[center][h1]Bayonets, Brimstone, and Bullets - A Napoleonic Inspired NRP[/h1][/center]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/Howb1js.png[/img][/center]

[center][i]“The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood.”[/i][/center]
[center][b]Otto von Bismarck[/b][/center]

Change looms. The world is marching on a new era. Revolutions, societal upheavel, technological advancement, and more seem to fill the world. From the ice cold arctic tundras in the north to the humid tropical jungles of the equator, in the great steppe and the vast mountain ranges of the east, within the subjugated and defiantly independent lands of the new world, change is poised to strike hard and fast. The two great empires, of Quat’i Al-Qarikha and Grakaisaran Imperpulau Anyueva, millenia old rivals, teeter on the brink of war. Around them, the lesser powers both great and middling watch eagerly, desiring to enrich and empower themselves in the ensuing carnage.

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In this NRP, you play as a nation of your own creation. This is a setting with heavy historical inspiration, but no direct parallels. The best term for the setting is schizotech - this is a world wherein an orderly column of line infantry exchange musket fire after being ferried across the nation by train, while steam-powered drydocks assemble great first-rate ships of the line to rule the seas. While not to the same extent as my other NRP, this, direct comparisons are to be avoided - as a nation taking inspiration from the likes of China or Peru may boast technological capabilities that exceed the greatest of European powers at the time. Vast empires with vast populations, deep history, and so on. That said, this is not a map painting simulator, and if you want to conquer the world, I fully understand, but this is not a Total War or EU4 game and such should not be your driving goal. 

Individual nations are player created, with randomly rolled stats serving as a guideline upon which you should build your nation.

This is a world with by now some decently well established lore, and I encourage you to speak to me and the other players about how your own nation fits into it!

I invite those interested to join our [url=https://discord.gg/z7S7nut]Discord server[/url] and get to know the players already in! This RP will hopefully begin early March, with the OOC going up at the end of this week, and I hope you enjoy it!

[hider=Some Information About Lore and a Few Mechanics]
[hider=Religion]
Religion has been a vitally important aspect of life for nearly all of history - and in this RP it is even more crucial, being central to the performing of magical acts. Religions in this RP fall into two borad categories - Elder and Gestalt. These terms reflect both the nature of the gods or pantheons they worship and the ways in which their followers pay homage. 

Elder gods are ancient, primordial beings, having existed long before the emergence of life as we know it upon the world and posessed of natures wholly Eldritch and unable to be fully comprehended by mortal minds while retaining what we might call sanity. They are heavily influenced by the works of HP Lovecraft and such, and while many of them are not actively malevolent as his creations were (some may even be more benevolent in nature), they are inscrutable, powerful forces that exist on a level of reality far beyond that of mortal ken. However, they do have their ambitions and goals, esotetic and incomprehensible as some of them may be, and will grant knowledge of the workings of the arcane and more in exchange for service and devotion. With this knowledge, a nation can construct magitechnological devices and works to further their goals. Elder god religions are recommended for those who are not only familiar with the writings of HP Lovecraft and other contributions to the Cthulhu mythos, but who prefer the slower, more definite and permanent nature of their magic.

Gestalt gods are those new ones formed by the collective minds, thoughts, and spiritualities of their followers. They are myriad and varied, ranging in power as widely as they do in their nature. Being an innately ‘human’ construct they follow mortal morals and whims, and are much more in line with the nature of various historical deities of a humanoid and personified nature. Gestalt gods, being of a wholly different make and nature to their Elder counterparts, likewise interact with their followers and the universe in a wholly different manner as well. Instead of conferring upon their followers the knowledge of the cosmos and the arcane, for such knowledge is beyond them too, they utilize the collective might that makes up their being to bend the laws of the universe to their whim - or more accurately, to the whim of their followers. Magical power and capabilities of such beings can wax and wane rapidly and drastically as the size and strength of conviction of their following grows or shrinks. With this power, a nation can call forth works of the divine to suit their ends, instead of constructing the elaborate and dizzyingly intricate works of those nations following an Elder god. Gestalt religions are recommended for those players wishing to create gods and religions more heavily inspired by the culture and mythology of our own planet earth, are unfamiliar with or do not like the work of HP Lovecraft, or prefer a more ‘traditional’ means of working magic as an inscrutable force of the arcane. 

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[hider=Magic]

Magic, in this world, is significantly different from that of most fantasy settings. In most settings, a mage conjures a fireball in his hand from the ether and propels it at the enemy - that is not how it works here. Imagine the magic of the world as a shallow puddle with the breadth of an ocean, covering the entire world, but not ‘deep’ enough to allow much more than low level cantrips, or a telepath to communicate with others. But within this puddle there are spots that could be considered ‘low lying’ - where the magic of the world collects and concentrates, manifesting physically as a crystalline material that can be mined and processed, brimming with the magical energy of the world. These magical crystals can be used as power supplies for the magical works of those nations advanced in the arcane or posessed of a powerful god, a machine to cast bolts of lightning or launch balls of fire for those of great sophistication, or a contraption to draw water from the earth or a stone circle to communicate at great distances for the middling. A nation’s magic roll is related to the prevalence and size of these ‘hotspots’ - determined by the magical reserves roll. Just as with material resources for a nation dependent on tech, the supplies of this crystal are crucial for the war effort of a nation dependent on magic.

Magic is performed and learned of through two primary routes, through communion with an Elder god to learn of the ways of the universe through their revelations in exchange for some service, or through prayer and devotion to a Gestalt god to gain their intervention in the working of magic. As explained in the section on religions, the ways in which different peoples will use these capabilities vary widely. Those following an Elder religion rely upon what is essentially magitech, imbued with its nature through myriad means of channeling and shaping the forces of the universe, in much the same way that electronics or mechanical devices must be carefully manufactured and arranged for all of their components to function together. Those who follow a Gestalt religion will invoke the power of their god, and, provided sufficient crystal is available and the faith has the power to do so, the desired effect will be worked through the divine intervention of the deity in question. 

For example - to draw water from an underground aquifier:

An Elder worshipping people posessing the relevant knowledge will construct a device reminiscient of a pump, perhaps covered in various runes to focus and channel the power of the arcane, which when supplied with crystal, performs the work of a pump and mechanically pulls water from underground through a hole drilled through the rock.

A Gestalt worshipping people will, provided sufficient crystal is available to power the ritual and the faith is capable of the task, assign a priest to call upon the intervention of the god. The god will then act, and the water in the acquifier may be transported into an awaiting resevoir, cast into the sky to fall as rain, or so on.

Those learned in the ways of magic’s use are known as mages - almost anybody can become a mage, as the use of magic is for the most part a matter of learning and applied technique, rather than any inborn attributes. 

There are other means of supplying magic in the field, but these are costly. The sacrifice of living beings, for instance, - dozens or hundreds - can create enough energy with the turmoil of death to supply magical devices for a limited time. This method is widely abhorred in much of the world, and those seeking to use such means with any frequency will find themselves similarly shunned.

Magic’s use, however, comes with a darker side - one that can and has spelled doom for many civilizations and empires before. Excessive extraction of magical crystal can lead to depletion of the magical field in the area - ‘dry’ spots can occur, and should action not be taken to dramatically lessen or outright halt crystal extraction, calamity can occur. There is always ample forewarning - magically sensitive individuals will experience splitting headaches and full body pain, for instance. A basic (and somewhat silly) visual guide can be seen [url=https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/381248465751113729/594959940171464734/this_Magical_Cataclysms.png]here[/url].

Should such a calamity occur, it will become immediately obvious. At the point wherein the depletion reaches a critical point, the very landscape will begin to change. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, vast lightning storms, and all manner of natural disaster are likely to occur, greater than any recorded on earth in living memory. The land itself will turn fallow, life becomes twisted, corrupted, a shadow of its former nature as universal forces unknown to the living crash into the mundane world. Such land is tainted, and for the first centuries at least the land will be unlike anything of the natural world. Warped abominations will prowl through toxic streams, plants and animals molded into new, perverted mockeries of life, unable to live outside of the hostile, abnormal conditions that gave rise to them. The only mercy is that those who created such conditions rarely live to see the worst of them. To survive, let alone remain sane and uncorrupted within such land is all but impossible, and it can take a millenium or more for the area to truly heal. 

Magic is a flexible system - but it is far from omnipotent; and with great power comes great responsibility.
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