Vahir

The Imperial Crisis: Succession

@The Survivor

I would like to see a more detailed biography, but I get that the specifics are hard to do given your limited view of the setting at the moment. As we go on in this, I'd like to see you flesh it out more with the locations, people, events the RP elaborates on. But for now, I accept you into this RP. Post your sheet in the characters tab.

I can totally play both. Is the imperial army run like pre-ww1 Germany/Prussia (staff officers attached to noble-commanded armies, with various but significant control)? If so, running both would be much easier.

@Zugzwang

I think it's fair to say that Imperial Germany is a good reference for the Rozarrian Empire in pretty much all societal, cultural, and military matters. Especially military. And yeah, that sounds like how the Empire would run its armies, but without the 'various'. The Emperor smacked down the nobility hard in the last century after they tried to oppose the strengthening of the absolute monarchy, and the nobles have pretty much lost all say in what their levies do.

@Vahir I have a question. What is the religion in The Holy Rozarrian Empire, since it's 'Holy' and all. Would there be an Inquisition of the sorts? And if yes, could we play them? (Head Inquisitor is a important administrative role I'd say)

@Flynn

Religion of the Empire

The north-west of the continent, essentially all lands not under the rule of the Shah or the Xiang, have for millennia followed the Tverian faith, a pagan worship of three gods: Akuna, who creates; Sverith, who shapes; and Niadmor, who takes away. These three form the circle of life, and are part of a larger whole. Those who create, shape, or destroy become one with the respective god upon death, and thus their worship is also a kind of ancestor-worship.

When the Rozarrians began expanding, three hundred years ago, they also followed this faith. At the time, the kingdom was an insignificant one, notable only for its position on the edge of the towering Nerwain mountains. As the kings grew in strength, they began to appropriate religious traditions as well, declaring themselves living avatars of one of the gods. But there was no true schism until the first Emperor, Ondulf the Great, declared himself Emperor, meaning "One by three" in the Rozarrian tongue. He began the Imperial policy maintained to this day, that the Emperor was the living embodiment of not only a god, but ALL the gods, and also by extension all the virtuous dead.

Now, the religion of the Empire is the worship of the Emperor, with a veil of Tverianism left for theologians to argue over. All prayers are directed to the Emperor, and it is maintained that when a loyal citizen dies, his spirit becomes one with the Emperor. Thus the Empire is also called the Holy Rozarrian Empire, as it is ruled by the gods themselves- after a fashion.

Needless to say, all of this was not terribly popular with the Tverians of the north and western coast, generally called the Livonians. It was an early cause of conflict between them and the Empire, though since it has largely been forgotten under the more pressing issues of ressources, ideology, and the very survival against the might of the Emperor.

Yeah, I imagine there'd be an inquisitor-type role, to root out the dirty Tverian heretics that refuse to accept that the Emperor is the living embodiment of the gods. Now, it'd be more on the style of the Spanish inquisition, more of a secret service of the crown, to be used against political enemies and not always most concerned with religion.

The Imperial Crisis: Succession

So I have two ideas so far: younger prince discovers mixing sulphur, charcoal and saltpeter, forced to go into the military to not get murdered for position.

Or,minor nobility whose family got murdered by royalty for some crime or another, wrongly or not: goes into the army and becomes a general officer of some kind, gotta get revenge.

Which would work better?

@Zugzwang

Well, I'd say #1 works better, but they're both good ideas. If you're able to, you could maybe play both?

The Divine Game [God RP, Worldbuilding]

@Lilygold

Of course I'm still accepting. You're in.

Gonna have the first post up sometime today, assuming UltikanaRe doesn't explode out of giddiness.

Steampunk Imperial Succession crisis RP

OOC's up

The Imperial Crisis: Succession

The Imperial Crisis: Succession

The Setting

"There is only one law, Nature's Prime: That the strong shall devour the weak."

-The Imperial Creed-

The Holy Rozarrian Empire is at its height. Its wealth, derived from the discovery and exploitation of Maandike, those stones of fire, surpasses any other. Lesser nations on which the gaze of His Majesty falls tremble in fear. And, of course, the Imperial Army is vast beyond imagining, the terror of the entire world. The Livonian Federation of the north, that collection of democracies ruled by the madness of the mob, still reels from the last devastating war with the Empire. The great Kubra Shah, though his realm rivals the Empire itself, bends over for the Empire, knowing that his decaying throne is gnawed at by insurgents and terrorists. Only the stubborn Xiang still defy the Emperor's will, and then they breathe still only because he tolerates their survival.

It is in this state of affairs that Crown Prince Admar len Ruthweiler, firstborn son of His Majesty Emperor Norman len Ruthweiler, died. Though the official stance of the government is that he died of a malady of the heart, it is whispered, at court and elsewhere, that he was murdered. After all, what kind of 'malady of the heart' causes nine stab wounds to the chest? With his death, and the increasing age and deteriorating age of the Emperor, the question of who will succeed to the throne has become more pronounced than ever, and in the shadows conspirators begin to act against each other.

You are an Imperial Prince, a son of the Emperor, ambitious, plotting your way up the succession. Or, you are one of His Majesty's cousins, tasked with the administration and pacification of a troublesome border province, trying to do what is best for the Empire. Or, you are an Inferior footman, whose unswerving competence has caused you to rise as high on the social ladder as one of your birth can. It doesn't matter; What matters is that you are but one player in a great game, one that will decide the face of an Empire which dominates the world.

The World

World Factions

The Holy Rozarrian Empire: Once a petty kingdom, thanks to liberal exploitation of Maandike Rozarria is now the greatest power in the world, poised to conquer every other nation. The Empire is extremely aristocratic, and its society is split into three tiers: The Royalty, the Nobility, and the Citizens. Within those tiers, Rozarrians can be higher or lower on the social ladder; for example, the king is higher than the princes, the dukes than the barons, and the rich merchants than the poor farmers, but the poorest of each caste is higher in status than the wealthiest below him.

There is also a fourth, informal caste: The Inferiors, those without citizenship, and unrecognized by the Empire as human beings. They form the bulk of the population of the Empire. Each time a new province is added to it, its people are declared Inferior, stripped of all rights. Eventually, through loyal service, a people can earn the right to Imperial citizenship.

The Xiang Republic: Cut off from the rest of the world since the dawn of time by the impassable Nerwains, the Xiang developed a unique culture and society. The Heavenly Empire of Xiang, as it was for a long time known, was remarkably stable, with only rare civil wars to disturb the peace. The only passable route into Xiang was the Shah's Pass, in the south of Xiang. Because of the great wealth involved, both the Emperors and the Kubra Shahs kept a short leash on that trade route, suppressing any knowledge or exploration of the other side. Thus the Xiang slumbered into stagnation.

Their delusions of superiority were forever shattered thirteen years ago, the day Rozarrian airships flew over the supposedly impassable Nerwains, while a vast army marched through the Shah's Pass. Within a year, the Xiang had lost two-thirds of their land, and all seemed lost. The magnitude of the defeat, brought on by the impossibly large gap in technology, was worsened by the criminal incompetence of the central government. And so, twelve years ago, a revolution overthrew the emperor, and declared the Republic of Xiang.

In the decade since, the Xiang have fought a brutal, desperate war for survival. Every day, their generals make sacrifices, ruthlessness being their only hope for salvation against the iron might of the Empire. Their desperate struggle is only worsened by the knowledge that the Rozarrians are commiting but a fraction of their armies to the Xiang campaign.

The Livonian Federation: Composed of eight sovereign nations, the Federation is an alliance of circumstance. Though all democracies, with liberal social policies, these nations were quite antagonistic to each other before the Rozarrians appeared on their doorstep. It took the conquest of half the Livonian nations for the last eight to agree to a union before the common foe. Though wealthy, the federation remains divided, with each member seeing to its on defense first; a weakness the Empire exploits regularly.

The Kubra Dynasty: An old power, the Kubra Shahs have on paper power enough to rival even the Empire itself. But their realm is unstable, the peripheries rocked by violent insurrection and rebellion. Thus, the Shahs have attempted to follow a policy of appeasement to the Empire, sacrificing even the enormously lucrative north-eastern province (containing the Shah's Pass) to the Empire to avoid the war they know will see the collapse of their empire.

Technology

All modern technology in the setting is derived from the use of Maandike, a rough, rust-colored stone. This is thanks to its property of heating up tremendously in contact with water: using Maandike to boil water powers all modern machinery. Once dissolved and extracted, the form of which is referred to as Maandike Dust, it is also extremely explosive. All these properties have made it something of an obsession in the Empire, to the exclusion of all other forms of technology.

Now, for specific instances of technology. I of course can't list everything, so if you're wondering if a specific thing exists, just ask. But here are a few of the important things:

Steam-powered trains exist, although no other nation has adopted them quite as enthusiastically as the Empire. Powered by Maandike steam engines, they enable the Imperial armies to shift rapidly from one front to another;

Cannons exist, although they are specially built to withstand the incredibly violent force caused by Maandike Dust. Cannons depend not on fire, but on water, which is the catalyst for the ensuing explosion;

Airships exist, and are used for both military and civil purposes. Now, most civilian ships of this kind are little more than blimps. But the Imperial Fleet has an impressive collection of warships which would make the Hindenburg blush, with the largest ones having enough firepower to level a city. They're limited in altitude, of course; to cross the wall-like Nerwains in the north, they had to fly small blimps up to a promising looking plateau, build a base there, and set up machinery to quite literally lift the larger airships high enough to cross the mountains. Needless to say, the Xiang were taken completely by surprise when THAT appeared to blot the sky;

Guns don't exist, or at least any that I would recommend using. After the introduction of cannons, some attempts were made to design smaller, handheld cannons that could be carried by infantrymen into battle. But Maandike dust's lack of stability made it more likely that you'd just kill yourself by firing the gun. Armies have continued to use swords, pikes, and other more conventional weapons of war instead.

Character Sheets

Player characters will be applied in the following format. Note that this is just the minimum of information I expect to be able to understand your character; you are of course free to add more than is included if you can think of something else. Please post the sheets in the OOC so I can vet and approve them before you put them on the character tab.

Name:
Age: Note that if you are a child of the Emperor, you're restricted to younger than 39 years old.
Caste: The castes, in order of importance, are Royalty, Nobility, Citizenry, and Inferiors. Note that the lower you go on that food chain, the less likely it is you matter in Imperial politics, so I expect most people to be either royalty or nobility.
Occupation: Even the most lazy noble has responsibilities, such as estates, or investments. Royals are given jobs running the government.
Appearance and Personality: Give a few paragraphs. Pictures are welcome (hide big ones, though).
Biography:
Motivation: What does your character hope to achieve in life? (ex: Power, a better world, protect family...)

Feel free to ask or PM questions.

The Divine Game [God RP, Worldbuilding]

Probably sometime tomorrow. I'm going to give that time for other people to join.

The Divine Game [God RP, Worldbuilding]

There's a god of structures and inanimate objects? HA! I'll be the god of ideas and creativity!

@clanjos

Talija posted since Oscar did; and he hasn't edited his post since.

I understand where you're coming from, feeling like he's intruding on your turf. But it seems like he's a positive, optimistic, everything-is-wonderful nature, while you're a cynical, violent, Darwinian nature. Two views of the same coin, that aren't mutually exclusive.

I've seen pedantic arguments tear apart RPs before by causing spiraling player feuds, and I'm getting bad vibes for where this is heading. So what I guess I want to know is: Do you care enough about this to risk that?

The Divine Game [God RP, Worldbuilding]

Falke, the Divine Prince

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Aspects

The Divine Prince is the embodiment of the virtues of:
Order;
Industry;
Justice;
Societies;
and Authority.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Personality

Falke is of one mind, in all things.

Stoic and immovable, he does not laugh, or smile. While some would accuse him of approving of war, given his patronage of kings, this is the furthest thing from the truth; war is chaos unleashed, the antithesis of everything he stands for. In his mind, a prince who must resort to violence to be obeyed is no prince at all. But he is no kind god, either. There is no compassion or mercy in his heart.

In many ways, he values cooperation above all, insisting that unity brings strength. Traitors and liars bear a particular hatred of his, and his wrath follows those who break vows sworn to him.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Avatar

Contrary to other, more indecisive deities, Falke bears one form and one form only: That of a majestic king, old, but emanating a sense of awe and authority. This form he shows to both gods and mortals, so that they know who is their rightful ruler.

Image

The Divine Game [God RP, Worldbuilding]

So... What's Falke's Avatar?

@OscarioTheGuy

GOOD QUESTION.

The Divine Game [God RP, Worldbuilding]

<Snipped quote by Vahir>

Does that mean you're cool with my character?

@rush99999

Sure, we needed a griefer on board. Post away in the character tab.

@Vahir Dear gm, shall I change my character? Yes or no?

@TalijaKey

I'm fine with your character as-is. My reasoning is, you clearly see those aspects as being related, parts of a bigger whole, regardless if other people disagree. Your god's view on those aspects are the same as yours; so it doesn't matter whether or not you're actually right, because your god personifies your opinion on it. Gods are manifestations of an idea, an ideology.

Ugh... That seemed a hell of a lot less confusing in my head.

Also I don't think clanjos needs a firing squad, he raised some valid points and his character is cool.

@OscarioTheGuy

We don't take kindly to chemistry jokes around here, no sir!