Monkey went over my sheet, and it is pretty much good enough to be accepted, except the history. For my history, I need to talk with my neighbours, however so many of them are either inactive or don't exist so I can't really do much about it. I am also waiting on @Goldeagle1221@Aristo@Isotope to sit down with me so we can figure out how the Tranquilist-Serenist holy wars went.
I have already spoken with Legion and we have come to an accord on our history. I do however need to talk to Lando again about our history.
The Heavenly Sphere of Huayuan is a complex and vast nation, ruled what could be summarised as a scholastic-aristocratic oligarchy. The position of head of state, the Grand Tutor is elected by the Three Excellencies, ministries comprised of upper-level scholar-aristocrats representing the Ministry of Balanced Grace (Executive/law-enacting), Ministry of Tranquil Harmony (Judiciary, law-enforcing), and the Ministry of Heavenly Rite (Legislative/law-creating), and as such Huayuan possess a degree of separation of powers in government. The Grand Tutor must be a professor of one of the Heavenly Spheres numerous academies, ascetic monastery-fortresses or bureaucratic institutes, and besides the election process (by the ministry members) must also pass a rigorous and arduous testing and examination phase. The Grand Tutor must also possess a Celestial Pedigree of the First Degree, that is to say an exceptionally pure bloodline with a direct line of descent to one of the Celestial Dragons (Primordial God-Dragons).
Beyond this legalistic system however, are the Kings of the Four Seasons, also known as the Seasonal Kings. Not actual kings, the Seasonal Kings are very old hermit philosophers that live in famous but isolated monastery-fortresses. Former Grand Tutors, they possess immense influence and referral power. All four Seasonal Kings are not of the Huan people (Elves) but are instead Wyrms, highly intelligent cousins of the original Celestial Dragons. Simple phrases from their tongue have entirely shifted national policy in the past, with the populace considering them messianic or demi-god like figures. Even the Grand Tutor bows before their presence whenever they seek the Seasonal King’s counsel.
Foreign Cartographers and military strategists alike rage at the mention of the Heavenly Sphere's unwillingness to share mapping information, and aggressiveness in destroying anything and anyone that would spread information of the Heavenly Sphere's interior.
Dōngjì, The Northern Mountains and the Winter Palace 冬季 Dōngjì is a mountainous region, where the great Huàfēn mountains continue to reach across from the western steppes and the deserts of the Khandarai savages. The region is relatively temperate due to the rain falling on this side of the mountains, leaving the area heavily wooded and littered with small creeks, streams, wild gardens and hot springs, though in winter much of this is covered in snow. The north is a militarised region, the Huan here living in fortified hill-towns. Regional leadership is mostly represented in the great Huàfēn monastery-fortresses hidden in the peaks and snow of the north, where the ascetic monks share their abodes with scholar-aristocrats and bureaucratic functionaries that administer the nearby towns, military forts and militarised small cities of the north. The north’s regional capital is the Winter Palace, where the Northern Seasonal King meditates in his deep spiritual trance, the elder wyrm isolated from society in his meditation chamber.
Qiūjì, The Western Steppes and the Autumn Palace 秋季 Qiūjì is a partially mountainous, partially arid region, with the great Huàfēn mountains receding into cold steppes and then plains. Even more militarised than the north, the Western Steppes has been repeatedly raided and assaulted by the Khandarai savages, particularly along the coast where the great outer wall cannot protect them. The people here are more xenophobic than all the other regions of the Heavenly Sphere, with close-knit family and community units living inside isolated walled and subterranean homesteads, living off goats as they stockpile food underground in preparation for winter or invasion by the evil western savages. The military is powerful here, fortresses and forts are the centre of rule instead of monasteries. The Western Seasonal King resides here, ever watchful, waiting - prepared for the next Flower War between Huayuan and Khandarai. The pacifism of the other lands are foolish, they can only be prepared to kill all the savages when they inevitably come again.
Xiàjì, The Southern Valley and the Summer Palace 夏季 Xiàjì is an extremely fertile region of Huayuan, actually located in the south-east peninsula, Xiàjì is nestled between two long mountain ranges. A combination of lush forests and farmland, as well as some wetlands, Xiàjì is often considered the most beautiful part of the country, covered in exotic flowers, plantlife, animals, water bodies and architecture - further aided by being the Joyous’ schools centre of power. Xiàjì is a land of art, music, festivals and trade. In particular, the land is unique for having the sole city (and part of the country) open to foreigners - the trade city of Huángjīn dì, where numerous foreign traders, mercenary groups, privateers and adventurers have taken residence, assuming they passed the civility exams. The ninja clans also have many of their bases located here, where they can recruit Hùnxiě halfbreeds with ease due to the presence of foreigners. The Southern Seasonal King often moves between the Summer Palace, a vast mountain monastery-palace complex and Huángjīn dì the trade city, as well as other regions of Xiàjì, enjoying interacting with the many peoples of the peninsula. Of the four Seasonal Kings, the Summer King has the most desire to influence the regional government, preferring to often politely ‘suggest’ options to the regions scholar-aristocrats.
Tánhuáng, The Eastern Fields and the Spring Palace 弹簧 Tánhuáng, the core and heart of the Heavenly Sphere. It reaches across the east to the centre, the extremely populous centre of the Heavenly Sphere (and west side of Tánhuáng) hidden behind the Wall of Immemorial Might, while vast fields, farmlands and light forests stretch across all of Tánhuáng. Famous for making up nearly as much people as the other three regions combined, Tánhuáng is dotted with highly urbanised cities and large towns, both outside and within the Immemorial walls. Dozens of academies, universities and medical schools dot the region, ancient monastery-fortresses inhabited by many monks and scholar-aristocrats. The Tánhuáng Huan people pride themselves for being the most educated, civilised and organised of the Heavenly Sphere’s peoples, so long as they keep out all the filthy savages and lesser races. They care not for what happens beyond the Immemorial wall, no war, no raids, no anything. Only Tánhuáng and its splendid isolation matters. The Eastern Seasonal King lives within the urban palace/monastery complex of the capital city of Mígōng, where once the old Wyrm Dragon Emperors ruled from, surrounded by the hoard of books, scrolls and treasures within the Great Library of Infallible Wisdom.
The Walled Garden Huayuan is a reclusive, secretive and cutoff part of the world, and so much of its culture and traditions are wildly different, partially due to this isolation and partially because Huayuan never fell to the Lynnde Empire. Even before its three hundred years of self-imposed isolation, Huayuan was always a strange place, though instead of isolation it waged aggresive wars on foreign powers, particularly the Serenist "False Light" menance. Firstly of note, is Huayuan’s xenophobia. The people of Huayuan in general see all outsiders as barbarian savages, regardless of their technological level. This xenophobia partially derives from the previously noted one thousand year holy war against the Serenist Powers, but also includes their preceived racial supremacy deriving from their Primordial blood purity. Humans in particular, being the main agents of the False Light, are looked down upon as a brutish and uncivilised race, that only defile and corrupt the world under the pretense of "Serenism". The people of Huayuan are convinced that they are the most civilised, educated and graceful people in the universe, and that their civilisation is a treasured jewel among the dirt and scum of the outside world - thus it must be closed off and protected.
This is further compounded by the Prophetess’ warnings three centuries ago. While some ignored her and others went off to fight an unknown enemy, the Huayuan Empire of the day receded into itself, retreating into self-imposed isolation, believing that the great enemy was in fact Serenism, and the prophecy revealed that their wars against the east were for nothing. Already a heavily defended and walled nation, the Huayuan Empire became a virtual fortress of a nation, with ring wall after ring wall built, canals, counterintelligence agencies, among many other defences - including the famous Wall of Immemorial Might, a massive wall separating the heavily populated inner cities from the rest of the nation. The Huan people within isolated themselves, preparing for what they believed would soon be the final war.
Cherished Knowledge Huayuan culture cherishes beauty - both aesthetic and spiritual, as well as knowledge. When the Celestial Dragons and their Wyrm descendants bestowed knowledge upon the Huan people, they jealously guarded this secret knowledge, knowing full well (See Tranquilism religion info) that it was this knowledge and civility that protected them from the Original Chaos. The teachings of the old primordial dragons became the groundwork for the religious beliefs of the Huan. Medical practice was made sacred. Meditation and reading as prayer. Farming and crop rotation a symbol of life and death. When combined with their xenophobia, the Huan peoples quest and reverence of knowledge has led to them archiving and stockpiling secret lore and information, denying outsiders information and destroying any evidence or information outside their walls, lest those corrupted by the False Light use the information against them.
Celestial Pedigree The Huan, elven peoples of the walled gardens are a cousin species of humans, who they see as inferior ape people. The Huan have a very high level of primordial blood, owing to their interbreeding with shapeshifting primordials, careful blood purity-conserving policies, extreme isolation from the outside world and incestuous unions. They are tall and lithe people with large pointed ears, with occasional mutations including horns. Socially, the nation has incorporated blood purity into its politics and social norms, with social ‘blood-castes’ determined by your Celestial Pedigree, or how pure your blood is, with a First Degree being directly related to a Celestial Dragon or Wyrm. The Three Excellencies and many of the scholastic institutes of Huayuan require a certain Celestial Pedigree. A notable exception are the secretice ninja clans that serve as the Heavenly Spheres spies, assassins and external intelligence agency. The Ninja clans often forcibly recruit half-breed ‘Hùnxiě’ 混血, very low celestial Pedigree Huan, being half-human - the reason being that they are better at infiltrating the foreign savages nations.
School of the Ascetics The Ascetic School is a philosophical, religious and political organisation and doctrine that dominates Huayuan’s scholastic elite. An ideology that preaches reservedness, calm, stoicism, purity and personal and well as social harmony as a path to spiritual peace and as such maintaing the relationship with their gods in all things (including themselves), the Ascetic school is based in various academies and particularly monastery-fortresses. Monks, Scholar-aristocrats and bureaucrats often follow its practices of intense meditation, fasting, trances, literature, and rhetoric. Emotion while not evil is considered chaotic and as such impure in excess. Extreme cleanliness, orderly living spaces, clean food, polite mannerism and blood purity are also all essential elements of the schools teaching. The Grand Tutor as well as three of the four Seasonal Kings are all adherents of the Ascetic School (with one of the four Seasonal Kings being the schools founder and leader). The Ascetic schools isolationist pacifist beliefs have strongly influenced the Heavenly Sphere’s foreign relations, as the nation both refuses to interact with other nations but also has a policy against launching offensive wars.
School of the Joyous The Joyous School is a philosophical, religious and political organisation and doctrine that holds a minority counter-culture position among Huayuan’s scholastic elite, though dominates the warrior, artist and craftsmen castes. An ideology that preaches expression, love, romanticism, beauty, diversity and willpower as a path to spiritual happiness and a means of maintaing their relationship with the gods in all things (including themselves), it is a ‘rebel’ school mostly growing in in the middle-castes of skilled labourers and craftsmen, theatre performers, dancers, artists as well as the growing warrior-poet/artists of the Heavenly Sphere’s military. The Joyous School’s practices include calligraphy, theatre, poetry, tea ceremonies, numerous festivals venerating different professions, ritual battle, martial arts and courting. Adherents are expected to express and venerate beauty, regardless if it is artistic, architectural, militaristic, physical or any other form of beauty. The Joyous School has limited political influence, however it has significant influence in the southern provinces and one (and youngest) of the four Seasonal Kings is a practitioner. While having limited influence on the Heavenly Sphere’s foreign policy, through the Seasonal King of the Souths counsel, the Joyous School was able to enable the creation of the free trade city of Huángjīn dì.
Hidden Eyes of the Heavenly Sphere The Heavenly Sphere employs numerous intelligence agencies, ranging from infamous Hùnxiě half-breed ninjas, child urchins, surgical magi doctor-assassins and the even more infamous Jiangshi secret police officers, silent enforcers of the three centuries isolation. A land of hidden eyes and hands, silencing anyone who would dare disturb the tranquil peace of the Walled Garden or threaten the existence of the universe, within or without. For these practioners of espionage and death, the Long War against the False Light never ended, it merely became quieter and hidden away from the public's eyes.
The Jiangshi, life-siphoning and illusionist magi secret police, tasked with eliminating threats to the security and secrecy of the Heavenly Sphere within its confines and from traitors within its own ranks. The Jiangshi being an armed wing of the Ministry of Tranquil Harmony is headed by the Secretary-Minister of Tranquil Harmony, and as such is deeply involved in the law enforcement of Huayuan. The Jiangshi are also responsible for the protection and preservation of Huanese cultural and Tranquilist religious heritage, and as such maintain numerous cultural societies and police forces for this purpose. The Jiangshi are furthermore involved in border security (observing foreigners) and have some periphery influence on the military, including the presence of adjutant 'morale' officers. Overall, the Jiangshi are dedicated to being safeguards against the Great Lie and the enemy of the Long War, seeking out and destroying any corruption of the False Light within the Heavenly Sphere.
The regular army of the Heavenly Sphere, comprised of the lower blood castes urban conscripts, lower blood caste serfs and petty merchants/peddlers and craftsmen pushed into service by their masters. The banner army consists of four parts, being the White, Yellow, Red and Blue banner armies, each being drawn from one of the four regions of the Heavenly Sphere. The Banner Armies are a large force and suprisingly well armed for a conscript army (due to the purchasing of equipment being partially subsidised by the state), however on the downside are also insulated by the fact that they rarely actually fight in major conflicts and have nearly never gone into any foreign environment. Considering the Heavenly sphere's huge population and centralised government policies, the Banner Armies in times of war could be even further enlarged by en masse conscription, potentially becoming one of the largest military forces in the world.
Banner Infantry
Banner Cavalry
Qiūjì Bannermen
The mobilised scholar-aristocrats often form the elite of any defensive Huayuan army. Being provoked by invaders, these Huan members of the high celestial pedigral castes have come down from their mountain monastries and palaces; put on their ancestral enchanted armour, armed themselves with semi-legendary weapons and mounted their carefully bred horses or lindworms. All scholar elites are essentially spellswords, wielding both magically enchanted weapons as well as their own magical powers against enemies. Depending on which school they belong to, Scholar Elites are often engage in regular meditation and calming excersises (Ascetic) or fight with highly exagerated, artistic combat styles (Joyous). Scholar-Elite (Ascetic)
It is a historical fact that the old Huayuanese Empire was ruled directly by the Celestial Dragons and Primordials. It has long been recorded in thousands of texts that a Draconic God-Emperor and court of primordial dragon gods guided the Huan as benefactors, teacher-deities and ancestoral beings of the Huan, the source of their divine bloodline and lineage and by their presence guarding them from the Original Chaos that lied beyond. As the Primordials faded away however, the religious beliefs of the Huan had to morph with the changing times. Now, the dominant faith is known as Tranquilism, from which both the Ascetic and Joyous philosophical schools are a part of. In Tranquilism, it is the belief that the Primordials did not die but ascended into a universal form to prolong their innate powers of life and creation, therefore protecting the world from the Original Chaos while avoiding the Original Chaos' mortal godslaying instruments. The Celestial Dragons, the greatest of the Primordials and gods of the universe (greater than all other primordials) became the spiritual/animistic entities within all Huan, as they intended when they created the Huan. Their gods reside within them and their blood (or otherwise personally or familiy attached, like a spirit guide), as proven by the great magical boons gained by purer blood. It as such essential in Tranquilism to protect this blood and achieve internal peace or happiness or otherwise achieving what is known as 'positive tranquility' or inward perfection, as a way of pleasing the gods and in return the gods within everyone will give them boons and continue to protect them from the chaos beyond.
Tranquilism puts great emphasis on the personal relationship between tranquilists and their gods. It is believed that every Huan (and in the more liberal circles of the faith, all life) have personal gods within themselves or attached to their families, watching over them and guiding them. A common practice as such is to build household shrines rather than great temples or churches, customised and personal shrines dedicated to specific household gods. Children in families are raised to see their own personal god as an extension of their family or an additional parent or grandparent for whom they must honour for their whole lives, in exchange for affection, wisdom and protection as the old Primordial gods gave before they ascended to their current form.
Once in the beginning, many aeons ago, the cosmos was flawed and only half made, filled with chaos - The Original Chaos, which is either a malicious anti-deity or natural force of chaos, though the scriptures are not entirely certain. Regardless, From this void even the greatest beings struggled to survive. The Primordials, the gods of this world, were born in the beginning of time as stragglers in this aether of void, darkness and destruction. The Primordials battled for supremacy in this darkness, spilling divine blood, blood that would eventually form the oceans and from there the lands of the whole world.
As they battled and the world came into being, so did the mortals, rising from the bloody oceans and corpse-laden dirt. The Primordials, endowed with the power of creation, the true root of all magic, gradually filled in the holes in reality, and with the power of creation and life, pushed back the Original Chaos, one lifeform at a time. Of these Primordials, the Celestial Dragons were the greatest - not because of their power of the others, but their wisdom, benevolence and foresight. They understood that it was their powers of creation and life that was pushing back the Original Chaos. Through persuasion, rhetoric and the arts of the tongue, the Celestial Dragons banded the Primordials together into the First Pantheon, and together waged a war against the Original Chaos.
The Primordials, in their benevolence and desire to protect their creations, bestowed upon them the same life-giving tools of creation. Wielding magic drawn from primordial blood, the mortals spread far and wide. The Original Chaos, in its impotent and perhaps mindless rage could do nothing. It was cast out, shutting out its influence on the world. The Primordials and their mortal creations were triumphant.
A golden age begun, now more commonly known as the Era of Legends. The Primordial First Pantheon ruled over the whole of the world, their presence and will holding back the Original Chaos and its feeble attempts to again creep into the world. The world in these days were pure and completed, but the Primordials knew that the great enemy always waited. So they shaped and refined the world ever more grandly. The Celestial Dragons taught the mortals of civilisation, of the languages and the seasons so they may harvest crops. As laws and systems formed, the creeping lies of the Original Chaos was drowned out again and again.
But the Era of Legends would not last on forever. The Primordials who loved their creations and eventually children so dearly were blinded by it. Endowed with free will and their own desires, mortal whims soon influenced and so corrupted the Primordials, who lost sight of the greater purpose. The First Pantheon fell to civil war as the Primordials sought to protect and provide for their children, the mortals who now waged their own wars.
Even the Celestial Dragons were not immune. They warned their children, the enlightened and perfected Huan that they should build great walls to protect themselves and the harmony they had built. Many thousands of texts and scrolls were written to warn the mortals of the Original Chaos, that once again spewed forth from the cracks made by the Primordial’s civil war.
The great holy wars between the Huan and the Lynnde further represented the darkest days of the Primordial Civil War. But they were but the beginning for the horrors that were to come. For hidden away, the Original Chaos had slipped its influence into the hands of the mortals. So corrupted by their will and the civil war, they betrayed the Primordials.
For the first time in aeons, Primordials died. For the first time, wielding eldritch powers from the Original Chaos beyond the mortal planes of existence, mortal life slew Primordials. As each Primordial fell, the very foundations of the world shoke. The corrupted mortals fell to the false light of their own making. A Great Lie was made, a false serenity so to allow the soft, silent death of all things without protest. The powers of creation once wielded by the Primordials dimmed as each fell, and the Original Chaos in turn grew stronger. Where it once receded, the Original Chaos followed wherever the False Light of the Great Lie spread.
Knowing that the end times had come, the Celestial Dragons and the remaining Primordials formed a grand scheme to protect life. Knowing that the Original Chaos sought the destruction of the whole world, using their mortal instruments to destroy the very foundations of all life, the Celestial Dragons and the remaining Primordials used their great world-shaping and transformative powers to redesign their very existence so to deny it of its prize.
The Primordials dispersed themselves, their forms becoming universal and integrated with all life. They became the earth, the trees. They condensed into chosen places of importance. Others hid inside objects. Shrines, swords and the very blood of their children. Here they would continue to guide their children and through their existence prolong the universe in the hopes that the mortal instruments of the Original Chaos died and faded away.
For just over a thousand years, the world has remained in this state, however the life of the world is fading. The Celestial Dragons ploy was merely a means of delaying the inevitable. The False Light continued to spread. The Prophetess warned of the great horde of the east, followers of the Great Lie in even greater numbers. The very fabric of reality was tearing itself apart with famines and plagues.
And so, the Huan closed themselves off. They shut the gates of their great walls and prepared. Prepared for the last war against the False Light, enticing all mortals into its silent, peaceful embrace of death.
Thousands of years ago, from the fertile fields of central Tánhuáng, the small kingdoms first made contact with the Celestial Dragons, the primordial gods of the ancient times. The Celestial Dragons found these primitive small kingdomers and molded them from savageness into greatness. The Celestial Dragons taught great wisdom to the small kingdomers. The arts, the sciences. Medicine, farming and words. The laws of both man and the universe. The gods remade the small-kingdomers, siring new, purer beings. Gifted with pure blood and the many foundations of civilisation, the Huan became a model for the Primordial's world without the influence of the Original Chaos.
For a time the Tánhuángese people were peaceful, but it did not last. The Empire of Lynnde was a ferocious and expanionist entity, its ambitions engulfing the world. The Huan, directed by their Celestial Dragon gods would answer in kind. What begun first as a noble goal of protecting southern Askor soon became the Huan's own empire-building project. Blessed with their progenitor god’s blood, awesome magical power and leadership, the Tánhuángese Huan peoples marched out of the Tánhuáng in great number, eventually uniting all of modern-day Huayuan into the Huayuanese Empire.
Building great walls, fleets and armies, the Huayuanese Empire would go on to wage war with the Lynnde Empire over the hegemony of the south. In the final great war between the two empires, the Huayuanese Empire and its coalition of south-western states was able to push the Lynnde Empire out of the neighbouring Vangren at great cost to both sides. Soon after the Lynnde Empire fell and the primordials vanished with it.
A period of global chaos followed as Serenism rose and the Huayuanese Empire became paralysied with the absence of their godly patrons. The Wyrms, Lung Dragon children of their godly masters filled in where the Celestial Dragons left off, but Huayuan was unable to halt the rise of Serenism due to its own religious chaos.
Eventually, Tranquilism rose as Huayuan's faith, and its rise to prominence also led to its rejection of Serenism as the 'Great Lie' and 'False Light' of the world. The Huayuanese Empire over time receded into itself. It maintained relations and at times interfered with its neighbours; mostly notably its military intervertions into Lynnde-Naraksh, but each passing year it continued to further close itself off. until eventually, 300 years ago, it shut its doors and borders completely. The Prophetess' visions and the plagues and famines convinced the Huanese that the False Light's influence on the world had become so great that the end of the world was in progress. They believed furthermore that the great conflict from the east would be the Serenists' false light marching out to destroy the world. As such, the Huayuanese Empire became the Heavenly Sphere, an isolationist state that has existed to preserve its culture and purity in preparation for that final destined battle... a battle which the Sphere's leadership believe has finally come. The sleeping giant is slowly awakening once more.
The Illuminated Dominion of Sacrosanctia is the very centre of the Justinian world, being the holy city of Justinianism and the seat of power of The Justinian itself. Sacrosanctia was the first nation to embrace Justinianism, Justinian’s first avatar descending upon the city shortly after the War In Heaven, the human majority and slaves converting willingly en masse while their elven rulers were forced to bend the knee. Today Sacrosanctia is ruled by an ceaseless bureaucracy of clerical clerks, theologians and beancounters ever watched by the great Solar Eye of The Justinian itself, as are all those who live within the borders of the most holy land in the universe.
NATIONAL INFORMATION
Population:40 million (Exact 100% accurate census however rounded down, also fluctuates give or take a few million due to the passage of pilgrims) Faction:Justinian Capital:The Holy City of Sacrosanctium Government Type:Theocratic Bureaucracy under Divine Rule Government Description:
The Illuminated Dominion is a totalitarian state ruled essentially by the direct absolute authority of The Justinian itself. There is no succession, as The Justinian will rule until the Great Reconvergence. That said, there is a government system, being a vast theocratic bureaucracy of various clerics, scholars and religiously-trained administrative staff that carry out The Justinian’s decrees. When The Justinian assumed direct control of Sacrosanctia, the Elven aristocracy was mostly abolished, with only a few aristocratic families ruling the Dominions distant border provinces.
The theobureaucracy is a ruthlessly meritocratic system, with constant examinations to test competence as well as the default passive surveillance of anyone's thoughts and memories as expected with the holy city of Sacrosanctium, constantly checking for treason, heresy and corruption. An enormously stressful job, it is often asked ‘who in their right mind would want to be a Sacro Cleric?. Theobureaucrats usually come from the ranks of the Clerisy, holy universities or carefully trained and filtered applicants usually from administrative middle-class backgrounds. The highest ranking members of this theobureaucracy are known as the Delegates, being essentially The Justinian's “Cabinet” ministers, they are appointed by The Justinian for as long as The Justinian deems them useful in their position or till death.
Head of State:The Justinian, True God of the Universe and Potentate of the Illuminated Dominion Currency:Aequint Coin Languages: Aemerine(Human majority) and Sancthiyin Elvish(Elven majority and Theo-Bureaucrats)
UNIQUE ATTRIBUTE INFORMATION
Divine Mandate - The Illuminated Dominion is a nation not ruled in its gods name. It is ruled directly by its god. There can be no questioning the states will for its will is god’s will, one which The Justinian is very willing to make clear to all its subjects, be through divine intervention, telepathy, miracles or direct confrontation by its own avatar.
City On a Hill - The Holy City of Sacrosanctium and to a lesser degree to whole Dominion is considered the closest thing in the material plane to what could be considered the Empyrean Plane, a seemingly perfect city - the prototype Utopia of Justinianism. A shining, perfectly clean city of white stone and marble. Ever-watched by its god, absent of any crime or corruption from the highest Theobureaucrat to the lowest street musician. Where material wants are washed away by pure water, bounty of divinely blessed food and the epiphany of a perfect world. Where evil, as Justinianism defines it, is truly impossible. Sacrosanctium is considered one of Justinianism’s most vital pilgrim sites, with millions venturing to the holy city to be blessed, supported, allowed to take part in the epiphanies, to confess, to take comfort in having their god see their troubles in their mind and, for the very few… An audience with The Justinian itself.
Imperial Examinations - The Illuminated Dominion is a place of higher learning and fierce meritocratic standards, Justinian demanding purity of mind and soul, competence and subservience all at once, all wrapped up in a mercilessly utilitarian package. Constantly tested, weighed, measured and defined. While Justinian despises the material world, to destroy it Justinian feels one must understand it. While unyielding and leading to a highly stressed and anxious people in the upper echelons of society, one with high suicide rates, the turnout is one with high accomplishments, rigorous standards of education and extensive knowledge of their craft, ranging from administration to the natural sciences. While often understated despite its great significance, Sacrosanctia is one of the few if only nations in the world that has public education and has the highest literacy rate on the planet - though this public education system is significantly limited and mostly dominated by basic theological studies.
Everwatching Solar Eye - The Justinian is everywhere in Sacrosanctia. A small oasis of true omniscience, here Justinian’s eyes SEE ALL. In the holy city… Even your thoughts and memories. The undeniable truth of The Justinian’s sight in the holy lands leads equally to bliss, awe and terror at the prospect that all your being is laid bare before a god that actively rules over you. Those pilgrims who come filled with either true belief in their innocence (or fanatical delusions otherwise) enter the holy city just as many pilgrims instead enter Pseudononium, the False City, a holy site for those Justinians who would not dare be judged. While crime and corruption are nigh non-existent in Sacrosanctia, this is paid in for by the incredibly high stress, over-cautiousness and high suicide rates of its people, always watching themselves, always knowing that THE JUSTINIAN watches, listens and judges. It also paid for in dependency and alienness to foreign lands. Many Sacrosanctian people have great difficulty living in lands beyond Sacrosanctia, with usually only those well trained living outside the Everwatching Eyes gaze daring to try for long periods of time.
The Illuminated Man - Sacrosanctia was once the very centre of revolutionary thought and zealous initiative. While renown still for its incredible single-mindedness towards achieving the Great Reconvergence, many consider Sacrosanctia to be the ‘powers that be’ of the Justinian World, a force maintaining a 300 year old philosophy and crushing any heresy. This however, is not entirely true, as there is a recent social development in Sacrosanctia, a new philosophy and school of thought. That philosophy is that of The ‘Illuminated Man’, a social, political and religious concept associated with radical/extreme Canonical Justinianism. A mortal that has become ‘as The Justinian’, releasing themselves of all mortal fetters and attachments, denouncing the root of all material desires, being emotion. Members of this movement live strict austere and ascetic lifestyles, practicing intense meditation, celibacy, rationalism, stoicism and self-discipline. Through the abandonment of personal desires, they can focus themselves entirely to the greatest desire of all beings. They also tend to be highly militant, many of their members joining the Sacrilege War, believing that through waging the final war, they release themselves from petty rivalries, familial bonds, petty desires and other distractions. They call themselves the Illuminati, the closest to The Justinian, beings already ready for the end of this world.
Army On Wings - In The Illuminated Dominion, there exists a higher number of Saints; Transcendental Justinians than anywhere else in the world combined. These mortals have embraced the Empyrean Joy entirely, forsaking their born forms to be changed by The Justinian itself. An arduous and painstaking process, these beings have since become physically inhuman, angelic beings of magic. Many are also Illuminati, having abandoned all mortal fetters and their emotions. Those who still have their emotions are often fanatical. Either way,Sacrosanctia’s army of uplifted mortals are often seen flying in aerial formations, teaching holy terror to pegasi riders, airships and dragons.
Supranational Hegemon - Sacrosanctia, being the seat of the god, The Justinian, has influence that far outreaches it's actual border or physical military might. Its Justicarti Oratorium is the parent organisation of all other Justinian Oratoriums across the world to which they answer to. Its theological edicts, oft proclaimed by The Justinian itself, are heeded across the Canonical and Orthodox Justinian world. Its diplomatic missions and embassies stretch across the Justinian World, its operatives maintaining a global network of faith and war. While Archonnen may claim to be the greatest of all Justinian nations, it is Sacrosanctia from which the shadow that is the Justinian World is cast from.
Great Northern Reconstruction - Notable for being one of Sacrosanctia’s most persistent and active endeavours, the Great Northern Reconstruction begun twenty years ago, following the conclusion that the conversion rate in Excelsiorum had fallen flat, both theurgia generation and epiphany generation being significantly less than projected by their total population. The Great Northern Reconstruction has been a number of actions that Sacrosanctia and The Justinian have undergone to rectify this, as well as crush heresy and Red Pantheonism in those lands. This includes organising mass immigration from Archonnen and the Middle Kingdoms to Norumeau and other regions (to change the demographic composition from Heterodox and Anathema to Canonical and Orthodox followers), Epiphany registration and analysis, Magi registration (as used in West Ouroborasia), Temple inspections and other regulatory actions taken by the Justicarti Oratorium.
The Uncanny Lands - To many outsiders and pilgrims who stay too long, there is something deeply disturbing about Sacrosanctia. Similarly, to Sacrosanctians the world outside of Sacrosanctia is not only alien but also deeply wrong on a fundamental level, physically wrong. Spiritually wrong. Perhaps it is the too perfect air of Sacrosanctia, perhaps the eternally watching solar eye and its absence elsewhere. Perhaps it is the illuminated minds of the Sacrosanctians or the unending bounty of the true god. Perhaps the trees and grass fields and winds that whisper its name. Or the eyes - too many eyes. Sacrosanctia is like a dreamland, filled with mystical epiphanies and miracles, strange feelings and sensations unlike anywhere else in the material plane. To those who have lived their whole lives in this unworldly world, the outside is a harsh place that is physically and spiritually draining. Those Sacrosanctians who are untrained and unprepared for such lengthy stays beyond may find themselves lost. Conversely, those pilgrims who stay too long but do not truly adapt to this new world may lose themselves entirely…. Falling into a dreaming trance or paranoid schizophrenia.
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
Sacrosanctium - #1, the Holy City of the West and seat of The Justinian. A gleaming city of white stone and marble, considered a prototype of the Empyrean paradise that awaits.
Pseudononium - #2, Pseudononium, the False City or the City of False Confession. A secondary holy place popular among the majority of pilgrims who do not want to enter Sacrosanctium out of fear of being judged based on their thoughts and memories. Pseudononium has very large foreign and trade quarters. It is also the diplomatic hub of Sacrosanctia here most embassies are located (with the notable exception of Archonnen), as while all ambassadors to Sacrosanctia must go to Sacrosanctium for an audience with the The Justinian, the actual foreign dignitaries usually prefer living outside the holy cities absolute surveillance. Particularly those of Heterodoxist regions.
RACIAL INFORMATION
Majority race:Humanity: The majority of Sacrosanctia, either as descendants of the emancipated slaves of the former elven kingdoms or as immigrants from the Aemos Imperium successor states (and later Archonnen). Humanity was quick to adopt Justinianism, eager and more than willing to take up the revolutionary god following the War In Heaven, a god that slaughtered the evil deities of their slaver elf masters. Filled with zeal, they marched out and declared war on the whole world. Since then, Sacrosanctian humans have lost the highest institutional positions of powers. Many humans take solace however in knowing at least the army remains mostly under their control as well as the cultural posturing that the successes of Archonnen provides them.
Ruling Minority race:Elves: The Elves during the Old Pantheon days once ruled the lands that now make up the Illuminated Dominion until Justinian descended, forcing them to bend the knee while also emancipating the human slaves. While the vast majority of elves lost their titles of nobility and their land, they did not lose their intent skills, knowledge and century-long lifespans… which would become invaluable in succeeding in The Justinian’s new meritocratic system. Elves despite being now outnumbered by their former human slaves still hold power in Sacrosanctia, monopolising the upper theobureaucratic hierarchy by virtue of centuries of experience and other advantages in passing the examinations and stresses of the Dominions government. The Sancrosancti Elves like their eastern cousins are as haughty as ever, though on top of this are usually stereotyped as takers of the condescending ‘holier-than-thou’ moral high ground. It seems, no matter the god, some things never change.
Other Minority races (Including pilgrims and immigrants):Centaurs, Giants, Fae, Dwarves, Kobolds, Pygmies, Goblins, Drimor, Satyrs, Scaven, Kuo-Toa, Kenku, Gnolls, Bainlinger
RELIGIOUS INFORMATION
State Religion:Canonical Justinianism
Patron Deity:
The Justinian - The Justinian, The True God of the Universe, The Nascent God born of Mortal Heroes, The Empyrean Lord, Justice, etc. The Justinian’s rule of the Illuminated Dominion is absolute, being both its god and head of state simultaneously. From here The Justinian has made its headquarters known to all mortals and from here too does the god’s sphere of influence and divine miracles emanate out from. The Justinian sees all in Sacrosanctia. It is in the minds and souls of its mortal inhabitants. The Holy Cities people's thoughts and memories are open to their patron god. The weather and animals bend to Its Divine Will.
The Hallowed Simulacrum - A pure, chrome ball atop a pedestal within the deepest chambers of the Sacrosanctium High Abode. It is where the entirety of The Justinian channels a representation of itself into, using the relic as a host, a permanent full avatar present within the High Abode of Sacrosanctium. It is one of the most powerful non-weapon objects in existence, being the direct channeling device of a god. The Hallowed Simulacrum is always guarded by Demi-Avatars, who are also technically The Justinian in another form.
Holy Sites under Control:
The Holy City of Sacrosanctium - the nexus point of all Justinian theurgical influence as well as the administrative and theological centre of the Justinian World. From here, Justinian keeps constant contact with its mortal subjects through the Hallowed Simulacrum, Demi-avatar and various performed miracles. It is the most holy city in all of Justinianism.
Pseudononium - The Holy City of False Confession, Pseudononium: An inferior yet more popular alternative to Sacrosanctium in terms of pilgrimage due to the complexities involved concerning Sacrosanctium and the fact that many would avoid these… complexities.
The High Abode of The Justinian - the palace or house of The Justinian within Sacrosanctium. It is essentially more of a cathedral than an actual palace, being mostly a religious, governmental and scholarly building besides a massive ‘throne room’, really a hall leading up to the Hallowed Simulacrum, sitting upon a pedestal. Much of the High Abode is actually used by Clerics and administrative staff and is often a meeting place for The Justinian’s Delegates as well as where audiences with The Justinian take place, particularly with foreign dignitaries.
-Grey and I have begun the preliminary stuff for our collab (Doc up, sorting out POV's, setting, line of events, etc)
-@DracoLunaris, @CollectorOfMyst, @Klomster: You three are all still here and accepted and so can begin working on laying out the Northern Campaign of the Sac War.
@Brithwyr Your claim has been put on the map (the island) when your sheet is done your leadership will likely want to have some representation at the Eastern holy city meeting.
@Publius I see you are slowly getting there... My offer still stands concerning your military section.
@Archetype Zero I am aware you are busy with the thesis, though I would like to remind you that you now have an actual avenue to RP in (The Oratorium in West Ouroborasia, as noted before).
@Everyone mentioned here: So that Drunk knows whats going on, do remember to post your response to this message here (or otherwise PM information to him), as he isn't on the Discord that often.
The Empire of Ouroborasia stretches across a wet, miserable land that throughout its history has been constantly invaded, settled, and then divided. Infested by monsters, home of witches and ancient cults - Ouroborasia is the dark, forsaken edge of the Justinian world. Over a century ago, Ouroborasia’s forefathers, filled with fervour conquered this land from the Demurgic nationstates of West Gushawar and Eudekesh, renaming the lands to Ouroborasia, the name bestowed upon it by Wolfraum of the Aemos Imperium over a millennia ago. Since then, Ouroborasia has stood as the stalwart frontline of The Justinian’s holy war in the south. A century of war with Lamash, ghouls and Red Pantheonist uprisings have hardened the people of this land just as much as the dire weather. Two decades of witch plagues, heresy, purges and ethnic conflict has made them paranoid and cynical. Now, the empire has been divided yet again by the conspiracies of false gods and depraved witches. The Emperor himself has betrayed The Justinian and so forever forsaken the coming paradise. It is come to the truly faithful sons and daughters of the true god to silence this heresy.
NATIONAL INFORMATION
'All that The Darkness requires to prevail over the light, is that the righteous do nothing' -High Cleric Aslan Enverescu, explaining his reasons for his coup
Population:24 to 26 million. No census has been performed and the actual number is erratic due to the civil war Faction:Justinian Capital (De jure):The Old Capital, Sepulchravest Capital (De facto):Leshëzkoëm Government Type:Absolute Monarchy (with significant theocratic backing and legally still a ‘feudal monarchy’)
Government Description: The Empire of West Ouroborasia technically speaking is a feudal monarchy, The Emperor sits on his throne, legal power to rule is delegated among the many feudal vassals of the Emperor who in turn rule over their many serfs. With that said, this government in truth no longer functions as it once did. With the beginning of the civil war, Crown Prince Istvan Dragcumir rebelled against his father and was declared the emperor by the High Clerisy after the High Cleric similarly declared that Emperor Vasilius had abdicated. Emperor Istvan while young and inexperienced in rule, is a fervent and charismatic leader that does not bend to the whims of the aristocrats, many of whom sided with his father. Istvan has empowered a large number of lower and middle ranking aristocrats to substitute the power of the upper aristocracy as well as delegated power to clerics and even burghers. Istvan’s popularity among the peasants and freemen has given him the means to build a popular base that along with the civil war has enabled him to take near total absolute control of the government, leaving only the Clerisy that backs him as the only rival in power.
Head of State:Emperor Istvan III Dragcumir Currency:Imperial Gold Leuri (Includes other legal coinage, particularly the Weshlandish Silver Sacrom and the Aequint coin derivatives) Languages:Ouroboran(majority), Aemerine, Sancthiyin Elvish, Kasaboi, Old Eudakar(suppressed), Many local ethnic dialects
UNIQUE ATTRIBUTE INFORMATION
Do Not Go Gently - The
Justice Be Done! - While the Sacrilege War rages across the world, the pleas of the faithful have thankfully not been entirely drowned out. The Justinian World is a mostly unified one when compared to its many enemies. Weshlandish, Aberysian, Archonnan, even distant Middle Kingdomers and Excelsiorites have answered Emperor Istvan’s call to fight in the Ouroborasian Civil War. Even now, crusaders still come from the far-west. As the Ouroborasian faithful’s own leaders die, vetaran foreigners arrive to replace them. Even the trecherous Maleficar Oratorium has been replaced, agents from Sacrosanctia’s own Oratorium Justicarti setting up camp from Istvan’s seat of power in Leshëzkoëm.
People’s War - Ouroborasia has forever been in turmoil over ethnic groups fighting over the region, but now Ouroborasia has to deal with a whole new concept of 'ethnicity' to wage war over. The Wretchkin or 'bad blood' are the blood relatives of witches. The Wretchkin have split and torn apart families and whole communities. Brother against brother. Former lovers, former friends, even parent and child - as is the case with even the Emperor Istvan and his treacherous father, The false emperor Vasilius of the traitor East. Long before the armies of the east and west officially clashed, the peoples of Ouroborasia were already in a state of war. In the the towns and hamlets and even households. Armed with pitchforks, scythes, hammers and stones. This war was no mere conflict of aristocratic bloodlines or title claims. The people were more than willing to fight, with or without their liege lord's command. So eager are the people to fight, many militias have formed autonomously of their lords. Raids, guerrilla warfare, even assaults are performed by these volunteer forces. Rallied by zealous clerics or charismatic and righteous peasant leaders, they will defend their households from monsters and witches, no matter the cost.
Lord Swampland - Ouroborasia's not particularly secret weapon O'Lord Swampland, the greatest commander of Ouroborasia for millennia. He is always defending the country though is stronger in certain seasons. With him comes harsh and constant rain, ever obstructing mud, insidious murky water and creeping mangroves in the wetlands, and shadowy black forests in the hinterlands. Invaders fear him, for their cannons sink into the mud, their powder becomes useless. Disease and illness; Lord Swamplands faithful squires strike them down as they cower, huddling around fireplaces that refuse to start, so wet is the wood. Those who seek to besiege castles fear this great defender, for he is the weather, and while invaders have come and gone, Great Lord Swampland has never been defeated.
The Nightwatch - Someone, anyone really, had to deal with all these montsers. Ouroborasia was always both a metaphorical and literal swamp of monsters, but once upon a time the Empire actually had Orators to deal with it, back when they were professional monster and witch-killers, rather than monster creators and witch bodyguards. Now, it up to all of us to deal with them. Once just normal men and women, hardened beyond what any normal human would ever have to confront, the Nightwatch are West Ouroborasia's silent army of vigilantee witch and monster hunters. Dressed as highwaymen and assassins, they are prepared to do the dirty-work of Justinian while the new loyal Orators deal with the bigger fish beyond the powers of simple man.
The Incorruptible - So many of the Ouroborasian leadership have been corrupted already - or even were corrupt all along. So many in fact, Ouroborasia has in just seven years since the beginning of the civil war become synonymous with corruptible and treacherous men and women. What the foreigners however ignore is that the few that remain leading the western empire are nigh incorruptible. Bitter, perhaps. Paranoid, certainly. But none can say these men and women were unable to face down damnable temptations… and then turned away. This incorruptibility is not the same as Sacrosanctia’s however. It is not born from pure innocence or true faith, but rather guarded jadedness and willpower. West Ouroborasia has grown accustomed to being assaulted by foul magics, illusions and temptations and so have grown resilient, even immune to it. Where even a truly faithful paladin of Sacrosanctia may fall sway to the false pure innocence of a child witch and her illusionary magic, a West Ouroborosian would not be so easily tricked. Be it illusion, curse, manipulation or seduction, there are those in West Ouroborasia who shall never fall.
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
Sepulchravest - #1, The former capital is on the frontlines of the civil war, having switched hands numerous times between the east and west. The city was attacked by Emperor Istvan in the first day of the civil war, however was driven off by monstrous creatures summoned by the former Witchfinder-General of the Maleficar Oratorium (and now Anathema heretic as well as champion of the Turquoise Lord). Since then the city has become a half-ruined hellhole and is saturated with the influence of the Turquoise Lord. Most of the city's inhabitants are now either Turquoise monsters or witches and their homunculi or familiar tools. Istvan as such has moved his capital to Leshëzkoëm
Leshëzkoëm - #2, Current capital of West Ouroborasia, Leshëzkoëm was created originally by one of the generals of Wolfraum following his conquests of Eudekeshan Ouroborasia into the Aemos Imperium. Lesenopolis, its old name has since become Leshëzkoëm. A heavily fortified city with a second curtain wall as well as a castle-like palace within the city, Leshëzkoëm has been a popular staging point for war, including the original Justinian Crusaders. For both practical and symbolic reasons, Emperor Istvan has saw it fit that this city would once again be the centre of a great crusading host waging war against ghoulish and heathen forces.
Ouropossia - #3, another old Aemos Imperium-built city, Ouropossia sits on the border between West Ouroborasia and Weshland, acting as a gatehouse for traders and crusaders from Weshland, Aberysia and the Middle Kingdoms. It is also an important city for the foodstuff trade from Weshland and has a high number of centaurs living in the surrounding farmland. Ouropossia is notable for its knightly traditions and seemingly out-of-place chivalry compared to the rest of the empire. Weather conditions are also more temperate and warm.
City of Vloëmurrëm - #4, vital port city connecting West Ouroborasia to Archonnen, Sacrosanctia and the Excelsiorum Alliance states. A vast amount of foreign supplies and troops enter through this port city. Besides this trade and incoming support, the city is particularly devoute, both due to a high number of foreign clerics setting up their operations from here, as well as the high number of clerical temples and cathedrals.
RACIAL INFORMATION
Majority race:Humanity is the majority and ruling class of the West Ouroborasian Empire. Being once part of the Ancient Pantheon’s human-dominated Eudekesh, later the human-dominated Aemos Imperium and Gushawar/Lamashi empires and now conquered by human crusaders from Archonnen, Aberysia and Weshland, humanity has been both the ethnic majority and rulers of this land for a very long time. The real issue however is due to constantly being invaded and occupied by so many different nations, cultures and human ethnic groups, Ouroborasia is ethnically divided by its human ethnicities. In particular, Eudekeshan, Aemerine and Ourosh (Gusho-Aemerines) have had ethnic tensions for over a millennia. West Ouroborasia is mostly Aemerine dominated, however the ethnic divisions continue even in the West.
Minority races:
Centaurs - Centaurs are a demographic newcomer into the ethnic mess that is Ouroborasia. While there are stories of ancient centaur nomads trying to conquer Ouroborasia numerous millennia ago, the actual centaurs of Ouroborasia descend from Justinian crusaders that arrived 150 years ago, when the Justinian crusaders conquered Ouroborasia in its entirety. The centaurs of West Ouroborasia today are a isolated minority, living in a hostile environment that is not particularly hospitable for centaurkind. Once the fanatical religious zeal of the crusades wore off, the centaurs became bitter though still too stubborn to leave. Those in West Ouroborasia mostly live in the sunnier and more temperate regions of the north-west closer to the Weshland border, avoiding the swampy and forested areas Ouroborasia is most infamous for. Due to their proximity to the breadbasket states of Weshland and the Archonnen superpower, West Ouroborasian centaurs are surprisingly pious for a non-human minority of Ouroborasia, and many volunteered to fight in the civil war as light cavalry, particularly to replace the many lost knights and aristocrats. Istvan, who considers himself an enlightened monarch has lessened the legal restraints of centaurs, and has even knighted numerous aspiring Centaur mounted sergeants.
Monsters - Not a real species or ethnic group, Justinian Western Ouroborasians throw any ghouls, homunculi, turquoise servitors/monsters, Riglers and Wendigoes (The last two which while an actual natural species are also traditionally hostile to Justinianism) into this broad category of enemy and subversive minorities. In the case of most these monsters, they actually are inherently hostile, particularly the Ghouls of Uudhin, created originally by the Red God Axohaan and spawned artificially, the Ghouls are inherently designed to wage war in the name of their dark god. Homunculi are not much better, being people that have been twisted and changed into abominations by witches.
Elves - Once, Elves were a sizable minority in Pre-Justinian Ouroborasia in the time period after the fall of Wolfraum's Aemos Imperium, when the region was ruled either by Old Pantheonist elves, Gushawar or Eudekesh. Since then, the elves have mostly been pushed out by native Red Pantheonist rebellion or the Justinian crusaders from the west, most of whom were humans. The few elves that remain have since converted to Justinianism, and have tried to mimic the successes of the Sacrosanctian elves - though to significantly less success. Ouroborasia has throughout the centuries been a brutal battleground between human and elvish interests, and much of the human majority still remember their old enemy - even if the reason they fought has long since been made redundant.
Dwarves - The Dwarves were never a significant presence in Ouroborasia. When the dwarves were at their apex during the Ancient Pantheon cycle, the Ouroborasian region of the world was left to the human followers of Eudeye - then known as Eudekesh. Dwarves were crushed as a people and powerbase during the Old Pantheon, enslaved like the humans. As such, many dwarves converted to Justinianism when the time came, and thirsty for revenge on their former Elven Old Pantheonist masters, joined crusades against the Yuwanist elves. The dwarves of West Ouroborasia are the descendants of those vengeaful crusaders.
Other Minorities - West Ouroborasia is now home to many crusaders and adventurers from across the Justinian World. Giants and Half-Giants of Fereumin, Pygmies and Nymphs from Magna Excelsiorum, Kobolds and even 'civilised' Riglers.
RELIGIOUS INFORMATION
State Religion:Orthodox Justinianism Patron Deities:
The Justinian - The Justinian, the Nascent God born of man that will lead all the souls of the universe to the Empryean Paradise. For one hundred and fifty years, The Justinian has been the state-enforced god of the Ouroborasian Empire, regardless what the heretics and cultists said. Most West Ouroborasians are orthodox followers of the faith, following each of the great edicts of The Justinian. In these dark times, the Epiphany of the Perfect World has seen a marked increase in usage, as the faithful try to escape the horrors of the civil war. The faithful look to the west for salvation. The Justinian, with its mighty saints and divine powers will surely answer - and its brilliant light will invoke holy terror as it cleanses the East.
Justicarti Oratorium - With the Maleficar Oratorium so compromised by the east, the remaining organisation was purged when the Justicarti Orators of Sacrosanctia arrived. Throughout the purge, Orators were interrogated, tested and those who failed were executed. Those who passed these trials were introduced into a new fledging order of Orators, which still are mostly controlled by the Justicars of Sacrosanctia as well as Orators from Archonnen, who are quickly taking command as the Justicars return to the holy city.
Paladin Rites - While the Rite of the Ouroboros fell to the East along with its corrupt leader, The Archduke of Vlachia, many other Paladin Rites have remained loyal and so fled west. Far more tested and experienced than other Paladins, these paladins are often cynical and traumatised men and women who have been left hallowed by the civil war. While some find them inspiring and heroic figures, others find them to be depressingly defeatist and broken, or even of questionable faith, though the Justicars could no find actual heretical thoughts or corruption within them.
MILITARY INFORMATION
Total Military:300,000 Listed Heroes: -The Military Doctrine: Military Units:
Peasant Levy: Common serfs of Western Ouroborasia, either levied by their feudal lords to fight in the civil war, or populist rebels revolting against Witch-aligned lords or actual Witches, either way, they are essentially normal people armed with farming tools and spears. The Average Ouroborasian Peasant is very poorly educated and parochial, however they are also have strong survival insticts, healthy paranoia and a suprisingly level of mental resistance and faith. The Average Ouroborasian Peasant is also capable of withstanding the Ouroborasian environment better than even their knights, since it is these poorfolk that often live out in the muck, mud and odious swamps.
Sergeant Men-At-Arms: Sergeant Men-At-Arms are semi-professional bread and butter of Istvan's Imperial Army of the West. Typically former peasant and urban levies, The survivors of the Red Purge (of the loyalist eastern army) have great experience fighting in the Eudazite/Gushawar wars as well as the seven years of civil war, overall they have become relatively good at soldiery, abandoning their seasonal warfare to an occupation of war. The Sergeant Men-At-Arms of the West are particularly loyal and high in morale, both because their new young emperor is charismatic and commoner-friendly but also because the new regime under Istvan has advocated a system of meritocracy, where the best and most valiant men-at-arms may rise to knighthood. This is so prominent, that upon becoming men-at-arms, soldiers are often given honorary batons, once only posessed by aristocratic knights. Sergeant Men-At-Arms are often trained in using crossbows and cumbersome arablests, with guns being less common due to the Ouroborasian environment being detrimental to the use of gunpowder based weapondry. Pavise shields are however a common addition to crossbows. Mounted sergeants are surprisingly common, as many aristocrats died during the early days of the civil war, uprisings, pre-civil war purges and other events that forced the raising of experienced sergeant man-at-arms as cavalry, usually light cavalry wielding swords or small crossbows. Many of these mounted sergeants are hopefuls, awaiting a possible knighthood right behind the corner - so often fight extra hard.
Clerical Headhunters: Men and women armed and armoured by the local Clerisies of their towns, either once being particularly devout junior members of the Clerisy or remarkably zealous townspeople/militia, they are now on the payroll of the Clerisy's private armies, though usually as local clerical militias. They are zealous witchhunters and often collaborate with Nightwatchmen and Gauntlets, acting as henchmen for in particular Cleric Rozarosu. Clerical headhunters are a varied group due to the decentralised nature, some being honest faithful villagers defending their communities and temples while others are fanatical and genocidal militia that were once villagers caught up in the Witch Purge preceding the civil war or hang on to every word from Rozarosu. They are usually not magic-users themselves, that are often retinue support to clerics or other low-level magic users who give them minor blessings - as such they are mostly used against witches isolated from the East, including women accused of witchcraft by village neighbours. Old women, wenches, ugly and diseased, mystics, herbalists, prostitutes, children, social rejects, etc.
Istvanite Knights The West Ouroborasian Aristocracy suffered greatly from the build up to the civil war. Purges, asassinations and defections to the East combined with many being killed during the early days of the Civil War (Including the Red Purge) took a great toll on their numbers. Istvanite Knights as such are the new radical wing of the knightly aristocracy, being hardened sergeant men-at-arms that have been knighted. They have since become known as "Istvanite" or "the Knights of Istvan" despite being no order. While lacking knightly training, they make up with this with years of actual military experience in campaigns from Eudaz to the Civil War, and they also have greater survival skills than most aristocratic knights due to their humble beginnings. Just as vicious and pragmatic as their eastern counterparts, Istvanite knights are willing to do whatever to win. Dirty tactics, unfair use of terrain, half-swording, whatever it takes they will do. This combination of lack of chivalry and commoner orgins however causes them to be alienated and distrusted by proper aristocrats and foreign knights, particularly those from Weshland and Aberys.
Western Knights that are mounted have a majority of still mostly true aristocratic knights, as the uplifted sergeants usually do not have the personal finances to cover the costs of a large enough warhose and armour to be considered 'heavy cavalry', though some do. There is a degree of internal conflict between the two different groups of knights.
Updates: -NPCs added -New players (Brithy in the north-east and Ghostmark in the far north-west) -Inactive players removed (mentions of them will have to be modified) -Oraculum's shrimps have some disputed no-mans land areas in the centre. -Drunken Conquistador's Lamash and Emmtt's Fereumin have become major powers. Emmtt is updating his sheet to show this.
In other news, Grey and I will be working on a Collab soon, and I am also working on making some NPC sheets to fill in the spaces (New players can choose to hijack/take over NPCs if they wish)
I would like to ask what players are doing concerning either working on RP posts or their sheets. In particular, @Willy Vereb is Yllendthyr capable of having an OOC WIP sheet yet? ----------------
@Everyone: Updates are going on in the discord, including a large conversation about updating Yuwanism with more details for the faction as well as environmental information about the far-eastern subcontinent. Willy will probably mention this soon.
I am also updating information about the Ouroborasian Civil War as part of Gold and my own agreement concerning the "Moral Greying of Ouroborasia" (Essentially making the conflict more neutral/grey vs grey rather than the current escalating good vs evil we have going).
