Overview: What can be said about the Sinnsyk Star Network? It is a spectre, a ghost that haunts government officials the way the boogeyman haunts misbehaving children. Most have heard it's name, but few can say they have ever come in contact with the organisation directly. The Network certainly seems active. It's practically a cliche that every time there's a terrorist attack or a violent insurrection for someone to blame it on Network meddling, to the point that plenty of people don't even believe the Network exists. In the eyes of a the public, "the attackers were connected to the Sinnsyk Star Network" is just shorthand for "we don't know who caused this and we refuse to acknowledge our own failings".
The Network, of course, does exist.
To prove they exist, you don't need any high-profile leaders giving their confessions, nor do you need to see ships emblazoned with their sigil handing out weapons to rebels. You just need to go into the poorest regions, and you'll see the scars of their influence. Pallid, sickly addicts with bags under their eyes living in bullet-hole ridden slums in areas dominated by gang violence; that is their doing.
The Network thrives on unrest and chaos, and will go to great lengths to keep the uncertainty going in order to suck the money out of the poor suckers they affect. To this end, they will partner up with anyone who gives the legitimate government the side-eyes. They'll back fascists on Venus and communists on Mars, sell bombs to anarchists and guns to monarchists. Chaos is their best friend, and stability their worst enemy. Nothing will drain their influence like a stable government with few enemies. Thankfully for them, those seem to be few and far between.
There is one more thing, something that puts the Network head and shoulders above any of its competitors: the Network is extremely proud and well-organised. A local meth-head's product is rife with impurities and a regional arms-dealer is flakey and unreliable, but the Network's stuff is of the highest quality and arrives exactly when it is expected to. Their reputation for quality is doubtlessly what has allowed them to get ahead of their rivals, but has come with the hefty premium that you would expect from a high quality product.
Today, the Network is one of the few criminal organisations capable of challenging the powers that be. While they have their local rivals, they see themselves as far above those petty gangs and on par with the governments of nations. Those are who they choose to associate with and challenge. For those who seek to befriend them, they will find a mercenary yet loyal ally, who will stay by their side as long as the money keeps coming. To those who seek to destroy them, they will find them enigmatic and ubiquitous foe capable of destroying their cities from the inside out.
Structure: The Network is fairly loosely organised, with leaders being assigned on an ad-hoc basis with increasingly specific goals and mission parameters. Leading the Network is a shadowy cabal known as The Seven. These warlords assign tasks to various underbosses, who in turn delegate tasks out to their subordinates, and so on down the chain, but beyond the Seven, the exact nature of one's role in the Network is flexible. Most of the lackeys at the lower, middle and even the early upper levels of the Network have no idea who The Seven are and their loyalties are more to their particular boss than to the Network as a whole.
Further confusing organisational structure are the associates: organisations that haven't been invited to join the Network, but work closely with the Network due to their similar goals. These associates will have their own internal structure, and may even count Network members among their ranks, but they are separate and distinct from the main body of the Network.
Technology: The Network does not develop technology. It steals technology. It sucks technology from the places it infects the way a leech sucks blood, then goes on to either sell the tech or to refine it for its own purposes. Due to their decentralised structure and local recruitment practices, the technological level of their operations varies from planet to planet, but Network agents will have access to greater resources than their associates and rivals.
Demographics: The Network has an estimated 325,000,000 members and associates, of which the majority are human.
Overview: What can be said about the Sinnsyk Star Network? It is a spectre, a ghost that haunts government officials the way the boogeyman haunts misbehaving children. Most have heard it's name, but few can say they have ever come in contact with the organisation directly. The Network certainly seems active. It's practically a cliche that every time there's a terrorist attack or a violent insurrection for someone to blame it on Network meddling, to the point that plenty of people don't even believe the Network exists. In the eyes of a the public, "the attackers were connected to the Sinnsyk Star Network" is just shorthand for "we don't know who caused this and we refuse to acknowledge our own failings".
The Network, of course, does exist.
To prove they exist, you don't need any high-profile leaders giving their confessions, nor do you need to see ships emblazoned with their sigil handing out weapons to rebels. You just need to go into the poorest regions, and you'll see the scars of their influence. Pallid, sickly addicts with bags under their eyes living in bullet-hole ridden slums in areas dominated by gang violence; that is their doing.
The Network thrives on unrest and chaos, and will go to great lengths to keep the uncertainty going in order to suck the money out of the poor suckers they affect. To this end, they will partner up with anyone who gives the legitimate government the side-eyes. They'll back fascists on Venus and communists on Mars, sell bombs to anarchists and guns to monarchists. Chaos is their best friend, and stability their worst enemy. Nothing will drain their influence like a stable government with few enemies. Thankfully for them, those seem to be few and far between.
There is one more thing, something that puts the Network head and shoulders above any of its competitors: the Network is extremely proud and well-organised. A local meth-head's product is rife with impurities and a regional arms-dealer is flakey and unreliable, but the Network's stuff is of the highest quality and arrives exactly when it is expected to. Their reputation for quality is doubtlessly what has allowed them to get ahead of their rivals, but has come with the hefty premium that you would expect from a high quality product.
Today, the Network is one of the few criminal organisations capable of challenging the powers that be. While they have their local rivals, they see themselves as far above those petty gangs and on par with the governments of nations. Those are who they choose to associate with and challenge. For those who seek to befriend them, they will find a mercenary yet loyal ally, who will stay by their side as long as the money keeps coming. To those who seek to destroy them, they will find them enigmatic and ubiquitous foe capable of destroying their cities from the inside out.
Structure: The Network is fairly loosely organised, with leaders being assigned on an ad-hoc basis with increasingly specific goals and mission parameters. Leading the Network is a shadowy cabal known as The Seven. These warlords assign tasks to various underbosses, who in turn delegate tasks out to their subordinates, and so on down the chain, but beyond the Seven, the exact nature of one's role in the Network is flexible. Most of the lackeys at the lower, middle and even the early upper levels of the Network have no idea who The Seven are and their loyalties are more to their particular boss than to the Network as a whole.
Further confusing organisational structure are the associates: organisations that haven't been invited to join the Network, but work closely with the Network due to their similar goals. These associates will have their own internal structure, and may even count Network members among their ranks, but they are separate and distinct from the main body of the Network.
Technology: The Network does not develop technology. It steals technology. It sucks technology from the places it infects the way a leech sucks blood, then goes on to either sell the tech or to refine it for its own purposes. Due to their decentralised structure and local recruitment practices, the technological level of their operations varies from planet to planet, but Network agents will have access to greater resources than their associates and rivals.
Demographics: The Network has an estimated 325,000,000 members and associates, of which the majority are human.
I think any "magic" should be stuff that can reasonably be considered to be either a natural ability - like how dragons breathe fire - or at a stretch, something that can be attributed to psychic powers. Nothing big or game-changing
Overview: What can be said about the Sinnsyk Star Network? It is a spectre, a ghost that haunts government officials the way the boogeyman haunts misbehaving children. Most have heard it's name, but few can say they have ever come in contact with the organisation directly. The Network certainly seems active. It's practically a cliche that every time there's a terrorist attack or a violent insurrection for someone to blame it on Network meddling, to the point that plenty of people don't even believe the Network exists. In the eyes of a the public, "the attackers were connected to the Sinnsyk Star Network" is just shorthand for "we don't know who caused this and we refuse to acknowledge our own failings".
The Network, of course, does exist.
To prove they exists, you don't need any high-profile leaders giving their confessions, nor do you need to see ships emblazoned with their sigil handing out weapons to rebels. You just need to go into the poorest regions, and you'll see the scars of their influence. Pallid, sickly addicts with bags under their eyes living in bullet-hole ridden slums in areas dominated by gang violence; that is their doing.
The Network thrives on unrest and chaos, and will go to great lengths to keep the uncertainty going in order to suck the money out of the poor suckers they affect. To this end, they will partner up with anyone who gives the legitimate government the side-eyes. They'll back fascists on Venus and communists on Mars, sell bombs to anarchists and guns to monarchists. Chaos is their best friend, and stability their worst enemy. Nothing will drain their influence like a stable government with few enemies; thankfully for them, those seem to be few and far between.
There is one more thing, something that puts the Network head and shoulders above any of its competitors; the Network is extremely proud and well-organised. A local meth-head's product is rife with impurities and a regional arms-dealer is flakey and unreliable, but the Network's stuff is of the highest quality and arrives exactly when it is expected to. Their reputation for quality is doubtlessly what has allowed them to get ahead of their rivals, but has come with the hefty premium that you would expect from a high quality product.
Today, the Network remains one of the biggest threats to Galactic stability out there, and it's pacification will be necessary before the galaxy knows peace. Whether it can be befriended permanently remains to be seen, but if it can't, any future conqueror will have to dismantle it.
Structure: The Network is fairly loosely organised, with leaders being assigned on an ad-hoc basis with increasingly specific goals and mission parameters. Leading the Network is a shadowy cabal known as The Seven. These warlords assign tasks to various underbosses, who in turn delegate tasks out to their subordinates, and so on down the chain, but beyond the Seven, the exact nature of one's role in the Network is flexible. Most of the lackeys at the lower, middle and even the early upper levels of the Network have no idea who The Seven are and their loyalties are more to their particular boss than to the Network as a whole.
Further confusing organisational structure are the associates: organisations that haven't been invited to join the Network, but work closely with the Network due to their similar goals. These associates will have their own internal structure, and may even count Network members among their ranks, but they are separate and distinct from the main body of the Network.
Technology: [Technology your civilization uses. This includes your military technology]
Demographics: The Network has an estimated 325,000,000 members and associates, of which the majority are human.
It isn't quite finished but hopefully this gives you an idea of what I'm going for
The Sinnsyk Star Network
Imperial/Non Imperial: The Star Network profits from chaos, and will side with whatever side will keep the chaos going. Ideology/Political System: The Star Network is a criminal regime, set up by warlords from beyond the reach of Imperial law.
Population Demographics: Estimated 65,000,000,000 Technological level/Unique technologies: Currently controlled important planets: Sinnsyk - 9 billion - The Network's founding planet, Sinnsyk occupies the same niche in its solar system as Earth does ours. Fertile soil, warm temperatures and a naturally breathable atmosphere made this a prime piece of real estate. Originally, Sinnsyk was colonised by a company looking for somewhere to hide all its dirty money, as colonising a planet was the perfect money-laundering scheme. When the company was caught, its assets were seized. The colony was sold off to another company, but the people there declared their independence, and have been fighting against the Empire ever since.
Luo - 20 billion - _TBC
Akadia - 11 billion - Once upon a time, Akadia was a refuge for fleeing refugees escaping purges and pogroms. Fear of reprisal created a suspicious, paranoid culture that slowly warped the planet from a peaceful sanctuary to an authoritarian police state. Their membership in the Network came about due to a mutual hatred of the empire, and they remain the source of its most ardent fighters.
Kide - 3 billion - Kide is still young. Its surface has not fully solidified, the atmosphere is full of toxic gas and it hosts only simple single-celled organisms that have just begun the process of photosynthesis, so its entire population lives on space stations orbiting the planet. These features would normally disqualify a planet from positions of importance, but Kide is rich in ores, minerals and crystals, and the money it brings in to the Network more than makes up for its tiny population
Meri - 7 billion - Meri was passed up by colonisers for being too far away from other, more central planets. It has a breathable atmosphere, is warm enough to support human life and has a thriving ecosystem. However, Meri is also 90% surface water, which made it prohibitively expensive for a corporation considering how distant it was to other civilised worlds. The Network, of course, didn't have this problem, and occupies the great cities that float on this planet's vast oceans.
Vantage - 9 billion - Vantage is a rogue planet. Rather than orbit around a star, it floats off on its own in the cold darkness of space. Lacking a star for heat, it stays occupied through a series of domed cities that generate and trap heat and oxygen.
Hel - 6 billion - An ironically named little planet, Hel is an iceball sitting just outside the Goldilocks Zone of its solar system. A mega-corporation tried to colonise it once, but when they realised they weren't going to turn a profit on it, they abandoned the people there to freeze. They still haven't forgiven their betrayal.
Military Strength: Estimated 325,000,000 Military roster:
Territorial Claims:
(Awaiting Map)
Species: The Network was founded by, and mostly consists of, regular human beings.
Population: 65,000,000,000 non-members are under direct Network control. An estimated 325,000,000 members.
Culture: What can be said about the Sinnsyk Star Network? It is a spectre, a ghost that haunts government officials the way the boogeyman haunts misbehaving children. Most have heard it's name, but few can say they have ever come in contact with the organisation directly. The Network certainly seems active. It's practically a cliche that every time there's a terrorist attack or a violent insurrection for someone to blame it on Network meddling, to the point that plenty of people don't even believe the Network exists. In the eyes of a the public, "the attackers were connected to the Sinnsyk Star Network" is just shorthand for "we don't know who caused this and we refuse to acknowledge our own failings".
The Network, of course, does exist.
To prove they exists, you don't need any high-profile leaders giving their confessions, nor do you need to see ships emblazoned with their sigil handing out weapons to rebels. You just need to go into the poorest regions, and you'll see the scars of their influence. Pallid, sickly addicts with bags under their eyes living in bullet-hole ridden slums in areas dominated by gang violence; that is their doing.
The Network thrives on unrest and chaos, and will go to great lengths to keep the uncertainty going in order to suck the money out of the poor suckers they affect. To this end, they will partner up with anyone who gives the legitimate government the side-eyes. They'll back fascists on Venus and communists on Mars, sell bombs to anarchists and guns to monarchists. Chaos is their best friend, and stability their worst enemy. Nothing will drain their influence like a stable government with few enemies; thankfully for them, those seem to be few and far between.
There is one more thing, something that puts the Network head and shoulders above any of its competitors; the Network is extremely proud and well-organised. A local meth-head's product is rife with impurities and a regional arms-dealer is flakey and unreliable, but the Network's stuff is of the highest quality and arrives exactly when it is expected to. Their reputation for quality is doubtlessly what has allowed them to get ahead of their rivals, but has come with the hefty premium that you would expect from a high quality product.
Today, the Network remains one of the biggest threats to Galactic stability out there, and it's pacification will be necessary before the galaxy knows peace. Whether it can be befriended permanently remains to be seen, but if it can't, any future conqueror will have to dismantle it.
Government: Information on the leadership of the Network is scarce. The exact chain-of-command is unknown to those outside the Network, and what information is available is sketchy at best.
What is known is that the Network is highly decentralised, with regional leaders having
History:
(TBC)
Economy: A criminal syndicate like the Network has its place in the Empire's economy, albeit one that few would admit to interacting with openly. One would be hard pressed to find a black market in the Empire that didn't have the Network's sticky little paws all over it. They work in all sectors; guns, drugs, whores, hitmen, forged papers, money laundering, illegal robotics, back-alley doctors and harvested organs all feed the Network's finances. Counter-intuitively, the more contraband there is and the harsher the laws for carrying it, the more money the Network is able to make. No act is too depraved, no law to harsh and no crime too far. If it's against the law, you can guarantee the Network is doing it. They leech from the economies of more legitimate nations like a parasite, and the more unrest there is, the more they can drain.
The two biggest sources of Network income have to be two of their most heinous crimes: drugs and people.
Tetroin-6c, commonly known as "Panda", is an exceedingly rare and potent chemical, and it's presence is as close to a guarantee of Network activity as you can get. It is odourless, tasteless, clear and looks no different from regular water in its liquid form, making it easy to smuggle. It is the bane of any drug agent and it alone makes the Network a fortune. Outside of Panda, the Network sells other more common drugs, both illegal and medicinal, which provides the day-to-day gains to the Network's finances
A far less common, but far more profitable crime is people-smuggling. The Network doesn't care who you are, or what you want. You could be a fugitive fleeing from the law, an impoverished worker looking for a better life, or even a repressed minority escaping a pogrom; the Network aids all who can pay. For those in truly dire straits who don't have the money for the trip, the Network will take them to their own labour camps.
Army: On the surface, it doesn't look like the Network has an army. What it does have are thugs. Lots and lots and lots of thugs. Unlike professional soldiers, these witless gadabouts don't need a garrison, 6 months of rigorous training and a steady chain of command, they just need a gun and a grudge against authority. Many of them don't even need direct commands to be effective - after being introduced to several of their fellow wastrels, a small cache of weapons and bombs, and the promise that they can keep whatever loot they take, these budding recruits are happy to form their own terrorist cells and street gangs, only tangentially related to the main body of the Network.
But sometimes, a more surgical approach is necessary. Drowning your foe under a tide of disgruntled youths with something to prove is certainly effective, but they aren't always willing or capable enough to hit the really important targets. For these more delicate affairs, the Network retains an elite force known as the Black Legion. The Black Legion is not an army. Not even close. They are far too small and their training too unconventional to make them typical front-line infantry troops. Rather, the Black Legion can be compared to the special forces of other nations, trained in covert operations and unconventional styles of warfare, appearing as if from nowhere to strike at the most vulnerable parts of the enemy war machine, before disappearing without a trace. They are highly skilled, but completely untrained for regular combat, and are no replacement to regular infantry, which the Network seriously lacks.
Finally, no good criminal syndicate would be complete without a gang of mercenaries at its beck and call. The Network rarely hires mercs of its own volition, finding them too pricey for a gang dedicated to making money, but is more than happy to introduce them to their allies for a price.
She's a bun in the oven, but she's just about done
The Grand Duchy of Owca
Species:
The native species of Owca are a curious lot. For the most part, they look like regular humans, with a few exceptions. They are short, coming up to maybe 5 foot on average, and very, very lightweight, weighing at most 30 kilograms.Their hair is thick and fluffy, almost wooly, and they have a pair of horns, like a ram, growing out of their forehead. This makes them sound all cheerful and cuddly doesn’t it? Truth be told, there’s something eerie about the Owcans. Maybe it’s the way their skin, as white as milk or as black as a starless night, is as smooth and unblemished as porcelain, or perhaps it’s their cold, glassy-eyed stare that never seems to focus on what they’re looking at, but looks right through it. Some smile a little too wide, others have soft, melancholy voices, like they’ve experienced all the sorrows the world has to offer. Some find them adorable. To others, they’re pure nightmare fuel.
But there is something far more terrifying than the unassuming Owcans lurking in their deepest forests. Owcans call them “spirits”, but they more often resemble the drawings of an untalented child trying to capture something that has been described to them but that they have never seen in the real world. These malformed monstrosities don’t like the whole “civilisation” thing and stay as far away from it as possible, which suits the Owcans fine, since they don’t need some creature rummaging around through their bins. Still, it’s still advisable not to go out at night, since there’s no telling if a particularly brave spirit will decide to sniff around a nearby village when it’s dark.
Owcan legend holds that the Spirits are related to them. To an outsider, the idea that the creepy-cute Owcans are at all similar to the hideous, terrifying Spirits is a dubious one at best, but since no one has actually been able to produce the corpse of a Spirit, it’s a question without a satisfying answer.
Culture and Society:
The Grand Duchy of Owca: nicknamed by some explorers as the Last Land of Myth. In an age where it seems like everything that can be discovered has been discovered, Owca remains an enigma to outsiders, a feature that can be directly related to the locals inexplicable fear of letting anyone foreign into the country. Even on the odd occasion that an outsider is allowed into Owca, what they are allowed to see is heavily restricted to the major cities, with outsiders who leave the cities facing expulsion.
For the brave souls who decided to flout this rule and sneak off to see the mythical realm for themselves, they would have been disappointed with the results. The vast majority of people live in little villages spread out across the country and live simple peasant lives, growing wheat and raising sheep - there are no demonic rituals, no crimes against humanity, no horrendous disasters or anything really that would cause a nation to hide itself away from the world. Quite the opposite: Owca is an arcadian paradise. Most nations would be proud to have such wild and untouched landscapes, and would brag about having fields overflowing with bountiful harvests every chance they got. Why, then, doesn’t Owca?
Part of this comes from the Owcan national character. The Grand Duchy is something of a standout among it’s neighbours, for it is neither as concerned with military might as Luchmeyer, nor as rabidly industrious as the Cogaidh. They desire to have far less of an impact on the world. In the grand game of world politics, Owca would love nothing more than to curl up into a little ball in their corner of the world until everyone forgot they even existed, and yet, time and time again, they are dragged into the middle of some petty conflict between whoever happens to be holding their leash at the time and the one who wants to hold the leash. If they could slam the door on the outside world, they would.
Because of the Cogaidh’s close connection to Owca, they naturally hold a very different opinion of their northern neighbours than the rest of the world. In Commonwealth literature, the typical Owcan is a sullen and serious figure, with a close-minded and conservative view of the world. They are often insensitive and rude, not out of malice but out of simply not knowing how to talk to people. Positive portrayals will make their naivety into something cute, and show them as being simple but clever; negative portrayals will show them as paranoid and fearful, who go through their lives scared of their own shadows, inevitably requiring a big, strong Cogaidh to look after them.
But to outsiders, Owcans are cold, strange creatures. At best, they are eerie and secretive, a race of gothic creatures that would be beautiful if they didn’t send shivers down one’s spine whenever they looked at you. They have a reputation for secrecy, and as such, can be found in clandestine operations all over the eastern hemisphere. Less charitable people see them as a race of gypsies and witches, bringing nightmares and misfortune wherever they go. They’re too quiet. Too creepy. Maybe we haven’t seen them do anything wrong yet, but just look at them! They’re up to something, you just know it!
This would lead to all kinds of assumptions as to why Owcans aren’t very welcoming to outsiders; from an Owcan perspective, foreigners are loud, over-sexed, cock-a-hoop and careless, and they certainly don’t seem to like Owca very much. But it isn’t just xenophobia that makes Owcans so leery of outsiders.
All over Owca, there are ancient forests. Owcans call these “Siuile Baobach” - “Where the Spirits Roam”. These venerable and otherworldy forests grow so thick that the sun cannot breach the canopies, leaving the forest shrouded in total darkness. Spirits dwell in the darkness. What they want, no one knows. Where they came from, no one knows. But what is known is that anyone foolish enough to enter their territory will never be seen again. Owcans know their own limits. Every little Owcan child is told terrifying tales of the lumbering monsters of the forests, and warned in no uncertain terms that they must never, ever, ever enter the forest even under pain of death. It is better to die than to be made a Spirit’s plaything. But foreigners do not know these tales, and those that learn them never treat them as seriously as they should. It is painfully clear that outsiders simply do understand the destructive nature of the region, and mistake honest warnings for challenges, toying with things they don’t fully comprehend and that really shouldn’t be toyed with. Faced with being responsible for dozens, maybe hundreds, of disappearances, Owca has taken it upon themselves to make sure no one ever falls prey to the spirits again.
To this end, Owca acts like a hedgehog, curling up and displaying its spikes to the world in an attempt to get them to stay away. Outwardly, they seem cold, downright mean at times, but that’s only because they’re scared of what would happen if they let their guard down.
Government:
Theocratic Duchy - Owca’s governance is divided into three sections: powers reserved to the Crown, powers devolved to the Duchy, and powers devolved to the Church
As a member state of the Commonwealth, Owca shares a monarch with the other member, Cogaidh. The King or Queen of the Commonwealth represents the nation as a whole, and is responsible for anything that affects the entire Commonwealth. National security, foreign affairs, constitutional matters and international trade are all powers reserved to the Crown.
As part of the Acts of Union, Owca is entitled to it’s own devolved legal system, with its own Duke. Theoretically, the Duke has power over all devolved secular matters. However, in Owca, the line between a secular and ecclesiatical matter is blurry, and in practice, the Duke requires approval from the church to do just about anything. Even the assignment of the Duke is at the whims of the church, and if the priesthood loses confidence in the Duke’s ability to lead, they can force him to step down.
That’s not to say that all of the Duke’s powers are subject to church approval. National defence is very much a ducal power, as is the economy and the use of land. The Duke may assign noble titles to anyone below him, and grant cities a noble charter, giving them the right to elect a mayor.
But the day-to-day running of a nation all falls within the jurisdiction of the church. It is the church that is responsible for educating the children of Owca. It is the church that is responsible for maintaining good health among the citizenry. Outside of cities, the church maintains law and order. When people fall on hard times, it is the church who feeds them and clothes them while the nobility try to find them work. The average Owcan is far more likely to take his disputes to the local parish, rather than to secular courts, and the church retains the right to form a militia independently of noble approval. Despite what the law is on paper, the church is what holds the true power in Owca.
Religion:
The native religion of Owca is known as Owcaffyd, literally “Owcan Faith”. This ancient faith ranks as one of the oldest continuously followed religions, and as the name would suggest, is entirely indigenous to Owca.
Ancient Owcan legend tells of their creation. Once upon a time, all of Tir Naomh was inhabited by spirits. These creatures were possessed of incredible power, power that made even the wisest mage seem a fool in comparison, and one of these spirits was called Rhiant. Rhiant was a relatively minor spirit, a benevolent but lonely figure. She wanted nothing more than to make friends, but Spirits are not renowned for their friendly nature and conversational skills, and she knew that she couldn’t just wander out into the open to find a fledgling race to befriend. So, if she couldn’t find a friend, she would make them.
The result was the Owcans. For a short period of time, Rhiant was overjoyed with her creation, and immediately set about trying to teach them everything she knew. But alas, her happiness was not to last. Other spirits, jealous that Rhiant had created something so beautiful, immediately tried to poach them away from her. Whether the other spirits wished to supplant Rhiant as a mother figure to the Owcans or desired something far more nefarious from the little creatures is not established, though the legends are very clear that the Spirits had no desire to kill the Owcans. Whatever it was, it terrified Rhiant. She knew that her creations would not be safe in the forests, even with her watching over them, and realised that they would be better off if they were somewhere safer. They were exiled from the forest for their own safety, to make a life for themselves on the outside.
Owcaffyd is based around the reverence of Rhiant, and encourages those who follow it to live as close to Rhiant’s rules. These rules are simple: since all Owcans are technically brother and sister, they should treat each other as though they were one giant family. Loyalty to Owca is expected implicitly and crimes of treason are treated as religious offences as much as civil offenses. In fact, any offense from Owcan to Owcan is treated twice as harsh as offences from non-Owcans to Owcans, since they all violate religious laws, which non-Owcans are not subject to.
The faith also holds marriage in extremely high regard: harems and concubines are not legally recognised, widows and widowers cannot remarry, knowing someone intimately outside of marriage almost always results in a shotgun wedding, and, most brutally, cheating on your spouse is a capital offence.
Speaking of capital punishment, the method they do this by is very, very Owcan. No self-respecting Owcan would sully their hands with the blood of the people they see as brothers, even if they are filthy adulterers, and conventional methods of punishment are simply too brutal. Rather than murder the poor fools themselves, Owcans instead send them to “walk with the spirits”. Blindfolded and with bound arms, the criminal in question is sent into one of the spirit’s forests, never to be seen again. Exactly what the spirit does after that, that isn’t Owca’s concern. So long as the criminal is dealt with, that’s good enough.
Owcaffyd isn’t technically monotheistic. Rhiant is not the only deity by any means, nor is she the strongest. She’s not omnipotent or omniscient, and she’s responsible for neither the creation of the world nor its destruction. She’s not even the only spirit depicted as being wholly benevolent. What makes Rhiant distinct is that she’s the only deity who is worshipped by the Clan, while others are simply acknowledged. When an Owcan offers something to Rhiant, he does so not for any perceived gain as he would with a less important spirit, but out of gratitude.
Because they aren’t monotheistic and worship of Rhiant is based on her motherly status, not out of any deistic compulsion, Owca is open to other faiths and makes no attempts to proselytise to outsiders. The religion is completely compatible with any faith that believes there can be more than one creator figure.
History:
No one knows exactly when Owca came into existence. Every surviving history of the region seems to mention Owcans already being there, and Owca’s own records are so shrouded in myth and legend that it’s impossible to tell what’s truth and what’s fiction. What is known is that Owca is a really, really old nation; possibly the first ever. Part of the problem is that ancient Owcans had such little knowledge of the world around them that it was entirely possible that someone claimed overlordship of them and they never knew.
Territorial Claims:
Owca shown in green, with its Commonwealth partner Cogaidh in blue
Economy:
In keeping with the theme of “Owcans refuse to advance”, Owca’s economy remains agrarian and feudal. All land is owned by the Crown, which is parceled out to various lords and religious figures for administrative purposes. Nobles then rent the land out to the smallfolk, who are free to keep whatever they make in exchange for a small tax-in-kind. Serfdom has long been abolished; all peasants are free.
The vast majority of smallfolk are agricultural workers. The soil in Owca is famously rich and bountiful, and it is incredibly easy for even a novice farmer to start a successful farm. Most children learn their trade from their parents, or occasionally from a trusted adult in the village - it is rare for Owcans to leave the villages they grew up in, except to marry someone from a different village.
Most agricultural workers are divided into two categories: the crofters on the borders and in the Highlands, and the cottagers in the heartlands and lowlands. Crofters own small plots that are exclusively theirs to use, and live in very small, highly dispersed communities, often not even having access to a post office or church. They are responsible for their own wellbeing. When things go well, they are not obligated to share their fortunes, but when things go poorly, they have few people to turn to for aid Cottagers, however, live in larger villages and towns, and hold important areas like wastelands, fields and pastures in common. All cottagers in a community are entitled to a share of the produce of a field, after it has been taxed by the local lord, and may do with this share what they please. Cottagers rise and fall together; it is not any one individual’s efforts that yield good results, but the collective effort of the entire community.
Since the union with the Cogaidh, Owca has been in a monetary union with them, and has lost the right to mint their own coins.
Army:
Owcans are not well suited to the front lines. They’re small and light, and being strong for one’s height doesn’t necessarily mean one is strong full stop. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have a place in the Commonwealth’s armies at all. With their rural upbringing and homesteading skills, an adventurous Owcan makes an ideal camp follower, able to handle the day-to-day busiwork that comes with setting up camps and outposts, freeing up the actual fighting force for drills, sentry duty and training.
Full-time soldiers are a rarity, but most villages will have a simple militia system. Villagers will sign up for part-time militia work at the local temple, and will alternate duties based on a schedule. Most of the time, these duties are basic guard work, protecting the town from outlaws, putting out fires and generally making sure everyone is safe. It’s a voluntary association, but with the amount of respect and power that comes from being a member of the militia, there’s never a lack of people willing to sign up.
The actually professional fighting force is in direct service to nobles and the church. While joining a militia is a part time job that is rarely paid in anything more than gratitude and maybe a little extra food from the church, joining a noble barracks is a full-time job, complete with payment. Noble and ecclesiastical soldiers are housed in a barracks attached to, or close by, the noble manor, and unlike the militia, their jobs are purely military - they don’t enforce laws or fight fires, and to see the army on the streets enforcing the peace would be serious cause for concern among the population.
Owcan military doctrine emphasises three key areas: flexibility, denial and infiltration.
Flexibility refers to the ad-hoc nature of Owcan military organisation. Rather than fixed regiments, or churning out as many units as possible, Owcan cohorts are formed with a singular purpose, and exist only so long as the objective goes unachieved. When the objective is achieved, the unit is given a new objective and entirely re-equipped to achieve it. Every Owcan soldier must be prepared to undertake a variety of roles that other armies might prefer to have specialised units for.
Denial covers the defensive part of Owcan doctrine, and is at its simplest the utter refusal to allow the enemy any kind of decisive victory. This seems obvious - no one wants their enemy to win, after all - but Owcans take this to the utmost extreme by tempting the enemy with what seems like important objectives, only to find that actually succeeding that objective is far more trouble than it’s worth. An enemy may find an Owcan fort with minimal defenses and swiftly capture it, only to be surrounded by a relief force who knows where the secret tunnels are. The carefully planned offensive collapses swiftly as the Owcans know exactly where to strike and how to strike it, and by the end, the enemy has gotten no further forward but is down a few thousand men.
Finally, infiltration. Throwing manpower at enemy strongpoints is a good way to lose a war, and Owcans know there are going to be much fewer of them than their enemies. So why not simply… avoid the fight? Being able to sneak right past, or even straight through, hostile territory, is one of the most important skills the army uses, and Owcans excel at it, slipping right through the fingers of their enemies to achieve a more advantageous position. This applies on a tactical as well as a strategic level: Owcan assaults on defensive positions are quick, quiet and over before anyone knew they were there.
Navy:
Traits:
Nationalist Fervour - Owca was founded specifically to protect the interests of the Owcan people. Every institution, even those as powerful as the Throne and the Church, exist with the express purpose to represent Owcan interests, and only Owcan interests. Despite this, the Throne is occupied by someone who is not Owcan. This is unacceptable. For as long as a foreigner sits on the throne of Owca, they will face stiff opposition from the Owcan people, and they will take every opportunity to make the Outlander feel unwelcome until they get their concessions… or their revolution.
Children of the Earth - While the industrial revolution has swept through their neighbours and rivals, Owca steadfastly refuses to embrace it. Their fervent belief in the sanctity of nature has led to them living frugal, careful lives in harmony with the world around, and foolish concepts like “material goods” and “a competitive economy” isn’t enough to make them forsake that.
Internal Power Struggles - While there is no question as to what those in charge wish to achieve, there is significant debate over exactly how to achieve it. It’s impossible not to notice an oppressive atmosphere of fear at the Owcan courts and castles, as no-one has any idea who is really on their side, or how far they’ll go.
Foreign Relations:
Luchmeyern - Most Owcans have a very cold relationship with the Mainland. Between it's attempts to claim overlordship in the past, to the constant raiding, to viewing worship of Rhiant as heresy, Luchmeyer has shown itself to be untrustworthy time and time again
Cogaidh - While Owca may share a monarch with the Cogaidh, that doesn't mean they like them. Traditionalist groups in particularly are staunchly opposed to the other Commonwealth state, who they see as decadent philistines. Having said that, more pragmatic Owcans see the union as a marriage of convenience, and along the more liberal coastline, they even view the Cogaidh as friends.
