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[h1][u]To Reach for a Crown of Stars[/u][/h1]
[h3]A Character Driven Sci-Fi Nation/Faction Roleplay[/h3][/center]

[quote=Professor Hermann Doerr PhD, Imperial Historian of Avalon University][i]It was in the year 410 of the Imperial Calendar that greatest threat of the Dragomir dynasty and the stability of the Galactic Empire first emerged. The untimely and mysterious death of Crown Prince Justin and the subsequent demise of Emperor Friedrich III left a power vacuum in the Imperial Court. An infant grandson of Friedrich the III, Emperor Alexander IV, ascended to the Imperial Throne, but this did nothing to quell the discontent that spread through the great noble houses and those systems that chafed under the Imperial yoke. As the other Imperial claimants began a bloody civil war, separatists movements raised their own fleets to break free of the Empire. Other's used the chaos to amass wealth and power for themselves, their loyalty to the throne given in name only. 

Thus began the Galactic Civil War. Where the unity of mankind would be shattered forevermore. [/i][/quote]

Our story opens roughly twenty years after the scenario outlined above. A series of untimely deaths in the Imperial Household of humanity's Galactic Empire led to succession and secession crisis with various competing factions at war for either control of or freedom from this centrally controlled space-faring empire. Although the initial stages of this war were very fluid after the first few years things very much began to stagnate as the major factions became increasingly entrenched. 

The child Emperor Alexander IV has surprisingly managed to retain his hold on the throne, largely due to the competence of his regents Chancellor Gaumont and Grand Admiral von Kümmel. He still controls the largest piece of the Empire and what is most likely its largest fleet as well. With his minority is only recently ended, the young emperor has signalled a change in war strategy, favouring a more aggressive approach to reclaiming imperial territory. Some think this will lead to the full restoration of the empire, whilst others believe this signals the final collapse of the Imperial House of Dragomir.

What are the other factions doing? Well, that's where you all come in...

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[h3]Nations, Factions, Characters[/h3]

Players in this RP will be taking on the roles of the various factions that have emerged in the wake of the collapse of humanity's star spanning empire. As mentioned  above there are other claimants to the Imperial Throne still at large controlling various independent fiefdoms still roving around the galaxy. There are democratic separatist republics republics which already despised their imperial overlords prior to the war. There might be independent autocrats who have used the chaos to expand their own power bases. Or Neutral third party plutocracies who use their positions as trade hubs between these warring factions to amass wealth. Independent pirate or mercenary fleets could be another option, or any other possibilities you can think of that fits with the outline above.

Your faction doesn't necessarily have to be an independent nation, but rather a one that exists within one of the nations mentioned above. You could be a influential noble house within one of the imperial claimants territories, a prominent political party in a democratic republic, or a wealthy corporation in a plutocratic trade hub. 

In fact if playing a faction sounds a little bit too much for you, this RP is also going to be open for individual character submissions as well. An individual character might be part of one of the types of factions outlined above. For example, an admiral in faction's space fleet, a politician of a democratic assembly, a noble who sits on an imperial council. Again, there are many other options of what exactly this could be, and please feel free to run the weird and the wonderful by me. 

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[h3]Additional Information[/h3]      

So a couple of ground rules to lay out here in case they are deal breakers for anyone:

First of all, there will not be any sentient extraterrestrial life in this roleplay. Life has been found on other planets, but nowhere has it evolved to the level of sentience. There is some limited/speculative evidence of ancient civilisations existing on some of these worlds but nothing concrete.  

Secondly, I know the nation forum has a reputation for walls of text and glacial pacing but it does need to be say that I expect Advanced standards in terms of a relatively well written post of around 500+ words. I will also note that I am not a very fast writer or roleplayer so as long as you can post once every couple of weeks, you'll probably be able to keep up with pace I plan to set. 

Finally, if you want to get a vibe of the kind of story I am aiming for this to become then I would point you to the main inspiration behind this particular idea, the well known novel series/manga/anime The Legend of the Galactic Heroes. Which I will probably shameless rip many things from in the course of this. But in short, think a very tactically and intrigue dense military sci-fi drama with long sustained character building, in which the world changes drastically and many main characters are killed over its course. The philosophical themes it brings up are rich with questioning the nature of war, honour, and class, as well as the various merits of democracies and dictatorships. 

If these sound like the kind of themes you'd like to explore in a roleplay, then please register your interest below. Even if you are not interested, drop me a comment as to why that is. I don't GM that often so whenever I do I always like to get some feedback.

Thanks for reading!