@Monochromatic RainbowI think you should also post in the OOC, preferably while re-posting the invite for the Discord channel. Nobody would go for a game which appears to be as if it is a ghost town. SacWar 3 had the exact same issue.
NATION NAME: Khagnuzg'Uruk (Uruk Lands of the Khagn, often translated as The Uruk Empire) GOVERNMENT: Imperial Parliamentary Monarchy RULER: Khagn (equivalent of the Emperor), Kri-Vizaarz (equivalent of Prime Minister) PRIMARY SPECIES: Urk/Ork/Orc (either spelling is fine, albeit Urk is the most correct) PRIMARY RELIGION: Dorzai (believes in the god Zot and remembers its first herald Kudarsh) POPULATION: 388,690,528 (last census data) The Uruk Empire is large nation occupying the central portion of Narrev. It's known for its warlike ork inhabitants. It arguably has the largest continental army in all of Narrev yet owns a disproportionately slim influence over the seas. Its complex politics and constant wars make the Uruk lag behind technologically the other great powers but they're making a steady effort to modernize.
HISTORY OVERVIEW
Lacking record-keeping methods the early history of the orks is shrouded in mystery. It's known that orkish tribes were scattered around the central Narrevian steppes before even the Common Era. Their resilience and warlike qualities eventually caught the eye of the steadily expanding Kratorian Empire which captured them and initiated a long breeding program to create a slave race of soldiers fit to their needs. The Uruk soon became their feared shock troop on the continent. They were powerful, disciplined, relentless and loyal. They revered the Semideum as physical deities who could never do wrong and followed them blindly regardless of what they were told. Their official name became the Ordus, a mutation of the Kratorian word meaning "rank, file" or also meaning "order, command". Both meanings fit the Uruk well. Orkish culture remained but drastically altered to reflect Kratorian beliefs and their overall status in society. Yet the glory of the Kratorian Empire was about to take a sharp turn. In the Common Era Year 1448 the Empire spread far and wide, almost covering the entire Narrevian continent, it was only natural they'd turn for Etresna. Lytonius as the Empire's herald visited Etresna, demanding their prompt capitulation. It was a moment of arrogance and outright ignorance, product of time when no one could stop the Empire. On the other hand Etresna idolized valor and could never agree to bow without a fight. Insulted with the demands Lytonius was tried and later brutally murdered in response. Shocked and infuriated the Kratorian Empire hastily declared war on Etresna and legions of men, orks, demigods and other races marched up against the comparatively tiny nation. Arrogant and unprepared for what's to come Kratorian Army completely fell for Etresna's scorched earth tactics and guerilla attacks. The seemingly swift war turned into a meat grinder of attrition, slaying millions and killing numerous Semideum in the process. Experiencing failure for the first time, the Uruk's faith in the Semideum wavered. With many of their masters dead they rose up and their rampage engulfed most of Narrev in flames.
The uprising of the Ordos was sudden yet relatively spontaneous. While the orks took over most of the mainland the territory was split between numerous warlords. Great cities burned and many of Kratoria's accomplishments met this new age of ruin. With their numbers, military knowledge and natural-born ferocity the entire continent was defined by the orcish wars. [To be continued...]
GEOGRAPHIC OVERVIEW
TERRITORY CLAIM:
CULTURAL OVERVIEW
There are three main social layers within the Empire. Ushatar, Shara and Snaga. Ushatar are orks who descended from the original Uruk culture, Shara are the free people of lesser orks or other races while Snaga are the enslaved population. The law applies differently between these three groups and their various interactions. Uruk's laws in general are strict, precise and applies everywhere within the Empire. On the other hand Uruk laws are not everything and provinces have considerable degree of autonomy. Uruk laws were revolutionary at the time but their structure is nowadays in the age of centralized states could be more of a hindrance.
As descendants of their warlord ancestors the Ushatar are the unofficial ruling class within Uruk. Among them you can distinguish 3 castes, each with different social status and upbringing. Pashtar are what most people recognize as the "Ushatar": Strong and militaristic. They are born for battle and high quality troops or the low ranking officers are generally selected from them. Dathuurz are warrior aristocracy usually capable of tracing back their lineage to various famous warlords. They are born leaders and aside from their military skills they take pride in the purity of their bloodline and take this matter dead seriously. Lastly you have the Laguurz, a caste of shamans who did not abandon their traditions. They are religious polyhistor offering their guidance in faith, record-keeping and sharing their wealth of knowledge with those who are worthy to it. Laguurz also have families with long spellcasting tradition and their influence in magic research is quite noticeable.
The Urk (plural: Urkim), also commonly referred as orks/orcs, are a powerful race dominating central Narrev. They are the primary members of the group colloquially referred as Greenskins. While considered a race in terms of physical attributes they sport a wide variety. Generally though they are taller than humans with way higher muscle development and characteristic green or brownish green skin tone. Uruks can be massive with the average Ushatar weighing 200-250 kilograms (~ 400-500 pounds) and physical might to match. Orcs have a high metabolism and consume more food at average to maintain their activities. They are also naturally more inclined to aggression, a typical Greenskin trait. [to be continued..]
TECHNOLOGICAL OVERVIEW
Uruk is an unique combination of antiquated and modern as it's yet to benefit in full from the industrial revolution. Rural populations at times live in borderline medieval societies while cities are very similar to the standards of the civilized world. Lacking large sea routes the center of Uruk development are connected by railroads. In spite of its size the density of rail lines almost approaches that of the other major powers. Uruk has a number of academies with some earning international fame. Urukian technology is known for its ruggedness, relative simplicity and raw power. The so-called "Orc-Steel" (Oflsong) is well-known for its toughness and consistent quality even if at the cost of extra weight. In contrast orkish industry faces issues at producing fine machinery at large scale. With their struggling economy and prior investment in steam engines this resulted in Uruk being far slower at adopting internal combustion engines. Almost all orcish vehicles rely on steam instead of gasoline with aircraft being a major exception.
Shortened as Kabuum (or Kaboom) it is an Uruk variation of the smokeless gunpowder derived from Etresna's gun balm. The mixture is at least three times stronger than black gunpowder, generates far less smoke and it doesn't clog up gun barrels like its predecessor. Orcish Kaboom utilizes plant derived components and the main process is simple enough to be accomplished in rural establishments, allowing widescale and cheap production immediately. On the other hand it suffers a bit in terms of strength to compounds used by other countries and the insufficient quality control can be also troublesome. This is partially why Uruk has preference for high-caliber guns, that and their obsession with stopping power. More than small arms the Karikabuum derived explosives at average 20% less energetic than standard TNT, enough that newer shells utilize entirely different material as filler. Ordinance is mostly unaffected and the quality of the gun tubes makes more of a difference. Aside from these the Uruk also have a tradition for rocketry and they developed a variation of Karikabuum to keep them viable even in the 20th century.
Struggling economically and behind in sciences the Uruk had a hard time during the 19th century. With the invention of dynamite and guncotton the nations began the race to develop smokeless gunpowder, the next leap in firearms development. Backwards as they were the Uruk Empire was expected to be left behind even further. Soon Etresna succeeded in creating the gun balm, a stable smokeless powder thanks to the legendary chemist and weapon designer Firahl Davariskk. Being a growing industrial giant her recipe soon gotten patented and produced by many of Etresna's allies. Employed in the late stages in the last war the Uruk experienced first hand the dreadful power of Etremaden's machineguns and was intent on acquiring this power for themselves. Using espionage the Uruk stole the patent and their chemists spent over two years to develop an alternative, Karikabuum. The process was eerily similar yet the compounds utilized were different. Davariskk sued the Uruk for infringing her patent yet after years of feud she lost the case. At the same time she received severe backlash for providing "savages" with the keys to modern weaponry.
Translate as "strong iron" Oflsong is an orcish variation of steel using extreme temperatures and their native resources. Oflsong is made from Hokur (meteoric nickel-iron ore) mixed with high temperature melt of Guratur (mysterious superheavy ore) and then undergoing rolling and heat treatment. Oflsong is known for its great strength and fairly good consistency. Objects made from the so-called "Orcish Steel" are known to be rather durable. On the other hand Oflsong is about 50% heavier than common steel which of course has an effect on performance. Naturally, Oflsong is a bit pricey even in Uruk so there are cheaper alternatives more commonly found where strength isn't a concern, they are collectively referred as Dong (weak steel).
MAGIC OVERVIEW
While never particularly amazing in this field Uruk has a long tradition of magical practices. This is strongly tied to their shaman caste and in particular the Laguurz. Those who receive official papers for spellcasting rights are colloquially referred as the Duushuurz. One problem for Uruk's magic research is exactly their attachment to the religious shaman caste which puts most of their effort in the development of their own branch of magic rather than gathering knowledge from a wider scope. While other schools of magic are known and even analyzed it is always in the view of how to improve shamanistic magic through them. It does mean most spellcasters know little aside from shamanistic magic which limits their options. For example the Uruk never developed spellcannons nor uses spellpowered engines.
Shamanistic magic itself centers on the knowledge of the elements and the use of nature spirits. With the world depleted of magic it is the shamans' belief that the spirits flowing through the world only retracted to the secret folds of reality, content to watch. Whether this theory is correct we have no way to confirm but at least the shamans believe they can still communicate with them. By contacting the spirits shamans can ask them to send avatars of their being to manifest within the magical crystals. Other schools outside of Uruk teach that the shamans create artificial spirits from the crystal's magic which then cast spells by their own volition. Whichever is actually true the result is the same, shamans make spirits inhabit the crystal to cast spells rather than turning the magic directly for spellcasting like other schools. This is of course inefficient use of the already sparse magic power albeit with the side benefit of more complex uses. Although when you add up the wilful nature of the inhabiting spirits most magic users consider shamanism too bothersome to be practical. Instruments that use spirits are referred as charms, talismans or totems. Charms are constantly active and can have various effect, usually of beneficial nature. Talismans are magic tools that allow invoking the spirits for spells. Totems are the closest to spell engines of other nations as they have a spirit doing a specific task, albeit they are just as often function akin to larger charms.
Aside from the shamanistic magic, Laguurz also made decent advances in the field of alchemy. More importantly they have their own special form of communication using charm-papers and their own limited reserves of power. Depending on the sophistication of the charm paper it might only be capable of making simple signals like color changes up to even displaying entire sentences. Nobody knows when the orcs developed charm-papers but some theorize they existed even before them serving the Kratorian Empire.
ECONOMICAL OVERVIEW
Uruk economy is under central control with only limited private enterprises. Larger industries are generally under the authority of the Khagn, even if in just name. The government obviously also prioritizes war materials over civilian goods. Combined with the lackluster industrial development compared to their neighbor this means the Uruk mostly focus on internal trade and being a tariff state between multiple international land routes. Uruk products otherwise have a hard time to compete with others which does set back their economy.
Uruk does have a few ports but barring the naval docks of Ogbed they have little shipbuilding activity. Rather than sea routes Uruk put high emphasis on the development of their railworks, connecting the entirety of the empire. Off the rails though the situation is less optimal with the main form of transportation being animal-drawn carts and wagons. Although steam powered vehicles are widespread, especially for jobs that require more power like bulk transport or farm equipment. Gasoline and diesel powered vehicles are relatively rare, though. Uruk lacks the industry to build high-quality engines in huge quantities so aside from Grazob Motors Co. in the capital and a few tiny companies the only option for automobiles is to import them from foreign countries. On the other hand motorbikes enjoy a strange popularity, both import models and locally produced ones. Bikes made for orcs are usually made in the empire and in order to account for the weakness of import engines they use two of them. There are a limited number of bikes made entirely in Uruk, engine and all. Airplanes are rare in civilian use, the imperial administration turns what few planes they could get for transport and mailing duties. Of course if they aren't given outright to the military.
MILITARY OVERVIEW
The Ushatar forms the core of the Uruk military, practicing warfare and the tradition of warg riding from youth. They are learning how to fight from their parents and private teachers and upon the age of 13 they are sent to the military academy. This very much reflects the culture of knights in other nations. Ushatar are classically the officers and cavalry while the Shara does the grunt and logistics work. Snaga are not considered worthy of military duties nor wise to allow them to take arms thus they are almost entirely excluded from the military. In spite of the inherent caste system the military is overall a meritocratic organization where rank means more than status. Uruk troops are ferocious yet also highly disciplined. Punishment for misbehaving soldiers could be brutal and the leadership commands through rank, fear and a mixed sense of respect. Camaraderie is extremely valued and since ancient ages members of the same unit shared tent and were encouraged to work as a group. Aside from the imperial troop, which currently on average readiness numbers 12 million, they also have various defense forces created by the local governments and tribal lords. Outside of war the Uruk military is also important for maintaining public order and performing punitive raids against provinces that refuse bowing to the Khagn's will. Raids against neighboring countries are also common, using these occasions to keep their troops combat ready while also spreading fear to the borders. Doctrine wise the Uruk mostly follows the trends of Narrev, albeit with a strong preference for rapid strikes with mobile light forces before the main army mows down the rest. In this sense their warg riding cavalry still finds a lot of employment.
Shok,Shokim = Team (meaning "mate", "brother at arms", those who closely work together) Kadar, Kadari = Squad (literally means "tent" as they share the same tent together) Zajar, Zajari = Platoon (originates from "campfire" as these groups tended to share the same fire) Rothar, Rothari = Company (originates from the word "circle", implying a circle of camps) Kutoz, Kutozari = Battalion (means "garrison" and in the past such organizations often held forts) Tuf, Tufri = Regiment (the word classically means "horde" and has a long tradition of military use) Madhu, Madhuz = Division (shortening of the term Madhuurz'tuf meaning "Big Horde") Bajrak, Bajrim = Army, Corps (archaic word for "tribe" and orcish army groups can get quite familiar) Ushtarak, Ushtarim = Theater Force (Ushtarak is otherwise an archaic word for "army")
Infantry Like every army in Narrev the orcs also rely on infantry as their main fighting force. Gijuurz is the name reserved for common infantryman which means "blooders", a word that does not seem to have a meaning until put into context. Infantry has the job to kill and to be killed on the battlefield with blood figuratively being their common currency. They are also connected by the blood and form something of a kinship in the process. As such in a sense Gijuurz can both mean "cannon fodder" and "blood brother", a respectful and dismissive term at the same time. Uruk infantry is known for their strong bonds, discipline and feared for their ferocity. What nobody associates the orcish troops with is marksmanship, all because of their doctrine. Uruk does not strive to make their infantry excellent shots, they are excellent soldiers. They are reasonably accurate up to 200 meters but once bullet drop and wind effects get in the way their lack of skill shows. In general orcish infantry won't even bother shooting targets from 500 or more meters, it would be just a waste of munition. Instead they are taught to rely on their support teams to bridge that gap by machinegun fire, rocket barrages or actual marksmen. Speaking of which every platoon has a marksman, a medicine man and a shaman. The latter two traces back to Uruk customs for shamans tending the camps and giving both their knowledge and religious support. They also keep records of the unit's deeds, less like a report and more as their personal tales.
Standard pattern orcish rifle using the new and powerful 12.6x42mm cartridge with Karikabuum smokeless powder. It's built sturdy and almost unwieldy for non-orcs. Bad mouths call it a rifle-club than a proper weapon because of its weigh and brutish nature. Perhaps in response to this the Inruurz 1880 (carbine variant, pictured above) has a large blade section for assault, supposedly to add recoil mass while also serving as a melee and trench tool. The sheer appearance of the weapon also have a known psychological effect which is well valued by the Uruk. The weapon has a 9 round internal 3x3 magazine which can be reloaded by 3-round stripper clips. Unlike other rifles Orcish guns also use a simplified straight pull bolt-action which coupled with the heavy cartridge makes it difficult to operate for weaker races. For orcs though the mechanism is simple to manufacture and can be reliably operated even during cold or mud. The 1.26cm Ugaur, or".496 Orcish" as called by others, is a relatively stumpy load with less velocity than common cartridges. The standard load are softpoint bullets which have dreadful effects on humans upon hit and also effective at fighting particularly large creatures. This is of course part of the Uruk doctrine on psychological warfare, intended to scare the enemy out of their wits in fear of getting shot by these.
Kapuurz is the general Orcish term for pistols while Rothuurz specifically means revolver.The lack of precise tools make semi-automatic pistols a sorts of luxury item within the Empire and as such revolvers dominate. Rothuurz 1892 is a standardized and compact handgun issued for officers and anyone who could afford it. The weapon is chambered in 1.32cm Kapuan (.520 Savage for export markets) with dimensions of 13.2x33mm. The standard round uses a superheavy 30-gram softpoint bullet with the muzzle velocity of 320m/s (when fired from a 4" barrel, it could reach 400m/s otherwise). It has fearsome stopping power but also a tremendous kick which makes it unwieldy in the hands of weaker races. Even for an orc the weapon is made for measured shots rather than emptying the cylinder at wild abandon. Technical terms wise the Rothuurz 1880 is a 5-shot single action revolver with a short 4-inch barrel. It is designed for power, simplicity and easy portability. They are generally crude and hardly a collector's item but they do the job just fine.
Kordh is a traditional Orcish sword design originating from the 16th century. It's essentially a more bulky saber made for orcish strength and were mostly preferred by cavalry. When sabers rose in popularity the orc embraced the Kordh further and it became a common weapon of defense to nearly all soldiers. Nowadays swords are no longer issued to regular troops (albeit they often acquire them regardless). On the other hand officers are required to carry swords and they can buy one like the above pictured Kam-Kordh 1879 which was designed to be cheap yet enduring using simple but effective methods. The sword has a knife handle and blade made of Olfsong. Cavalry also use Kordh type swords which are considerably longer and lack anything but the most basic guard. Due to their toughness and the power behind an orc's swing these swords can at times hack through even armor or chop people in half. These swords are rightfully feared.
Special Weapons:
Crank-operated belt chain fed revolver gun chambered for the new 1.26cm Ugaur ammunition. While the Uruk aren't alien to automatic guns their industry still struggles to create the fine machinery required for them at large scale. Added up with its reliability issues compared to their corps of skilled crank-machinegun operators means the Uruk didn't adopt Maxim-style guns at wide scale. Ma'kall 1901 isn't the first machinegun to utilize the new round, either. It was preceded by the Ma'kall 1880 which used top-fed magazines akin to the old Gatlings. With the invention of belt-feed these weapons were rendered obsolete, though. As such they rebuilt the old guns and switched the production for the new Ma'kall 1891s. As said these weapons use revolving chambers with a single barrel instead of the Gatling's revolving barrels. This technically strains the barrel more but water cooling mechanisms can solve that. The weapon uses non-disintegrating chain-belts to feed 1.26cm Ugaur ammunition. Due to this mechanism and being cartridged for larger munitions the orcish "machineguns" weight considerably more than usual, albeit it doesn't deter the orcs. The weapon has a light and heavy variant. The heavy variant is mounted on wheeled carriages and tripods and issued on the regimental level with 4 guns forming the machinegun platoon. The light variant is shorter and occasionally even without the water jacket that has disc-shaped pouch for a small 50-round ammunition belt. Every company can have one "light" machinegun team albeit these are often combined on the battalion level for higher coordination. Thanks to their cheapness the Ma'kall is quite numerous in issue and Uruk often has more guns than the enemy. On the other hand their crank-driven machineguns tend to have low rate of fire and can fatigue the users much faster than gas-operated weaponry found in other nations.
While revolver guns performed admirably the issues of overheating remained a concern. As such for divisional level the Uruk army still relies on gatlings. Called as the Roth'kal 1884 it served as a testbed for multiple innovations later seen in the 1891 model revolver machineguns. It fires the 1.26cm Ugaur munition and sports rails for a telescopic sight in case of long range suppressive fire. As divisional guns the Roth'kal is almost always mounted on modified light artillery carriages and they accept belt-fed munitions. Roth'kal 1897 like its predecessors are effectively treated as artillery and staffed by an entire squad. Due to having multiple people, fatigue for cranking the guns is rarely an issue and the mechanism is modified to allow a separate person to spin it than the one operating the gun. Roth'kal 1897s are also semi-frequently equipped with mantlets to protect against incoming bullets or artillery splinters.
New production rifle made for precise shooting. Shoflaguurz in the past were given model 1880 rifles but those proved too crude for the job. The 1888 model takes inspirations from rifles from other countries, especially the Sidara and Etremaden types. For the sake of logistics the gun uses the same 1.26cm Ugaur cartridges albeit it has the capacity to accept longer cases for future special rounds. The rifle sports a more complex toggle lock mechanism which allows quicker pulls with less vibrations, increasing both rate of fire and second shot accuracy.Length-wise the model 1888 is somewhere between the rifle and carbine versions of the M1888 for easier portability. Its internal magazine also only accepts a single 3-round stripper clip, albeit as well-practiced shooters a Shoflaguurz can reload within seconds while keeping an eye on target. The Shoflag variant has a rail along with the standard iron sight to accept telescopic sights. Scopes are not always issued to platoon level marksmen and this forces them to rely on the iron sight which thanks to the Etremaden inspirations is actually fairly decent. A stark contrast with the rudimentary sights offered for model 1880 rifles.
Translates as "foot rocket", a light 6cm diameter class rocket used in 3-stand batteries at the company level. Their maximum range is in the excess of 3 kilometers albeit this is only used for saturation fire at large scale battles. More often the rockets are ranged for 500-1000 meters where their relative inaccuracy is more manageable. That being said even with the new Karikabuum based solid rocket propellants the Karijak are not precision artillery. Instead they rely on the volume of fire with 3 teams rapidly launching 3-9 rockets each within a minute, depending on conditions. Of course this comes at no surprise that a company could run out of rockets fairly quick and as such they try to rely on them sparingly. Each rocket costs more than a common orcish rifle so misuse is not tolerated. Regardless their utility is unquestionable and the whizz of the approaching rockets has quite the effect on the enemy morale.
Flamethrower currently in just development, designed for portability by a single infantryman on the march. It's a heavily simplified design unlike carts and warg mounted variants which have yet to be used at wide scale. Like its predecessors the weapon has separate tanks for fuel and propelling agent. Compared to the larger variants the infantry version would have considerably less capacity, only enough for 15 seconds of continuous fire and at a reduced range of about 15 meters instead of 30. Regardless the weapon should work well in assaulting trenches and fortifications, or at least hoped as such by the high command. When fully issued, every assault company can own at least one flamethrower troop.
Cavalry Since its birth as a nation or even before Uruk always prided themselves on their warg cavalry. They have long traditions of breeding and taming wargs, treating them almost like family members. By the modern era of course these traditions are slowly eroding while animal power is becoming more and more expensive in comparison to machines. In spite of this, most Ushatar families retained their cavalry traditions and they form the core of the Uruk mobile forces along with their large retinue. Wargs are also essential as beasts of burden, be it carrying supplies or towing artillery. While steam trucks and tractors are slowly spreading when off the rails the chief method of transport are still wargs and various contraptions towed by them. As for the cavalry, the new age also inspires the Uruk government to experiment with motorized measures. Motorbikes in particular are gaining popularity with dozens of regiments centered on them.
While horses aren't particularly rare and compete with them for civilian use the military almost exclusively rely on wargs for both cavalry and transport purposes. These are wolf-like omnivorous mammals with ferocious looks, good endurance and impressive sprinting speed. They can eat almost anything including grass, feed, fruits, meat or even corpses on the battlefield. Wargs were essential for the tactics of the raiding orcs who often roamed the lands without any supplies and the Uruk are still fond of them. Their fearsome appearance and overall ferocity also makes them fit for their doctrine even if the days of the cavalry are steadily vanning. Taming wargs is difficult and they pose more dangers than horses yet for cultural reasons they are quite commonly found within the Uruk Empire.
Orcish motorbikes are large, loud and comparatively powerful. They're often driven by not one but two motorbike engines and preferably on large wheels. In part this is due to the inherent weight difference between humans and orcs but also since the Uruk considers motorbikes the continuation of their cavalry traditions. Consequently they want a vehicle that can be packed full of equipment and be capable of crossing rough terrain. In regards to the latter as suspension technology has yet to mature the orcs are constantly dissatisfied with. As such most Uruk strategists don't believe in bikes completely replacing wargs anytime soon. Another interesting feature of bikes is the inclusion of sidecars. While this further limits the vehicle to roads it allows mounting far more equipment along with an extra passenger. There are efforts to use machineguns mounted on sidecars.
One of the newest products of Uruk weapons development fielded just recently.They are basally a giant wheel each propelled by steam power and steered by a smaller wheel at the back. Kaltrothari are experimental vehicles trying to push the orcish cavalry tactics into the 20th century. The two-man contraption is equipped with a steam-spun revolver gun and has numerous spikes and blade protrusions both for psychological effect and added shock factor during charges. The wooden wheel backed with metal reinforcements is resilient enough to cross rough terrain. Yet the Kalroth is an awkward contraption with numerous issues. For example it needs periscopes and numerous other aids in order to just see straight. In spite of that the Uruk claim their Kalroth will have excellent off-road mobility superior to regular bikes, although obviously lacking in speed when traversing paved roads.
Uruk Empire controls a huge expanse of land, too large to be covered on foot. With minor uprisings all too common the Uruk chose to turn their railway transports for war. Armored trains are akin to gunboats on rails, mounting small artillery in turrets along with machinegun ports with the entire body covered in armor sufficient to shrug off small arms or shell splinters. Armored Trains have various components, the one shown in the picture is the gun car for direct defense. Each car also has its own auxiliary engine, making them self-propelled when necessary or assist in the train's load. These trains can of course also tow railway artillery, carry troops or transport war goods closer to the front without the vulnerability of regular trains.
Secret military project enabling the transportation of huge amount of goods with a locomotive almost akin to a dreadnought. The train is still development and requires two parallel railways to travel. This is obviously costly to build and even with the full plans they don't expect to drive this monstrosity anywhere but between priority lines. The project itself might be even too ambitious and has numerous cost overruns. Regardless the leadership is impressed enough with the idea to keep the funding.
Artillery Uruk never neglected the role of artillery and until the 19th century they were among the leaders on the continent. During the last century though the Uruk were always playing catch-up and nowadays their tubes are considered inferior to the guns employed by Etresna or Rotteburg. While lacking in quality they do make up with quantity and especially in terms of lighter artillery they have no shortages. Rocketry is also an unique face of the orcish artillery, light rocket units are even assigned on the company level. Light artillery in general makes use of wargs for transport and the so-called "warg artillery" is still a popular doctrine within the Empire. Advances to maps, signals and mathematics also help. Forward observers and map makers are the key elements of the new indirect fire based artillery. Uruk doctrine puts more emphasis on mobility and thus for most engagements light artillery is all they could employ. During prolonged battles or preparing for sieges they might deploy heavy artillery. These are either towed by steam wagons but more commonly disassembled into parts and carried by wargs warg carts prior to setting them up. A relatively innovative portion of Uruk heavy artillery are their collection of railway guns. These elongated train cars house some of the greatest artillery pieces the Uruk have ever made, comparable to their coastal defense batteries. Indeed, at least some of them are originating from naval projects.
Gajarkal 4cm 1890 - First intended as a replacement of outdated rifled falconets for the cavalry in the end it proved unsatisfactory due to its weak explosive content. Regardless they are issued to Ogres as standard rifle who keep producing them in large numbers. Ogres also made a few modifications to better serve as a personal rifle. The new variant is at times even referred as 4cm Vagun'Kal (40mm giant rifle) to further set it apart from the original artillery. Some cavalry units still use the 4cm Gajarkal but generally the 7cm guns replaced them.
Gajarkal 7cm 1892 - Comparable to mountain guns of other nations the Gajarkal is used by cavalry and mountain troops. The weapon can be disassembled for easier portability and compared to most mountain guns it has a longer barrel and higher shell velocity.
Bubartas 7cm 1881 - Light howitzer used by cavalry and for situations where field howitzers are too cumbersome. Consequently their performance is inferior to the mainline howitzers of most armies and the current shells are known to carry too little shrapnel.
Bubartas 10cm 1901 - New type of field howitzer rapidly phasing out the old 1881 models. Unlike its predecessor it's lighter with a recoil mechanism and without the requirement to disassemble them into two parts for transport.
Bahud 10cm 1880 - Classic mortar mounted on an old type carriage, firing 10cm shells.
Bahud 15cm 1881 - Heavy mortar developed around the same time as its lighter counterpart.
Bubartas 15cm 1899 - Heavy howitzer nowadays called up on divisional level.
Strigzuurz 15cm 1904 - Heavy artillery used for long range bombardment, although few in number.
Bahud 25cm 1901 - Superheavy mortar used for sieges.
Strigzuurz 20cm 1910 - Superheavy cannon still in the testing phases, meant to better bridge the gap between Uruk and Etremaden artillery.
Bubartas 30cm 1900 - Siege howitzer made to break fortifications. While adopted for a while most military strategists feel it unnecessary and unfit for the Uruk method of mobility warfare. As such they are only produced in very limited numbers.
Sha'bartuurz 45cm 1908 "Gothmog" - Superheavy howitzer made to destroy fortifications, just out of the testing phase. It weighs 50 tons and requires half a day of assembly on the field but its capability to fire shells in nearly the 1-ton range makes it a terrifying weapon.
Technology with roots dating to times of the old Far West, before the Segon Dynasty came into power. Karijak are related to ancient rockets, using lower grade gunpowder as solid propellant. The Uruk adopted rockets early and kept them as staple element of their artillery ever since then. Over the centuries karijak underwent many changes yet their essential way of use is the same. Unlike ordinance the rockets are known for "soft" launch which means they can be fired from very light platforms. This allows the Uruk to maintain their mobility while still having the ability to lay down artillery fire. Rockets can have decent explosive payload and respectable range but the ammunition they use is always much larger thus limiting the stockpiles. Another issue is their accuracy, rockets are incapable of the same precision as modern gun tubes so in order to have any sorts of effectiveness they need to be fired in large numbers at once. On the other hand rockets can also easily lay down massive barrages within a short time while conventional artillery struggles with it. Karijak didn't replace gun based artillery for the Uruk but became a fine complement to it. Aside from standard explosive and fragmentation warheads the Uruk also has some unique types. Smoke and flare variants see utility while special incendiary warheads are used against dug in positions. One of the most unusual element of Uruk rocketry is the VrasKragor ("Killfang") which is a Talisman-induced enchantment, imbuing warheads with a frenzied fire spirit to seek out nothing but destruction. This results in the rocket steering itself during the terminal phases to a limited degree, seeking out the largest concentration of lives it could find. Of course the fire spirit has no concept of military value nor it can determine if its destructive effects are guaranteed to take out its foes. In addition the spirit has no friends and if aimed wrongly it could easily strike your own troops. Regardless the imbued rockets have more acceptable accuracy albeit at relatively high cost as of course this relies on Uruk's magic resources.
Common Types of Rocketry: - Kamab'Karijak - 6cm rockets made in staggering numbers and used to support infantry.
- Karijak'Strigz - 9cm rockets made to supplement field howitzers.
- Karijak'Ros - 12cm rockets fit for destroying moderate fortifications and usually having longer range performance (depends on the amount of propellant and chosen fin design).
- Sha'Karijak - Rockets of varying size but usually above 15cm diameter meant for sieges, comparable to superheavy guns in destructive performance.
Cooperation between the Artillery and Balloon Corps, technically belonging to both. It consists of a scaffolding, rocket battery equipment and 4-8 observation balloons. After the setup the balloons lift up the scaffolding along with the artillery crew and anchored to a fixed position, effectively becoming a large kite balloon contraption. Thanks to its altitude which is often in the excess of 1000m it enabled the Uruk to lob rockets at greater ranges, preferably outranging their opponents. In addition the balloons are in theory invulnerable to counter battery fire. That being said the system is cumbersome and of course vulnerable to enemy aircraft. Effective communication also require a telegram wire which can further add to the setup time and costs. All in all balloon artillery is a niche tactic only effective in specific situations. As a newly developed doctrine the adoption of balloons for extended artillery support is only in its beginning stages.
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Train cars repurposed to house artillery. While locomotives are essential to transport large guns the difference here is that these don't require to leave the train and instead they form a weapon system by themselves. Railway artillery are known for their mobility and relatively quick capability to deploy. On the other hand they are obviously limited to railways. There are numerous variants to the idea involving cars with multiple medium artillery pieces, rocket artillery but most popularly it uses a single long tube heavy artillery (as pictured above). The latter has the advantage of range (best within the Uruk Empire) but with the issue of the gun being incapable of turning. The solution was (as pictured) to build specialized railways to move the entire vehicle to position which worked out perfectly. While relatively costly the advantage of having long range artillery is not lost to the Uruk.
Air Force Given their dated technology and economical problems you might be surprised to learn that Uruk does have an air force. If anything Uruk has a long history of balloon corps for recon and observation and maintain a fair number of these. Blimps are essential for mapping and observation of enemy troops. In contrast their adoption of airplanes was... troubled, to say the least. Uruk recognizes the value of aircraft but currently lacks the industry and skilled labor to produce them in large scale. Uruk does posses biplanes which usually do recon and messaging duties but they also have an experimental squadron of modified planes specializing to hunt down enemy balloon observers.
Navy As a mostly landlocked nation the orcs never had a formidable naval force. That being said it doesn't mean they didn't try naval invasions before and given the present geopolitics the fear of the Etremaden and Cethosi navy did inspire them to modernize. Uruk navy due to its tight budget currently has only two objectives. First being coastal defense against a potential naval invader and second being the patrol of their territorial rivers, special notion to Kukulum (Ruby River) which crosses the Empire. As such most Uruk ships are not rated for open sea warfare and they generally focus on small vessels. Torpedo boats and mine warfare are particularly attractive while monitor class vessels tend to be the common "warship" to the Uruk fleet. Uruk is in the possession of only one dreadnought, built by their Kyrennosi vassals.
Traits
- War Masters - Positive Trait: Uruk is a warlike nation built on conquests. Military prowess is at the forefront and they have a long tradition of warriors. While far from having the best troops or the most advanced military the Uruk government excels at recruitment of soldiers, procuring equipment and supplying them with adequate logistics. Thanks to this they can afford a huge yet highly disciplined army that dwarfs most nations.
- Greenskin Genes - Mixed Trait:Greenskins or orcoids are a diverse mashup of races sharing similar outward characteristics and a particular list of genes. The strange part about greenskins comes up when they interbreed with other races, almost invariably siring another greenskin. Over the millennia the greenskins spread through the continent and now form a sizeable portion of the population, only ever growing. This and their reputation of savagery often makes them targets of prejudice.
- Shamanism - Mixed Trait: Uruk practices the ancient orcish spellcraft and religion known as shamanism. They believe in nature spirits who belong to either of the four elemental categories and skilled shamans are known to be calling up their aid. Shamanism is nuanced and works indirectly through the acts of "spirits". This makes shamanistic magic less predictable but capable of more complex deeds. While Uruk studies other forms of magic the government and the public only accepts shamanism which somewhat hinders their magical development.
- Foreign Stockholders - Mixed Trait: Uruk is a poor but rapidly developing nation with lots of promise. That and the existing alliance systems made the empire's industries quite attractive to certain investors like those from Sidara and Faenaria. This pumps money into the otherwise weak economy of the empire to further improve their technology and industry yet on the other hand it also means foreign powers can have strange influence over Uruk.
THE URUK EMPIRE
20 (18+2) - Your nation is the cream of the crop, and up to a quarter of the globe is under your command. Vast lands are yours to command. 11 (10+1) - Tech - Your nation is a mix of antiquated and modern, as modernization efforts are in full swing. 20 - Army Size - A worryingly large amount of your population is active-duty military. It is maintained year-round, and seems almost infinite. 5 (2+3) - Your economy is weak, and is teetering on a recession 12 (11+1) - Production - Your nation is somewhat majority industrial, with decent resource exploitation. 5 (2+3) - Navy Size - You have a tiny navy. It is largely simple merchant vessels. 7 (9-2) - Airforce Size - You have a few biplanes. 12 (13-1) - Magic - Your nation is above average. 14 (16-2) - Mobilization Ability - It takes a month to mobilize.
Also called the Dragonrealm it describes an old culture of wanderers who spend most of their lives in space habitats. They're spread out and only sporadically make contact with outsiders. They refer to their species as "Asterians" or the children of stars and are known to have a vaguely feudalistic government lead by the Kaiser.
History Overview
Drachenreich and the Asterians consider themselves apart from humanity, a whole new race. Yet the fact is their history begins as a peculiar group of human colonists during the early years of the Imperial Era or perhaps even before. Proper databank and historical records were meticulously deleted and as such it's difficult to pinpoint exactly when the journey of the Dragon's Flight began. It isn't clear what motivated the colonists to wager to reach the furthest reach of the galaxy. What little records are left about distant Asterian origins only exist as barely disguised propaganda text serving to reinforce Drachenreich ideology. According to these the Dragon's Flight project was initiated by the brilliant mind and rich businessman Theodore Drake. To his beliefs mankind was doomed for sticking to their antiquated lifestyle and views and refusing to let go of their blood soaked history. In order to prevent this inevitable demise humans must reborn anew free of their past influences. For this end he funded a grandiose project for a colony ship unlike anything else. It was less like a ship and more of a mobile space habitat, vaguely modeled after classic O'Neill type cylinders. In its center lied a gigantic warp core, allowing the entire vessel to travel at warp speed. According to the records 5 million colonists willingly assisted Drake in his noble cause. The more likely explanation is that Drake used his wealth to convince poor people off the streets to risk this journey.
After this point the Drachenreich propaganda only gets more ridiculous, making the grueling and tense journey into a magical adventure with stereotyped alien characters only serving to inflate Asterian ego and even Drake's personal meeting with the one true god blessing him with the duty of saving all of mankind. It's possible some of these tales have a smidgen of truth to it but separating fact from fiction is borderline impossible. What is certain that mid-journey Drake created the basis of the ideology which would later define Asterian culture, on of the most crucial points being the refusal to settle on large astronomical bodies as Drake believed natural gravity is poisonous to the soul. Instead of finding habitable planets the predecessors of the Asterians began constructing new space habitats just like their original one. It can be also confirmed that they encountered numerous alien races and adopted various technologies not known to the empire. In the next few centuries the human population gradually transformed into the race we cal the Asterians. Records claim it was Drake's vision for a better mankind but most likely it began as a vanity project to prolong his life. Either way, the once singular colony of few million people rapidly grew to a network of mobile space habitats journeying through space with Drake as their almighty emperor.
Yet eventually this came to an end. Propaganda texts tell a sad story about intrigue and betrayal where Drake met a tragic end. Most likely the people just had enough of Drake playing god and dethroned him. Asterians sunk to centuries of chaos and internal wars, most city this as the origin of the Great Houses. This continued until about a thousand years ago when a truce was formed along with the crowing of the new Kaiser. Unlike before the ruler was less like an emperor with absolute power and more akin to a medieval king who required the lords' support. Ever since then society barely changed. Drachenreich remained a loose collection of space colonies spread through the galaxy.
Following Drake's ideology the Dragonrealm's citizens live in mobile space habitats which gives them great degree of freedom. While they periodically settle in specific portions of space they have the ability to move on a moment's notice. Members of the Dragonrealm are dispersed through the galaxy, only connected through warp gates. Most nobles have sworn loyalty to either of the seven Great Houses, consequently ordering their colonies to join their lord. While colonies are largely self-sufficient space isn't equal in its distribution of resources and hence they began to rely on mining outposts. These sparsely populated yet important places can help sustaining dozens of space colonies and their flow of resources are a key in Asterian economy. Aside from the great houses there are two main gatherings of free nobles who haven't made their vows to any of the seven. Among them the most interesting is the Hildburg Expedition which used a recently discovered imperial warp gate to traverse to the other end of the galaxy. Being so far away contact is sparse and this sense of independence is attractive to a some. In addition the Draconist Church holds considerable power in the Dragonrealm with their own fiefs and other holdings. Unlike other groups the sacred realm of Heilgstuhl must remain at the ebb of Styx. The reason is the glorious and sacred planet called the Garden of Drake, a lush green world filled with various creatures. The planet is surrounded by a collosal orbital ring, with environment matching that of the surface. Some theorize this must have been Drake's laboratory to perfect space habitats while others call it a miracle called forth by the Almighty Dragon. Either way the orbital ring also serves as the holy capital of the Draconist religion and the Garden of Drake is considered a favored destination of pilgrimage.
Cultural Overview
Asterians believe in the fact that living on planets and other large cosmic bodies with notable natural gravity would weight down their souls and lead to their moral/ethical ruin. As such they prefer to live in artificial environments of the space habitats, albeit dwarf planets and asteroids can be also acceptable. They are often nomadic, preferring to not remain at the same place for long. Drachenreich subjects in general are xenophobic and don't trust outsiders and even fellow Asterians from distant colonies have a hard time to warm up to each other. They live in a relatively rigid social system of commoners (Landsmanner) and nobles (Edel). On the other hand Asterian culture doesn't really have a much of a distinction between genders when it comes to jobs or even titles. A girl in Asterian society can equally inherit a noble house's properties and a considerable number of Drachenreich's rulers were female under the title of Kaiserin.
As for timekeeping the Asterians use cycles instead of days which equals roughly 10 terrestrial hours. Work and rest is usually in different cycles altogether albeit for better efficiency they invented quarter-cycles and even tenth-cycles (decicycle, roughly equivalent to an hour). Decicycles are split to 100 milicycles and those to 100 moments. As such an "asterian day" (cycle) is 4 quartercycles or 10 decicycles, or 1000 milicycles or 100000 moments depending on which measurement unit you use. An Asterian "week" is 10 cycles and usually is referred as "Decans" an abbreviation of decacycles. Their "months" are 100 cycles and referred as "Periods", each named after an Asterian mythological figure. An asterian "year" is always 1000 cycles long and while it can be called kilocycle its more common names include Alt, Yahr or just simply year. Asterian calendar takes the date of the Reich's foundation as its "zero date" anything before that is "vor dem Reich" (before the Realm, abbreviated as VR) and anything after it is "in dem Reich" (within the Realm, abbreviated as IR). The current date (during the RP's start, at least) is IR3002. When writing down exact dates they use a simple system (for example the 10th cycle of Drachonar (3rd decan) in IR3002 would be: IR 3002.0310). This can even go down to subcycles as say during the same cycle 3002.03100543 means that it's past the fifth decicycle and at the 43rd milicycle. For ease they at times divide the different types with full stops (like for example: 3002.03.10.05.43) but this isn't the standard everywhere. The reason for such clinically neat system is simple, Asterians are space travelers with no fix reference point for time aside from computers counting its passage. In addition given the distance it isn't rare for the calendars of faraway colonies to diverge to a considerable amount. To avoid this going overboard Drachenstadt's time is taken as the global standard and periodically all colonies synchronize to them. That being said there are rare cases when distant colonies fail to contact/synchronize with Drachenstadt for years. And of course rouge colonies and other factions not officially part of Drachenreich no longer synchronize with the capital's calendars. This is of course the source of a myriad of nuanced issues.
Kineticism was popular and widespread between humans when the Dragon's Flight departed. Some sources even imply that Drake was a devout believer. It is of little wonder that Kineticism remained the Asterians' chief religion. Furthermore its basic pillars matched the ideology of the Asterians as Kineticism has no connection to ancient human cultures and it seeks answers to life's greatest questions in the cosmos. As the Dragon's Flight departed before the fourth millennium the Kineticism they have brough had yet to split to its distinct Divinist and Universalist branches and instead it was a strange mix of both. Of course like everything Asterian, Kineticism is also warped by propaganda and their ideology thus earning the name Draconism.
Draconism believes in the Almighty Dragon who is responsible for the Big Bang and considered the bringer of life and justice. All souls originate from the Dragon and they will eventually return to it. They have an extensive clerical staff and strict hierarchy with Grand Caretaker at the helm. All clergy come from the nobility, traditionally the third son or daughter of any family. Those who take up the robes of Draconism forsake all their claims on wealth and territory and instead become governors to the people's souls. That being said the Grand Caretaker is a powerful aristocratic figure who often owns territory on par with one of the Great Houses. Higher ranking clergy are often tasked to look over the Grand Caretaker's property, effectively becoming similar to the aristocracy. Draconism reveres the Sacred Trinity of the Almighty Dragon, its prophets the Dragonborn and the Dragonsoul which is within all who believe in the Dragon. Draconism usually recognizes Theodore Drake as the first Dragonborn whose deeds ensured for Asterians to walk on the right path. To be considered a Dragonborn one needs to have great accomplishments for the sake of Draconism, purity and to have at least one "miracle" to their names. Dragonborn titles are almost always assigned posthumously and decisions are heavily influenced by politics. Occasionally the Dragonborn title is even taken from people if it serves the current political agenda.
Asterians, the star children, are former humans who had become a separate race through centuries of genetic engineering that can be traced back to before their dark age. Outwardly the Asterians retain their human appearance with tendency for lighter builds, wider range of eye/hair/skin colors and their iconic pointed ears. Internally the differences become more apparent as their entire physiology is altered to better fit Drake's view of "a new mankind". Asterians are shorter, at average around 5 feet or 150cm. This consequently results in them requiring less air, food and water to sustain themselves. This is important for a tightly rationed society like theirs. Asterian bones use a metal compound not native to terrestrial creatures which is tougher and also susceptible to magnetism. This is done so they could use electromagnetic fields as artificial gravity. Of course this also means that unlike humans the Asterians can be susceptible to powerful magnets. De-gaussing is plausible but not always available. Asterian bodies can also briefly survive in vacuum, albeit this is an emergency state which can still have medical consequences. Speaking of which due to their constitution being imperfect the average Asterian only lives for 50 years as various defects and their health effects pile up and eventually cripple their physiology. Asterian commoners rarely live to old age. They usually get sick sometime around 40-60 and die to the genetic disorders a few years later. In spite of this the Asterian ideology declares their species superior to humans and this view is shared by both nobles and commoners.
Speaking of nobles, thanks to their treatment and upbringing they can be almost like a different species. Noble houses generally can afford decent medical aid and higher nutrition intake. This results in not just them being healthier but also growing taller, 6 feet at average and occasionally even approaching 8. While Drake's procedure for immortality was a failure the Asterian species is still gifted with longevity and thanks to medical monitoring and constantly taking special medications the nobility tends to outlive humans considerably. There is no point of settling down on averages as lifespan widely varies but the richest have the potential to live for 300-500 years or even longer. Drake himself was noted to live for nearly a millennia and his transformation was far less complete than the average Asterian's. So many correctly assumes longevity in the Dragonrealm is a matter of wealth and of course luck with the latter often being correlated with fate and religious favors. Those who are devout Draconists should be blessed with lucky genes and free from unexpected illnesses and heretics should suffer in spite of their wealth. Speaking of which while nobles can live longer this is accomplished through constant medical attention. Should they lose their status or be left without their medicines for too long it is quite likely they fall to their genetic aliments soon, dying just like a commoner. Even if not, there is always a limit how long medical science can sustain them with the eldest nobles often becoming desperate to find any means to prolong their lives.
Giant cylindrical space vessels vaguely resembling O'Neill type of rotating space habitats. Their typical dimensions being 6km wide and 36km long albeit this can vary a lot. There are small colonies that are only 8km long and there's Drachenstadt which is 120km long at total and has specialized facilities that can assemble new colonies from scratch. Building a colony doesn't necessarily require Drachenstadt's facilities and many aristocrats expand their territory through starting their own colony building projects but the capital has by far the most efficient means.
The interior walls of a colony are planted with soil and have blooming vegetation, animals and overall an enjoyable biosphere for the inhabitants. Artificial gravity, generated by centrifugal force, is around half that of Earth's albeit this can vary per design, so does the atmospheric pressure. Light is artificially generated and inhabitants usually can watch a virtual sky projected from the center. The central portion is under zero gravity and is usually reserved for large scale production facilities. A colony is always under the jurisdiction of a noble, usually at least medium rank, and can be equated to medieval age fiefs. The population of a colony varies, mostly depends on size, facilities, taxes and age. While they have propulsion and FTL capability a space habitat is no combat vessel, nor is it practical to mount anything but perhaps the most basic defenses on it. As such these ships in spite of their immense size contribute nothing directly to combat and it's the duty of the defense fleet to protect them. Also while colonies are by far the most common dwelling for Asterian population, it isn't the only one. Asteroid colonies or other mining facilities also have their workforce and occasionally they even live on planets. Still, even those usually wish to live on the traveling colony ships the species is famous for.
Government Overview
Drachenreich is considered a monarchy, lead by the Kaiser or Kaiserin. This is an elected title granted through the support of the aristocracy and could be revoked any time using the same measures. Candidates are usually (albeit not always) are chosen from the Seven Great Houses. The feuds and alliances of these families determine much of the Dragonrealm internal politics. Infighting, coups and rebellions aren't uncommon. As a true feudalist system the majority of colonies are under the hold of the aristocrats, only Drachenstadt and the few core colonies surrounding it are the Crown's explicit property. The basic requirement of stable rulership requires the candidate to own considerable personal holdings and/or set up a strong web of alliances owning most property. Legislature is split between the upper and lower houses. Also referred as the High Council the upper house consists of the eldest active members of each Great House, the Kaiser/Kaiserin, the Grand Caretaker and the senior heads of other major owners. Edler (nobles) have the opportunity to request audience within the High Council and may even participate for a session if given the Kaiser's permission. Commoners though can only enter the halls if specifically invited and only as long as they're needed. Lower house describes the gathering and legislative body of local representatives, one for each colony or major outpost. Each vote is weighed by the count of lives within that property, at times with a multiplier weighing into the results. The latter is mostly used to give mining outposts a more realistic importance in votes as their economic influence can shape entire regions. Laws are always created in the upper house which the lower house only need to accept and make the preparations to enforce them. At times the lower house might not be satisfied with the details of the law and instead submit a modified version back to the upper house. Alternatively the lower house can give suggestions for new laws or royal actions. Unlike in many of the more democratic systems the lower house is weaker and does not have the authority to check and limit the upper house's power.
Technology Overview
Drachenreich is a civilization with numerous discoveries and scientific achievements in the past. Correspondingly they have a fairly developed industry and relatively sophisticated technology. On the other hand their social structure even makes them opposed to any meaningful innovation which rendered their technological level mostly stagnant. While they have kept refining their technology for those millennia the most significant scientific developments were through adopting technology from other civilizations. Their industry generally thrives on exploiting nebulas and asteroids for their resources and rather than improving the efficiency they're more inclined to just raise the sheer quantity of collectors. Another common sector is agriculture which tends to use relatively traditionalist farms. Synthetic foods are incredibly uncommon, only used when all else is unavailable. AI technology exists and helps industrial processes but they aren't advanced enough to replace all forms of manual labor, nor there's an interest to do that. Small scale manufacture also likes using live workforce but when it comes to larger scale projects the automatization grows immensely. Most Asterian colonies have a mile-wide if not larger cylindrical portion in their center dedicated to nothing but heavy industry, often while abusing the benefits of near-vacuum and zero gravity environment. And these literal giants of industry are supported by a flood of resource collection units and transports ferrying materials from interstellar distances. Drachenreich has a stagnant technological environment but only because their current level of development is more than sufficient to sustain them. That and dramatic changes would undoubtedly affect their society, a notion which the nobility is outright afraid of.
- Atomic Reactors: An evolution of nuclear reactors which relies on advanced forcefield technology to use any of the common materials as nuclear fuel and with high efficiency. The system is highly regulated, safe and widespread in use. For such reasons Asterians don't seem to rely on solar energy at all as nuclear power practically always worth it for them.
- Chargebus: Device used to exploit and harness Coulomb force by using forcefield generators. It works similar to combustion engines but relying on the electric charge differences. Just as combustion engines the chargebus also needs fuel which tend to be metallic in nature. This mechanism can be exploited both for power generation (though rare) and as a simpler drive for various vehicles. Actually a mechanism similar to chargebus is used in many Asterian firearms.
- E-rocket: Propulsion system using coulombic detonations the same way as chemical energy is used for conventional rockets. E-rockets benefit from the fact they can be extremely compact and can turn nearly any common material into fuel. While atomic powered torch impulse engines are the main propulsion of spaceships E-Rockets are preferred for more compact applications where their simplicity and versatility wins over the fuel efficiency of nuclear power.
- Durametals: A large group of engineered transuranic metals that have massive densities along with various unique properties. Durasteel for example is a standard high strength material used in almost anything for structural reasons. Durabar on the other hand has excellent radiation absorption properties. Over the millennia durametals went from a niche into widespread use and the only cheap objects are made from lighter materials. Even when weight is considered the Asterians developed Duramesh which is a spongy metal foam. This both saves resources and can result in an enduring light build.
- Inertial Control Devices: To handle accelerations at warp speeds Asterians developed a technology which could control weight and redirect inertia from specific parts of the vessel. This isn't much different from similar technologies introduced by other spacefaring civilizations and as others they also made use of it in other fields like hovertech or lifting heavy objects. Inertia manipulation also found military uses like the iconic Gravity Blades that help delivering greater blows through manipulating the mass behind each strike.
- Warp Gates: Ancient Imperial technology which once connected all worlds in a well-functioning near-instantaneous network. Unlike what their name implies warp gates and warp drives are hardly related with the former instead using wormholes between two connected devices. With the Orion Empire's decline the technology to build Warp Gates also got nearly forgotten. Not in the Dragonrealm, though. Warp Gates are an essential part of every major Asterian space colony and the only means to be connected over the vast distances. That being said Asterian warp gates are considerably smaller, only sufficient to let medium class warships through. Also like their larger cousins the space colony has to remain on stable orbit around a large stellar object (be it a star or even the galactic core) to be locked on and used as a warp gate. Albeit thanks to the smaller and more actively maintained network they only need to remain this way for one or two weeks before the warp gate is operational, a bit shorter than what Orionic warp gates do. Regardless this makes space colonies vulnerable and a more savvy enemy might even abuse this.
- E-Guns: Firearms propelling projectiles not through chemical but Coulomb detonations. As electric charge rips the propellant apart this force allows the projectile to be accelerated to great speeds. E-Guns can have classic cartridges with special coulombic propellant but another popular method involves forcefield generators to spontaneously turn a specific portion of the projectile into a coulombic explosive for the same effect. E-guns have much higher velocity limits than their chemical alternatives and they often compete with railguns in performance. Artillery with E-guns also benefit from the widely adjustable amount of propellant to lay down arcing fire from almost anywhere from inside the colony.
- Chargebombs: Also referred as E-bombs they are a common Asterian type of explosive using a similar mechanism to E-guns. By placing a compact field generator along with a sensor-fused system it's possible to turn the shell/warhead's material spontaneously into a coulombic explosive. This turn over 99% of the object into bomb material, a stark difference to chemical bombs where this mass rarely exceeds 50%. Coulombic explosives can also be potentially much stronger than conventional chemical bombs and less sensitive to environmental changes which makes them all the more popular to the Asterians.
- Bolters: By compressing air or surrounding material and giving it sufficient electric charge it's possible to fire compressed bolts for deadly effect. Bolters are very economical to use as anti-personal weapons and thus they are commonly seen with infantry or mounted on vehicles to ward off infantry. Their drawback is that they require atmospheric gases to work and as such generally useless in space. There are variants with gas packs for extra-colonial use but that kind of sacrifices the usual benefits of the system.
- Macro Particle Cannons: While the Asterians do make use of lasers and particle beam weapons their most famous energy weaponry are the Macro Particle Cannons. These generate huge metastable macroscopic particles usually shaped into a micron-thick beam. The sheer density of the material makes it very efficient to penetrate defenses while its metastable nature means the matter is going to violently explode soon therafter. Their drawback is that it takes time and considerable technological equipment to prepare the particle mix which for a while only made them feasible to use them on warships. While this is no longer necessarily true to alleviate this problem they developed P-Caps that can act as intermediate period storage for pre-compressed particles thus for the first time making Ritterpanzers capable of wielding them. Since then the more advanced Ritterpanzers can have sufficient output to generate macro particles on their own but the P-Caps can still have advantages at the obvious drawback of limiting your shots. MPC technology is dreadfully effective against armors and shields but only from sufficiently short ranges. The beam gradually disperses over the distance and since it began from micron diameter by the time it's expanded to a meter it might even fail to sufficiently damage regular structures.
- Heatrods: Nickname used to a weapon system that imitates the mechanism of MPCs. It uses multiple tiny atomic charges to compress and launch a liner material at incredible velocity. Heatrods are simple and don't have the technical demands like MPCs do. Of course they are more limited and often less powerful than the real thing but they have another constraint, they use ammo. Heatrods need special cartridges for this purpose which limits the amount of shots you can deliver before you need replenishment. On the other hand heatrods are compact and easy to scale down with usually much better rate of fire. Their bomb-pumped nature also makes them popular for anti-ship or anti-armor warheads.
- Gravity Weapons: Sophisticated yet also simplistic weapons that abuse the properties of inertia control devices to deliver devastating strikes. Gravity blades are usually sword shaped weapons which can strike with dramatically increased mass. Gravity lances go a step further and use the Ritterpanzer's own momentum and inertia control capabilities to charge the enemy with a single devastating ramming strike. Gravity weapons also occasionally have gravity shields built into them to better withstand blows or in case of lances even provide a front facing shield to repel attacks directed at the charging mech.
- Duracomposite: While Durasteel variants are often fine enough to protect against simple weapons more nuanced armor designs require a new approach. Duracomposites as their name imply are not one material but a precise arrangement of various duramaterials to provide the best protection. This consequently also makes them more expensive.
- Gravity Screen: Asterian shielding technology using "hard gravity fields" that stop objects like a virtual wall. In effect this system isn't very different from the standard deflector shield technology, especially not for the simpler devices. Albeit gravity screens often get layered for higher efficiency. The outer layer stretches far and generally only reacts to high-velocity hits. The outer layer is weak but sufficient to destabilize hypervelocity projectiles, pre-detonate warheads or somewhat disperse energy beams. The middle layer(s) acts as the typical bubble shield and lastly there tend to be a tightly covering innermost shield which almost acts like armor. This setup makes gravity screen system overall weaker but at the same time considerably more capable of dealing with classic shield-penetrating threats thus making the illusion as if Asterian shields were tougher. That being said, shields are considerably rarer in the Asterian military than for some of the more developed Orionic nations.
Military Overview
Like the government, Drachenreich's military is in the hands of nobles. Every Lord has obligations to maintain an army for defense. Yet more often than not these are insufficient for anything more than internal security. As such for over a millennia it's a common practice for Lords to rent the services of knight orders. Knights (Ritter) are a portion of the nobility who dedicate their lives for warfare. They generally do that by joining one of the myriad of knight orders starting as a mere apprentice, squire and then become a fully fledged knight. Landeritters are the lowest rank who are little more than common troops while Rittermeister (Knight Lords) are managing an entire Mobile Castle (Kriegschloss). The supreme leader of each knight order are called the Hochmeister (Grandmaster). Since reliable interstellar travel required massive vessels they invented the Castles (Kriegschlösser) which serve as mobile fortresses and base of operations. They carry both troops and service staff required for long campaigns and some of these castles are indeed on permanent patrol duty. Of course as a mobile base the Kriegschlösser aren't fit to be general frontline vessel and instead they use small ships for that purpose. Yet during combat in space the primary focus is on the Ritterpanzers, 8-12 meters tall giant mechs with capability to fight in space and even inside space habitats.
250-2500m long armored compact space colonies and battle fortresses that serve as the knights' primary base of operation. Due to its size it doesn't have the same amenities as civilian colonies and relies entirely on artificial gravity instead of the old method of centrifugal force. These vessels are renowned for their toughness as they use multi-layered gravity screens and duracomposite armors to handle even heavy firepower. Of course they also have an extensive array of weaponry, chiefly for self-defense. Most castles also have a large durasteel spike used for ramming attacks albeit others prefer mounting gigantic spinal guns for a similar purpose. That being said their primary role is to be the mobile habitat of knightly forces and their servants. As such they have lot of space for equipment, docks for larger vessels, refineries, factories and everything to wage war and to be relatively self-sufficient. There are a myriad of different castle designs albeit there are few common variants.
Length: 250.5m Diameter: 88.8m (at its widest) Origin: Messerstadt Perhaps the most popular type of Kriegschloss if for anything due to its affordability due to its compact size. In spite of its current fame the Degen-class has a troubled history. It was invented during the time when Ritterpanzers were at their peak popularity, when it appeared war required nothing else but more mechs. Kriegschlösser of old were slow and easy to infiltrate by Ritterpanzer assaults and warships were reduced to glorified carriers to only serve as range boosters. During this time the Waldemar family authorized the development of a new smaller Kriegschloss that could perform independent actions and be cheap and capable enough to replace warships in their role as mech carriers. This of course stirred up conflict with old military thinkers who believed that such weak and limited vessel has no right to be called a Kriegschloss. Indeed, it is dubious a Degen-class can defeat large warships still in service for some nobles. Its inability to hold warships also didn't do much favor for those who still wished to rely on their fleets. On the other hand knights were on the rise and during the next few decades hundreds if not over a thousand new knight orders formed. These fledging groups lacked the founds of their older brethren and thus they viewed the Degen-class their only option to attain Kriegschlösser of their own. Demands for the Degen-class skyrocketed and soon every battlefield featured at least a few of them. Nowadays, several space colonies are built for nothing but the mass production of Degen-class castles of various generations with shipping accomplished through warp gates.
As explained the Degen-class is a tiny Kriegschloss which would be roughly a match for heavy cruisers of other factions. It has battleship grade armor and shielding but limited offensive options. Degen-class also pioneered the now standard durametal ram, a massive spike shaped melee weapon used for ramming. Aside from charging warships the spike can be also useful during orbital drops where unlike its predecessors the Degen can impact at full velocity like a fierce meteor to annihilate everything in its surroundings. Following that the vessel deploys in a flower-like shape to unleash more ordinance and allow the deployment of various troops. Current generation of durametal rams also synchronize with the shields in order to dissolve enemy barriers which allows it to directly hit colony ship hulls or slip through planetary shields. While tiny compared to most other castles the ram of the Degen-class should be rightfully feared.
Length: ~ 500m (without the spinal gun/ram) Diameter: ~ 170m (at its widest) Origin: Drachenstadt
While the Dagen-class was compact and an excellent assault and mech carrier platform its limitations soon became apparent. While during the time of the Degen's invention Ritterpanzers absolutely dominated warships soon returned in some capacity. The scaled up 500m long "Langes Messer" was supposed to solve this in the end everyone began producing their own unique variants to fill up the void left behind by the abandonment of old Kriegschlösser. Enter the borderline disastrous Sabbat Crusade where the problem of possessing many thousands of different kinds of military hardware hit logistics with an impossible challenge. After this the Reich begain extensive research to develop standardized equipment (again). Wolfgang-class castles are part of the same movement, intended to create new standard Kriegschloss for general purpose use.
True to their design aims the Wolfgang-class capable vessels with every function required from a Kriegschloss. Its middle block can hold almost any but the largest Asterian warships. The central pylon emits an arrestor field which holds ships in place, albeit for safety reasons cables and similar measures are also used for long range transport. Once the arrestor field is cancelled and the respective panel opens the ship is free to leave the castle. The armored panels also have small thrusters and when fully spread this mechanism can be used to increase the Wolfgang-class' agility in combat. The back portion of the vessel has the habitation blocks and then the main engine, making these usually the safest portions of the ship. The front portion has engineering, factory and mech hangar sections. Unlike the Degen-class which has the durasteel ram integrated to its frame the Wolfgang-class can choose from three distinct spinal weapons. First being of course the dursteel ram which allows it to lead assaults and perform devastating landing ops. Aside from that it can also equip two types of spinal gun systems for long range fire support. Mass Accelerator Cannon uses archaic railgun mechanism to launch various projectiles and warheads at great ranges, often used for siege. Macro Particle Cannon is a gigantic energy weapon shooting metastable megaparticles for extreme anti-barrier and anti-armor performance. Although due to the degradation of the beam this weapon has a shorter range and needs escort to be effective. The Wolfgang-class is also fully functional without equipping either of these weapons, in which case it might have more of a patrol role rather than anything requiring additional offensive power. That being said versatility comes at a cost and specialized classes outperform the Wolfgang. One of its gravest limitations is space as the Wolfgang-class can only hold about 3-5 times as many soldiers as the way lighter and cheaper Degen-class. Another concern is for protection as the Wolfgang is comparatively lightly armored for its size, although still extreme by normal ship standards.
For centuries Waldemar prided themselves as pioneers at castle engineering but in spite of that they had yet to develop larger end Kriegschlosser to mass produce. Degen-class, Langes Messer and so fort... they all were produced by the hundreds. But when it came to truly large castles it always tended to be a local construction project. To alleviate this they created the Grendel class, gigantic over 2km long Kriegschloss type with a few innovations to it. For starters the Grendel-class was surprisingly narrow, enough to fit inside the central industrial blocks of space colonies and even enough to fit through the larger warp gates for transport. Another innovation was the gun/ram hybrid which combines the function of all three common front attachments. It has the function of a macro particle cannon, mass driver and the gun is also sufficiently reinforced to perform ramming attacks. It can siege the enemy fortifications from afar, close in to MPC range to disable capital ships and then perform orbital drop to destroy the enemy capital while subsequently deploying massive amount of invaders. While somewhat less spacious than other giant-class castles due to its narrowed down design the vessel represents a terrifying threat in combat. In addition since they could be mass-produced Kriegschlosser above the 2km range are now more common than ever.
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Used to be the backbone of Asterian space forces they are nowadays closer to fire support and battle carriers. They are powerful yet don't approach the sheer versatility of Ritterpanzers which makes their combat role only secondary yet just as necessary. In general Asterian warships are on the more compact size yet often prove to be a near match to Orionic vessels from the same class. Their main armament usually involves macro particle cannon batteries which means they are often outranged by lasers or particle beams. Compared to Ritterpanzer variants though a macro particle cannon battery uses a less concentrated "wider" beam for longer range performance. Asterian warships have moderate range, not short like what their mechs do. Most of them are also semi-carriers that can hold and service one or a few squadrons of Ritterpanzers.
- Gunboat/Patrolboat/Torpedo Boat: Tiny warships almost the size of fighters yet often crewed by 4+ men and made less for speed than endurance. (15-35m long)
- Cutter/Sloop: Scouting and patrol vessel, mostly used for local defense and rarely used by carriers. (15-50m long)
- Monitor/Picket Battleship: Warships on the smaller side yet equipped similarly to frontline vessels. They tend to be slow and used for only local defense, albeit siege specialized variants might be utilized by knights. (20-160m long)
- Corvette: Sometimes confused with sloops, they fulfill a similar role but they are more modern and either do scouting, long range patrols or screening. (25-50m long)
- Frigate: Larger alternative to the corvettes, more potent and also more capable of operating independently. (25-100m long)
- Destroyer: Standard escort vessel in Asterian fleets. Can range from specialized defense vessels to those that excell in fighting larger warships. (40-125m long)
- Cruiser: The backbone of the warship fleet, quite capable at doing independent missions. (80-275m long)
- Battlecruiser: Intermediate between battleships and cruisers, effectively an attempt at building faster and more compact battleships. This actually make them quite common on the frontlines. (150-300m long)
- Battleship: Frontline ship focusing on both firepower and combat endurance while being comparatively slow. They used to dominate centuries ago, now considered rare. (175-500m long)
- Carrier: Specialized ship with the role of carrying and servicing either fighters, Ritterpanzers and occasionally tiny warships. There are many variants of many shapes or sizes that fulfill different roles. Support carriers, escort carriers, fleet carriers, supercarriers,etc. (50-500m long)
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Giant humanoid machines that form the backbone of knightly forces. Their appearance is synonymous with the Ritter title and their contribution to battles is the subject of nearly every legend. Their ultracompact atomic reactors give them considerable power while the combination of impulse drives along with inertia control devices allows for phenomenal agility in space. Their combat role roughly equals that of space fighters albeit with a lot more focus on agility and humanoid fighting techniques. They also have a tendency to choose close combat where their Gravity Blades and Gravity Lances can turn their momentum and energy reserves to devastating strikes. There are various models and different regions tend to prefer different models as their standard. Commoners who piloted Ritterpanzers usually received outdated models while a Landeritter would use more up to date yet standard variants. Distinguished knights often customized their mechs and some even went for higher grade machines built directly to their specs. Such aces are often the pride and greatest asset of a knightly order. Great Houses also posses heirloom mechs that utilize secret technologies not divulged to the rest of the Realm. Often these include captured and barely understood yet powerful alien devices but other times like in case of Bernfried's the result is merely just a product of their own research.
TBA
- Gravity Weapons: Large durasteel or hard duracomposite melee weapons outfitted with an gravity and inertia control mechanisms. It is meant to give extra force to the mech's attacks. Design wise they can vary from daggers, swords, axes, warhammers or even maces. Sometimes massive two handed variants are also employed but those often have the secondary function of Gravity Lances.
- Gravity Lances: Weapon system that rather than relying on its own meager generator uses the mech's inertia control field and amplifies it for great effect. Such weapons tend to use the mech's own amplified momentum to deliver devastating ramming attacks with a durable pointed end.
- E-Rifle: As coloumbic detonations work regardless of atmospheric conditions E-Guns are viable even in space combat. E-Rifles are the standard guns of Ritterpanzers that usually fire hypervelocity durasteel needles. Many variants also have extra attachment a large bore lower velocity E-Gun firing warheads for extra firepower. Others can also use Hotrods for the same purpose.
- E-Tube: Bazooka-like weapon launching warheads at the target, useful for both demolition and anti-ship role. Warheads can range from shaped chargebombs to bomb-pumped hotrod mechanisms and even nuclear devices. Although in most cases the use of atomic weapons require a total war scenario.
- Missiles: Many of the more sophisticated Ritterpanzers have missile tubes for self-defense or other utilities. These tend to be secondary weapons at best, albeit there are tactical missile launchers that can be used to deliver massive ordinance.
- Vulcans: Light rapid-fire weapon used for self-defense and intercepting missiles. These (colloquially referred as P-Vulcans) usually fire plasma bolts, a larger equivalent to what infantry small arms do. Albeit E-Vulcans exist which fire a cloud of hypervelocity darts. E-Vulcans have better firepower and range but at the expense of more limited ammunition. M-Vulcans that use macro particle cannon mechanism are occasionally seen on high grade Ritterpanzers that has terrifying short range firepower though limited anti-armor performance compared to other MPC weaponry. M-Vulcans can blast apart most Ritterpanzers within a split-second barring superior armor or tough shielding.
- M-Rifle: Mass Particle Rifle or M-Rifle is a common energy weapon utilized by Ritterpanzers. Most variants use M-Caps with limited amount of particle reserves in order to fire stronger beams than what the suit's own power systems could afford. Weapons with their own particle generation systems are often referred as M-Cannons, be it integrated to the suit or being a separate system. There is a bit of confusion as certain high-grade M-Rifles really should be called M-Cannons yet they aren't due to filling up the same role.
- Hotrod: Mainstay energy rifle of the past, Hotrods still have utility as technically simpler mechanism which allows more rapid fire rate. Hotrods are weaker than macro particle cannons albeit often longer ranged and due to their reliance on ammunition their fire rate can potentially match that of E-Rifles.
- Mega Cannon: Giant siege weapon connected to one or several mechs at once, using their power output to mix an extremely large type of macro particle mix used for longer ranges and even greater penetration. The use of these weapons is a bit controversial among knights for two reasons. One, it denies the knightly life of personal feats as it relies entirely on the weapon's mechanism and even at times requires multiple mechs to power it. Two, the weapon system requires a fighting style contrary to the Ritterpanzer's typical method focusing on mobility. Both reasons of pride and the inherent danger of standing still means usually only the lowest knights or their commoner retinue are using Mega Cannons, generally the support the assault or to cripple enemy warships in an ambush prior to the attack.
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Before Ritterpanzers became widespread the Dragonrealm used fighters for screening and smallcraft strike purposes. At worst they imitated the Orion Empire's fighter development but soon the focus went to producing cheap and easily disposable smallcraft requiring as little maintenance and hangar space as possible. Ritterpanzers turned this trend around in a grand way but regardless fighters are stuck in the same doctrine. Nowadays when mechs dominate as the Realm's smallcraft fighters occupy a limited niche of chasers. Space fighters are elongated and almost nail-like in shape with an overpowered engine and simple weapons. Their duty is to respond quickly and either intercept or chase down targets that regular Ritterpanzeren might struggle with. In addition they carved out a similar niche in atmospheric combat. With flight/hover capable land/air Waffenwagen and versatile mechs, atmospheric fighters are preferred when it comes to intercepting air threats and maintaining air superiority. They are cheap and numerous compared to mechs yet have similar or occasionally superior speed to fulfill their duty.
Typical Fighter Models:
Six meters long atmospheric strike fighter used widely popular within the Realm. Its compact size means Castles can store hundreds or even thousands of them without sacrificing too much space. It uses a modified chargebus mechanism to function as an electromagnetic jet engine, allowing massive thrust and surprising air speeds. In extension of this the Hai-Himmel (roughly translates as "skyshark") utilizes an electrogravitic flight control system to enhance its otherwise lackluster aerodynamics and achieve agility unexpected for a craft with such stubby wings. Due to it frequently serving inside colonies the craft also has an electromagnetic safety system to push the aircraft away from large objects, avoiding collision with colony walls. Weaponry-wise the Hai-Himmel can be outfitted with kinetic missile pods for interception or drop guided chargebombs on ground targets. For self-defense and dogfighting they have various gunpod options. E-Vulcans are popular due to their cheapness but rapid firing E-Guns with proximity-detonating submunition projectiles are also common. Other variants may use Heavy Bolters or even rapid-fire Hotrods. M-Guns are possible but not advised.
Seven meters long space interceptor engineered almost exclusively for speed. Its tiny size and comparatively monstrous quad impulse engine setup make it one of the fastest vessels in space although at the cost of maneuverability. The craft relies on weak E-verniers and its inertia control devices which results in a long turning radius albeit a fairly decent control when it comes to small movements. In terms of protection the craft has no armor and only possesses a weak gravity screen against debris. They are not meant for direct engagements, though. Instead they have a modular space for various weapon setups including various bombs and missiles or front-mounted guns with the most popular ones being rapid-fire hotrod or macro particle guns. These all have limited ammo and the Wulfraum is expected to deplete it within one or a few passes. Wulfraum means "wolf space" which is likely a play on the archaic Asterian word Wulfrhamn which means "wolf's teeth".
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Simply referred as armed vehicles, this is a category for mostly ground vehicles. There are a myriad types of ground combat vehicles with every region preferring different models. They can range from repurposed civilian vehicles to mass-produced vehicles unique to a certain house or even entirely custom battlewagons sparing no cost in their construction. As such rather than trying to reconcile these the Crown had introduced an universal standard system categorizing these vehicles.
Wwgn-1: Ultralight vehicles with the maximum weight of 1 ton.
Wwgn-10: Light vehicles with the maximum weight of 10 tons.
Wwgn-25: Intermediate class vehicles with up to 25 tons of weight.
Wwgn-50: Medium-class vehicles with up to 50 tons.
Wwgn-100: Heavy vehicles up to the 100-ton range. Often battletanks or heavy artillery.
Wwgn-100+: Superheavy combat vehicles with over 100 tons of weight. They are usually custom-made and rare.
Wwgn-1000+: Not an official classification but semi-popular for referring to gigantic mobile constructs that stretch the meaning of vehicle.
Most land vehicles have conventional propulsion like wheels and threads and use chargebus engines rather than atomic reactors. When a vehicle is hover-capable it's signified with an S (Schwebend) letter at the end, ie: Wwgn-10S. Similarly if it's flight-capable but still mostly considered a surface vehicle than spacecraft it gains the F letter, Flügend. If a vehicle has an ultracompact atomic rather than traditional powerplant then it gains the N designation, Nuklearen. Vehicle Examples:
Origin: Drachenstadt Year of Adoption: IR2399 Length: ~ 6m Weight: ~ 60 metric tons
After the chaotic ages of strife Realm had over a hundred different tank designs with different sizes, weights and entirely different components. That was fine until the XXXIX Crusade declared against the Sectoids. With the largest land offensive known in a century the colonies transported their myriad of different combat vehicles to assist the cause. Yet the result was nothing but chaos as the logistical nightmare of servicing so many kinds of vehicles became apparent. While the Realm narrowly escaped the embarrassment the Crown soon focused on developing new standards for vehicles to avoid similar issues in the future. Part of that involved the development of the new standard tank, the Löwe. Compact, cheap and reliable. These were the main characteristics of the vehicle. It's been over hundreds of years since the vehicle's debut but with constant upgrades and modifications it remains the mainstay tank of the Realm, known with over a thousand different variants. The standard variant
Official Name: Allseitigskampfpanzer 2788 (advertised as the "Generalpanzer", also referred as AKP) Origin: Walstadt Year of Adoption: IR2788 Length: 5.432m Weight: 108.921 metric tons
The so-called "Universal Tank" designed by the large factory complex of Walstadt under the authority of the Bernfried Family, this vehicle soon gained both fame and notoriety. Designed as a versatile and powerful battle tank it has the latest advancements in duracomposite technologies to give it the greatest armor coverage for surface area. In addition the latest variants have advanced field generator producing 3 layers for defeating the usual anti-armor threats. Naturally, it also sports the latest sensors and a blistering arsenal of 4 different weapons. Its main armament is a compact macro particle cannon which necessitated an atomic reactor. The gun has a co-axial Maschinbolzer for conserving power against lighter targets. On the turret's sides it mounts a rotary heavy bolter and a railgun each. Being an oversized Bolzer with multiple barrels and special cooling to achieve huge rate of fire this weapon is effective against infantry, light vehicles and even aircraft. The other side has a rapid-firing railgun which thanks to its superior capacitors and nuclear power source has enough firepower to threaten even Ritterpanzers. As its title says this vehicle was meant to handle all threats it could face while defending a colony. In a sense this vehicle gave commoners the ability to fight nobles on equal footing and this made the rest of the Great Houses outraged. Currently the Generalpanzer is banned in all colonies save for the ones owned by the Bernfrieds and there are new restrictions put on the technology of surface combatants that aren't Ritterpanzers.
Official Name: Schebendkraftmakropartikelgeschütz 2645 (nicknamed "Hellengeist") Classification: Wwgn-100SN (nuclear powered, hover capable, 100-ton class) Origin: Zhingstadt Year of Adoption: IR2645 Length: ~ 12m Weight: ~ 88 metric tons
A relatively simple yet powerful type of "artillery" produced by merging a large macro particle cannon to the frame of a large hovercraft. The result was a versatile platform that can be used for multiple purposes. Depending on adjustments the macro particle stream can be focused to punch through defenses and detonate its unstable material within or widen it to cover a large area in deadly sub-microscopic fragments. While similar vehicles emerged before by far Zhingstadt's variant proved the most popular and by the 28th most colonies adopted licensed variants for their own defense. Specialized variants with better sealed frame are also employed on the outer hull of colonies for fending off spacecraft. One of the design's main weaknesses is protection as it sacrifices armor for internal space, ease of maintenance and mobility. As such these vehicles are the most effective when escorted by other units. Another problem is that while considered artillery by the Drachenreich this weapon is only capable of firing in its direct line of sight. Anything in its path may interfere with the weapon. This is less of an issue when most "surface combat" takes place within the interior of internally flat space colonies but it would limit the range considerably when a planet's curvature is involved.
Official Name: Kampfartelliewagen E30L60 Jahre 2245 (nicknamed "Langer Gustav") Classification: Wwgn-100 (100-ton class vehicle) Origin: Stahlungstadt Year of Adoption: IR2245 Length: 11.9m Weight: 98.44 metric tons
The most common form of heavy artillery employed by the Dragonrealm. Langer Gustav is large and imposing, almost looking like a monstrous battle tank. It has a quad track system for better mobility and its lightweight duramesh/durasteel hybrid armor provides all around protection against indirect blasts, fragments and even hits from light ordinance. Yet its duty is to lay down supporting fire from afar using its giant 15m long and 300mm diameter E-Gun. Due to its sophisticated system it can fire shells at almost any velocity from grenade launcher like 100-200m/s to right till hypervelocity of 10km/s. It has an auto-loader and a sophisticated sensor and fire control setup which is constantly updated. Its baseline shells are highly programmable and can have functions such as kinetic kill, beehive cluster, partial fragmentation, shaped fragmentation and complete conversion with the latter effectively turning the entire shell mass to explosive material upon impact. Furthermore the shells can have guidance and can even use improvised E-rocket mechanisms to change their course and avoid impacting with the usually fairly low (1-5km tall) "ceiling" and continue down on a parabolic curve. Of course like all artillery the Langer Gustav requires recon data to be truly effective. Some variants also have the capability to deploy a front-facing "theater screen" to block attacks from the front and create a sorts of "siege wall". Albeit to maintain this shield at length the vehicle has to rely on external energy sources and effectively remain stationary.
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Drachenreich infantry can be listed under two categories guardsmen and the knights. Guardsmen are commoners equipped with simple armors of the breastplate, helm and chainmail variety made of duramaterials. Their weaponry varies depending on the culture and wealth of the region but they most commonly use Feuerbolzers. Their sidearms are referred as "GG Blades" with the first two letters being an acronym for "Gravis Gladii". That is because they are effectively compact Gravity Blades using a tiny inertia control device to deliver powerful blows while an extremely thin durasteel edge gives them unparalleled cutting ability. Special weapons are rare for those who were only tasked with policing and town watch duties. Common infantry affiliated with Knights often have teams centering around a specific heavy weapon like Maschinbolzers, missile launchers, mortars or portable macro particle cannons. Specialists groups may even use backpack mounted rocket engines for higher mobility or to operate outside the colonies (while wearing armor/outfit modified for space use).
While not impossible for Knights to fight on foot they more commonly wear power armor called the Panzerharnisch which gives them extra firepower, mobility and of course protection. The armor is well-sealed and equipped with life support, allowing operation both in and outside the colonies. Weaponry wise they usually have Maschinbolzer strapped to one hand while carrying an upscaled GG Blade in the other. Some variants of the armor can carry extra weapons, missile pods or to be modified to wield large two handed guns. Personal shields on a Panzerharnisch are fairly common but tend to have limited operational time. Other active protections like smoke, flares, jammers and anti-missile systems are also not unheard of. Lastly it does worth noting that all Ritterpanzer type mechs are designed to interact with the owner's Panzerharnisch. That means these mechs are piloted while the operator is also wearing the Panzerharnisch and should the mech turn inoperable or unable to enter narrow areas the pilot can eject with their power armor to continue the battle. Also it can be said that in a sense Ritterpanzers are nothing but larger power armors to wear.
Also called the Dragonrealm it describes an old culture of wanderers who spend most of their lives in space habitats. They're spread out and only sporadically make contact with outsiders. They refer to their species as "Asterians" or the children of stars and are known to have a vaguely feudalistic government lead by the Kaiser.
History Overview
Drachenreich and the Asterians consider themselves apart from humanity, a whole new race. Yet the fact is their history begins as a peculiar group of human colonists during the early years of the Imperial Era or perhaps even before. Proper databank and historical records were meticulously deleted and as such it's difficult to pinpoint exactly when the journey of the Dragon's Flight began. It isn't clear what motivated the colonists to wager to reach the furthest reach of the galaxy. What little records are left about distant Asterian origins only exist as barely disguised propaganda text serving to reinforce Drachenreich ideology. According to these the Dragon's Flight project was initiated by the brilliant mind and rich businessman Theodore Drake. To his beliefs mankind was doomed for sticking to their antiquated lifestyle and views and refusing to let go of their blood soaked history. In order to prevent this inevitable demise humans must reborn anew free of their past influences. For this end he funded a grandiose project for a colony ship unlike anything else. It was less like a ship and more of a mobile space habitat, vaguely modeled after classic O'Neill type cylinders. In its center lied a gigantic warp core, allowing the entire vessel to travel at warp speed. According to the records 5 million colonists willingly assisted Drake in his noble cause. The more likely explanation is that Drake used his wealth to convince poor people off the streets to risk this journey.
After this point the Drachenreich propaganda only gets more ridiculous, making the grueling and tense journey into a magical adventure with stereotyped alien characters only serving to inflate Asterian ego and even Drake's personal meeting with the one true god blessing him with the duty of saving all of mankind. It's possible some of these tales have a smidgen of truth to it but separating fact from fiction is borderline impossible. What is certain that mid-journey Drake created the basis of the ideology which would later define Asterian culture, on of the most crucial points being the refusal to settle on large astronomical bodies as Drake believed natural gravity is poisonous to the soul. Instead of finding habitable planets the predecessors of the Asterians began constructing new space habitats just like their original one. It can be also confirmed that they encountered numerous alien races and adopted various technologies not known to the empire. In the next few centuries the human population gradually transformed into the race we cal the Asterians. Records claim it was Drake's vision for a better mankind but most likely it began as a vanity project to prolong his life. Either way, the once singular colony of few million people rapidly grew to a network of mobile space habitats journeying through space with Drake as their almighty emperor.
Yet eventually this came to an end. Propaganda texts tell a sad story about intrigue and betrayal where Drake met a tragic end. Most likely the people just had enough of Drake playing god and dethroned him. Asterians sunk to centuries of chaos and internal wars, most city this as the origin of the Great Houses. This continued until about a thousand years ago when a truce was formed along with the crowing of the new Kaiser. Unlike before the ruler was less like an emperor with absolute power and more akin to a medieval king who required the lords' support. Ever since then society barely changed. Drachenreich remained a loose collection of space colonies spread through the galaxy.
Territorial Overview
Cultural Overview
Asterians believe in the fact that living on planets and other large cosmic bodies with notable natural gravity would weight down their souls and lead to their moral/ethical ruin. As such they prefer to live in artificial environments of the space habitats, albeit dwarf planets and asteroids can be also acceptable. They are often nomadic, preferring to not remain at the same place for long. Drachenreich subjects in general are xenophobic and don't trust outsiders and even fellow Asterians from distant colonies have a hard time to warm up to each other. They live in a relatively rigid social system of commoners (Landsmanner) and nobles (Edel). On the other hand Asterian culture doesn't really have a much of a distinction between genders when it comes to jobs or even titles. A girl in Asterian society can equally inherit a noble house's properties and a considerable number of Drachenreich's rulers were female under the title of Kaiserin.
As for timekeeping the Asterians use cycles instead of days which equals roughly 10 terrestrial hours. Work and rest is usually in different cycles altogether albeit for better efficiency they invented quarter-cycles and even tenth-cycles (decicycle, roughly equivalent to an hour). Decicycles are split to 100 milicycles and those to 100 moments. As such an "asterian day" (cycle) is 4 quartercycles or 10 decicycles, or 1000 milicycles or 100000 moments depending on which measurement unit you use. An Asterian "week" is 10 cycles and usually is referred as "Decans" an abbreviation of decacycles. Their "months" are 100 cycles and referred as "Periods", each named after an Asterian mythological figure. An asterian "year" is always 1000 cycles long and while it can be called kilocycle its more common names include Alt, Yahr or just simply year. Asterian calendar takes the date of the Reich's foundation as its "zero date" anything before that is "vor dem Reich" (before the Realm, abbreviated as VR) and anything after it is "in dem Reich" (within the Realm, abbreviated as IR). The current date (during the RP's start, at least) is IR3002. When writing down exact dates they use a simple system (for example the 10th cycle of Drachonar (3rd decan) in IR3002 would be: IR 3002.0310). This can even go down to subcycles as say during the same cycle 3002.03100543 means that it's past the fifth decicycle and at the 43rd milicycle. For ease they at times divide the different types with full stops (like for example: 3002.03.10.05.43) but this isn't the standard everywhere. The reason for such clinically neat system is simple, Asterians are space travelers with no fix reference point for time aside from computers counting its passage. In addition given the distance it isn't rare for the calendars of faraway colonies to diverge to a considerable amount. To avoid this going overboard Drachenstadt's time is taken as the global standard and periodically all colonies synchronize to them. That being said there are rare cases when distant colonies fail to contact/synchronize with Drachenstadt for years. And of course rouge colonies and other factions not officially part of Drachenreich no longer synchronize with the capital's calendars. This is of course the source of a myriad of nuanced issues.
Kineticism was popular and widespread between humans when the Dragon's Flight departed. Some sources even imply that Drake was a devout believer. It is of little wonder that Kineticism remained the Asterians' chief religion. Furthermore its basic pillars matched the ideology of the Asterians as Kineticism has no connection to ancient human cultures and it seeks answers to life's greatest questions in the cosmos. As the Dragon's Flight departed before the fourth millennium the Kineticism they have brough had yet to split to its distinct Divinist and Universalist branches and instead it was a strange mix of both. Of course like everything Asterian, Kineticism is also warped by propaganda and their ideology thus earning the name Draconism.
Draconism believes in the Almighty Dragon who is responsible for the Big Bang and considered the bringer of life and justice. All souls originate from the Dragon and they will eventually return to it. They have an extensive clerical staff and strict hierarchy with Grand Caretaker at the helm. All clergy come from the nobility, traditionally the third son or daughter of any family. Those who take up the robes of Draconism forsake all their claims on wealth and territory and instead become governors to the people's souls. That being said the Grand Caretaker is a powerful aristocratic figure who often owns territory on par with one of the Great Houses. Higher ranking clergy are often tasked to look over the Grand Caretaker's property, effectively becoming similar to the aristocracy. Draconism reveres the Sacred Trinity of the Almighty Dragon, its prophets the Dragonborn and the Dragonsoul which is within all who believe in the Dragon. Draconism usually recognizes Theodore Drake as the first Dragonborn whose deeds ensured for Asterians to walk on the right path. To be considered a Dragonborn one needs to have great accomplishments for the sake of Draconism, purity and to have at least one "miracle" to their names. Dragonborn titles are almost always assigned posthumously and decisions are heavily influenced by politics. Occasionally the Dragonborn title is even taken from people if it serves the current political agenda.
Asterians, the star children, are former humans who had become a separate race through centuries of genetic engineering that can be traced back to before their dark age. Outwardly the Asterians retain their human appearance with tendency for lighter builds, wider range of eye/hair/skin colors and their iconic pointed ears. Internally the differences become more apparent as their entire physiology is altered to better fit Drake's view of "a new mankind". Asterians are shorter, at average around 5 feet or 150cm. This consequently results in them requiring less air, food and water to sustain themselves. This is important for a tightly rationed society like theirs. Asterian bones use a metal compound not native to terrestrial creatures which is tougher and also susceptible to magnetism. This is done so they could use electromagnetic fields as artificial gravity. Of course this also means that unlike humans the Asterians can be susceptible to powerful magnets. De-gaussing is plausible but not always available. Asterian bodies can also briefly survive in vacuum, albeit this is an emergency state which can still have medical consequences. Speaking of which due to their constitution being imperfect the average Asterian only lives for 50 years as various defects and their health effects pile up and eventually cripple their physiology. Asterian commoners rarely live to old age. They usually get sick sometime around 40-60 and die to the genetic disorders a few years later. In spite of this the Asterian ideology declares their species superior to humans and this view is shared by both nobles and commoners.
Speaking of nobles, thanks to their treatment and upbringing they can be almost like a different species. Noble houses generally can afford decent medical aid and higher nutrition intake. This results in not just them being healthier but also growing taller, 6 feet at average and occasionally even approaching 8. While Drake's procedure for immortality was a failure the Asterian species is still gifted with longevity and thanks to medical monitoring and constantly taking special medications the nobility tends to outlive humans considerably. There is no point of settling down on averages as lifespan widely varies but the richest have the potential to live for 300-500 years or even longer. Drake himself was noted to live for nearly a millennia and his transformation was far less complete than the average Asterian's. So many correctly assumes longevity in the Dragonrealm is a matter of wealth and of course luck with the latter often being correlated with fate and religious favors. Those who are devout Draconists should be blessed with lucky genes and free from unexpected illnesses and heretics should suffer in spite of their wealth. Speaking of which while nobles can live longer this is accomplished through constant medical attention. Should they lose their status or be left without their medicines for too long it is quite likely they fall to their genetic aliments soon, dying just like a commoner. Even if not, there is always a limit how long medical science can sustain them with the eldest nobles often becoming desperate to find any means to prolong their lives.
Giant cylindrical space vessels vaguely resembling O'Neill type of rotating space habitats. Their typical dimensions being 6km wide and 36km long albeit this can vary a lot. There are small colonies that are only 8km long and there's Drachenstadt which is 120km long at total and has specialized facilities that can assemble new colonies from scratch. Building a colony doesn't necessarily require Drachenstadt's facilities and many aristocrats expand their territory through starting their own colony building projects but the capital has by far the most efficient means.
The interior walls of a colony are planted with soil and have blooming vegetation, animals and overall an enjoyable biosphere for the inhabitants. Artificial gravity, generated by centrifugal force, is around half that of Earth's albeit this can vary per design, so does the atmospheric pressure. Light is artificially generated and inhabitants usually can watch a virtual sky projected from the center. The central portion is under zero gravity and is usually reserved for large scale production facilities. A colony is always under the jurisdiction of a noble, usually at least medium rank, and can be equated to medieval age fiefs. The population of a colony varies, mostly depends on size, facilities, taxes and age. While they have propulsion and FTL capability a space habitat is no combat vessel, nor is it practical to mount anything but perhaps the most basic defenses on it. As such these ships in spite of their immense size contribute nothing directly to combat and it's the duty of the defense fleet to protect them. Also while colonies are by far the most common dwelling for Asterian population, it isn't the only one. Asteroid colonies or other mining facilities also have their workforce and occasionally they even live on planets. Still, even those usually wish to live on the traveling colony ships the species is famous for.
Government Overview
Drachenreich is considered a monarchy, lead by the Kaiser or Kaiserin. This is an elected title granted through the support of the aristocracy and could be revoked any time using the same measures. Candidates are usually (albeit not always) are chosen from the Seven Great Houses. The feuds and alliances of these families determine much of the Dragonrealm internal politics. Infighting, coups and rebellions aren't uncommon. As a true feudalist system the majority of colonies are under the hold of the aristocrats, only Drachenstadt and the few core colonies surrounding it are the Crown's explicit property. The basic requirement of stable rulership requires the candidate to own considerable personal holdings and/or set up a strong web of alliances owning most property. Legislature is split between the upper and lower houses. Also referred as the High Council the upper house consists of the eldest active members of each Great House, the Kaiser/Kaiserin, the Grand Caretaker and the senior heads of other major owners. Edler (nobles) have the opportunity to request audience within the High Council and may even participate for a session if given the Kaiser's permission. Commoners though can only enter the halls if specifically invited and only as long as they're needed. Lower house describes the gathering and legislative body of local representatives, one for each colony or major outpost. Each vote is weighed by the count of lives within that property, at times with a multiplier weighing into the results. The latter is mostly used to give mining outposts a more realistic importance in votes as their economic influence can shape entire regions. Laws are always created in the upper house which the lower house only need to accept and make the preparations to enforce them. At times the lower house might not be satisfied with the details of the law and instead submit a modified version back to the upper house. Alternatively the lower house can give suggestions for new laws or royal actions. Unlike in many of the more democratic systems the lower house is weaker and does not have the authority to check and limit the upper house's power.
Technology Overview
Drachenreich is a civilization with numerous discoveries and scientific achievements in the past. Correspondingly they have a fairly developed industry and relatively sophisticated technology. On the other hand their social structure even makes them opposed to any meaningful innovation which rendered their technological level mostly stagnant. While they have kept refining their technology for those millennia the most significant scientific developments were through adopting technology from other civilizations. Their industry generally thrives on exploiting nebulas and asteroids for their resources and rather than improving the efficiency they're more inclined to just raise the sheer quantity of collectors. Another common sector is agriculture which tends to use relatively traditionalist farms. Synthetic foods are incredibly uncommon, only used when all else is unavailable. AI technology exists and helps industrial processes but they aren't advanced enough to replace all forms of manual labor, nor there's an interest to do that. Small scale manufacture also likes using live workforce but when it comes to larger scale projects the automatization grows immensely. Most Asterian colonies have a mile-wide if not larger cylindrical portion in their center dedicated to nothing but heavy industry, often while abusing the benefits of near-vacuum and zero gravity environment. And these literal giants of industry are supported by a flood of resource collection units and transports ferrying materials from interstellar distances. Drachenreich has a stagnant technological environment but only because their current level of development is more than sufficient to sustain them. That and dramatic changes would undoubtedly affect their society, a notion which the nobility is outright afraid of.
- Atomic Reactors: An evolution of nuclear reactors which relies on advanced forcefield technology to use any of the common materials as nuclear fuel and with high efficiency. The system is highly regulated, safe and widespread in use. For such reasons Asterians don't seem to rely on solar energy at all as nuclear power practically always worth it for them.
- Chargebus: Device used to exploit and harness Coulomb force by using forcefield generators. It works similar to combustion engines but relying on the electric charge differences. Just as combustion engines the chargebus also needs fuel which tend to be metallic in nature. This mechanism can be exploited both for power generation (though rare) and as a simpler drive for various vehicles. Actually a mechanism similar to chargebus is used in many Asterian firearms.
- E-rocket: Propulsion system using coulombic detonations the same way as chemical energy is used for conventional rockets. E-rockets benefit from the fact they can be extremely compact and can turn nearly any common material into fuel. While atomic powered torch impulse engines are the main propulsion of spaceships E-Rockets are preferred for more compact applications where their simplicity and versatility wins over the fuel efficiency of nuclear power.
- Durametals: A large group of engineered transuranic metals that have massive densities along with various unique properties. Durasteel for example is a standard high strength material used in almost anything for structural reasons. Durabar on the other hand has excellent radiation absorption properties. Over the millennia durametals went from a niche into widespread use and the only cheap objects are made from lighter materials. Even when weight is considered the Asterians developed Duramesh which is a spongy metal foam. This both saves resources and can result in an enduring light build.
- Inertial Control Devices: To handle accelerations at warp speeds Asterians developed a technology which could control weight and redirect inertia from specific parts of the vessel. This isn't much different from similar technologies introduced by other spacefaring civilizations and as others they also made use of it in other fields like hovertech or lifting heavy objects. Inertia manipulation also found military uses like the iconic Gravity Blades that help delivering greater blows through manipulating the mass behind each strike.
- Warp Gates: Ancient Imperial technology which once connected all worlds in a well-functioning near-instantaneous network. Unlike what their name implies warp gates and warp drives are hardly related with the former instead using wormholes between two connected devices. With the Orion Empire's decline the technology to build Warp Gates also got nearly forgotten. Not in the Dragonrealm, though. Warp Gates are an essential part of every major Asterian space colony and the only means to be connected over the vast distances. That being said Asterian warp gates are considerably smaller, only sufficient to let medium class warships through. Also like their larger cousins the space colony has to remain on stable orbit around a large stellar object (be it a star or even the galactic core) to be locked on and used as a warp gate. Albeit thanks to the smaller and more actively maintained network they only need to remain this way for one or two weeks before the warp gate is operational, a bit shorter than what Orionic warp gates do. Regardless this makes space colonies vulnerable and a more savvy enemy might even abuse this.
- E-Guns: Firearms propelling projectiles not through chemical but Coulomb detonations. As electric charge rips the propellant apart this force allows the projectile to be accelerated to great speeds. E-Guns can have classic cartridges with special coulombic propellant but another popular method involves forcefield generators to spontaneously turn a specific portion of the projectile into a coulombic explosive for the same effect. E-guns have much higher velocity limits than their chemical alternatives and they often compete with railguns in performance. Artillery with E-guns also benefit from the widely adjustable amount of propellant to lay down arcing fire from almost anywhere from inside the colony.
- Chargebombs: Also referred as E-bombs they are a common Asterian type of explosive using a similar mechanism to E-guns. By placing a compact field generator along with a sensor-fused system it's possible to turn the shell/warhead's material spontaneously into a coulombic explosive. This turn over 99% of the object into bomb material, a stark difference to chemical bombs where this mass rarely exceeds 50%. Coulombic explosives can also be potentially much stronger than conventional chemical bombs and less sensitive to environmental changes which makes them all the more popular to the Asterians.
- Bolters: By compressing air or surrounding material and giving it sufficient electric charge it's possible to fire compressed bolts for deadly effect. Bolters are very economical to use as anti-personal weapons and thus they are commonly seen with infantry or mounted on vehicles to ward off infantry. Their drawback is that they require atmospheric gases to work and as such generally useless in space. There are variants with gas packs for extra-colonial use but that kind of sacrifices the usual benefits of the system.
- Macro Particle Cannons: While the Asterians do make use of lasers and particle beam weapons their most famous energy weaponry are the Macro Particle Cannons. These generate huge metastable macroscopic particles usually shaped into a micron-thick beam. The sheer density of the material makes it very efficient to penetrate defenses while its metastable nature means the matter is going to violently explode soon therafter. Their drawback is that it takes time and considerable technological equipment to prepare the particle mix which for a while only made them feasible to use them on warships. While this is no longer necessarily true to alleviate this problem they developed P-Caps that can act as intermediate period storage for pre-compressed particles thus for the first time making Ritterpanzers capable of wielding them. Since then the more advanced Ritterpanzers can have sufficient output to generate macro particles on their own but the P-Caps can still have advantages at the obvious drawback of limiting your shots. MPC technology is dreadfully effective against armors and shields but only from sufficiently short ranges. The beam gradually disperses over the distance and since it began from micron diameter by the time it's expanded to a meter it might even fail to sufficiently damage regular structures.
- Heatrods: Nickname used to a weapon system that imitates the mechanism of MPCs. It uses multiple tiny atomic charges to compress and launch a liner material at incredible velocity. Heatrods are simple and don't have the technical demands like MPCs do. Of course they are more limited and often less powerful than the real thing but they have another constraint, they use ammo. Heatrods need special cartridges for this purpose which limits the amount of shots you can deliver before you need replenishment. On the other hand heatrods are compact and easy to scale down with usually much better rate of fire. Their bomb-pumped nature also makes them popular for anti-ship or anti-armor warheads.
- Gravity Weapons: Sophisticated yet also simplistic weapons that abuse the properties of inertia control devices to deliver devastating strikes. Gravity blades are usually sword shaped weapons which can strike with dramatically increased mass. Gravity lances go a step further and use the Ritterpanzer's own momentum and inertia control capabilities to charge the enemy with a single devastating ramming strike. Gravity weapons also occasionally have gravity shields built into them to better withstand blows or in case of lances even provide a front facing shield to repel attacks directed at the charging mech.
- Duracomposite: While Durasteel variants are often fine enough to protect against simple weapons more nuanced armor designs require a new approach. Duracomposites as their name imply are not one material but a precise arrangement of various duramaterials to provide the best protection. This consequently also makes them more expensive.
- Gravity Screen: Asterian shielding technology using "hard gravity fields" that stop objects like a virtual wall. In effect this system isn't very different from the standard deflector shield technology, especially not for the simpler devices. Albeit gravity screens often get layered for higher efficiency. The outer layer stretches far and generally only reacts to high-velocity hits. The outer layer is weak but sufficient to destabilize hypervelocity projectiles, pre-detonate warheads or somewhat disperse energy beams. The middle layer(s) acts as the typical bubble shield and lastly there tend to be a tightly covering innermost shield which almost acts like armor. This setup makes gravity screen system overall weaker but at the same time considerably more capable of dealing with classic shield-penetrating threats thus making the illusion as if Asterian shields were tougher. That being said, shields are considerably rarer in the Asterian military than for some of the more developed Orionic nations.
Military Overview
Like the government, Drachenreich's military is in the hands of nobles. Every Lord has obligations to maintain an army for defense. Yet more often than not these are insufficient for anything more than internal security. As such for over a millennia it's a common practice for Lords to rent the services of knight orders. Knights (Ritter) are a portion of the nobility who dedicate their lives for warfare. They generally do that by joining one of the myriad of knight orders starting as a mere apprentice, squire and then become a fully fledged knight. Landeritters are the lowest rank who are little more than common troops while Rittermeister (Knight Lords) are managing an entire Mobile Castle (Kriegschloss). The supreme leader of each knight order are called the Hochmeister (Grandmaster). Since reliable interstellar travel required massive vessels they invented the Castles (Kriegschlösser) which serve as mobile fortresses and base of operations. They carry both troops and service staff required for long campaigns and some of these castles are indeed on permanent patrol duty. Of course as a mobile base the Kriegschlösser aren't fit to be general frontline vessel and instead they use small ships for that purpose. Yet during combat in space the primary focus is on the Ritterpanzers, 8-12 meters tall giant mechs with capability to fight in space and even inside space habitats.
250-2500m long armored compact space colonies and battle fortresses that serve as the knights' primary base of operation. Due to its size it doesn't have the same amenities as civilian colonies and relies entirely on artificial gravity instead of the old method of centrifugal force. These vessels are renowned for their toughness as they use multi-layered gravity screens and duracomposite armors to handle even heavy firepower. Of course they also have an extensive array of weaponry, chiefly for self-defense. Most castles also have a large durasteel spike used for ramming attacks albeit others prefer mounting gigantic spinal guns for a similar purpose. That being said their primary role is to be the mobile habitat of knightly forces and their servants. As such they have lot of space for equipment, docks for larger vessels, refineries, factories and everything to wage war and to be relatively self-sufficient. There are a myriad of different castle designs albeit there are few common variants.
Length: 250.5m Diameter: 88.8m (at its widest) Origin: Messerstadt Perhaps the most popular type of Kriegschloss if for anything due to its affordability due to its compact size. In spite of its current fame the Degen-class has a troubled history. It was invented during the time when Ritterpanzers were at their peak popularity, when it appeared war required nothing else but more mechs. Kriegschlösser of old were slow and easy to infiltrate by Ritterpanzer assaults and warships were reduced to glorified carriers to only serve as range boosters. During this time the Waldemar family authorized the development of a new smaller Kriegschloss that could perform independent actions and be cheap and capable enough to replace warships in their role as mech carriers. This of course stirred up conflict with old military thinkers who believed that such weak and limited vessel has no right to be called a Kriegschloss. Indeed, it is dubious a Degen-class can defeat large warships still in service for some nobles. Its inability to hold warships also didn't do much favor for those who still wished to rely on their fleets. On the other hand knights were on the rise and during the next few decades hundreds if not over a thousand new knight orders formed. These fledging groups lacked the founds of their older brethren and thus they viewed the Degen-class their only option to attain Kriegschlösser of their own. Demands for the Degen-class skyrocketed and soon every battlefield featured at least a few of them. Nowadays, several space colonies are built for nothing but the mass production of Degen-class castles of various generations with shipping accomplished through warp gates.
As explained the Degen-class is a tiny Kriegschloss which would be roughly a match for heavy cruisers of other factions. It has battleship grade armor and shielding but limited offensive options. Degen-class also pioneered the now standard durametal ram, a massive spike shaped melee weapon used for ramming. Aside from charging warships the spike can be also useful during orbital drops where unlike its predecessors the Degen can impact at full velocity like a fierce meteor to annihilate everything in its surroundings. Following that the vessel deploys in a flower-like shape to unleash more ordinance and allow the deployment of various troops. Current generation of durametal rams also synchronize with the shields in order to dissolve enemy barriers which allows it to directly hit colony ship hulls or slip through planetary shields. While tiny compared to most other castles the ram of the Degen-class should be rightfully feared.
Length: ~ 500m (without the spinal gun/ram) Diameter: ~ 170m (at its widest) Origin: Drachenstadt
While the Dagen-class was compact and an excellent assault and mech carrier platform its limitations soon became apparent. While during the time of the Degen's invention Ritterpanzers absolutely dominated warships soon returned in some capacity. The scaled up 500m long "Langes Messer" was supposed to solve this in the end everyone began producing their own unique variants to fill up the void left behind by the abandonment of old Kriegschlösser. Enter the borderline disastrous Sabbat Crusade where the problem of possessing many thousands of different kinds of military hardware hit logistics with an impossible challenge. After this the Reich begain extensive research to develop standardized equipment (again). Wolfgang-class castles are part of the same movement, intended to create new standard Kriegschloss for general purpose use.
True to their design aims the Wolfgang-class capable vessels with every function required from a Kriegschloss. Its middle block can hold almost any but the largest Asterian warships. The central pylon emits an arrestor field which holds ships in place, albeit for safety reasons cables and similar measures are also used for long range transport. Once the arrestor field is cancelled and the respective panel opens the ship is free to leave the castle. The armored panels also have small thrusters and when fully spread this mechanism can be used to increase the Wolfgang-class' agility in combat. The back portion of the vessel has the habitation blocks and then the main engine, making these usually the safest portions of the ship. The front portion has engineering, factory and mech hangar sections. Unlike the Degen-class which has the durasteel ram integrated to its frame the Wolfgang-class can choose from three distinct spinal weapons. First being of course the dursteel ram which allows it to lead assaults and perform devastating landing ops. Aside from that it can also equip two types of spinal gun systems for long range fire support. Mass Accelerator Cannon uses archaic railgun mechanism to launch various projectiles and warheads at great ranges, often used for siege. Macro Particle Cannon is a gigantic energy weapon shooting metastable megaparticles for extreme anti-barrier and anti-armor performance. Although due to the degradation of the beam this weapon has a shorter range and needs escort to be effective. The Wolfgang-class is also fully functional without equipping either of these weapons, in which case it might have more of a patrol role rather than anything requiring additional offensive power. That being said versatility comes at a cost and specialized classes outperform the Wolfgang. One of its gravest limitations is space as the Wolfgang-class can only hold about 3-5 times as many soldiers as the way lighter and cheaper Degen-class. Another concern is for protection as the Wolfgang is comparatively lightly armored for its size, although still extreme by normal ship standards.
For centuries Waldemar prided themselves as pioneers at castle engineering but in spite of that they had yet to develop larger end Kriegschlosser to mass produce. Degen-class, Langes Messer and so fort... they all were produced by the hundreds. But when it came to truly large castles it always tended to be a local construction project. To alleviate this they created the Grendel class, gigantic over 2km long Kriegschloss type with a few innovations to it. For starters the Grendel-class was surprisingly narrow, enough to fit inside the central industrial blocks of space colonies and even enough to fit through the larger warp gates for transport. Another innovation was the gun/ram hybrid which combines the function of all three common front attachments. It has the function of a macro particle cannon, mass driver and the gun is also sufficiently reinforced to perform ramming attacks. It can siege the enemy fortifications from afar, close in to MPC range to disable capital ships and then perform orbital drop to destroy the enemy capital while subsequently deploying massive amount of invaders. While somewhat less spacious than other giant-class castles due to its narrowed down design the vessel represents a terrifying threat in combat. In addition since they could be mass-produced Kriegschlosser above the 2km range are now more common than ever.
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Used to be the backbone of Asterian space forces they are nowadays closer to fire support and battle carriers. They are powerful yet don't approach the sheer versatility of Ritterpanzers which makes their combat role only secondary yet just as necessary.
Giant humanoid machines that form the backbone of knightly forces. Their appearance is synonymous with the Ritter title and their contribution to battles is the subject of nearly every legend. Their ultracompact atomic reactors give them considerable power while the combination of impulse drives along with inertia control mechanism give it phenomenal agility in space. Their combat role roughly equals that of space fighters albeit with a lot more focus on agility and humanoid fighting techniques. They also have a tendency to choose close combat where their Gravity Blades and Gravity Lances can turn their momentum and energy reserves to devastating strikes. There are various models and different regions tend to prefer different models as their standard. Commoners who piloted Eisenreise usually received outdated models while a Landeritter would use more up to date yet standard variants. Distinguished knights often customized their mechs and some even went for higher grade machines built directly to their specs. Such aces are often the pride and greatest asset of a knightly order.
Simply referred as armed vehicles, this is a category for mostly ground vehicles. There are a myriad types of ground combat vehicles with every region preferring different models. They can range from repurposed civilian vehicles to mass-produced vehicles unique to a certain house or even entirely custom battlewagons sparing no cost in their construction. As such rather than trying to reconcile these the Crown had introduced an universal standard system categorizing these vehicles.
Wwgn-1: Ultralight vehicles with the maximum weight of 1 ton.
Wwgn-10: Light vehicles with the maximum weight of 10 tons.
Wwgn-25: Intermediate class vehicles with up to 25 tons of weight.
Wwgn-50: Medium-class vehicles with up to 50 tons.
Wwgn-100: Heavy vehicles up to the 100-ton range. Often battletanks or heavy artillery.
Wwgn-100+: Superheavy combat vehicles with over 100 tons of weight. They are usually custom-made and rare.
Wwgn-1000+: Not an official classification but semi-popular for referring to gigantic mobile constructs that stretch the meaning of vehicle.
Most land vehicles have conventional propulsion like wheels and threads and use chargebus engines rather than atomic reactors. When a vehicle is hover-capable it's signified with an S (Schwebend) letter at the end, ie: Wwgn-10S. Similarly if it's flight-capable but still mostly considered a surface vehicle than aircraft it gains the F letter, Flügend. If a vehicle has an ultracompact atomic rather than traditional powerplant then it gains the N designation, Nuklearen. Vehicle Examples:
Origin: Drachenstadt Year of Adoption: IR2399 Length: ~ 6m Weight: ~ 60 metric tons
After the chaotic ages of strife Realm had over a hundred different tank designs with different sizes, weights and entirely different components. That was fine until the XXXIX Crusade declared against the Sectoids. With the largest land offensive known in a century the colonies transported their myriad of different combat vehicles to assist the cause. Yet the result was nothing but chaos as the logistical nightmare of servicing so many kinds of vehicles became apparent. While the Realm narrowly escaped the embarrassment the Crown soon focused on developing new standards for vehicles to avoid similar issues in the future. Part of that involved the development of the new standard tank, the Löwe. Compact, cheap and reliable. These were the main characteristics of the vehicle. It's been over hundreds of years since the vehicle's debut but with constant upgrades and modifications it remains the mainstay tank of the Realm, known with over a thousand different variants. The standard variant
Official Name: Allseitigskampfpanzer 2788 (advertised as the "Generalpanzer", also referred as AKP) Origin: Walstadt Year of Adoption: IR2788 Length: 5.432m Weight: 108.921 metric tons
The so-called "Universal Tank" designed by the large factory complex of Walstadt under the authority of the Bernfried Family, this vehicle soon gained both fame and notoriety. Designed as a versatile and powerful battle tank it has the latest advancements in duracomposite technologies to give it the greatest armor coverage for surface area. In addition the latest variants have advanced field generator producing 3 layers for defeating the usual anti-armor threats. Naturally, it also sports the latest sensors and a blistering arsenal of 4 different weapons. Its main armament is a compact macro particle cannon which necessitated an atomic reactor. The gun has a co-axial Maschinbolzer for conserving power against lighter targets. On the turret's sides it mounts a rotary heavy bolter and a railgun each. Being an oversized Bolzer with multiple barrels and special cooling to achieve huge rate of fire this weapon is effective against infantry, light vehicles and even aircraft. The other side has a rapid-firing railgun which thanks to its superior capacitors and nuclear power source has enough firepower to threaten even Ritterpanzers. As its title says this vehicle was meant to handle all threats it could face while defending a colony. In a sense this vehicle gave commoners the ability to fight nobles on equal footing and this made the rest of the Great Houses outraged. Currently the Generalpanzer is banned in all colonies save for the ones owned by the Bernfrieds and there are new restrictions put on the technology of surface combatants that aren't Ritterpanzers.
Official Name: Schebendkraftmakropartikelgeschütz 2645 (nicknamed "Hellengeist") Classification: Wwgn-100SN (nuclear powered, hover capable, 100-ton class) Origin: Zhingstadt Year of Adoption: IR2645 Length: ~ 12m Weight: ~ 88 metric tons
A relatively simple yet powerful type of "artillery" produced by merging a large macro particle cannon to the frame of a large hovercraft. The result was a versatile platform that can be used for multiple purposes. Depending on adjustments the macro particle stream can be focused to punch through defenses and detonate its unstable material within or widen it to cover a large area in deadly sub-microscopic fragments. While similar vehicles emerged before by far Zhingstadt's variant proved the most popular and by the 28th most colonies adopted licensed variants for their own defense. Specialized variants with better sealed frame are also employed on the outer hull of colonies for fending off spacecraft. One of the design's main weaknesses is protection as it sacrifices armor for internal space, ease of maintenance and mobility. As such these vehicles are the most effective when escorted by other units. Another problem is that while considered artillery by the Drachenreich this weapon is only capable of firing in its direct line of sight. Anything in its path may interfere with the weapon. This is less of an issue when most "surface combat" takes place within the interior of internally flat space colonies but it would limit the range considerably when a planet's curvature is involved.
Official Name: Kampfartelliewagen E30L60 Jahre 2245 (nicknamed "Langer Gustav") Classification: Wwgn-100 (100-ton class vehicle) Origin: Stahlungstadt Year of Adoption: IR2245 Length: 11.9m Weight: 98.44 metric tons
The most common form of heavy artillery employed by the Dragonrealm. Langer Gustav is large and imposing, almost looking like a monstrous battle tank. It has a quad track system for better mobility and its lightweight duramesh/durasteel hybrid armor provides all around protection against indirect blasts, fragments and even hits from light ordinance. Yet its duty is to lay down supporting fire from afar using its giant 15m long and 300mm diameter E-Gun. Due to its sophisticated system it can fire shells at almost any velocity from grenade launcher like 100-200m/s to right till hypervelocity of 10km/s. It has an auto-loader and a sophisticated sensor and fire control setup which is constantly updated. Its baseline shells are highly programmable and can have functions such as kinetic kill, beehive cluster, partial fragmentation, shaped fragmentation and complete conversion with the latter effectively turning the entire shell mass to explosive material upon impact. Furthermore the shells can have guidance and can even use improvised E-rocket mechanisms to change their course and avoid impacting with the usually fairly low (1-5km tall) "ceiling" and continue down on a parabolic curve. Of course like all artillery the Langer Gustav requires recon data to be truly effective. Some variants also have the capability to deploy a front-facing "theater screen" to block attacks from the front and create a sorts of "siege wall". Albeit to maintain this shield at length the vehicle has to rely on external energy sources and effectively remain stationary.
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Drachenreich infantry can be listed under two categories guardsmen and the knights. Guardsmen are commoners equipped with simple armors of the breastplate, helm and chainmail variety made of duramaterials. Their weaponry varies depending on the culture and wealth of the region but they most commonly use Feuerbolzers. Their sidearms are referred as "GG Blades" with the first two letters being an acronym for "Gravis Gladii". That is because they are effectively compact Gravity Blades using a tiny inertia control device to deliver powerful blows while an extremely thin durasteel edge gives them unparalleled cutting ability. Special weapons are rare for those who were only tasked with policing and town watch duties. Common infantry affiliated with Knights often have teams centering around a specific heavy weapon like Maschinbolzers, missile launchers, mortars or portable macro particle cannons. Specialists groups may even use backpack mounted rocket engines for higher mobility or to operate outside the colonies (while wearing armor/outfit modified for space use).
While not impossible for Knights to fight on foot they more commonly wear power armor called the Panzerharnisch which gives them extra firepower, mobility and of course protection. The armor is well-sealed and equipped with life support, allowing operation both in and outside the colonies. Weaponry wise they usually have Maschinbolzer strapped to one hand while carrying an upscaled GG Blade in the other. Some variants of the armor can carry extra weapons, missile pods or to be modified to wield large two handed guns. Personal shields on a Panzerharnisch are fairly common but tend to have limited operational time. Other active protections like smoke, flares, jammers and anti-missile systems are also not unheard of. Lastly it does worth noting that all Ritterpanzer type mechs are designed to interact with the owner's Panzerharnisch. That means these mechs are piloted while the operator is also wearing the Panzerharnisch and should the mech turn inoperable or unable to enter narrow areas the pilot can eject with their power armor to continue the battle. Also it can be said that in a sense Ritterpanzers are nothing but larger power armors to wear.
I know that the scale is a problem but I also admit that it isn't something most space opera can handle well, either. Rather than just showing up and ordering the GM to change his setting I just acknowledged this problem and moved on. Hoping it would never become an actual issue. I agree that some flexibility is good but as somebody who pleaded for special permissions in the past I know it'd only set up problems.
As for consistency of tech levels. While that sounds fine on paper in effect it throttles creativity. If I were the GM I'd also give special exceptions to some rules when I see it does not hurt but I have no such authority. The reason why limiting the FTL drive to known variant is preferable because these devices determine the scale of the game. On the other hand if there's a reasonable alternative which keeps the scale, I'd personally allow it. But I do understand when a GM wishes to stick to the guns.
Faction Name: Yel'krusu t'Sar'Makth (literally means "Star Empire of the Great Race") Government Type: Dominion Faction Leader: S'cum Ish-veh N'ssan (title: Sur'sim're t'Abru-ma AKA Grand Supreme Overlord) Central Territory: Tsokal'yel t'Sar'Vafer (Great Beginning, primary star system of the Sarmakth)
OVERVIEW: Sarmakth are a race of alien invaders approaching from the barely charted outer rim of the galaxy. While they hate humans with passion they are not above using them for their devices or lording over them as their masters. With the sudden collapse of the Orion Empire the Sarmakth began their plot to conquer the galaxy. They are enigmatic and manipulative, using pawns and turning allies on each other rather than fighting head on.
HISTORY
Shockingly enough the humans and Sharmakth share a long history. Sentient life evolved in the exotic biosphere of Mars long before humanity made its first steps on Earth. Martian life was harsh and filled with challenges yet roughly a billion year ago it birthed the first sentient life who could be the predecessors of Sarmakth. Records and findings on these prehistoric creatures are scarce and conflicting even to the Sarmakth. Based on analysis of the remains they looked like large medusid beings walking on three tentacle legs. They are referred as the Vesh'makth AKA the Precursors. The details on their history are unclear but apparently their technology easily eclipsed even the Sarmakth. It's believed that their efforts and experiences helped accelerate the formation of life on Earth and likely numerous other planets through the galaxy. Vesh'makth appeared to be a peaceful society but they assuredly had their fair share of clashes and wars with the last of them almost managed to exterminate their race while drastically altering the environment of Mars. The survivors required drastic measures and proceeded to rebuild their civilization while using various genetic alterations until they became the Sarmakth. Through their efforts they took control of the planet and lived in thousands of years of peace and prosperity. Unfortunately their lifestyle was taxing on the planet and by 1800AD it became certain that their planet will die within a few hundred years. To avert their demise the Martians were looking elsewhere, eventually deciding on the invasion of Earth. Living in millennia of prosperity did have an averse effect on their technology and they basically had to reinvent military and spacefaring methods in a rush of 50 years. 1898, after through recon of the planet for decades the Martians invaded Earth, particularly England which was the center of the great British Empire at the time. Their attack was swift and merciless but lacked in numbers and finesse. Their mighty tripods modeled after the Precursors marched on relatively unhampered. Though their operation was rushed and crude they were at the brink of forcing the England to its knees when something unexpected happened. Through their genetic engineering Martians no longer feared diseases and enjoyed a life without illness for tens of thousands of years. While immune to Martian diseases and superior to even the mightiest empire on Earth the invasion forces fell prey to the planet's smallest lifeforms. Diseases which Terrestrial creatures long adapted against struck the Martians hard, decimating their numbers rapidly. The invasion was called off and the Sarmakth fled in a great haste, the rest of them dying on route back home. The Martians were flabbergasted on the news and began a long research to discover the truth and find a way around this invisible threat.
Martians conducted through analysis on their deceased but their search for the invisible killer was in vain. Intend to solve this mystery the Martians began to send expeditions to Earth, the source of the so-called UFO sightings. After countless trial and error approaches they eventually understood the threat and immunized their entire species to the disease. Meanwhile humanity was developing steadily and in secret they formed plans to overcome the Martian threat. Late 21st century, the Second Martian War broke out. The Sarmakth were more advanced but their dying planed and thinned out numbers put them at a disadvantage. Using primitive space warships in huge numbers the Martians were facing a hopeless battle. The Sarmakth hastily built a large ship equipped with their experimental warp drive to flee towards deep space. Carrying thousands of Sarmakth in stasis their ship traversed hyperspace, intending to reach a planet with ideal conditions found at the edge of the Horsehead Nebula. Unfortunately in their rush the computer made an error and dropped them off at a lifeless star system near the edge of the galaxy. The Sarmakth faced tough times until they found a habitable star system in the vicinity, which they renamed Sar'Vafer (Great Beginning). After a hundred years of effort the Sarmakth restored their civilization to their former glory and even beyond. With their refined stardrive the Sarmakth began exploring the galaxy in earnest. That was the time they became aware of the Empire lead by none other but the hated Pekh'makth (humans). To say this revelation frustrated the Sarmakth and caused quite an uproar would be a grave understatement. Jealous and frustrated, they decided to take back what's rightfully theirs, the keys to ruling the universe. Yet determination alone could not overcome such massive odds. With such disadvantage they had to be careful and manipulative, they began centuries of preparation and subtle plotting while remaining hidden in dark space. All of sudden the Orion Empire collapsed, leaving their old foe weak and scattered. This is the moment to strike.
SOCIETY
Sarmakth are drastically different from most sentient beings in the galaxy and this is reflected in their society. They are utilitarian and lacking most human emotions. They don't have speech and even writing is just an artifact of their ancient past mostly reserved for communicating with other races. Instead they rely on "telepathy" (quantum entanglement based biological comms) as their prime form communication or even as the tool to interact with most of their technology. The average Sarmakth puts the interest of their race above their personal wishes and they are capable of working on a common goal relentlessly and with unbelievable efficiency. Sarmakth doesn't understand the concept of love or compassion which among others granted them with endless capacity for cruelty. They are also arrogant and view any other flesh and blood creature as dumb livestock compared to them.
Those living under Sarmakth rule often don't even realize it. Sarmakth are great manipulators who could gradually take control of a community without anyone noticing it. To the outsider the Sarmakth Dominion seems like just a bunch of small states unaligned to each other. Only the core worlds are under direct Sarmakth control. That doesn't mean they let the others loose. Using subtle means the Sarmakth creates tightly controlled environment to utilize their unknowing slaves with maximal efficiency. Over the time they corrupt the leadership and plant the religion to revere the Sarmakth as their almighty gods.
Sarmakth are large roughly cephaloid creatures with their main body diameter around 2.3-3.2 meters wide, making them often larger than even a bear. They have a pair of huge eyes and large beaks which are surrounded by numerous tentacles. The evolution and deliberate gene alterations of the Sarmakth focused on intellect which means roughly 90% of their body mass is brain matter with all other functions being reduced considerably. Their tentacles are too weak to raise their bodies under Earth-like gravity albeit they can walk just fine in lower gravity. Their overgrown brain includes a biological quantum communication device which allows the species to communicate with each other through thoughts akin to telepathy. Devices can be interacted the same way if they contain a similar quantum receiver. Sarmakth have an underdeveloped and simple digestive system which can only process liquids and specially made food. The small tentacles near to their beaks act as suckers to leech blood from living beings for sustenance, a horrible sight which made the British folk describe them as vampires. The rest of the tentacles are thicker and used to either support the body or work as versatile manipulators to operate complex machines with ease. Sarmakth are asexual creatures with no male/female dimorphism who reproduce through periodically laying down "flesh buds" of their young which they submerge in the blood of other species until those eventually grow to sufficient size. Worth noting that when they refer to themselves the Sarmakth use male pronouns to outsiders, possibly a inherited from 19th century human culture. Sarmakth have no vocal language aside from making various basic noises to express emotions. They communicate exclusively through their "telepathy". In case they require to talk through words they rely on human slaves who are explicitly wired to understand their telepathic waves and speak in their stead. Similarly they don't understand concepts like love, compassion or many of the complex emotions. Instead they have a deeply logical mindset and capacity for limitless cruelty. Sarmakth in general have a superiority complex and view all other races as inferior if not just consider them as soulless animals to exploit. Due to their history they especially hate humans and call them as Pekh'makth which literally translates as "the race of shit".
Roughly translates as the "Slave Race", an expression obviously referring to the races under the Sarmakth's rule. Just narrowly escaped extinction the Sarmakth hardly has the "manpower" to function on their own. Thus no matter how much they might have wished to annihilate every sentient life on their path, they didn't. Rather they managed to effectively enslave all the races they conquered and brainwash them to adore the Sarmakth as their righteous lords. Most people living under Sarmakth rule are strangely content with their lives and follows the orders of their cephaloid overlords with religious zeal. The tendrils of the Sarmakth manipulations run deep. Fehmakth live in various level of cultural and technological development, depending on what the Sarmakth sees fit. They could live in medieval styled villages on backwater planets, existing as little more than livestock and raw materials for Tselmakth. Alternatively they could even live in an industrially developed mega cities supported by Sarmakth technology. Or anything inbetween. Regardless Fehmakth live in a meticulously crafted environment under strict control without them truly realizing it. They are also implanted with an "obedience chip" activated by Sarmakth telepathy in case they do anything which displeases their masters.
Translate as the "race of shit", this is the name Sarmakth refer to the human race. Humans are used as slaves, brainwashed to blindly revere the Sarmakth as their gods. The majority of the Dominion's slaves are humans and their treatment is perhaps the worst.
Literally translates as the "converted race". They are people who underwent extensive modifications to make them closer to Sarmakth in both appearance and function. For the slaves under the Dominion this is equivalent of the highest gift, offered only to the most devoted and worthy of their kin. Rushamakth closely resemble the Sarmakth in looks yet in terms of genetics and physiology they keep their relation to their original race. same deal with size. Human converted Rushamakth are much smaller than their cephaloid overlords for obvious reasons, effectively becoming a "mini Sarmakth". To attain intelligence at least remotely comparable to their creators, Rushamakth are implanted with Cogitators. These are sophisticated brain interface computers giving them incredible thinking ability as well as some of the same quantum communication capability (referred as "telepathy") as Sarmakth. On the other hand Cogitators pretty much turn the Rushamakth into an emotionless creature, just like their masters are. Rushamakth exist to serve their cephaloid overlords and convey their will. As such they tend to be sub-leaders or officials in areas where the presence of actual Sarmakths is deemed of no importance.
Translates as "altered race", they are effectively the opposite of the Rushamakth. They are people forced to undergo transformation into "more pleasing" and "functional" bodies in order to serve the Dominion. They are worse than slaves, they are effectively little more than biomechanical robots. Tselmakth are viewed as a cheaper alternative to drones and pure mechanical constructs of this specific scale. They can be anything from disposable soldiers to slave laborers. There are even Tselmakth invented for nothing but to serve as a piece of the cruel entertainment.
Important Characters:
Sur'sim're t'Abru-ma (Great Supreme Overlord) of the Sarmakth Dominion since their new beginning. He's a ruthless but calculating person who'd rather conquer the galaxy over the time than waste Sarmakth lives. Being over 900 years old (not counting the cyrogenic stasis) S'cum is one of the few Sarmakth in power who saw both wars against Humanity and how they failed. As such he's intent for his race to not commit the same mistake.
TECHNOLOGY
Sarmakth technology is unique and at times radically different from what could be found within the Empire. Their massive intellect grants them innately superior understanding of science. Yet having missed out a millennia of progress they have many fields to catch up on. Sarmakth technology is unique and even weird by the standards of other species. For example Sarmakth relies on walkers moving on flexible tentacle-like legs which requires advanced computers to properly operate while humans merely use wheels and tracked mechanisms to achieve similar road performance. In general Sarmakth only has two kinds of propulsion, gravity and walkers. Their civilians usually equip grav gliders which lift their bodies and save them from physical exertion while their heavier ground machines use a walking mechanism moving on multiple legs.
- Weinol: The basis of most if not all Sarmakth construction. It's a versatile family of carbon allotropes akin to fullerenes and carbon-nanotubes. It's generally light yet strong material which depending on its grid structure can have various other properties. It isn't an exaggeration to say that over 90% of everything made by Sarmakth is a type of Weinol.
- Yel'yeturek (Stardrive): Also dubbed as hyperdrive (kwhul'mishu, lit: "hyper engine") it's a device which allows the ship to go beyond the ordinary three dimensional space and touch "kwhulret" (hyperspace, known as subspace to other species) in order to allow faster-than-light travel. Stardrives are effectively the same as warp drives but using different technology unique to the Sarmakth.
- Kahla'yeturek (Inertial Drive): Sometimes also dubbed as Impulse Drive, an arcane device utilizing laws of physics not yet understood by humans. The device allows vessels to ignore gravity as well as use a mysterious force to hover or move at subluminal velocities.
- Kwitau'tviyan (Impulse Core): Reactor which turns any conventional material into nuclear fuel to produce energy. They are compact and efficient as well as generally safe to use which makes them widespread within the Sarmakth community. Kwitau'tviyan are Sarmakth nuclear bombs, most of them are adjusted to induce a chain-reaction with ordinary material to dramatically increase its power during orbital bombardments.
- Falek'zehl (Heat Ray): Using a miniature impulse core it channels extreme radiation through a channel of non-conductive vacuum. Heat Rays are roughly comparable to lasers yet their mechanism makes them extremely different. Unlike lasers a heat-ray dumps its entire energy on the target and unaffected by mirrors or other reflective surfaces.
- Khrasaya'wun (Chargegun): Sarmakth equivalent of firearms, it uses coulombic detonation instead of chemical energy to propel projectiles towards the target. Through fine alignment of field projectors it's possible to induce this "charge propulsion" spontaneously thus Sarmakth guns turn portion of the projectile into its own propellant and require only electric charge to work. Khrasaya'thor (charge bombs) are the regular high explosives used by the Sarmakth which tend to disperse a cloud of molecule-thin shrapnel. Chargeguns that fire high-velocity penetrators tend to have triangle shaped barrels while explosive projectiles are disc-shaped and shot from a wide yet thin barrel.
- Mathra'wun (Wardiscs):Sarmakth equivalent to missiles, these thin cylindrical objects have a compact inertial drive along with a sophisticated AI and a field manipulation system that replaces explosives. Essentially it's a flying disc that tracks the target and has a device which can turn its entire mass into explosive material within a split-second.
- Feshel'wun (Disruptor): Sarmakth molecular rearrangement technology has many scientific and industrial uses but at times it could be also useful as a weapon. It fires a special ray which induces a chain-reaction to disrupt the material composition of the target, effectively dissipating it to constituent particles. The weapon is too sophisticated to be viable as a general issue weapon. It's expensive and requires complete understanding of the target's composition to succeed. More often than not Feshel technology is seen in the mining industry and automated robotic miners. Although said miners may be used in war out of desperation. Another common variant is the disruptor pistol which is a status symbol to signify the Sarmakth superiority. More often than not such pistols are used for execution.
- Kwhul'wun (Hypermetric Accelerator): A term used to describe Sarmakth direct firing weapons which use either matter or radiation originating from hyperspace to project it at the enemy. The mechanism is often compared to opening a dam which is the boundary between normalspace and hyperspace and then let it flow straight at the enemy. These weapons tend to be the main weaponry of warships, albeit smaller ground support vehicle variant also exists. Kwhul'thor (Hyperbomb) is a variant used as a terrifying explosive with colossal destructive power.
- Wak'danan (Stasis Barrier): Alternative usage of stasis field technology for protection. Effectively just a generic energy shield, albeit utilizing way different mechanisms. Commonly used by all Sarmakth vehicles and starships and there are even variants used for personal protection.
MILITARY
TBA
And here's my nation sheet. I still need to fill in the military section and need to think about territory claim but otherwise I'm finished.
I think this game still has the problem with scale. Being limited to "just the Milky Way" still means 400 million star systems out of which at least 4 million of them are somewhat habitable, not to mention technologies which could allow you to settle on lifeless star systems. Add the fact the Orion Empire owned nearly half of the galaxy, it can lead to rather weird consequences. Similarly I don't feel the FTL is really something you'd consider slow, albeit limiting to only these two is a good idea to help making a more consistent setting.
This is why it's encouraged to rather take a tiny slice of the galaxy as the "map" and perhaps even slower FTL with gate travel providing the "fast enough to be convenient" method. But I digress. There are a myriad of sci-fi stories that fail to take the sheer scale of the galaxy into account. Why should we? I'll try to think of this more like Star Wars than say Mass Effect or especially anything more serious.
Anyways, I might at least try to join as my Martian faction. They're going to be inspired by the War of the Worlds book and 50s sci-fi with some modern influences. Would it be okay if my history involves the Martians trying yet failing to invade Earth? The story would be that the Martians fled to the distant corner of the galaxy with a primitive warp drive and by the time they have arrived humans already created their Orion Empire. So they are now all too eager for revenge as the mighty empire collapsed.
EDIT: Oh, we have human Martians? That's going to be fun. My species are referred as the Martians but they are more properly called as the Sarmakth. The conflict between the "fake martians" and "true martians" could be fun.
Nice, very detailed and well though of. Though I have a question what weapons do you have with gunpowder or how powerful is it qhen you infuse it with magic?
My first reaction was to say that they are just as powerful as regular guns but probably the powder makes them closer to 18th century weapons due to its purity. Not a big difference in the grand scheme of things but it exists. Their real magic would be just the fact they give out various howling noises or even sounds akin to very loud musical instruments instead of the usual boom when fired. As for why it's important will make sense once I finish the military section. They have this whole "sounds of war" play going on.
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salamimike,
ivoryrolland95,
Durandals
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