Cultural Titan

National Ground

I will continue to accept people until Someone tells me to stop. That said I do feel obligated to at least give people who expressed interest a chance to make an acceptable character. But yeah go ahead. The sooner we get a critical mass of characters the sooner stuff can happen IC side.

Tooth and Tail Inspired Idea

roleplayerguild.com/topics/167256-nat…

Its a thing. I finally stopped being lazy and wrote a few paragraphs. I should probably make a cs for prince oscar so we can have an example of a sort of minimum viable product there.

National Ground

Accepted Characters

Bright_Ops:

Artyom Barkov

Name: Artyom Barkov

Species: Badger

Age: 26 years old.

Appearance:
A self made and well traveled badger of respectable wealth, Artyom Barkov appears to the world as a successful merchant; His blue coat is worn but very well tailored and made from good material, his glasses have long left their little imprints on his muzzle and his pants are a dusty cream color that compliments his coat.

Those who take a closer look through will see that being a successful merchant isn't as easy as some might think; His shoes tend to be comfortable and worn, suggesting that he has worn them a lot while his legs are clearly well toned muscle. There are almost always bags under his eyes, suggesting one or more sleepless nights and he is a lot more lean then someone as wealthy as him should have been. Becoming a successful merchant takes time, hard work and sacrifice and Artyom has clearly done all three.

Overview:
Born in Loratok, Artyom's parents ran a local pub called The Eastern Coach; His father owned the pub and was the face of the operation while his mother was largely in control of the finances and the book keeping behind the scenes. The pub itself never fully thrived, but despite its humble nature it provided Artyom and his sisters with a wonderful childhood that even to this day he wouldn't have traded for all the wealth in the world.

The war wasn't something that Artyom really understood until he was older and could look back on things in hindsight. It was just... there. Some dark and horrible boogieman that cast its dark and corrupting shadow over everything, even if the fighting itself was a long way off. Worried for the safety of their children, Artyom was sent off with a friend of his father because he was the eldest at the time in order to see the world (and most importantly, get out of Uskary) and learn how to be a successful trader, learning about other cultures and how to make a living in the world.

The Eastern Coach was hit by artillery fire several months after Artyom had left, killing all inside instantly.

Unaware of the fate of his family, Artyom took to his studies with great zeal. He adored the cultures of other places, saw horrors and wonders that would stick with him for the rest of his life and made a great deal of friends and contacts along the way. What caught his attention the most through was simply the level of advanced technology that was present in other nations that simply weren't back home; It was a market that he could easily see developing if someone was to spearhead it and he could see the profit that such a venture could bring.

Almost a decade after he had left Uskary, Artyom returned to his homeland after the war had ended... and saw the price that it had demanded for himself first paw. Visiting the ruins of the Eastern Coach and seeing the graves of his family... it left scars on his soul that would never fully fade away. He turned to the local priest for advice and guidance through the dark months after his return and with time he was able to... come to terms with what had happened. Not get over it or properly move on, but at least reach a point where he could carry the pain while he lived his life.

Radio Lizard:

Nikolay Martyn

Name: Nikolay Martyn
Species: Swift Fox
Age: Thirty-seven

Appearance:

Overview:

Clothes make the man, and Nikolay Martyn is a man like no other. Tall and lean, he is charming and capable of selling his wares to just about anyone. If you want clothes that make you look like an honest, hard working, down to Earth peasant, you can go to just about any tailor in all of Uskary. But if you want something a little different, something exciting, something that marks you as the intelligent, powerful, classy individual that both you most definitely are, you go to Nikolay Martyn. Think cloche hats, pleated skirts, and flapper dresses. For the men? Denim, silk, and let me tell you, fashion has discovered the crossroads between practicality, innovation, and looks--zippers.

Nikolay is a fast-talker who does everything with confidence.

Honestly, Nikolay dislikes both Uskary and fashion but the money this gig is raking in is too good to pass up. He has to play his cards carefully as his methods of procuring his wares are less than legal. What keeps him safe is his popularity. No Nikolay, no questionably sourced fashion.

He chums around with those seeking to overthrow the nobles, painting himself as a merchant seeking the equality of the classes by enabling the common man to dress like the equals they are with the noble classes. Of course, were those people successful, there would be no nobles wishing to distance themselves from the common folk with high fashion, nor would there be commoners to market to.

He frequently dines with those who wish to see a free market- shouting from the rooftops that he is an independent merchant who despises how he’s been forced to sink to shady measures by the restrictive society he lives in. In reality, less restrictive international trade would undoubtedly put an end to the money he’s raking in, which he is very aware of.

The militant groups? He avoids those as much as possible. He's had his fill of death.

Nikolay has no hard affiliation yet, and probably won’t until he is either forced to make a decision or an option comes along that will increase his profit margin more than the current situation. For now, he does his best to cover his own ass by chumming with every group he can. After all, everyone in this world is just in it for themselves, some people are just more honest and aware of it than others, and Nikolay Martyn is nothing if not honest. Well, with himself anyway.

The Narrator:

Mayor Boris Urtus

"Wolfs, Bears, Eagles and Hawks hear my words!
Our Fatherland was betrayed and backstabbed by weak and cowardly fools.
Mice, Toads and Hedgehogs rule our city's and sell our goods.
Doves and Hares own the farms and demand that we,
loyal sons and daughters who bleed for the Fatherland pay them for food!

I, Boris Urtus ask you,
Does the bear have to listen to the deer?
Does the wolf care about the opinion of rabbits?
When will the strong finally awaken?
When will we claim this land which is ours by right?
I say today Brothers and Sisters!

Today you can take the place you deserve!

Name: Mayor Boris Urtus

Species: Eurasian brown bear

Age: 36

Appearance: A hulking mass of brown fur and dense muscle, Boris is considered large even for his own species. When in public he most often wears a dark green uniform like most senior members of the A.N.O. A number of scars he got in the battles he fought slither through his brown fur. His gigantic paw is often found resting on the pommel of his large, ornate saber, giving him generally a very menacing appeal.

Overview: Born to a family with a proud history as warriors, knights and soldiers Boris future was clear. He was the second son and even though the times were tough his family managed. While growing up Boris quickly made a name for himself simply through strength and brutality. When he joined the army of Uskary he rose quickly through the ranks.
After the external conflicts weakened and the fabric of society crumbled and the livestock disappeared Boris was disgusted. He felt that his beloved fatherland had been destroyed by bureaucrats, laziness and weaklings. He wowed to return it to order and strength.
He and a few of his brothers in arms and soldiers he commanded forged a small paramilitary group which would later be transformed into the A.N.O. Urtus was the most high ranking of the founding members and as such was given the leadership. It helped that no one would have dared to challenge the bear for his rank.
In the months following that Urtus and his group began recruiting former military members and disenfranchised prey animals. They also made quite the name for themselves because of their brutal behavior against anyone that was weaker and smaller than them.

Boris truly thinks of himself and his comrades as superior. He truly believes that might does make right. Many consider him to be brutal and sadistic but the truth is that he finds no joy in hurting other animals. He also is in no way opposed to it, Boris just sees it as a chore, like cleaning up a house. To call him unintelligent would also be wrong, he is quite unimaginative and not very interesting but he has the cleverness and tactical knowledge of a military commander.

National Ground

Don't post here I will put all characters here so I can organize them as I see fit.

National Ground

In this world there are no humans, only anthropomorphised animals. However, not all animals are created equal. Pigs, Cows and other farmyard creatures are consider not even animals by the majority. They are put to work as a slave class. Working farms to grow crops to feed themselves. Fattening up for consumption by the animals. You see a real animal only eats meat.

Uskary is a poor state ravaged by a war from ten years ago where it became a battleground between the Ardesh Empire to the west and the Old Kingdom of Escal to the east. Neither state survived the war, but each side ravaged the countryside of Uskary and it has not yet fully recovered. As such the livestock, which normally would feed the whole population are unable to grow fat enough to suffice. The nobility have for the last decade enacted the harvest, in which animals are chosen to be carved up and fed to the rest of the populace in order to fight the growing lack of meat. Officially this is supposed to be done at random, but in reality the nobles just choose on their own whims, be it to eat a succulent looking subject or smite down some up and comer in the world.

All around nations have industrialized and adopted new governments since the end of the great war. Meanwhile, Uskary has kept a feudal system well past its lifespan and is significantly behind the times economically, militarily, socially and politically. Most of the populace has in secret blamed the old aristocracy for being petty, self serving and slow, but upon the death of the old King, his son, prince Oskar, declared that the government would change. An election would be held to decide who would lead the country and whoever won the election would have free reign to create a constitution to lead the country into the future. Oskar would be overseeing this election personally, but not running in it. He wholeheartedly believes that the people would decide what was right for them.

The elections are to be held at the end of the year where all animals would gather to the cities to submit their ballots. Before then though the leaders of all prospective parties would need to gather in the capitol with at least five hundred supporters to be recognized by prince Oskar as a valid contender in approximately two months.

Many grassroots movements have sprung up in the wake of this announcement, but surrounding countries have taken this as a time to expand their influence over a neighbor. Despite the damage done to Uskary during the war up and coming political parties in Ardesh are making an impact on various levels of Uskary society and the new dictatorship in Escal is sowing dissent for the nobility and exporting the cult of personality for their own leadership. Meanwhile, to the south, the coastal Nation of Veska wants desperately to trade with Uskary to bring its untapped natural resources to a world market and hopefully enrich themselves.

The race is for Uskary’s future. Success will surely guarantee a life without hunger and failure may well see you on your opponents’ plates.

World Rules and Notes

The slave class is referred to as Livestock, stock or just as food and are never included in the term animals.

Animals wear clothes. Livestock do if their particular masters desire it.

Animals are proportionately sized to how they are in real life. There will be a very real size difference between a squirrel and a bear.

Livestock traditionally have been owned by various lords and managed by peasants of their choosing, but with the recent political upheaval many groups have stolen livestock in order to set up their own farms.

Communication is limited. Not only are there no phones, but telegrams can only be sent between major cities. Otherwise an animal must travel by road or fly by it’s own power to deliver information.

Transportation. Some railroad lines were constructed during the war by Ardesh, but they did not are in disrepair. They connect the capital, Yelebousk and Aburom to Ardesh and would not useful for traveling the country even if they were in working order. Other than that some nobles have cars, but for the most part animals must walk to get anywhere along worn dirt paths and some old cobbled roads.

Weaponry in the world is transitioning towards second world war era technology, but the people of Uskary have only muskets and muzzle loading rifles. The army has access to some breech loading single shot rifles, cannons, bayonets and sabers, but modern weapons will need to be brought in from outside the country if desired, be they bought or provided by an outside benefactor.

No sentient plants.

No cryptozoological animals.

It is preferred player animals be ones that would be found in or near Europe, but you can be any real animal so long as you give me a good reason why your character would be so far from home.

GM Message

So if you are on board for this know that the intent is to explore politics and ideologies in a terribly shitty world with virtually no hope of getting better. Society cannot get away from eating each other or at least away from eating the livestock. There are no heroes and attempts to be such will not be met kindly by the rest of the world. You are just going to have to try to be the least bad if goodness is your goal.

Example Political Parties

Bellow are a few example political Parties. Feel free to join them, head them, suggest edits for them or ignore them to create your own. These will only make it to the final game if players want to be a part of them or if I think that a hole can be filled by their inclusion.

Party Name: Canine Unionist Party (CUP)

Leader: TBD

Overview: A Canine only faction, the CUP puts their own first and has ideological ties to the political winds in Ardesh. Believing wholeheartedly in the rule of law the CNU think that the old establishment needs to be torn down because the nobles do not distribute justice evenly. Following naturally from this, those in the CNU think that pack animals like Canines, would be the best choice for taking the reigns after the election as they instinctively understand the need to work together to complete goals and loyalty.

Stance on the Harvest: They claim the harvest will run as intended with everyone being equally likely to be chosen by lottery, but many suspect that no canine would ever be selected.

Other Core Issues:

Desired Government: Oligarchy of Canine Leadership.

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Party Name: The Guilds

Leader: TBD

Overview: Various Merchants who see the establishment of free markets and trade with Veska as the only long term solution to the food crisis. By making money off of coal, oil and other exports the people of Uskary can simply import meat from other countries. To this end they support a meritocratic government where everyone is tested physically and mentally every few years. Those who score well are given jobs in government and those who score poorly are assigned to a number. That number may be pulled randomly for public service, be that cleaning litter from parks, being drafted into the army or being put to the table.

Stance on the Harvest: The less able of society should feed the more able of society when necessary.

Desired Government: A termed authoritarian system with the leader chosen by merits.

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Party Name: The People's Revolution.

Leader: TBD

Overview: Commonly referred to as the revolutionaries, The People’s Revolution is predominantly made up of poor folks who caught word of the great improvements in the lives of the working poor in Escal under the rulership of glorious leader Sabrina Payne. They seek to overthrow the government and join Uskary with Escal. All land and other Property will belong to everyone equally and all animals will be forever equal under glorious Payne

Stance on the Harvest: A popular vote will be held by party members on who to eat. This shouldn't be a problem as certainly all good animals will be party members.

Desired Government: To be joined to Eskal's Dictatorship

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Party Name: Uskary First Group (UFG)

Leader: TBD

Overview: The Uskary First Group is dedicated to seeing Uskary become a dominant force on the world stage by any means necessary. They speak to a nationalism in all animals to make their country great. Openly they support a representative democracy as such a template has been successful in other parts of the world, but in truth they will support anything that will raise Uskary to the world stage. Still they are committed to their principle that no Uskary should have to be torn to pieces to feed his fellow citizens.

Stance on the Harvest: Night raids should be performed to steal food and animals from Uskary's neighbors in order to bypass the Harvest.

Political Party Sheet

Party Name:

Leader: TBD

Overview:

Stance on the Harvest:

Desired Government:

Accepted Political Parties

The UIH

Party Name: The Union of Industrial Harmony (UIH)

Leader: Artyom Barkov

Overview: The Union of Industrial Harmony is made up of individuals that believe that the root cause of the current food shortages (as well as almost all of the other problems plaguing the nation of Uskary at this point in time) is the fact that Uskary is in serious need of modernization in almost all walks of life. The food crisis might have been brought to a head by the ravages of the war but one cannot deny that the lack of investment into modern farming equipment and techniques (as well as an effective method of transporting said produce over long distances so that it wouldn't spoil before arrival) over a long period of time had ensured that the farms would have been struggling to supply the nation with food even if they had been operating at peak performance.

The outdated and almost completely worthless state of Uskary's military equipment when compared to the weapons employed during the war by the powers fighting over Uskary's resources can also be seen as a prime contributor as to the current series of crises; After all, if Uskary had possessed a well trained and equipped military to begin with, their nation wouldn't have been ravaged so badly and they wouldn't be suffering a food crisis right now... or at least, not as bad of one.

The UIH intend to improve the infrastructure of Uskary across the board by first industrializing and modernizing resource collection and production so that it can start trading with other nations in order to pull in the resources required to improve Uskary's infrastructure as a whole to make the country as self reliant and strong as possible, as well as repairing the damages caused by the war as much as possible.

After much debate between its members, the UIH came to an acceptable compromise in relation to how to handle the economy and the market. While the government will control several companies and control public services, private enterprises and businesses will be free to be started, operate and grow outside of government control. However these businesses will be regulated under government oversight to ensure that they are run honestly in order to prevent accidentally creating a crippling financial crisis.

Stance on the Harvest: The long term plan is to modernize farming techniques and equipment so that the live stock can produce a lot more food (and a larger variety of food) at a lot less effort, improving their lives and improving the yields of the harvest greatly in one stroke. Short term, the plan is to use the profits of industry and trade to import food from other nations in order to take off some of the burden.

While the UIH is fully confident in the strength of their short term plan, off the record there have been discussions about what to do in the event that trading falls short or doesn't bring in enough food to help stabilize the situation. While there is nothing that has been considered as more then just a suggestion to be discussed, the possibility of updating the military with better equipment and training so that it can launch covert raids into neighboring nations to help fill up the nation's bellies does have its appeal...

Desired Government: Authoritarian Democracy. The first concern of a government should be the safety and welfare of its people, but people should also be allowed to have their say in how they wish their country to be run via elected officials every couple of years. However, due to the complex nature of global politics and the fact that those that the government serves often times cannot tell the difference between a need and a want, the government should have the ability and power to make the tough, unpopular calls in the name of stability and prosperity for the nation.

Desired Government: Representative Democracy

Alliance for the Natural Order

"The strong will make the fatherland strong. Glory to Urtus!"

Party Name: Alliance for the Natural Order (A.N.O)

Leader: Mayor Boris Urtus

Overview: The Alliance for the Natural Order claims that modern society has grown weak and decadent, which led to its collapse and the destruction of Uskary. They call back to a more primitive time, when carnivores would simply eat and subjugate weaker prey animals. Founded by the relatively young but still very charismatic and forceful war hero Boris Urtus they demand that the strongest animals take control of the state. They are quite nationalistic, but would happily accept support from likeminded foreign powers and sponsors.
While they want a model for society that most consider primitive, they support certain aspects of modernization especially in the military. Since their quite recent foundation the A.N.O grew quite popular with all kinds of carnivores, especially bears, wolves and eagles. Most prey animals are considered weak and are discriminated against by the followers of Urtus. Since many of the members have some kind of military background the A.N.O has become something of a paramilitary group, members are even given military ranks.
Their economic model is opposed to free trade and very authoritarian. Factories and farms should be managed by the state and skilled and experienced Prey animals, most likely party members, should be put in charge of them. The A.N.O, while believing that stronger animals are always born superior also hold the view that one should work to earn his place at the top. Offices like that of a mayor or judge should always be held by strong animals who showed their loyalty for their leader and talent for their office.

Stance on the Harvest: The Harvest should continue and livestock should be continued to be breed when the country stabilizes but until then weaker animals such as squirrels or others should be used as food for the strong. Since the strongest are all members of the A.N.O they should of course get the most food.

Desired Government: Military Dictatorship. The Military should take over the government and all officials should be members of the military and the party. They desire a strong leadership by a single person. The fatherland should be ruled by his strongest son and that would of course be Mayor Boris Urtus. The word of the than newly appointed Mayor-General would be law. In the case of Urtus death the A.N.O claims that the military high command would simply appoint a successor from among themselves but in reality there would probably be a number of members within the party who would want to claim Urtus office.

Character Sheet

Name:

Species:

Age:

Appearance:

Overview:

Map

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/10mG0ScR4Ipoa5goCDk4GmZtgzhdJWhLVTlqC54ipqWM/edit?usp=sharing

Aburom: The northeastern section of the country is perhaps the most primed for industrialization. Its mountains are dotted with many old iron mines and coal is believed to be in abundance underneath the earth. It is the closest to Ardesh and is even connected to it by rail so transporting raw materials across the border would be easy enough if they could be fixed and if modern mining equipment could be acquired. Perhaps though that coal could be better used to power factories along the strong, Briels' River. The animals of and around Aburom once worked the mines back in Uskary's glory days and a lot of this national pride and desire to do simple honest work still resides within the region, but it clashes and sometimes feeds into a sort of longing for the greatness of western powers. Ardesh has built itself a new strong republic just over the boarder and its growing success nationalism has created a desire to be similar. An envious pride to make a new Uskary.

Lilek: The region least touched by the war, Lilek still struggles to make raise enough stock to feed itself despite a great deal of farmland. In response some animals have taken to the Forrest to live simpler lives. Other animals have taken to hunting these "wild ones" for extra food and for furs to trade across the border into Veska. Many merchants have made their home in and around Lilek and they are almost all also smugglers taking what few goods there are for trade in Uskary to the open markets of Veska or part of caravans bringing goods from Escal or farther east to Lilek so that it may then be smuggled south. The lords let these practices go on so long as they are entertained by any particular merchants gifts to them. If any of them fail to impress or get too big for their own good then its off tpo the harvest.

Yelebousk: The capital. Here the king made his court for a thousand years, a place of old money and stagnation and the place Prince Oscar will throw away his kingdom in name of the people's desire. It is a remarkably clean and affluent city, built and, after the war, rebuilt on the back of centuries of heavy taxation. All the streets are orderly and with cobbled roads, all the buildings are kept pristine by the populace and nobody dares step out of line less the military get involved. The air here is a dishonest and hollow one where the troubles of the rest of the country are not directly felt because everyone had for so long agreed to pretend they did not exist. Sure there was still the harvest, but who would miss a few people in a city this large? Some though are starting to find their true voice and feelings in recent days now that Prince Oscar has welcomed it.

Loratok: Little grows in the eastern half of Uskary. When Escal was on the retreat back in the great war they stripped what value they could and burned the rest. The legacy of this has been a lingering starvation that drives the peasants to gangs, crime and making their own harvests. The miliitary is not the stongest here. Strictly speaking their are more soldier in Yelebousk to protect the capital, but they are more visible on account of constantly needing to protect the property of lords, the few remaining innocents and the occasional caravan between Escal and Lilek. Before the war though it had been a remarkably homey and pleasant place to live and grow up and raised enough livestock to be considered the meatbasket of the country.

Tooth and Tail Inspired Idea

@Bright_Ops

I should probably be focusing on classes or failing that writing the stuff for the ooc, but I was actually going to have Loratok be the city/region hardest hit by the war. A barely recovering wasteland from scorched earth tactics employed by retreating Escal soldiers. Suffice to say I like it and at this point have no questions with which to prod at Artyom.

Tooth and Tail Inspired Idea

@The Narrator

I do find it a hard argument that the life of impoverished peasants could be considered "weak and decadent" to be not entirely convincing. Not that their stances need to be entirely reasonable, but this may be a weaker part of their argument. Then again it would not be the primary argument to anyone they wanted to recruit so I guess it will work out. I actually think I have a pretty good idea of what this party is about and part of that is because it is simpler and part of it is because the UIH had some parts of it unexplained. So while I can see it being fine as is, actually the UIH was acceptable when I got it, but we had the time to improve it, how about... Do they have any particular view or care for economics? How do they intend to choose a successor? Is it strictly rule of man and that man is Mayor Urtus? Will it just be his son that takes over? How do they plan to choose lower tier officials. I imagine that this will come down to Boris will take care of everything, long live the strong, but at least their economic views should be expressed.

On the other hand Boris'character sheet is a bit underwhelming. Part of it is that combining personality and biography into a single section does sort of shrink the whole thing down into a less elegant looking form, which is my fault. However, there certainly is not a whole lot going on with Boris as a character. I assume this is because he is supposed to be a very simple might makes right sort of guy and that's mostly fine in the long run, but you should take some time to try and communicate the less simple or at least less typical parts of his character. If he doesn't have any then it may be time to start thinking about it because I won't be putting up the ooc for at least another day.

@Bright_Ops Perfect.

Tooth and Tail Inspired Idea

Mostly done with background stuff like the map. I just need to think of an actually good name for this and I can start making the ooc thread.

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/10mG0ScR4Ipoa5goCDk4GmZtgzhdJWhLVTlqC54ipqWM/edit?usp=sharing

@Bright_Ops

That should do it. I guess one last thing. I assume that they are for state control of markets as you previously had them listed as socialist and given how they view authoritarianism, but if you could sneak in something about their economic views that would be great. Especially as they are so defined by their want to industrialize. Then I swear I will be done and it will be an official thing.

Tooth and Tail Inspired Idea

@Bright_Ops

I do like it better than my examples, but I would be remiss if I didn't prod at it at least a little bit. It is of note that for the most part variety of food is not such a big deal. Most of the population being peasantry there are not going to be a whole lot of people clamoring to have beef after chicken and so forth. I would like you to include what their short term plan to take care of the harvest is in the event they cannot pay to import food. Be as ungenerous to this as possible. Yes they are allowed to not have a plan and be so confident that their primary plan will work they didn't come up with a plan B, but still I would like it to be stated one way or the other.

Secondly, I would like you to expand on what you mean by socialist democracy. Socialist and democracy are sort of flexible words, for example democracy could range from mob rule to a multi-tiered representative structure. Additionally how does heir brand of socialism and democracy inform their desire to industrialize and how does it affect their view of is implementation. Yes this would mean putting quite a bit more effort into than I put into my examples, but I do wish for yours to be better than mine. In many ways it already is.

Tooth and Tail Inspired Idea

Making a map today and figuring out some location info. With that and if a name strikes me, then we can get started.