[@Willy Vereb]I might use a nation I made for a late Renaissance era RP, just before the invention of steam power with primitive firearms like flintlocks and wheel-locks.


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[i][b]The Kingdom of Stoludi[/b][/i]

Flag: [img]http://i.imgur.com/p9OTTXL.png[/img]

A mysterious and young kingdom that was founded hundreds of years ago after a group of pilgrims set sail in longboats, deciding to go drifting for a few months and seeing where they ended up. A month later, they landed on the shores of what would soon be Stoludi. Though it was, at first, just a handful of isolated tribes, the number of people ballooned and grew, until one Queen united them all. Queen Volkim brought the tribes together... some by force, some by bribery, others by simple talk. For over two hundred years, the dynasty Volkim started reigned peacefully. However, one day, a boat landed in the fledgling harbor of Katiraka. The strange man who disembarked promised wonderful things to the people of Stoludi... arms and armor, furniture, pumps, sewage systems, irrigation systems... he wormed his way in until Queen Ginholm V let him land dozens of fat, pot-bellied trade ships in the harbor of Haltien. Thousands of well-armed mercenaries swarmed out and overwhelmed the complacent Queen's Guards, then slaughtered Ginholm as she was getting dressed by her serving girls.

For the next forty years, King Tinnham ruled with an iron fist. The Kingdom withered and nearly died under his rule. Then a rebellion occurred. The proud people had enough of it, and overthrew Tinnham. He was slaughtered and fed to the sharks off the coast of Buxiang. The people cheered and danced and sang, heralding their new Queen as the harbinger of a new age. So she was. Over the thirty years of Queen Pictsun's rule, the country withdrew into isolation. Ships were turned back in the harbors or simply set upon by newly-constructed sea forts and warships. Travelers faced the same fate. The country went quiet for over a hundred years, refusing nearly all trade, ambassadors, and foreign travelers. 

 One hundred and ten years later, the heir to the kingdom, sixteen year old Annetan IX, began to repeal the laws and rules that caused the isolation of the kingdom. Slowly, the borders were open, and the flow of trade and people resumed. It's going to take a while for the people of Stoludi to acclimate, however. Annetan IX has reassured them that all is well, but they are still weary and distrustful, proud and anchored to traditions. They are a hard, roughly carved people, with pale skin and hard faces. They speak an odd tongue of warped symbols and pictograms, and have a singsong accent that utilizes the throat to accentuate letters (think of Norwegian accent tinted with Japanese). They rely mostly on the seas and the woods for food, hunting most of it, but also getting some from the more fertile Southern regions. 

The technology of the Stoludian people is rather outdated, since progress stagnated during the century of isolation. It is catching up, but it is taking some time, so for now their cities remain huddles of wooden huts and other buildings, with log palisades being the main form of protection. This has slowed the population growth, and right now Stoludi has a population of around seventy million. 

The people are proud and devoted, rooted in tradition and believing in the King. As a result of the isolation, the Government is still an inherited monarchy, with the Matriarch taking absolute power. 

[b]The Military[/b]

The Stoludian Army is small and poorly armed, but fiercely devoted, to a suicidal level.  Your typical Stoludian infantryman will be wearing a green and brown uniform, thick and insulated to protect him from the harsh Stoludian cold. They are armed with flintlock smoothbore muzzle-loading long guns, and carry sharpened daggers at their sides as melee weapons. These flintlocks have awful accuracy due to their smooth barrels, and their outdated reloading system makes them very sluggish to fire. They are experts at melee combat, however. The Stoludian Army has about 100,000 regular soldiers. 


The Stoludian Navy is much like the Army. Poorly armed, but fierce and proud. The Stoludian Navy has fallen far behind in ship building. They have no large sail ships. The largest ships they have might be considered small frigates in other countries... 
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