<Snipped quote by Willy Vereb> Off the top of my head..
Anti-matter is a bit above the tech level we've established for the RPG at present. :)
You have the Federation producing negative energy. Compared to that antimatter is actually minuscule. Besides I don't use antimatter as my outright reactor source but more as a way to initiate nuclear fusion and such in my Atomic Reactors. Antimatter is generally used as a catalyst or high energy "battery" in a way.
I think my Hyperdrive is more of a problem. The interest thread's OP didn't have the FTL limitation so I only realized this after I made my NS. Well, easy to solve, though. Morte discovering a gate is a better idea anyways.
Official Name: Das Grösses Mortereich aller Todestern (Gothic), Imperium Magni Morte (archaic Mortean) Common Name: Morte Imperium, Mortereich, Morte Empire Government: Elected Centralized Totalitarian Monarchy Insignia: A decorated large red "I" symbol with a skull motif in the center. I equates for Imperium meaning the empire in the archaic Mortean. Political Description: The Mortean government is imperial, formed under necessity during the early centuries to fend off the Luxans and other crazy invaders. Initially it was a typical monarchic government with the rule of Karl von Metzel and his descendants. However this soon changed and for 800 years now the Kaiser is an elected title which currently only assumed for the length of 2 years. It's possible to get re-elected but no more than 4 times in a row (so a total of 10 years of rule). Since the title is elected technically anyone can become a Kaiser, provided they pass the rigorous selection method for candidates. There are a few days of promotion and campaign and then the candidates get voted on. There are no solid political parties, albeit siding with certain social groups may provide benefits at the election. After appointed as the Kaiser he or she has absolute power to do anything for the good of the Empire. Yet the Kaiser is tightly monitored and after 2 years pass he or she is thoroughly evaluated and potentially punished for any misconduct (sometimes even executed). The Empire also have ministers and other political leaders with their own powers and responsibilities. Their conditions are similar to that of the Kaiser but to a lesser extend. In Morte everyone watches the other and ready to report wrongs straight back to the authorities. This complex relation of hierarchy and keen supervision what defines Morte social structure the most. In terms of foreign politics ever since the final defeat of the Luxans it's practically non-existent. Though with the first expeditionary fleet being sent off-world that's soon to be changing.
System Name: Todestern (also the name of their star) Todestern is a death world located within the Stormlosweg sector. It used to be a plentiful system with a luminous yellow dwarf star. Then the terrible Kilonova Disaster happened. A relativistic neutron star fragment hit their own star, drastically altering it during the process. It changed and shifted adopting a sickly greenish hue while emitting highly dangerous radiation. During this time it also gained a new name, Todestern (literally meaning Death Star). Absorbing the energy of the neutron star fragment Todestern is an unique astronomical body with many strange and highly dangerous properties. Aside from its constant radiation hazard Toderstern is the most notable for its solar winds filled with antimatter.
Inhabited Planet(s): Mortis and Lux are the only habitable planets and just barely (see descriptions)
Homeworld: Mortis
Mortis is the 3rd planet of the Todestern system. Before the Kilonova Disaster it was used to be Lieberland, a lush green planet. That was until VR220 (Vor dem Reich 220 - 220 years before the Empire) when a neutron star fragment impacted with their star Leichtstern and changed the fate of the system forever. The gravity of the star suddenly increased, shifting the planet's orbit thus promoting it to the third planet while the star underwent its slow and ugly transformation into Todestern. The planet was now known as Mortis, an irradiated death world with only minimal habitability for 4 billion denizens. Yet the dwellers of this world prevailed and through the use of their technology this planet is the home of most Morteans.
Major System Assets: Todestern Ring Not quite a ring but a system of solar panels and mining bases surrounding their star thus providing much of the Empire's energy need both directly via solar power and indirectly via collecting antimatter from the solar winds. Permanent colonies are established in the Ring for the workforce, infamous for their poor living conditions. Aside from energy production some of the larger solar panels were also re-purposed to power orbital construction sites.
Lux Former homeworld of the Luxans. While situated further from the sun Todestern the fact Luxans made no preventive measures doomed their civilization. For centuries after the Kilonova Disaster this planet provided home for the crazed Luxan race. After the Eleventh Luxan War the planet turned to Morte custody but the Luxans never lived it down and in a few centuries they became extinct to the Morte's purging. Lux's position further away from Todestern made it safer for agriculture though radiation protection is still necessarily.
Brennenweg One of the two gas giants of the Todestern system and the primary location of the Morte space industry. The planet has a ring system and multiple moons as well as located in the vicinity of the asteroid belt between Lux and Brennenweg. Thanks to its rings Brennenweg can collect decent amount of antimatter which is then utilized for starting up atomic reactors for local use. Brennenweg is responsible for mining raw minerals and the main producer of advanced superdense materials essential for spaceships. Of course it's also the main location of the Morte warship production.
Silberdort A cluster of multiple large colonies established almost at the edge of the system, located at a "sweet spot" safe from irradiated solar winds and other sources of extreme radiation. The original plan was to establish extra habitation for the Empire's growing population. But they soon realized the luxury in free air, decent greenery and the overall leisure of life made possible in Silberdort. Soon the colonies transformed to a place exclusive for the upper class while the rest of the Empire still struggles with overpopulation.
Outer Rim: Todestern like most star systems is surrounded by an asteroid belt. While not as prominent as Brennenweg these asteroids are also mined for minerals. In addition the Outer Rim is important for defense with warning buoys and patrolling starships ensuring nobody penetrates the borders.
The Hypergate: Ancient construct encased in ice and mistook for an asteroid for millennia. It was only discovered in the Outer Rim after the Eleventh Luxan War and it changed Morte history forever. It took over a decade to be put back into order but now the Morte are ready to explore the galaxy and find new worlds to discover.
Racial Information
Species: Mortean Population: ~ 6 billion (overpopulated!) Morphology: Morteans are humanoid creatures with blueish skin, red eyes that might glow in the dark, sharp teeth and slightly pointed ears. They are at average shorter in stature (~ 160 cm) due to malnutrition but at times they can grow above 2m in height. Due to the effects of radiation they have an alarmingly high percentage of mutations which is sometimes very visible. Unlike humans the Mortean blood is colored cyan.
Anatomy: Morteans have human-like body makeup but there are considerable differences in their chemical system. Mortean bones are made of various bio-steels, enhancing their durability and tolerance to radiation. Though the not so amazing side effect is that Morteans can get stuck to sufficiently strong magnets. Their sharp teeth are capable of chewing through many things and it isn't impossible for a Morteans to chew on rocks and ores (though not the most nutritious choice for sure). Mortean stomachs are versatile and work by different reactions and this generally applies to their entire system. Toxins that could be lethal to humans may be even considered nutrients. In reverse the Morteans have a number of harmful and deadly toxins specific to their physiology. Biologically the Morteans can live for 200 years but in effect the mutations and awful living conditions reduce the average life expectancy to 40 years. Due to their relatively well-adopted physiology to their environment there's a popular theory that the Morteans were actually engineered this way. Though due to the lack of documentation from the Dark Ages and beyond it's currently impossible to determine.
Cultural Information Due to the effect of radiation, birth defects and mutations are relatively common and according to statistics 27.4% of the children die at (or before) birth. For every Mortean death is a common experience which swayed their society into an unique direction. Morteans neither fear death nor welcome it. They accept death as a natural element of their lives and strive to serve their community during the short time they're given (average 40 years). Morteans are utilitarians to the extreme, working precisely like cogs in well-oiled machine. In the eyes of others Morteans themselves do appear almost machine-like, having little in the way of personal goals and instead striving to complete their duties to the community as a whole. This unique mindset also makes Morteans numb to the feeling of loss other species experience. Morteans are capable of boundless cruelty without the slightest emotion behind. Compassion in its typical sense is almost completely foreign to them. On the other hand their higher orientation towards logic means Morteans always do things with reason. They have a clear view on risks and benefits which makes negotiations with Morteans surprisingly simple. The official language of the Mortereich is the Gothic. It resembles German from the ancient human civilization albeit they are far from a perfect match to each other. There are also 3 other major dialects and even more minority dialects within the population which can range from slight mutation to something that doesn't even sound like the same language.
Brief History
TBA
Technological Information
Power generation: - Solar Power: Considerable portion of civilians use solar power mostly gathered from panels surrounding Todestern. This is stored in plasma cell batteries which then be centrally distributed to the population.
- Plasma Engines: Morte's equivalent of internal combustion engines. They use superheated plasma and gravomagnetic fields to drive motors or provide power. They are common as emergency generators where nuclear power is not affordable as well as operating vehicles outside the power grid. Many surface military vehicles also use plasma engines.
- Atomic Reactors: Powerplants using various nuclear reactions to provide energy. They are usually catalyzed by the pair annihilation of small amounts of antimatter thus they can effectively use almost anything as fuel.
- Antimatter Capacitors: Compact mechanisms using controlled pair annihilation to provide massive power. Antimatter is generated by standard methods which is then stored and built up for highly energetic applications, most notably FTL drives and weapon technology.
Engineering/Fabrication: Having both time and abundant energy sources the Morte made great progress at the research of nanotechnology and metamaterials. They can alter atoms for special functions, create matter from more exotic particles (AKA other than just electrons, protons and neutron), force matter into different grid structures or even compress either atoms or grids into a denser yet stable state. The simpler processes are long part of the industry while the most exotic means either are rare or only studied in research labs. While this sounds impressive compared to modern material science the Morte are still far from being the masters of the field and depend on the same raw resources as everyone else.
While metamaterials opened up new possibilities industry was truly revolutionized by using nanotechnology. Nano-scale construction improved material quality and combined with the manipulation of gravomagnetism introduced a whole new industrial method: Nanolathe. By spraying nano-scale particles on an electrical field it's possible to establish a "pattern" after which the constituent materials can be applied on the surface from layer to layer. The whole process can be described as a new and improved form of 3D printing which allows precise and relatively swift fabrication. More importantly nanolathes are versatile and aside from procuring the raw materials a factory line can quickly switch between products. One of the main drawbacks of nanolathes are their energy need which is why they are always located close to an abundant power source. Decent quality fabrication also requires a large area suspended in zero gravity and expensive equipment, promoting centralized orbital factory construction.
Starship propulsion STL Propulsion - Plasma Impulse Drives A family of thrusters utilizing both heat and gravomagnetic forces to turn inert propellant into plasma and expel it at great velocity. It's a variable and versatile system which can combine both high thrust and specific impulse. Also referred as Plasma Drives they practically can use almost anything as propellant. For longer treks it's preferable to burn less propellant while raising the exhaust velocity to maximum. For combat maneuvers it's advised to use more and denser propellant to attain higher thrust at the same output. The larger and more complex a plasma drive is the higher efficiency it could reach. A sizable portion of the Morte ships are nothing but their propulsion systems alone.
FTL Propulsion - Foldspace Drive By manipulating and folding spacetime it's possible to cheat special relativity and effectively move the ship at superluminal speeds. Fold Drives are economical and dependable, capable of continuous operation so long the ship doesn't use power on much else. Compared to other races' intrasystem drives Warp is slower and requires the ship to navigate in normal space. The gravitational forces of the Foldwave Bubble(also called warp field) protects the ship from micrometeroid impacts but larger objects may burst the bubble and the fold/warp effect is suddenly gone, returning the ship to its real speed.
Armor: Durachrome is the most popular family of armor materials within the Empire. It's classically created by fusing metal atoms until they reach an "island of stability" as well as compress the grid structure to the densest stable form. The end result is a metallic matter with great strength and density best identified for its brilliant reflection (hence its name). To ease production Durachrome is typically created within the intense pressure and massive gravity of the gas giant Brennenweg which thus became the industrial heart of the Morte Empire. Of course material strength is only one facet how Morte protect their ships as they employ composites, complex structures and shapes designed to better resist attacks. Morte use their armors as the chief form of defense and it often makes up 20-30% the mass of warships.
Shielding: Panzerbereich A shielding which uses gravomagnetic fields to suspend and rapidly circulate fine metallic nanoparticles for protection. This sphere of particles is generally raised at a standoff distance, roughly around 10 times the ship's length in radius. Panzerbereich are chiefly used as radiation protection as well as converter to channel the trapped surplus energies back to the ship's reserves. During space combat its main purpose is to serve as standoff protection. It can disperse energy weapons, break fragile kinetic penetrators or pre-detonate thinly skinned missiles. Of course the Empire's ships can't shoot through the shields without the same disadvantages either thus they momentarily open holes in the field to send out signals, attacks or launch fighters. The rate of making these holes and closing them is exponentially longer with size. Thus opening tiny holes for comm signals or radar scans may take an instant, holes for weapons to fire through can take few moments but to open a hole for the fighter bay and then closing it might take a considerable time which makes them the most vulnerable.
Sensors: - Standard sensors: A category used to describe typical slower than light sensing and detection equipment like radars, telescopes and so on.
- Hypersensors: A category of superluminal forms of sensing and detection. They are typically active detection like foldspace radars but there are tachyon imagery methods which passively gathers background tachyonic shadows of objects. Tachyonic sensors are crude and require digital enhancement by combining it with other sensory data to be more reliable.
Communications: Foldwave radio is a superluminal communication method replacing nearly all standard methods. They are fast, precise and more resistant to interference. Quantum Link is an older superluminal mechanism which was used to disprove past skepticism about faster than light travel. It uses quantum entanglement to resonate between two attuned devices thus effectively achieve instant communication regardless of the distance.
Computation: Quantum computing is widely utilized in Morte systems. Unlike semiconductor type deterministic computers a quantum computer works by probability and uses various quantum mechanisms. Quantum computers store data in qubits and these systems are inherently not compatible with normal computers. Quantum computers don't inherently offer greater computation speed but their mechanics allow mathematical formulas which speed up probability calculations massively. You could say that quantum computers are made for quantum mechanics, a field of science important to understand particles and nanotechnology. Military-grade quantum computers operate at extreme temperatures and use foldspace fields to minimize quantum decoherence. This allows them to operate at much higher performance in return for considerable power drain. In addition when a military grade quantum power loses power or has a field malfunction it instantly turns toast. To prevent the worst case scenario starships also have backup systems storing most data in case of emergencies.
Weapons: - G-Rails: Railgun systems that use plasma armature to electromagnetically launch matter at hypervelocity. Plasma armatures don't degrade from the strain and recycle the waste heat back into the power reserves. Plasma Railguns can either shoot solid projectiles or small packets of matter at far greater velocities (thus behaving like energy weapons).
- PPE: Pressed Particle Emitter. Not quite an unique weapon but a mechanism. It accelerates tiny amounts of flash-compressed matter in an extremely thin stream of great density. Since the particle mix is unstable it violently explodes but before that it will likely penetrate the hull. The effectiveness of the PPE degrades with range thus they are most commonly used that can be defined as short range in space warfare.
- Missiles, Torpedoes: Best interpreted as AI/telemetry guided tiny spacecraft these weapons are used for long range warhead delivery. Depending on their design and loadout they can fill out many roles. Missiles are usually described as the smaller type used for long range interception or light ordnance unleashed en-masse. Torpedoes are much larger and generally fielded against enemy warships. Torpedo launchers are classically found at the front since they tend to be shot via gravomagnetic catapults to give them a speed boost.
- Plasma Warhead: The equivalent of conventional warheads in Morte. Essentially they're weaponized plasma cells that violently burst when triggered though the exact mechanics are more complicated. Plasma warheads are inherently dense with electromagnetic fields and manipulating this could alter the shape of the explosion to fit more specialized purposes. In addition the charged plasma naturally acts like EMP, knocking out any insufficiently reinforced electronics. While versatile plasma warheads are much less energetic atomic warheads which makes them a relative niche in comparison. Most commonly found in cheap missile systems.
- Atomic Warhead: Compact nuclear devices commonly used for long range ordnance. They can use various types of fusion and fission alike depending on which design fits the purpose the best. The most popular type splits superdense radioactive metamaterials for massive power.
- Antimatter Warhead: While nuclear reactors can be catalyzed by antimatter this kind of warhead relies entirely on the pair annihilation of matter-antimatter for destructive effects. They are undoubtedly powerful but nowadays Morte considers them a waste of strategic materials since Atomic Warheads can reach yields close to the same level. As such pure antimatter warheads are rare though not completely unheard of within the Empire.
- Lancer Warhead: By shaping the power of atomic reactions it's possible to unleash a relatively coherent "lance" of extreme velocity plasma to attack reinforced targets. They're the atomic equivalent of shaped charges and have the best effect on direct hit as the cone of plasma jet loses intensity with range. Lancer-B was developed as a newer alternative which basically turns the warhead into a single shot laser projector, increasing its focus and firing range albeit at the cost of further reduced efficiency.
- Jaeger Warhead: A recent development which is still undergoes field testing, it uses well placed smaller warheads to compress the matter to superdense state while launching it like a focused jet at the target. Basically the result is a bomb-pumped PPE. It has less range than Lancer-Bs but can pack a surprising punch.
- Kinetic Warhead: The simplest form of space missile, it's nothing but propulsion with a superdense penetrator core at the front.
- Multi-kinetic Warhead: Missiles that carry multiple kinetic penetrators and disperse them in well-calculated pattern prior to impact. Sometimes the sub-munitions also have guidance and limited propulsion to assist them finding targets. Other times the warhead is nothing but the void combat equivalent of a canister shot.
- Beehive Warhead: When canister shots are put to the logical extreme. Beehive Warheads are a deceivingly sophisticated weapon which uses countless micron-sized balls of superdense metamaterials precisely positioned by an electromagnetic field emitted from the center of the device. The result is a deadly "wall" of trillions of hypervelocity micropellets usually spread exactly a centimeter from each other spread in a circular area with dozens of kilometers in diameter. Beehive warheads are excessively used for long range interception and they can be dangerous to anything not sufficiently protected.
Military Information
General Description: With almost a thousand years of constant warfare with outside aggressors Morte became a militaristic nation where soldiering is part of every citizen's duty. Just prior to reaching adulthood all Morteans regardless of gender receive combat training and discipline. The best of the trainees are offered to become part of the regular military which, given the overall better living conditions of soldiers, is an offer not many refuses. Even after the training adult Morteans are obliged to periodically refresh their soldiering skills and accept to be drafted in a moment of notice. This kind of social structure aided Morte to eventually triumph over their technically superior enemy, very much drowning them in numbers. On the other hand having a hundred years without war the Morte civilization faces the greatest crisis since their foundation: Peace and prosperous growth.
Space Forces: The Mortenkriegsflotte is the most important part of the military. Their task is to secure the Empire's borders and fend off foreign invaders. With centuries of war history and conflicts with aliens the Morte amassed considerable experience at space warfare. Their starships are built armored and tough, designed to survive more than a few penetrating hits. On the other hand Morte ships are relatively small to allow them to manufacture even more of them. The preferred Morte fleet tactic is massed long ranged fire and thus their main cannons are fixed at the front.
Ship Categories - Small Craft:Fighters and such space vehicles. They are agile and small, perhaps even too small because they lack a viable FTL drive.
- Escort: Demi-warships often just large enough to carry an FTL drive and guns enough to be considered a threat. They are lightly armored but numerous compared to warships.
- Warship: The backbone of the Mortenkriegsflotte
- Capital Ships: The largest warships which are often equipped with nanolathes and other equipment to better support the fleet. Their extra capabilities increase the versatility of a fleet considerably.
Ship Classes - Fighters: Small space vessels usually consisting little more than a cockpit with guns strapped to the engines. They are swift and also light enough to be employed in surface combat. Their chief roles in space are interception though they can have some anti-ship capabilities.
- Gunships: Little brother of the destroyers these vessels are armed to teeth while being small enough to be loaded into carriers. Their role is bombardment and attacking warships.
- Corvette: Usually the smallest kind of Escort, they are lightly equipped but at least capable of FTL travel.
- Destroyer: Escort ships equipped with anti-ship weapons and essentially used as force multipliers. Destroyer is less of a fix class and more like a design philosophy with Heavy Destroyers actually counting as warships.
- Frigate: Usually the smallest type of warships, frigates are less heavily built than the rest of their peers. Compared to other ships their STL/FTL speed is superior but at the expense of protection and firepower. Perhaps exactly because of this the century of peacetime saw renewed interest in them and most innovations and new ship classes were frigates.
- Cruiser: The standard warship they are mid class in weight and the workhorse of the fleet.
- Battleship: Heavily armed and armored ship designed for more demanding roles.
- Carrier: Large warships designed for carrying as many small craft as possible. Their variants fickle between the size of warships and capital ships.
- Dreadnought: The largest type of warships which deserve to be referred as capital ships. They tend to use more experimental technology, both for its good and bad.
Ground Forces: Most of the Empire's wars were fought in space which means they put relatively less emphasis on ground forces. Many equipment used in surface battles are over a hundred years old. Vehicles are relatively small in number. Infantry due to their usefulness for boarding actions saw the most improvements in the history of the Empire. There isn't a single adult in Morte who didn't serve in the infantry for at least a short while. Currently at "peacetime" the size of the ground military is limited to 2.5 million but this number can steadily climb during wartime. On the other hand the Morte has limited experience at planetary warfare (mostly involving the Luxan Wars from centuries ago) and their training mostly composes of policing, ship boarding an the basic army drill.
The common foot soldier serving within the Empire. They wear nanofiber mesh suits which provides minimal protection and acts as an external layer of artificial muscles for small but notable assistance. This is reinforced by plates of durachrome layered with other elements to provide passable protection against futuristic small arms or the odd hypervelocity shrapnel. Morte suits are environmentally sealed and provide safety in hazardous areas. Their most common armament are PASER Rifles and plasma grenades. Against more protected targets they generally use missile launchers and portable PPEs.
Positron Accretion Stimulated by Electromagnetic Radiation. It's an old kind of weapon mechanism Morte utilized to arm their ships with in the past. While wasting antimatter is no longer a viable option at ship-to-ship warfare a refined version of this technology found application within the line infantry of all things. It shoots nanograms of positron jacketed in metaparticles neutral to it and shoot out via a compact gravomagnetic accelerator. As the thin particle "shell" penetrate the target the positrons react with normal matter thus producing an explosion akin to a small grenade (not to mention spreading EM radiation). Preparing the "particle shell" takes some time (for safety reasons) thus the PASER Rifle is limited to semi-automatic rate of fire. To avoid a lucky shot to the AM storage leading to catastrophic results the antimatter is kept in metaparticle form and only converted prior to assembling the "particle shell" in the chamber. PASERS consume a surprisingly low amount of energy per shot and reliable enough that a soldier can use it for the entire length of battle without any maintenance or recharge. On the other hand once the enemy understands the nature of the PASER they are relatively simple to deal with. Either shields or sufficiently thick layer of exotic material which lacks electrons would render the PASER into just a highly focused low energy particle rifle which only leaves a microscopic wound channel. Morte ship and military installation interiors are "neutralized" to make PASER use safe within them.
Gravomagnetic Arms, an old type of weapon using gravomagnetics to accelerate hypervelocity projectiles to the target. There are many types ranging from civilian and sports guns that use simple mechanisms and solid bullets to ones that use a miniature nanolathe to prepare the projectile for more specialized performance. GMA are getting you much less "bang" for the same energy spent on the shot thus they aren't the primary military guns anymore. On the other hand you never need to worry about antimatter containment which makes them still very popular. Specialized units also use advanced GMAs for unique situations or when PASER countermeasures are in effect.
Pressed Particle Bazooka. Morte infantry does make use of advanced missile launchers but they found a more cheaper alternative to take on hardened target. PPB is basicallya scaled down infantry-portable PPE which shoots a thin stream of flash-compressed superdense matter, only at lower velocities. PPEs are extremely energy efficient when it comes to penetrating armor and shields plus when it set up right it can dump all its energy inside bunkers or vehicle compartments. On other hand Bazookas consume a lot of energy (require replacement plasma cell after each use) and compressing the particles to pre-critical stage takes a while (and you can't hold particles in this state for very long so you can't just ship Bazookas "ready"). In spite of that PPBs are quite popular and it's unlikely they go out of fashion anytime soon.
I'll either go with a reimagination of Krugstahl (no human civ prior is needed) or a modified Morte Imperium. Any of my other concepts don't work. And why I want these instead of a new one? Because it saves time and more importantly I never ever got to RP out any of these factions in earnest. BTW, is it fine if I already had (NPC) alien contact?
I'll probably join with the Morteans this time. My other alternatives are more fit for different style of games. It's fine if I had prior contact with NPC aliens, right?
@ClocktowerEchosYour previous version allowed nations like my Mongorks who were nothing like the WHFB orcs. This time it seems we adhere closer to the canon. I am not sure if a radical faction like mine would be viable here so for now it's not that likely I can re-join this NRP. Either way, I wish the best for you and everyone who wishes to participate.
The Heavenly Empire of Yllendthyr, the eccentric land of the elves. While far from being the sole elvish community Yllendthyr is currently the only nation in Albion under elf rule which along with their long isolation in the distant Yllend'tollome archipelago led to their unique culture. In the distant past each island grew its own tribe of elves. Yet as shipbuilding improved the so far vast distances grew awfully short and wars were inevitable. Legend says Yllendthyr was the greatest tribe and over the time it conquered all neighbors and declared itself empire over all seven islands. Yet it was not enough, in order to provide unity Yllendthyr spread a new religion known as Arvandor. Undeveloped and new at the time, Arvandor basically just provided an excuse for the Ymheodr (Emperor) to declare divine mandate and legalize the rule of their dynasty as God's will. Thousands of years passed in slow growth, relatively unchanged. The religion of Arvandor grew powerful and gradually reversed the balance, making the royal family rely on them instead. Yet the rule of the emperors didn't end until a few centuries ago. By this point Yllendthyr was long past its phase of isolation and actively interacted with the rest of Albion. Thus when their allies came under attack by Lindosian crusaders Yllendthyr came to their aid, with disastrous result. The military failures and loss of nobles shook Yllendthyr's society and the royal family had no choice but hand over the empire to the Arvandor church. Ironically aside from the dethronement of the last emperor, Yllendthyr didn't change. In a sense the archpriestess of Arvandor took over the same role. Unlike the Emperor the Archpriestess owned no land and the system shifted even more towards the nobles. At the same time Lindos died and his hastily conquered empire fell into pieces. Using the chaos Yllendthyr conquered the country of Galhonore and made a foothold in the main continent of Albion. In the eyes of many Yllendthyr might had been just an empire in name but this status could change any time.
Alternative Names: Yllendthyr, The Elvish Empire Territory Names: Yllend'tollome (Yllend Archipelago, mainland), Sephylan (island of fairies), Galhonore (continental holdings) Demonyms: Ylendlen (from Yllendthyr, pl: Ylendlin), Edhelywen (high elf, pl: Edhelywlin), Syndwen (common/wood elf, pl: Syndwlin), Mutgwen (human in Yllendthyr, pl: Mutgwli), Tylwyth (Fairies), Ur-Khazd (Ur-Dwaves, unique group originating from Uralith), Ngheldyn (Centaurs, especially those native to Galhonore)
Geographic Overview:
Yllendthyr is the dark cyanish green territory on the North:
Map Legend
1 -Yllendost
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 -
7 - Sephylan (faerie island)
a - Yllumírë (capital)
b -
c -
Yllendthyr's main holdings are the 7 mysterious islands of Yllend'tollome. The archipelago is surrounded by ancient magic that permeates everything. In spite of being at the edge of the tundra zone Yllend'tollome enjoys an evergreen temperamental climate with rich forests and unique species. Without the trained eye Yllend'tollome might seem wild and untamed, the neverending lush forests covering most of the surface. Only the neat order of the trees show signs of cultivation. Ylledthyr's elves live in harmony with the nature and long mastered to blend in with the surroundings. You might cross an elvish village without ever realizing it. Cities as a whole are a rare sight and generally associated with major ports.
Galhonore is a relatively fresh addition to the Empire, formed just a few hundred years ago. Relatively rich yet rural lands once part of the great Lindosian Empire. This didn't change much even after they came under Yllendthyr's rule. In spite of this Galhonore holds more than 80% of the Empire's population, mostly working in farms. What makes these fields unique the alarming lack of crops. Yllendthyr encouraged the cultivation of edible roots. Radish and turnips are all what the average peasant could eat. In addition they're known for growing a species of hemp unique to Yllendthyr, their white stalks becoming an increasingly common sight surrounding rich manors. While the rural nature of Galhonore barely changed, its environment underwent considerable shift to resemble Yllendthyr, even if just barely. Forests are sacred and shine with almost unearthly beauty. Even the environment changed with winters becoming tame as of late. Nobody among the common folk knows what could've caused this. Some claim divine miracle while others cry "damned daggerears' conspiracy" to turn the very lands against their inhabitants. We might never learn the truth.
Society Overview
Government
Yllendthy is nowadays considered a theocracy yet it's mostly the same imperial system as it's used to be in the past. This is partially because the Arvandor priesthood had de facto control over the Empire for long so the most striking difference is really just that instead of the Ymheodr (emperor) and his royal line the official ruler of Yllendthyr is the Herastareth (archpriestess) now called the Ymhastareth (untranslatable, the term hierophantissa-empress or just archpriestess would do). Since only a short few hundred years passed since the "coup" the reformed empire only has one priest-empress, Iallril Iorthoniith Isyranshara.
As an empire Yllendthyr has a complex government system but before we get to it we need to distinguish two classes of elf (or practically three): commoner and nobles. Yllendthyr's elves believe in freedom as far as their race goes and thus sneer at even the idea of serfdom. In Yllendthyr no elf can be slave. Freedom to travel, migrate or practice any of the acknowledged professions are given from birth. Anything but ownership of land. That's the privilege of Aradynn (nobles) who can practically "rent" their lands to commoners. The price of this would be always discussed between parties, if the commoner finds it too much he or she can try searching elsewhere. This degree of competition and minimal government oversight prevents abuses and ensures the survival of the system. Aradynn were once the warrior caste of the elvish race, tasked to protect the land with their lives in return for unique status and privileges. Over thousands of years this had changed, they formed a semi-feudal system with nobles of higher rank ruling lower nobles who in turn governed their lands. While military power remained within their grasp they were no longer soldiers, even if they often prided their warrior roots. While the archpriestess is considered the ruler of Yllendthyr the true political power lies entirely within the hands of nobles. That being said there's no noble who wouldn't bow in the reverence of Arvandor thus while the archpriestess technically owns no land she can exert her power the same.
Another unique class of elves are the religious order of Arvandor. Back when nobles were still chiefly warriors and they lived in more chaotic times it was a custom to send the daughters of the family to the Church to become priests. That wasn't so much motivated by piety but practicality, in order to ensure the family's survival no matter the fortunes of battle. This custom grew into tradition, the tradition then grew into something akin to a dogma. The priestesses of Arvandor enjoy a special status their male brethren cannot compare to. That being said priesthood is no longer exclusive to noblewomen and if they feel the call, noblemen or even commoners can join. The role of priesthood is a complex one. Aside from their religious duties they have near monopoly on education and magical practice. There's no rule preventing schools not aligned with the Church but they're extremely rare. Priesthood in general forms the intellectual core of Yllendthyr's society and they teach everyone from the aristocrats to the last elvish commoner. Arvandor's priests are unique in their vows of non-violence. Those becoming fully fledged members of the Church renounce any acts of violence, no matter how small. Although it worths noting that this violence only applies against people, nor it prohibits indirect acts. Yet that's up to individual interpretation and your average priest is the model of pacifism.
The elvish pantheon and creation myth, perhaps one of the eldest religions in the world. It states the word (Arda) is the creation of the supreme god Ao and its chorus of Aiurons. The latter are divine spirits akin to angels in certain myths but basically elves use them as an excuse to continue their ancient naturalist/polytheist roots under a strictly monotheist system. Aiurons are more recently used to explain gods of other religions and promote tolerance to them. Under such excuse the practice of Lindosianism and any other faith are allowed for people. Although worths knowing that according to Yllendthyr's laws those serving a lord must assist him in the religious practices. Thus it isn't rare for humans to have two religions and live in a strange life of respecting them both. It goes without saying that practically all elves in Yllendthyr are rigid believers of Arvandor.
Personnel of Importance:
Ymhastareth (Hierophantissa-Empress) of Yllendthyr she's the ruler of land and religion within the Empire. Her beautiful appearance radiates purity and charisma not marred with even the passage of centuries. Thanks to this she's revered as a saint in Yllendthyr and even the highest nobles serve her with blind loyalty. She's a powerful sorceress if not the most powerful magic user within the Empire. She can project her voice over vast distances and can support her nation from the safety of her high tower. As the archpriestess her duty is also that of prophecy and interpreting the Arvandor's will. Thanks to all these she can assert full control in spite of the fact Iallril owns no land or any other form of worldly power. She has the entire nobility obeying her just for asking it nicely. In spite of her saintly aura Iallril isn't a weak political player, almost the opposite. Under her rule Yllendthyr had become surprisingly proactive by elvish standards, turning from an isolated archipelago into one of the major powers in the continent. Of course not even Iallril is safe from critique and with her growing fame so sprung up rumors of her cruelty and two faced behavior, not to mention tales of even worse. Of course no loyal Yllendlen would believe any of these lies and keep the image of Iallril on a high pedestal.
Demographics
The entire Empire of Yllendthyr has the population around 4,750,000. This involves elves, humans and potentially other races. Elven population is around 30% yet they have borderline exclusive political might. They're considered the truly free citizens and even if not noble you are extremely discouraged to insult an elf. Since the conquest of Galhonore the humans make up the main bulk of the population. Serfdom is deplorable and doesn't exist within Yllendthyr, no matter the race. In effect humans are similarly free people, albeit with limited political influence. Ironically enough slavery does exist. One can give up his or her freedom in order to gain money or pay up his/her debt. At times criminal punishments can also involve slavery. The effectively free labor of slavery has a strangely positive effect on economy and while not rare only a few percentage of people work as slaves in Yllendthyr. The status of Tylwyth (fairies) is far worse. They originate from the seventh island Sephylan which technically has its own government the Sephylan Kingdom ruled by the queen of fairies. In effect though they're under the joint control of the six other islands who almost view fairies as slaves from birth. Rough estimates put Sephylan's fairy population around 10 million yet they are so tiny that most census view them as insignificant. Fairies are tiny creatures with low intelligence and a generally underdeveloped culture. They are popular as tiny attendants of elves or working for the light industry. In spite of their obviously subservient position the quality of life was improved to them thanks to Yllendthyr supplying sufficient food as prior to this famines were common. Aside from these three races Yllendthyr has two groups that didn't quite assimilate into their society but rather formed enclaves. First there's a group of Ur-dwarf conservatives that settled down in the Ered'Lyn mountains. They trade with the empire and maintain strong ties but they aren't under Yllendthyr's proper control. Another are the centaur tribes to the north who maintained their nomadic lifestyles yet strongly aligned with Yllendthyr now. Aside from these there are bound to be tiny minorities of other races and cultures but they aren't relevant for the nation's policies as a whole. Total Population: ~ 4,750,000 Elves: ~ 1,5000,0000 (> 30%), 10% of them are high elves (~ 3.2% of total population) Humans: ~ 62% (~ 3 million) Dwarves: ~ 1% (around 50,000) Centaurs: ~ 5% (around 250,000) Other: ~ 0.5% (~25,000) Faeries: ~ 10,000,000 (they don't count to the population)
Elves are tall, slender and generally beautiful humanoids distinct for their pointed sharp ears. They are lightly built with hollow bones and evolutionarily they might be descendants of birds. At average an elf weighs half as much as a human of comparable height and this also shows in their physical capabilities. Simply put elves are weak and fragile compared to humans. On the other hand they are quite nimble and dexterous. They have heightened senses combined with superior reflexes, balance and coordination. They even have what can be described as organic gyroscopes, aiding not just their posture but even help in navigation or to feel velocity. It's said that an elf can tell the speed of his arrow by the moment he released it. Elves are beautiful and aesthetically pleasing to most humanoid races but they're the most famous for their longevity. The average elf is expected to live for around 300 years and more magically gifted members might dramatically extend this. in addition they are resistant to a number of natural poisons and diseases. In general elves have a somewhat different perception of time and view decades almost as others see years. Elves are more attuned with the nature and forests are considered their natural habitats. It's little known fact that elves are omnivores, of a particularly strange kind. While they don't graze elves can consume and process plants and especially enjoy eating flowers for desert. Of course when active their body demands meat but generally an elf can handily live off the nature. That being said their weird eating behavior has some weird holes in it and a few food products humans commonly eat are not possible for elves to consume, or worse it might be even poisonous to them. Speaking of which there are toxins that can kill elves and completely harmless to humans. As said elves are long-lived but they also take longer to grow up. An elf of 20 years is still barely a teenager if that and respectable adulthood doesn't start until an elf hits 100 years. As such they view most other races like impatient children, they just can't help it. Also pregnancy for elves is a much more serious issue as during this period the woman is weak and vulnerable, demand tending and protection. Add the fact elves have usually low fertility and communities often watch over pregnant elves together. This did contribute to female elves living a more sheltered life but otherwise there's no stoppage of women going into war or doing almost any job men would. Elven societies are in general promote freedom and encourage their members to explore all that life has to offer for them. There are three stereotypical elves: the hermit, the master and the adventurer. Hermits devote their entire life to a single profession and perfect it, they are extremely dedicated to their job. Masters specialize in learning multiple professions through their life and once they got to a level they move on to the next. Adventurers are taking elvish free spirit to the limit and at times even beyond, they wander and never stuck in one job for long. These are of course stereotypes but they describe the diversity of styles an elf could map out their life. Since they live so long and their culture is about living into old age, elves in general are far less keen on dying for a purpose than humans. They just wanna live and enjoy the life. Thus there's a general perception of elves as "cowardly" by other races. While elves like every culture has some of the weak and treacherous among them they hold their word and honor. They just aren't charmed with the whole "death with honor" aesthetic. Elven way of thinking is a bit more pragmatic and values objective results more than perceived moral superiority. To them accomplishing your duty and living to tell the tale is much more respectable than dying because you were bound by word.
A term mostly used in reference to Yllendthyr's elvish population. This word actually has two meanings and consequently two entirely different uses. First, it's used for any elf originating from Yllendthyr. The elvish name of this is Syndwen (pl.: Syndwlin) which translates as "wood folk", specially in reference to elf-folk of the woods. A more correct reference to this by Yllendthyr's humans is "common elf" or even "wood elf", albeit it's also used to refer to all elves. When talking about Yllendthyr from outside view "high elf" does have a merit. Because Yllendlan elves are indeed a bit different from their peers, particularly in their magic. The unique environment of their birthplace imbued them with magical talents. Every high elf is capable of using magic to at least a small extend and their higher level practitioners are reputed worldwide, only overshadowed the mighty Deified from Oros. Their school studies also include learning the basics of magic and high elves found various minor ways they can enhance their work through spells. Their heightened magic also awakened something in elves related to their distant ancestors the fey. This results in the so-called "curse of iron" where Ylendlan elves are vulnerable to unrefined iron. This weakness is curiously non-existent for other elvish races, even though most if not all of them once originated from Yllendthyr. The most likely answer is that one needs to be exposed to Yllendthyr's unique swirls of magic from childhood and these communities lived millennia without it. Another unique feature is the "barking". Elves usually age only at the last fifth of their life. But in case of high elves instead of wrinkles their skin gradually transforms into plant-like or even wooden. Nobody is sure exactly why. Perhaps it's part of their fey awakening. Perhaps it's part of their pact with nature. What is known that an elf that dies of old age rather sets root in the ground an turns into a tree. The "barking" is actually not unique to high elves, certain descendants in other lands have also inherited this. As such elves have a different view of trees and the nature.
Another use of high elves is to refer to their noble caste the Edhelywen (pl.: Edhelywlin) meaning "ancient breed", referring to the ancestry and quality of blood. Almost exclusively the Edelwywlin are part of Yllendthyr's nobility and gifted in magic powers. Their great strength was once the foundation of Yllendthyr's protection and the reason why the current system of nobles were formed. Defining the lower bound what counts as Edelywen is difficult and the current census (supplied at the "Nation Overview" section) is grouping them based on a strict arbitrary system. As such a gifted commoner might surpass a lowly noble but barring secret bastard children or freak genetics no common elf can approach the magical power of the true aristocracy. Magic power is one of the main virtues the nobles compete at and take pride in.
Little known fact is that elves and humans can interbreed, siring a half-elf. Success at conceiving or pregnancy are not guaranteed yet aren't impossible, either. They say that the process can be made easier with the aid of magic but given the elves' tight-lipped nature on the subject we can't be sure. Because the mere existence of half-elves is a taboo. Yllendthyr respects life and does not kill anyone just because they're a mixed race. On the other hand the whole concept hurts the prideful heart of the elvish nobility and for thousands of years it's an official law to never talk about half-elves. As their name states they're half elvish an half other race (almost always human) in features. In what way it's actually not that fixed and half-elves can have a wide variety of mixed failures. They can be slender like an elf and tough boned like a human, or in reverse. They can have elvish ears or small rounded ones like humans do. Even their lifespan is uncertain as while their average is somewhere between human and elvish longevity they are also subject to genetic defects and unique diseases that can end their lives early.
As said the official stance on half-elves is that they don't exist. Which in turn means they are either classified as humans or elves. Which category they belong to depends on status and achievements. If born into a noble family then half-elves are raised as noble elves. If they're born commoners then depending on circumstances they can be either. Most of the half-elves are considered on the same level as humans, second class countrymen. But this could change if the half-elf performs heroics or has other great achievements. Marrying into an elvish family might count, too. In these cases he or she can be granted to become "honorary elf". This and their unpredictable lifespan makes half-elves ambitious and pretty frequent to join the military. If we must live with an anachronism, elves are "strong careerists" with all the goods and bads that title can mean. Half-elves without a status are generally in a tough spot as they are looked down by elves yet also estranged from humans. They can easily become social outcasts.
Native only to the island of Sephylan the faeries (or Tylwyth) are tiny roughly 10-15cm tall creatures with simplistic intellect and generally underdeveloped civilization. They are fully Fey creatures which makes them magical (naturally assist in their flight) albeit their power is not comparable to a grown high elf. Their tiny size makes them an almost negligible threat in combat and Sephylan is under elvish control for millennia. That being said Sephylan is still maintaining a level of autonomy and aside from the fact they have less famines they live mostly the same as they did in the neolithic ages. Their government is technically a monarchy lead by their Queen but in effect she's more of a figurehead and the real power is in the hands of countless chieftains and their tribal communities. It isn't an exaggeration to say that Sephylan is an alliance of tribes. Due to their underdeveloped culture survival is still the primary concern for most fairies and the main currency they use is honey, their primary source of food. Faeries are short lived an rarely survive for longer than 20-30 years. Over the time they learned to be subservient to their elven masters and out of this and the sense of adventure they often become servant to elves. Tiny faerie attendants are commonplace and any elf of some status has one. Faeries are also used in clockmaker guilds and other places where their tiny frame can help them in the creation of small objects. Faeries of Sephylan and the elves of Yllendthyr live in a sorts of symbiotic relationship. Yllendthyr provides food and what they require for survival while faeries are essentially slaves to them.
Economy
Yllendthyr's lands are a strange mix of rural and developed. A huge portion of people live in the agriculture. They can range from the nobles who are the sole owners of the land. Yet they almost always just "rent" it to commoners, to the so-called "second owners". These people are running agriculture as a business and employ less wealthy people to work on the fields. Sometimes slave labor is used when available but since the only source is debt slavery these types are generally rare. Mining in Yllendthyr is sophisticated and organized a similar way. These fields and mines are usually connected to one or a few villages and small towns. While large cities are rare both the islands of Yllend'tollome and Galhonore has a dense network of smaller settlements connected by trade, mail and even a growing transport business. Craftsmen are relatively abundant in almost every village where usually a wandering elf craftsman settled down to open shop and employ his/her century of experience. Yllendthyr has a decentralized yet developed land and the basis of this are the taxes all members pay. Albeit it worths noting that the decentralization goes all the way to the top. At times it's better to describe Yllendthyr less like a single country and more like the collection of counties held by arristocrats. Aside from the tax paid to the Church the Hierophantess-Empress has no other source of income. As such when we say Yllendthyr is wealthy it means their arristocrats are wealthy. Due to the decentralized nature of craftsmen loosely collected under guilds Yllendthyr has no shortage of workers on whatever project they want. But they lack the united and organized structure more centralized nations have. Simply put another nation might have cities that can craft huge cannons and undertake large projects alone. In Yllenthyr this is unusual and at times borderline impossible. As such there are no great armories or cannon foundries but when you're just searching for average quality goods you can acquire it cheap within Yllendthyr. On the other hand if you want high quality or large scale products it'd be expensive, more than it should be elsewhere.
Primary Trade Goods: Radish and turnip products, Rare metals (elerand, mithil, nickel, etc...) Yllend hemp (clothes, ropes, sails, narcotics, etc), dyes of various kinds, alum (mineral required for tanning, medicine, dyes and many other purposes). Primary Trade Imports: Luxury goods (cofee, tobaco, etc), gold and silver, nitre, crops
Elerand, more commonly known as starmetal or the elvish steel is an element unique to the mountains of Yllend'tollome. Some legends say it's the iron transmuted by the magic winds and the same winds cause the curse of iron on elves. This is untrue as elves are just awakened to their fay origins who are naturally weak to cold iron, that and there are still plenty of iron ore to be found in the mountains, even if to elves they're like worthless rocks. Elerand itself is actually titanium transmuted by the winds of magic, changed its properties to be closer to iron. Elerand is light, almost half as dense as iron. It's springy and flexible in alloys and can be more rigid when highly carbonized. Elerand is weaker than steel on volume basis but its lightness more than compensates for this for most applications. Elerand is ideal for springs and mechanics which with the recent "clock age" made the metal sought after by famous clockmakers (Yllendthyr is famous for their clocks as well). Armors made from Elerand are also lighter albeit their reduced rigidity makes them less fit against blunt weapons. When making armaments though the lightness of the metal can be actually obstructive and special thicker designs are neeed to achieve similar performance to most steel weapons. Elerand is hard to work without the mysterious volcanic furnances of Yllenthyr which prevents their wider scale usage by most other countries. Elerand is grey like most metal but can be identified by its unique bluish reflection glimmer in the sun. Due to its origins the metal is also has a minor capacity to be a magic conductor and a few elven fighting methods are built on using this to their advantage.
The legendary metal sought by many. Mithil (truesilver, moonmetal, etc) is in a way like Elerand but superior in almost every aspect. It's a beautiful whiter than silver metal which is free of all impurities. Mithil has just third of the weight of iron but three times of its strength. Mithil is also known for its flexibility yet sturdyness and the ability to maintain an exceedingly sharp edge. Due to its legendary capabilities and rarity Mithil is usually worth way more than gold. Only the richest in Albion can usually afford them. Due to the magic sworls in Yllend'tollome the Empire has an unusually high quantity of Mithil, albeit still rather limited.
The so-called rare "sun metal" unique to Yllendthyr. It's extremely hard, dense and durable. It's shinier and weighs slightly even more than gold. Due to its rarity and massive weight the Anorand was unpopular until perhaps a millennia when new metallurgical techniques made way for its use. Anorand then became the metal of the Emperor with its exuberant price. Since the coup of the Church and discovery of new veins and even better smelting techniques Anorand is applied more widely than ever. A new family of alloys called the Orihalchyum allows a more affordable alternative which is also lighter than pure Anorand (due to the Elerand or Ithil content among others). Even coins and cannonballs can contain Anorand.
The most common measurement of weight is eridh which is derived from the mystical eredth seeds. These are known to have the exact same weight regardless of circumstances which makes them ideal as their standards. For anything heavier they use the merederidh "thouand seeds" which is exactly 0.2kg. Merederidhs are often measured by metal blocks made of elerand that are measured by putting hundred thousands eredth seeds on a scale along with 100 pieces of merederidh measuring weights. Then the process is repeated individually with thousand seeds and one weight. If neither method shows error then the weights are passed and get an approval seal. At rare times like shipbuilding or architecture the term arnoderidh is thrown around. It equals a million eredth seeds or a thousand merederidh measures, as such it's often referred as the "elvish ton". Time is measured based on observation of the day-night cycle and divided into many sub-units. The basic distance unit is the yrlhinn (also called the elvish meter). It's determined by using a bow and arrow of set characteristics traveling a distance under 1 elvish second (and that divided to its 1/100th). There are are pieces of enhanced metal that can be used for counting distance but generally elves are good at accurately measuring distance by just the eye.
Yllendthyr uses four types of currency. Tinnuin (starry dusk coin) which are small coins weighing 2 eridh made of lapis lazuri. These are used for small local exchanges and rarely seen as a trade currency. This is followed by the Slimeanir (moonlight coin) made of silver and weighing exactly 20 eridh, they are the most popular for anything but the smallest goods. The most valuable coin is made of gold called Auruin (sunlight coin), it weighs 40 eridh. Due to their reliable purity, quality and extremely precise weight the coins from Yllendthyr are extremely popular and nobody refuses them. This made the Empire's trade efforts all the more successful. Lastly the fourth is Elein, the star coin used for wartime events. During a situation that threatens Yllenthyr's interest the emperor (now the archpriestess) can assume the creation of Elein, made from the "elvish steel" Elerand. The coins are roughly the same diameter as silver Slimeanir and they worth the same, albeit Elein is lighter and weighs only 8 eridh. After the crisis passes those who were paid with Elein can exchange it back for other goods as the economy returns to normal.
Military Overview
[THIS SECTION IS STILL HEAVILY UNDER CONSTRUCTION]
- Limilel: Chainmail woven of elerand that offers good protection at minimal weight. Due to the different material properties elvish chainmails (or also called star maille) aren't as tough as regular steel ones but their lightness and ease to wear makes them a popular export item, one of the few armor types from Yllendthyr that can be also found elsewhere. Certain types of Limilel also attempt to mitigate the faults by weaving together multiple thin layers into one, making the chain shirt behave almost like its thickness in metal plates. Due to its precise weaving such shirts are still very flexible but also offer a bit of rigidity to strikes. This makes the advanced type of Limilel a much better armor than before but also accordingly expensive (and a bit heavier). While some say it's just a legend there is actually another elvish chainmail made of the rare Mithil. These are called the Limithil or Moon Maille. They offer great protection while even more comfortable to wear. These chainmail shirts or suits do cost a fortune, though.
- Hyvarna: While maille armor isn't as rare for non-military or auxilliary use the elves more classically use a scalemail of unique pattern, vaguely resembling the letter hy or hyam. Hyam is also a common elvish expession meaning "to pray" hence it's the praying armor. Unlike maille or even scalemail in general Hyvarna uses non-flat shapes that aid in the deflection. Their design also hide the rivets thus increasing the threshold of the armor. This neatly compromised for the elerand's deficits compaed to steel albeit obviously the overlaps and non-flat shapes add extra weight compared to the elf chain.
- Cynnrand: Translated as "guarding metal" it's a thousands of years old armor type which recently underwent massive improvement. The previous two were suits from interlocking parts but in this case the armor is effectively sheets of large pieces of metal, usually eleang (rawer starmetal) and later elerand. They were pushed to the sidelines in favor of mail armor but recently they've reborn in a new form. Current Cynnrand armors are the elvish equivalents of a half plate, or one might even call them the third plate. The solid breastlate protects where it's most likely to receive blows or arrows but offers no protection where it may interfere with the mobility of its wearer. The production of a regular type of this armor is cheap and it's overall lightweight. The exposed parts are sometimes covered with elven chainmail but most wielders only wear a padded cloth underneath. These armors are the basis of the more expensive suits worn by the elvish aristocracy. IMAGE REPRESENTATION
+Winds of Magic: The Yllend'tollome archipelago is gifted in strange swirls of magic that grants boon to its people. People born there are granted heightened magical talents and this is especially true when they are at home. They say even the nature is on Yllendthyr's side over there. Almost any elf is at least a minor magic user and in general Yllendthyr is famed for their magic capability. In addition the strange swirls of magic further boost natives when at home and overall assist them in defense.
+Yllendlan Precision Engineering: As people attuned with nature it's a little strange to discover that elves are actually mechanical savants with physiology and advantages that make them excellent engineers. They have precise sight, dexterous fingers, sensitivity to the smallest vibration and a more deeper understanding of motion than humans can hope to. Yllendthyr's culture in particular encourages elves to practice their gifts and the Empire is long famous for their clockworks. Aside from time keeping devices elves are keen in many other engineering challenges with ships earning special mention. Albeit their traditions to build light and swift ships now somewhat backfired on them as these can't take a beating from naval artillery.
-Cold Iron Scare: The unique magic rich environment unfortunately also gave elves from Yllendthyr an unique weakness, cold iron. The exposure to magic awakened their latent fey nature and thus made them vulnerable to cold forged iron products. Skin contact with cold iron burns them and makes wounds difficult to heal even with magic. Bells made of cold iron might hurt their ears or disorient them. The more smelting and heat treatment the iron gets during its production, the less dangerous they are to elves. Regular iron and especially steel products are harmless to Ylendlen elves albeit their presence is still a bit uncomfortable.
Rolls 20
Basic Demographics & Geography
Territory Size: 3. Your nation is smaller than average but there's still plenty of territory to work with. While the lack of endless farmland might prove an issue, you do at least enjoy the benefits of relatively small and easily defended borders. Population: 4,750,000 (above average) Urbanization: 2. Aside from your capital and perhaps one or two urban centers, you have a very highly rural population. There is likely some system such as serfdom, in which knights or other minor nobles inhabit estates that oversee a region and its people. Government Type: 1. Your nation is ruled by a theocracy. Perhaps you have a secular king is nothing more than the puppet of a powerful church, or perhaps your king is the head of the religion and acts as more of a high-priest than an administrator. Or perhaps the clergy rule as an oligarchic caste. In any case, deus vult! Political Stability: 4. Your country has the occasional highwaymen, but they mostly hide in the hills and forests far out in the countryside. By and large, your realm is stable.
Economy
Overall Wealth: 6. Opulence and obscene wealth define your nation. Your streets might not be paved with gold, but great monuments, beautiful works of art, and a large variety of public works stand testament to your economic power. Your government of course has the funds to do almost whatever it wants. Government's Primary Means of Generating Income: 2. A levy system exists throughout your nation. Every family is expected to contribute in some form to society, be it in the form of working for part of the year on construction projects, to giving a certain amount of food to supply the military, to even sending off a son or two to join the local army. Technology: 4. Technological Parity; you're keeping up with the rest of Albion pretty well. Agriculture: 3. Turnips and radishes are almost all that you grow, and so most peasants eat those revolting foods almost exclusively. While there's enough food to go around, malnutrition and lack of diversity are large issues. Natural Resources: Dyes, hemp, small deposits of rare metals, alum (a type of mineral useful for dyes, medicines, and a lot of other stuff)
Military Military Size 5. Large, strictly volunteer corp of professional soldiers that takes considerable upkeep. A sizable and reasonably effective standing army, but little else supports it during wartime. Military Focus 3. Poor navy; emphasis on light infantry and guerilla warfare in the army; a fair amount of magic users for battle. Military Leadership 6. Competence of generals varies greatly; they are usually powerful sorcerers; decadent Military Reputation 7. Popular domestically, considered unremarkable by most foreigners
Name: Obould Khagn (orignal name: Durldar) Titles: Obould Many-Shot/Goldshot, The Beast of North Type: Orc Exarch Loyalty: Iao, The Archon of War Allies: TBA Rivals: TBA
Appearance: TBA
Personality and Drive: TBA
History: The leader of the infamous Golden Horde now pledged allegiance to the Empire. While most Khagns rose from the lines of prestigious clan leaders Obould was born from a minor shaman family of healers under the name of Durldar. [to be continued...]
Armaments:
Dond-Dron'Mekth (Ten Thunder Killers) is an ornate and unique Strigzanuurz made shortly after his promotion to Exarch. It's forged of the best Guarni metal and rune crafting, enhanced by shamans and imbued with a fragment of Obould's exarch essence. The weapon has a large central tube and nine secondary tubes, all can be separately loaded with blasting balm and ball. Ignition provided by a firegem which is rotated to the correct position with a mechanism. The chambers are enhanced with fire runes and shamanic blessings for greater performance. So great that the weapon needs heavy golden bullets to bring out its full potential (albeit other metal or stone bullets are more commonly used). Some say that Dond-Dron'Mekth is so powerful it can siege fortress walls but such claims must be a complete exaggeration. Regardless this weapon quickly earned Obould the title of Many-Shot and Goldshot for its unique features. It's said that Obould was so amazed and in turn also terrified of the performance of Dond-Dron'Mekth that he ordered the master smith responsible for its creation to be executed, burying the knowledge of the weapon with him.
Abilities: TBA
Name: Obould's Warband, Golden Horde (mistranslation of Kri'Kadar meaning "Central Tent") Specialization: Nomadic Warriors Size: 5000+ warriors and shamans Goals: To seek honor in battle, attain wealth and grow in power for the ultimate goal of gathering all Uruk under the same banner. Warcry: WAAAAAAAAAGH! (no, not really...) Hierarchy and Culture: The title of Khagn signifies a warlord who united multiple tribes (described as Bashkaum) under his banner. Beneath him are the Bajrakuurz who are chieftans and military leaders to their tribe (Bajrak). Depending on the amount of warriors within the tribe they are then split into varying number of Tufri (hordes, singular: Tuf) lead by a Kritar. A Tuf is generally split to 8-12 Kadars collecting 6-10 warriors including a Lapuurz to command them. Uruks often born into the same unit and barring promotion or extraordinary circumstances they never leave these. They practice and fight together in these formations for their whole life and they achieve high levels of discipline. Each Tuf has at least one Laguurz (shaman) whose duty ranges from religious guidance to medicine and even the creation of the infamous Karikabuum (gun balm) for the army. Bajraks have more higher ranking Laguurz in addition and the most famous of the shamans often go even further to serve the Bashkaum and be in direct contact with the Khagn. As it can be seen shamans form a separate hierarchy from the warrior caste and the two almost never interferes with the affairs of the other. Shamans are priests, scholars and magicians to the Horde. Barring the best of them a shaman's power is extremely limited which leads to orcish magic often being simple and subtle in nature. They are also advisors to the units they're assigned with and tasked with keeping their history and records. History: TBA Military Capabilities:
The Uruk also known as the orks/orcs are a race of humanoids dominant within the center of the main continent. They are tall, at least 6 feet at average and often highly muscular. More distinctly they have protouding jawline and foreheads, large canine teeth and skin coloration unnatural to any human. This and their legends of ferocity at times titled them as "monsters" or creatures of the devil. Yet barring certain features the orks aren't that different from humans (also proven by the fact they can interbreed to sire a half-ork). They have same maximum lifespan of 120 years. Yet so long they are physically active the Orks don't show signs of venerable age for long. At the age of 60-80 an ork could be still within his prime and thus at average orcs live longer unless they either starve or killed. Due to their higher muscle mass orks at average are considerably stronger than a human and if well-fed can be twice as enduring as them. Feeding is an issue for orks as they consume more than twice as much food as humans at average. Some say orks eat humans and other people on regular basis but those are only rumors based on wild assumptions. In contrast the rumors about orks having poorer eyesight is true at least when the Sun is the brightest. On the other hand orks can see much better during low-light conditions and combined with their dark skin this made them dangerous night hunters. Speaking of which the ork skin varies just like a human's. In their case it can range from pale brown to the usual greenish brown to charcoal black. Just like for humans the skin pigmentation depends on how much one"s exposed to the sunlight thus it also can tell lifestyle and social status. In general most if not all ork warriors have black skin.
To an average human most orks look beastly and gruesome but the feeling is somewhat mutual. The Uruk sense of personal aesthetics and beauty are different from humans and especially compared to the elves. Their sense of aesthetics is somewhat flipped in this regard. In the end some attention should be dawn to their name. Uruk is both the name of their race and nationality. The term Ork/Orc originates from "Orakbur" a contraction of the words translated as "Sons of Orakgash" which was the nickname of Orakgash's tribe before uniting all Uruk in their legend. The name survived and occasionally used between Uruk which eventually mutated to the short version "Ork" , this soon became the common name of the Uruk in foreign lands. Due to this origin no Uruk will ever be offended to be referred as Ork, albeit they might politely attempt to correct you.
Uruk religion is based on their tribal shamanistic roots. They beleive in the gods representing the four elements as well as respecting the spirits of the land, the forest, the rivers and the mountains. Their religious body are the Laguurz which roughly translates "to do magical". They were chosen from the brightest most gifted members of the tribe and aside from listening to the spirits they also conduct scholastic activities and even medicine.
They are priests, scholars, medics and even magicians. Their duties are many and they're well respected for it. While magic and religious rituals are the their first duty not many shamans are powerful spellcasters. Instead they use their magic in simple, subtle yet still very meaningful ways. Like alchemy or the art to communicate with pieces of enchanted paper. Shamans are responsible for the creation of Karikabuum, the infamous blasting balm. While initially this had purely religious purposes since its militarization Laguurz are tasked with supplying Uruk with however much they need. Laguurz are wise and tasked with the records of their culture. They write the history of the Uruk and tell the tribe in tales. Their knowledge and connection to the spirits also make them trusted advisors to any leader.
Wargs are giant wolf-like creatures and the most important animal with the Uruk culture. As said their features are mostly resembling a giant wolf with size approaching a large bear. Yet the similarities almost end there. Wargs are omnivorous capable of eating grass or hunting for prey. They have a prominent musculature which also grants them explosive strength on the sprint. When well-fed Wargs are very enduring, at the extremes capable of traveling over a hundred miles within a day. Also unlike horses wargs are equipped with a fangs and claws as their own dangerous weapons in combat. Giant wolf creatures tearing apart men can be a chaotic and very demoralizing sight. In addition wargs can literally feed off the remains of the slain enemies. Wargs are also surprisingly intelligent and can be trained to perform various orders on their own with minimal supervision. Overall the versatility of the Warg what made Uruk a force to be reckoned with. Outside of battle wargs are also great hunters and guards of homes. Ancient Uruk tradition is to own a warg cub as a pet which latter will grow up to be a loyal mount for the would be Uruk warrior.
Laguurz (shamans) respect all four element but out of them the most popular are the spirits of fire. Attempting to reach closer connection to them the Uruk alchemy created Karikabuum. Named after Karikaasd the young god of violent fires Karikabuum combines tree sap (or mushrooms) with mold and soil to create a burning balm-like compound. It was soon discovered that Karikabuum has military applications and the combination of these two factors exploded into a culture wide fashion. Now Karikabuum is not only used for practical purposes but have a religious meaning for Uruk. There are multiple grades of Karikabuum, the lowest can be produced from just mixing the ingredients while higher grades can require days of preparation. Outside the Uruk these generally separated into two categories, fire balm and blasting balm. Fire balm is weaker and more suited for producing fires, propelling rockets or used in low quality Strigzanuurz. Blasting balm is dried which makes it volatile and more difficult to use, the higher quality the more dangerous it'd become. Blasting balm is used in high quality Strigzanuurz and most explosives. In Uruk the high quality blasting balm is called Karijak'hai.
List of names: Karikabuum, Kabuum, Kaboom, blasting/fire balm, Karijak'hai (explosive), Palsvaj (low quality alternative), Thrund-Grog (Guarni name of it)
Strigzanuurz (roughly translated as "A Warrior's Tool") is the primary weapon of the Uruk, almost completely replacing bows in war. These can be described as tubes filled with fire balm followed by some kind of projectile (usually stone or scrap). Strigzanuurz are extremely loud, creates a flash of fire and produce thick smoke as a byproduct. As such they have a certain psychological effect, too. Rarely even mistaken for sorcery. Uruks in contrast love all these and some even claim divine revelation in its midst. Chaotic scene aside it's questionable if Sgtrigzanuurz are really better than archery. Compared to the terrifying warbows the Uruk used to wield the Strigzanuurz might be even weaker while being slower and more awkward to reload. They are also dangerous. The typical Strigzanuurz is made out of a wood trunk hollowed out in the middle and reinforced with some metal bands. The weapon can burst anytime, destroying it and injuring the user. Albeit nowadays they tend to run molten copper or bronze inside the barrel for reinforcement which reduced the risk considerably. More wealthy Uruks (usually the leadership) might also have metal Strigzanuurz made from anything to copper, iron or most preferably bronze. These can endure more powerful loads and are far less likely to burst but they have the bad tendency to grow hot from constant use.
One of the first uses of Karikabuum in battle were for psychological and disorienting purposes. By fitting a wooden tube to a cavalry lance it was possible to cover your enemy in a wall of flames prior to your deadly charge. As time went on the Uruk put stones and scrap in front of the mixture for a more distant and lethal effect and so this is how the currently dominant design for the Balshatauz (fire lance) was born. These weapons still mostly rely on the disorienting effect of the noise and flames but now with the random carnage of the shrapnel. The tube can be easily replaced out of battle but otherwise it's regarded as a single use weapon which is then continued to be utilized as a normal lance.
Also referred as fire arrows, the Karikijat are long arrow or javelin like projectiles propelled by a tube stacked with low grade Karikabuum (also referred as Palsvaj for rockets). Instead of an instant this propels the arrow continuously, achieving a slow but more consistent flight. Fire arrows were invented early and were the most popular before the use of Strigzanuurz. Regardless they exist in many uses and forms ranging from light ones shot from bows to larger ones launched from hand or wooden frames. Most of them only has a spear or arrow head but certain types even carry explosives or incendiary charges. The heavier rockets are also popular in siege warfare as they can be still easily created on site.
Incendiary or explosive charges made by putting large amount of Karikabuum into a container. This can anything from a ceramic jar to a hollow metal sphere. Some variants have small balls or caltrops mixed with them to spread shrapnel. The largest ones are used for siege, mostly launched from catapults. The smaller ones are thrown, either alone or 2-4 of the connected by a rope akin to a bola. Zaja'bok are risky to handle and not everyone is trusted with them. High quality Karikabuum is also expensive and rare thus such weapons aren't that common.
TBA
Name: Staz'Logonob (Beast Basin) Type: Collection of Uruk tribunaries under Obould's control
Description: TBA Culture: TBA Laws: As per Uruk customs so long they pay their dues the tribunaries to a warlord enjoy safety and almost complete autonomy. Military: Outside of the Uruk tribes in the wilds Staz'Logob has relatively limited military. This is two-fold, once because the Uruk rulers don't like their subjects too powerful. Another reason being that they live in relative peace with the Uruk shouldering their protection. That being said there are auxiliaries that can be recruited from all races and each settlement has their own guard force. Inspired by Iao's legion system these auxiliaries are in the process of reorganizing in a similar manner.
Pretty much still work in progress but posting what I have for now.
Alright, upon consulting with Khan I decided to also participate in this game. My exarch will be known as Obould Many-Shot and he'd lead a band of Uruk nomadic warriors from the Shattered West. He'd be in the employ of the Archon of War. So @Goldeagle1221 you'll finally get your desire to interact with them. Even if in a different NRP.
Hmm, so it's 1500 now, huh? well, I suppose that makes for a nice round number. Speaking of which, what would be the seasons in Albion be like? Four seasons and preferably Northern Hemisphere style?
"And with the king beheaded, England entered a most unusual phase in which it was called the Commonwealth. It was effectively a republic! Of course, all this ended a few uears later when the Puritans stormed into Parliament with a monarchyand banished any pretences of democracy. Then we entered a period called the Protectorate!
Oliver Cromwell was Lord Protector (that means dictator) because the Puritan army backed him, and all was stable and well until the Puritans banned Christmas and closed all of England's theatres. Then the people got upset."
<Snipped quote by Willy Vereb>
Sometimes dictatorships work.
It's peaceful now but just wait untill someone else tries to 'free' your people and 'fix' your nation.
Stable dictatorships aren't stratocracies or anything similar. They are just enforced political parties with an army backing them. > Insert Austrian proverb about the bayonet here...
To be fair though just as my "poor" navy this can be spun into something more sensible with ease. For example like an extreme version of Sparta and have the military rule as well as a relatively recent government united by a warlord. I just love how the two rolls strictly contradict each other. Please don't spoil my fun.
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salamimike
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