OptNES III: Foundry of Nations

The Avirri are, to date, the only tribe to have entered the halls of civilisation on this distant Earth. From the most modest of beginnings, they united or defeated the squabbling tribes around them on their small piece of the world. For almost seven thousand years, they have advanced the ideologies and technologies of the world, entirely on their own. They have had six thousand, nine hundred and eighteen years of dominance, almost handed to them on a plate. A benign tumour on the face of their planet, Ath, it is only recently they have begun expanding again as they once did. From their island city of Dar-Assina, they were once content with knocking the heads of their surrounding tribes and small city-states and nations every once in a while, and building their own fair-sized state - - content in the knowledge that no other people in the human race had the means to defeat their far superior technology. Only recently, their shipyards developed the means to use steam and gas as a means of powered flight - if only they were the only ones to now know that secret!

Traitors to the High Council of Avirria, eight of the shipyard masters fled the country, set on making as much money as they could and retiring, rich, in a corner of the world... never to be found. It was not to be, of course. All eight ended their lives in the arena at Dar-Assina, their punishment as criminals to be killed by the dogs. All had their possessions seized, poor in death in a mocking of what they seeked in life.

They are saying they will bring in lions to the arenas now, before the lions themselves arrive. Before they died, the eight shipyard masters did manage to sell the council's secrets: and they are spreading. New nations arise, armed with much of the knowledge and resources of the Avirri themselves, courtesy of the eight traitors who sold it to them. Vast swathes of the hitherto undiscovered world have now been uncovered; deserts, vast forests and plains, thick jungles. Colonies are being built. Wars are beginning, on a scale previously unseen on Ath.

And the Avirri themselves? Jealously guarding their remaining secrets, they wait in their cities for their governments, their engineers and their soldiers to re-establish their dominance of the region, and from there? Thanks to eight traitorous engineers, the world lies out there. A million enemies are ready to fight.

For the men and women who rise to lead the world's new nations; for the engineers and the citizens; the soldiers, the colonists and the diplomats... the challenges are yet to come.

_______________________________________________

"Serenn Tath."

The engineer looked up.

"That's me. Traitor, scumbag and general good-for nothing. At your service. What may I do for you?"

"Nothing, Tath. As a prisoner and a traitor, you are of no use to me. I have only one job I can offer you. I'm afraid it doesn't pay very well." The jailer hawked, spitting onto the dusty floor of the cell.

"And what might that be?", the engineer commented dryly. He remained impassive as the jailer intoned, "Entertain the people, serve your punishment and die. The Avirri have no place and no respect for traitors."

With that, he pushed Serenn Tath, eighth shipyard master of the Avirri Shipyard, out through the wooden doorway, and into the Dar-Assina arena. Sound burst into the world, and light. Serenn Tath stumbled, trying to regain his temporarily lost vision. The crowd cheered. Serenn looked up. A special surprise, he thought bitterly. True enough. The jailer had been honest. Not many victims of the arena had been mauled, not by dogs, but by a lion.

It crawled closer. Serenn thought he saw it lick its lips.
Last of the engineers, traitor to the Avirri, Serenn Tath knelt down on the sand, resigned to his fate, and waited to die.
When it came, he didn't even scream once.


Welcome to OptNES 3! Hopefully, the introduction has kept you interested this far in. Not that you'd be reading this if it hadn't, eh? I guess I'll first explain what I already did in the NES development thread: this NES is my response to my inability to stick with an idea, or more precisely to choose one I can stick with. To that end, this is a steampunk/fantasy NES, something I've had thoughts about doing for a while, and toward which my interest has failed to fade. It's also an (almost) fresh start, with one NPC nation as outlined in the storyline - Avirria. More will turn up around major areas as we go.
Paradoxically, much of the inspiration for the updates and ruleset for this NES have come from TerraNES, the NES I have played in for the longest and been probably the most involved in. Long may it prosper, and many thanks for 17 updates of brilliance (so far).
As far as the story, what you've already read (unless you skipped it, in which case, go back and read it) is it, at least so far. After all, the whole point of NES is to build a world.
On that note, on to the rules!




The centre of this NES is the player character, their nations and how they use the power given to them to create their own little corner of the world. It is also about the stories we produce, and how the players use their stories to build a lore and a culture that enriches this world. Stats are the first part of the NES I would like to cover, as well as the standard fill-in-the-blanks form I would like PCs to fill in the blanks in.
That is: this.

The following will be added to make your final stats. I'll decide the values based on a standard and on your submission.
Population: All nations start with the standard starter-pack 500,000, with the exception of the NPC Avirria, which due to its - considerable - head start on civilisation, has 1,500,000. Population affects the number of engineers and soldiers you can field, as well as your income (although it also affects how difficult the population is to keep under your rule!)
Technological Advancement: Primitive -> Ancient -> Antiquated -> Outdated for NPCs without blueprints; Experimental -> Prototyping -> Early Steam -> Steam -> Advanced -> Prototype Automatons -> Golem -> unknown (we'll see when we get to that point!). All players start at Prototyping as a base, unless there's good reason and fair balance in a submission. Avirria starts with early Steam technology, and is very protective of its technology. More on Tech later.
Stability: A rating out of 10 of how happy your populace is. Conquered peoples are part of this as well. Start to worry once it gets down to about 5; once it goes down further you can expect revolts of increasing frequency, volatility and size. EP can be used to directly and indirectly affect your stability.
Economy: Pretty standard. This is the amount of income you have to spend, and also includes maintenance on Engines and soldiers. More on Economy later.

Warfare & Engines​

'Engines' is the term for the vehicles that drive advancement and civilisation on Ath. The term encompasses a broad variety of machines in general. In relation to warfare, we are talking about a specific type of Engine - War Engines. Operation of one of these may involve any number of people, and the operators, who we will also give a capital letter to, will in general form the bulk of your army, particularly once you reach the Steam age proper.

Aside from Operators, your army will also include Engineers, the number and quality of whom you employ will affect how smoothly your Engines run. Engineers are non-combatants, but they need to travel with the army to properly carry out their assigned tasks. It will be imperative to protect your Engineers properly when carrying out battle plans.

Your army will also include, until an alternative is built and you enter the Golem age, a significant number of conventional soldiers, armed with pikes, bows, basic muskets (and later, rifles) or pretty much whatever they had on them when you got sold blueprints. In general, NPC nations without steam will field a large number of conventional soldiers, who will have a Ferocity rating as a general indicator of how well they fight.

Engines, however, will for the majority of the NES be your focus. Each player nation was sold two blueprints (over time, the blueprints you use will most likely leak to the nations - PC and NPC - around you); the engineers who sold them held fifty-four such blueprints. They are outlined below.
Over time, your people will develop their own versions of such Engines, and even their own, entirely unique, designs.





You will have Engines available to you of various types, era-dependent. These are listed below.

Conventional Soldiers​

Conventional soldiers work much like in other NESes: unlike the Engines, which have many measurable attributes which you can use to judge their quality, conventional soldiers have only three; speed, rated from 1 (heavy infantry or similar) to 4 (light mounted or similar) or any decimal in between, manoeuvrability, rated from 1 to 10, and strength, given a value of 1 upwards (the upper limit depends on just how advanced conventional soldiers get). In general, the description and number of units will have more say in the outcome of any given battle than the actual stats.

Each nation begins with two infantry types and one cavalry type or three infantry types.. NPCs nearby will tend to have similar units to begin with.

A list of Conventional Soldiers can be found below. Attributes are in parentheses (speed/manoeuvrability/strength/EP cost). Each regiment always has 100 men, but they are listed as a number of men rather than regiments and can be split (especially for transportation by Engine).

Native Engines and Unique Units​

Note: Unique Units refers to conventional units and will become less used over time in general. Native Engines refers to War Engines.

In Foundry of Nations, Unique Units and 'Native' Engines are slightly different to in other NESes: over time, 'Native' Engines will become a larger fraction of your regiments to the point where they encompass almost your whole army. Because the Engines you begin with are in general slow, cumbersome prototypes and may or may not work how they are designed to, you will probably want to start to redesign or improve your Engines as soon as possible.
You can improve your Engines by posting a new description and stating its class. I'll decide its stats and cost based on your description and you can produce it the next turn.

You can have as many native engines as you want, but each design has an outset cost of development (20 EP) and they will become obsolete over time as technology advances - rather slowly at first, and faster after a while, although if you play your cards right you should have no trouble finding the funds to deal with it.

Unique Units are free to design.

A list of current Native Engines and Unique Units can be found below.

Operators and Engineers​

Engineers and Operators get more proficient - but not more expensive - with your technological advancement. Avirria currently has slightly better Engineers, though eventually their secrets will leak and become available to everyone - if they are not taken by force first.

Economy​

The Economy of OptNES runs on EP, or Economic Points. Much like in other NESes, these are a basic representation of how much in the way of money or assets your polity has to spend on itself. This will change turn by turn as your nation grows physically, economically and industrially. You may also receive a fixed amount of banked EP if it is appropriate for an event.
EP are set out in your stats as follows:

Economy: 30 (22/9/-1)

--The number outside the parentheses is the total number of EP you have available to you in the current turn. You must specify what to do with ALL of this in your orders each turn.

--The first number in parentheses is your normal EP, from things inside your nation that are regular - taxes, industry, imports and exports and the like.

--The second number in parentheses is banked EP. This could be stored and carried over from previous turns, or alternatively could be awarded via updates as appropriate. For example, if your warriors raid a rich town you might get some EP for that.

--The third number in parentheses is your total maintenance. This includes all Engines, Engineers, Operators and conventional soldiers (around 1 EP per ten units, in general). Maintenance is always negative.

EP can be spent on anything - from building a town to espionage, from soldiers or Engines to exploration and colonisation. The number of EP spent will have an effect on the scale and success of actions.

You can spend EP on projects - things that will take multiple turns to complete. Specify the project and spend some EP on it, and it will appear in your stats with the number of EP spent and total number of EP needed to finish the project in parentheses.

Orders​

Orders should be PMed to me, with the title:

OptNES3 Orders Turn Whatever / Player / Nation

and should be formatted as follows:

-Copy/paste your stats
-Give total number of EP to spend
-Give spending, in whatever order, with explanations
-Specify number of EP to bank (if any).

Do whatever else you like with the orders within that format, just make them easy to follow. I may reply to your PM with questions about your orders or requests that you resend for whatever reason.

Cities will contribute to your EP, depending on how large they are, and how much industry, commercial activity and/or production goes on there. Cities may provide EP for other reasons as well.
Cities will be listed in your stats. Please name them when you found them.

Updates​

Each Update will cover 10 years to begin with, As the game progresses this will decrease and eventually I will run 1 year updates. Updates will be roughly categorised by geographical region, but there will be some transitional stuff.

NPCs​

NPCs will tend to form near player nations with similar technology and culture. They have the same powers a player has and you can interact with them (thorugh me) in the same way you would with a player. Avirria is an NPC, and can do to you whatever you might plan to do to it, as can all the other NPCs. Tread carefully.

Diplomacy​

Diplomacy between PCs and NPCs, or between PCs, should include the sending and recipient nation(s) in the post. You can PM each other to organise plans in secret, but please cc: me on any PMs as I'm curious.

General Guidelines​

- What I say goes, in general. I can and will call a moderator in if things get hairy.
- Write lots of stories. Stories are the life and soul of NESes - we are building a world here. Additionally, stories make a GM happy and flesh out your nation.

- Follow the forum rules, obviously. Be polite and civil to your fellow NESers, and welcoming to anyone who is new who decides to join.
- Get orders in before the deadline if possible. Let me know if not.
- Keep in-character stuff and out-of-character stuff distinct from each other.
-Enjoy yourself! Otherwise there's no point
-Feel free to join at whatever point you wish.

General admin stuff is in the next few posts. Update 0 will go on the production line when sign-ups subside.

Note: Signup posts from before the first update are arranged in alphabetical order. Everything else is in chronological order.

--Signup Post: Arexthia/Sonereal
--Signup Post: Asgarnia/Lord_Herobrine
--Signup Post: ættkvísl hvala/mayor
--Signup Post: Charj/Mosher
--Signup Post: Colomestrisa/Daedwartin
--Signup Post: Dài Khộl/Bair_the_Normal
--Signup Post: Eben Duchy/JoanK
--Signup Post: Hydragia/Nintz
--Signup Post: Jedorra/Patchy
--Signup Post: Irran Empire/Popcornlord
--Signup Post: Masia/mythmonster
--Signup Post: Michilimackinac/BSmith
--Signup Post: Movadimn/thomas.berubeg
--Signup Post: Tengalu'kulchen/Vertinari118
--Signup Post: Torrmor/Tycho
--Signup Post: Valmere Union/bonefang
--Signup Post: Yyaraskihn/Celticfury
-Guilds of Lochspring: Ironmongers of Quality - Smith and Sons - bonefang of Valmere Union
Update 0: The Travels of an Engineer [6918 AY - 0 SE (6921 AY)]
-The High General Observes the Blueprints - Daedwartin of Colomestrisa
--Signup Post: Anton/Arrow Gamer
-The Antonian Shipyards - Arrow Gamer of Anton
-The Council of Seventy - Arrow Gamer of Anton
-The Asgarnian Code - Lord_Herobrine of Asgarnia
--Signup Post: Etruskalba/theDright
-Remembrance of Past Events/Visions of the Future/The Happiest Sight - Daedwartin of Colomestrisa

Maps​

Reserved just in case.

Don't post yet.

Reserved just in case.

One more to come. Don't post yet.

Warfare
Engine: Any automated vehicle. Can be further subdivided by use. Those we are generally concerned with are War Engines.
Engineer: Anyone who works on building, repairing, designing or improving Engines.
Golem: Automated soldier. A long-held fantasy, but still a fantasy at this point in the NES. The Holy Grail of Engineering.
Operator: Any of various types of soldiers who operate parts of Engines - either driving or operating weaponry.

Geography
Deep North: A large swathe of cold plains, evergreen trees and frequently snowed-over (or further north, permanently snowy) land to the north of Avirria which has nonetheless given rise to large populations of, in particular, Yyaraski and Folk af Hval.
Dust Coast: The southwestern coast of the far eastern continent. Much of the coast is dusty, sandy and silty, hence the name. Also broadly includes the Michilimackinac and other tribes further north.
Edonia: The northern part of the most northwesterly continent of the world and associated islands. Named from the region's dominant language, that of the Valmere Union and the nearby city-states.
Greater Arexthian Isles: A group of large islands at the western entrance to the Inner Seas. Take their name from the dominant city-state on the islands.
Great Kulchens: The kingdoms of the continent south of the one on which Edonia is situated.
Hydragian Coast: The eastern coasts and islands of a small continent in the far southwest of the world.
Inner Seas: A roughly oval sea in the centre of three continents, situated just south of Avirria.
Southern Plains: A strip of well-populated grasslands, plains and deserts on the great southern continent.

Religion

Politics
Skipstjóra Varðmaðurinn: The high priest of Varðmaðurinn: most important member of the Elder Council of Ӕttkvísl Hvala.

I assume the striped area is ice? if so I would like a piece of land there. That island in the higher left corner seems nice.

Is it allowed to choose three infantry units instead of 2 infantry and a cavalry. Cavalry wouldn't really fit there, if you wouldn't count polarbear cavarly that is

Ah... I knew I forgot to specify something. That's the ice caps. I'd prefer if people didn't start there.

I'd be happy for you to start near the northern continent, outside the permanent ice, though, and I can let you select three infantry if you wish. Actually, heck, let's just make that a rule. Select three infantry or 2 inf/1 cav.

So it would be okay to start on the peninsula high center?

Yes, that'd be fine, or on the island chain below that. It's sort of Greenlandish, so don't expect to penetrate too far in beyond an exploration party type endeavour. Interesting starting spot though. I'll be intrigued to see what you come up with.

Islands + plus part of the peninsula would work.
Some sort of inuit(ish) society

Valmere Union / Bon3fang:
Capital:Lochspring
Colour: RED
Location: Lochspring

Demonyms: Language : Edonian
Flag:


Government: Tribal Council.
Each of the various factions selects a leader to represent their own leader, who is expected to work on the interests of their own kind. There are several guilds, each of which selects its own representatives. In the event of an emergency, or a possible armed conflict, consent of half of the senators are required for mobilization. Otherwise, it is mostly taken care of the Military Commander, who is usually selected from among the various senators.
Religion: Pagan. The Edonian worship the forces of nature - the sun, the water & the night sky and the moon. The sun is usually considered the king of the gods, the source of heroism, virility and chivalry. On the other hand, the moon, is considered the embodiment of everything evil and malicious.
Engines:
The Battering Ram (Land)
The Raider (Sea)
Conventional Soldiers: Cavalry, Spear men, Axemen
History:Lochstream has developed at the Delta of the Idris River. The plentiful silt it deposits at the lower course has lead to the formation of an area of highly fertile land, which easily supported the growth of several crops. Caravans and traders gathered from far and wide for purchasing the famed food output. With the continued gathering of such men, there developed market square. Traders coming from far and wide realized that this was indeed a great place to do business. The traders, foreign as well as local realized the prosperity of this realm was here to stay. Elders from both the factions sat down to discuss how they would establish a permanent settlement, which would benefit the farmers as well as the traders, the 2 main factions in the society.
Guilds were formed, of traders and the producers. Each looking after its own needs to gather more and more wealth. The guilds which varied from Blacksmiths, Wineries, Leather workers, Glassmakers as well as a fishermans' and a wheatmerchants' guild. Each of them had their own coat of arms as well; And another thing was common as well : each wanted as much control in the senate as possible.
As with most nuveau rich societies, the fledgling prosperity did invite quite some dark characters as well. The thieves and the pickpockets were the first to arrive, then came the mercenaries, soldiers for gold, who played the part of the city guards to control the menace.
And then started to sinful flesh trade; nothing has been done about that till date.

Lochspring till this day is still lead democratically, with senators from several factions participating in the senate to discuss the events of the kingdom. For the sake of bureaucracy, several senators are chosen, by the support gained from other senators.

Description: A merchant nation with a strong diplomatic structure. Interested for expansion for economic benefits.

Arexthia/Sonereal
Capital: Arex
Colour: 34:177:76
Location:
Demonyms: Arexthians, the River People
Flag:

Government: Primitive Monarchy. The River Lord, nominally the king of the country, is the ruler of the country. However, this position is being challenged by the need of a fledgling bureaucracy that is overseeing the growing industrialization and agriculture developments in the country and the rising number of private capital ventures.
Religion: The Arexthian Mythology is polythestic and centers largely around deities associated with the river, with the sun and earth deities growing in importance over the last few decades.
Engines: Raider Prototype, Aerocraft
Conventional Soldiers: Light Infantry, Musket, Pikemen
History: Historically, the Arexthians have been farmers on the stable river from which they draw their name. This agricultural base allowed it to sustain a large urban population which, thanks to eventual specialization, allowed Arex to flourish economically and politically in the region.

Militarily, Arex isn't known for being friendly with neighbors. Arex, when it launches military ventures using ships on the river, often cites "unfair trade practices" for the reason for capturing a rival port and either taking it as their own, or forcing it to pay tribute.

Description:A river-based nation that, after centuries of complacent rulers, now has one who eyes the rest of the island for possible conquest.

Name of Nation/Player: Duchy of the Eben
Capital: Ebbia
Colour: 255:196:22
Location:
Demonyms: Ebenians, Eben (language)
Flag:

Government: Other. The Duchy of the Eben is ruled from the city of Ebbia by the Duke, who rules with a fair hand with the advise of a Council formed by the eldest of the five richest families and the Ducal Engineer. Of these, only the engineer can be appointed or demoted from their position and thus the Council. (He doesn't have to be an actual engineer, his role is that of a scientific or military advisor)

Upon the death of the Duke, the Electoral Council chooses the new one out of seven candidates, who must each show a most valuable and impressive present to the Electoral Council. The Electoral Council chooses which present is the best and the correspondent candidate becomes the new Duke. The seven candidates come from the seven wealthiest families. The Electoral Council is formed by the permanent members of the Council, that is the Council minus the Ducal Engineer and, since he's dead, the Duke. The members of the Electoral Council are locked away from the world upon joining it, in order to avoid any possible influences in their future choices of a Duke.

A man may join the Council if he's the eldest member of one of the five wealthiest families of Douchia and if he already has a grandson. A person fulfilling both conditions will only join the Council once a member of the Electoral Council dies. In case that the Council lacks members and no eldest of the five main families is suitable, eldest from lower families will be considered, preference given to ordinal ranking of wealth.

Religion: Although a Duke or the members of the Council may adhere to a certain faith, the isolation of the latter and the fact that accountancy and books are their only cultural exchange with the exterior, the state does not adhere to any due to contradictions of policy with religion. This is the same with most citizens of Ebbia. Nevertheless, the whole country has its institutions and times built around a sort of mysticism around numbers.

Peasants use especially multiples of two and of five, one of the most popular numbers being 10. The citizens and elites of Douchia, on the other hand, base their works and ceremonies in odd prime numbers, most notably five and seven. Thus, numbers two and five (5+2=7 ) are the most sought when achieving or acquiring something. It is frequent for the richest families to have up to seven things of the same kind, including lodgements and furniture. It is said that the wealthiest Ebenian ever, Delvé Malaut, owned seven buildings of five stories each with two identical items in each story, arranged symmetrically to the centre of the building. In general, all Douches have a basic knowledge of maths, although most are illiterate.

Engines: Name and describe your two new Engines. The Tortoise, Raider Prototype
Conventional Soldiers: Pikemen, Crossbow, Light Cavalry

History: A rich land irrigated by the waters of the Eben, the river from which it takes its name, the Duchy of the Eben formed around its Delta, a natural trade centre given the flow of the river and the complete flatness of the coast. The tribes of the valley of the Douche all travelled down the river or towards it in order to exchange goods. Some of the tribes neighboured the hills, and with their rudimentary crafts they carried tools and stone and metal and wood. The people of the mountains left their exceeding products in the place due to being enough of a burden to make the journey home longer and more uncomfortable than they could accept.

Goods were dumped so that nobody would ingeniously try to take an advantage from them, and eventually the dumped "waste" formed a visible platform and cemented the base of bits of the Delta lands. It was then that people of the plains realised that there was a treasure lying under the waters of the Delta, and they rescued the most superficial materials, with many stones and pieces of metal. Doug-En Ebben was the person who gathered the most, and he saw that they were a great material of construction. He, as many others, lived in the Delta and made his living as trader during the seasonal markets. He traded metals for stones and fed some people in exchange for their work, and managed to build a very rudimentary structure. Further rescuing and chopping down many of the few trees growing in the Delta, he gathered enough materials to better support the structure of his house, and in subsequent years a new village started growing around it. The house grew with more stone from the North, and eventually Ebben managed to arrange the first regular trade route with the mountains, in order to mutually supply with stone and wheat. Somehow, the most useless of elements, the pieces of metal, were seen as currency and little more, but soon the people from the mountains came and settled in the coast in great numbers, and transformed their river canoes into somehow safer fishing boats, and they made their life through fishing in the sea. That was when Ebbia was named, in honour of the man who started everything with the House of Stone, and of the river that gave the man its name.

But Ebben died, and his wealthy offspring fought bitterly for his unofficial throne, with the first armies and weapons created for the sole purpose of defeating the rival faction. The city was divided into many factions of similar population, and metal arms would make the difference. Thus, whoever was wealthier, that is, had the most metal, would win the fight. One generation later, the already-established Ducal Guard was similarly divided between the wealth of the candidates. After three generations, it was a common agreement that the wealthiest man would become the Duke, and that gave placed to the more sophisticated and elaborate Douche tradition of gifts and the institution of the Electoral Council.

Description: A mostly peaceful nation of great culture and trade interested in access to new resources and in acquiring strange artefacts or crafts through it. (For electoral purposes )

Name of Nation/Player: ættkvísl hvala/mayor
Capital: Höfuðborg (The L-ish shaped Island)
Colour: 137 : 230 : 226
Location:
.
Demonyms: fólk af hval
Language: Tungumál okkar
Flag:
The fólk af hval don't have a flag, instead every hérað identify themselves with their own Totem. However, all héruð do recognize the Hvala, whale, as the image of Varðmaðurinn. It is the Hvala that is tattooed on the hearts of the Varðmaðurinn bíða, and the forehead of the Öldungur ráð.

Thank you.
Government:
Elder Council.
consisting of 11 members.
1 for every hérað plus the Skipstjóra Varðmaðurinn.
Religion:
The Spirit world

In the spirit world the spirits of nature reside. Every spirit is bound to a single piece of nature ranging from a stone to a mountain, from a small fish to the ocean. There is no existing hierarchy in the spirit world, but the spirit of the ocean is considered more important, by the fólk af hval, than the spirit of a single rain drop. This means that the fólk af hval pay hardly any attention to these lesser spirits and contact with them is very rare.
Contact with the spirit world goes through women. Every woman has a natural aptitude to contact the spirits. When the aptitude is high enough the woman will become a töfralæknir. These are the doctors of the fólk af hval They have the knowledge of healing and can contact the spirits of the medicine to increase its potency. The töfralæknir is also responsible for the appeasement of the spirits. They perform ceremonies for a specific spirit or provide it with gifts. These gifts usually have little material value but are decorated stones or pieces of wood.

The Totems

Every hérað has its own totem. The totem is the protector of the hérað and its people. The totem will also increase proficiency of skills when its merki is tatooed on a certain place of the body and a charm depicting the merki protects the wearer against all sorts of danger.
The Stjóra is the link between the people and its totem. From the hring he performs the ceremonies, tatoos the people, craft the charms etc.

Merki
A Merki is a stylistic rendition of the totem. When tattoed on a certain place of the body it will enhance the proficiency. Hunters will wear a tattoo under their right eye, spearfishers on their right arm, Stjóra’s on their temple and members of the Elder Council on their forehead.

Choosing a totem
When the fólk af hval settle a hérað The Stjóra will create the hring. When it is finished he will sit and medidate their until he sees an animal. This animal will be the totem of the village. However, if the first animal he sees is already a totem of a different hérað, the deal is off. The fólk af hval believe that this is only the totem checking whether or not the new hérað already has found a totem.
Once the Stjóra has seen the totem of the new hérað he will build his hut on the hring.


The Ancestors

The fólk af hval believe that once you are part of the Öldungur ráð you are part of it forever. Because of this the Öldungur ráð will always ask the ancestors, that were part of the Elder Council in their life, for guidance. If the Öldungur ráð can not come to a decision they will meditate and look for pre-decided signs to establish the will of the ancestors. When the will of the ancestors has been established the Öldungur ráð will follow their will.
Engines:
- Prototype transport (Mainly used by the spearfishers to get to open water. Here they dive to spear the bigger fish. The harpoon is used for the hunt on whales and other large sea mammals.)
- Airship (run on a natural gas found on the small island in the north, used for transportation between the islands and scouting for prey)
Conventional Soldiers:
- Hunter (actual hunters)
- Spearmen (spearfishers)
- Light infantry (Varðmaðurinn bíða)
History: .
When the earth was still young the faðir hvala swam the oceans. One day he swam around an island and noticed that he inhabitants where starving. For years these people had lived from the land, cultivating grains and fruits and hunting. The people where happy, bu then the cold came. None of them where prepared for it, they didn't have the clothes to survive such temperatures and the crops and prey froze to death. One after the other the people starved or froze to death. A few managed to stay warm by taking the clothes of the dead, but the lack of food was still a problem. In there desperation they hoped to find relief. They build primitive rafts, fabricated crude fishnets and took to the sea. But how they tried they didn't catch a single fish.
It was at this point that the faðir hvala swam past. He saw the desperation of these people and took pity. He swam closer and saw the fish swimming on the right side of the raft, while the fishers had cast their nets on the left side. The faðir hvala decided to help and chased to fish to the other side of the raft, where they quickly got stuck in the fishnets of the pity full fishers.
After this moment, the future of the people was secured, from this day they were no longer the people but the ættkvísl hvala. The faðir hvala stayed in the area and thought the ættkvísl hvala how to adjust to the new circumstances. For three generations the faðir hvala helped the ættkvísl hvala, but then his time came. The ættkvísl hvala where distraught that their Varðmaðurinn would die and asked him what would become of them when he was gone. The faðir hvala decided to help the ættkvísl hvala one last time, with his last breath he created the hvala, to be be hunted by his people. He also promised them that in their most dire need, the hvala would come to their aid, as he had done before.
Description:A peaceful nation that lives in harmony with nature.

Michilimackinac/BSmith:
Capital: Waganawkezee
Colour: 0,148,255
Location:

Demonyms: Mackinac (pronounced Mack-i-naw)
Flag:
Government: Primitive Monarchy
Religion: Polytheism. The world is governed by many different gods, the sun, the lakes, the earth, the animals. Everything has a unique spirit that must be respected in order to live in harmony.
Engines: The Tortise; The Raider Prototype
Conventional Soldiers: Light Infantry; Hunter; Mounted Bowman
History: Long ago, after the Great Mystery, or Kitchi-Manitou, first peopled the earth, the Michilimackinac strayed from their harmonious ways and began to argue and fight with one another.

Brother turned against brother and soon the Michilimackinac were killing one another over hunting grounds and others disagreements. Seeing that harmony, brotherhood, sisterhood, and respect for all living things no longer prevailed on Earth, Kitchi-Manitou decided to purify the Earth. He did this with water.

The water came in the form of a great flood, or mush-ko'-be-wun', upon the Earth destroying the Michilimackinac people and most of the animals as well. Only Nanaboozhoo, the central figure in many of the Michilimackinac oral traditions, was able to survive the flood, along with a few animals and birds who managed to swim and fly. Nanaboozhoo floated on a huge log searching for land, but none was to be found as the Earth was now covered by the great flood. Nanaboozhoo allowed the remaining animals and birds to take turns resting on the log as well. Finally, Nanaboozhoo spoke.

"I am going to do something," he said. "I am going to swim to the bottom of this water and grab a handful of earth. With this small bit of Earth, I believe we can create a new land for us to live on with the help of the Four Winds and Kitchi-Manitou."

So Nanaboozhoo dived into the water and was gone for a long time. Finally he surfaced, and short of breath told the animals that the water is too deep for him to swim to the bottom. All were silent. Finally, Mahng, the Loon spoke up. "I can dive under the water for a long way, that is how I catch my food. I will try to make it to the bottom and return with some Earth in my beak."

The Loon disappeared and was gone for a very long time. Surely, thought the others, the Loon must have drowned. Then they saw him float to the surface, weak and nearly unconscious. "I couldn't make it, there must be no bottom to this water," he gasped. Then Zhing-gi-biss, the helldiver came forward and said "I will try next, everyone knows I can dive great distances." So the helldiver went under. Again, a very long time passed and the others thought he was surely drowned. At last he too floated to the surface. He was unconscious, and not till he came to could he relate to the others that he too was unable to fetch the Earth from the bottom.

Many more animals tried but failed, including Zhon-gwayzh', the mink, and even Mizhee-kay", the turtle. All failed and it seemed as though there was no way to get the much needed Earth from the bottom. Then a soft muffled voice was heard. "I can do it," it spoke softly. At first no one could see who it was that spoke up. Then, the little Wazhushk", muskrat stepped forward. "I'll try," he repeated. Some of the other, bigger, more powerful animals laughed at muskrat. Nanaboozhoo spoke up. "Only Kitchi-Manitou can place judgment on others. If muskrat wants to try, he should be allowed to." So, muskrat dove into the water. He was gone much longer than any of the others who tried to reach the bottom. After a while Nanaboozhoo and the other animals were certain that muskrat had give his life trying to reach the bottom. Far below the water's surface, muskrat, had in fact reached the bottom. Very weak from lack of air, he grabbed some Earth in his paw and with all the energy he could muster began to swim for the surface.

One of the animals spotted muskrat as he floated to the surface. Nanaboozhoo pulled him up onto the log. "Brothers and sisters," Nanaboozhoo said, "muskrat went too long without air, he is dead." A song of mourning and praise was heard across the water as muskrat's spirit passed on to the spirit world. Suddenly Nanaboozhoo exclaimed, "Look, there is something in his paw!" Nanaboozhoo carefully opened the tiny paw. All the animals gathered close to see what was held so tightly there. Muskrat's paw opened and revealed a small ball of Earth. The animals all shouted with joy. Muskrat sacrificed his life so that life on Earth could begin anew.

Nanaboozhoo took the piece of Earth from Muskrat's paw. Just then, the turtle swam
forward and said, "Use my back to bear the weight of this piece of Earth. With the help of Kitchi-Manitou, we can make a new Earth." Nanaboozhoo put the piece of Earth on the turtle's back. Suddenly, the wind blew from each of the Four Directions, The tiny piece of Earth on the turtle's back began to grow. It grew and grew and grew until it formed a mini-si', or island in the water. The island grew larger and larger, but still the turtle bore the weight of the Earth on his back. Nanaboozhoo and the animals all sang and danced in a widening circle on the growing island. After a while, the Four Winds ceased to blow and the waters became still.

Since that day, the Michilimackinac have lived in peace on Turtle Island. The waters further receded and left the world as it is today, with the original Turtle Island now a narrow area between several lakes. The water that had at one time been a threat to the very survival of the people is now their life-blood. Along with hunting the plentiful fish that the lakes provide make up a majority of the Michilimackinac diet.

Above story is shamelessly ripped-off adapted from here.

Description: The Michilimackinac people are peaceful hunters and fishermen that rely on the multitude of lakes that surround their homeland.

Definite WIP. Just a claim now.



Also, Optical, you might want to put down the location of the Avirri on the map, perhaps where we discussed it should go? Cause right now, I don't think that it's on the map.