Richard Horthy

Star Wars -- Winter of the Confederacy

@LetMeDoStuff @ReedeThe23rd @Auz @Kuro @Dusty @Psyker Landshark @Chev I think I got everyone for the OOC plugs

Star Wars -- Winter of the Confederacy

---

The Clone Wars did not simply end with Order 66, or because Palpatine on Coruscant willed the Republic to be transformed into the Galactic Empire.

There still exist many who do not bow before their oppressors. In the Outer Rim, the Confederation of Independent Systems still exists - in name, just barely, after decades of bitter struggle that have seem them fight the Republic and the Empire across the entire galaxy. No matter their attempts, the Empire has learned the hard way that men may die, its leaders may come and go, but its ideals persist. Old leaders, finding themselves betrayed and alone in the corners of the galaxy, have fought the Long War, battle after battle, until they have bled the Empire white in its foolhardy efforts to crush the CIS once and for all.

Terrible prices had to be paid, but in every centimeter the Rebel Alliance has ground the Empire's so-grandiosely proclaimed "Pacification of the Outer Rim" to a crushing standstill. Upon the Outer Rim planet of Telos IV, you and your allies in the Grand Alliance have just won an exhausting victory at great expense. It is the start of something much greater, it seems, as the Empire begins its bruised and bloodied retreat to re-consolidate their strength. They will return, no doubt in greater numbers. But in this moment, there is a rare opportunity.

Yet the Grand Alliance is in a fragile state, and the Confederacy and the Empire alike seem to be entering a deep, deep winter. But perhaps with the right moves, the right initiatives taken, the right moments seized - perhaps Spring will come soon.

---

Guidelines:

This RP takes place in a slightly different timeline, in which the CIS is still holding on - just barely - after the events of Episode III, and you play as some of its remnants still fighting back. While the CIS is severely weakened, it still retains the backing of the Intergalactic Banking Clan and some of its leadership have fled to the Outer Rim, where they plan to consolidate their power and stabilize the Confederacy as a viable alternative against the Empire.

The characters are intended to be part of the Grand Alliance: A large and loose coalition of CIS loyalists, mercenaries, smugglers, and Republic restorationists, united in their opposition to the Empire, and divided in everything else. In hopes of turning the effort around, the leadership in question knows that something has to give, some changes need be made. And when they do, the Grand Alliance shall be strengthened: Trade routes must be controlled, new alliances signed, new armies raised. But in the meantime, the Alliance remains fragmented and internally divided, besieged from without by the constant threat of the Empire, and beset from within by internal divisions about the goal of their war and the best way to proceed.

While i'm at it, a few key differences from the original Interest Check page:

1) No kids. I don't wanna RP with a bunch of 15 year olds.
'ate me zoomers.
'ate me TikTok.
'ate me Fortnite Dar'f Vadah.
Luv me prequels.
Luv me Legends.
Luv me Robot Chicken skits.
Simple as.

2) No Jedi. Listen, I tried to do the whole "artistic" and "organic" way of saying it in the lore boxes of telling it, but apparently for some people they didn't seem to get the message. I don't really want any Jedi-Order Clone Wars "I survived Order 66 and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" Jedi as part of the main cast -- and if there was a known Jedi or even a force-user in their midst, that's a way to get a starfleet of the Imperial Inquisition into bombarding the planet to space dust. Needless to say, if your character is force-sensitive, they probably don't even know it.

3) Use what lore makes sense. If you aren't sure or if you have an idea, ask. I'm way more familiar with Legends than Canon and I used Legends as a general guideline for making the events of this RP. I also recognize that there's a lot of inconsistencies in the lore -- and in general I recommend that you just use whatever makes sense for the time.

4) If you've got an idea, speak up! I know some of the characters already have the potential for a lot of moving parts to get involved. I like that, but if you ever get an idea for something that could relate or an idea of where to take things, just mention it and i'll see about getting it incorporated best I can.

---

The Grand Alliance Against the Galactic Empire:

Best thought of as something of a successor movement to the earlier Confederacy of Independent States, the Trade Federation, and the Techno Union, the Grand Alliance is the name of an incredibly broad association of loosely-affiliated anti-Imperial governments and guerillas throughout the known galaxy. In spite of their best efforts, at the end of the Clone Wars the Confederacy of Independent States had yet to admit defeat, nor suffer an unconditional surrender unto the Republic or the Empire. Even with the death of much of its leadership at the hands of the Empire in the 1st year of the Imperial Calendar (19 BBY), the scattered and diffuse nature of the CIS gave it the resilience of moss: Never blooming, and never dying. In the wake of Imperial re-organization, various pirates, mercenaries, and discontented junior Republics have pledged their loyalty to one another, though in practice it is rife with infighting and bitter ideological, political, and practical divisions. An overwhelming majority of Alliance-held space is firmly in the Outer Rim territories, divided neatly in half by Hutt Space. The CIS - and the Grand Alliance with it - used to control a considerable number of Mid Rim worlds, but they have been pushed back considerably by the Galactic Empire in the years after in small, but fierce campaigns. Notable Mid Rim strongholds still exist, such as Onderon.

The Grand Alliance in the 6th year of the Imperial Calendar (14 BBY) is a truly desperate coalition, born of odd war-born wedlock and little besides a shared sense of stubbornness. It is a motley crew of the angry and the desperate: An agonizing state which simply refuses to die, fueled by hate towards the Empire and the Republic which allowed its rise. They are held together by the tiny, ever-snapping thread by the conviction that, one day, it will be their blood shed upon their soil - that, one day, they will make their triumphant march upon Coruscant as heroes, even if they have to bind the Outer Rim by ball and chain, shatter the Empire's bases planet by planet, inch by inch, and kill every single sycophant and traitor who dares to stand before them.

---

The Main Factions of the Grand Alliance:

Confederate Clique

Remnants of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, their various holdouts are supplemented by localized productions of battle droids and the backings of the various corporations which had pledged their loyalties to what remains of the CIS within the Grand Alliance. While most of their ideals have remained unchanged, the Confederate Clique is currently divided on whether they should seek to topple the Empire in its entirety, or if they should change course to a more reasonable goal of simply establishing a second government capable of withstanding the Empire economically and militarily.

Mandalorian Clique

Mandalorians, whom had fought as mercenaries by both sides of the Clone Wars, have found themselves thoroughly at odds with the ambitions of the Galactic Empire, and have been by in large forced into Grand Alliance as an act to save their dwindling culture. They have found their numbers bolster as pirates, smugglers, and other various mercenaries seek refuge and payment within the Grand Alliance as they routinely hop between Imperial and Hutt-controlled space. Their clique has retained the famous Mandalorian militarism and ultimately seek to topple the Empire in its entirety, though their current alliance with the CIS and the Reformists is one of convenience rather than shared ideology. Mandalorians enjoy their autonomy, and will not easily be absorbed into either a new Republic or an established CIS without significant concessions.

Reformist Clique

The reformist clique is composed of defector elements from the old Republic. Some are simple partisans, while more rarely they are defectors Grand Army of the Republic. Some of its leadership still maintains ties within the bureaucratic structure of the Empire - though some see this as more cause for suspicion. Seeking to re-establish the Old Republic, they wish to use both subtle partisan efforts as well as civic disobedience and political subversion to thwart the Empire.

---

The Fate of the Jedi:

Some 5 years after the proclamation of the Galactic Empire, persecutions have all but decimated the old Jedi Order. Constant hunts by the Imperial Inquisition have carved bloody swathes with what few Jedi Knights remained after Order 66. By that year's end, some thought that as few as a hundred Jedi remained, and likewise there are incredibly few Jedi who have received any formal training from Coruscant left. Most even doubt their existence. There are whispers of a scant few Jedi who have joined the Grand Alliance, allying with the Reformists and hoping to restore the Republic - and with it the Jedi Order. Other force-sensitives have risen in the time between the fall of the Order and the present day, where their doctrine and expertise is largely developed from personal experience and whatever scarce tutelage they can scrounge, but even they pale in comparison to a Jedi or Sith with proper training.

Still, if there still exist any who would call themselves a Jedi, it is a title reserved only between those they share extreme trust with: Both their lives depend on that secrecy more often than not. Otherwise, any Jedi who still lives keeps their head very low down.

---

Character Sheet:

CS Template

[Name goes here]

Age:
Species:
Allegiance: The clique your character aligns with.
Physical Appearance: A description of your character goes here.
Background: Give an overview about this character's history (about 3 paragraphs would be nice). Explain how they got involved with the Grand Alliance, why they fight, and how they acquired their skills.
Skills: Detail any skills your character has that that are important. Put things that aren't what are expected from someone in a resistance army: I think "Blaster shooting" is a skill that ranks up there in noteworthiness with things like "walking" and "breathing", for example.
Weaknesses: Please detail any weaknesses/flaws that your character has.
Equipment: Your usual equipment that you have on hand for most campaigns and missions. Most stuff will be leftovers, requisitioned from the Clone Wars and as battlefield pick-ups.

Code Version

[h1][color=Gray][Name goes here][/color][/h1]
[center][img]Picture link here[/img][/center]
[color=Gray][b]Age:[/b][/color]
[color=Gray][b]Species:[/b][/color]
[color=Gray][b]Allegiance:[/b][/color] The clique your character aligns with.
[color=Gray][b]Physical Appearance:[/b][/color] A description of your character goes here.
[color=Gray][b]Background:[/b][/color] Give an overview about this character's history (about 3 paragraphs would be nice). Explain how they got involved with the Grand Alliance, why they fight, and how they acquired their skills.
[color=Gray][b]Skills:[/b][/color] Detail any skills your character has that that are important. Put things that aren't what are expected from someone in a resistance army: I think "Blaster shooting" is a skill that ranks up there in noteworthiness with things like "walking" and "breathing", for example.
[color=Gray][b]Weaknesses:[/b][/color] Please detail any weaknesses/flaws that your character has.
[color=Gray][b]Equipment:[/b][/color] Your usual equipment that you have on hand for most campaigns and missions. Most stuff will be leftovers, requisitioned from the Clone Wars and as battlefield pick-ups.

Star Wars - Winter of the Confederation

@Psyker Landshark Looks great!

What Are You Listening To?

Star Wars - Winter of the Confederation

@LetMeDoStuff Looks good! I really like the formatting too

BLOOD & IRON: IMPERIAL AMBITION

Barbary Free State of Bessaruga

Hider

Type of Government: Pirate Republic

Demographics & Population:

The population is estimated to be around 9 million - although this is likely inaccurate due to the plethora of conflicting sources and the lack of any care to have a coherent census apparatus in Bessaruga.

What is known of Bessaruga is of its high ethnic diversity. Although it is a term only recently described by sociologists, the state of social consciousness in Bessaruga and its influence from various Eastern, Western, elven, human, orcish, and faye sources into a hegemonous identity that can only be called "Bessarugian". Originally a penal colony that was largely propelled by slave labor in its many plantations, a series of slave revolts a century ago transformed the long coast into a haven for smugglers and pirates. With it came people of countless ethnicities and backgrounds who now call the Bessarugian Coast their home.

Governance & Politics:

Bessaruga's state as a pirate republic has unleashed a very libertine culture. Gambling, prostitution, money laundering, grand theft - it's all legal and openly practiced within its confines. Virtually anything that is desired can be found in its markets and little exists in the way of codified regulations - though countless honorific codes and mannerisms exist, and violating these informal codes tend to result in shunning or heavy suspicion. Bessaruga has little in the way of formal rule of law. Most disputes tend to be settled between the parties involved with the only hope for intervention being the involvement of much larger associations. From a certain perspective, Bessaruga is always in a low-intensity civil war - and that perspective would be, strictly speaking, absolutely correct.

Truces between the varied pirate clans that constituate what passes for the Bessarugian "state" come and go on a near-daily basis. Declaring a full state of war on all of Bessarugia is a maddening affair that few want to deal with: While an individual antagonistic pirate clan might prove themselves to be a rather irate annoyance, such an existential threat would almost immediately bog the attacker down in a massive war of attrition. All of the clans - small and large - would unite against their attackers, utilizing devastating raids and unprecedented acts of espionage, and such a thing is an occurrence that few truly wish to deal with. Besides: How could one possibly annihilate such a large thorn in the side of one's regional foes?

Culture & Society:

Bessarugian culture is, if nothing else, quite accepting so long as one is willing to show the same modicum of respect towards others as one would themselves. People of all races and all sexes of all identifications have come and gone through Bessaruga, and more still call it home. Much to the dismay of many freebooters and would-be adventurers, there does exist many stringent "unspoken laws" and codes of conduct practiced by the various clans has seeped into wider society. Most people living in Bessaruga are disinterested in playing the role of "peacekeeper" - transgressions are typically punished with summary execution.

Crime is the economy of Bessaruga. It is the lifeblood by which the entire apparatus is propelled, and it is through the inertia of the constant thrill that of loot and pillage that drives forth the massive stream of coin to and from Bessaruga.

Magic & Technology:

"Technology" is such a relative term, and it doesn't describe the true progress of Bessaruga's state of being quite too well. Bessaruga has a plethora of skilled artisans who come without fear of persecution. Poets and thinkers, inventors and tinkerers litter Bessaruga to the point of ubiquity. On the other hand, organized factories are few and far between, mostly limited to light industry and production of Bessaruga's essential consumer goods, like paper, canned fish, and firearm ammunition. Proper full-scale development of heavy industry has never been attempted: Simply, there was never much need for it. What could not be readily produced was either traded for or taken by force, and any attempt at such would be a nightmarish ordeal that even the most lucrative of Corsair Lords would never wish to try.

Free from persecution, some of the most well-known wizards, sorcerers, and circus-performers have hailed from the Bessarugian Coast. A good number of these gifted mages go towards projects that most would not consider particularly contributional to the state of the the nation - such as magic-powered distilleries, stage-play effects, and pornography - yet all the same they have thrived and called Bessaruga their home for decades now.

Bessaruga may not be a powerhouse of technological marvel, but it produces a cultural legacy that is truly difficult to understate. In the most unlikely of its ruly taverns and rancorous bars lie true masters of arts and sound, and across the alleys of its . Even if the Bessarugian state shall cease to exist, the legacy of its licentous, free-spirited culture will produce nostalgics and immitators for centures to come.

Military Overview:

"Shooting" and "stabbing" in Bessarugian culture are skills that rank in importance with "walking" and "breathing". Very few people are unfamiliar with fighting in one way, shape or form, and some have experience that dates for decades, even centuries - for some races.

Organization is a wholly different matter, for pirate clans vary from extremely disciplined paramilitary-like privateers-for-hire to motley crews of hastly-assembled farmer militias. Virtually no standardization for small arms, artillery, nor ships exist, and various cannibalized or carbon-copied templates for arms and armor across the world have been reproduced and found in use in Bessarugian raids.

Star Wars - Winter of the Confederation

@Apollosarcher If you don't mind, I think I could give some much better feedback if all the ideas were laid out on the table. That way I could give some better judgement on what would mesh better with certain characters and whatnot.

Star Wars - Winter of the Confederation

@Apollosarcher If they've taken steps to keep their identity fairly well hidden, I could see it working. Though, I also wonder how they ended up going from library work to being a combat medic for Mandalorians.

For good measure, what were the other ideas?

Star Wars - Winter of the Confederation

@Apollosarcher Cool! What were your ideas in mind?

Star Wars - Winter of the Confederation

@Bright_Ops Got any other character ideas?