Hello and welcome! This RP is a bit of an experiment, a combination between traditional space-nation RPs and character rps. Participants are invited to create nations and factions of all kinds (see below for types of nations/factions still available) that will participate in a massive, interstellar conflict known as, unsurprisingly, the war of the Seven Suns. However, players [b]will not[/b] directly or completely control their nations and everyone in them, as they would in a typical NRP. Nor, indeed, are players required to create a faction in order to join. Rather, players will develop characters from across the available factions and control them. Characters can be anything from senior politicians and commanders in each faction to lowly grunts or anonymous civilians. Players who have created factions [b]will be required[/b] to play at least one character that is not from their own faction. There is no limit on the number of characters a single RPer can play. Those players who decide to create a faction do so with the understanding that other people will play in, develop, and add to that faction. The course of the war and the actions of the major powers will be mostly decided by me, the GM, in consultation and collaboration with everyone involved. To the extent that a faction leader has control over military affairs and important NPCs, players will exhibit control over factions, but no one's control over any faction will be absolute. I welcome your input 100% and am likely to go along with everything you suggest. One of the major goals of this roleplay will be collaborative IC and OOC worldbuilding and story creation. Our characters will be caught up in a great conflict which we, the players, will decide on and direct together from behind the scenes. We will use pirate pads (alot of them), a chat room and this OOC to discuss the direction of the story, though of course new events can also develop on their own ICly. The RP's Chatzy can be found here: [url=http://us11.chatzy.com/84641144168446]Chatzy[/url] A pirate pad for us to collab on: [url=http://piratepad.nl/tHhU3kgdja]New Pirate Pad[/url] And the public, messy pirate pad where alot of our initial collaborating has gone on is here: [url=http://piratepad.net/0WIYqsRdBa]Old Pirate Pad[/url] (no need to read all of the stuff in the pad to know what's going on, alot of it is just proposals and ongoing discussion) That's the boring stuff. Now, the STORY SO FAR... --- It has been almost 400 Atheni-Standard Years since the Ignatio Event collapsed the Golden Road and two other major subspace arteries, plunging the galaxy-spanning Arcturus Imperium into two centuries of chaos and civil war. In many systems, oppressed xenos and undercaste humans erupted in rebellion against their now-isolated imperial sector governments, while in others Imperial governors and admirals turned into warlords and bandit-kings, carving fiefdoms out of whatever territory they were strong enough to seize and hold. In ASY 3,320, Emperor Fashti XVIII was murdered on his throne by his successor, who ruled for all of three days before the Imperial Palace on Atheni II was bombarded from orbit by a rival claimant and all semblance of Imperial authority ended for good. The Galactic Dark Ages had begun. It is now ASY 3,576. Along a once-minor subspace stream known in Imperial times as the Old Way lies the populous Agamenos Sector, in which peace has been maintained over the centuries under the feudal tutelage of the ancient and august House of Kesselbrood. Declaring itself the sole heir of Imperial authority, the Grand Duchy of Agamenos and its loosely governed vassal-planets have weathered techno-barbarian invasions, pirate incursions, and internal rebellion over the long years of galactic chaos. In that time it has endured, even prospered. The Grand Duchy's decentralized, feudal holdings boast a truly massive population of humans and xenos and a wild profusion of local governments. The Ducal military controls a large and well maintained remnant of the Imperial fleet- massive ships of the line lovingly maintained through the centuries. Planetary governments, human noble houses and trade guilds have over time placed important legal checks on the autocratic power of the Grand Duke, which are delineated in the Agamenos Constitution. The many alien minorities of the sector have slowly gained liberties of their own, recently winning the right to representatives in the Sector Diet and protection under Ducal law, though their status as second class subjects remains clear. The culture and political life of the Duchy is diverse and rich, if inefficient, chaotic and marked by incredible inequalities of wealth and political power. To the galactic south of the Grand Duchy, in the Jasar Sector, lies another inheritor of the once-great Empire. The small but wealthy New Arcturus Republic has grown quickly in recent years, resisting the Duchy's feudal embrace while profiting enormously from trade with and immigration from its much older, much larger neighbor. The NAR has forsaken the old Imperium's racism and authoritarianism while maintaining its legacy of order, prosperity and legitimacy. The small nation has become a haven for oppressed alien species and political refugees from the backwards Duchy...and from the galaxy's darker corners. For the subjects of the Grand Duke and the citizens of the Republic, the days of peace are quickly coming to an end. To the NAR's galactic east, an ancient cabal plots its rise to galactic dominance. A terrorist network of transhuman fanatics in the days of the Imperium, the All-Party has grown into a small empire of its own during the dark ages. Under the cold, watchful eyes of the omnipotent Grand Council, the transorganics of the Party marshal their forces to overthrow the reactionary overlords of the Grand Duchy and to crush the upstart New Arcturus Republic. The cyborgs of the All-Party will avenge themselves on the descendents of their ancient Imperial oppressors, and free the galaxy from the shackles of biology and the constraints of the flesh. The totalitarian vision of the All-Party is not alone in plotting a new galactic hegemony. Sitting to the galactic southwest of the NAR sits the Theocratic Ascendancy of Vatan- the disciplined, xenophobic, caste society of the Vatani peoples, an evolutionary offshoot of mankind. The Ascendency's God-King, Perendor Zo'diell, has watched from afar the proliferation of Vatani exiles and unbelievers in the Grand Duchy and especially in the New Arcturus Republic, where they have thrived. He is displeased. Unbelief in his divine authority, even in distant solar systems, is a threat to his rule, and the exiles and those who shelter them will pay. War approaches. Who will you join? ---- [b]Major Powers[/b] [quote]Imperial Grand Duchy of Agamenos [i]Order, Honor, Tradition[/i][/quote] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/4339/posts/ooc?page=2#post-85290]Nation Sheet[/url] Subfaction/Vassal State 1: Open Subfaction/Vassal State 2: Open [quote]The Theocratic Ascendancy of Vatan [i]Chosen by the Gods[/i][/quote] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/4339/posts/ooc?page=1#post-66258]Nation Sheet[/url] Subfaction 1: Open [quote]The Transorganic Alliance Party [i]The Future of Evolution[/i][/quote] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/4339/posts/ooc?page=1#post-68017]Nation Sheet[/url] Subfaction 1: Open [b]Minor Powers[/b] [quote]The New Arcturus Republic [i]Liberty, Equality, Justice[/i][/quote] [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/4339/posts/ooc?page=1#post-68953]Nation Sheet[/url] Subfaction 1: [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/4339/posts/ooc?page=3#post-124448]United Front[/url] B. Minor Power Open C. Minor Power Open D. Minor Power Open [b]Characters[/b] WIP --- Nation Sheets, Faction sheets and character sheets can be completed along any format you wish. Please include, however, an in-character sample post along with all NS, FS and CS submissions. There are no limits on the number of subfactions for any nation.