[hider=The Kingdom of Andramedie] Nations Name: The Kingdom of Andramedie Flag:[img]http://flag-designer.appspot.com/gwtflags/SvgFileService?d=11&c1=3&c2=0&c3=0&o=4&c4=0&s=7&c5=4[/img] Form of Government: Autocratic Monarchy Describe the System: The Kingdom of Andramedie has proudly maintained the power of the Monarchy while other nations have conceded power to lesser noble families or worse, the peasantry. Due to the royal family maintaining an iron grip on the various powers of state, the current ruling King and Queen have an almost unprecedented amount of freedom to enact their desires or change what they wish with little to no legal restraint against them. Below the thrones lay a number of titles and official positions that carry high prestige and a number of responsibilities to manage the certain departments and functions of the kingdom at large and put in charge of small armies of civil servants in order to ensure that the kingdom functions correctly. Location on Map Desired: [img]http://img05.deviantart.net/579b/i/2015/196/1/1/eterna_old_by_ayoungwarthog_d90xwup_by_kiue-d91e3u5.jpg[/img] Capital: Ushrian- Nested within the protection of the bountiful Samotnica mountains. Originally an imperial mining town, Ushrian survived the collapse of the empire and has grown in a major way due to the vast amount of metal and wood that the mountains it has settled at the base of provides. Home to the Ushrian Royal Military Academy, the impressive grand temple of Meka and the famous Ushrian wall; a large structure that bridges the two ends of the Samotnica mountains together to offer the capital protection from invaders from all sides. Ushrian is the heart of Andramedie's industry. Important Settlements: Olkeet- The port-city of Olkeet has long been considered to be one of the 'triplets' alongside Ushrian and Petien and the 'eldest sister' of Andramedie's three port cities. Founded on the north-western part of the coast in order to ship the supplies of wood and ore that Ushrian produced towards other parts of the Empire, Olkeet's location made Andramedie a highly profitable trading hub; so profitable and popular that the city ports of Kinyo and Mac'dien needed to be founded as well in order to deal with all the traffic. It is also home to the grand temple of Amaterasu. Kinyo- One of the three sister port-cities, Kinyo is located on Andramedie's west coast and is considered the smallest of the three port-cities, founded to deal with the overflow of ships that where overflowing from Olkeet and Mac'dien. It is still a fairly sizable city in its own right and is home to the grand temple of Mikoto. Mac'dien- One of the three sister port-cities, Mac'dien is located on Andramedie's southern coast. Founded by the Empire when it was clear that Andramedie needed more then one port-city in order to allow its trade and supplies to move, Mac'dien enjoys its status as a trade hub greatly. It also has a mining industry due to the nearby mountains, even if it is nowhere near the scale of the operations in Ushrian. Housing the Grand temple of Ryūjin, many visitors to the city are somewhat confused as to why they decided to dedicate a temple to the god of the ocean on a sheltered mountain a fair distance away from the ocean. During the winter when it rains a lot or when the nastier storms hit the city, worshipers of Ryūjin like to fall back to his temple that [i]just so happens[/i] to be located in a really good spot to weather the storms and low land floods; A common bit of local wisdom is 'When Ryūjin is mad, it is wiser and more effective to dodge his blows until he calms down then to try in vain to appease him.' Artayan- Located between Mac'dien, Kinyo and Ushrian, Artayan serves as a land based trading hub between all three of the cities and to the kingdom's land based neighbors. It also serves as something of a hub for the boarder fortresses and is home to one of Andramedie's two primary training centers for its rank and file military forces, the other center being Petien. Artayan is also home to the grand temple of Inari; There are tales of Inari herself visiting the city in human guise to offer it her personal blessing many times over the years and the city is proud to bear her patronage. Petien- Set up as a land based trading post between Ushrian and Olkeet at around the same time that they were founded by the Empire, Petien served as a rest stop between the two towns, as well as opening up land routes to trade elsewhere. It also served as the training grounds for the local Imperial military forces, allowing them the freedom to go where they were required while patrolling the boarders. When the Empire fell, Petien largely continued to do the same thing as before only for the Kingdom of Andramedie. Due to its proud history of producing solders and fighting in wars, Petien as the honor of hosting the grand temple of Lyth the Dragon Goddess of War and Death; Guns and other gunpowder related weapons are considered to be a blessing from Lyth, a spark of her power that she granted to humans for serving her so well. Description: The Kingdom of Andramedie has long worshiped a pantheon of dragon gods that embody different realms: Ryūjin - Dragon Deity of the Sea and Trade. Amaterasu - Dragon Deity of the Sun. Mikoto - Dragon Deity of the Moon. Inari - Dragon Deity of Fertility and Deviance. Lyth - Dragon Deity of Death and War. Meka - Dragon Deity of Metal and Wealth. While it is fairly common for a city to have a major temple dedicated to one of these deities, there is generally a temple dedicated to each of them, if only to appease the one it was dedicated to. Cities and buildings within the kingdom tend to be of oriental style, with the sections of the city belonging to the noble or merchant classes end to be made of more artistically pleasing, expensive stones and woods while the more labor focused peasant class tend to use stones and wood that are more readily available and cheap. In order to understand why Andramedian's do not sail, one needs to understand their way of worshiping Ryujin: Ryuhin (Dragon God of Sea and Trade), Meka (Dragon God of Metal and Wealth) and Inari (Dragon God of Fertility and Deviance) worked together in order to create living creatures, humanity being one of them. While Ryujin is okay with humans coming to swim in the waters of his domain (What with them being some of his best work) sailing on the sea is something of a trespass and angers him. In return for respecting his domain by not sailing, Ryujin allows traders from less enlightened nations to make it to our ports for us to profit from their heretical acts before he punishes them for their hubris. Ocean floods and storms are signs that Ryujin is angry and punishing those who trespass on the ocean and in his fury he has trouble telling loyal worshiper and heretic apart, which is why temples to Ryujin are set away from the ocean in high and sheltered places so that worshipers can escape his wrath. The kingdom has long used the silver standard, using it in their coinage. The Kingdom of Andramedia primarily speaks Andromedian; The Language of Meows. Important Characters: King Macdon- The young King of the kingdom, the first thing that the twenty year old king did when he ascended the throne was to have everyone with [i]Any[/i] possible claim to his throne executed in order to secure his position as head of his nation. While this rise to power was somewhat more bloody then normal, those nobles not personally affected by the purge kept their heads down and their mouths shut while those of the lower classes generally approved of the move due to the chance to increase their own respective influences after the heads had stopped rolling. So much in fact that King Macdon would marry the daughter of one of the nations more successful merchants instead of a noble woman like tradition dictated. Queen (Consort) Alanna- The daughter of one of the kingdom's more important merchants, Queen Alanna and the now King Macdon had gotten to know each other growing up, both of them being smitten with the other but unable to officially be together due to traditional expectations. When Macdon became king and purged a large number of the noble class in order to secure his position, he asked Alanna to marry him and she readily agreed. Queen Alanna is openly a devote worshiper of the goddess Inari and while she is reviled by the noble class she is considered the people's queen by those of the lower classes. Traits: Multicultural: Your nation is composed of many different ethnicities, cultures,and languages. Your people are extremely tolerant towards foreigners, and you find it easy to assimilate newly conquered peoples. -2 Renaissance Men: You have more men that have spent much time learning the various arts, they constantly invent things and bring cultural and science to your nation. . -2 Water is Hell: Your nation has become so afraid of naval affairs that they are even scared of getting near the coast, and going out on even just a small trip down river is considered a death sentence. Those not afraid of venturing out into the sea are often treated as abnormal and sometimes as witches. +6 (Adds Stability) Rotting Hulls: Your nation views ship maintenance as an unneeded cost and so many of your ships have weak wood and the sails are torn and with holes in them. They will not perform well at sea. +2 State Controlled: Your market is controlled by your ruler, every business is state owned and all works are employed by the state, you are less vulnerable to crashes in the market however with the lack of competition your country advances more slowly and the economy rises more slowly. +1 Hub of the World: Your nation overflows with gold in the coffers, goods from lands far and wide arriving through your ports. Every merchant will take large detours to even just be able to shortly dock in your ports, and you have many a merchant and trader. You control most of the local trade routes in your area, and are wealthy beyond measure for it. -6 (S) Strong Industry: Your craftsmen and laborers are good quality and hardworking making some of your nations goods very reliable, sometimes fetching a high price from a market. -2 Fertile Fields: Agriculture is what your nation is known for. Fields of golden wheat and barley run throughout your country. -2 Professional Army: Your nation’s army is well trained and equipped with good weapons, performing better in battle. -3 Ambitious Generals: Your generals all want a piece of glory. Sometimes even going to backstabbing each other and arriving to another’s aid ‘late’. +1 Never been out of the village: Your men have almost all never been outside their own borders. Other countries lands and environments are almost alien, especially those on another continent. They will suffer from not being able to deal with weather and being unable to forage as well. +1 Small Army: Your nation maintains a relatively small number of troops, when fielded in battle against another nation your forces are almost always outnumbered. +2 Decentralized Army: You have an official head of the army however apart from troop allocation he controls very little. Men fall, under the complete command of their own general and whilst this means that they may react to local problems much faster when trying to organize full scale invasions your army is slow and takes a long time to ready. +/- Army: Navy: GDP: Population: Stability: [/hider]