[hider=Arcanain] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/AVGmlw5.jpg[/img][color=midnightblue][h1]Kingdom of Arcanain[/h1][/color][/center] [color=midnightblue][h3]Government[/h3][/color] The Kingdom of Arcanain, often only referred to as Arcanain, is currently ruled by a constitutional monarchy which has been in place for over two centuries. While the head of state is undeniably the monarch King Liam III (born Edmund Liam Sheridan) of the House of Sheridan, the parliamentarian system dictates that the head of government is to be separate of the monarch. The head of government, as the chief legislator and executive power, is the Premier, a title held by one Landon Ashdon, a popular man of middle age that advocates liberal policies and is unequivocally opposed to intervention in foreign wars. Under the King and Premier is the Parliament, divided into two houses and charged with drafting and passing legislature. The first house, being the House of Nobles, are a limited sort holding only 25 seats of no particular provincial allegiance, each member appointed by the King and approved or vetoed by the Premier. If the Premier vetos the appointment, the decision goes to a select council of 10 members of the lower house, the House of the Public, who decides to support or overturn the veto. This lower house, the House of the Public, consists of 75 seats (3 per province), with each representative being elected in by the province in which they reside. Finally is the Royal Courts, which interpret and apply laws according to the Constitution. Five members comprise this highest court, which handles the most pressing issues. Under them is system of federal circuit courts divided by province. Under the circuit courts in each province are the local courts. [color=midnightblue][h3]Species[/h3][/color] Primarily Human, with a minority of Elves (High and Wood), along with a sizeable immigrant minority of Orcs. [color=midnightblue][h3]Population[/h3][/color] 166 million (approx.) 61% Humans 29% Elves (High and Wood) 5% Orcs 5% Other [color=midnightblue][h3]Culture[/h3][/color] The culture of Arcanain is rooted heavily in the concept of its own folklore based heavily in history. An almost quasi-Celtic culture is predominant, giving adherence to the old basis of clans and families, a clear division of class based on social status, but not always wealth. Fashion and constructs are often also reminiscent of this history. [hider=Arcanian Class Structure] This class structure starts with an aristocracy, a nobility of sorts, with the primary defining feature being influence, with wealth becoming irrelevant with the rise of industry. At the very top, the royal house, House Sheridan, is present, descendants of the Sheridan Clan. And below them, the families, houses, and clans which, in older times, ruled counties and provinces, though that is not by most accounts true anymore considering the more democratic process in electing governors. Though, this is not excluding families from power, as corruption and extortion in certain counties solidify reigns of terror under these families. Under the upper class, the aristocracy, is a newer class that emerged only during the rise of industry and manufacturing, along with the return of certain artisan fields. This class, the middle class, are the dead middle of the spectrum, bridging the gap between the lower class and the upper class. While being upper class isn’t dependent on wealth necessarily, being middle class often is, with the consideration of being middle class that members do not work in unskilled labor and earn their keep through primarily salary, not wages or plain subsistence (in the case of farmers). Falling into this category are civil servants, academics, doctors, and other professionals. Soldiers are often also considered in this category because of their pay in salary and steady employment, even though work as a soldier is not always skilled labor. And finally, at the very bottom of the social hierarchy is the largest class, the working class, known also as the lower class, or as the poor class (as called by richer individuals). The primary characteristic of this class is not that they are poor, or necessarily live in squalor, it is that they work in primarily unskilled fields for wages or to subsist themselves. Workers in factories, farms, construction, and other relatively unskilled fields. This class structure is not necessarily segregationist by species, however the upper class is almost exclusively Humans and High Elves, with the middle and lower classes being primarily Humans and Wood Elves. Most other minorities, including Orcs, are relegated to the lower class, being primarily immigrants with no ties to nobility and no perceived merit as artisans. [/hider] [hider=Fashion] The fashion of the people of Arcanain is primarily characteristic of what the middle and upper class wear, as the working class often wear what they can scrounge. With this in mind, Arcanian fashion is a modernised mirror of old fashion, the flowing and ornate clothing of the old quasi-Celtic society, with variation between drab colors accented by vibrant accessories. Female fashion is often the most vibrant and eccentric, flowing dresses being the centerpiece, decorated with furls and feathers over fine linens colored bright colors such as white or yellow. These dresses varied in design, with most richer individuals preferring fancier and more costly broad-skirted dresses supported by caged petticoats of materials varying from leather, wood, and even metals. Accessories include bonnetts, white gloves, and exposed coinpurses. Male fashion, in contrast to the female fashion, often includes more dark and drab colors such as beige, grey, navy blue, and the iconic black. Less eccentric than female fashion, often it is simple dress shirts coupled with trousers and sometimes a vest, with a frock coat or other overcoat being the final piece. Accessories for men include top hats, bowler hats, caps, black gloves, and pocket watches with hanging chains. [/hider] WIP [color=midnightblue][h3]History[/h3][/color] WIP [color=midnightblue][h3]Territorial Claims[/h3][/color] See map. (Territory colored in dark blue.) [color=midnightblue][h3]Economy[/h3][/color] Based on a silver-backed currency known as the crown (1 crown = 0.01 oz. of silver), the economy functions with the central bank storing the silver backing the currency in vaults, distributing coins and notes made of cheap materials to represent this silver. These notes and coins are then traded for goods and services, and to pay taxes, in which once the notes end up in the hands of the government, they can use to prop up the governmental budget or convert into silver (in the case of foreign trade or payment). Atop this system is a meticulous balance of agrarian and industrial infrastructure. The agrarian sector often serves only to subsist the population, and the domestic natural resource market is small, leaving the real money to the textile and metallurgy industries, which export most of their products. This void of natural resources is partially subverted by the import of timber and iron from some other nations, but it still leaves a lot to be desired. [color=midnightblue][h3]Technology[/h3][/color] While antiquated at first sight, the Arcanain technological level is generally a lull in modernisation efforts, which have been dormant for nearly two decades. Steam trains are still the primary mode of transport, with horseback or carriage being second most popular. Automobiles and aircraft are extremely few, with only the richest able to import them. On the military front, the arms are lacking. Early smokeless powder weaponry, bulky and heavy repeaters of both bolt action and lever action are the standard weapon. Almost all transport the armed forces performs is by horseback or train, with automobiles being out of the question. The navy, while perhaps one of the most formidable in the world, still operates old steamships with wooden decks, iron hulls, and breechloaders firing primitive shell, and in some cases, straight ball and shot. Aircraft are completely unheard of for military use, and besides the occasional spotting balloon, no air power is exercised. [color=midnightblue][h3]Army[/h3][/color] His Majesty’s Royal Army is the primary ground arm of the Arcanain Royal Services. Due to the sheer size of the naval arm and the absence of enticement, the Royal Army has seen a record decline in enlistments and maintains a small active contingent, with most manpower being within the inactive reserves. [hider=Firearms] [hider=Joye-Royce Model 1893 Rifle] [img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Mannlicher_M1895_from_the_Swedish_Army_Museum.jpg[/img] Introduced in 1893 by designer Samuel Joye and producer James Royce (owner of the Royce Manufacturing Company) to the Royal Ordnance Board, the M1893 was trialled and adopted the following year as the service rifle of the Royal Army. As a straight-pull bolt action with a remarkably smooth action, the Joye-Royce M93 is renowned for its speed and, coupled with the 33-inch barrel, its pin-point accuracy. Though, this rifle is over-engineered by design. As more of a sports rifle than a military one, its weight is inordinate and its length is unwieldy, the pure bulk accounting for nearly a fourth of the standard infantryman’s equipment weight. It fires a smokeless round-head cartridge in the 8x50mm caliber, but a smokeless, spitzer-tip cartridge is currently in trials. [/hider] [hider=Harden Metalworks Model 6 Revolver] [img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/M%26Prevolver.jpg[/img] Introduced in 1896 as the sixth model in the Harden line of cartridge revolvers, the Model 6 was adopted after being run against multiple competitors from both foreign and domestic companies, with competitors including more reliable single-action revolvers, foreign cutting-edge semi-automatic pistols with massive unreliability problems, and even an old cap and ball model was considered to keep consistent with reliability. The Model 6, with its reasonably hard-hitting .38 cartridge and dependable double-action mechanism, was eventually chosen as the standard sidearm for NCOs and officers in the Arcanain Royal Services. [/hider] [hider=Royce Model 1887 Rifle] [img]https://img00.deviantart.net/1370/i/2013/079/b/8/winchester_model_1895_by_plutonius-d5yp4r8.jpg[/img] A short-lived service rifle for the Royal Army, the M1887 is a lever-action model produced by the J. Royce Manufacturing Company, very simple compared to the M1893. But with its simplicity came the dislike of some. It was light, yes, but the action was clunky and slow, and it was awkward to load, with no form of stripper clip or magazine to feed its .30-40 rounds into the 7-round internal magazine, and was equally awkward to prime and fire, with a single-action hammer mechanism. Slow, it was discarded before it could see any real action, and was substituted with the smoother M1893. However, the M1887 is far from phased out, often carried by cavalrymen due to its shorter barrel, higher capacity, and lightweight frame. It is also seen often in the hands of Home Guard units, as their nature as an immobile reserve gives them last pick on gear, having to sift through old surplus stocks discarded by regulars and field reservists. [/hider] [hider=Royce Model 1885 Repeating Wheel Rifle] [img]http://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server5100/7g4m0/products/103665/images/521805/P1370681__40150.1398964301.1280.1280.JPG?c=2[/img] Dated and unreliable, as one of the first designs of its type, the M1885 Repeating Wheel Rifle, a Gatling of James Royce’s design, is an aging type of firearm. Fed from a fixed 250-round drum of .45-70 and crank-operated, it was the first true ‘machine gun’ of the Arcanain Royal Services, and, though praised as innovative when introduced, the troops have come to despise the often dysfunctional 10-barreled brass tube. Requiring constant guiding of rounds, it is labor-intensive to fire, requiring five or six men for a single piece. Crew requirements are as follows: two to aim and maintain the piece, two to load ammo from the caisson and maintain the piece, one to fire and gauge ranges, and an optional extra man to both command the piece and direct the horse dragging both the caisson and the piece when on the move. The 1885, despite its glaring flaws as a piece of another time, is still in service within the Pack & Field Artillery units often sent to the front alongside infantry, though newer automatic weapons are in the works. [/hider] [/hider] [hider=Uniforms & Dress] WIP [/hider] [hider=Artillery & Misc Ordnance] WIP [/hider] [hider=Organization] [b]Section:[/b] The smallest tier of organization, sections, or ‘squads’, consist generally of 10-15 men, led by a Corporal or Sergeant assisted by a Private First Class. [b]Platoon:[/b] Just above a section is a platoon, consisting of 2-4 squads for a total of 20-60 led by a Second Lieutenant often with a Sergeant or Staff Sergeant as his second. [b]Company:[/b] Above a platoon is the company, consisting of about 2-4 platoons for a total of 100-160 men led by a Captain with a First Lieutenant as his second, and generally a First Sergeant or Staff Sergeant as his senior NCO. [b]Battalion:[/b] Above companies are battalions, which, while often foregone, are the unsung heroes of coordination below the regimental level, reigning in sometimes 2-6 companies (200-600 men) under the command of a Major or Lieutenant Colonel, with a Captain or First Lieutenant as his second, and a Sergeant Major or First Sergeant as his senior NCO. [b]Regiment:[/b] The smallest independently operational unit, the regiment consists of 2-4 battalions, or in the case of foregoing battalions, 4-8 companies for a total of 800-1,200 men commanded by a Colonel or Lieutenant Colonel, with a Major as his second, and a Sergeant Major as his senior NCO. [b]Brigade:[/b] Larger than a regiment is a brigade, sometimes foregone in the structure of larger units, but vital regardless as a collection of 2-3 regiments (1,600-3,600 men) commanded by a Brigadier (Brigadier General), the first level of General Officer, with a Major as his chief of staff and a Sergeant Major as a senior NCO and aide-de-camp. [b]Division:[/b] The largest independently operational unit is a division, essential to the construction of armies and consisting of 2-4 brigades or 4-8 regiments (8,000-12,000 men) commanded by a Major General with a Lieutenant Colonel as his chief of staff, and a Sergeant Major as a senior NCO and aide-de-camp. [b]Corps:[/b] As the ‘wings’ of armies, corps collect divisions into a coherent force, usually consisting of 3-6 divisions (25,000-50,000) commanded by a Lieutenant General, or, rarely, a Major General, with a Colonel as his chief of staff, and a Sergeant Major as a senior NCO and aide-de-camp. [b]Army:[/b] As the largest peacetime formation of the Arcanain Royal Army, armies combine corps as ‘wings’ along with independent divisions and brigades outside the jurisdiction of any corps for special roles, totaling to an indefinite number of each, though manpower usually numbers between 60,000 to even 300,000 men in larger estimates commanded by full Generals with Colonels as chiefs of staff and Sergeant Majors as senior NCOs, though currently the 140,000-strong Arcanain Royal Army is divided into two administrative armies divided into northern and southern sectors commanded by two Lieutenant Generals, with the only full General in the Royal Army being the Commandant of the Royal Army, answering only to the Minister of War, the Premier, and the King. [/hider] [color=midnightblue][h3]Navy[/h3][/color] WIP [/hider] Still WIP, but it's mostly done.