Attention: The deadline for Turn 1 orders is Friday, February 25, at 1600 EST, 2100 GMT.
Is Tver the best nation left? It was one of a handful recommended and asked to be filled and the only one that remains unpicked. I will take it unless someone can think of something better, that way I'll be helping out. Optimally I would like something a bit quiet, but with an oppertunity to engage in raiding or hiring out mercenaries if I need extra income or excitement.
Yeah, Tver's probably the best left, with the possible exception of Zabid, but I don't know that it's likely to be all that quiet. Though really, I don't know that many places in the NES are likely to be quiet. Oman, maybe, or Jaffna.
Factions for Sweden, Poland, Delhi, Volynia
Merchantry: Are being pretty thoroughly squeezed by Danish control and League commercial dominance in the Baltic. Feel ignored by the government, don't like magnate dominance of political affairs, and wish the state would take some action to try and break the aforementioned Danish and League stranglehold.
Högre frälse: 'Higher nobility'; the great territorial magnates. Exempt from nearly all taxation, hold vast hereditary fiefs, and form the king's Privy Council. Provide most of the best troops to the state. Don't like anything that would threaten their position, don't like lower nobility being raised to higher status. Paranoid about Danish influence in the state, in favor of allying with anyone and everyone to bring down the Danes.
Lägre frälse: 'Lower nobility'; the lesser nobles. Don't hold hereditary fiefs, tend to be fairly poor. Handle a lot of the administration of the provinces. Wish the higher nobility would pull its own weight. There are a couple of particularly powerful members currently angling for elevation.
Monastic church: The monastic organization. Heavily taxed, and unhappy about it. Dislikes the influence of the magnates over the king and the Church. Significant pro-Danish sentiment in some areas of the lower ranks.
Västergötland: The provincial thing of West Gotland. Has some relatively minor privileges over the other provinces, and is jealous of those privileges. More Danish-influenced than the rest of the country, but, persistent royal fears to the contrary notwithstanding, is generally loyal to the Swedish crown.
Army of Bohemia: The officers of the Polish permanent force in Bohemia, headquartered in Prague. Mostly drawn from the native Bohemian nobility. Reliably pro-crown and anti-noble; often frustrated by lack of funds due to the latter's intransigence. In favor of the reconquest of Bohemia.
Szlachta: The noble class, and the irregularly called Sejm in which they meet. Not nearly as broad or as privileged as the OTL Polish nobility, but moving in that direction lately. Provide most of the best of the crown's levies. Tend to resist taxation efforts on principle. Generally opposed to foreign adventures. Don't want to give up what's left of Bohemia, but don't trust the crown enough to give it the money for a major offensive.
Mozny: The magnates; the richest, and most powerful of the nobility. Concentrated in the east. Oppose giving more resources to the Army of Bohemia; would rather concentrate on Volynia, or on having another crack at Pomerania.
Burghers: The urbanites. Have something of a rivalry with the szlachta for influence over the crown. More pro-crown than the szlachta. Some are being somewhat squeezed by Danish control of the routes to the Baltic, and support the state doing something to fix it.
Royal court: The king's retainers and the royal demesne. Tend to support most royal initiatives and oppose magnate influence over royal affairs.
Moguls: The descendants of the Mongol conquerors, most numerous around Delhi and a couple of other former garrison towns. Provide the best cavalry to the army. Thoroughly Buddhist, and in favor of anything that supports the Yenogretic movement. Don't like having to let Hindus and Muslims have a role, but understand the necessity.
Mansabdars: Rank-holders; the officials of the bureaucracy, both civilian and military. Usually Buddhist, often from Turkish or Persian families. Often supported by jagir-type temporary grants of revenue. Tend not to like overreliance on zamindars.
Zamindars: Feudal chieftains ruling over large hereditary fiefdoms; more numerous and powerful in the southern territories. Responsible for local administration and tax collection. Most are still Hindu or Muslim. Provide the most numerous but lowest quality component of the army.
Gujarati merchantry: The merchants of Gujarat. Formerly mostly Muslim, but large numbers have converted to Buddhism in the last couple of decades. Have taken a leading role in the general revival of the Indian Ocean trade routes in the last few decades. Mostly left alone by the state, and like it that way. Don't like Pandyans trying to control the Malabar trade.
Rajputs: The entrenched Hindu martial elite, most numerous in Gujarat and Rajputana. Reconciled to Buddhist rule by a combination of military coercion, and khanate confirmation of their privileges and reinforcement of their local administrative role. Don't like the aforementioned privileges being touched, aren't hugely keen on war with Bengal.
Tatars: The Tatar confederacy around the lower Dniester. Provides a lot of light cavalry to the prince's armies. Like being left to manage their own internal affairs, and any wars where they get to pillage things worth pillaging. Currently raiding and being raided by tribes in the Crimea.
Valakhii: The small Vlach polities in the south. Don't like the prince messing with their internal affairs. Tend to be anti-Roman.
Radhanites: The Jewish population, most numerous around Vladimir and on the upper reaches of the Dniester. Descended from Jewish traders settled in Volynia by princes in the eleventh century. Protected by the crown, and in return are traditionally strong supporters of the prince. Important in the commercial life of the principality, and provide a lot of prince's administrative staff.
Boyars: The great nobility. Aren't organized in an official council, and have less of a constitutional role than in most Russian states. Don't like Kiev's independence, tend to prefer fighting the Poles or Hungarians to the Lithuanians.
Orthodox church: The Kievan church. Supports intervention against both the Gaborites and the Lithuanians. Doesn't like the Jews being so prominent.
NorthKing said:
So we can name our ruler, obviously. But are you deciding who the heirs are? Who all the children are? If so, then will they be in the stats soon?
Yes, I am, and yes, they should be stats by tomorrow.