[Forum Game] Master of the Galaxy IV-2: Return to the Unknown

[Scrapknight]

Master of the Galaxy IV-2: Return to the Unknown
A Nation Game in the Final Frontier

Just forty years ago, the interstellar era began. War, revolution, discovery, expansion, peace, unity and disaster have all graced the galaxy ever since. The galactic powers cooperated and competed for supremacy, leading up to the Great War between the republican and anti-republican powers. After eight exhausting years, the republicans triumphed, and the meritocrats began to lick their wounds. Since then, the invention of the qwark drive has made interstellar travel easier than ever before, and opened up new, faraway lands for expansion. New civilizations that have never before been contacted are stepping onto the galactic stage, potentially upending the dynamics of power, as the old powers begin to recover from years and years of war. It is an exciting time in galactic society, and for the first time in nearly twenty years, the question is truly an open one: who will be the master of the galaxy?

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Hi, everyone! I'm your host and GM, Scrapknight, and welcome to Master of the Galaxy IV-2! MGaSO 4-2, as we call it, is the latest installment of the Master of the Galaxy games started by alexander23. At its core, MGaSO is a nation game in space, not unlike World in Revolution or my own The New Order. Players will take control of a polity and explore new lands, wage war and make peace as they see fit.

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Player Roster

Great Powers:
Republic of Baekdu / Played By: @oxfordroyale
Adrallan Oligarchy / Played By: @aedan777
Kingdom of Lamia / Played By: @Terraferma

Secondary Powers:
Federated States of Azeratii / Played By: @jeeshadow
Tsavalta / Played By: @Dadarian
Uksugan League / Played By: @Galren
Celtic Republic / Played By: @Plank of Wood
Free State of Albion / Played By: @Gorganslayer
State of Francia / Played By: @Fingon888
Storm Kingdom / Played By: @Mikkel Glahder
Free Territories of the Ismar Traverse / Played By: @Plutonium95
Kingdom of Divine Light / Played By: @MadMartigan
Zelsari Republic / Played By: @alexander23
Velian Exarchate / Played By: @etranger01
The Kerekagy / Played By: @naxhi24

IC Nations:
Terran Free State / Played By: @Corman50
Terran Empire / Played By: @King50000
Knights of Progress / Played By: @iisbroke

Characters / Other:
Pan-Galactic Community Secretary-General / Played By: @Korona
John Smith Prime / Played By: @Tapscott

Harthus Galaxy. Updated map incoming.

Player Nations:
Red: Republic of Baekdu
Dark Red: State of Francia
Indigo: Adrallan Oligarchy
Purple: Zelsar Republic
Blue-Green: Tasavalta
Pink: Uksugan League
Yellow: Free State of Albion
Green: Celtic Republic
Fuschia: Storm Kingdom
Pale Green: Ismar
Dark Grey: Terran Free State

NPCs:
Light Purple: Diclonus Dominion
Lime Green: Second Terran Empire
Brown: Solesian Meritocracy
Light Grey: Sorian Union

Novus Galaxy. Updated Map Incoming.

Player Nations:
Red: Republic of Baekdu
Pink: Uksugan League
Purple: Adrallan Oligarchy
Green: Kingdom of Lamia
Grey: Knights of Progress
Brown: Kingdom of Divine Light
Teal: Velian Exarchate

NPCs:
Orange: Skaven Khanates
Brown: Manje Confederacy

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Great and Secondary Power signups, i.e. for those nations with orders, are closed unless I say otherwise. If there is a vacancy, I will announce it in the thread, so you aspirants keep your eyes peeled. Signups for IC nations and characters, however, will remain open on a rolling basis. They effectively serve the same purpose: whether as an individual or a government, you can IC in response to events without orders. Updates may affect you, but I also will not tolerate godmoding, memery and general chicanery to get updates to affect you, under penalty of kicking.

You can select any currently NPC nation as an IC nation on a first-come, first-serve basis. Feel free to PM me for lore or info you may require. You can also play as a character, a resident of any polity; politicians, journalists, gangsters, terrorists, any kind of trouble-stirrer-upper will make for a good signup. Character signups look like this:

Name:
Age:
Polity of Residence:
Occupation:
Description:

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There's an lot amount of lore to take in, so you can read the design doc, and ask us on our IRC channel, #MGaSO_Main. Go to theairlock.net and connect, then type "join #MGaSO_Main", without the quotes, to join. We're a friendly bunch and will be happy to explain anything and everything. This is a great way to meet other players, learn about the lore, and figure things out.

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THE RULES:​

1: The GM is always right. If I say something is canon, it's canon. If I say something is non-canon, it's non-canon. If I say your order is dumb and failed, your order is dumb and failed. I don't want to deal with people sniping at me over each and every thing that happens to their country that doesn't go their way.

2: Every non-Great Power country gets two normal orders every turn, two war orders to use in active conflicts, and an election order, to deal with changes in leadership. Each Great Power will have three normal orders instead.

3: Normal orders can relate to your economy, your military, espionage, whatever it is you want to do that doesn't involve declaring war. Treaties won't eat a normal order, but if you want them to have a stat-based affect, using one to remind me is a good call.

4: War orders are used for moving troops and carrying out operations in either declared war or surprise attacks only by your direct military forces. Espionage, volunteers, supporting foreign interests or factions, that's all in normal orders.

5: Election orders deal with elections, of course, and changes in governing faction more broadly, even in autocracies. Democracies may include information about the competing parties, while autocracies may include information about the new leader or faction taking power. In the case of democracies or other forms of elective government, they may or may not include who you want to win. Such an inclusion does not guarantee that that side will win. In general, I won't be keeping track of your internal politics outside of election orders, so make sure you roleplay effectively and remember your election dates.

6: All currencies in updates are given in GSTC, or Galactic Standard Trading Credits. IG, they are a cryptocurrency based on Uksugan servers that are used by international businesses. OOC, they're basically statbucks. One GSTC is about $1000 US 2016. Feel free to use your national currencies in your own IC as you see fit.

7: Like World in Revolution, every few turns we will be having a "skip turn" which will cover five years as opposed to the usual one. These will allow the game to cover a greater timespan and tell a better story over a shorter time period. I will give you warning of when these occur, but expect them every six or seven normal turns.

8: There will be mini-updates occasionally for regional conflicts or particularly significant events. I will allow players with a stake in the crisis to send a number of orders that I will decide when this happens.

9: I don't save rolls, nor do I show them except possibly right as I am rolling them (which I will do on IRC). I reserve the right to not tell you your rolls for any reason.

10: I also reserve the right to have implausible, drastically off-policy, abhorrent, forum-rule-violating or simply dumb orders to fail automatically. This is not subject to appeal.

11: To keep me sane and able to write good updates, please keep orders short; no more than 3-4 lines, please. Some flavor is good; treatises are not.

12: Be civil. Galactic politics is a dangerous game that may involve treachery and betrayal. Don't let it get to you. We're a welcoming and friendly bunch, and I'd like it very much if things didn't get personal. However, in the case that they do, please realize that we're all still human beings playing a game. IC, have at it; OOC, peace and love.

13: Be competent. Please roleplay your party or faction in power. Do not godmode.

14: As a corollary, when your government changes peacefully, you will remain in command. If your government is overthrown by violent revolution, collapses to unrest, or is occupied by a hostile foreign power, you will be kicked from the game and replaced. Try not to die out there.

15: I reserve the right to kick any player at any time for any reason.

16: Orders are due every other Friday at 11 PM, Pacific Standard Time, unless I say otherwise. In general, secondary powers can afford to forget orders more frequently, especially smaller ones. However, a player of a great power who forgets orders twice will be kicked except under exceptional circumstances. Be advised.

17: The first order deadline will be Friday, September 29th at 11 PM PST.

18: I reserve the right to add additional rules at any time for any reason as the need arises.

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Stats:

Here's a sample stat sheet:

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United People’s Democratic Emirates of Northwestern Samplestan
Form of Government: Footballocracy
Leader(s): President Joe Schmoe
Ruling Party: Monster Raving Loony Party [Party Ideology]
Population: 10b / 2% growth

Economy:
GDP: $X GSTC
GDP per capita: $X GSTC
Growth: Booming/Growing/Stagnant/Recession/Depression
Taxes: Emergency/High/Medium/Low/Tax Haven
Debt: Sustainable / Moderate / Heavy / Default

Development:
Economy: Post-scarcity/Mechanized/Service/Industrial/Agrarian/Subsistence
Food: Abundance/Surplus/Stable/Low/Starvation
Infrastructure: Excellent/Great/Good/Fair/Poor/Failing
Administration: Excellent/Great/Good/Fair/Poor/Failing
Education: Excellent/Great/Good/Fair/Poor/Failing
Military Tech: Excellent/Great/Good/Fair/Poor/Failing

Defense:

Titan:
Capital Ships:
Cruisers:
Frigates:
Transport Ships:
Landing Spires:
Elerium Bombs:
Manpower: Underutilized / Sufficient / Lacking / Failing

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Notes on Stats:

Most stats are pretty self-explanatory, but I'd like to explain a few of them that might not be intuitive.

Economy Types:

This is an abstract representation of how your economy operates. Generally, they progress in a linear fashion, from Subsistence all the way up to Post-Scarcity. Certain clever development strategies may allow you to skip stages. The most likely possibilities for this are jumps from Agrarian to Service, and from Industrial to Mechanized. Failure here, however, could be very dangerous.

Subsistence: People forage for food or engage in small-scale farming. Often uses the barter system. This type of economy cannot support a spacefaring civilization, and a nation in this state is in imminent danger of total collapse and regression to subplanetary status. (This is of course a game over to you.)

Agrarian: While well-developed cities and industry exist, most citizens are engaged in farming and agricultural activities. Agrarian polities excel at food production, but not much else, and are generally poorer and less able to support an advanced military.

Industrial: Most workers labor in factories, or at minimum, the primary economic activities are mining, manufacturing and trade. Industrial polities are capable of supporting large militaries and churning out resources, but are not as optimized for sheer economic performance.

Service: These post-industrial economies still have agriculture and manufacturing, but most citizens are employed in white-collar jobs of some variety or another. These societies are beginning to feel the impacts of automation, but have not fully realized it. They are amongst the richest polities, but may suffer from some labor unrest from displaced blue-collar workers.

Mechanized: These advanced economies have progressed to a point where not only nearly all blue-collar but much white-collar labor is performed by machines and algorithms. Such societies are very prosperous, but suffer large amounts of labor displacement, as jobs in most fields become more and more obsolete.

Post-Scarcity: Post-scarcity societies have mastered the technology known as the replicator, which enables conversion of mass into any other kind of mass through immense amounts of energy consumption. Traditional employment and economics have been essentially obsoleted, and output is only limited by the amount of mass and energy such a society can acquire. However, the amount of mass and energy such a society requires is truly massive, even stellar, in scale...

What lies beyond a post-scarcity economy isn't clear, but it would totally transform the nature of civilization and have galactic consequences. Have fun with that.

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Unit Types:

Titan: A massive battleship that you can only have one of. It is also customizable in terms of types of weapon, capabilities and so forth, with respect to your technological limits and prohibitions on godmoding.

Capital Ships: Large vessels with heavy firepower, like battleships and carriers.

Cruisers: Medium-sized vessels balanced between firepower and speed.

Frigates: Small vessels that are built for manuverability over firepower or durability.

Transport Ships: Ships that contain troops for invading planets. They contain all of your terrestrial air, ground and naval forces. These can be whatever you want in RP terms.

Manpower: A rough measure of how much of your eligible service-age population you have in your armed forces.

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Elerium:

The elerium bomb, also known as an ARCHON device, harnesses the power of element 115, or elerium, to create a reaction that destabilizes any energy field. In practice, this enables an elerium weapon to shut down a planetary shield instantly, enabling the surface to be targeted by orbital weaponry uninhibited. The most common weapons for such purposes are nuclear weapons, which are relatively primitive but prized by some polities for radioactive effects, or kinetic kill vehicles, which are more expensive but with fewer long-term effects. The stat ratings are as follows:


ISBMs: Interstellar Ballistic Missiles. Elerium containment has been perfected, allowing a missile to enter phase space and thus make jumps without destabilizing the payload. Missiles can be launched systems away without negative consequences to the attacker.​

Intrasystem Missiles: Elerium containment technology has been developed enough to allow elerium bombs to be integrated into ordinary missiles. They must be carefully transported between systems, however.

Elerium Energy: Technology has advanced to the point where elerium reactions can be contained effectively enough to power reactors for civilian purposes.

Simple Bombs: A working ARCHON device has been produced, but not integrated into a suitable missile. Must be delivered “manually” by a spacecraft.

Developing Program: The nation has an active program to harness elerium reactions in a weaponized form.

None: The nation does not have any form of elerium technology.
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IRC
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IRC is a good way to keep in touch with other players and for me to keep my finger on the pulse of galactic politics. It is not a requirement, especially for the secondary powers, but I cannot recommend it enough. Please make an effort to be on IRC when possible.

Here's how to connect:
- Go to theairlock.net
- Click "web client"
- Click "open chat in an new tab"
- Type in a nickname, preferably one similar to your Paradox nickname, in the top box
- In the bottom box, type "#MGaSO_Main", without the quotes
- Click "connect"
- You're in the chat!

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"Per Ardua, Ad Astra"

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[Scrapknight]

Yearly Updates

An. 45: Main Update
An. 45: Campaigns
An. 45: Colonization

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Mini-Updates and Crises
An. 45: The Three-Day Republic
An. 45: Attack on Waibosa
An. 45: Jabos or Kopelis?
An. 46: Death on the Tundra


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Other Important Updates

Profile: The Pan-Galactic Community
Profile: The Skaven Confederation
Profile: The Sorian Union
Profile: The Diclonus Dominion
Profile: Galactic Religion​

 

[Scrapknight]

Stats

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[Scrapknight]

Commence posting!

 

[Gorganslayer]

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Name: Albion Free State
Anthem: I vow to thee, Albion
Capital: Albion (planet) ; Anglia (City)
Government: Presidential Republic

• Lord Protector: Sir Stephen Beaufort, Count of Faranca [Nationalist Alliance]
• First Chancellor: Edmund Leiceston, 14th Baron Wye [Nationalist Alliance / APP]
• House of Systems [22 Representatives from Albion; 10 from Indus; 10 from Australias]
• House of Representatives [1800 seats - voted in through proportional representation]

Territories: Albion (Capital), Aryavarta (state), Eora, (state), Laurentia (claimed - controlled by the Black Khanate), Alba (colony in PGC mandate Ukrask), Vesperia (claimed - controlled by the Celtic Republic)

Spoiler: Background

Spoiler: Government

The Government of Albion is ostentatiously a Presidential Republic. The Second President of the Republic, Oliver Cromwell installed himself as Lord-Protector and ruled nearly dictatorially through the use of Article 17 which allowed the President to act without the prior consent of the Parliament. (these acts could be repealed through a two-thirds majority in Parliament which the Republican Party’s 35% share of the vote prevented). However Oliver Cromwell was assassinated by syndicalists in the streets of Waibosa on Australias during the period of ‘Red Terror’ - far left terrorism. Currently the position of Lord Protector is vacant with elections due to be held in the new year.

The Parliament is split into two chambers. The lower house is the House of Representatives and is made up of 1800 seats elected through proportional representation. The First Chancellor generally comes from the House of Representatives. Throughout the history of the state no party has ever secured more than 50% of the vote and so all the governments including Cromwell’s dictatorship have been shaky coalition governments.

The Upper House or the House of Systems is also elected by Proportional representation but on a System basis. Each system is allocated a set number of states, while critics decry the fact that the plurality of votes lies with Albion. Each election cycle half of the system seats are up for election. Thus a System Representative serves for a time twice that of a regular representative.

Spoiler: Politics

Political Parties of Albion

Spoiler: Background

Spoiler: Politics

• Republican Party: The Largest Party and successor to the revolutionary Roundheads, the Republican party has been in power since the installation of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector. They regularly score slightly above a third of the vote. The Republican Party is generally isolationist. [Centre-left] [Social Liberal]
• Equalist Party: The Equalist Party is a radical breakaway group from the Republicans. Decrying the dictatorship of Cromwell and viewing the Republican Party has having thrown away its values to curry noble support and prevent social revolution. Depending on the election they can fluctuate from the third to fifth largest party. [radical socialist]
• Renewal Party: A loose alliance of Syndicalists, meritocrats and Anarchists the Renewal Party wants the radical overthrow of the Albish situation. Though the form of the replacement is not agreed upon and they are only united in their contempt of the current government. In order to counter the influence of the Syndicalists the meritocratic wing and anarchist wing merged to found the ideology of Anarcho-Meritocracy, an ideology met with contempt by foreign meritocratic movements. Generally the smallest of the Major Parties [far left] [Orthodox Syndicalism / Anarcho-meritocracy]
• Centre Party: The second largest Party, the Centre Party is more right-leaning Republican party and normally secures a majority of the middle class. Prior to the Cromwell - era the Centre Party would often form a Coalition with the Republican Party. The Centre Party advocates for Albion to return to the international stage. [Centre] [Classical Liberal]
• Albion People’s Party: The most moderate of the right wing Parties. The Party advocates for a constitutional Monarchy as well as a more proactive Albion foreign policy. They also favour some military buildup, though generally want to see Albion’s grievances rectified through diplomacy rather than military. Fluctuates from being the third to fourth largest party. [centre-right] [Authoritarian Democrat / Democratic Monarchy]
• Albion National People's Party: Comprised of the elite of the old Albion regime, the ANPP seeks to abolish the Republic and the creation of a pro-corporation monarchist state. They also advocate aggressive action to rectify Albish grievances notably through wanting to reclaim east indus from the celts or even annex the entire nation as well as seek the formation of a colonial Albish nation. Fluctuates between being the fourth and fifth largest party. [Paternal Autocrat]
• Albion United Workers Party: A fringe and radical party that advocates for the immediate re-militarisation of Albion and the annulment of nearly all international treaties. It’s leader is famous for his rhetoric which decries the ‘stab in the back’ that prevented the Albion success in the war to reclaim Australias as well as his desire to annex the celts and aggressively claim former trade coalition land as Albish. [far-right] [Ultranationalist]
• Australias Independence Party: A protest party that doesn’t take its seats, this party fights for the return to independence of Australias. The party was banned under Oliver Cromwell and has faced persecution since. [nationalist]
• Indus Lobbyist Party: A small party that primarily represents the issues of Indus. While nationalistic it is not radical or secessionist rather just localist. The party is rather small as most Indus citizens find the major parties more attractive. [nationalist]

Current Political Makeup of Albion:

Republican Party: 544, Centre Party: 225, Albion People’s Party: 210, Albion National People’s Party: 196, Equalist Party: 168, Indus Lobbyist Party: 154, Renewal Party: 112, Albion United Workers Party: 104, Other: 84.

Currently the Government is under a coalition between the Republican Party, the Centre Party and the Indus Lobbyist Party. Though the coalition is on shaky grounds. The average lifespan of a government prior to Cromwell was approximately nine months, time will tell if the trend will continue on.

Government

• Lord-Protector: vacant
• First Chancellor: Richard Severn [Republican Party]
• Chancellor of the Treasury: Marcus Hinch [Centre Party]
• Chancellor of the Interior: Herbert Jones [Republican Party]
• Foreign Chancellor: Mary James [Republican Party]
• Chancellor for Defence: John Desborough [Centre Party]
• Chancellor of the Justice: Frederick Harper [Centre Party]
• Chancellor for Health: Susan Wright [Republican Party]
• Chancellor for Industry: Ashar Labar [Indus Lobbyist Party]
• Chancellor for Albion: David Fox [Republican Party]
• Chancellor for Australias: Alexander Worth [Republican Party]
• Chancellor for Indus: Rana Daul [Indus Lobbyist Party

Spoiler: Military

Military

Spoiler: Military

A Parade of the Reconstructed Army and Navy

The original armed forces of the Commonwealth of Albion was intricately tied to Albion's system of Nobility. Despite ostentatiously united under the command and authority of the king most regiments and fleets were commanded and held loyalty to their respective nobles. This was seen during the first rebellion by Australias when the entirety of the local garrison defected to the rebellion. During the second noble rebellion the army went through several processes of restructuring. Notably on Indus where the majority of the troops rather than noble regiments were citizen militias loyal to the central government and on Australias where despite the continued ongoing victories on the planet eventually leading to the reclamation of 3/4ths of the planet economic collapse back home lead to mass mutiny and a forced peace. This fostered a sense of betrayal in the army who felt that victory had been snatched from the Commonwealth through the failed resolve of the people.

In the resulting civil war the Royal Army fractured, while a few elite units remained loyal to the Crown, many fought for their respective lords or joined the Roundhead’s in the form of paramilitary ‘Autonomous Brigades.’ Recognising the flaws of the previous army Cromwell and several of the leaders of these paramilitary brigades lead by Major Felding signed the Cromwell-Felding Pact which secured the loyalty of these units in exchange for the Roundheads expelling the more radical elements of the movement. With Loyalty secured Cromwell forged the army into a new ‘Reconstructed Army’, based along lines of professionalism and alleged apoliticism.

After the end of the war and the victory of the Republican forces this ‘Reconstructed Army’ formed the basis of the new army of the Albion Free State and played a key role in allowing Cromwell to maintain his presidential dictatorship. The policies of the reconstructed army was also carried over into the new Free State Navy, though many conservative elements of the former Royal Navy have survived the purges and maintain significant political and military control.


The Reconstructed Army focuses on a doctrine of supporting heavily armed elite ‘shock brigades’ skilled in short range fighting with larger support brigades, generally in a ratio of 1:2. The Albion Navy is a smaller force that is split into three fleets. The two smaller fleets based on Australias and Albion are primarily made up of lighter destroyers and cruisers, while the main Albion fleet consists primarily of cruisers and battlecruisers, with a supplementary destroyer/carrier force. Fleet doctrine places priority on long range firepower and mobility. There are few battleships in the fleet with most of these being older obsolete designs.

Spoiler: History

History of the Free State [as written by Albish Sources]

Spoiler: History

Elements of the 112th Fusiliers 'Green Ribbon' Brigade lead an attack on a Noble Aligned force

The birth of the Albion Free State starts with the death of the Commonwealth of Albion. Strained by internal dissent, economic failure and international aggression. After a disastrous intervention in Celtia and a blatant ideological suppression at the hands of the Republican controlled Pan-Galactic Council the rebellious and self-serving Duke Layman of Australias collaborated with the aid of alien mercenaries to secede from the Albish Commonwealth. After attempts from the secret service to eliminate the Duke narrowly failed, the Albion Fleet jumped into the System only to find that not only had the local fleet garrison defected, but that the enemy was working with the Justicar’s - an alien race that out of malice at having lost their own homeworld now sought to spread disunity amongst the galaxy. The resulting bloodbath compelled the proud southern Albish nobles and Republican sponsored dissidents to rise up in revolt against the crown.

The Regent Era and the Second Ducal War

Deciding to spare continued bloodshed and rather focus on uniting the nation against the republican forces that seemed to have targeted Albion King George XXVII signed the Noble Compact. Agreeing to sign over much of his power to a council of noblemen as well as agreeing to abdicate in favour of a regent who would rule for an extended period.

The Regent Period was one of change in Albion. The Duke Layman continued his ploys against the Commonwealth, blatantly flouting promises by the royal authorities to make him the Governor-General of a planned New Albion, a series of new world colonies aimed to provide food to the Commonwealth and aid its transition towards a more service based and global industry by founding his own independent colony Tetra Volcanus. During this period large corporations increasingly came to dominate the Albion political landscape, both in the Noble Council and through private connections to the regent himself. As the food situation remained tenuous and tensions still remained under the surface the Commonwealth still chugged along, beginning the Colonisation of Canada in the New World and making links with the Knights of Progress including acquiring schematics for a new series of ‘Heavy Battleships.’

However Albion’s political isolation made it vulnerable. Split of from its main ally Francia by a pirate haven Albion had no way of receiving aid when the radicalised celts launched a surprise and illegal invasion of the border system of East Indus. Worse still was the dual uprisings of both Duke Layman and the Duke of Indus. Seeing that the Regent had failed the three Prince’s of Albion, hatched a plot with the nobility, having the regent assassinated and ruling as a Triumvirate. Despite this the Royal Navy was overwhelmed above Albion and although they gave a brutal battering to the Celts they were forced to sign a humiliating peace with the Celts in order to preserve the unity of the nation.

Across the Commonwealth however forces rose up against the rebels. On Indus under Prince Henry the populace betrayed the traitorous Duke who surrendered preserving a measure of dignity by preventing further bloodshed. Though promised fair treatment the brutal execution of Prince Richard, always the most popular of the Princes led to the public execution of the Duke. On Tetra Volcanus a small Albion fleet blockaded the system, and supported the loyalist faction, ultimately ending in defeat after the cruel use of toxic gas by Duke Layman. In response the Prince sanctioned the use of the ‘Royal Spire’ Albion’s sole landing spire, it’s attack led to the demolishment of the Australias capital and allowed the Army to bypass most of the prepared Australias defences. However in spite of the advancing army, the Duke Layman continued to elude capture preferring to let his planet suffer rather than admit defeat. The notably xenophobic layman even resorted to calling on the aid of a anti-human terrorist organisation to first attempt to attack Albion and then later frame Albion by attacking his own populace.

The Civil War

However the economic situation of Albion was not good. The sinister galactic republic’s seeking to reduce Albion to a dependency imposed a blockade on Albion devastating the economy which even the influx of money from technology sales to Lamia and Francia and a trade deal with the Skaven could not rectify. The economic situation led to collapse on the home front which spread to the army leading to mass mutiny and eventually forcing Albion to negotiate at the hands of the PGC. The resulting deal recognised the independence of Australias among other things. Within days civil war broke out in the cities of Albion which quickly spread throughout the countryside, as army elements opposed the Treaty while the Roundhead Alliance an anti-monarchical league placed the blame on the institutionalised nobility and monarchy which in turn incited a Noble-led counter-revolt.

Sensing the loss of the situation, despite the loyalty of the majority of the Royal Navy and elite units of the army the Princes abdicated and fled to Indus, where there was the largest royalist support, before fleeing on to parts unknown. The crux of the civil war was originally fought between the Nobles and the Roundheads led by Cromwell. However after many army elements declared neutrality following the royalists official renunciation of any claim to the throne, Cromwell sought a chance to tip the scales. Contacting the head of the former royalists Major Felding, Cromwell agreed to a pact in which the royalist elements aided the Republicans in exchange for Cromwell’s moderation of his policies and rejection of the radicalist elements of the Roundhead movement.

As a result the civil war fractured into a three way civil war, between the nobility, the Roundheads and the new Renewal faction a mix of syndicalists, meritocrats and other agitators aligned only by their distaste for the other factions. Cromwell allowed the nobles and the Renewals to fight each other for nearly a year, while he worked on his Reconstructed Army. Which when it took the field late into the civil war proved a match for the most veteran of the rival factions.

For all his political skill it was Cromwell’s diplomacy that resulting in the Roundhead restoration to control over Albion. Although allegedly independent, the Albion civil war had spilled over into Australias where Roundhead’s loyal to Cromwell fought back against the meritocratic policies implemented by the Duke. Playing off the Beakadu internationalism, Cromwell managed to secure a pro-Roundhead intervention by the Beakadu, even agreeing to his reintegration of Australias in exchange for relinquishing claims on Tetra Volcanus; a system Cromwell cared little about. With Baekdu aid the Republican forces easily finished their victory and under the oversight of the occupiers the new Albion constitution was drawn up, after 2 Ducal wars and a five year civil war, the Commonwealth of Albion was dead and the Free State was born in its place.

The Occupation
Despite the end of the war, peace did not return to Albion, terrorism from both the far left syndicalists and far right nobles plagued the state, and separatist threats were always present in the royalist Indus and the Ducal Australias. Cromwell despite many pleas turned down the presidency and instead remained in the army working to continue his reforms and spread them to the royal navy, which had returned its loyalty to the Republic after a public plea from the exiled Prince Stephen. Without a leader the Roundheads split into the centre party, the republican party and the equalist party. Over the period of Baekdu occupation the governments were a series of coalition governments, and each quickly collapsed due to opposing views and the hyperinflation and economic ruin brought on by Baekdu and Celtic market dominance.

Presidential Rule


As the Beakdu occupation continued, economic recovery still hampered Albion and the fragmented Albish Parliament was unable to provide stable enough Government to form a stable policy to deal with the recovery era and the continuing crisis. During this period it was not uncommon to see armed paramilitaries belonging to political factions that would engage in deadly street fights across the Commonwealth. Occasionally these groups would work together to attack Republican League troops and sites both in order to steal high quality Republican equipment but also part of a growing sentiment in the Nation that viewed the Republican League as an illegal occupying force intentionally stymieing Albion's recovery and was willing to go to aggressive measures to force them out.

It was in this situation that Cromwell suddenly returned to politics again, nominating himself as a Presidential Candidate in the upcoming Presidential Elections which with army support and the loyalty of the Republicans he won in a landslide, campaigning of a platform of strong governance, economic recovery and a crackdown on separatism. Through the strong executive powers invested in the constitution and the support of the army Cromwell was able to establish an effective Presidential dictatorship renaming his title as Lord-Protector. Under his rule repression in Australias increased to combat the separatist movement and the Australias Independence Party was banned. Paramilitaries were also forced to either disband or be folded into the Reconstructed Army were they underwent conditioning to adapt them to the regimental nature of the Army. Furthermore through a buy-back scheme to disarm these groups the Government was able to obtain several Republican military designs from stolen equipment which were reverse engineered and modified to jump start a revival in the Albion armaments Industry. Indus also suffered repression but not to the same degree. However in spite of his authoritarian policies, Cromwell was popular, he reversed Albion’s economic decline and for the most part ensured strong and stable leadership as promised. Additionally he made overtures towards the former royal family hoping to heal the divide in the country between the royalists and the republicans, the result of this was the return of the elderly Prince Stephen to Albion, though the direct descendants of King George XXVII have refused to end their exile. Cromwell was also instrumental in negotiating the withdrawal of the Republican League from the Albion Free State on good terms helping to avoid Albion stumbling into an accidental war which the paramilitary actions had threatened. Towards the end of his Presidential term elements of the far-left fearing that he would simply flaunt the constitution or declare himself monarch began a period of agitation known as the ‘red terror’, the ultimate end result of this period which resulted in over 400 political deaths was the murder of Cromwell himself while on tour in Australias.

With the end of Cromwell’s era Albion stands on a brink, will parliament be able to maintain democracy with his death? Or will Albion sink back into degeneration? Even now large sects of society conspire against the Republic seeing it as an imposed puppet government by the galactic republics or a facade for nobles to retain their power. The upcoming elections for Lord-Protector seem sure to indicate what the future may hold for Albion.

Spoiler: Foreign Policy

Foreign Policy

Albion’s foreign policy is primarily isolationist. The Government has attempted to avoid making any strong ties with outside nations. Despite its Republican constitution Albion has not and currently has little intention of joining the Republican League. Though it is still a member of the Pan-Galactic Council this is a role it executes infrequently. Despite this many in Albion have different political outlooks. Significantly a large chunk of the parties support a more active political role. On the left this tends to be closer ties with the Republic, while on the right there are three competing lines of thought, with those who favour action to reclaim Albion’s perceived colonial claims in the new world in the region of the Skaven Khanates being the least prominent while the most prominent seek to regain control of East Indus if not all of Celtic space. A third faction of middling popularity instead wishes to see Albion take over the former lands of the Xan’thi Trade Coalition with many believing the systems could be turned into Albish settler colonies and the population turned to providing food for the mother systems.

In character posts

Background
Noble Titles in the Albion Free State
Restoration of Traditional Names Act
Anarcho-Meritocracy
Religion in the Albion Free State
Royal Claimants to the Throne of Albion
Politics
Lord Protector Election, 3794
Free State Response to proposed Terran Free State Treaty
Margaret Thorne withdraws from Lord Protector Elections, 3794
Ukrask Agreement
Albish Address to the PGC concerning the Pure State
Albish Declaration of the initiation of hostilities against the Pure State
Albish Call for a Conference to resolve the colonial disputes in the Novus Galaxy, 3795
An Analysis of the General Elections of 3794

Character's
Interview with Lord Protector Stephen Beaufort

'Albion'
Act One:
Scene One
Scene Two
Scene Three

Other links of interest
Pure State Bioterrorist attacks on 3794 thwarted

 

[Plutonium95]

A star for each of the four territories and the capital city of Triste​

Slot Taken: Post-Skaven Nation

Official Name: The Free Territories of the Ismar Traverse

Short Form: The Free Territories / The Territories

Capital City: Triste

Capital Planet: Telmun (Formerly Khaedz)

Government: Confederal Presidential Republic

• The President is elected by direct universal suffrage for a term of five years.
• The Assembly is made up of a total of forty men and women, ten from each of the sectors which make up the Free Territories. These envoys are selected by the legislatures of Agade and Sumer (formerly Arbug and Lagagiorr respectively) while on Temun and Eridu (formerly Kaekuks) they are elected by direct voting.

Government bodies:

• Executive: President Gaius de Pave
• Legislature: The Assembly, 40 seats
• Judicial: The Assembly holds sole jurisdiction in matters of dispute between the Territories, all other legal cases are handled by sector level courts.

Spoiler: Politics

Politics:

Major Parties:

• Liberal Democrats (Classical Liberal)
  • A free market party focused on the rights of the individual, they hold a plurality of seats in the Assembly and enjoy most of their support from the self-reliant colonists and business interests within the Territories.
• Conservative Party (Conservative)
  • An even minded party, most members of the Conservative Party look on the vast array of colonists who wish to radically alter the Free Territories with caution. It advocates moderation in all things and finds it roots with many of the PGC administrators who were responsible for first beginning to implement the Mandate.
• Royal Alliance (Paternal Autrocrat/ Enlightened Absolutist)
  • The Royal Alliance is a party that is made up largely exiled nobles and monarchist colonists who wish to see the houses of their former lords restored within the Free Territories. They generally support broad government intervention and a powerful military.

Minor Parties:

• Meritocratic Party (Social Meritocracy)
  • Made up of meritocrats who were defeated in the Azeratii civil war and supported by the Adrallan Oligarchy, it is the largest of the minor parties.
• The Free Socialists (Syndicalist)
  • The Free Socialists seek further decentralization within the Free Territories and eventual control of the economy for workers unions.
• Sovereignty Party (Anarcho-Capitalist)
  • The Sovereignty Party takes the ideas of the Liberal Democrats to their extremes. It is made up of people from all over the galaxy who came to the Free Territories seeking liberation from what they see as the oppressive and immoral hand of government.

Species description: Humans (28% Francia, 26% Albion, 21% Cletic, 16% Azeratii, 8% Baekdu, 1% Terra)


Home world description: The heavily terraformed world of Telmun is a continental world with an array of climates suitable for human life and is 58% covered by water.

Spoiler: History

History:

With the defeat of the Skaven and their evacuation to Novus in GSC 3777, it did not take long for the Pan-Galactic Community to begin organizing the territories as a mandate, to be settled by colonists from PGC members. The PGC issued a charter which guaranteed basic rights for the colonists and stipulated that the Mandate would take a republican form once it had reached a stage of development where it could existence as an independent polity. After a year of preliminary terraforming efforts to make the toxic Skaven worlds palatable to human life the first colony was established on former Khaedz, renamed Telmun. The first High Commissioner was Samuel Allen, an Albish political officer a compromise who proved acceptable both to the Baekdu Republic and the Adrallan Oligarchy. The new High Commissioner was tasked with furthering the terraforming efforts throughout the territories and promoting them to colonists.

Allen found the first task easy enough, and within the next year terraforming had progressed to the point where colonies could be established in all four sectors. With that completed, Allen’s lax attitude towards population control coupled with the general instability of many members of the PGC led to a flood of new colonists. Private companies, exiled nobles, political dissidents, and those who were just down on their luck or hoping for success on a far off world all ventured into the Free Territories. While under the ultimate authority of High Commissioner Allen and his sector level governors, most of these early arrivals were allowed to establish their own local government institutions so long as they abided by the Mandate’s Charter.

Allen resigned as High Commissioner ended in 3786 and he was replaced by, Gaius de Pave, a young Frankish economic consultant who had worked in Allen’s office for the past several years and looked to maintain his laissez-faire policies. De Pave formalized the governmental institutions that had begun to form in each of the Mandate’s four sectors, maintaining the sector governors only in an observational capacity. After several more years of successful terraforming and colonization, plans began to be drawn up for the Mandate to receive its independence. A constitution was written by representatives from each sector, largely under High Commissioner de Pave’s guidance, which was described as “A plan of confederacy for securing the freedom, sovereignty, and independence of the territories”. The constitution incorporated the charter’s guarantee of rights, established the office of president who was to be elected by all people of the territories, and formed the Assembly to be filled by representatives from each sector. It gave the government the power to make war and peace, negotiate diplomatic and commercial agreements, decide disputes between the territories, and make plans regarding future expansion of the Free Territories.

The Mandate was granted its total independence in 3794 and former High Commissioner de Pave was elected President in a landslide despite competing candidates of both a royalist and meritocratic bent. The new nation officially declared independence as The Free Territories of the Ismar Traverse.

Posts
The 3794 Free Territories Presidential Election
The Favored Candidates of the Royal Alliance of Ismar​

 

[Terraferma]

The Hellenic Kingdom of Lamia​

Home-world: Thessalia, Rocky surface with precious few bodies of water and a smattering of plains, valleys and grasslands

Affiliate Planet: Ajax (lush garden world with three major bodies of water), Izbria (Jungle world striped with rivers and 2 major bodies of water)

Colonies: Hecate, Tartarus

Leader: King Victor Venizelos

Government Type: HM's Government/Prussian Constitutionalism/ Lamian Constitutionalism

Major Cities: Corinth (Destroyed in Civil War/National Schism), Sicyon, Neo Athens, Aigina and Aléria.

Capital City: Olympus


History:

Spoiler

First discovered in 3006, the planet later to be named as Thessalia was classified as a mostly rocky surface with precious few bodies of water and a smattering of plains and grasslands. It would be colonized by wayward members of the Antalean people 3 years later although due to initial readings it attracted little interest. In 3015 the first of three major waves of new arrivals came to the planet with the last wave being in 3044, shortly thereafter the planet’s colony had successfully established itself becoming mostly sustainable due to outside help and the establishment of a provisional government that quickly expanded into what was the Parliamentary Hegemony. By 3100 a second planet would be colonized called Ajax, it would be classified as a garden world filled with a myriad of different environments from mountains and plains to swamps and deserts. They also were blessed with not one but three major bodies of water in addition to the polar ice caps. For many years the planets would know relative peace and prosperity, however, they would slowly but surely forget their Antalean heritage, later adopting a long forgotten one based on nearly lost histories. The peace would end in the year 3749.

The National Schism

Elections for Thessalia began in mid-January under volatile conditions with corruption, violence and high unemployment gripping the planet. Unemployment had reached a record high 25% with crime steadily climbing upwards due to a severe economic downturn that threatened to spread over to Ajax. The ruling government had been in control for 15 years in three consecutive terms leading many to believe that the Parliamentary Hegemony had been supplanted by an elaborately hidden dictatorship. This was due to whispers of anonymous pundits who dared to point out that both the Justice and Peace Party and Neo Megali Idea Party, the coalition partners of the Nationalist Party, were just fronts for those in power. Puppet parties designed to make the system look more diverse than what it really was. The public at large consumed by 24 hour news cycles, electoral propaganda and their own personal and financial obligations were largely apathetic to the decaying state of affairs while any show of peaceful protest would run aground in the face of an increasingly militarized local police force with any sort of suppression through intimidation largely going unreported due to self-censorship by jaded media outlets.

It wouldn’t be until after the election that the populace would slowly start to stir into action. With a historically stunning 77% of the vote going towards the ruling coalition several within the political class ranging from communists to Republican elements unified with the message: enough was enough. The Hellenic Liberation Party along with their Neo Republic compatriots took point on the matter railing against the fraud that was the election going so far as to say that the last 15 years it had been nothing but repression instead of freedom, the truth of the matter was it was all a carefully crafted lie designed to lure the public into complacency. Going beyond words of condemnation several politicians from various parties both big and small personally took over protest efforts to organize massive rallies in all the major cities, they were set to take place the following month. The ruling government scoffed at this declaring that it was merely the opposition going against the voice of the people privately belittling the planned protests in that they would fizzle out like all others. What they did not anticipate was the gross amounts of funds many of the opposition parties would use along with personal contributions to awaken the public in the hubris that laid before them.

Come February all the major cities including the capital Olympus were at a near standstill as people from all walks of life took to the streets chanting for “An End to the Tyranny”. At first the police forces and state security units merely stood by and watched as the crowd’s numbers swelled awaiting orders. The ruling government, confident in its mass deployment of police did not hesitate to give the order to fire over the heads of protestors to once again send them running. However, when the shots were fired even though there was a great panic among the crowd, the protestors at large held their ground, many of them tired of seeing any sort of public grievance become mere clumsy target practice. Before the authorities could devise what to do next, the media started reporting governmental offices in neighboring Aigina and Aléria becoming completely overrun with several police units refusing to fire on the protestors and even turning their guns on state security teams, resulting in several dramatic skirmishes.

The increased participation of the otherwise indifferent media had a galvanizing effect on the protestors coupled while the increasingly nervous stance of the police sent out to halt and disperse them culminated in several instances where police opened fire on the crowds only to be set upon by either their own rank and file or by the very civilians they were firing into. The planet had reached the point of no return, The National Schism has begun. Hegemony Minister Niketas Venizelos declared martial law while the parliament rubber stamped the measure allowing for the deployment of the military seeing as the loyalty of the police forces had been compromised. Some opposition leaders within parliament quickly called for calm and diplomacy only to be shouted down while the King signed a decree ordering the Justice Ministry to issue arrest warrants for several prominent politicians. For many in the opposition, there was but one option left. In a joint statement by the Hellenic Liberation Party, the Neo Republic Party, The Adelfóti̱ta and even the Hellenic Communist Party, grouped together by reporters as “The Grand Opposition”, it was declared that the system was no longer working for the people and that in order to save the nation not only were new and free elections needed but that profound reform was required in order to cure society of the malignant tumor that was slowly but surely killing them. Before the King could have the opposition leaders arrested the joint statement had been cleverly timed with a storming of parliament by irate protesters which allowed the leaders to escape in the confusion with the help of sympathetic security guards and law enforcement personnel.

By then many within the cities were rousing others into forming up personal militias, joined by friendly forces of local police who proceeded to arm and train the brave men and women in the coming conflict. Niketas had ordered the deployment of military units to march into the cities to reinforce besieged royalist forces and to viciously put down any dissent. Many believed that Venizelos should have focused the brunt of his military might in subduing each city in quick succession but instead of using overwhelming force he opted to disperse and spread his forces to reign in all major cities at once while holding back crucial aerial fleets and armored divisions preferring to use light vehicles and Armored Personnel Carriers. This only succeeded in both prolonging the conflict and giving the rebellious populace several pyrrhic victories for which to bolster morale, especially in the cities of Corinth and Neo Athens. He did however deploy communication jammers to make any sort of information exchange over the holo nets and beyond extremely difficult while effectively choking the cities off from one another. Ajax was completely unaware of the events to take place due to the space fleets enacting their own blockades on both planets instituting a communications blackout between worlds.

Meanwhile while all the liberal leaning factions coalesced into an organized resistance force, one party in particular resisted all attempts at joining the fray. The Liberty Party warned that if the opposition resisted The Hegemony Minister as they did the military would crack down and inevitably remove what opposition remained paving the way for an absolute dictatorship. While they advocated time and patience the rest countered that now was the time given how every major city was embroiled in the conflict as individual battles in a large war. The Liberty Party would not budge citing that this was not a legitimate move to oppose the King in open warfare comparing it to a disorganized duelist bringing a knife to a gun fight. Rumor had it that the Liberty Party was also aghast at how willingly their associates allied themselves with radical elements such as the Communists and Socialists knowing full well their own aims. For the duration of the conflict the Liberty Party would quietly watch and in some rare cases even collaborate with the government in asking their constituents to not give quarter to rebel elements for they would not be spared any mercy.

Politicians take to the floor​

Initially commanders on the ground with little to no intel surmised that control of the cities could be regained in 2 weeks with total pacification achieved by end of the month. Indeed they seemed to be correct as in the case in all but one city vanguard forces were able to penetrate deep into enemy territory with little to no resistance. Forces sent to Corinth would be met with small arms fire immediately upon reaching the outskirts of the city. By late April all 5 major cities including the capital were very much contested with rumors of government forces being slowly but surely pushed back as seemingly easy gains were nothing but traps as abandoned streets came to life in a hail of Molotov cocktails, homemade explosives and projectiles emanating from militia weaponry.

At this point the King was content with deploying the sizeable numbers of troops to retake control of the cities but even so he kept them dispersed and divided with little to no air support and artillery used sparingly. His overconfidence bred rumors within his own inner circle of incompetence, even madness considering the depths in which the conflict had gone. In truth he was concerned that any overt use of force would not only further alienate his government publically but he wanted to retake the cities intact knowing full well that it would be his government doing the rebuilding. By mid-May the Royalist forces would receive their first major victory as the last pockets of resistance were crushed at the capital. Many of the surrendering forces were quickly rounded up and covertly executed.

In June cracks within “The Grand Opposition” were starting to show particularly in Sicyon where the Red Faction members of the Communist and Socialist Party drew most of their political support. They began to advocate a culling of their forces to raise the will of others to fight through fear of execution. Other members of the opposition reasoned that this would only hurt morale while making them no better than the enemy. The disunity would lead to several battles within allied held areas as Red Faction Forces became increasingly independent from the rest of the resistance. Royalist agents embedded deep within enemy formations caught wind of this and by the end of the month a series of devastating victories resulting in the deaths of several prominent T.G.O Commanders would leave the vast majority of the units in disarray with only the Red Faction troops offering any sort of token resistance.

Royalist forces advancing in Sicyon, the only force allotted precious few armored tanks​

At this point the opposition leadership looked for any sort of support from within attempting to gain favor from other major parties that had either been neutral in the conflict or showed signs of sympathy for their cause. Unfortunately, due to the King’s tight grip with the encirclement of all cities any sort of communication was spotty at best. The Democratic Reformist Party was too timid to offer any sort of aid while the Centrists thought that any window of opportunity was closed especially with the Royalist victory at the capital and everyone knew that the Prosperity Party was already bought out with promises of further economic development once the fighting ended.

Slowly but surely “The Grand Opposition” gave ground as communication, supplies and morale began to plummet within the cities. Starvation was commonplace as the people struggled to survive, turning to cannibalizing the fallen, be it friend or foe, just to live to see another day.

In early August when rebel morale was at its lowest in nearly all cities with victory seemingly assured the King ordered a massive attack on the city most likely to fall: Corinth. He had banked that if the city fell others would follow demanding that any sort of retreat would be deemed punishable by death. However, his intelligence operatives were carefully deceived as a last ditch effort to wrestle control of the city once and for all. The opposition forces in Corinth had for weeks began an internal campaign weeding turncoats while handing out false information to lure the royalist forces into a false sense of security. Through torture, bribery and blind luck they learned the precise hour of the attack, dubbed Operation: Supremacy. The commanders on the ground launched the attack ordering the columns of men to strike all across the city citing poor enemy morale and low supplies, what they got was a near bloodbath as units suffered nearly 50% casualty rates. Opposition forces had been quietly hoarding whatever government issued military grade weapons they could get their hands on, amassing an emergency stockpile dating from the start of the conflict onwards. This coupled with captured vehicles further bolstered their defense and eventual counter-attack. Throughout the city Royalist lines buckled resulting in complete routes with large swaths of territory lost and in some cases encircled forces though would be eliminated down to the last man due to the King’s directive. By dawn of the next day the unthinkable happened, Corinth was devoid of any remaining Royalist forces. Operation: Supremacy was an absolute failure. The repercussions would ultimately prove severe for both sides.

For the people of Corinth, they were left with entire neighborhood blocks and high rises in smoldering ruins as bodies littered the streets. The putrid stench of death present with every breath. There would be no cause for celebration as casualties were high in the victory. The shell-shocked survivors were left to wonder how it all came to this. News of the events in Corinth leaked out providing a much needed morale boost. Even in Sicyon where much of the opposition was scattered to the wind, renewed fighting flared up as guerilla forces struck at Royalist weak points to disrupt their organization. The defeat had left the military stunned with many officials demanding the government take responsibility and put an end to the bureaucratic meddling of the war effort. TheVeniezelos’ image within the inner circle was also decayed with calls for peace. Hegemony Minister Niketas Venizelos would have none of it. Like a man possessed he ordered any and all dissidents within the inner circle and military be summarily executed to be replaced with more ambitious, hardline members while promising to end the conflict once and for all.

Ordering all Royalist forces with the exception of those in Sicyon back towards the city limits, he stared at the video feeds of Corinth. It was here that he had suffered his most embarrassing defeat, it was here where the war would end. The forces in Corinth were still recovering from their unlikely victory began to contemplate limited support operations in neighboring cities to reenact their miraculous results. However, they would hear the ominous distant buzzing of engines as the aerial fleet forces began Operation: Spitfire, a continuous bombardment of the entire city to go on indefinitely. The Hegemony Minister also ordered the duration of the operation to be shown to the other cities via a live images. Whatever anti-air emplacements the city had prior to the war were non-existent as the bombers faced zero opposition. Gunships were flown to strafe any fleeing forces within the city as the assault went unabated for a full 72 hours. By that time the video feeds showed a city in flames as terrified onlookers wondered if they would be next.

Devastation in Corinth​

The ultimatum was brief: Surrender to incoming Royalist forces or suffer the same fate. Amassed formations outside the cities now included heavy armor divisions with artillery pieces on stand-by. Once the Royalist forces closed in and entered the cities, resistance crumbled almost outright. By September the Civil War was declared over with the cities mostly pacified. A military cordon ringed all around the ruined city to prevent anyone from going in or out. Much of the opposition leadership had been captured and taken to Corinth to be hung from whatever buildings remained as a monument and message to those who tried to defy the now self-appointed King. The Civil War would last only 8 months but it would see some of the most devastating warfare in the history of the planet.

Armored units outside the cities
​

Life after a fashion would slowly return to normal. The ruling government made good on its promises for further economic development winning praise from all economic and financial sectors with unemployment dipping under 12% a year after the conflict. But they didn’t stop there, change was indeed needed as the old Parliamentary Hegemony of the Antalean Refuge would be swept away to be rechristened The Hellenic Kingdom of Lamia. For the forces of change, the defeat was a bitter pill to swallow. With most of the vocal resistance killed or sitting in jail, few would dare take up the mantle. However, liberal and moderate elements still remained within parliament who have found the government’s conduct during the war to be a gross miscarriage of governance and have privately declared that the war may be over but the struggle continued.

Major Parties

Spoiler

Nationalist Party: The Justice and Peace Party and the Neo Megali Idea Party were absorbed into the Nationalists long ago, though in reality given Victor Venizelos’ modest reforms the dummy parties were eliminated. The NP for the most part no longer favors a jingoistic stance with regards to foreign policy, but does reserve the right to intervene with those it is allied with or does trade. A champion of the military-industrial complex as well as Hellenic nationalism, it brands itself as the party of order, security and prosperity they favor the militarization of the police force, capitalism (Not so much state capitalism these days) and the idea of monarchies. The nationalists are no longer xenophobic allowing any and all humans passage into its territory so long as they have the proper documentation with similar, though more limited, rights afford to “non-humans”. This chance is arguably King Victor’s greatest achievement.

Democratic Reform Party: Known as liberals and progressives, they wish to continue to reform the system from within favoring a monarchy though in a much more limited scope than it is currently envisioned. However, privately the rank and file argue over whether to continue to support the Venizelos Dynasty despite the advances, as limited as they are, in the Kingdom. Though a minority a faction within the party favor a completely different family heritage. When it comes to economics they favor interventionist policies and a curtailing of defense spending.


Centrist Coalition: Collapsed due to waning support in the last decade or so.

Prosperity Party: Removed with assurances to the industrial, financial and commercial interests.

Liberty Party: The only legal Republican party, they advocate a government for the people and by the people as well as increased civil liberties and combating corruption.


Banned Parties:

Hellenic Liberation Party: One of the chief opponents against the ruling government, the HLP favored the abolition of the dictatorship in disguise to usher in a grand vision in the form of a Republic complete with a new constitution. As one of the defeated most of the leadership was either dead, jailed or driven underground. Now known as the Hellenic Liberation Front. Due to their defeat in the National Schism the rechristened HLF have resorted to extreme measures to continue the fight in the form of terrorism which has prompted an even wider government crackdown. The limited reforms orchestrated by King Victor Venizelos has sapped considerable strength with many defecting to the Liberty Party but the HLP still believes in victory outside the system rather than within no matter the cost.


Hellenic Communist Party: The HCP favor a change of government but not of a limited monarchy nor a progressive republic but rather a proletariat paradise where all forms of capitalism are removed with the government ruling over all facets of society and the economy. A fringe party that piggybacks off of the Syndicalist movement.


The Adelfóti̱ta: Known as either both the Fellowship and Brotherhood this party seeks a pacifistic way of governance with emphasis on a greatly reduced military, supplanted by local militia. They also favor a greatly decentralized government. They fell out of favor shortly after the Great War.


Neo Republic Party: Just like their Republican compatriots they favor a Republican-style government with as little government interference and regulation as possible with the well-known reputation of having the most relaxed restrictions on both trade and immigration. They too have seen their strength and relevance deteriorate though not to the lengths of their extremist cousins. The leaders have been rumored to be debating joining the Liberty Party to bolster, however small, their political strength.

Syndicalist Party of Lamia: There’s monarchists, there’s republicans and then there’s the Syndicalists, arguably the third strongest ahead of the wayward Communists and near nonexistent Meritocracy advocates.

Brief History During and after the war

Spoiler

As the Lamians afforded what help they could to their Francian and Albion allies, little did the galaxy at large know that jingoistic regime was caught up in its own chaos. The head of the Ministry of His Majesty’s Army and S.P.A.R.T.A.N. Special Forces leader General Gideon Lente sensed weakness in the ruling government due to its repressive nature. Seeing his chance to turn his ambitions to reality, Lente launched what amounted to a coup d’état bringing the entire neighboring planet of Azabria under his control. Unfortunately, weakened as Niketas Venizelos was his failure in the Zelsar Union Civil War, the King commanded the loyalty of the bulk of the military. Whether by love or fear it mattered not. A communications blackout was enacted with 24 hour coverage of the raging Great War instilling into the populace that the government was their shield against the chaos and the devastation. Coupled with an effective blockade of Gideon’s planet of influence, it wouldn’t be until weeks later that the public would learn of these events. Completely cut off from the other planets and his Diclonian contacts, the loyal and fanatical S.P.A.R.T.A.N forces were under siege. Despite being outgunned and outnumbered, the siege lasted 6 weeks costing the loyalist forces dearly. General Lente did have S.P.A.R.T.A.N support and did have the topographical advantage but his resources and time were limited. His miscalculation would lead to his eventual defeat. The S.P.A.R.T.A.N forces were decimated and as a result, disbanded. The planet was finally seized to its rightful owners thanks to the only remaining special forces unit left, the Royal Rangers: The unit directly under the King’s command. His honor guard. His iron fist.

The victory was in many ways, hallow. The rebellion could not be kept secret forever and when it was finally leaked, it amounted to a full-blown scandal. A scandal the government would be unable to shake for years to come leading to a surprising historic election in 3759. The unthinkable happened: While the king’s own Nationalist Party as expected retained the top spot it only held a plurality. Shaken by the military uprising and unwilling to unilaterally venture ahead knowing the possibilities of a Second National Schism, His Majesty Niketas Venizelos ordered the Nationalists to work with the now known Democratic Reform Party. A shocking coalition government was formed with Niketas becoming ever more reclusive as a result. Some say the revolt and political upset took a heavy toll on him. 3 years later Niketas passed away though many suspected he was assassinated by Republican sympathizers or even military cabals who were formally aligned with the late General Gideon Lente.

Massive State Funeral with military honors
​

His eldest succeeded the throne and became the second king of the nation’s history and immediately made his presence known. He announced the dissolution of several parties stating they were a farce to the democratic process and curtailed several draconian measures such as the absolute surveillance of any person limited to only those of government interest such as known terrorist cells or criminal elements. While some civil liberties were brought back in limited capacity, newspapers could now be formed albeit they were still subject to a government-appointed censor to eliminate revolutionary or what they called “extremist” views. Even unions were allowed, though they too were subject to stringent regulations of the state.

The largest piece of legislation passed would occur in 3770, with help from the DRP (who remained the polity’s second largest party) immigration and political reform was achieved. The Kingdom’s territory was now open to not only humans (even those from Baekdu and Zelsar) but to non-humans as well so long as they had proper documentation. The process was relatively swift, though comprehensive, for humans (Taking anywhere between 3-7 months), but much more rigorous for aliens (1-3 years). The other portion of the legislation was political representation, specifically giving a voice to the colonies. Given the little room left for expansion without war, Lamia aggressively focused on the Novus Galaxy to stretch its influence across the frontier. However, Victor knew better than to try to rule these areas as an autocrat and given the need to strengthen his hand locally, he gave the various companies who co-sponsored the joint colonial venture semi-autonomy. In exchange for shouldering their own costs and resource shipments, a degree of leeway was given with the space stations in high orbit the most pronounced hint of government authority, a subtle reminder of compliance given the fleet’s presence. This legislative act proportioned seats to each of the colonies, heading off any potential dissent or worse, open-rebellion.

​

Foreign Policy:

Given its large, well trained military force the Kingdom has continued its focus on its neighbors while protecting its monarchy-aligned allies such as the Terran Empire with basic foodstuffs and outdated military equipment, and its colonies. While adamantly independent the Kingdom of Lamia has engaged in trade with the Dominion and even maintained warm relations with them in the face of the meritocracy, whom they also have respectable ties though it is an awkward relationship. The Pan-Galactic Community has been a fiery topic the last decade on whether or not to join it. The aged king Victor Venizelos has given no official position on it with varying opinions from his three heirs.

 

[alexander23]

Hello dont forget about me on nation list í salí return next week.

 

[BlackCrown]

(Reserved for the Terran Free State)

 

[Mikkel Glahder]

​

Królestwo Burza
The Storm Kingdom
​

Slot: Replacement for Geralia [Turan/Resedaria/Itsonkuez]
Capital planet: Śląskow
Capital City: Miasto Burzy (City of the Storm)
Government: Enlightened Absolute Monarchy

Leader: Królowa Deszczu Zofia I Domu Leszczyński (Storm Queen Zofia I of the House Leszczyński)

Culture:
The culture of the Storm Kingdom is deeply rooted in, and influenced by the tradition of their ancestors who often fought a brutal guerilla war against an ancient tyrannical conqueror who had subdued the independent states of their home planet: Śląskow. The many states, who had fought brutal war against each other in the past, decided to bond together against their Occupiers. Thusly, the people in the Storm Kingdom are harsh, proud with a deep feeling of independence and freedom. While it may seem ironic to be under the dominion of the Storm King, they throughly believe that their monarch protects their independence and freedom.

Religion:
The people of Śląskow follows a God called Trzydra, which is depicted as an eagle in flight, holding a sigil of the All-Seeing in its talons. Trzydra is believed to be a just, honest, and devious God, who will not shy away from scheming against outright evil, and chaotic persons.

The All-Seeing is a mythical object that allows its wielder to see whatever happens in the universe. The stories tell of ambitious men obtaining it, but going mad due to the massive influx of knowledge.

History:
The planet of Śląskow was first settled some 40000 years ago, and the colonizers knew that the ice planet could not support life, and thusly they constructed huge fortress-cities that is the only place where human life can prosper. These gigantic structures are revered by the commonfolk, and while most do not understand them, each city has a chief architect with a team of architects that have learned the craft of building, repairing, and expanding the cities. The capital city has, for exampe, been expanded several times.

While the people of Śląskow fought for hundreds (some even say thousands) of years against the occupiers, they first achieved independence when their occupier collapses. With it, the alliance between the different factions collapsed as well. Many petty kingdoms arose on the Southern Hemisphere of Śląskow, the strongest being the Storm Kingdom, or Kingdom of the Storm. The mythical Władysław I Domu Leszcyński subdued these petty kingdoms by creating alliances via marriages, and divide and conquer. He also heavily infiltrated his allies and enemies alike, and used secrets to preassure and blackmail his enemies and allies into submission. After he had united the petty kingdoms, he set his eyes upon the several republics and other various states. While the first few invasions of their lands went swell, the factions who had fought inbetween, formed a united bloc against the Storm King who was eventually captured and shot on the spot. His son, Stanisław Domu Leszcyński, demanded what he called "justice" and sent in another invasion army. While the Storm King was seriously outnumbered, he ordered the construction of several enormous fortifications which in reality were deathtraps for the opposing armies. When they broke through the many layers of defence, they encountered a killing zone which decimated the armies of the United Bloc, and after fifteen years of fighting, the planet was united under the Storm King, who quickly proclaimed himself and his dynasty to be blessed by the Trzydra, and thusly having the right to rule absolute.

While the King was ruling absolute, and by the Grace of the Trzydra, he established an advisory body called the Sejm that adviced the Storm King on important matters of state.
Little is known of the Storm Kingdom throughout the years, and it was neutral during the Great War, only in the present day ending their isolation with an alliance with Lamia. The Kingdom is however, shrouded in the shadows, and few know of their existence.

Factions:
There are several factions within the Storm Kingdom, and while some are more influential than others, their power is based on its members grace with the King. The more the King likes the members of the faction, the likelyhood of them having influence increases.

Liberałowieska: The liberals in the court of the Storm King/Queen. They want to loosen up on the laws concerning "land" ownership, and want to change many of the draconian laws that exists, and the most radical wishes to give more power to the nobles.

Purytanie: The archconservatives in the court are known as puritans, and wishes the current status quo to be upheld.

Oświecony Absoluto: Sometimes called the Social Conservatives, they are the ones with most influence within the court, and the Storm Kings have for many years followed their wise counsel, and reigned as enlightened monarchs, with a respect for the people of their kingdom.

Prominent members of the Royal Family:

The Sigil of the house of Leszczyński​

Zofia I Domu Leszczyński, Królowa Burzy, Grzmot i Deszczu, Obrońcy Sprawiedliwych, Królowa Śląsków, Protektor Wolności, Księżniczka Miasta Burzy, Księżniczka Wybrzeża Błyskawicy i Hrabina Sieradz​

The young Storm Queen Zofia became queen at the age of 8, when her father died of complications following an injury. An injury inflicted by the commander of the Royal Guard, even though that fact is not known by the public.

She is said to be extremely beautiful, and is aged 14. Even though she has been content with her uncle ruling her kingdom, she has gotten more powers, as her uncle believes that it is important that she learns how to rule, and gets experience with it.

Her full title is: Zofia the First of House Leszcyński, Queen of Storm, Thunder, and Rain,
Defenders of the Righteous, Queen of Śląsków, Protector of Freedom, Princess of the City of the Storm, Princess of the Lightning Coas, and Countess of Sieradz

Michał Domu Leszczyński, Książę burza i Władca-Ochraniacz​

Seen as the most capaple person by the Sejm, the Storm Queen's 57 year old uncle was elected as Lord-Protector of the Storm Kingdom. Ever since his elder brother suffered a terrible injury and died due to complications soon after, Michał has ruled for his niece with an efficient, and steady hand, even if he is known to be excessively brutal to his enemies. He also outmaneuvered Zofia's mother, and sent her to the other side of the planet in a kind of exile, not being allowed to see her daughter.

He is also known to be quite overprotective of his young niece. He first truly became known after he expelled the Skaven raiders with such ferocity that it is rumoured he scared the soldiers under his command.

The Calendar: The Storm Kingdom uses its own official calendar which is called Kalendarz Pioruna i Burzy, the Calendar of Lightning and Storm. It counts the years after the Storm Kings first subdued the planet. The current year is 2600.

Military:
The military of the Storm Kingdom is also deeply rooted in guerilla and shadow war against the Tyrant, and the wars of unificaiton. Thusly they are experts in infiltration, and using schemes to win their wars. Their navy isn't trained in frontal assaults, but rather stealthy attacks and using surprise to their advantage.
The Storm Kingdom are also experts in building fortifications, and siege warfare, with little remorse for casulties, or the lives of civilians.
To protect the armed forces from the rough and unforgiven land of their home planet, they are outfitted with suit of power armour that protects them from the harsh conditions, and enhances their fighting abilities.

Greater Coat of Arms of the House Leszczyński

IC Library:
A Most Royal Meeting​

 

[Plank of Wood]

The Celtic Republic


Posts:

Republican League Protests An. 45​

Elections:
-

Culture, History, and Lore:
-​

 

[iisbroke]

Knights of Progress

Left: Dragos Chapter Sigil Right: Knights of Progress Sigil​

Polity Name: Knights of Progress (K.O.P.) -- Dragos/Atlantis Chapter
Leader: Knight-Commander Murad Aljanov

Spoiler: Government

Organization/ Colonial State

Atlantite government is modeled after the K.O.P. Solesian system from when they owned their own state. Within the system there is a large amount of autonomy in terms of forming businesses, class mobility, and general opportunities. The catch is that every one functions on martial law and the Knights can be very brutal in putting down any insurrection. Due to their obsession with progress, a lot of revenue from the Knights is spent to send people trade schools or obtain associate degrees under them. This system might prove to be too taxing on the colony, which is still struggling with its infrastructure for public schools. Work hours are also long under K.O.P. rule. The law only prevents people from working more than 10 hours a day and only 6 days of the week. More vacation time is required but in still totals to more work than the average other polity.

To appease the Baekdu Repulic, Knight-Commander Murad Aljanov has allowed his Knight-Lieutenants to function as an unofficial elective group, and for the civilians of Atlantis to form a legal body. While the Knight-Commander retains power to do what he pleases with laws he allows the Atlantite Commons House to come up with laws and referendums to petition the commader. There is still some chaffing from this deal as the Grandmaster wants absolute control and Baekdu more civilian legal say in the colony, still. . . Murad has yet to have a crises from balancing the two. There are parties within the Commons House but it is the K.O.P. parties that concern the Knight-Commander as more and more Vavasours and Vassals attempt to spread influence on Atlantis. The colonial population is comprised of humans: 55% Ablion, 21% Celtic, 13% Baekdu, 11% Other.

During Game
In GSC 3794 the Atlantite Commons House appealed the Kngiht-Commander and his Knight-Lieutenants on a codification of laws to ensure the Atlantite civilians had some say in the state. With pressure from the Grandmaster as his Lieutenants, Knight-Commander Murad Aljanov denied the charter and requested a new one be drafted. The draft was motioned the following year, but no consensus on when to start was made until GSC 3796.

Spoiler: Atlantis

Atlantis' surface is comprised of 77% water and 23% land. Its name was derivation is unknown but there are theories: from the initial landing crew approaching the planet from a side with the most water; from the capital Aria being formed as a semifloating city made from the Aria ship and the other colony ships; the inhabitants wanting to evoke the name of the great ancient realm; the knights being a generally technologically advanced force yet lacking in manpower like the namesake. It is unclear what caused the name yet it stuck. The Aria [an advanced colony ship that the Celtic Chapter, which would found the colony, was a prototype colony ship. It landed with a horde of mismatched other ships and tethered together to one another and next to sandbars and rocky outcroppings to create a colony. The planet itself has a diameter of 11,513.21 Kilometers. It has a ring around it and two moons (creating a season of dramatic tides). It is second planet from the local star, orbiting it every 412 days.

As is common with colonies of the new world, most of the Atlantis planet is unexplored. Preliminary scans did show there were no sentient lifeforms, at least no temporary or permanent settlements to show civilization. The land has a wide ecosystem and climate range and thus the biodiversity doesn't fear the colonists yet. Many squires and knights of the K.O.P. have taken up the task of hunting down dangerous beasts to earn prestige within the chapter. Hunting is actually a common reason for what little tourism there is on the planet. Atlantis also has a powerful mining industry based in one of its few cities [Verm] using a special red gemstone known as verilium and liquid minerals found in the early days of colonization. The large amount of new plants and animals have allowed for the Knights to let less reputable industries such as Weyland-Yutani Corp to set up research bases, under supervision of course.

Due to its waning power in the old world, the K.O.P. has begun heavily investing in Atlantis. Grandmaster Orkna wants Knight-Commander Murad to turn Atlantis into a shining example of what all colonies should be, but more importantly use it to make a strong revenue, population, production, and military base for the K.O.P. Being completely surrounded by Baekdu colonies and the Skaven Khanates, there isn't much else the Atlanties can do. There still isn't a large amount of K.O.P. members on the planet; however, its control over the colony is absolute. The dangers of the new world and the fact the Knights own it, have created a situation of martial law being declared. Many new migrants are vetted, inoculated for the native diseases, and given options of were to be transported to. Creating a new town requires an appeal to the K.O.P. a charter to be gifted, and for someone (usually the military) to clear out the area for any dangerous fauna and foliage.

Spoiler: History

General order History:
Originally founded in the year GSC 2345 the Knights of Progress were a fraternity centered around charity works. A group of influential businessmen, politicians, and wealthy good Samaritans. They first started by founding and funding charities to expand on medical research, as situations at home worsened they lead relief efforts for disasters, and eventually ended up owning their own little peace corpse. The issue was once that peace corpse went into more hostile areas they needed protection, so a pattern of their employees getting ransomed sprang up, and would have bankrupted the fraternity if not for multiple government subsidies.

A few of their people managed to escape and ward off the hostile factions in these third world countries through violence of their own. Openly these actions were at first chastised, but secretly the leaders of the fraternity started teaching their relief effort groups how to fend off terrorists. Needless to say it was successful, the Knights of Progress' relief missions became world renown, and infamous, for being able to hold off terrorist and guerilla attacks. Didn't take long after that until these missions involved members taking the fight to particularly threatening groups. Some people disliked how a peace corpse was engaging in war, but the people they went to help were made safer and that's what really counts isn't it? Eventually a new branch of the Knights was made designed to fight insurgents, built up of veterans from the many wars being waged across the globe. To fund this the knights had to expand their domestic financiers, despite having their own corporations and wealth. Militaries are expensive and so they offered to use the bulk of their combined corporations' research and development sectors for military research. They then sold it to the highest paying government. This though was not enough to keep the people in these areas safe, so that left the knights with one option, put them under permanent protection. The Knights of

Progress with their own forces, advanced technology, mercenaries, and favors from nearby nations, invaded a small collection of third world countries that had always been a problem area. The conquest was swift, and the public executions of the leaders of all defeated parties who would not submit quick. Now the Knights were free to fix the problems these people had without hindrance, and gain tax to help fund their new army. People learned very quickly not to revolt against their new 'saviors' because those who get in the way of progress must be eliminated.
Lore from last game

Celtic Union Chapter History:
Knight-Commander Dragos Alexandru Cosma had been sent with the Aria chapter ship to the Celtic Union to expand the organization's influence. When a civil war broke out the Knight of Progress played both sides, accepting payment from foreign nations to prolong the war or help one side, they even started taking over criminal organizations to control rather than stop crime. Their antics of course made them terrorists to the Celtic Union, which would force the K.O.P. to leave the sector upon the war's end.

Colonization of Atlantis:
Following the aftermath of the Celtic war the K.O.P. chapter that had fanned the flames was forced to go on the run. With the supposed help of Albion and other Polities, the Celtic chapter lead by Knight-Commander Dragos Alexandru Cosma gathered refugees from the war and also Albions who had been starving, and did a mad jump into the new Galaxy. After drifting in space they found a suitable planet and began the slow process of colonizing it. In truth, most of the planet is unexplored. Yes there are satellite images of the whole surface, but nothing is explored until a person goes there and charts the area up close.

The name of the planet has changed several times in the last few decades. First it was called Atlantis due to its high amounts of surface water. People also refered to the planet as Aria due to the chapter ship that formed the colony. With the passing of the previous Knight-Commander the chapter of the K.O.P. running the area became known as Dragos, the planet Atlantis, and the capital Aria. Dragos' death also called into question who would run the system. In return for reinstatement within to the K.O.P. [as Dragos' rash actions had the chapter denounced] they would accept a new Knight-Commander.

Murad Alijanov had served in both the Baekdu and Francia chapters. He was raised from Knight-Lieutenant due to his work in establishing the Francia chapter to provide armed escort for individual trading vessels in return for their item lists, giving the K.O.P. numerous amounts of information on trade vessels. To appease the Baekdu colonial neighbors he allows his Knight-Sergeants and Lieutenants to have more say in his decisions than most chapters.

In GSC3 3795, a great council of the K.O.P. was ordered to occur, in 3797, by Grandmaster Orkna Cranoch.

Spoiler: K.O.P. Parties

New Domingo. K.O.P. Captial​

Due to the immense amount of freedom the K.O.P. allows for its separate chapters there are a number of internal political factions. This is to be expected because the order acts with the independence of its own nation as well. The parties are as follows: Traditionalists, Expansionists, Reactionists, Criminalists, Regals, Egalitarians. Each of these factions have sub factions as well, depending on the chapter. The below text will briefly discuss them.

Traditionalists follow a format based off of the order's forefathers. They desire for the their power to be spread chiefly through the use of corporations as funding, mercenary armies as military, and charities as public reputation increasers. They have a few sub factions one could say, but these are just people who say favor one of the three options over the others. Capitalists want to make more powerful corporations, Socialists prefer charities, and Warmongers mercenary work. This overarching party is strongest within their home space sector where these methods originated.

Expansionists to put it simply desire widespread conquests in all fields. They feel that the K.O.P. should conquer states and even whole planets by filling all its societal niches. For instance taking over all corporations on the planet or creating one powerful enough to monopolize industries. Actually annexing terrorist groups and redirecting them to clients of their mercenary work as a means to increase planetary desire for K.O.P. protection. Charities providing relief effort help to people in need to make them seem heroic. As you notice this follows along the traditionalist model yet it is modified to where the Knights don't own a small centralized few, but everything. There are two separate sub-parties. Shadowers who want run the majority of everything indirectly, and Fisters who would rather assert full iron fisted authoritarian rule over the populace. These parties have often been associated with two sectors, first are the Shadowers under the Chief Whisperer himself in the Zelsar sector. Finally the Fisters in the Xan'Thi sector.

Reactionists actually want to revert back to former methods. They would rather that the order be strictly a nexus of non-profit organizations and corporations offering economical stimulus through work projects in down trodden areas. This is a small yet extremely unified party which has its strongest foot hold in the Baekdu sector.

Criminalists wish for nothing more than to utilize the order's immense resources to completely dominate the criminal underworld. It would be easy with their advanced weaponry, training, and even many chapters indirectly controlling criminal syndicates. What differs here are reasons why. Syndicates wish to completely criminalize becoming the soul criminal empire in the galaxy. Vigilants desire to reform the underworld to be more copasetic with society. Lastly are the realists who want control over the underworld as a means to curb its damage to society. The greatest foothold for all these groups are in the Terran Sector.

Regals believe that class and status matter. They feel that knights should be nobility like in the historic past, even the founding members of the K.O.P. were a sort of nobility. Then again this groups sub-parties stop agreeing after that. Vassals are a group that believes the order should become completely subservient to that particular sector's ruler, so political machinations don't cloud their mission of progress. Crown Heads which to own their own titles independently of that sector's rulers, but not necessarily be at odds with them. Chanters desire to bring their religious views into the fold and support clerical works. Vassals have the most support in the Albion chapter that defected due to its dominance just a few decades ago. Crown Heads reside mainly within the Azeratti sector amongst powerful noble house who wish to gain independence from their empire by joining the K.O.P. Chanters are strictly a Francia Sector phenomenon drawing off of the immense historical and cultural influence of knighthood and religion.

Egalitarians believe in equality to all in everything and their sub parties have a relationship in duality. Amenders wish to make everyone be treated equally by forcing strict laws onto the populace that will help encourage equality. Liberators would instead prefer that the types of laws the amenders propose be ignored, and instead have no laws enforce equality their reasoning being that "one cannot encourage equality under the law by making laws that treat people differently." Egalitarian parties are evenly distributed over the Solesia, Baekdu, Zelsar, and Terran sectors.

Spoiler: Hierarchy

Hierarchy​

Grandmaster: The grandmaster is the absolute ruler of the K.O.P. They promote Knight-Commanders, raise vavasours, and so on. However, the K.O.P. originally spawned from a coalition of businessmen and other well-to-do individuals. The vassals of the Grandmaster form a bevy where information is presented and voted on. The Grandmaster's has the final say, unless the bevy does a greater majority veto of the master's decision. The autonomy and long distances caused by the chapter's scatterings means that most Knight-Commanders are not present, so much so they are unofficially excluded from the bevy meetings. Vavasours hold the most power in the bevy by simply being the main advisors to the grandmaster. It is a general quagmire of a merging stock-holder interests and militant chain-of-command methods together.

The grandmaster themselves is elected by the vassals. Only another vassal may become the grandmaster, and a vote only occurs if the previous one abdicates or dies. There are cases where a grandmaster is declared dead but returns causing two grandmasters, this results in the vassals revolting between the two. Due to the prowess of the Solesian home base, a majority of Grandmasters have come from there and were businessmen vassals or diplomats. Very few grandmasters had served as knight-commanders, and only one was the vassal leader of a criminal-syndicate. Grandmasters are also often kept preoccupied with keeping the vassals and political parties in-line, often with an iron fist and force of will, while trying to ensure the K.O.P. goals are ensured.

Vavasours: Vassals owing allegiance to the Grandmaster but also having vassals of their own. They quite often act as a sort of high-council or federal-secretaries of the K.O.P. They are appointed by the Grandmaster.
High Marshal, Seneschal, Chapter Leaders, Chief Whisperer, Arch Analyst

Vassals: Members of power, wealth, or influence who serve directly under a vavasour.
Knight-Commanders, Corporate Leaders, Governors, Syndicate Heads

Knights: The military backbone and overall echelon of the K.O.P. Despite the autonomy of chapters all knights go through a near identical training process to ensure quality is maintained.

• 
  
  
  • Knight-Commander (K-8) Every chapter is lead by a knight-commander. Knight-commanders are chosen by the Grandmaster themselves to avoid inter chapter or vassal cronyism. Due to their owning of a chapter knight-commanders are vassals, but must also appease the orders of vavasours who manage the invisible empire of the K.O.P. in the name of the Grandmaster. Beyond the before, K-8s are often the sectorial faces of the K.O.P. and demand respect from their subordinates. They lead with a great deal of autonomy and are responsible for training, maintaining, and promoting their knights.
  • Knight-Lieutenant (K-7) Chapters need at least one Lieutenant for every battalion [300-500 troops]. They act as the most trusted men of the knight-commander, and thus are often promoted by them. Their degree of power is dependent on the ck-8 themselves, but k-7s typically act as high-ranking officers who assist in coordinating the chapter's efforts and denizens.
  • Knight-Sergeant (K-6) These knights are the common officer group of the K.O.P. forces. They work closest with all the other K-rankings below them and behave as intermediaries between the non commissioned officers (K-5s) and the higher ranking officers. K-6s act as company (80-150 troops) leaders as well.
  • Knights-Enforcer (K-5) When a knight has proven themselves to be skilled, loyal, and experienced they are promoted to K-5. Enforcers are placed in control of platoons (15-30 troops) to lead and manage. They are also made most responsible for training squires; successfully training squires is the surest way to rise to a K-6.
  • Knight-Striker (K-4) Squads (8-12 troops) are lead by K-4s. Their place in the hierarchy is to lead troops, ensure orders, and gain leadership experience to eventually be promoted.
  • Knight (K-3) Freshly knighted these are the bulk of the K.O.P. military force. Wearing advanced armors and weapons with their knight like designs they strike awe on what battlefields they are deployed. Due to the small numbers, knights are more trained in a manner befitting most special forces. They do have experience though as they are required to have served as squires, which makes up the other bulk of the K.O.P. military. Each knight is promoted by a Knight-Enforcer by receiving a spur insignia.
  • Squire (K-2) To be a squire is to serve as the equivalent of a private-corporal in any other military. They do most of the grunt work and are the greenest. Squires intermingle with Knights at barracks and in squad line ups. It is for practicality and for the squires to learn from other knights. After several years or "proving themselves" they are promoted to knight.
  • Page (K-1) Advanced interrogation resistance, survival training (specific environments like jungle or mountain depends on chapter deployment), melee combat, ranged combat, basic field medicine, and so on. These are what pages are placed under for nearly a year before being released out into the universe as K.O.P. squires.

Member: Anyone who has been initiated into the K.O.P. but does not retain the above statuses. These are businessmen, charity operators, medical personnel, et cetera. There is nothing particularly outlined amongst the member hierarchy. Their more civilian nature has them functioning more independently than the K rankings. Chiefs merely need to report to the Knight-Commander they are under and keep the lower members in check.

• 
  
  
  • Chief (M-5)
  • Veteran (M-4)
  • Adept (M-3)
  • Neophyte (M-2)
  • Initiate (M-1)

Satellites: Are people, corporations, or another entity owned either directly or indirectly by that sector's chapter. The Mara-Pacifier alliance from 40 years and Ranko Inc. of Solesia are examples of satellites. Satellites often have no knights or members in them except for the higher ranking positions.

[I hope to keep this semi up to date as the game progresses]
K.O.P. <-- Atlantis is still a K.O.P. colony even if it is a mostly autonomous chapter. While initially upset with the Celtic Chapter that formed the colony [because they didn't send word, not because of the mercenary and terrorist acts] Grandmaster Orkna Cranoch is pleased now. On the K.O.P. homeworld of Solesia they had been rapidly losing land, their corporations only remaining alive, thus the colony offers new hope for the organization. The Celtic chapter that went rogue to become the colonial chapter has been reinstated into the K.O.P. fold [15 years ago when Dragos died]. This has given the colony renewed vigor but caused a greater amount of foreign influence from the Grandmaster based in Solesia being able to give orders. Luckily, the K.O.P. gives chapters a great deal of autonomy.

Adrallan Oligarchy <-- General K.O.P. opinion on the Ligarchy was to keep them at arms length. The most interaction it had was a chapter being used as a trade post on the fringe of Adrallan space. The Solesian war did cause some issues as the K.O.P. headquarters were on that planet. The knights though did what they always did, encourage progress. With business no longer viable they played multiple sides in the conflict to encourage technological improvements, and partially get revenge on the Solesian Republic forcing the K.O.P. to relinquish most of its power on the planet. With Atlantis itself, the colony's explorers had found an ancient vessel in the Novus Galaxy and sold the schematics to the Adrallan Oligarchy and Albish for 700 billion credits each. Aedan777 approved.

Albion <-- When last game ended their relations were good. Albion was a common benefactor of the chapter and helped them to leave this galaxy for a new one. More importantly is how the vast majority of colonists are or descend from Albion; the state let a massive amount of its people go with the K.O.P. to ease their issues in a food crisis. Albion was also the first nation to recognize Atlantis as its own independent and legal body. To this day Albion and Atlantis maintain amiable relations with the colony generally seeing Albion as their one true friends. Of course there are some minorities in the Albion parliament calling for annexation they are still a minority. Gorganslayer approved

Baekdu Republic<-- Secretly, the Baekdu hired the K.O.P. Celtic Chapter to give assistance to Republican Revolutionaries. Openly they had no real stance on the K.O.P. except for the necessary trade between their colonies and allowed access through the wormhole. To appease the Baekdu colonial neighbors Atlantis' Knight-Commander has allowed his Knight-Lieutenants to have more say in his decisions than most chapters. Though, the Baekdu will probably want more Atlantite concessions for an increase in republican governance. Up to Oxfordroyale how their relations are now.

Celtic Union <-- Hate hate relation here. Back when the Celtic Republic was simply the Celtic Union, Ua hAillin denounced the K.O.P. The dislike was further earned when the K.O.P. did what it did best, prolonging war [Celtic Civil War] and taking power during the chaos to ensure their strange interpretation of "Progress." The K.O.P.'s antics gave them a well-earned label of terrorists by the Celtic government, especially with how the knights did one of their classic maneuvers taking the reigns of criminals to form a syndicate satellite. At the least, the Pacifier-Mara gang alliance the Celtic Chapter made was officially disbanded; however, most of the gangs reformed and created more violence since the K.O.P. leash had lifted. The Celtic government is still rather upset about the affair. Up to Plank of Wood if Celtic Republic view of K.O.P. have somehow changed.

Skaven <-- The Skaven are neighbors of Atlantis, specifically the Grey Khanate. The K.O.P. is concerned about another Grand Crusade occurring, but also want to expand and wish to take measures for both. Up to Scrapknight how the N.P.C. relations are.

Kingdom of Divine Light <- Envoys were sent to the Palace of Joy in hopes of creating trade relations. GSC 3947 Results returned showing that while trade of goods was not opened a trade of ideas and histories was, the Oracle deciding to take a cautious approach with the KOP. For now the Watchers use KOP servers for Holonet connections. Up to MadMartigan how the Watchers feel.

 

[Galren]

​

Name: Uksugu
Formal Name: The Uksugan Federation

Capital Planet: Uksugu
Capital City: Tephra

Spoiler: Overview

Overview

The Uksugan Federation is a democratic republic located on the northeastern part of the Harthus Galaxy. Uksugu was part of the race to colonize systes once the jumpgates were discovered and has a number few colonies in the Novus Galaxy and a decent amount of territory in Harthus. In intergalactic politics, Uksugu joined the Pan-Galactic Community on its inception and voted on many key issues the PGC dealt with. Uksugu aligned itself with fellow republics, fostered good relations with them, and joined the Republican League.

Due to its isolated position in the galaxy, Uksugu never found itself involved in too many conflicts in the Harthus Galaxy. The two exceptions were participating in the PGC intervention against Solesia for their genocide of natives on Ahbrazz and the Great War, where Uksugu fought against the Adrallians on the eastern front.

Uksugu may have been spared the worst of the Great War, but there are nations they will have to keep an eye on their neighbors as it continues to expand.

Government: Federal Democratic Republic

• The Executive of the Uksugan Federation is the President, elected every 4 years. The president has a mandated 2 term limit.
  
  
• The Legislature consists of a single body called the Senate, with 3,600 senators elected to 2 year terms. There is no term limit for senators.
  
  
• The highest court in Uksugu is the High Court. Judges throughout the Federation are appointed via merit selection, where the president has short a list of candidates (selected by a panel of lawyers and non-lawyers) to choose from, and can be voted out in yes-or-no retention elections.
  
  
• Most elections in the Uksugan Federation are universal suffrage.

Spoiler: Additional Political Information

Current Senate (3794)​

SE - 28 UW - 121 SD - 953 EP - 111 PP - 1087 CP - 1171 SR - 129​

Presidents of The Uksugan Federation/Uksugan League*

3748 - 3756: Lucijab (Progressive)
3756 - 3768: Nadia Ducote (Meritocrat/Equality)
3768 - 3772: Jose Grivans (Conservative)
3772 - 3776: Dane Mithy (Conservative)
3776 - 3784: Jeane Lipson (Social Democrat)
3784 - 3788: Juda Selee (Conservative)
3788 - 3794: Howill Grodra (Social Democrat)
3794 - : Lecia Zephyr (Progressive)​

*Note: Uksugans agree that the shift from the Uksugan League to the Uksugan Federation wasn’t very radical. Generally there is no distinction made between the League and the Federation.


Political Parties

• Major

Social Democrat Party (Social Liberal): The left leaning major party of Uksugu, the Social Democrats’ issues are worker’s rights, universal healthcare, universal education, and increased regulation of corporations. They do not wish to impede the free market of the Federation. Like the other major parties, they are open to staying in the Republican League but some in the party dislike the occasional hawkishness of the Progressives.​

Progressive Party (Classical Liberal): The centrist major party of Uksugu, the Progressives’ issues are free trade, equal rights, development of technology, and proactive participation in the galactic community. Out of all the parties, the Progressives are typically the strongest advocates of membership in the Republican League and the PGC.

Conservative Party (Republican Conservative): The right leaning major party of Uksugu, the Conservatives’ issues are agrarian/colonial development, freedom of system governments, and military buildup. They support staying the the Republican League and the PGC, but are hesitant about interventions in other nations.​

• Minor

Equality Party (Social Liberal): A breakoff of the former Meritocratic Party, the Equality Party is the only party in Uksugu to push for reforms that would transform the Uksugan Federation into a Tasavaltan Direct Democracy. In policy, the Equality Party is quite similar to the Social Democrats. This has resulted in their fall to a minor party as many in Uksugu don’t see how a Direct Democracy is better than the current republic.

United Workers Party (Orthodox Syndicalist): With the success of Syndicalism in Celtia and Azeratii, the Uksugan United Workers Party wants to replicate their success and transfer control of the economy to worker-controlled unions. Uksugans generally don’t want an end to a free market economy, so the United Workers Party remains a minor party.

Social Equity Party (Social Meritocrats): Another breakoff from the Meritocratic Party, the Social Equity Party wants to achieve the goal of social equality, but through a bureaucracy awarding meritorious individuals rather than through government agencies. Such a radical shift is so unpopular with many Uksugans that they would rather take their chances with the Syndicalists running Uksugu than the Social Equity Party.

Self Reliance (Republican Conservatives): Self Reliance has most of its agenda in common with the Conservative Party. However, Self Reliance is by far the most isolationist party, arguing for withdrawing from the Republican League, a build up of the military to similar levels to Uksugu’s neighbors, and a focus on snatching up as much of the Novus Galaxy as possible. The party is seen generally as playing second fiddle for the Conservative Party due to the radical isolationism.
​

Spoiler: Races of the Uksugan Federation

Races of the Uksugan Federation

The Homs are a race of humans that mainly live in the territory of the Uksugan Federation. There isn’t much to distinguish them from other human races, except for the fact that a microscopic part of their body consists of ether, the unique energy source that is only found in Uksugan territory.

The Machina are a race of androids with incredibly advanced A.I. that is capable of displaying a human-like range of emotions. Machina have what are projected to be much higher lifespans than the average human as many the first Machina still live an active life. Their level of sentience is a matter of debate, but the Uksugan Federation treats Machina as equals to the Homs and other sentient races.

A Note About Mechon and Machina

The origins of the confusion between Mechon and Machina stem from the waning years Neo-Valak War, where the Neo-Valaks were desperately spreading propaganda in an attempt to receive foreign aid. One of these deceptions is making the Neo-Valaks the target of the Mechon scourge (Hilariously ironic considering the Neo-Valaks were the ones who created the Mechon in the first place). They did not distinguish between the Mechon and Machina, setting up the basis for confusion.

Machina is the name of the race of sentient androids that are born/created in the Uksugan Federation. Mechon was a term originally used as shorthand for “mechanical operator”, the first robots with limited A.I. the Volnian Corporation created for hard labor. Later on the Volnian Corporation’s Mechon would be part of the Neo-Valaks’ attempts to take over Uksugu. Mechon were used by both sides of the Neo-Valak war and their use continues today.

The Machina had their own history with the Neo-Valaks. They were acting as a way to gather intelligence for the eventual Neo-Valak takeover and there were plans to turn them into infiltrators with their gathered intelligence at their fingertips. The plan did not succeed and the Machina have done everything they could to distance themselves from this deception.

Many Machina have agreed that being called Mechon should not be considered offensive. They simply correct the mistake and move on.

Spoiler: History

A Timeline of Uksugan History from the Uksugan States to the Uksugan Federation

Galactic Year 3671 - The Valak Empire was defeated. The Confederation of Uksugan States is formed to counter any future threat Uksugu would face.

3673 - The Volnian Coporation was formed by former loyal Valakians.

3675 - Colonization of other orbital bodies in the Uksugu System begins.

3676 - The first Machina, sophisticated androids with advanced A.I., are produced from the Volnian Corporation.

3678 - The first Mechon, mechs with simple A.I. designed for hard labor, are produced from the Volnian Corporation.

3686 - A billion Machina now reside in the Uksugan States.

Late 3694 - Accusations and evidence of Neo-Valak ties in the Vonian Corporation begin to come out.

Early 3695 - The Neo-Valaks of the Volnian Corporation, under threat of investigation, spring their plan to seize the capital system Uksugu. The Neo-Valak War begins.

Late 3695 - The Neo-Valaks are pushed out of major Uksugu population centers and forced into bases on other parts of Uksugu and other orbital bodies in the Uksugan system. Uksugu seizes control of space in a decisive battle.

3696 - The Uksugan States and the Neo-Valaks begin building up their forces while small skirmishes continue.

3698 - After two years of buildup between Uksugu and the Neo-Valaks, the first space battles in the Uksugan system proved to be decisive blows for Uksugu. A long campaign to take control of the Neo-Valak regions begins.

3730 - The Neo-Valaks create a warp drive, which they use to search for new bases.

3735 - Uksugan forces discover the warp drive from seizing a Neo-Valak base. By this point, the Neo-Valaks have established bases on Semakee and Dreck.

3744 - Uprisings in the Neo-Valak regions give the Uksugans the opportunity to make the final push.

3745 - Other nations in the galaxy are now known to the Uksugans. Neo-Valaks would begin a disinformation campaign in a desperate attempt to seek aid. The Uksugans (known as the Mechon to the rest of the galaxy at this point) join the Pan-Galactic Community.

3745 - A new period of colonial expansion would begin for Uksugu.

3745 to 3746 - The Neo-Valaks successfully smuggle out a bunch of Mechon prototypes. Their location is unknown to this day, but are suspected to be in the Kingdom of Lamia.

3747 - The Uksugan League forms with the member states of Uksugu, Semakee, Dreck, and Agvae.

3749 - Pirates were eliminated on Gulkis but with great cost to the fleet assigned to attack them.

3750 - The navy begins to build up after the losses from the pirates.

3751 - The Uksugan League joins the Republican League.

3751 - The Uksuguan League votes for militiary intervention against the Solesian Democratic Republic for their genocide of Ahbrazz. A formal declaration of war to enforce the intervention follows.

3753 - The Uksuguan League lands an expeditionary force on Koonkazz, beginning the Koonkazz campaign.

3755 - Terran forces surrender to the Uksugan forces, bringing an end to the Koonkazz campaign.

3762 - Uksugan League forces withdraw from Koonkazz and give control to the Terran Empire due to massive pressure from the citizens of the League.

3766 to 3774 - The Uksugan League participates in the Great War, siding with its Republican allies and participated mainly through naval engagements with the Adrallians.

3775 - A general consensus was reached that there was a need for a stronger federal government. A new constitution was written up to, 1. somewhat limit the power of system and local governments, and 2. Make the legislature more responsive to the people.

3778 - President Lipson publically supports the restructuring of the PGC, which is the popular opinion of Uksugu.

3784 - President Selee supports the actions of Baekdu and Celtia intervening in the Albish Civil War but promises not to contribute troops due to how distant Albion is from Uksugu.

Spoiler: ICs

Elections

PGC/Republican League
PGC Ahbrazzian High Commissioner Vote (3794 / An 45)
Uksugan Nomination of Secretary Lener for Secretary-General (3794 / An 45)

Uksugan Broadcast News
President Lucia Zephyr's Inaugural Address (3794) / An 45

 

[Plank of Wood]

The 40th Congress of the Republican League in Dubh is Now in Session

Republican League
"Forever Vigilant, Forever Free"


The Current Secretary-General, Lee Eun-Kyung, is stepping down. Nominations for the next Secretary-General of the Republican League are now open.
​

 

[iisbroke]

Initiative, Ingenuity, Loyalty, Progress​

The colony of Atlantis would like to send this message to formerly instigate trade partnership between the below signatories within the Novus Galaxy. We do this in hopes of creating a more stable economic quadrangle and reduce the chance of conflicts between us all. The below need only apply to the Novus Galaxy itself as trade may need different parameters within the Harthus Galaxy. We offer it to the Federal States of Azeratii, Baekdu Republic, and Kingdom of Divine Light due to proximity. Though we are all different, it is a fact who we can harness into a force of progress in absorbing the best of each other. We need only absolve one another of said dispersions.

1. Merchant and other trading vessels [along with crews] will be allowed free passage, amnesty, and protection within the controlled zones of the signatories.
2. Any criminal activity caused by merchant and other trading vessels [along with crews] will result in a trial.
   • The trial will be held by the owners of the controlled zone.
   • A legal defender will be offered by the one holding the trial.
   • If the accused is unable to obtain or refuses a legal defender from the owner of the controlled zone then the signatory government of said accused must provide a legal defender of the accused.
   • Trial is postponed until the requirement for legal defenders are met.
   • The trial will be based off the laws of the controlled zone where in by the infraction of the accused occurred.
3. Tariffs against imported goods from the signatories will not exceed 22%.

[X] Knight-Commander Murad Aljanov of Dragos Chapter and Vavasour of Atlantis
[ ] Federal States of Azeratii @jeeshadow
[ ] Baekdu Republic @oxfordroyale
[ ] Kingdom of Divine Light @MadMartigan
__________________________________________________________________________
*OOC: Yeah I know I'm only an IC Nation but it fits for my current leader to try to increase the economic output of the colony.*

 

[Korona]

Pobal Uile-Réaltrach / 범 은하 커뮤니티 / Пан-галактическое сообщество / Pan-Galactic Community

Speaker General: Dafyyd ua Brían
Deputy Speaker General: Lee Hyori
​

Propositions Passed:

General Assembly Events:
Announcement of the Vote for a New High Commissioner of Abhrazz
High Commissioner Replacement Vote

Security Council Meetings and Events:
Emergency Security Council Meeting Concerning Tasavalta

Misc:
PGC Factbook

 

[etranger01]

​

The Velian Exarchate​

Capital planet(s): Lian/Hyvel
Government: Aretaic Stratocracy
Leader: Exarch Velius Phrygius

Species​

The Liantar are a race of bipedal reptiles with a pronounced taste for militarism and syncretism. They typically stand about two meters in height, with dense musculatures and imposing physiques, including a tough partial exoskeleton that covers their torsos and backs. Despite their strength, Liantar are disciplined and polite. Conversely, Hyvel are shorter and more lightly muscled bipedal mammals with a light covering of fur and long, sensitive ears. They tend to be a bit more excitable and naive than their cynical Liantar co-species, but are also disposed towards bursts of creativity that the Liantar find fascinating and useful. For their part, they value the Liantar and their steady strength.

Home World​

Lian began as a dangerous single-continent tropical planet with multiple predatory pre-sapient species fighting over territory, harsh weather, and dangerous flora. The Liantar have largely domesticated the planet by clearing much of the jungle, driving the dangerous predators into the remaining jungle preserves, and settling their people inside enclosed arcologies to endure the weather. Hyvel is a much gentler forest world broken up into multiple continents, also largely domesticated. Most Hyvelen cities are open-air and sprawling. The third planet, Elia, is dominated by flat expanses of savanna and devoid of meteorological or living threats to Velian settlement. Most settlements on Elia are a mixture of Liantar-style fortified architecture and Hyvelen open-air design, taking on the form of walled cities.

History​

Born from the harsh hell of planet Lian, the Liantar devised multiple purpose-based castes, each with its own strict rank structure and system of obedience, to ensure that all labor was efficiently allocated and that only the best rose into positions of leadership. Given the multiple hostile fauna and pre-sapient species on Lian, this caste system quickly became military in nature as Liantar expansion turned into an all-comers war of attrition. Through dogged tenacity and superior technology, the Liantar managed to tame their dangerous world and take to the stars.

Liantar armed exploration ships quickly discovered their closest neighboring species, the Hyvel. Energetic but credulous, the Hyvelen were advanced but still mired in their various internecine conflicts. Several Hyvelen leaders hired Liantar cohorts as mercenaries to settle their disputes with their inter-planetary rivals. The Liantar used these contracts as inroads to gradually acquire territory and thus influence over Hyvelen society. Several Hyvel nations signed agreements with the Liantar cohorts placing themselves under 'direct management,' since the alternative was often conquest by their neighbors. These managed nations grew exponentially in power with a direct influx of Liantar investment, and rapidly conquered the remainder of the planet. Thus did Hyvel fall without a single shot fired in its defense.

Rather than rule the Hyvelen as a conquered people, the Liantar absorbed them into their own society. Hyvelens were smaller and physically weaker than Liantar, but their physical dexterity was impressive and they could serve in a variety of useful roles. Methodical and rule-oriented, the Liantar devoted much of their energies towards the full integration of the Hyvel into Liantar society rather than attempting further expansion. After several generations, the Hyvelen had assumed a co-equal place in Liantar society -- while fewer Hyvelen were considered suitable for front-line military service than Liantar, they dominated support and aerospace trades and thus contributed a roughly equal proportion of citizens.

Liantar-Hyvel society, now embracing all military roles as well as the civil service in the fashion that it had previously glorified front-line combat soldiering, found itself much more well-rounded and flexible. While Liantar society had previously been ruled by a cadre of generals from each caste, the Exarchate devised to manage the Hyvel nations rose above them in prominence with the aid of the Hyvel citizenry. Unlike the previous junta, the Exarchate possessed the form of an actual government, derived from Liantar-Hyvel principles, and its single Exarch along with its multiple supporting organs easily supplanted the junta, which was deemed obsolete and relegated to an advisory military staff. The co-identity 'Velian' was adopted by the Exarchate as a means of collectively identifying its composite species, an identity which enjoys broad support among its citizenry.

The Velian Exarchate has only settled its third planet, Elia, relatively recently, but the bustling new planet is already a center of growth and industry. Elia is unique in that it represents the first truly integrated planet in the Exarchate -- while Lian and Hyvel both have sizable minorities of their non-native counterpart species, the native species still generally run the show. There has been some talk of setting up a new inter-planetary capital in Gamma Settlement, Elia's largest city. But as Elia's frontiers begin to fill up, the Exarchate may start looking outward for new expansion opportunities...

Factions​

The Tradition Faction: Comprised of the majority of Liantar and a sizable plurality of the Hyvelen, the Traditionalists believe in the fundamental Velian principle of slow, steady expansion and integration of useful ideas. They believe in cooperation with the more orderly galactic powers (particularly the Adrallan Oligarchy) so long as that cooperation is of use to the Exarchate and remains on the Exarchate's terms. Foreign ideas and technologies are to be procured, studied, and incorporated into Velian society only after careful deliberation and alteration.

The Celerity Faction: The second-largest faction (albeit much smaller than the largest), with a roughly equal mixture of Liantar and Hyvelen, the Accelerationists want the Exarchate to fully embrace Orthodox Meritocracy and Adrallan ideas with a minimum of delay. The goal is to emulate the successful but not unstable Oligarchy as a means of rapidly boot-strapping up to galactic prominence. The Accelerationists also support rapid outward expansion bolstered by military conquest.

The Isolation Faction: Isolationists are principally old-guard Liantar who believe in curtailing or even ending outward expansion in favor of securing the Velian homeworlds against galactic encroachment. They reject foreign influences or any notion of reform, as few consider galactic 'innovations' to be of any worth, if not a direct danger to the social fabric.

The Integration Faction: A radical offshoot of the Celerity Faction, Integrationists are sufficiently xenophilic as to desire not just rapid expansion and adoption of outside ideas, but to contemplate the notion of integrating additional species into Velian society, as well as directly tinkering with the extant social codes to make Velians more like outsiders. This is considered a lunatic fringe movement by most Velians.

 

[Gorganslayer]

Lord Protector Elections of 3794​

The Lord-Protector Elections of 3794 would prove to be a decisive year. Following the long, authoritarian period of Cromwell’s leadership the upcoming elections would serve to decide the path that the precarious Albion Free State would take over the coming years. Although outside observers believed that the results of the election would be an open shut win for the Republicans based on the popularity of Cromwell this view overlooked a number of conditions and significant changing factors within the Albion Free State. Most significantly Cromwell’s rise had come at a time of national crisis, while after his death and the end of the Red Terror many in Albion felt that it was time for a shift in policy. Furthermore Cromwell’s easy victory was primarily driven by his own cult of personality. Being the leader and most notable figure in the roundhead revolution that had lead to the establishment of the Free State, he was a known figure throughout Albion and commanded army loyalty and support. Finally where as in the case of the elections that lead to Cromwell’s leadership the two largest parties, the Republican Party and the Centre Party had agreed to support a mutual candidate (Cromwell) the parties relations had broken down (with many predicting the collapse of the current coalition in a few months) and both parties had resolved to run their own candidates for the elections.


As a result the upcoming elections promised to present the public with no less than five candidates for the presidential election. With Republicans, Centrists, Nationalists, Independents as well as the Equalist and Renewal factions all proposing their own candidates for the upcoming elections.


A list of the Candidates:

Name:Thomas Bywater

Party: Republican Party

Bio: The Republican party’s successor candidate to Cromwell, Thomas Bywater swings more to the left than the more authoritarian Cromwell as the Republican party polls have indicated that the majority of the Party’s far-left intend to vote for the Equalists and the majority of its right wing intend to vote for the Centre Party or the Nationalist Alliance. Bywater hopes to reunite the equalists and work with the Indus Lobbyist’s to lead a stable government focused on establishing an Albish Welfare State.

Name: Margaret Thorne

Party: Centre Party

Bio: The Centre Party candidate, Margaret Thorne opposes the parties current coalition with the Republican Party due to Cromwell era tensions over the Republicans abuse of Presidential Authority. Instead she hopes to work with the Nationalists believing that she can moderate their policies and integrate them into Free State politics. She opposes the more social liberalism of the Republicans and wishes to promote a more classical liberal economic policy. She is in favour of continued isolation.

Name: Prince Stephen, Count of Faranca

Party: Nationalist Alliance (APP and ANPP)

Bio: The Brother of the former King, Prince Stephen has been the only member of the immediate royal family to return to the Albion Free State after the outreach of former Lord-Protector Cromwell. A former officer of the Royal Navy, he also has gained prestige among the commoners of Albion for his philanthropic efforts funded through sale of former royal lands. Although he has little interest in politics he has tepidly agreed to run as the presidential candidate for the two major nationalist powers.

Name: Salah Khak

Party: Equalist Party

Bio: Salah Khak is the candidate for the Equalist Party. Though the party itself is weaker than the Republican party, Salah’s broad strokes campaign has garnered him much support, while also riding off the swing away from the Republican Party. His main political promises are to legalise the Australias Independence Party as well as rectify the number of seats in the House of Systems to favour an equal balance between the three systems. He also wishes to establish a socialist welfare state and is protectionist.

Name: Rosa Thrush

Party: Renewal Party

Bio: One of the two Renewal Party candidates for the Lord-Protector, Rosa Thrush is the candidate of the Syndicalist Wing of the Party. She is radical and wishes to see the execution of the majority of the nobility as well as the immediate overthrow of the Republic in favour of a radical syndicalist state. Due to the Parties division over candidates and low popularity it is unlikely that she will garner any significant support

Name: Alan Marks

Party: Renewal Party

Bio: the second candidate of the Renewal Party. Alan Marks is a self-styled ‘anarcho-meritocrat.’ he believes in an almost social darwinist meritocracy whereby the removal of a central society or authority with inevitably lead to the formation of a naturally meritocratic system where the gifted will triumph over the less able to rise to the top. His Anarcho-Meritocracy is a counter-movement to ‘Layman Meritocracy’ formerly practiced by Australias. Despite the meritocrat and anarchist wings of the party being smaller than the syndicalists his assurances that he would not immediately change the political system but rather change it from the inside has led to him being a more popular candidate than Rosa.

Name: Darryn Walsh, Baron of Waibosa

Party: Independent

Bio: Circumventing the ban on the Australias Independence Party, Darryn Walsh is running as a candidate for Australias. He does not expect to win and no polls expect him too but is mainly doing so out of protest for the Australias situation. If he somehow wins he will not uphold the office or take the Albish Oath. The constitutional ramifications of this are unclear.


Current Polls for the Election:


Anglia Daily [largest city daily, respected and read across the Free State - leans left]

In an election was called which of the Parties running Lord-Protector Candidates would you vote for?

1. Republican Party: 34%
   
2. Nationalist Alliance (APP & ANPP): 32%
   
3. Equalist Party: 13%
   
4. Centre Party: 10.5%
   
5. Renewal Party 8.5%
   
6. Independant 2%
   

Which candidate do you intend to vote for in the upcoming Lord-Protector Elections?

1. Salah Khak 27%
   
2. Margaret Thorne 26%
   
3. Prince Stephen, Count of Faranca 26%
   
4. Thomas Bywater 14%
   
5. Alan Marks 5%
   
6. Rosa Thrush 3%
   
7. Darryn Walsh, Baron of Waibosa 1%
   

Our current polls show there to be quite a split between the left, centre and right with the vote and that there appears to be a divide between support for the major parties and support for their candidates. Perhaps we are seeing that the force of personality may be a deciding factor in this election. The only thing we can say for sure is that the polls indicate a serious setback for the Republican Party as despite their candidate’s more left views they still seem to be hemorrhaging votes to the Equalists.


Albion Ansible [Major weekly paper, read across Albion and by Albish communities outside Albion - leans to the right]

In an election was called which of the Parties running Lord-Protector Candidates would you vote for?

1. Nationalist Alliance 35%
   
2. Republican Party 31%
   
3. Equalist Party 15%
   
4. Centre Party 9%
   
5. Renewal Party 8%
   
6. Independant 2%
   

Which candidate do you intend to vote for in the upcoming Lord-Protector Elections?

1. Margaret Thorne 26%
   
2. Salah Khak 25%
   
3. Prince Stephen, Count of Faranca 24.5%
   
4. Thomas Bywater 16.5%
   
5. Alan Marks 4%
   
6. Rosa Thrush 3%
   
7. Darryn Walsh, Baron of Waibosa 1%
   

Despite the surge in votes for the Nationalist since Cromwell’s death no doubt in response to the left-wing terror actions of the Syndicalist wing of the renewal party the vote count for candidates appears to be close between the Equalists, Centrists and Nationalists. It seems that Margaret's attempts to woo the right have paid off with her performing above the party polls and the Prince performing lower than party polls would indicate. Salah’s campaign continues to act like it as wind in the proverbial sails as he continues to siphon votes from the Republican Party.


News 24/7 [Primarily a TV/Online News Network that targets the upper-middle class - leans right]

In an election was called which of the Parties running Lord-Protector Candidates would you vote for?

1. Nationalist Alliance 32.6%
   
2. Republican Party 32.4%
   
3. Equalist Party 13.5%
   
4. Centre Party 10.5%
   
5. Renewal Party 9%
   
6. Independent 2.5%
   

Which candidate do you intend to vote for in the upcoming Lord-Protector Elections?

1. Prince Stephen, Count of Faranca 24%
   
2. Salah Khak 23.5%
   
3. Margaret Thorne 22%
   
4. Thomas Bywater 18.5%
   
5. Alan Walsh 6%
   
6. Rosa Thrush 4%
   
7. Darryn Walsh, Baron of Waibosa 2%
   

Our polls indicate a tight race for the Lord-Protector. It is possible that it may take some time before the final results are known as there will no doubt be contention of whatever result comes through. The most significant note is the decline of the Republican Party candidate as strong campaigning from the Centre and Equalist Party have picked away significant chunks of their vote, it will be interesting to see how their vote fairs when it's not a single figure but a general election.

 

[Plank of Wood]

GNN Special Report

Uachtaran Niamh Bray, pictured addressing Republican League envoys yesterday, will face embarrassment over the mass protests during the key foreign policy meeting.

Ten Million Celts Expected to Attend Republican League Protest
​

As Delegates gather to attend the Republican League's landmark 40th Congress in Dubh, organizers of the "Movement Against Imperialism" claim that as many as 10,000,000 will attend protests in Dubh alone, whilst similar protests in major cities across the Celtic Republic will also take place. Despite the Celtic Republic's place as a founding member, the Syndicalist nation is torn between the realpolitik benefits of the alliance and the ideological implications of an alliance lead by the capitalist Baekdu. Anti-League figures, such as the Revolutionary Party's Lochlain Donhail, have highlighted that the close association with liberal and, in their words, 'imperialist' powers is antithetical to the founding principles of the Republic; most of the Anti-League movement hope for instead closer ties with the Internationale and a stronger anti-capitalist bloc. Nonetheless, the Republican League Congress will go on as planned. Uachtaran Niamh "Nimmy" Bray has stated that... [cont. here]​

​

 

[Terraferma]

Treaty of Friendship Among Ordered Polities

Adhering to the political and economic realities the galaxy faces,

Recognizing the need to develop and nurture foreign relations with other like-minded polities and

Exercising the will required to bring about tangible stability and prosperity the signatories hereby approve the following:

1) The establishment of a customs union.
2) The establishment of a common market.
3) Preferential treatment in order to facilitate an economic bloc where the signatories lower their tariffs towards one another significantly in a regulated,unified manner.
4)The intent to virtually eliminate all tariffs on all goods and/or services and establish a free-trade zone within 10 standard years unless otherwise prescribed, supplemented or amended.
5) Alotted investment opportunities among the various parties both of public and private interests.

[X] Kingdom of Lamia
[X] Storm Kingdom
[X] State of Francia
[X] Terran Empire​