I mean conflict is a a very good plot device for more interesting developments to happen and Mistiel IIRC made this faction on a whim. So I can see the benefit in Mezzo behaving like assholes. It's the quickest way for something unique to happen.
Anyone want to be a poor unfortunate soul lost out in the Dust Sea, near death or on the way to it, for Ridahne to find? You could come to Atakhara and get cuddles from Mitaja..... :D
Hmm, in case it turns out my feelings were misplaced and I do remain in this NRP... I do have an interesting character for that. Being Yelinor the deserts would be extra dangerous to them anyways. :P
To preface, I am in agonizing back pain at the moment and needed to distract myself. Normally I would not do something so pointlessly stupid. Also I'm on muscle relaxants and in pain so, grain of salt.
I am regretful to hear that and regardless thank you for the help.
But here we are. Willy's claim is 38509 pixels.
The distance from 10N to 67N is ~6324km. On the image it is 947 pixels.
So 6324/947 gives us a rough value of 6.68km to one pixel. Pixels are square units, but since that measurement gives us one side we know that a pixel square is about 44.6 km squared.
So one pixel is 44.6 km squared.
38509 * 44.6 = 1,717,501 km squared.
This is extremely generous given how I selected his stuff, so pare it down to 1.5 or something.
Oh, I thought you used a program to calculate the amount of purple pixels. Although with high levels of transparency that may not work, now that I think of it. I personally used simple rectangular approximations and length dividends of the distance between 10 to 67 latitude (the only fix number we have). Galhonore (Southern continental holdings) being a 1/4th length multiplied by 1/12th length. The majority of the Northern continental holdings can be approximated to IIRC a 1/8th x 1/8th square. The remainder can be imagined to fit in an 1/8th x 1/16th claim. I need to redo the measurements to confirm these numbers but that's how I remember the way I did it.
The size is irrelevant. The issue is that you're trying to be Great Britain while living in a climate less hospitable than iceland Willy. Canada is huge, but most of it is frigid wasteland. Magic can only go so far before there just isn't anything to eat. So Aaron is right, make your homeland somewhere worth living.
My core worlds' landmass is bigger than Sweden and roughly at the same latitude with plenty of water access. This is no paradise but neither is unlivable, especially since a number of those islands are actually in the moderate climate zone so even just derived from the longitude this is better off than Sweden. And the Swedish Empire was a powerful nation in its time in spite of its low population. Following the colonization of islands their next target was further up North so no problem. As for the Southern conquest it's still something I wouldn't call impossible. It depends on the state the region was in. If it were a powerful nation say comparable to medieval France then perhaps Yllendthyr would've never taken them. But not all nations are as strong as West European major powers. Nor the land which is now Galhonore was necessarily united.
Anyways, when me and Aaron were talking about the size the topic involved a ruling which meant newer players should have smaller nations. My only response to that was the fact my nation is already considered smaller than what most of the old players were making. And I am fine being smaller and less important than them.
I have no problem with the idea of changing details about my nation. I have problem when the follow up response is passive aggressive and authoritative. To my knowledge I did not provoke such a response and it rubs me in the wrong way.
You're right. I better just abandon this game. If a GM can't deal with people and resorts to threats then it tells me I wouldn't have a healthy roleplaying experience, anyways.
I'm sorry to report in but your claims on territorial size claims is off. Your claiming yourself to be four-times larger than you really are, roughly. The benefit of tossing in longitudinal lines is that they give me a spring board to work off of. The math roughly coming down to:
If the distance between 67 degrees north and 10 degrees north is 3929 miles, then breaking it down to eight handy square chunks of 241,081 miles square. Making a square that size, I could run comparisons of each constituent area, scaling things, and otherwise eyeballing it. The conclusion is that if we really need to open Pandorra's box of autism then the final result is roughly 441,981 miles square or 711,299.47 kilometers square. Recognizing of course landmasses that aren't totally square can always be a mess to calculate, I highly doubt in the end your total land area is 2,162,492 square kilometers.
I think you probably messed up the calculation because Galhonore alone (the one down South) is circa 660,000 square kilometers with your new scaling (I assumed 10 to 67 degrees latitude would be around 7700km, now it's closer to 6500) and that constitutes less than half my territory. In general when comparing with the previous scale it's about 70% of my past calculations so it'd most likely get down to 1,4000,000 square kilometers or so.
EDIT: I redid my calc with a different methodology which might yield more accurate rough figures, I've got above 1,200,000 square kilometers.
Per total population density to run that loose comparison, you're only slightly less dense than 14th century England, which is odd given how far north you are, and the sort of land that is that far north. You would be well within an area comparable to the Taiga Belt (Comparable in weather and soil condition to the green). And soil in the taiga isn't really that richest thing in the world, which leads me to being cynical over the stated population density on the revised total area and makes me ask: no matter what is your history, how does an Empire even form from a region where people would be subsisting by the very tips of their fingers? You're probably not going to be feeding a large population to be used to subdue other distant peoples from the north-western squiggle island.
Changing the size also changes the population figures, obviously. I took medieval Scandinavia as a basis for the islands and something like a severely lowballed France for Galhonore. This is why Galhonore effectively doubled the empire's population.
Anyways, there are numerous elements that can influence the habitability of my home islands and the assessment that Yllendthyr only had that when conquering the far North continent is of course inaccurate. There's a reason why the Yelinor spread to all those tiny yet overall significant number of islands. Also the sparsety of Yelinor compared to the population of other races is a plot point for the Empire and partially the reason for their militarism.
Then there is to also add: I said sometime back that I want people signing up after the old interest check was left to drown to come in as smaller states. Something as spread out may not work.
You have ridiculous amount of empty lands. I don't quite see the idea in limiting other players to smaller holdings when you still have a lot of spaces to fill. That being said this is within your authority to do so I'll respect that.
Thankfully I am actually not a very large nation so I meet your criteria. If I have to guess those like Azuriabel are somewhere the in size range of China.
@Erik Tiber This is my current claim, BTW (purple territories at far North). The large weirdly shaped island to the Northwest is Yllendost which serves as my homeland with the islands being either other elvish tribes conquered or later expansions. I also planned the mountains perhaps having small dwarven communities. As for goblins I likely take them as discriminated traveling minorities, most likely. Albeit also might have a group of goblins down South who live as indentured servants to centaur tribes.
@Willy Vereb At least you're not just copy-pasting like I saw someone else do earlier today ;P
Yeah, I tend to evolve the idea with each iteration while also adapting it to fit the setting. I'll admit that probably porting Yllendthyr was harder actually than just writing something from scratch. I think it'll worth it, though.
I have 5 different types of Yllendthyr now, and three of them are for medieval fantasy settings outright. While I recycle elements I do feel it's important distinction to state which Yllendthyr I am talking about. :P
Official Name: Menel Ndor en'Yllendthyr (Heavenly Empire of Yllendthyr) Common Name: Yllendthyr (internally also often referred just as Ymherodraeth or the Empire) Preferred Demonym: Yllendlen (plural: Ylendlin) Government: Feudalist Imperial Theocracy Leader: Ymherastareth - Iallril Iorthoniith Isyranshara en'Yllendthyr Dominant Species: Yelinwen/Edhelywen (Yelinor or also often called the "High Elves" or "Ice Elves") Population: 11,782,941 (according to the last census) Area: 2,162,492 square kilometers of land, 5,623,892 square kilometers of territorial waters Yllendthyr used to be a faraway and enigmatic collection of islands, home of the equally eccentric Yelinor (high elves). They've spent millennia in relative isolation, only making the bare minimum of outside contact. With expansionist policies gaining hold this is in the process of assuredly changing. After centuries of conquest Yllendthyr is now an empire with territories sprawling from the North to South, uniting large number of races and cultures. In spite of being greatly outnumbered the cold-dwelling Yelinor remained the ruling elite with their sorcerous towers intently watching over foreign lands.
Yllendthy is effectively a theocracy yet it still chiefly relies on the old imperial system. This is partially because the 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 Ymherastareth (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, be Yelinor or otherwise, can become a 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 Yelinor, 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 primarily soldiers, even if their warrior roots is a matter of constant pride. 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 their faith (the Arvandor) thus while the archpriestess technically owns no land she can exert tremendous soft power.
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 ranks. 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 is worth 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 Yelinwlen pantheon and creation myth, perhaps one of the eldest religions in the world. It states the world (Arda) is the creation of the supreme god Ao and its chorus of Aiurons. The latter are divine spirits comparable to angels in certain myths of other cultures but basically the Yelinor uses 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. Effectively it had become a tool to gradually assimilate the original faiths of the subjected regions without directly opposing them. Rites of the old are continued to be practiced while mixed with elements of the Arvandor and all religious groups answer to the priesthood of the Arvandor. It goes without saying that practically all Yelinor and most elves in Yllendthyr are rigid Arvandor believers.
Yllwé is a language said to be formed before the Ancient Pantheon, originally might have practiced by dragons but others claim it must have been the very first language of elves. Yllwé is spoken by all Yelinor and is considered the official language of the Yllendthyr. It does have multiple variants, mostly separated by the place and method of use rather than local culture. There's a variant of Yllwé for the common use, for trade, for recordkeeping, for religious occasions and even more. The reason is because in essence Yllwé isn't a proper language but an overlay to something else. Yelinwlin think differently and their true language is the one that leaves nothing to interpretation. Yet such tongue is no longer viable in the modern faster paced society thus they developed Yllwé, a language closer to the human tongue which is quick and interpretative like any other language. This of course results in a severe loss of meaning and to compensate Yllwé is extremely sensitive to context. While other races can learn Yllwé only the Yelinor truly understand it. That being said Yllendthyr is a huge feudal empire and non-elven subjects speak a myriad of different languages. But as it was said before Yllwé is the empire's official language and every community must have an interpreter to speak for their people or translate the words of their lord. Such duty was often duplicitous and interpreters are justifiably viewed as spies and supervisors of the lord. Regardless the system is fairly effective.
The most common measurement of weight is eridh which is derived from the unique 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 tincilé 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 "iceworldly 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 Yelin meter). It's determined by using a bow and arrow of set characteristics traveling a distance under 1 elvish second (and that range divided to its 1/100th). There are are sheets and rods made of enchanted metal that can be used for precise measurement but generally elves are good at accurately measuring distance by just the eye.
Personnel of Importance:
Ymherastareth (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. As the archpriestess her duty is also that of prophecy and interpreting the Arvandor's will. As such Iallril commands frightening power in Yllendthyr even without a single soldier or peasant directly serving her. Without ever raising her voice the nobility jumps at the opportunity to fulfill her commands. It goes without saying that Iallril is quite politically active and is considered a charming yet shrewd negotiator. Under her rule Yllendthyr had become surprisingly proactive by Yelinor 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. Of course no loyal Yllendlen would believe any of these lies and they keep her image on a high pedestal.
[To be continued...]
Demographics Overview
Out of the nearly twelve million subjects the empire has less than a million who are Yelinor. More than half of the population are humans, mostly regions that more "recently" got under Yllendthyr's control. Another significant portion are the "common elves" who don't belong to the Yelinor species. As fellow elves they enjoy special privileges but compared to their frosty brethren they are closer to secondary citizen. Other races within the empire include frost trolls, clan dwarves and even tribal semi-nomadic centaurs. This ratio of few Yelinor ruling over many other races got even more pronounced after the conquest of Galhonore as those 6 million inhabitants effectively doubled the population of the Empire.
Distant relatives of the other elves the Yelinor are the inhabitants of the cold Yllendthyr. Their name (Yelinwen) means "winter folk" which formed the base for the ancient Aepiranthian word "Yelinor", hence their common name. Other references to them include "high elves" or even ice/frost elves. Just as elves they're built slender if not more so with physique bordering on the androgynous. They are also noticeably taller with adult Yelinor at 6'0" (~ 180cm) are often even considered short by the species' standards. The iconic elvish pointed ears are even more pronounced for the Yelinor and at times they can grow taller than their heads. Skin tones generally range from the pale white/pink to unnatural colors like blue and even black. This is an inherited characteristic but also observed that prolonged exposure to warm climates turn Yelinor brighter/pinker. In general their species is born for cold environments, their bodies capable of feeling comfortable even during freezing winter. On contrast they have limited tolerance to the hot and warmth, any temperature above 28 degrees Celsius feels like a heatwave to them. Enchanted coats exist that keep their bodies mildly comfortable under the searing sun but even that has limits. Speaking of enchantments the Yelinor are exceptionally gifted in the arts of arcane. As such receiving a bare minimum of magic training is essential to all members' safety and this shaped their views on sorcery. Perhaps out of this potential or just pure coincidence but even by elvish standards the Yelinor are long-lived, the average life expectancy being 300 years. This also shaped their view on time and age, feeling everyone else are shortsighted, immature and too much in a rush. While at times it's easy to mistake a Yelinor for any other sub-species of elf once you meet them you'll know the difference. That is because Yelinor have a rather strange "aura" which might instinctively put you at mild unease upon seeing them. Nobody knows the explanation for this but it's been theorized to be unconscious use of magic that characterizes this species.
There are conflicting stories for the origin of Yelinor and without historical records to confirm it's impossible to tell the truth. One says Yelinor are the original elves who chose to remain at their homeland with the rest of the elves slowly changing to adopt to their new environment. Another says elves migrated North and settled down in Yllendthyr with the magic rich environment and the cold gradually changing them. Either way it's known that Yelinor have a weakness no other elf possesses, iron. In particular they're weak to cold forged iron and its subtle mythical properties. Heat seems to change the metal to be less dangerous to Yelinor, albeit still uncomfortable to touch. Cold iron on the other hand leaves outright burn marks on touch and wounds caused by such blade would never heal. Even sharp sounds like ringing bells made of cold iron can be harmful and a Yelinor standing close to something like a church bell made of cold iron could be outright lethal to them. Nobody knows exactly why this happens albeit experiences of fairies reacting similarly to cold iron might give an explanation. Yelinor are suggested to have strong connection with the fair folk unlike the other elves.
Diet-wise Yelinor are a bit unusual. While being omnivorous like all sapient species their food includes a lot of herbs and vegetables others wouldn't consume. Flowers in particular are considered a delicious desert for the Yelinor. This also means that a few other products that other races consume are either inedible or even outright poisonous to them. Similarly some poisons that work on humans might be harmless to Yelinor. Or diseases spreading among humans may not infect Yelinor. That being said with illnesses not being properly understood the world has yet to learn the details of this difference. Summary: + Slender, agile and dexterous with incredible balance + Life expectancy measured in centuries + Decades if not over a century experience in fields they practice + High magic aptitude and unusually large portion of expert magic users - Weak physique which makes them worse fighters and workers - Low fertility and overall birth rates compared to other species - Rigid society only changing at a slow pace and at times unable adopt fast enough - Lethal weakness to cold iron and incapability to wield iron/steel products
[to be continued...]
Economical Overview
TBA
Yllendthyr uses four types of currency. Yuyar (twilight 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 Silar (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 Armar (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 Gilar, 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 Gilar, made from the "star steel" Yaksa. The coins are roughly the same diameter as silver Slimeanir and they worth the same, albeit Yaksa is lighter and weighs only 10 eridh. After the crisis passes those who were paid with Elein can exchange it back for other goods as the economy returns to normal.
With inherent weakness to iron (Ang), especially cold iron (Malang), the species had no reason to develop techniques to work steel (Beltang). Instead they turned to their natural deposits Tincilé (star metal), a material most commonly found in Yllendthyr. Yaksa is the end product of Tincilé refinement with properties similar to steel but with a few differences. Yaksa is lighter, around 60% the density of conventional steel, and consequently only half as tough. Armors made of Yaksa need to be thicker to match steel plates. On the other hand Yaksa is springier and strong for its weight with less impurities. Its drawbacks are cost and relative scarcity to iron. Tincilé is most common in the archipelago of Yllend'tollome and while there are consierable deposits elsewhere acquiring it is harder than for iron. The Empire uses a government enforced system to collect useless items made of Yaksa and reforge them to bars distributed to metalworkers. Anything less and Yllendthyr might suffer severe shortage. The direct result of this is that armors and large metalworks are more rare among the Yelinor who had consequently developed fighting styles more based on agility.
Yaksa or similar products made of Tincilé (starmetal) aren't limited to the borders of Yllendthyr. Albeit the particular process the Yelinor uses involve some magic thus not many people outside the empire can copy it (but can develop other alternatives). As such the production of Yaksa and tools made of starmetal/starsteel are the most dominant within Yllendthyr.
Rare material mostly found at the Far North. Tinchel (metallic ice) has a shiny deep blue color and natural magic properties related to frost. Its ore has high purity and it's malleable enough to be forged cold by hammers. In its natural form Tinchel is a weak metal only useful as jewelry or as magical aid. To make it useful as a weapon the very least it needs to be "stiffened" which is done through freezing magic. Exposure to extreme cold permanently hardens the metal albeit also making it more brittle. More recently Tinchel processing became a complex method of first carefully vaporizing the metal and then funneling the blue gases into a tube which is hit by powerful ice magic to condense the vapors. The product is then reheated, melted into a bar of Belthel (durable ice) and used by specially qualified blacksmiths to create luxurious weapons. These so-called "icesteel blades" are incredibly sharp and often sought after by the Yelin nobility. In addition Tinchel and especially Belthel are notably tougher than steel while being considerably lighter. Their major drawback is heat. Exposed to the searing sun can "melt" the blade and soften it considerably. This could make it worse than a sharpened lump of iron in combat. To prevent this an icesteel blade is carefully kept cold and at times even have enchanted scabbards for such purpose. Belthel is also useful for armors but due to its cost and complications to use it in warm climates such equipment is extremely rare.
Magic Overview
Yelinor, especially those who had born on Yllendost, consider magic as "life" or part of their nature. Even by elven standards they're born with considerable magic potential and learning spells is part of one's education from youth. Of course at average this doesn't amount to more than a little bit of extra convenience but the art of magic is overall very highly regarded among the Yelinor. This knowledge is shared less when it involves other races, though. Non-Ylinor education as a whole is different and more along the lines of standard teaching, given if they receive one. Generally if other races wish to be taught in spellcasting they have three traditional routes: army, guilds or the academy. Those potential could sign up for a local magic guild or be occasionally even scouted. Due to circumstances this is obviously the most popular with the middle class. If you have the money you can also join one of the multiple academies founded by the Arvandor. Finishing the courses you have the potential to become a teacher, scholar or even a fellow priest. If you are already part of the priesthood and recognized for your talents you might get a chance to enroll for free. Lastly if you are recruited by the military they and proven your loyalty there's a chance one might receive further studies to become a combat magicians. They also accept former guild and academy members willing to serve the Empire more directly.
One thing is for sure, magic knowledge is institutionalized by the Empire and it has a firm gasp over it. While there are always other, less noble ways to learn the ways of arcane the government and religion supported forms are so dominant the message is very clear: "Serve us and you can use magic. The power of spells is synonymous with the power of Arvandor and the Empire". This also has a quite interesting attitude to magecraft and sorcery, it commands respect. The use of magic often implies imperial authority and it's both respected and feared by the general populace. To reinforce this Yllendthyr have constructed a large network of Sorcerer's Towers, finely decorated lone watchtowers looking over a town or important piece of land supposedly with a powerful magic user at the top who can see all their misdeeds and punish them. Of course this is just overblown rumors and while magic users can indeed station these towers (but not always) the most they can do is just to throw a few lightning bolt in the general direction. Yet thanks to the reputation of magic within the Empire the very presence of these towers manage to keep people in line.
Military Overview
For many centuries now Yllendthyr has a powerful nobility who in turn adopted a warrior culture. At first they were directly responsible for protecting the country in return for land ownership but nowadays their common role is to be commanders and providers for the Empire's military. Their force is called the Aramegyr which could both refer to the army of a single noble or the system in its entirely. Nobles (Aradynn) are obligated by law to maintain a fighting force of certain size and level of equipment, upholding if not surpassing this is a matter of pride among them. The Aramegyr are primarily recruited from the Yelinor with nowadays considerable elvish or occasionally even human/troll reserves. Another force is the Drefgiad (home guard), a militia like defensive organization each town is required to provide for self-protection. These have varying quality and composition. Lastly in times of need the Empire relies on mercenaries they just refer as the Bagethar/Bagethelli who could be anything from highly trained and well-equipped soldiers to nomadic centaur warriors.
The backbone of the Aramegyr are the Warders (Alaithyr) whose job is to patrol the lands, hunt down dangerous beasts, enforce the law and safeguard the borders. They are always on the move, sleeping either in the wilderness or at specialized guard towers. Either way they're rarely stay within public sight until needed. They're light infantry using mostly bows and polearms. Their armor is minimal, mostly exist to protect the vitals and help in melee combat. Each unit usually has at least one trained magic user who handles communication. Larger units usually have specialized casters to support the entire group. Alaithyr prefers ranged combat and ambushes, often using the advantage of the home field to keep harassing their opponent.
If the anvil is the Yelinor light infantry then the hammer is obviously the cavalry. It can have several types with the most common being the Nortanyr who are light cavalry riding large terrestrial birds (Aewnur) into battles. Compared to horses the Aewnur are faster and capable of long jumps assisted by wing flaps. On the other hand they can carry less weight which makes them unfit to be a heavy cavalry. Nortanyr often cooperates with the Alaithyr in offensives and used for scouting, messaging and skirmishes.
Gryffnn riders form the core of the Aramegyr's most prestigious force, effectively being Yllendthyr's equivalent of knights. Gryffnn are half-hawk and half-mammal creatures which share more characteristics with birds. They are expensive to feed and maintain which limits their numbers while their weight constrains make it impossible to armor them. As such rather than heavy cavalry Gryffnn riders can be better envisioned as a faster and even more mobile light cavalry. Ellrqwyen also translate as Sky Knights. They use long lances as their primary weapon to deliver daring charges and fight off other air cavalry. They are often nobility or at least prestigious retainers. They are supported by the Wybrenyr who wields bows to rain down arrows. Gryffnn are kept in special keeps and establishments, away from the public. When invading another country the Sky Knights and their retinue advances deep into hostile territory, often evading the main force to scout out the lands and strike where it hurts the most. Against enemy armies they prefer skirmishes, picking off small groups before they can unit with the main force. While Alaithyr and even Notanyr can often accept elvish members Gryffnn riders are almost always limited to Yelin.
Ceidwad (Rangers) are an unique steward who swore eternal fealty to a lord. They are secret agents, messengers, spies and at times even assassins. They work in the shadows and without anyone knowing their identity. They are expert survivors and infiltrators whose services are often consist of a "necessary evil". Ceidwad technically don't exist to the law yet their actions reflect the wishes of their master.
Doctrine wise Yllendthyr has an unique approach. For the Yelin with their love of life and longevity, the "ultimate sacrifice" in war is hardly an attractive option. As such it would be extremely difficult to find any member of their species who would be willing to stand in a line on open fields. Nor any of the Aradynn would feel stupid enough to force their brethren to fight in such a way. Instead of direct confrontation Yllendthyr grew a preference for skirmishes and defeating the enemy in detail. Defensively they rely on ambushes and gradually bleeding out the enemy invaders while avoiding actual battle. Offensively they extensively use their famed air cavalry to outmaneuver the enemy and cripple them that way. Only when these options are no longer viable the Yelinor prepare for a pitched encounter. In major battles they usually have three main elements to rely on: Auxiliaries, air cavalry and skirmishers. Auxiliaries are non-Yelinor troops of the Aramegyr, Bagethelli mercenaries or even the Drefgiad. They are the standing force facing the enemy army usually in the open. Auxiliaries usually assume defensive formation, sometimes even digging trenches or setting up wagon forts if possible. Most of the field guns are protected by the auxiliaries, as well. Air cavalry is usually held in reserve during the beginning of the battle, only actively using a few scouts and messengers. Their primary role is exploitation and chasing down the routing enemies. If they find a hole in the enemy formation they quickly relay that information to the rest of their force to deliver a well-coordinated strike. The role of the skirmishers is to create such holes. They often infiltrate the enemy front from unexpected angles to rain down arrows, spells or occasionally even light cannon fire. Skirmishing light cavalry (be it Nortanyr, centaur mercs or anything else) usually assists them. At times the purpose of skirmishers is to bait the opponent to either get them into a trap or just let the air cavalry decimate them. Either way there's a frightening degree of coordination between the skirmishers and air cavalry which the Yelinor exploits to maximum efficiency. [to be continued...]
Naval Overview
TBA
Nation Relations
TBA
Got the key details down. Now I only need to work on smaller things like the minute elements of my history, exact social status of other races, names for a few of my holdings, etc.
@Archetype ZeroFun fact is that in a sense this NS is a reboot of my Yllendthyr from the New World NRP. Though with a rather severe overhaul.
Oh and BTW, anyone wishes to establish some sorts of relation with Yllendthyr?
Colonizers from what amounts to Sami-land climate then?
Quite similar. Actually since I use Tolkien's elvish which is based off his ancient Scandinavian and British isle language studies combined together you could even say my language also fits that environment to a degree. I wish to write a bit more about my military until I post my prototype NS but you'll see it soon.
If the Roman empire comes from Roman as a demonym for a resident of Rome, then to be cheeky the same logic can be rolled out for the RP and pointing to how Gorgenmast is set up in the old imperial capital, he takes up the name of the Empire, and the Empire is spoke of as the city.
Bing bang boom.
That does help a lot. I know this is a minor plot detail for me but I wanted to be accurate. Thank you!
In any case: immediate things that stick out to me that you need to answer: Your people spill out across two language zones but I'm so far not reading a lot of indication that this is being considered. Terkhazia - the northern coast lands to that last major bend in the river - is its own thing of pseudo-Slav speak and then there's the the Old Imperial Language quarters. Unless in the past they invaded in great force from somewhere else and thus probably had enough of a large ruling class over top that actively refused to speak either-or then I'm not sure it would work given the language geography. So your nation also plops you down in an area relevant to @Erik Tiber.
It's kind of like that. See the largest island in my possession, the one with rather unusual shape? That's Yllendost, the home island of the Yelinor. The rest are other islands they've gradually either colonized or taken over. Then some hundreds of years ago they began their imperial ambitions and kept expanding while also conquering other nations. Forget language regions, they have multiple species under the same empire including humans, elves, trolls, dwarves and even centaurs. Probably also goblins and orcs to some extend but I am undetermined on that. Will depend on what neighbors I get and so does their lifestyle in my empire. Would they be free, prohibited from moving, enslaved or even treated like animals? It all depends on what culture is at the region where I'd have greenskins ( if any).
As for culture they had their own thing going on for millennia in relative isolation out on the seas. If thousands of kilometers of water in isolation isn't a sufficient barrier to facilitate cultural differences then nothing will be.
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salamimike
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