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[Iituem]

This is the thread for roleplay, non-strategic in-character discussions and all other kinds of fluff.  If you must argue, do it here because I shall have no more of it in the main thread.  I won't be reading this one as carefully as the other, so any strategic deals cross-post them to the game thread.

Spoiler: Maps (click to show/hide)

Territories are named by region for convenience, e.g. Sorrel West, Bleater North, Upper Ichor, Central Farland.  When indicating territories, it will help immensely to use this guide.  Territories not marked with any letters (e.g. Biting, Ester, Greyland) are single-territory regions.

The map wraps East-West but not North-South (Arcanus is a globe, not a torus).  However, any territory touching a pole (i.e. the northmost or southmost border of the map) is connected to any other territory touching that pole.  e.g. Central Terrendale is connected to Central Icedale, West Northron is connected to Cloud.  Cloud is not connected to Presst.

Key

N - North
S - South
W - West
E - East
C - Central
U - Upper
L - Lower

General Territory Map


General Territory Map, Enhanced NSEW Signs


Turn 0 Political Map


At the start of the game, only the Old Empire is in existence.

Turn 0 Wealth Map


The wealthiest parts of the world are in green, the poorest in red.  The defences of these areas is appropriate to their wealth.  In the worst areas, defences might consist of only 2-4 spearmen.


Turn 0 Geography Map


Key

Yellow - Desert
Light Blue - Tundra/Taiga
Grey - Mountains
Brown - Hills
Dark Green - Heavy forest, jungle
Light Green - Grasslands, plains, steppe, swamp

Resources available in different areas will usually correspond to the terrain type in which they are found (e.g. grain in lowlands, iron in hills/mountains, game in forests/tundra).


Old Style Map of the World


Aside from being a roleplay aid and giving some names for the continents, this map doesn't actually help much at all.  I just felt it was cool.

The Arcanan Empire at its height reached Renaissance-level technologies verging on steampunk.  The problem is that a lot of it relied on magic and power supplied by the Master Wizard, and the bigger problem was that the stability of the empire hinged upon the fact that the Master Wizard could basically wipe out whole villages with a flick of his fingers if he so desired.  This sort of thing encourages obedience.

The problem is that the aforesaid technologies were reached only during the very early part of the full Empire, at which point there was something of a dearth of intellectualism and free thought.  Technology stagnated for a few hundred years, and was highly localised - the best technology all remained in the central continent of Imperia, where the capital of Empire was.  Most of the rest of the world was left in pre-industrial and sometimes even dark ages underdevelopment because it was not worth developing.  Why bother improving the conditions of slaves when all you want is their natural resources to fund the lifestyle of the core citizens?

When the Master Wizard died not only did all of the spells he supported (save the Spell of Mastery) start to unravel and fade away, invalidating many of the pieces of technology that relied on it, but the everpresent threat of arcane Armageddon vanished with him.  Once it was discovered that new wizards could not be trained to replace him because of the Spell of Mastery it fell to the mundane Imperial legions to try and keep control.  Now, you would think this might actually cause an improvement of technology because of the need for competition.  You would be wrong.

The Imperial Legions were too few in number to stop uprisings across the whole world, but they were still large enough in number and powerful enough in equipment to crush any one rebellion.  The lack of infrastructure across the remainder of the empire was what led to its collapse, as all the underdeveloped regions stopped paying taxes and started fighting amongst themselves for dominion when they realised the Master Wizard would no longer blast them with fire from the sky.  In these outer regions, especially the continents of Northbrand and Southrel, the legions simply abandoned them to their own fight and without the stability or infrastructure to engage in serious research warfare remained pretty constant and things just deteriorated further.

The central continent has suffered a similar fate; as the Old Empire withdrew its borders decade after decade, control and civilisation fell to the individual territories.  Some were better at maintaining their fare than others; many descended into anarchy and others were rotted from within by decay and corruption.  In essence, five centuries of decadence, infighting and stagnation have been killing the whole world.

So technologically, the world has regressed heavily over the last thousand years.  But once, it verged on steampunk.

The Coding To-Do List

• Code in the religion system properly.
• Code in the loyalty system properly.
• Code in the special attacks and resistance framework.
• Possibly code in the diplomacy success chances to automate it slightly.
• Figure out how the hell I'm going to do entrenching when I don't track individual units beyond heroes (which is why you don't have units gaining experience for winning battles).  Honestly it would be simpler just to take that rule out, but since it actually has a worthwhile bonus now...

• Code in helper units such as the windwalls - units that give bonuses to other units.
• Code in technology-specific bonuses to combat.
• Code in the Heroes mechanic full-stop.

[Taricus]

The Dominion is a tight coalition of Elves and Dwarves, united as their land of strom was taken by poverty.

Spoiler: Dominion Military (click to show/hide)

The military is divided mostly on special grounds, Elves taking the light infantry, cavalry and archers with the dwarves taking the mantle of the heavy infantry. (With the exeption of Axemen, Dwarves only in those regiments.).

Spoiler: Dominion Religion (click to show/hide)

The Dominion is mostly Islamic, resulting in more than a few disagreements in the past, Though there are a few changes to doctrine. (Like the No alcohol has been removed due to the dwarves for example but the main tenants of it are still there.)

Spoiler: Dominion Architecture (click to show/hide)

Dominion Buildings are mostly arabic in style, The stonework unparalleled by most craftsmen (Though standards have fallen in the recent years.).

[Johnfalcon99977]

This is still under development. I only have some of the fluff down so far. Its most likely going to go through quite a lot of changes and iterations before I am finished with it.

The Ariani
(Singluar: Are-Ani)
(Pural: Ari-Ani)
Such a beatutiful race, such a violent past... -Sir Teloani, 3rd Emporia of the Old Steel Empire

Spoiler: Apperance (click to show/hide)

The Ariani are a race of "Humanoid Animals". They come in six races: Wolves, Dogs, Cats, Ravens, Jaguars and Rabbits _{I added this because I could not resist the thought of how cute it would be.}. The first three breeds, Wolves, Jaguars, and Dogs, are about 6 feet tall and are somewhere around 200 lbs on average. The other three, Cats, Ravens, and Rabbits, are around the normal size and weight for a Human. They are not prone to magic, and almost never use it. They tend to live in temperture areas (Grassland, Forest, and Hills) and are very heat sensitive. One wonders how the Steel Empire lived lived in the hot climate.

The races, although they can reproduce together, perfer not to. It seems that they are simply not naturally attracted to each other. And although they almost never reproduce together, the rare black duckling is not unheard of. These "inter-racials" seem to be special in some matter. Most of them seem to be emotionally unstable, and some even have rather strange talents. And the most strange bit is that they are very affiliated to magic! In fact, these "inter-racials" are some of the best magic users in the world!

Another fun fact about the Ariani is that the Raven breed, dispite having wings, are very limited in their flight. Because of the added weight, they lack enough strength to gain high altitudes, only being able to go a few feet off the ground, and they only can fly for limited times. Its like running for Humans and other Humanoids, it gets tiring after time.

Spoiler:  Religon and Culture (click to show/hide)

To be very frank, the Ariani culture is very active and pysically based. Much of it requires body movement and for some constant verbals. It is intense and immersive.

Their religon and culture is mainly based around the Sky and the Earth. The sky is believed to be where heaven is, so Ariani burn their dead in funeral pryes, they believe that the smoke rising is their soul be carried to Heaven for judgment (You know, the regluar afterlife fluff, only Ariani believe you are judged based on how honourable and Respectful you were), and they do this to any dead they find, even enemies! They also hate anything to do with the undead. They believe the process is very unnatural, and that when a begin is made undead, a demon controls his body, with the orignal soul trapped inside! So this basically means that a soul of an person can only watch as a demon controls and kills everyone that they hold dear. Yeah, being undead to them is a fate worse then death.

There main deity is Katio, who governs over Battle, Honour, and Respect. Since these are the number one values in Ariani life, he is naturally their best deity. The remains of Massive Temples to his name spread out from times before the Empire enslaved them el masse. Ravens are usually priests because of their (Limited) flight abilites and connection with most of the stories in their Religon. In fact, the main deity Katio is often repersented with a Raven.

Their culture and Religon is highly based on Rituals, Spirtuals, and Mass prayers to make up for their lack of Magic. Among their many rituals is "The Hunt". The Hunt is a ritual invoked when a Hunter reaches the final stage of his training. He is striped bare, given only a small stone spear, and sent to hunt the animal down. If he is seccesful, he eat the animal and skin it for proof. If he is not, then he starves. While these rules have been softened with recent times (I.E. being allowed to return if you are not back for blah days, the animal is something harmless, ect.), it is still a highly respected and famous ritual.

They also worship the ocean, but not for the reasons you think! They think the ocean is a barrier to the underworld, keeping demons from uprising and killing us all! This is why they do not perfer water, because when a vessel is sunk, they believe it goes to hell. This makes them uneasy when sailing, except for the most brave among them. As for the other's... well, we say they spend a lot of time "Over the Deck".

And if one thing is true about the Ariani, it is that their culture is alive and vibrate across the entire empire. In cities it almost seems like the holiday never ends, with constant rituals and colorful prayers constantly taking place. Plays and street performances are a common sight.   

Spoiler:  Architecture (click to show/hide)

Their way of building is very similar to the Northern European style. Wooden cottages and and stone castles littering the landscape.

Spoiler:  Behavior (click to show/hide)

Although Ariani behavior is mostly judged by their individual personality, there are a few common mannerisms among them. For example, they tend to call people by a unique feature, and where it is. ( Green Eyes, Scar-Back, Yellow Fur, ect. ) An insult generally only known and used by the Ariani is calling someone in this manner over something completely unremarkable or heavily commonplace. ( Gray-Fur, Two-Arms, Beck-Face, Long Ears*, ect. )
( *Only among Rabbit-kin )

Another common behavior among them is their short-temper. They will get noticable angry in shorter times (( Varies, can go from a little easier to anger to one insult drives them insane. )) then most other species. Some species are also less prone to this behavior then other. Listing them from Easiest to anger to hardest: Wolves, Jaguars, Dogs, Cats, Rabbits, Ravens.This trait in excess may cause the following...

Spoiler:  Feral (click to show/hide)

The Ariani can be made angry quickly, but if you manage to get one extremely angry and pissed off at you, he may go Feral. Let me get things straight first. You DO NOT want to meet a feral Ariani. They enter a wild rage, lashing out at anything near by, with a one tract mind toward three things. Hate, Destory, Kill. What makes this worse is that in this state, they can effectively rip apart a normal man with ease. You could five or more stakes in the head of a Feral Ariani and he'd still have far more then enough time to kill you (Very slowly) before it'd die. Some rather dreadful lords have relized this, and have gone far enough to capture some just to release them on their enemies and watch as they either scatter or get ripped to shreads. One big downside of being a feral, and also what makes a feral the most dangerous, is that he loses all sense of who or what he is. He no longer reconizes friend or foe, and rip both apart gladly. Many a warlord who used ferals were finished off by what they had used to conquer so much.

Goverment

Spoiler:  Managment (click to show/hide)

The Ariani goverment is run in three concils. These concils manage the main three main aspects of the Ariani nation. Warfare, Political Relations, and Domestic Issues. All three councils are leaded by the Emporia. The Emporia leaders are a bloodline rule.

Spoiler:  Labour (click to show/hide)

The Ariani detest slave labour as a form of labour, and instead use a somewhat more "Liberal" method known as Serfdom. Although in a sense it is still a kind of slavery, it is very softened. Serfs work for their rich masters, much like slaves, only they have far more rights. Serfs tend to work for masters over a large portion of land in small villages and towns.

The free working class tend to live in cities. Only a few things seperate the free, city society, and the Serf dominiated, small town and village society. Such as pay and the right to own land.

History

Spoiler:  Slavery (click to show/hide)

Ariani are also very hard workers. However, their natural strength has led them to be commonly sold as slaves in many lands. Their treatment is justified because of many peoples thought of them. They have been commonly sold as slaves for as long as time ran. And any revolts of any kind from them have all been crushed violently. Their worst time was under the Empires rule. The Great Despotic Wizard wanted much labor, so much more land was taken. Even after his fall the Ariani slaves were still traded. So, in the 1000 years of the Old Empire's rule, the free population went from 90% is a staggering 8%. The last of the free Ariani live in Steel and surrounding lands, and the free population has been draining rapidly. Some of the last emperors of the Ariani even sold some of his people to slavery for good relations! Even in the new Ariani goverment, slavery has not been completely abolished. Rather, it has been replaced with a more liberal serfdom system. The Ariani seem destined to forced labour for a long time.

[Phantom]

Please note the FORMERLY racist wolfmen having a bad past with the Medieval Soviets.

[Johnfalcon99977]

Racist wolfmen? If anything, their the subject of racism. They were fricken enslaved for over a thousand years!

Didn't get that edit. Sorry.

[Kashyyk]

A quick spiel about the Wood Elves of Garnlish, otherwise known as the Arcadians. Expect more.

Spoiler: Appearance (click to show/hide)

Wood elves are generally about 6 feet tall, and weigh about 150lb. Skin colour varies almost as much as human, although a light brown is most common, and traditionally, have long hair, ranging from Jet black, through Mahogany, Hazel and into pure white. The more extreme shades, (Black and White) are relatively rare, with most elves having some shade of brown. The ears are gently tapered to a point, and are thus about 1.5x as long as a human's. Elves have long lifespans, but are far from immortal, the average life expectancy being about 200 years. Elves don't have as much brute strength as a human, but make up for it with higher dexterity and endurance. These abilities give elves their natural affinity as archers, although there is the occasional elf who prefers some of the blunter instruments of war. Elves are also good climbers, thanks both the location of their homes (The Under Canopy) and their dexterity. They can quickly scale trees, ladders, rope, and even the occasional rough stone wall.

Spoiler: Culture (click to show/hide)

Elven culture is currently evolving from a stable feudal structure to a democracy. Arcadia has a single leader, aided by a council of lords. Each lord is assigned an area of the forest to manage, and is responsible for it's protection. To do so, the lord taxes the residents and fields a personal guard to patrol the woodland. If a lord wishes, it is technically still legal to seize another lords land, supported by the simple fact that if you can't protect your land, then you are failing in your responsibilities as lord. This is rather rare, and the few that do happen are almost entirely bloodless, as striking another elf is a grave offence.

As the Elven government leans towards democracy, the individual leader has lost power, and the council has proportionally gained it. Whilst the leader still has the last word on all matters, the council is required to approve of any change in the policy or law. The leader themselves are voted into position, but hold it indefinitely. When a new leader is voted in, they appoint four heirs from those of the council, who are given special responsibilities in aiding the leader. These heirs can be reappointed as the leader sees fit. When the position of leader is vacant, the council votes for one of the four heirs to take up the mantle, and the cycle repeats.

Spoiler: Architecture (click to show/hide)

Obviously, The wood elf's preferred biome is the the forest. Ideally, Temperate Woodland or Taiga, although Rainforest and Grassland is acceptable. Large Expanses of open space, such as deserts and mountains, tend to be avoided, due to a mild species-wide form of Agoraphobia. The typical Elven village is built in the Under Canopy with wooden walkways and balconies spanning the gaps between trees, and the buildings themselves nested into the branches. Wood is used extensively for this, due to it's abundance and light weight.

Spoiler: Military* (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Religion* (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: History* (click to show/hide)

[Terenos]

I'm actively restraining myself from spending the next 4 hours randomly typing up world-lore. Gotta save some of that creative energy for the games I run myself. Oh, and growing mildly annoyed at Hubris.

[Johnfalcon99977]

I lost. hours. of work. Due to. Internet crash.
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FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

[Taricus]

 .

[Johnfalcon99977]

-UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

[Criptfeind]

I am a bit skeptic as to why people whould enslave Gnomes. If they used them for house labour or accounting, then they wouldn't be angry at all!

Any gnomes that were enslaved as accountants... Would most likely be beat to death.

[Johnfalcon99977]

-UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK

[Taricus]

Damn. It stopped...

[Johnfalcon99977]

What? You expected me to curse for the intire thread? Cuz it kinda lost steam after a little while.

[adwarf]

Gnomes -

The Gnomes are a small race. Their average height is 3 Ft. They pray to the God Kain, Sheild for the Weak, and father of the Earth, and accept all other religions openly. They dream of one day controlling the sky with complex flying machines, and freeing al of their race from slavery. Since they were first discovered many other races have enslaved them, and used them to do all the work while they relaxed. The Farlands is the first place every to be home to the gnomes. Several years ago the gnomes there rebelled against the people who enslaved them. Their leader ,a gnome named Harticus, led the first attack on their masters. For six years the war raged, and Harticus lead his men into battle with him at the front of the army. Many battles were fought, many gnomes had died, but their oppressors were thrown from the lands, and the gnomes finnally gained a place to call home after many years of slavery there was now a beacon of hope for all gnomes, The Farlands. Thus a Kingdom arrised, and that was the start of the kingdom of The Gnomes of the Farlands. These gnomes are a proud, brave, and honest people who always have hope. They are great mechanics, and great farmers, but most of all they are a great race. These gnomes may  only rarely shpw magical talent, but they do not need it to be a strong race.

Gnome Enslavement -

It began thousands of years ago when the gnomes finnally left their home a city deep underground with three entrances in multiply hills, Gizarkill, in central farlands. They searched the lands around them for miles, and found no other races, and so they thought they were alone, but they were very wrong. The humans, and dwarves of those lands had learned to hide their villages well, and so the gnomes saw none of their  many homes, but the humans, and dwarves did. The dwarves wished to make allies with the creatures who were so similar to them, but yet so much more advanced in mechanics they had come with flying contraptions, and wagons that pulled themselves. They wished to teach them, and learn from them as equals, but the humans had another pplan they wanted to use these small weedy creatures as slaves, and so it began as the humans who far outnumbered the dwarves, and the gnomes pressured the dwarves into helping them. The armies followed these scouting groups back to Gizarkill, and laid seige to it. The humans, and dwarves numbered in hundred of thousands while the gnomes only numbered fifty-thousand even though they were outnumbered they gnomes fought, and for three months they held the tides of destruction at bay, but they could not be held for long, and the gnomes seeing the end surrendered, and became the slaves of the vile humans.

The 1st Gnomish Rebellion -

The first Gnomish rebellion was lead by a man named Agustus IV. He lead the gnomes back to their homes, and ambushed the few who stood guard there. Within three weeks they had secured the city, and the humans knew only that three thousand gnomes had rebelled and escaped. For two years the gnomes stayed hidden trying to rediscover all the tech the once had, but the dwarves had took the blueprints, and hid them from the humans for neither race had the ability to build them. Two years exactly after they had taken the city the humans found them, and laid sige yet again to the city. The gnomes held out for a very long time, but as they ran low on food, and other supplies Agustus knew the end was near. Gathering the remaning six-hundred of his men he prepared for the last charge. The charge was naught, but a distraction for as they escaped the tunnels into the city were collapsed by the few gnome sleft behind they were to guard the woman, and children, and to try and rebuild here so that they could on day return to help the others.

Agustus's Charge -

From the tunnels came the cry of many a gnomes before them stood humans who hearing this sound for the first time began to retreat for none had heard such ferociousness before. Agustus led the charge, and seeing the wall of enemies before him yelled " Do not stop kill them all. For without our freedom we are nothing. CHARGE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! " and with that the gnomes clashed against the humans army. For each gnome that fell four humans were slayed, and from that day forward the humans knew of the strength of the gnomes.

2nd Gnomish Rebellion -

It seemed to be nothing at first, but ten gnomes had escaped from their cells during the night, and there were traces showing them that they had escaped the town into the hills, and small forests the humans dared not go for now the were full of escaped gnomes, and walking dead. The leader of the second gnomish rebellion was the Great Necromancer Asaroth Garnaland, he had escaped two years prior, and had set about the task of creating a resistance. His army was many, but mostly consisted of the skeletons, and creatures he had summoned over the years. He spent two years preparing for the rebellion in south Farland, and now he was ready three days after the ten gnomes had escaped they returned, but behind them stood thousands of the undead, and they charged the city driving the humans from their land. This rebellion was succesful, but in the end Asaroth died for as he fought the king, and his paladins he knew there was only one way to kill them, and so he cast a spell that sacrificed himself to kill those near him. That day some of the gnomes land was taken back, but a great hero was killed that day.

3rd Gnomish rebellion -

Little is known of this rebellion, but that it was lead by a gnome named Harticus, and on that day he formed some rule for his people that they all agreed to follow. That rules was that they would never inslave another race for they knew the pain theat it caused, and the many deaths that would result.