[hider=The Corax Dominion --- WIP] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/n1gvSzU.jpg[/img][hr][hr][h1]THE CORAX DOMINION[/h1][/center] [hr][hr] [hr][h2][b]Geography[/b][/h2] [hr] [b]|Geographical Location of Country|[/b][hider=Clay with alternating stripes of yellow and black][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/568557726943281158/576642116000677901/worldmapaegan2.png[/img] The lands colloquially referred as the Sundwald region. [/hider] [b]|Cities|[/b] [i]- Drachenstadt[/i] --- Capital of the Dominion. Originally the castle of the Grandmaster (Drachburg) built atop Mount Drake. It soon grew into the Order's headquarters, then administrative center. Eventually they created an entire metropolis surrounding the mountain. Drachenstadt is the Dominion's largest and most important city, enough thatnits 21 districts have rights akin to an individual city each. [b]|Natural Resources|[/b] True to its name the Sundwaldian region is rich in evergreen forests, counting as much as over a hundred different species. The harsh winters are demanding to the nature and only the toughest specimens can survive. Aside from its unique flora Sundwald is overall reasonably abundant in resources like stone, iron and have plausible deposits for materials only discovered in the last century. Mining towns that were founded hundreds of years ago are now industrial cities. Recently though Sundwald became a source of envy for its neighbors due to its huge deposits of oil. While only providing a small percentage for the world's oil Corax is a well-known exporter with an oil industry that is over 70 years old. [hr][h2][b]People & Culture[/b][/h2] [hr] [b]Official Name:[/b]Dominius Coracis de Gladisylvus [b]Alternative Names:[/b] Corax Dominion, Chivalric Dominion of Schwerternwalde, Dragonlands, Sundwaldian Commonwealth [b]Government:[/b] Feudal Constitutional Stratocracy [b]Ruler:[/b] Current leader of your country, or leadership in the case of a senate/group of people. [b]Population:[/b] 27,541,056 (according to the last census) [b]|Volksgeist|[/b] TBA [b]|Demographics|[/b] Located at the edges of the Norden Region the majority of Sundwald's population are of various Norgeling cultures. While roughly similar in culture their historical roots tie them together in a complex web and there are probably three dozen different Norgelingian dialects in Corax alone. To ease this to a degree Corax along with its neighbors introduced Hauptnorglich, allowing relative standardization and overall modernization of the tongue. That being said a century passed and the regional dialects are still very much alive. Hauptnorglich is currently taught in every school alongside with courses in the regional tongues. Prior to that Corax used a variation of the liturgic Orthodoxic language, usually referred as Lingua Dominian. [b]|Social Structure|[/b] The Dominion is effectively a militaristic federation of multitudes of small states called Cantons. These cantons are rooted in historical countries but various reforms shifted, split and combined Cantons to facilitate more efficient governance. As a side effect Cantons also have smaller autonomous regions called Freibezirk, which are special regions with partial self-governance usually formed around a distinct culture. Land ownership is not universal in Corax and limited to a pseudo-nobility called the knight (Ritter). Knights are members of the Draconic Order which provides them support and certain political sway alongside with the above discussed right of landownership. Being a knight though also has certain responsibilities, including largely increased taxes and active support of the military effort. Unlike nobles of the modern times, Unlike classic nobility, knighthood is a title which can be easily granted by the reigning knight masters so long it's approved by the Grandmaster. Becoming a knight usually requires outstanding military service but merchants and factory owners also received knighthood. Consequently there are set standards which have to be met otherwise one could also be stripped of their title. While losing knighthood entirely is rare the Dominion has numerous examples of stripping aristocrats of their status and lands due to incompetence. As a matter of course knights have a wide range of ranks which also represents the Coracian social ladder. Junkers sit on the very bottom, they are demoted or landless knights who aren't significantly different from the average citizen. They often become small scale enterpreteurs or low ranking government or military officials thanks to their upbringing. Lords (Meier) are land owning knights with some affiliation to governance. Freiherr are small land owners or town mayors. Graf is a semi-militaristic title for those who own Dampffestung (steam castles, a type of armored train/fortress hybrid) to patrol the lands. Graf are involved with both the military and law enforcement. Margraves (Markgraf) are moderately large landowners who usually oversee multiple knights with the title of Meier and Graf altogether. Next step is the Princeps ([b]Fürst[/b]) who rule over multiple manors. The Princeps in turn serve the Masters ([b]Meister[/b]n) who have the right to self-govern their assigned Cantons. Lastly the supreme ruler of the Dominion is the Grandmaster ([b]Hochmeister[/b]), effectively the emperor of the entire nation. Aside from knight-titles the status of commoners also varies. [b]Gemeinen[/b] are the lowest class of the Dominion, they are peasants and poor workers whose life could be compared to serfdom. Gemeinen are not free (often even prohibited to leave their Canton) and generally they aren't a very active part of economy. What they provide is cheap workforce. If one was lucky or amassed sufficient wealth they could become a freeman or [b]Landsmann[/b] (also used as a general term for fellow countrymen). They form the middle class of society and unlike lowly folk they have to pay regular taxes. Failure to pay could lead to them and their entire family becoming Gemeinen. Aside from these there existed a third status called stewards ([b]Knecht[/b]) who swore their services directly to a knight. They live with or close to their lord and could be considered another layer of the middle class. Voting rights are not universal in Corax. Rather it's limited to knights and freemen who were provided citizenship. Being a citizen ([b]Burger[/b]) requires one to either complete a length of government or (more often) military service and be evaluated satisfyingly. Failing to pass one could take extra service up to three times. Failing evaluation for the fourth time permanently bars one from citizen rights. Stewards/Knecht are not freemen and normally cannot become citizens to avoid voting fraud. One could effectively become a freeman by filling the paperwork and willing to pay the regular taxes (actually more, because stewards pay extra) then either receive evaluation for its deeds or volunteer for service to earn citizenship. Such stewards often aim even higher, dream of becoming knights themselves. In general Coracian social structure is explicitly built to reward the achievers and those who work for the good of the state. [b]|Religion|[/b] TBA [hr][h2][b]History[/b][/h2] [hr] [b]Chapter I - Pre-Dominion[/b] [to be continued...] [hr][h2][b]Armed Forces[/b][/h2] [hr][b]Overview:[/b] While conscription is plausible Corax almost entirely relies on a volunteer military force. All landowners have the responsibility to maintain a military along with sufficient logistics to operate them (including steam castles, see later). The term used for these is Landwehr, they are professional soldiers who patrol their territory and help solidifying order as necessary. Above them exist the Reichswehr which includes central command, trainers, specialists and other duties that need to be organized on a realm-wide manner. During war the Reichswehr also calls upon the Landwehr, borrowing said troops as an unified force. To establish decent cooperation the various Landwehr conduct numerous military exercises. [b]Land Forces:[/b] Corax is landlocked and cornered by several nations. It is no surprise their focus is on standard warfare on land. The cornerstone of modern Coracian warfare are the Dampffestungen, armored trains provide more than just safe transport. Replacing stationary castles the steely behemoths serve as mobile fortresses that house the Lord, station the troops, carry essential equipment and basically handle the majority of war logistics. Corax might be not the most developed nation but they sport the highest rail density in the world. Just like medieval castles their steam equivalents add protection while deploying cavalry to rapidly respond to threats. Of course in the modern times horsemen were replaced by motorized forces and especially mechs. While defensive in nature the Coracian doctrine effectively focuses on quick response and rapid offenses, overwhelming their opponent before they could mount up a decent attack. They also excel at railworks, capable of laying down massive amount of railways within a day thanks to their utilization of mech labor. That being said during peacetime they still prefer traditional rail building both for its long term endurance and because operating diesel consuming mechs is a costly affair even to Corax. While named after steam, many steam castles are actually diesel powered nowadays. In addition certain steam castles are actually river barges and there are ongoing plans to introduce "airship castles", too.[hider=Infantry ][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/427603583517851653/433353560416059400/ritterknecht.jpg[/img] Coracian infantry is equipped with armor providing defense against pistols, antiquated muskets or distant rifle round impacts. This aspect is not different from Norden standards as armored infantry are fairly common on the North. Yet Coracian doctrine goes even further, with civilians prohibited to use high powered rifles or anything that can reasonable threaten this armor. Even the infantry usually carries carbines loaded with light munition. Ritter (knights) and assault troops go even further and equip full plate harness to the field of battle. Of course carrying armor has drawbacks like impacting endurance or be unwieldy in heat. This is partially compensated by the fact Corax has very high degree of mechanization thus the troops usually don't need long marches. [hider=Small Arms Overview]Corax has a rather active firearms industry with ancestry dating back to hundreds of years. That being said with the country's relative isolation, unique laws and already strong traditions their weaponry can be considered weird to other nations. The Coracian standard unit of measure is the unicia, equaling 3cm (~1.18 inches). This is also used to measure their calibers, thus a 9mm round would be considered .30 caliber by Coracian standards. The amount of decimals after the point also tells whether the cartridge is intended as a rifle (ie.: .55 Jaeger) or as a "pistol" (.233 Vex). Another strange fact is their preference for fast yet light bullets, specifically hollow projectiles (also called ring/tubular projectiles). Unlike hollow points which only have an indentation at their front a hollow projectile is basically an overly thick tube with ballistic shape. Betraying expectations this feature actually aids in aerodynamics and shaves off weight for even more velocity. That being said hollow projectiles have plenty of unique issues and as such most nations don't bother with them. Corax kinda went in the other direction. [b]Common Cartridges:[/b] - [b].233 Vex:[/b] A lightweight 7x28mm cartridge commonly found in pistols. It fires fairly light projectiles but at very high velocity, often exceeding 1000 k/s (kubits/second,~600m/s). This results in a relatively flat trajectory, better effective range and more manageable recoil. Most bullets are also designed to practically burst into tiny pieces upon entering the body and can do damage comparable to 9mm hollowpoints. That being said .233 rounds have occasional issues with accuracy and have excessive muzzle blast. Furthermore since they depend on velocity their wounding capacity is less reliable than more conventional pistol cartridges like the 9x19mm. Their low penetration and degrading performance at range are also issues though it depends on application. This is perhaps the most popular commercial cartridge from Corax, often used by sport shooters. Outside Corax though the .233 Vex is very unpopular for self defense as the combination of stumpy barrel and extreme short distances (<2m) can result in the round penetrating without any expansion, doing minimal damage in the process. - [b].215 Carbine:[/b] 6.45x38mm cartridge which evolved from pistol munitions. Widespread with hunters and as self-defense weapon the cartridge requires a relatively long barrel to be effective thus not advised for pistols. The standard military load fires a 3.2-gram tubular projectile at over 1550k/s (930+ m/s) thus providing decent lethality even at 500 kubits (300m ~ 1000 feet, provided there are no obstacles or armor involved). - [b].32 Schwer:[/b] 9.6x54mm cartridge originating from black powder rifles. During its modernization the cartridge got lengthened and introduced a neck as well as most loads became hollow projectiles. The standard munition weighs 6g and has muzzle velocity in excess of 1700k/s (surpassing 1020m/s ~ 3350 fps). Unlike the carbine and pistol rounds which break apart upon entry the .30 Schwer tends to go straight through which actually makes it less damaging against infantry. Development is underway to solve this but so far it only resulted in expensive composite bullets that are unfit for wide scale adoption. On the other hand its extreme velocity makes it a decent AA round. - [b].50 Gross:[/b] Heavy caliber used against tanks and in anti-aircraft roles. 15x120mm cartridge is known to have great power, even surpassing standard 14.5mm anti-tank rifle rounds thanks to its velocity which surpasses 2000k/s (1200m/s). Standard Infantry Gear: - [b]Brumbara A89D:[/b] Fairly popular revolver rechambered for the now commonplace .233 Vex cartridge. Its medium-short barrel also received a flash hider to partially mitigate the side effects of the hot cartridge. It has a revolving 10-round chamber and known to be highly reliable. - [b]Brumbara SL12:[/b] Self-loading pistol designed with military contracts in mind. Based after the SL9, an already unique pistol which manages to squish a decently long barrel into a compact frame thanks to its weird off-axis action. Basically the action slides 90 degrees downwards into the pistol grip portion, freeing up space at the back of the gun. SL12 improved this system and instead of a rotary magazine at the end it uses either tube or (more commonly) helical magazines of various length inserted under the barrel. This also fixes the old issue considering the sights thus making the gun easier to handle. Sl12 has long entered the civilian market and has many customization options. The typical military pistol has a 5-unicia (150mm) barrel including a flash hider and usually supplied with a 24-round helical magazine. The pistol has a decent performance and very high ammo capacity yet it tends to not handle adverse conditions very well. Unclean or poorly maintained SL12s tend to malfunction a lot. [/hider] [/hider] [hr][h2][b]People of Interest[/b][/h2] [hr] . TBA . [hr][h2][b]Tech Tree[/b][/h2][u]Civilian Technology[/u] [i]Materials:[/i] [i]Electronics:[/i] [i]Supply:[/i] [u]Military Technology[/u] [i]INF:[/i] Adept 1 [i]ARM:[/i] Adept 2 [i]ART:[/i] Adept 1 [i]SUB:[/i] Basic [i]SHP:[/i] Basic [i]HTA:[/i] Basic [i]LTA:[/i] Basic [/hider]