A fair point, though distance did little to discourage Spanish conquistadores from sacking civilizations across the world in search of wealth. Britain (well, to be honest mostly the EITC under the name of their home country) conquered and ruled India just for its wealth. If Churro's guys opportunistically attacked and looted that currently ruined city, it could havd been for similar reasons. If so they would have gotten plenty of that gold, though probably to bad effect once there was a retaliation.

@Sini

I would imagine they have lived in the general vicinity for a long time, as I doubt their four huge cities are very new and in any case it's been long enough for them to evolve into something of a sub-race of human. Maybe if we went back far enough to when some were still semi-nomadic animal shepherds, ther could have been one or two bands that strayed farther north and encountered te ancient precursors of the Commonwealth.

@OneEyedChurro

Terus similarly has not existed as such for a terribly long time. About 200 years ago they vassalized the last regions and unifed Azraca. The further you go back from there, the more divided the region was.

[Sini]

Temporary map

My inbox is open for location requests.

[OneEyedChurro]

Could totally do something with that lake @Goldeagle1221 . Could be arguing about it or you could be taxing us to use it or something - ideas, ideas. Commonwealth would want to use it, for sure.

@Cyclone

The Commonwealth got kind of crazy with marriages just before they entered the union which led to becoming the Commonwealth. Maybe someone from a yet-to-be-unified region somehow thought they were a distant relative in the weird inbred opera and saw themselves the heir of Arman or Arhus, trying to take some land with force? I don't really have a ton of history set in stone so I'm flexible for ideas.

[Cyclone]

Sure, that sounds reasonable. If the lord of that ruined city married the daughter of the ruler of either Arman or Arhus. Then if all the princes died and the kingdom had to be inherited down one of the female lines, I could see that independent lord pushing a claim for his children against some inbred that he wouldn't consider a threat.

Of course, in the resulting war he would end up having his city razed and probably end up joining the Dominion of Terus in an attempt to keep what little land was left of his realm. At that point reinforcements from the Dominion would probably be able to repel the invaders.

[OneEyedChurro]

Sounds great. The ensuing wars could've been enough to convince that Arman and Arhus should unify down the road, so they could've entered the union right afterwards as a result of ultimately losing.

I'd think Arman or Arhus would pull ahead early on, though. Since they fight traditionally and were probably a bit bigger. Fairly well trained. Be a good explanation if you wanted a reason your military is devious; they found a way around the traditionalism and eventually won, or beat them back with no clear Victor. Or whatever we're going with.

[DAWNSTAR]

Alright, I know I seem a little late here but I would like to request a roll.

[Cyclone]

@OneEyedChurro

Whether or not the Azracs eventually won the war after losing that city is up to you; it would impact your nation's history much more than mine, though, as successfully pushing that claim would result in an Azrac king over either Arman.

In either case, I have an idea. While Arman was being invaded, their allies Arhus came to the rescue by mounting a counterattack against the invaders' lands that eventually resulting in that one city being razed. However, once the Dominion of Terus got pulled into the war to support that tiny little independent state, they were reluctant to waste thousands of lives and countless amounts of money and effort in order to equip an army big enough to defeat the formidable Arhusians in open battle. So they resorted to skulldoggery like guerrilla warfare and assassinations to chase out the Arhusian army before it managed to do much further damage. They doubtlessly would have used the Tarzaks for such work, which would probably lead to the Terusite military gaining a reputation as being devious.

The Tarzaks, an excerpt from my sheet

The Tarzak Tribe -
The famous Tarzak Night Raiders, as their warriors are called, are a living legend. They earned their name and achieved this fame more than three centuries ago, when a great lord demanded an oath of loyalty from their chieftains, the ability to make use of their valley's natural resources, and the right to tax the tribesmen. The Tarzak's high chief replied by sending a parcel of tiger feces. Enraged by this insult, the lord declared war, raised a large levy, and moved to conquer the Tarzak. The issue was that the Tarzak had no true settlements, the lord's army marching in circles through a rainforest taking massive attrition in the hopes of finding a chance to engage the entirety of the much smaller army of the Tarzak's and win a decisive battle. The Tarzak never gave them that chance, preferring to stalk their enemies through the jungles in small groups and ambush at any opportunity.

Reinforcements streamed in as more levies were called as needed, and this dance stretched on for a period of months. Eventually the army was forced to retreat from the forest and plan for another invasion, as the harvest time came and the levies were needed on the farms. Stopping to rest in a castle on their way home, the army was utterly unaware that hundreds of Tarzak hunters had followed them out of the forest. At night the came, silently assassinating the watchmen with their bows and then scaling the castle's battlements in the dead of night. The Tarzak then proceeded to set fire to the wooden keep full of sleeping soldiers. It is said that the Tarzak's chieftains laughed as their enemies burned alive, some jumping off the battlements to their deaths. Those that made it to the gates and escaped the blaze, the lord himself amongst them, were quickly captured. As the legend goes, the Tarzak executed every last one of the survivors, leaving their heads in a gruesome pile before returning to their foreboding jungle.

Whether the Azrac guy invading Arman was successful during this (somewhat) failed campaign by the Arhusians would be up to you to decide.

[OneEyedChurro]

@Cyclone

I like the sound of that. I think I'll have the Armanians win against the Azrac campaign, but barely. Afterwards they certainly wouldn't have enough manpower to try and help the counterattack. Between that and the failed Arhusian push, that'd be good enough for them to decide the next rightful heir (some inbred Arhusian, of course) should rule over both Kingdoms - and you get your deceitful military.

So would our relations now still be very sketchy? Or shall the Commonwealth sort of hold that trade route over you knowing that you're becoming (somewhat) dependant on it? Or were there very good leaders between us at some point that ended up with us becoming buddy-buddy?

[Sini]

Alright, I know I seem a little late here but I would like to request a roll.

@DAWNSTAR

I'll roll for you in a bit. Have to run errands.

[Cyclone]

@OneEyedChurro

It's probably been so long that neither really hold the war against each other. The trade route is too profitable and a friendship is more useful than some sort of bitter rivalry.

[Sini]

Alright, I know I seem a little late here but I would like to request a roll.

@DAWNSTAR

Could go for a nomadic/horde type of nation instead of one that has already settled down.

ESSENTIALS
Sparse Population (Population - 2,000,000) - Less manpower for economic and military purposes, but it also means that the social infrastructure isn't under much strain. Educational costs and civic projects tend to be cheap.

Economy - Stagnation - The economy is performing adequately, though there is much room for improvement. There are certain limitations on the economy that are bottlenecking real growth, such as a lack of manpower. There is some unemployment and economic unhappiness among people, and there is a degree of criticism in what can go wrong, even if it hasn't gone wrong yet.

Urbanisation - Heavily: Many towns and cities are present in your nation.

Technology - Obsolete: The industrial level and domestic technology level of the nation lags behind, though that does not necessarily mean that the stuff it produces is bad, it's just old-style tech; milled and forging as opposed to high-heat ovens, more wood, leather than metal, etc, etc. Your artisans are skilled, but not educated. High technology production requires foreign training and foreign experts.

Domestic Political Stability - Growing unrest

GEOGRAPHY
Largely consists of plains and hills, small streams

RESOURCES
Mineral Deposits - Minimal deposits of metals and minerals.

Valuable Mineral Deposits - Trace deposits of rare earth metals, predominately silver.

Unique Materials - Exquisite leathers, mounts

Agriculture - cattle based, slight food surplus that is decreasing over time

MILITARY
Military Focus - Decent army, some mercenary contingents, but inferior navy, excellent infantry and cavalry ratio (3:1)

Military Recruitment - Volunteer Force Military

Reliability - Levies are of excellent quality, generals play politics

Military Size - Large, relative to population: requires considerable upkeep, harder to equip/supply quickly.

Military Technology - Rapid Modernization, your nation does not lag behind the rest of the world, and even sets the standard on some levels.

Military Training and Morale - Badly Trained; High Morale, levies have high morale, bad at following orders

Military Leadership - Competent; Rose to their positions through battlefield exploits

Military Reputation - Popular domestically; considered huge but wild

Siege Equipment - Obsolete, practically non-existent, instead your army relies on grapling hooks and infiltration

Strengths & weaknesses:
Pro: Brave: Your people are strong of heart and spirit and will face down monsters, odds and mages with courageous resolve.

Con: Afraid of Water: Your nation is terrified of water, oceans or any large body of water. They quite simply will avoid the coast alone, and getting them out onto the ocean aboard a vessel is close to impossible.

-OR- (depending on if you want them to be semi-nomadic or not)

Con: The Wandering Way: Very few can handle the life of the wanderer. Your people always are on the move except during the winter months when they hunker down in their territories. This means their entire nation is on the move except their defenders during the spring to autumn months. This makes it harder to be attacked. But also limits the nation. They are less dependent on cities,but when Winter comes they MUST hunker down in their winter cities or die.

[ClocktowerEchos]

Are you still accepting roll requests and accept new comers? If so, I would like to request one.

[Sini]

Are you still accepting roll requests and accept new comers? If so, I would like to request one.

@ClocktowerEchos

Sure thing!

ESSENTIALS
Regionally Dense Population (Population - 4,000,000) - Adequate amount of manpower for economic and military purposes, but it also means that the social infrastructure is under increasing strain. Educational costs and civic projects tend to be affordable.

Economy - Stagnation - The economy is performing well, though there is room for improvement. There are certain limitations on the economy that are bottlenecking real growth, such as a restriction in supplies or insufficient demand, however. There is some unemployment and economic unhappiness among people in the lower income brackets. You heavily are dependent on trade.

Urbanisation - Semi-urbanised: There are several towns and a few cities present, ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand inhabitants.

Technology - Rapidly Modernizing: The industrial infrastructure is in the process of improvement, and this is a teething process. But the economy is seeing increased activity because of this investment. New technologies are becoming domestically available. However, there is a degree of dependence on imports, including in terms of resources and supplies. Metallurgy is high-tech, even steel lies within your capabilities.

Domestic Political Stability - Relatively stable, religious unrest

GEOGRAPHY
Largely consists of plains, forest, with tropical areas

RESOURCES
Mineral Deposits - minimal deposits of metals and minerals.

Valuable Mineral Deposits - Trace deposits of rare earth metals, predominately gold.

Unique Materials - pearls, dyes

Agriculture - crop and small livestock based, food shortages are seasonally common

MILITARY
Military Focus - inferior army but excellent navy, superior ranged units, bad infantry and cavalry ratio (12:1)

Military Recruitment - Volunteer Force Military, additional levies in wartime

Reliability - Levies are of decent quality, generals are fiercely loyal to the ruler

Military Size - medium core of elite units, relative to total population: requires some upkeep, relatively easy to equip/supply quickly, seasonal levies

Military Technology - Rapid Modernization, your nation does not lag behind the rest of the world, and even sets the standard on some levels.

Military Training and Morale - Highly Trained; High Morale, levies are of poor quality with poor morale

Military Leadership - Competent; Rose to their positions through training; decadent

Military Reputation - Popular domestically; considered small by foreigners

Siege Equipment - State of the art, seasoned corps of engineers and sappers; Loyal and efficient

Strengths & weaknesses
Pro: Talented: Your people are good at what they do, it really doesn’t matter what it is, but due to this there are less skilled labour overall as your standards are too high.

Con: Turnips and Radishes: Your peasantry has the singular honour of having the single worst diet in the world. Your more worth-something citizens simply must get every food worth eating leaving your peasants with the two worst foods of the medieval world. And sometimes (if your rulers are cruel enough) brussel sprouts are on the peasants table too. Of course its nobody’s fault when the peasants rise up in revolt (If your food was as revolting you might revolt too.)

[OneEyedChurro]

@OneEyedChurro

It's probably been so long that neither really hold the war against each other. The trade route is too profitable and a friendship is more useful than some sort of bitter rivalry.

@Cyclone

Sweet. I'll get this all on to my sheet, but summing it up just so we're 100% on the same page:

Some 300 or 400 years ago the only son of the ruler of Arman had died before he could bear children, so the title of heir was to be rightfully given to one of his daughter's husbands, who was the ruler of a region in Azraca. Of course, the Armanians would rather have a more closely associated bloodline from Arhus take the throne, but the lord from Azraca pushed his claim forward with force; this resulted in armed conflict in which he invaded Arman. While the Armanians held them off, their allies in Arhus committed to a counterattack only to find themselves helpless against the unusual tactics of Terusite warriors. Their exhibition was lost, though back on the other front the Armanians found a Pyrrhic victory. This encounter allowed the Terusite military to gain a reputation as being devious; and to solidify a new heir for centuries to come, Arman and Arhus entered in a personal union, the then ruler of Arhus, [name here], now ruling over both Arhus and Arman.

Nowadays, neither side holds the conflict in bad taste, and many have long forgotten about it. Relations have improved greatly between the Commonwealth and the Dominion; both sides realize that a friendly demeanor between them is both more profitable and useful than holding bitter grudges.

I get everything right?

[ClocktowerEchos]

Holy... The resemblance of the nation I rolled to how I act and play in strategy games... its both startling and amazing.

Thanks Sini, now, time to get to work

PS Any ideas on what kind of nation the one I rolled would be the for?

[Sini]

Holy... The resemblance of the nation I rolled to how I act and play in strategy games... its both startling and amazing.

Thanks Sini, now, time to get to work

PS Any ideas on what kind of nation the one I rolled would be the for?

@ClocktowerEchos

Something wealthy, definitely a regional powerhouse. I'd try to focus on one thing in particular you're good at. Just throw money at your problems.

[Winston Smith]

I'd like a Roll please.
Not too many raisins, extra cinnamon please.
I'm a good tipper!

[Cyclone]

@OneEyedChurro

That sounds right. I'll say more or less the same thing somewhere in my sheet, maybe with the added detail explaining how the Arhusians did manage to raze one city (I want to have a ruined city for plot and thematic reasons, but feel like I need to explain how it came to be) and cause some significant damage more being repelled, and maybe add a few details about how exactly they managed to beat off the Arhusians.

[Winston Smith]

beat off the Arhusians.

@Cyclone

Heh.

ahem.

sorry.