It's a WIP! =D [hider=Location] [img=http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x190/Alfhedil/2ch98rc-2.png] [/hider] Name: Eisenkreis Government: Fascist Monarchy, the royal family rules through a strong tie to the national culture. There are rumors of a cult within the populace seeking to maintain stability at all times through whatever means necessary. Economy: State-controlled in all facets. Population: 5,857,631 with roughly 50% urbanization. Society: - The Faceless - Within the Eisenkreis, visitors are always confronted immediately by the odd behaviour of the citizenry in their day to day affairs. Every citizen of the Eisenkreis spends their entire day behind a featureless mask that has only markings down the right side of the face, and opaque lenses for the eyes. It has been a long standing part of their religious views that the face of a person is the most sacred part of the body, for it is often the first seen and will most often tell the most of a person. The reason they wear the masks is because their religion teaches that to show your true face to another is the ultimate sign of trust, that you have allowed another to see you as you truly are. As such, there are two established rituals in which one may remove their mask willingly to another individual. The first is the ritual of marriage between two individuals, a private ceremony in which a blind priest oversees the couple make their vows and seals their contract. The other instance is the sealing of a deal between two people, often times large contracts which require more than the normal level of trust between individuals. Beyond the masked appearance of the general populace, one will find the overwhelming sense of national pride at a religious level, in which the church actively participates in state run events and even helps to organize many levels of government affairs. This stems from the origins of the nation as an old theocratic power in their history, in which the church ruled the nation through the royal family. Because of this old history, the Eisenkreis still holds many very traditional stances regarding modernization of their culture, and most of the populace will only understand written and spoken Eisenkreis. Only among the higher levels of society will one begin to find learned minds that are capable of speaking multiple languages, though they will still retain their preference towards speaking Eisenkreis. Coupled with their apathy towards understanding new languages is their general intolerance of other cultures, leaving them to be notoriously difficult to work with in negotiations and diplomatic proceedings due to their believed superiority over other cultures. Eisenkern writing is composed of a complex series of bars and dots that come together in a form of runic writing that takes years to learn and nearly a lifetime to master(Think morse code except aligned in blocks that create phrases or sentences in compact form). The Common runic form is most often used in non-visible etchings along the right side of a person's mask, using shorthand to explain that person's standing in society as well as their given name and their personal heraldry, though it is also the base written language of Eisenkreis. This use explains the standard greeting between Eisenkreis, the act of running a hand down the right side of anothers face to read their identity, as well as any intentions that person may have writ across their mask as well. Intentions are a more difficult affair to read, however, for while the identity runes denote a person's exact identity, intention runes are easy to misread, and easier still to accidently carve the wrong marking. As such, intention runes are very rare to feel, and are always met with seriousness due to the effort it takes to make a correct intention rune. There is also a third type of runic writing, that of the Oath, an ancient form that predates Common and Intention as a written language that the warrior castes used to strike fear into their enemies. Oaths are runes that define a warrior's intentions and are often binding oaths sworn before the ancient deities of the Eisenkreis, oaths that carry a spiritual significance to the bearer, and many believe that one who has no completed an oath will be borne into limbo for all eternity. Completed oaths, on the other hand, are seen as great accomplishments, often leading to the Oathsworn to be moved out of lower castes and into the higher tiers by their accomplishment. Modern usage of the Oaths are those etched upon the masks of military personnel, denoting their life-service to defending Eisenkreis against all threats domestic and foreign, and often take a more visual appearance than Intention or Common. Another of their more traditional behaviours is the use of tattoos across the bodies of the people. Eisenkreis warriors in ancient days would often tattoo complex whirling patterns across their chest and limbs to denote their physical prowess, with certain bands detailing certain accomplishments and skills. Today, this practice is still undertaken with many commoners using tattoos as a supplement to their Common-form runes on their masks to dictate their particular skills in their trade. An old practice that is not as frequently used, is the use of tattoos to replace one's mask in the way of a facial tattoo that denotes the life of a person. People who indulge in this practice are typically reserved to the religious leaders and higher ranking generals, those who use this practice to instill confidence in the people they lead. The community on a whole is well connected, with media only marginally controlled by the state, and for the most part community driven to provide information to the greater populace. News travels quickly because of this, and means that though some parts are separated by the mountains, villages and cities still retain close ties with family and friends. The state does run its own newspaper, distributing national papers discussing the events of national importance as well as the latest technological theories and recruitment posters for the militia. Beyond this not much in the ways of propaganda are used in the society, with most of the national pride stemming from the monarchy and the church. Military: - Faust Die Eisen - Modern Eisenkreis has fully adopted the role of the armored vehicle on the battlefields of today, and as such has moved towards a military force heavily geared towards mobile warfare. The core of the Faust Die Eisen is that of the Panzerdivisions, the tank corps consisting of medium tanks such as the Panzer IV(ausf. B) and Panzer III(ausf. C), as well as reconnaissance tanks like the Panzer II to operate as forward scouts and flanking elements. With these high mobility divisions, Eisenkreis has been loathe to adopt an actual air-force, and has scaled back their infantry regiments to a mere five regiments out of the previous thirty. Those infantry regiments that remain have become something else entirely, however, for Eisenkreis has moved to change infantry tactics entirely. Fifteen years ago, an anonymous inventor submitted a design for a new type of body-armor to the Eisenkern Academies, a radical change from previous designs. This body armor harkened back to the old days of plate armor, while incorporating the more modern use of flak-vests and steel smithing. The first prototype of the armor was a resounding success, as small arms either bounced or stuck in the thick steel plates of the chest and shoulders, and those rounds that did penetrate lost most of their velocity passing through the steel plate and the protective cloth beneath. With the armor being proven, the first of the Stahl-Männer marched from the academies to defend the homeland, and ushered in the final days of the standard infantryman. Though most arms are imported from the Reich, there is rumor of a secret project underway to arm the Stahl-Männer with a more capable rifle. - Verteidigungskraft - [hider=Organization of military forces] - Faust Die Eisen - Each Panzerdivision is organized into multiple packs, each consisting of five Panzer IVs and ten Panzer IIIs, typically supplemented by a number of Panzer IIs from the Recon divisions. These divisions also incorporate elements of the Stahl-Männer, though they often act independently. 1st Panzerdivision - 15 Wolf-packs, 5,500 Stahl-Männer 2nd Panzerdivision - 15 Wolf-packs, 5,500 Stahl-Männer 3rd Panzerdivision - 15 Wolf-Packs, 5,500 Stahl-Männer 4th Panzerdivision - 10 Wolf-Packs, 11,000 Stahl-Männer 1st Panzer-Recon Division - 400 Panzer II tanks, 15,500 Stahl-Männer[/hider] - Foreign Relations - [b]The Reich:[/b] Close ally, with many imported weapons and designs from this country. [b]Harrlow:[/b] Apathetic/Neutral, despite their relations with the Reich, Eisenkreis has no issue with Harrlow, and is open to continuing trade with a fellow monarchy. [b]Faliase:[/b] Apathetic/Bordering hostile, Possibly a combination of their indifference to Harrlow and their alliance with the Reich, Eisenkreis is not on good terms with this nation, though it has been stated that "As long as they stay out of our borders, we will stay out of theirs." [b]The Union:[/b] Apathetic, as long as the Union remains isolationist and leaves Eisenkreis to its own, Eisenkreis will follow suit. [b]The PSR:[/b] Despised, even before their alliance with the Reich, Eisenkreis despised this power, as their intents on establishing a communistic government directly clash with Eisenkreis' wishes to remain largely neutral. This is the only faction of the major powers that is fully debarred from entering Eisenkreis lands, with execution as punishment for defying their borders. [b]Phenaerum:[/b] Indifferent, not much is fully known about this group, so Eisenkreis is simply of the mindset of "As long as they stay out of our borders, we will stay out of theirs." [b]Civitas:[/b] Apathetic/Bordering on hostile, Eisenkreis is not found of their expansionist nature, though is not yet directly hostile towards them. [b]Radom:[/b] Apathetic/Bordering on friendly, due to their close proximity, Eisenkreis has had interactions with this nation before, though they have all been relatively minor and without conflict. Rumors say that there may be a possibility of a coalition forming between Eisenkreis and Radom, but it is at this point rumor. [b]Varcia:[/b] See "The PSR" History: Eisenkreis as a nation, is actually a fairly young nation, only existing as a solidified state for the last 250 years. Before the Unification Wars, the lands of Eisenkreis were dominated by the seven fortress-cities of the original tribes of the region, and before that it was merely a collection of rival tribes attempting to survive the harsh landscape. For centuries these tribes warred amongst each other, only coming together in the rare case of an invasion by outside forces, and for the most part keeping things in a state of flux. As time passed on, and warfare evolved across the world, so too did the Eisenkreis states, each of them fortifying their lands to outsiders and other states, while slowly beginning to form their own culture. Then, nearly five-centuries ago, settlers from the Reich came to Eisenkreis lands fleeing persecution, and reached an agreement with the natives that they would be accepted in return for knowledge of the civilized world. Slowly, these settlers became one with the natives and eventually established competing monarchies in each of the city-states, as well as over-turning the old religion of the region in favor of their own. This point in time marks the first known appearance of the entity called the Cult of the Hydra, and with the emergence of this organization, the Eisenkreis states took their first steps towards their first actual war. With the monarchies put in place, and their religion established over the lands, there was a growing fear of interference from outside states, and with this fear came the feelings that an un-united Eisenkreis would fall one by one. The monarchies resisted however, and only fortified their lands more against threats from within and without, prompting the Cult to push the more powerful monarchies into acting. Only one of these city-states answered their call, the state of Eisenkern, and within a year of their declaration to unify the city-states, all of Eisenkreis was at war with itself. The lands between the fortresses became killing fields for cannon and rifle, those few souls who braved the torrent of fire from the mountains joining the mounds of the fallen with few exceptions. As the war went into its eighth year, Eisenkern realised that decisive action had to be taken, and that without making a major risk, the states would be left in too much of a weakened state even if victory could be achieved. Striking out against all six opposing city-states at once, Eisenkern forced the offensive against them and drew out the defenders into the killing fields to do battle for the last time. With the first snow-fall of the year, stability had come to Eisenkreis, and the seven states were now one. Since the Unification Wars Eisenkreis has remained a passive force on the horizon, choosing to remain neutral of other conflicts within the region, but responding with an implacable will towards any that dare defy its borders. Their defensiveness of their borders has become even worse since the Unification, with great cannonades and artillery batteries being directed outwards, to flatten any that may attempt to cross their border without permission. Even the skies are not safe, for Eisenkreis stands guard against all threats, and has set up flak batteries atop every ridge and within every village to defy their airspace to any foreign power.