THE CORAX DOMINION
TERRITORY OVERVIEW
1.) Westewald (core territory, dragon symbol = the location of the capital)
2.) Collés Archipelago
3.) Medina Isles
4.) Haardam Commonwealth
5.) Beumann Island
6.) Olmeiqué
Core Overview:
Corax is a moderately sized Edonirasi country located to the northwest. Also called Westewald the region is located within the temperate climate zone and can be split up to three sub-regions: coasts of Merensol, lowlands of Gladisylva and the mountains of Drachauer. Drachauer is a collection of mountain chains at Westewald's continental borders, Gladisylva has green pastures fit for agriculture and Merensol consists of the rocky and swampy coasts of the country. These three sub-regions were historically always competing with each other and their hierarchy depended on economic trends of the time. Beyond that Westewald is also divided to 11 Cantons in total which have historical roots in tiny nations existing before being taken over by the Ordo Draconis.Colonies Overview:
Corax has a number of colonies for their growing sea trade empire. Collés Archipelago is a collection of tropical islands with very good harbors. Medina is similar and prior to the conquest of Haardam it was the primary transit point to reach Aradia. Haardam is a giant island, more than twice the size of Westewald. Further east you find the Beumann Island, close to Aradia. Some even contest that Beumann/Hwasho (its original name) is actually a peninsula due to the "Long Road", a thin region of extremely shallow sea levels that during summer dries up sufficiently to create a direct land route towards Aradia. Of course the existence of Long Road also creates navigational hazards albeit after the Corax occupation they created a dam system to let ships through while also raising the sea level behind the Long Road. Acting a bit belatedly but Corax also joined the venture towards the New World with them establishing colonies in the delta of River Quaram with the name Olmeiqué.SOCIAL OVERVIEW
Historical Overview:
I am using bulletpoints of history for now until I know more about the others nations near me.- Westewald was a pagan region ruled by various small states
- Ordo Draconis by the Holy Patriach's command invaded Westewald to convert them to Viasm
- Multiple crusades gradually took the region and the Order invited foreigners from the neighboring countries
- By the 15th century the entire region came under the Draconic Order's control
- Reformation of the Viam faith washed over Edoniras like wildfire
- Draconic Order split from the Patriarchy and took Westewald as their personal possession
- Grandmaster of the Draconic Order founded a new dynasty of Corvinus (later renamed to Corax)
- Economic upturn, naval shipping, manufacturing reputation
- Colonial aims, industrial revolution, etc
Demographic Overview:
Inhabitants of the core region are referred as Westewaldians are a mixture of the original once pagan locals and immigrants from various neighboring Vianist countries. As a consequence Corax has a fairly mixed population with most people knowing two or more languages. In spite of that inhabitants eventually developed a sense of identity as Westewaldians and they are proud to this fact. In terms of religion the state only recognizes Viam with all other faiths requiring exemption papers to practice. Of course above all they promote their variation of Viasm called Dominitam but at least on the surface they tolerate all the other derivatives. Socially Corax has three main layers: commoners (Landsmann), citizen (Burgher) and knights (Ritter). Commoners are exempt from taxes but have constraints to free movement and social advancement. Those who can buy themselves a permit and keep paying taxes are freemen and wealthy citizen known as Burghers. Such people tend to own major businesses, usually born to famous craftsmen and merchant families. Lastly the knights (Ritter) who form Corax's de facto nobility. Unlike nobles though knights are elected to their title and are expected to contribute for the military. Knight titles are far more likely to be awarded to families with prior lineage of knights but the ultimate decision is made based on the candidate's personal performance. A knight has the right to own land, govern territory granted to him by the Grandmaster and of course wield arms in public. While civil governance exists the ultimate supervision is through knights and as such they remain a prominent class in Westewaldian society. Although by the start of the 19th century the distinction between Ritter and Burghers is becoming far less defined.Political Overview:
Corax is technically a theocratic/stratocratic dominion where members of the Ordo Draconis fulfill every leading position. Headed by the Hochmeister/Grandmaster the base organization of Corax' governance is similar to a professional military, a monolithic system branching down to actual soldiers on the field. Directly beneath the Hochmeister are the Landmeisters who administrate and govern a large regions. Currently there are 11 regions in the Dominion, 5 divided for the mainland, 1 for the Collés Archipelago, one for Olmeiqué, one for Beumanns, one for Medina and its neighboring ports and finally two for Haardam. Landmeisters are not active duty soldiers nor picked for their skills in battle but their governing abilities. Beneath them are the Komtur who manage a sub-region called commandry. While smaller governing titles are used their application is more sporadic and at such stage the local civilian leadership takes over. These knight-governors of course also had their own deputies, advisors and officials. At the first glance this government may appear obstructive but in effect due to various facts the system was efficient and even somewhat liberal, inspired by the ideals from the Age of Enlightenment. The Hochmeister in particular has seemingly unlimited power but laws and the watchful eyes of his subordinate governors keep them in check. The Hochmeister is elected through the Generalkapitel attended by every knight with the title of Komtur or above. They also gather for political discussions or send out representatives for an almost parliamentary style system.ECONOMIC OVERVIEW
Resources Overview:
In spite of its small size Westewald is relatively rich in resources. Drachauer region's mountains are abundant in minerals and new deposits are found each month. In particular Westewald became famous for the quality of their iron ore and resulting ease to produce decent steel. Precious metals like gold and silver are scarce though due to over mining during the middle ages and most coins are minted from import minerals. The lowlands are decently fertile and can be considered the country's food reserve. Forests and good lumber is also available in fair quantity. Overall the Corax mainland is gifted in natural resources and if not for their ambitions and steadily growing population they could be even self-sufficient on their own. Outside of their strictly defined national borders Corax has large colonial plantations for various exotic goods like rubber trees, coffee, cacao, tea, spices and also mining efforts for coal, metals, precious metals, sulfur and nitrates. Colonies also provide grain and other necessary foodstuff imports to support the ever growing mainland population.Industrial Overview:
Since the 15th century Westewald enjoyed reputation for their craftsmanship, especially clocks and weaponmaking. With strong governmental control the guilds were quickly replaced by manufactories and soon adopted machinery. Some of the first steam engines, used for operating pumps in mines, were utilized in Westewald. Nowadays railways connect all towns and even common in colonial territories. Corax has a fairly developed industry overall but if you have to pick one field they excel in the metallurgy and heavy industries dependent on it. Combined with the great iron ore the steelworks of Corax are exceptional and good quality steel is considerably easier to acquire than anywhere else. They also acquired great expertise in gunmaking, proud to have many famous inventors working in the field. Corax also have ancient traditions on armormaking and given the knights' demands it remains a flourishing business. Since the early 14th century the Order always sought good craftsmen in cannonry and gunmaking which prevailed as Westewald transitioned into the Confederation of Corax. Currently, Coracian gunmakers are renown for their high quality products and while they might not approach the sheer output of Lancia or other top industrial regions their reputation for excellent guns remains. A typical Coracian product is the revolver, multi-shot pistol/carbine using rotating chambers. While they long lost monopoly on these products a huge quantity of revolvers are still made in Westewald. Due to political reasons Corax also sought cartridge technology, being its earliest widescale adopters. This is in part to the effort of limiting the power of civilian firearms but the transition also helped them to meet the rising demands for these fairly early. Corax's mining and heavy industry is remarkable and their light industry also saw decent development. Water and wind mills are extremely widespread and the usage of steam power is gradually gaining ground. That being said Corax can't compete with foreign textile industry and over half of their cloth products are imported from elsewhere. On the other hand Corax is the earliest adopter of rubber and while missing out on developing the vulcanization process first (using the natives' ancient means of stabilizing rubber instead) they are now recuperating from that loss and again becoming one of the larger rubber producers in the world.Trade Overview:
Like every developed nation Corax is a net resource importer, using skilled laborers and advanced industry to pay back in finished products. As such while the Coracian iron ore is famous they still import nearly a hundred thousand tons of iron either in bar or ore form each year. Iron products in turn are one of the most famous exports of Westewald, tools and equipment from this region is put in high regard. Gun imports earn a special mention. while recent laws prohibit the civilian use of high powered guns their manufacture and sale is so important for the Coracian economy that such companies immediately earned an exemption from the law. Export of cartridges earns a special mention as these are mandated to be in dimensions unfit to be loaded by civilian firearms as such Coracian guns and cartridges for export can be identified by their bore/cartridge diameter. Rubber production also revitalized and Corax is one of the main exporters of rubber both in raw form and as finished products. As noted before Corax imports a lot of textiles, especially of the finer quality, as their own cloth industry is still failing to meet the new demands. Luxury goods while in some quality availible to them is still a well sought after commodity. Lastly but not least Corax is in a constant demand for gold. Due to overmining their gold reserves ran out by the 16th century after which they have switched back to silver based currency. While silver did well for local trade it became increasingly harder to use after the discovery of the New World. While colonial mining efforts and more importantly exploiting the natives of the New World averted the outright crisis the Coracian hunger for gold has yet to be sated.Main Exports:
- Steel products, tools
- Steam Engines, heavy machinery
- Guns, artillery, cartridges
- Rubber, rubber products
Main Imports:
- Raw materials
- Food
- Coal
- Gold
- Steel products, tools
- Steam Engines, heavy machinery
- Guns, artillery, cartridges
- Rubber, rubber products
Main Imports:
- Raw materials
- Food
- Coal
- Gold
MILITARY OVERVIEW
Army Overview
Corax military is relatively small but competent and highly organized. The most elemental unit in combat is the Lance/Lanze, rooted in the old tradition of knights fighting along with their retinue. Unlike those days Lances tend to be larger with usually 10 people including the sergeant commanding them. These optimally organize into Groups/Gruppen of 3-4 lances and similarly 3-4 Groups form a Company. Regiments are the smallest independent unit of circa 1200-2000 people that had their own artillery, support, sustainment and intelligence gathering groups. During major wars these regiments combine into Legions, the main organizational unit of the Coracian military. Corax soldiers are easy to identify for the fact they still wear helmets and breastplates, occasionally with the addition of other armor pieces. Coracian infantry can be also often found carrying revolver rifles. These provide good fire rate but at the drawback of less penetration and reduced stopping power. Corax also continued the tradition of Jaegers, light skirmishing infantry equipped with the new type breechloading long rifle for decent accuracy at range. Jaegers don't wear armor and sometimes their bright yellow and black uniform is replaced with more natural colors to help them blend into the environment. Compared to this Corax has relatively weak cavalry with most of them performing patrol and scouting duties. Dragoons exist who act as mounted line infantry with the occasional flavor of charges and some knights are still interested to become heavy cavalry.Land Pattern 1832 Rifle - 9mm bore repeating rifle with a lever action married to a 8-shot revolver chamber. It fires a relatively light lead bullet to match contemporary breechloader rifles in range but at the cost of lethality. The weaker cartridge is necessary as revolver magazines are flimsier than single-shot breechloader mechanisms but it also means the natives have a harder time to effectively take down a Coracian soldier using a captured rifle, a welcome side benefit.
Gebhard 1837 Défenseur - Special revolver using a 12-round chamber sold to both civilians and the military. As a gun made with civilian specifications it fires a relatively weak 8mm bullet that would fail to penetrate Coracian breastplates. On the other hand the weapon is fairly reliable, fast and convenient to use. These weapons are especially popular with the marines but knights also often wield more ornate version of these.
Land Pattern 1826 "Brisanté" - Military revolver issued to officers, sergeants and jaegers for self-defense. It fires large 13mm lead projectiles from a 5-round chamber. It has great short range stopping power but uncomfortable to shoot with. The slow projectile can also ricochet off from armors or harder objects. Its nickname Brisanté is two-fold and translates to "The Breaker". It can break the charge of the attacker and also considered harmful to the hand of the user due to the imperfect seal at the revolver chamber.
Walther Pattern 1840 "Chasseur" - Breechloading rifle used by jaegers and other skirmishing troops. It uses a trapdoor like mechanism where the user places the long 11mm diameter cartridge. Uniquely the gun also had a hexagonal barrel and special projectile to accommodate this. Unlike circular barrels this allowed tighter fitting bullet made of steel but also meant the rifle had to be cleaned after circa 100 shots.
Pattern 1788 Schwert - A single edged cut&thrust sword used by knights, sergeants and often even the infantry. Unlike sabers of the time Schwerts are thicker with more dramatic bevel shape and a longer blade that tapers tremendously at the last fifth. The Schwert is meant to fight both armored and unarmored opponents and inspired by weapons like the broadsword and rapier, achieving a good compromise between the two. Admittedly this hybrid style also makes a Schwert more difficult to use and Coracian soldiers require more training.
- Pattern 1783 Kürass: Mass produced armor worn by most Coracian soldiers. Prior to its development officers procured whatever armor they could acquire. Using by that time's standards modern industrial methods they manage to discuss a new standard for all common armors. This new type used the cuirass worn by cavalry as the basis. It featured a front plate with leather or reinforced cloth straps on the back. The base plate was relatively thin and mostly served as support for the rest of the armor. Depending on needs the soldiers could attach back and additional front plates to improve the armor, fastened by screws. This simplified production, maintenance and repairs. Until relatively recently front plate pieces of varying quality and thickness circulated in the army to balance between protection and comfort. A plate sufficiently thick to occasionally stop musketballs was rare, expensive, not to mention unbearably heavy. Even medium thickness plate additions were discarded when fighting in tropical climates. This prompted the development of a new "heavy" Schutzplatte using new materials. It had three main layers: front being a case hardened plate, middle is a thick layer of compressed paper fixed with glue and the back being a thinner layer of steel that also cover the plate from the sides, completely enclosing the paper layer. The new heavy plate weighed less than the previous medium pieces and while couldn't defeat any but spent musket bullets it could still handle most pistols. To reduce glare and effects of the sun heating metal Coracian soldiers also wear tabards with their uniform colors of yellow and black. Breastplates are questionably effective against guns but they have decent utility against more primitive weapons thus they enjoy popularity against natives.
- Ritterharnisch Pattern Götz 1812: Full plate harness worn by Coracian knights on the battlefield. Götz is a famous armorer craftsman family in the business since the middle ages. During the late 17th century the demand for high quality armors began to fade, meaning the end for many famous armouries worldwide. Corax had a different experience as knights stubbornly kept wearing their elaborate plate suits and thus Westewaldian armor industry remained strong. Pattern 1812 is the newest specification by the Draconic Order that empathized comfort, lightness and easier maintenance. While option for full armor coverage remained the new pattern focuses more on partial suit and its comfort even in tropical climates. One of its biggest yet also weirdest invention is the so-called Krieghelm, a large and heavy helmet no longer resting on the head but the shoulders. It features articulations and full protection of the head aside from the front. Krieghelms are heavy and capable of resisting rifle shots from skirmishers if hit from extreme ranges. On the other hand they heavily limit situational awareness and head traverse which makes them uncomfortable. Krieghelme are only supposed to be attached prior to battle and knights use more conventional headgear on patrols or other less dangerous activities.
Gebhard 1837 Défenseur - Special revolver using a 12-round chamber sold to both civilians and the military. As a gun made with civilian specifications it fires a relatively weak 8mm bullet that would fail to penetrate Coracian breastplates. On the other hand the weapon is fairly reliable, fast and convenient to use. These weapons are especially popular with the marines but knights also often wield more ornate version of these.
Land Pattern 1826 "Brisanté" - Military revolver issued to officers, sergeants and jaegers for self-defense. It fires large 13mm lead projectiles from a 5-round chamber. It has great short range stopping power but uncomfortable to shoot with. The slow projectile can also ricochet off from armors or harder objects. Its nickname Brisanté is two-fold and translates to "The Breaker". It can break the charge of the attacker and also considered harmful to the hand of the user due to the imperfect seal at the revolver chamber.
Walther Pattern 1840 "Chasseur" - Breechloading rifle used by jaegers and other skirmishing troops. It uses a trapdoor like mechanism where the user places the long 11mm diameter cartridge. Uniquely the gun also had a hexagonal barrel and special projectile to accommodate this. Unlike circular barrels this allowed tighter fitting bullet made of steel but also meant the rifle had to be cleaned after circa 100 shots.
Pattern 1788 Schwert - A single edged cut&thrust sword used by knights, sergeants and often even the infantry. Unlike sabers of the time Schwerts are thicker with more dramatic bevel shape and a longer blade that tapers tremendously at the last fifth. The Schwert is meant to fight both armored and unarmored opponents and inspired by weapons like the broadsword and rapier, achieving a good compromise between the two. Admittedly this hybrid style also makes a Schwert more difficult to use and Coracian soldiers require more training.
- Pattern 1783 Kürass: Mass produced armor worn by most Coracian soldiers. Prior to its development officers procured whatever armor they could acquire. Using by that time's standards modern industrial methods they manage to discuss a new standard for all common armors. This new type used the cuirass worn by cavalry as the basis. It featured a front plate with leather or reinforced cloth straps on the back. The base plate was relatively thin and mostly served as support for the rest of the armor. Depending on needs the soldiers could attach back and additional front plates to improve the armor, fastened by screws. This simplified production, maintenance and repairs. Until relatively recently front plate pieces of varying quality and thickness circulated in the army to balance between protection and comfort. A plate sufficiently thick to occasionally stop musketballs was rare, expensive, not to mention unbearably heavy. Even medium thickness plate additions were discarded when fighting in tropical climates. This prompted the development of a new "heavy" Schutzplatte using new materials. It had three main layers: front being a case hardened plate, middle is a thick layer of compressed paper fixed with glue and the back being a thinner layer of steel that also cover the plate from the sides, completely enclosing the paper layer. The new heavy plate weighed less than the previous medium pieces and while couldn't defeat any but spent musket bullets it could still handle most pistols. To reduce glare and effects of the sun heating metal Coracian soldiers also wear tabards with their uniform colors of yellow and black. Breastplates are questionably effective against guns but they have decent utility against more primitive weapons thus they enjoy popularity against natives.
- Ritterharnisch Pattern Götz 1812: Full plate harness worn by Coracian knights on the battlefield. Götz is a famous armorer craftsman family in the business since the middle ages. During the late 17th century the demand for high quality armors began to fade, meaning the end for many famous armouries worldwide. Corax had a different experience as knights stubbornly kept wearing their elaborate plate suits and thus Westewaldian armor industry remained strong. Pattern 1812 is the newest specification by the Draconic Order that empathized comfort, lightness and easier maintenance. While option for full armor coverage remained the new pattern focuses more on partial suit and its comfort even in tropical climates. One of its biggest yet also weirdest invention is the so-called Krieghelm, a large and heavy helmet no longer resting on the head but the shoulders. It features articulations and full protection of the head aside from the front. Krieghelms are heavy and capable of resisting rifle shots from skirmishers if hit from extreme ranges. On the other hand they heavily limit situational awareness and head traverse which makes them uncomfortable. Krieghelme are only supposed to be attached prior to battle and knights use more conventional headgear on patrols or other less dangerous activities.
Artillery Overview:
Corax is one of the pioneers of cannon development with the knights always being interested in the introduction of better artillery pieces. Cast steel guns are widespread in the military thanks to the combination of Coracian steelmaking and expertise in firearm gas seals. The most common piece is the 4-pounder rifled breechloader cannon that is light enough to be carried by two horses and mostly fires shrapnel projectiles. Supporting them you can see the Pattern 1839 Hagelbüsche, an oversized twin barrel 24-shot revolver rifle with quickly exchangable chambers. Effectively a machinegun its weight and finicky mechanism prevents it from becoming the nightmare massed armies will face in the distant future. In fewer quantities Corax also employs 12-pounder rifled muzzleloader cannons, weighing almost the same as field guns of the past century. Though some may consider them excessive but in limited numbers Corax even possesses large 24, 32, 80 and even 120 pounder cannons and howitzers. Kriegzug or combat trains are a novel new concept providing mobility for the army previously unheard of. While other nations also realize the importance of rails the Draconic Order maintains entire cars for such purpose. Furthermore they are experimenting with mounting artillery on train cars, allowing the deployment of heavy howitzers with expediency previously unheard of.Naval Overview:
As a rising naval power Coracian navy is modern but also somewhat moderately sized. Given their near-obsession with railways it is of no surprise they also push for steam power in naval use. Any but their most outdated warships are propelled both by sails and steam. Steam corvettes and frigates cruise all their territorial waters. Lineships are split into two categories, Kreuzers and Stahlschiffs. Kreuzers are unarmored but relatively fast and more economical. They are the capital ships in absence of the heavier Stahlschiff which features steel or wrought iron plates bolted onto its still mostly wooden hull. The reason behind this shift is widespread use of explosive shells. A few shots from a large bore shell cannon could easily sink any wooden battleship. As such Stahlschiff have a relatively thick 5-inch armor plate bolted onto them that is supposed to stop most shells. The explosion still tends to damage the bolts and could detach the plates thus such defense is limited utility but until the development of true ironclad ships this is the closest to efficient protection. Armaments wise the navy uses a lot of 12-pounder breechloader rifled guns along with 36-pounder howitzers and a few 120-pounder guns. While the smaller shells lack the sheer destructive power to catastrophically damage warships they still do reasonable damage and their shells are safer to storage than the large variants as well as not requiring special loading mechanisms. Naval mines are also in development and early variants are ready to be deployed in defense of their home ports. Research for self-propelled torpedoes is in process but so far there aren't any reliable means to keep them controllable. While spar torpedoes are an option the Coracian navy does not trust them. There are at least a few private ventures at developing submarines but so far they are more of a curiosity than what the government seriously consider.Schoner - Fast multi-masted sailship used either as secondary warship or as transports, still popular with merchants.
Kanonenboot - Gunboats are small vessels carrying few relatively large guns. They can be escorts but more often they are river patrols, usually of the paddle steamer configuration due to its superior turning radius.
Korvette - Also occasionally called Dampfkorvette (steam corvette) to separate them from their early unpowered predecessors they are relatively small escort ships quite often performing a similar duty as gunships but across the seas. They either have a dozen standard guns or have a few heavy guns for fire support. They are oft modified to become bombships for bombardment roles.
Fregatte - Fast warships designed for speed and long distance patrols, they are the workhorse of the fleet and steam power only made them even faster. Due to their construction they can carry less guns and are more susceptible to damage.
Kreuzer - Large wooden vessels reminscent of the old ships of the line. They are of course propelled by both sails and steam and can at times have up to a hundred guns. They are unarmored albeit some variants may have some degree of protection and adopt the concept of fewer but more powerful guns. They are considered capital vessels in the absence of Stahlschiffe.
Stahlschiff - Ships of steel, the most dominant vessels of the Coracian Navy. While none of them are true ironclads their wooden hulls are reinforced by steel beams and protected by at least 5 inches thick armor made by steel or wrought iron. This extra weight of course make Stahlschiffe slower and limit the amount of guns they could carry. Although this also gives them better stability to fire heavy artillery from the decks and some even use experimental turret mechanisms.
Kanonenboot - Gunboats are small vessels carrying few relatively large guns. They can be escorts but more often they are river patrols, usually of the paddle steamer configuration due to its superior turning radius.
Korvette - Also occasionally called Dampfkorvette (steam corvette) to separate them from their early unpowered predecessors they are relatively small escort ships quite often performing a similar duty as gunships but across the seas. They either have a dozen standard guns or have a few heavy guns for fire support. They are oft modified to become bombships for bombardment roles.
Fregatte - Fast warships designed for speed and long distance patrols, they are the workhorse of the fleet and steam power only made them even faster. Due to their construction they can carry less guns and are more susceptible to damage.
Kreuzer - Large wooden vessels reminscent of the old ships of the line. They are of course propelled by both sails and steam and can at times have up to a hundred guns. They are unarmored albeit some variants may have some degree of protection and adopt the concept of fewer but more powerful guns. They are considered capital vessels in the absence of Stahlschiffe.
Stahlschiff - Ships of steel, the most dominant vessels of the Coracian Navy. While none of them are true ironclads their wooden hulls are reinforced by steel beams and protected by at least 5 inches thick armor made by steel or wrought iron. This extra weight of course make Stahlschiffe slower and limit the amount of guns they could carry. Although this also gives them better stability to fire heavy artillery from the decks and some even use experimental turret mechanisms.
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