Current
I do not "brainrot". I brainferment so my brain will become even smoother and even more potent than before in its smoothness.
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2 yrs ago
I live. I die. I live again!
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4 yrs ago
I was gone for a lot longer than I thought >.>"
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4 yrs ago
Sorry for my absence! A Volunteering position suddenly turned into a Volunteer Leadership position I was not expecting at all so things have been hectic.
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4 yrs ago
Look at you posers, having to bang dragons or sell your soul for magic when you could just play a lute for some. Anyways, here's Wonderwall. - Bards
You can be- I was just saying I won't be referring to Arman-Arhus as "the Commonwealth" anymore since now there's more than one "the Commonwealth"'s. Not saying you can't be a Commonwealth if you want to.
Ahh... okay. I got you.
Still, my nation is called the Ryukyu Commonwealth and refered as "the Commonwealth", I ought to change that seeing as how having three "the Commonwealth" probally won't be the best later on. Plus the nation is structure more like a cross between the Chinese Empire and the Japanese Shogunate, not too much like a commonwealth.
On another note, do you know how to put pictures into your posts? I want to stake a claim on the map but I have no idea how to.
haha I'd considered being a commonwealth too! But then-eh let's have a good old fashion Kingdom.
>.>
I wanted to be a commonwealth as well... dammit. I'll just have to an empire then.
Also,@OneEyedChurro, my nation doesn't have the most prestigious timber, but it managed to make a damn fine fleet so it must be something worth while. If you're willing to trade a good amount of food or metal, then we could start a trade agreement. There's also some fine pearls and dyes on the market too~
Flag A silver gear surrounded by six gold coins on a parchment-colored background.
Description A young nation who collectively calls their people Ryukyuans that has only been of notice for the last 200 years or so, but with an ambition that matches their large size that is both a bit militaristic and trade heavy. Formerly a small, backward island kingdom, the Ryukyuans saw the importance of rapid modernization and eventually, through a series of personal unions, conquests and vassalizations, they have untied many of the smaller tribes, kingdoms under the Ryukyuan flag incorporating many strong and skilled people into a single body. The government realizes how backward many of the tribes and areas are that they hold in the realm so, just as they did on their homeland, promote modernization. They have already made huge leaps in both civil and military tech as the urbanization is well underway.
Unfortunately, due to mish-mash of lifestyles from that combined areas, there is little money to be made domestically, so they look out to trade and rake in huge profits but those profits are put toward research and military and the imports needed to sustain the technology, thus some in the lower ladders won’t ever feel the effects of successful trade. Trade has also brought its own problems as new religions are introduced my sailors and foreign merchants. Some of those religious are willing to challenge the government for recognition and Ryukyuan religion with more than just words.
The Ryukyuan Empire tend to be nice people when they come to the diplomatic table, preferring to trade first. However they aren’t afraid of rushing into war, scratch that, at times they’re looking to start a war to expand their territory. Ryukyuan Emperors are also imfamous for the use of bribed bandits and pirates against nations they dislike to cause trouble, even at peace. They will attempt to exploit any opportunity to start a legitimate war to gain land. Ryukyuans seek to expand as much as they can and have already made plans for their explorers to voyage across the ocean in search of uncharted land. The ambitious nature of their people tend to spark small conflict in borders and trade on occasion, creating diplomatic
Dispute their aggressive expansion, they do seek to be on good terms with people they deem worthy and who trade with them. They offer their professionals in both military and civil fields to other nations as advisors who are less developed technologically then them in exchange for a supply of food and metal.
Ideas & Ideology Ryukyu, An Empire Under the Sun - Exploration & Colonization – They want to solidify their power through territory. They colonize and claim lands on the Tannis so they can grow their power and want to explore what could lie beyond the horizon for new opportunities and, if need be, leave the land all together and venture to their new Equal Arms – Social – Women and men, human and otherwise are put at an equal level in Ryukyuan society, as long they can wield a sword or hold a hammer just as well or better than the last person, the only thing that sepearates them is their class. To the Future! – Technology – There is nothing known as too advanced, as long as there is paper to being made and ideas being discussed, chances are there will be Ryukyuan scholars nearby, research and creating new ideas and creations to better the Empire. Ariashino – Military – Our soldier do not fear death, death fears our soldiers. The Ryukyuan Warrior Class is born, raised and trained to follow the Ariashino Code and die on the battlefield and glad accept it. Where they are found, they will fight to the bitter end before going on to the next life to fight again. ”Levies” – Military – While bandits and pirates are the most reasonable of folk, they now how to get things done and are not bound by politics. The Ryukyu Empire tends to hire these men to “steer” trade ships to their ports, the cargo almost always get to the ports, wither the ships remain afloat is a different story
Government The government follows a senate/monarch hybrid consisting of the Emperor and his advisors as the “Golden Branch” and an elected republican senate known as the “Iron Roots”. The title of “emperor” is granted to anyone who has the blood of the legendary Ryukyuan leader, Sonjin, meaning that even women are allowed to lead the country as long as they have legitimate proof they are of the bloodline. There have already been two Empresses of Ryukyu. In cases where there are multiple siblings contesting for the throne, the eldest usually takes power unless someone else is more popular with the population and challenges them to a duel to the death.
While the Emperor makes decisions that concern the well being of the whole land with the senate take care of the more local matters. The senators themselves are elected for 5-year terms and need at least a 75% approval by voters in their areas. However, senators do not rule over the land they represent, instead military families or clans, rule over the lands and are responsible for the well being of the land. However, the Emperor can overrule the clans if he so wishes.
Economy Heavy reliance on trade but the government tends not to interfere as long as profits are made and goals are reached. However, the government has a hand in all other industries as long as there is a sufficiently large enough company in said industry such as logging, fishing, cash crop farming, and quarrying. While the land produces little metals, it does provide with sturdy lumber and quality stone.
Ryukyuan craftsmen are known for their exquisite woodcarvings, majestic dyes and beautiful pearl jewelry. Most of the Empire’s trade is based on these luxury resources and the works made from them along side raw resources like timber and stone. Some especially talented artist can blend paint made from local dyes and woodcarvings to create colorful works of art that is quite popular amongst the Citizen and Noble classes.
Unorthodoxly, knowledge can also be bought from the Ryukyuans. Many scholars are willing to be teachers to other nations or be foreign advisors, however the government strictly controls the process and it is limited to nations on good standing with Ryukyu. Research papers and blueprints that are considered dated enough are sold more freely on the international market.
Red lights districts are also a common sight in major Ryukyuan cities. Filled with gamboling dens, taverns, and brothels, these “Akisaki Districts” give good entertainment for those who have money to pay. Due to the high taxes the districts provide, the government allows these places to exist with limited intervention. While there are Gynji who work here as entertainers for men, there is a notable distinction between “entertainer” and “prostitute”
Saltwater Pearls (Unique Grade) Dyes (Unique Grade) - Red, Violet (From Lac insects) - Purple (From Murex Snails) - Sepia Brown (From cuttlefish & Octopus) - Orange (From Gamboge Plants) - Blue (From Indigofera Plants) Clay -> Pottery (Quality Grade) Logs -> Timber (Quality Grade) Stone (Quality Grade) Salt (Standard Grade) Kumis, a type of alcohol made by fermenting milk (Quality Grade) Pitch/Tar (Standard Grade)
Agriculture Farming has always been problematic for the Empire, as many rivers that provide rich soil also tend to flood at random intervals, making farming in these regions tough. Because of this, farmers were forced to abandon the fertile rivers for the less fertile mountainsides where terrace farming is used to make good use of the land. There is a limited amount of livestock being raised; chickens and the occasional pigs are raised in the plains while goats are raised in some places by former nomadic tribes. The government always has a strict role in the farming industry to ensure food level stay above the margin, but seasonal food shortages still are a common occurrence. More recently, the government has been starting several irrigation projects to help the land with risk of floods.
Many crops such as wheat and most vegetables do not fair well in the poor soil of the safer regions of farming. The only things that do grow well are turnips and radishes along with some roots. The average Ryukyuan peasant’s is usually fairly nutritious to some degree, but not the tastiest. Food riots are common during seasonal shortages. The mountainous landscape of Ryukyu’s means terrace farming is the most viable option for growing the all-important rice and a limited amount of fruit and other, more appetizing vegetables. However, most of the time, only the Nobles and the military receive these more appetizing ingredients, so many peasants have join the military just so they don’t have to radish and rice everyday.
Fishing is one of the viable ways of getting meat on the to plate of most people. Ryukyu’s fishermen are very talents and skilled at all forms of fishing, wither it be with rod, nets, or even spears. Pearl divers also fish up rare oysters and shellfish on occasion and those rare deep-sea beauties are eaten by the Nobles or during holidays. Children also collect Murex Snails on beaches which are turned into brilliant purples dye.
Many rural villages also have groves which they can either grow fruit trees or hardwood tree. Fruits trees can only be grown in certain areas where the soil isn’t as bad while hardwood trees such as birch and pine are more easily grow. Groves of hardwood tree however aren’t used for lumber; instead they’re used to make pitch and tar with birch making superior quality “Ryukyuan Oil” for the Navy’s shipbuilding and pine for torches, candles and flammable materials.
Religion Main Religion: Inshingu Type: Polytheism Core Beliefs: Everything is a part of gods, living, dead or inanimate. The essences of the gods live along side humans on the mortal plain and humans will see the true forms of the Gods upon death. Rebirth.
Method of Worship: Burning of Incents, religious choir, prayer Place of Worship: Local shrines and larger, state-backed monestaries. Festivals: Major annual Festival that celebrates the creation of life by the gods and how the god taught them how to thrive. Smaller, monthly celebrations for mythical events or smaller gods Holy Symbol: The Tsuburi (Totem Pole-like structures but are much more simple and often only have a scroll rolling down the middle and a small alter at the bottom for incenses and sacrifices.) Important Items: Kumis, incense, mirrors, fruit. Afterlife: One will sit before a counsel of gods and their action in life will be judged as to decide what they will become upon being reborn.
Also Inshingu plays a large part in the people and their day-to-day actions, the government is completely secular from it. The Inshingu Order is the leading force of the religion that goes out to teach, convert and heal others.
Some native religious group however feel threatened by the conversion to Inshingu in anything and are very vocal (and sometimes more than that) against the government to the point of rebellion in some cases. There has been one case of a full uprising of paganism rebels since the founding of the Empire called.
85% are Inshingu 7% are believers of local/tribal religions 4% are Batalists due to contact with Estucar 3% are Plagarian due to contact with Oxfrieght 1% are Ternionian due to contact with Arman-Arhus
Geography Ryukyuan Claim
The lands of the Ryukyu Empire consist mostly of great plains carved up by might rivers and vast, dense forests on hills or mountains. Many Orc strongholds, dwarven keeps, elven villiages and human kingdoms and nomads were once scattered about before being annexed or vassalized into the Ryukyuan Empire. There was tropical jungle along the rivers at one point, but much of it has been used in the creation of the Ryukyuan Fleet.
The river in the towards the center is the “Kyodana River” referencing the original kingdom that had castles along the river. The southern most river which only barely is in Ryuykyuan territory is the “Kazahi River” which lead into the “Bay of Kazah”, an important center of trade and naval base. Although the rivers provide rich soil for farming, unprediable flood makes farming the soil impossible, forcing farmer to move to the mountains where there is less fertile soil.
*Humans refers to both Ryukyuans and the native people of those they incorporated into their lands (tribal, nomads, smaller kingdoms)
First Language
86% Shintoshi (Native Ryukyuan Language, taught in all schools.) 5% Elven 4% Orcish Runes 3% Dwarf 3% Other (Languages from nearby by nations via trade or tribal dialects)
Education Thanks to reforms and a drive of modernization, the education and literacy rate is high. This has lead to many becoming skilled at their jobs and very knowledgeable scholars, making the Ryukyuan Empire be home to some of the best schools and mind of the current age that are responsible for the Empire’s rapid modernization and innovations. A series of reforms known as the “Civil Improvement Program” made many civil services, schools included, very affordable to build to the point even in time when the Empire was strapped for cash, they could still support them.
Architectural Style Many two or three floor buildings dominate the cities and towns. Often the first floor walls are mad of entirely stone with the second using wooded wall with grid shaped and a paper/fabric blend to fill in the holes. Thanks to the efforts of Ryukyuan scholars, these buildings can go up to five stories high and widen to become apartments. (Think of Japanese on top of a stone base)
Wealthy estates are often only one or two floors tall and skip stonewalls on the first floor but they are very wide and expansive instead. Many estates also have underground basements and an open-air courtyard in the middle of the building (Japanese building style but with a Roman villa layout)
Hovels for the poor are tall, single floored “towers” with windows or completely covered by fabric. Wide circular tents are more common in rural towns. (Think Korean gazebo with fabric on the outside and Mongolian yurts).
Forts, however, are not designed by humans, but dwarves and orcs. The design look very geometric and heavy, many Ryukyuan forts lack the incredible visual appeal and marvels seen in some other forts, but the philosophy is “Pretty forts don’t look pretty when there’re rubble” is evident as the forts are reinforced, barricaded and defendable come hell or high water. (WW2 bunker styled)
Apparel (Working, Citizen, Noble)
The Working class favors the durability over style, wearing clothes made of rough, but sturdy fabric (usually burlap) over softer, gentler underclothing. However, due to the availability of dyes, colored clothing can still be seen in the Working class. The men wear rough burlap pants and a short bathrobe-styled burlap jacket over their shirts. They have limited footwear, earing either hard leather boots, often military surplus, or cloth foot wraps. Women wear either a burlap dress or a skirt with long socks. Women often cut their hair short while men tie their hair into a bun or go with a buzz cut.
The Citizens enjoy a more stylish array of clothing due to the nature of their social class. Both wear short robes similar to that of the Working class, but it tends to be made of more comfortable material and more intricately designed with more colorful dyes. Their foot wear of choice is either fur shoes or fur boots depending on the season, some of the wealthier might even don the wooden sandals worn by Nobles. Hairstyles for women tend to be long and smooth and often accompanied by some hair ornament while men tie theirs in a bun. Recently, having wild, uncontrolled hair is a popular trend amongst the youth of the Citizen class.
Nobles have the most ornate and decorative clothing, if not a bit unpractical. Both genders wear long, beautiful, and very comfortable robes that go to ankle length. The robes they wear have a myriad of colors and very delicate designs or even lace and thing gold wires. Their choice of footwear is wooden sandals or fashionable boots. Noble hairstyles for women are very similar to that ancient Japan while men in courts have a single, long braid based on traditional Chinese hairstyle. All noble also carry some small weapon like daggers and hand crossbows, some also have hidden weapons like swords in their canes.
Apparel (Warrior) Due to the lack of metal in the Empire, metal armor is reserved for only the most elite warriors. Most armor is boiled leather, stone plated mail or even lacquered wood. All armor protects to the waist with additional flaps that go down to mid-thigh level. Helmets are also a rarity, most unit wear simple hats made of leather.
During peace, some solider will wear there armor out in the open, but with a armband that signifies they are currently off duty and usually won’t wear any helmets or hats. Officers and generals wear fashion similar to that of the Nobles but wear their swords on their hips
Ritang – The Imperial Captial of the Empire with a population of 900,000. Located on the original island of Ryukyu. The largest and only gold mine is located here along with some of the best craftsmen and artisans who make things from the gold. It is also the center of learning in the Empire and home to the famous Royal Gardi Institute.
Talsong – A landmark city on the open plains that show the success of the modernization efforts of the Ryukyu Empire. Formerly a small trade post for various nomadic tribes, Talsong became a bustling city of 675,000 people with traders from all around. Imarahari Castle – A huge fortress complex that is the center of the nation’s heavy industry and military. Along side the garrison, there are 350,000 civilian living in the castle and its surrounding areas. Metal foundries here are kept under close watch due to the nation’s limited metal resources. The Imarahari Naval District is close by and is home to the Ryukyuan fleet.
Red River Delta -
Gate of a Hundred Golden Tsuburi – A religious temple for Inshingu worrshipers
Emperor Shitastu vi Ryukyu – 8th Emperor of the Ryukyuan Commenwealth, he is at a young age of 24, but is competent enough to know what he should and shouldn’t do. He tries to act in the best nature of the overall country but tries not to piss people off. He is well received by the general public after negotiating a trade contract that made enough money to lessen taxes during harvest. Nicknames “Kugizi Namagi” meaning “Noble Son” in Ryukyuan. Muchi the Devil Queen – A well-known privateer who is and a notorious womanizer who lead the Black Wings of Cold. She is a mercenary team for the Ryukyuan navy, but is not lead by just money alone. Shitasu had promised her a criminal record wipe and a nice admiral’s spot if she spent a decade in the Ryukyuan navy. She served 3 year of that term but has benefitted greatly from the new weapons and armaments granted to her by Shitastu.
Ceilus Roderick xi Pormada – Current head of the House of Roderick and Roderick Innovations, Ceilus is considered genius even by the normal standard of the House of Roderick. He is often cold to strangers and is strange by all accounts, but he does enjoy company that can keep up with his ramblings. He has not given an official opinion of the new Emperor, but was good friends with the previous Emperor, Shitastu’s father. Court rumors suggest he is trying to find the “Immortally Dust” but always ends up with a strange black powder. Denli Touksen di Beito – A legendary general who lead the entire Imperial army. He is more conservative, believing that the Ryukyuans should not follow an ambitious expansionist idea but instead develop their existing lands to the fullest of their capacity. He however does listen to the Emperor and does lead wars of expansion on the Empire’s behalf.
Guanxi Touksen di Beito – Retainer and best friend to the current emperor. He is very reserved, only speaking when he has full belief of what he says is worthwhile. People get to know personally say he is quite humorous to close friends. He is one of three military advisors for Emperor Shitastu and an experienced swordsman; he also has full honors of general dispute not having an army to lead.
Calmarr Orchmamer – A dwarven businessman who leads the Orcaxe Conglomerate. He is said to be amongst the most powerful men in the Empire. He has quite a boisterous personality, enjoy bragging of his business genius and wit. He has a hand in politics through a network of senator that he “financially supports” and will attempt to steer for things that will improve his profit margins.
Ojin zi Yamaguri – Head priest of the Inshingu Order and the Inshingu faith overall. He is a very calm, trangquil man but has proven to be very sharp and calculating at times. He is popular amongst the people and seen as a “folk hero” who belives Ryukyuans should not convert others to Inshingu, but have others willingly join the religion. He is quite fond of fine chinaware and Kumis, a locally produced milk alchol.
House of Roderick – A long, noble house decedent of a Emperor who once ruled over an area now under the Ryukyuan flag. Many in the family tree have been scholars, teachers, and inventors. They own their namesake company, Roderick Innovations, a research complex owned by the House of Rodericks. It has schools, archives, observatories and workshops and can be said as the sole reason on the Empire’s amazing technology.
House of Tokusen – Another long, noble house who hail from a nomadic warcheif, the family produces great officers and stagiest. The current head is Denli Touksen di Beito and its heir Guanxi Touksen di Beito. Denli is the General of the Army and Guanxi a retainer and best friend to Shitastu.
Inshingu Order – Essentially the Vatican City for Ishingus, The Order is situated in fortified mountain monastery that can act as a castle during war. They spread the Inshingu faith and also act as teachers and doctors for the Empire. Although Inshingu is generally a peaceful religion, they do train warrior monks and nuns as levies but they rarely make an actual appearance on the battlefield as they prioritize their religious duties first.
The Orcaxe Colgomerate – A business enterprise found by two dwarven families, the Orchammers and the Blueaxes. They own many of the mines and quarries of the Empire but have closely monitored by the military. The leadership changes every ten years with the other family taking over. Current head is Calmarr Orchammer who has a hand in politics.
Military
Troop Total: Around 128,000 in the standing army (~3.2% of population) 118,000 Infantry - 39000 Spearmen - 34000 Swordsmen - 1000 Inshingu Medics - 1000 Thousand Blades - 30000 Crossbowmen - 6000 Elven Archers - 6000 Officers and Generals 6,250 Cavalry - 4250 Heavy Shock Cavalry - 2000 Mounted Bowmen 33000 Navies - 5000 Officers and Admiral - 20000 Sailors - 8000 Black Wings of Cold 7750 Engineers/Logistics - 10000 Sappers - 70000 Engineer (Siege units) - 37500 Logistics (Baggage Trains, Convoys)
Leadership Generals of the Empire are handpicked from brilliant officers, war heroes and former warcheifs or tribal leaders; all of them are capable, competent soldiers with public adoration and often hail from military families. Children of the local ruling clan are also expected to become generals and officers. Each general has a custom, handmade Kaidaoshi, a single bladed, machete-like sabre forged by the best smiths in the empire, each one is unique and is often passed through military families. Being a general also grants them their own plot of land that comes with laborers from the government and during peace, life is nice and indulgent.
During times of war, must follow the “Sunset Doctrine”, forcing them to swear undying loyalty to the Emperor and his people. The Sunset Doctrine also places certain restrictions on generals and their armies in peace such as they must pay the laborers on their land healthy wages and are forbidden to enter politics while commanding an army in fear of a military rebellion. Soldiers have to preform a certain amount of volunteer work and guard duty per month in peace. It can be said that the Sunset Doctrine has made the army very popular amongst the populace.
Organization While its is less common in civilian life, racial profiling plays a big part in military organization. While humans are allowed into any of the armed forces, elves are restricted to the army as bowmen or scouts. Dwarves are often made into engineers and sappers along side their human companions. Natives humans however are the only ones allowed to be cavalry due to the fact that most ethnic Ryukyuans have never seen a horse, much less ride one.
The army does not discriminate on gender however, allowing women to serve. Many women join the military to get ahead in society or to follow their husbands who are often soldiers or officers themselves. There have been entire companies formed with these Oneikaju or “Goddess Knights”.
If a person exhibits certain talents or skills, they will be permitted to join a different corps or re-arm, no matter the race. For example, a dwarf who is good with a sword can become a swords man and join the regular army and an elf who is destructive enough can become a sapper.
On the field, regiment and brigade officers lead their units personally based on their own choice rather than listen to a general (mostly because the generals are probably having a drink). This forces each unit and soldier to act independently while still being able to coordinate with each other. The advantage of this is that when a higher-ranking officer is taken out, the unit can still fight with some semblance of order and efficiency and make the overall army unpredictable to enemies, as each unit is lead with some who favor a different type of fight. Due to this thought, each unit is smaller in overall size and considered tiny by the leaders of foreign armies whose normal units are three-times as big a normal Ryukyuan unit. The orders of a general still does out rule all other though.
Logistics Thanks to armories in all provinces and cities, barracks as common as stones and castles that dot the landscape, armies can always expect a fresh follow of supplies, spare weapons and new recruits. While the army requires a fair amount of peasant gold, it goes to good use as the Empire’s road and post stations are funded by the taxes, as is the army. The advent of technology means the Empire has ways to mass produce many of the weapons and armors need by the army thanks to blacksmiths located in or nearby the armories and castles. One of the reasons many people want to join the Ryukyuan army is that the army gets priority over the best fruits and vegetables and actual meat if one is ranked high enough. This idea of breaking away from bland rice and unsavory radishes for meals is a compelling offer more many.
While of less notability, naval logistics is something else the Empire prides on. Outside of the harbors of cities, there are also fishing villages and merchant colonies that are spread along the coast which often send supply boats to fleets at sea, keeping their food and ammunition stock constantly full in friendly territory. Pirate leaders that have been vassalized also give part of their looted supplies to the Navy’s ships.
Army The army of the Ryukyu Empire is threatening enough in their numbers, but their standing army of volunteer conscripts undergoes rigorous and harsh training to make them damn fine troops, heads filled with Ryukyuan ideals and determination, well worth the cost of their upkeep. Spurred on by the words of the Emperor and his loyal generals, they are willing to fight to the end for their nation. Some of the Empire’s most elite troops are famous for saying, “We don’t die. We regroup in hell to kick their ass again.”
The army prefers to use long range skirmishing to a straight up melee brawl. Great technical gains have been made with military technology overall, but ranged weapons has to be the greatest. Crossbowmen favor the Ryukyu repeating crossbow over traditional variants and while Elven archers use bows assisted by rudimentary pulleys. Dispute having little to no shields, infantry are durable due to their armor. As metal is fairly rare, stone coat-of-plates and lacquered wood armor is used amongst melee troops while boiled leather is given to archers and crossbowmen. Levies don’t even get actual weapons or real armor, as they are criminals “offered” freedom for service in the army, however, through prison brawls and other methods, most of them keep up a good amount of fighting skill meaning they aren’t complete push overs.
All soldiers have some knowledge of rowing and can use canoes and rafts as an impromptu Marine force. However, they rarely do this has the heavy stone armor they wear, while protective, is not ideal for swimming.
Hegasi – Ryukyuan for “Regular Warrior”, they are the bulk of the ground forces. Their training is brutal but it turns them into loyal soldiers of the Empire. They are armed with long, halberd with a slim spearhead at the end that pierces through metal and allow the Hegasi to engage enemy infantry with slashing weapons instead of thrusting weapons (Resembles Chinese Guandaos). They wear lacquered wood armor over padded cloth or rough fabric with a fur-lined hide hat. Their secondary weapons are double-edged swords made of iron.
Kengasi – Ryukyuan for “Royal Warrior”, they are heavier version of the Hegasi, wearing stone armor that consists of small stone plates connect with rope to create a coat-of-plates armor that protects them to their thighs. They wield heavy broadswords designed to cut down infantry while their armor lets them tank blows. They have no secondary weapon, but their stone plate gauntlets make for good medieval brass knuckles. Kengasi are a mix of strong human and orcs.
Lenogasi – Ryukyuan for “Ranged Warrior”, they are the main skirmishing units of the Empire. Armed with the Empire’s advanced repeating crossbows and short swords, Lenogasi provide excellent rapid-fire suppression and support. They wear light leather armor and a small iron breastplate over their chest along with leather gloves, boots and reinforced shin guards. While they are equipped with swords, it is unadvisable for them to use it as they only receive a day’s worth of training with them.
Uzbigasi – Ryukyuan for “Hired Warrior”, despite their name, they are not mercenaries. They are in fact convicts and criminals “offered” freedom by being levied into the army. They wear little to no armor and have little motive to fight. The only weapons they are given are things like farming tools, wooden clubs, and stone spears. While unreliable in fights, they are very reliable cannon fodder.
Elven Rangers – Elves recruited by the Empire and famed for their archery skill. Given advanced bows, Elven rangers make for an even more deadly force than the human ranged units. Swift and agile, they can also climb castle wall with little assistance and are quite deadly with their signature-curved swords. Many also are expert falconers, bringing their own falcons to the fight to distract the enemy.
Thousand Blades – Elite soldiers that serve as the Emperor’s personal guard and Special Forces made of only Ryukyuan nobles and swordsmen of the highest degree. They wear rare, full samurai-style steel armor pieces over boiled leather and even have metal helmets. They wield exotic and highly advanced steel swords that can decapitate limbs. These units are born of previous Thousand Blades and trained from birth in one of the Empire’s most prestigious sword school, swearing yearly loyalty to the Emperor. They will fight to the death and beyond as they’re famous saying, “Blades never die, we just regroup in hell to kick the enemy’s ass again.”
Calvary: Given the food shortages that seem to drop by often, many farms breed animals for work or food, not the military. Thus the ratio of infantry to cavalry is off by a margin of 12:1. Most cavalry is used as special units or bodyguards to generals. Surprising to most foreign armies, Ryukyuans are not the one who mount horse; it’s the native tribes and nomad, human or orc, who are part of their land who ride. Most Ryukyuans have never seen a horse in their life (most of the farm work is done by hand or oxen), much less ride one.
Heavy cavalry are the only units in the entire army to use shield along with their lances. The shields are made of the Rattan plant and unlike many of the Empire’s equipment, is hand made by traditional methods.. Light cavalry use shortened crossbows meant for use on horseback. There are special chariot horses that are mounted with siege crossbow, but they are considered part of the artillery corps.
Mounted Sentinels – Humans an Orchish Bodyguards of the Warrior class assigned to generals, they wear iron shin guards to protect their legs on horseback and iron chest pieces over thick animal hide armor. They use long steel lances and convex rattan shield that are uncommonly strong for their weight and even more so when reinforced with leather or hide. Mounted Sentinels are trained to take out enemy cavalry but are also very effective against infantry. Their horses wear a sort of flexible plate armor and also wear blinders.
Nomadic Raiders – Nomadic horse archers who use shortened crossbows and normal bows against infantry. They have a Parthian Shot, allowing them to pull of feints and fire from all angles easily. They wear armor made of thick animal hide and bone, giving them quite a terrifying look that can scare low moral or poorly trained troops. Although they are given swords, most prefer to use large battleaxes for some reasons. There have been multiple attempts to make them properly use sword as they are very ineffective with battleaxes on horseback, but nothing can convince them.
Navy: The pride of Ryukyu is their fleet, built using dwarven guides, human labor, orchish construction, and manned with elven archers; the Imperial Navy represents the diversity of the Empire. Assisted by their military research, the Ryukyuan Navy is considered second to none and is often considered superior to their army. Their ships are compartmented, reinforced with strong timber, and much of their crews are veteran fishermen or merchants who’ve spent more time at sea than at land. Ships are also equipped with the most advanced weapons capable like mounted crossbows, heavy catapults and torch-throwers.
Admirals are treated the same as generals and each ship is independently lead by its own captain, many of which started out as regular sailors. They also follow the Sunset Doctrine meaning sailors have to help out at shipyards and fisheries at peace.
The ships themselves are like tributes to the size of the Empire’s ambitions. Huge but sturdy and well armed. Each is roughly the size of three houses and as tall as one (mast not included). There are also smaller ships meant for harassment and crew by jackasses who get close to enemy ships to set them on fire. Sailors are given cloth or hide armors and a mix of short swords and two-pronged pikes.
Ships: Zhan Zhe Heavy Ships: The largest, and heaviest ships of the fleet, these look less like ships and more like floating fortresses. They can carry up to 300 men spread across three levels who can either board enemy ships or use the ship’s many specialized naval crossbows or naval catapults. They are slow and easily out maneuvered, but getting in range of one of them is a decision admirals will soon regret. Modified versions of them called Zhan Cui are used as admiral ships. (Think of he Nihon Maru from Shogun 2)
Oha Aritaku Medium Ships: These are the most plentiful ships in the fleet, crews range from 80 to 100 men. It large hull space make them ideal for trade during peace but also provide storage for ammunition and room for men at war. Each ship has three masts and has a full level of naval crossbows with smaller, repeating crossbows along the edges to take out enemy sailors. (Think of Chinese Junks)
Hawnajee Light Ships: The smallest of the ships in the navy, but some of the most dangerous. With only 50 crewmembers, these ships are fast and speedy, making them difficult to hit. Further more, newer models are armed with the Empire’s newest weapons, “The Light of Gods”, that fling flaming projectile out of a spring loaded tube. Some models still use various types of crossbow, but they are all armed with archer with large bows who fire flaming arrows, appropriate for a line of ships who translates to “Sea Fire”. (Think of Kobayas from Shogun 2)
A special wing of the Navy is specialized in privateering and pirating that are a cut above the rest of Navy’s normal pirate mercenaries are the Black Wings of Cold. They were once wealthy, legendary raiders but are now under the control of the Ryukuyan government after an agreement was reached with the leader that traded the erasing of criminal record for a decade of service. They are also used as “river police”, using smaller ships and rafts to patrol the rivers and find smugglers. If they find smugglers, they are allowed to keep what ever they find. They use modified versions of the traditional Ryukyuan naval ships, but also have their own creations.
Black Armored Nanbans: Sampan-styled rafts that are even smaller than the Ryukyu Empire’s Hawnajee Light Ships with a shallow bottom and a short, long hut with thin iron plates on the roof and walls with six small holes to fire from. They only hold about five men each, but they are fast and speedy and armored so even landing a hit on them will only do minimal damage. They are armed with six Imperial spring launchers, three on each side, that fire ceramic pots of pitch and alcohol that have been lit so they explode on impact
Black Seal Junks: Heavily modified ships based on the Ryukyu Empire’s Oha Aritaku Medium Ships. They carry two large mangonels that are mounted on turntables so they can fire in any direction. There are also repeating crossbows mounted on the sides and the overall ship is reinforced with foreign hardwoods that offer more protection than the normal wood used by the Ryukyuan Fleet. They carry up to 100 men at once, all of them excel at boarding.
Siege & Artillery:
Thanks to the Empire’s advancing technology, its Engineer Corps siege ability are second to none, supported by a large group of engineers but a small group of sappers. This is because the Empire believes that their war machines will always be more effective than muscle power for good reason. Sappers are actually veteran miners and stonecutters, while not the most professional they are effective but most importantly, loyal and dedicated.
The Ryukyuan idea of what a “sapper” has an uncanny resemblance to that of “arsonist”. While in most armies, sappers clear roads and build bridges, that task is given to the Engineering Corps as a whole. Ryukyuan sappers are trained to be destructive as possible without the use of fancy machinery. They are given ceramic pots filled with pitch or alcohol with a small fuse to throw at buildings and people on occasion. When they run out of their medieval Molotovs, they use large, two-handed weapons like war hammers and battle-axes to chop away. In fact, many sappers are actually prisoners who have been tried for arson or widespread destruction of property, effective as they are, some nations don’t approve of this practice.
Torch Thrower – A sort of spring mounted cannon, torch throwers also go under the Ryukyuan name of ”Kikotama”., literallt meaning “Ball of Fire” The projectiles they launch, while ineffective against stone, can do great damage to wooden structures and enemy units as the flaming liquid can stick to surfaces and burn very hot. They are often used aboard ships or on land as light artillery support.
Repeater Turret – While not really a siege engine, these little devils are crank-powered repeating crossbow who can achieve a decent rate of fire thanks to Ryukyuan technology. Very effective against infantry and are commonly deployed as support and castle defenses.
Siege Crossbow – These huge engines of war are exactly what they say they are, large crossbows that can repeatedly hit the same point over and over again with great accuracy
Fire Projecting Mangonels – Crack-powered catapults who fire heavy, flaming shots. While they take a while to set up, an experienced crew can fire two shots a minute (although their accuracy is a little off.
Military Projects
Wither by choose or by foreign spies, some of the Empire’s future military projects have been leaked. Some say the Empire did this to show off its potential strength while others say it’s a sign of how weak the national security its. Truthfully, it might be a bit of both.
Project Wind Hand – The Empire’s exploration into unconventional weaponry. Project Wind Hand tries to create a combination of an armored gauntlet and a long sword in hopes of creating something that can be both protective and good against infantry and cavalry
Military Traditions:
Pro: Tanis got Talent: Your people are good at what they do, it really doesn’t matter what it is, but due to this, there is less skilled labor overall as your standard are too high.
United We Stand: Your people are united in cause and motivated by your nation’s ideals, working to meet your ever-increasing standards as one. Overall, there is little ethnic violence as all races try to cooperate for the greater good.
Con: Turnip and Radishes: Your peasantry has the singular honour of having the single worst diet in the world. Your more worth-something citizens simply must get every food worth eating leaving your peasants with the two worst foods of the medieval world. And sometimes (if your rulers are cruel enough) brussel sprouts are on the peasants table too. Of course its nobody’s fault when the peasants rise up in revolt (If your food was as revolting you might revolt too.)
Overly Ambitious: The ambitions of your nation’s leader permeate through all classes, but sometime some get a bit too zealous. Border tensions are increased as peasants believe they can take land as they wish and merchants say they can set huge taxes. Obviously this doesn’t do diplomatic wonders, but they’re just jealous of your nation’s drive.
Divided We Fall Nobody likes to loose, nor does anyone like to admit that they were the ones responsible for it. Being a nation of many former tribes, kingdoms and people who once held grudges against each other, when things fall a part on the battlefield, people like to point fingers at their ancient rivals increase both national, ethnic unrest and slowing down the economy due to uncooperativeness. It is in your best interest to either keep winning wars or know what battles to fight.
ESSENTIALS Regionally Dense Population (Population - 4,000,000) - Adequate amount of manpower for economic and military purposes, but it also means that the social infrastructure is under increasing strain. Educational costs and civic projects tend to be affordable.
Economy - Stagnation - The economy is performing well, though there is room for improvement. There are certain limitations on the economy that are bottlenecking real growth, such as a restriction in supplies or insufficient demand, however. There is some unemployment and economic unhappiness among people in the lower income brackets. You heavily are dependent on trade.
Urbanisation - Semi-urbanised: There are several towns and a few cities present, ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand inhabitants.
Technology - Rapidly Modernizing: The industrial infrastructure is in the process of improvement, and this is a teething process. But the economy is seeing increased activity because of this investment. New technologies are becoming domestically available. However, there is a degree of dependence on imports, including in terms of resources and supplies. Metallurgy is high-tech, even steel lies within your capabilities.
Domestic Political Stability - Relatively stable, religious unrest
GEOGRAPHY Largely consists of plains, forest, with tropical areas
RESOURCES Mineral Deposits - minimal deposits of metals and minerals.
Valuable Mineral Deposits - Trace deposits of rare earth metals, predominately gold.
Unique Materials - pearls, dyes
Agriculture - crop and small livestock based, food shortages are seasonally common
MILITARY Military Focus - inferior army but excellent navy, superior ranged units, bad infantry and cavalry ratio (12:1)
Military Recruitment - Volunteer Force Military, additional levies in wartime
Reliability - Levies are of decent quality, generals are fiercely loyal to the ruler
Military Size - medium core of elite units, relative to total population: requires some upkeep, relatively easy to equip/supply quickly, seasonal levies
Military Technology - Rapid Modernization, your nation does not lag behind the rest of the world, and even sets the standard on some levels.
Military Training and Morale - Highly Trained; High Morale, levies are of poor quality with poor morale
Military Leadership - Competent; Rose to their positions through training; decadent
Military Reputation - Popular domestically; considered small by foreigners
Siege Equipment - State of the art, seasoned corps of engineers and sappers; Loyal and efficient
Strengths & weaknesses Pro: Talented: Your people are good at what they do, it really doesn’t matter what it is, but due to this there are less skilled labour overall as your standards are too high.
Con: Turnips and Radishes: Your peasantry has the singular honour of having the single worst diet in the world. Your more worth-something citizens simply must get every food worth eating leaving your peasants with the two worst foods of the medieval world. And sometimes (if your rulers are cruel enough) brussel sprouts are on the peasants table too. Of course its nobody’s fault when the peasants rise up in revolt (If your food was as revolting you might revolt too.)
@Sini I came up with some different Pros and Cons for my nation and I just wanted to roll them past you.
Pro: United We Stand: Your people are united in cause and motivated to meet your ever-increasing standards. The skilled make gains in their respective fields while the unskilled work to bring those creations and gain a reality.
Con: Overly Ambitious: The ambitions of your nation’s leader permeate through all classes, but sometime some get a bit too zealous. Border tensions are increased as peasants believe they can take land as they wish and trade disputes are more common as merchants say they can set huge taxes on goods. Obviously this doesn’t do diplomatic wonders, but they’re just jealous of your nation’s drive to out do them.
Helllooo ladies and gents, I'm Clocktower_Echos as you can tell if your eyesight isn't on par with that of a bat, feel free to shorten it however you'd like.
I do have some RP-ing experience on other sites and fannons and are well-aware of most guidelines and rules but I will admit its a limited amount experience. Creating OC's is what I'm good at plus anything that requires a good amount of imagination to begin with. Beware, I do tend to derp up my ingrish.
Member
DX3214,
Lunamaria Hawke,
KTostada
