The Nagayana: A Poet's Dream

スネキオト
snekIOT aka SKNES V aka SKRON


The Reins of History, back in the hands of Man.
-Dr. Cid, Final Fantasy XII

Welcome to The Nagayana, a NESIOT (or whatever it's called these days) set in an alternate 18th century. In this world, Tsar Simeon of Bulgaria was successful in his attempt to siege Constantinople in the early 10th century. In the following centuries, Magyars migrated north, and Slavs west, strangling Germany in its cradle. Normans unified England and France into one realm, only to ultimately split it in two. Leon conquered the New World, only to lose it as their home was conquered by Moors. Descendants of Crusaders rule Egypt and Zoroastrians remain in Persia, but both realms have become beacons of tolerance and plurality as the entire Middle East thrives in an intellectual blossoming on a scale never before seen in human history. And perhaps most of all, outside a small sliver of Northern Asia, the name "Mongol" elicits nothing but a few, confused reactions, for no one has heard it.

Now, the year is 1720, and the world is hurtling towards the brink of some great, indescribable revolution, completely unknown to its people, yet still haunting it like a spectre.

---

Anyway, that concludes the obligatory dramatic introduction.

My goal with this was to do an early modern game with a somewhat esoteric timeline that allows for a great number of possibilities for where this world can be taken in. I want to explore a world where the clash between tradition and modernity runs very strong, and also a world where Europe is decidedly not the centre of the world. With the help of some others on chat, the background has been filled in some detail; I'll be posting it over the next few days.

Firstly, I'd like to thank EQandcivfanatic from whom much of the ruleset was gleefully looted from, and also Bair_the_Normal, Reus, thomas.berubeg, and Tolni for their help with the setup and backgrounds.

If you're new here, or old and just returning after a long time away, I'm firstly honoured you chose to look at my game, and secondly, I'm always happy to answer questions, so feel free to ask away! That applies for everyone else, also.

I hope you enjoy.

sample stats said:

Mysore/SouthernKing
Capital: Mysore
Parliamentary Monarchy: Empress Haruhi/Ouran Party
-Issues: Tensions with Avalon, Colonialism, Migration to Cities
Initiative: 35 (74-39)/0
-Administration: -15 (Good)
-Colonial Administration: -7
-Military Upkeep: -17
Economy: Growing
-Trade: Growing
-Infrastructure: Good
Projects:
-Grand Samosa Shrine: 15/20
Colonies:
-California: Balanced/Good Administration/Immigration
-New Jersey: Profitable/Excellent Administration/Tensions with Francia
Development: Army 5, Navy 6, Economy 6, Science 7, Culture 7
-Education: Excellent
Army (Quality 6): 40 Infantry Brigades, 10 Cavalry Brigades, 10 Artillery Brigades
-California: 5 Infantry Brigades, 4 Cavalry Brigades, 1 Artillery Brigade
-New Jersey: 5 Infantry Brigades, 1 Cavalry Brigade, 4 Artillery Brigades
Navy (Quality 7): 30 Small Ships, 6 Large Ships
-California: 10 Small Ships
-New Jersey: 10 Small Ships

Click to expand...

The Government stat lists your form of government, as well as your current leader. Most governments in the present day of 1720 are monarchies in some fashion or another – if this is the case, the monarch’s name will be listed, along with her/his present age – especially as the monarch becomes older, ensuring that the succession is stable is always a priority. If you are a republic or otherwise have some sort of assembly which plays a part in your politics, the dominant party or political group will be listed here, as well.

Below this, in Issues, I will list three of the most pressing issues, in rough order starting with what is most presently concerning to your government. These may be anything from poor relations or warfare with a neighbouring country, to internal problems, to the haunting spectre of an impending revolution. They can and do vary greatly by country, and may not have an immediate solution at all. I’ll describe some of the more common ones in the OP; some of the more specific ones can be usually found in more detail in the updates.

Governments can change over time, and if you wish to maintain a status quo, it is best to also make your own political changes over time. Unless, of course, you are intentionally attempting to bring about a revolution. After all, there is perhaps no more beautiful sound than hearing the people sing.

Initiative and Administration​

Unlike most NESIOTWTFBBQs, instead of economic points (EPs), the main currency in this game will be Initiative. This may seem like a large difference, but in reality amounts to the same thing that EPs generally do; that is, an abstracted representation of government funding and political capital. Initiative can be directly correlated with economic and political power; the larger and stronger your polity is, and additionally the larger your economy, the more initiative you will generally have.

Under Initiative you will see four numbers: Net Total (Income-Expenses)/Banked. Those expenses are listed below.

Administration is the costs required to keep your country’s bureaucratic gears turning – to ensure that taxes are collected, that government services reach the populace, and so forth. It is entirely possible to run a country through force alone, and there are quite a few countries in the world today where that is still the case. But that is so barbaric! Any modern state requires a capable and efficient administration – and you can tell how efficient that is, by the descriptor next to it, from worst to best: Nonexistent, Poor, Average, Good, Excellent.

You don’t necessarily need to spend the full cost on administration; however, underspending leads to increased discontent and lowered quality. On the flipside, spending more and conducting reforms can increase quality. But do be careful when conducting reforms, as they may backfire or have unintended consequences.

Colonial Administration is, likewise, the costs required to administer and/or supply your overseas colonial possessions. Military Upkeep is how much is necessary to maintain your military; this is detailed more in that section.

Other programs with costs per turn can be listed here also, but no one starts with those.

The simplest ways of gaining more initiative by making your administration better, or by increasing taxes or tariffs. On the flipside, doing the reverse of these things will likely result in a decrease in initiative. However, keep in mind that these actions do have other consequences besides changing the amount of income that is reaching your government.

Economy​

Initiative is loosely derived from your economy. As we are in an era before modern economic measurements, the economic stats in this game reflect trends rather than hard numbers. There are two primary ones: Economy, which represents the state of the economy as a whole, and Trade, which represents the state of your foreign and maritime trade. While they are not necessarily correlated, they usually are; especially if your economy is heavily dependent on foreign trade.

Infrastructure is a measure of how good your roads and/or ports (which is really about it as far as this period is concerned) are. Infrastructure is measured as Nonexistent, Poor, Average, Good, Excellent. Better infrastructure, and the subsequent easier travel throughout your country, leads to easier administration, not to mention the innumerable economic benefits.

There are also Projects. Projects are special, large expenditures that usually take multiple turns. They can roughly be compared to Wonders from Civilization, but could easily be far more mundane. A project could include such things as building great monuments, infrastructure improvements, opening of trade routes, policy changes, inquisitions, and infrastructure. PM me if you want to begin one for details including the total cost and effects.

Colonialism​

Colonialism in this world is somewhat behind that in ours, but we are still in the midst of the Age of Sail, so the opportunity for creating a global empire is still growing. There are a multitude of reasons you might want colonies. If you want to expand overseas, the first thing to consider is whether your navy is of sufficient calibre to be able to cross seas on a regular basis; the second, equally important thing is to ensure that you have a means of reasonably supplying overseas possessions, as they are certainly not always profitable.

Colonies, as listed in the stats, have three descriptors attached to them. The first is the profitability of the colony, described (from worst to best) as Very Unprofitable, Unprofitable, Balanced, Profitable, Very Profitable. The second is the quality of the colony’s administration. The same things that hold true for non-colonial administration hold true here as well. And the last thing is the predominant issue in the colony.

Development and Education​

Development is a measure of how advanced your country is in particular fields, both in theoretical knowledge and in applied technology. Each field of development will have a number, from 1 to theoretically infinity (the highest anyone starts with is 7 or 8). There are five fields of development:
-Army Development is your knowledge of land warfare. Higher levels indicate superior tactical knowledge and more advanced equipment.
-Navy Development is your knowledge of sailing and naval warfare. Higher levels indicate superior tactical knowledge and more advanced equipment.
-Economy Development is your knowledge of agriculture, engineering, infrastructure, finance, economics, and administration, as well as other fields which provide increased economic wealth.
-Science Development is your knowledge of the natural sciences – that is, astronomy, physics, chemistry, and biology. Science development largely feeds into other fields of development for practical application.
-Culture Development is how “advanced” you are in philosophy and the arts – in literature, music, visual arts, and so forth and so forth. Rather than representing “advancement” in something that cannot really be quantified as such, higher culture development is more representative of how much others seek to emulate your artistic prowess.

Education is, as you might imagine, the quality of the internal education institutions and systems in your country, whatever form they may take. Education is measured (from worst to best) as Nonexistent, Poor, Average, Good, Excellent. Taking the effort to fund institutions of learning, in whatever form they may take, is the surest means of improving this stat. Better education leads to faster development advances, and pays great dividends in the long run.

Military​

Army Units
-3 Initiative for 1 Infantry Brigade (0.1 upkeep/brigade, 1 upkeep/10 brigades)
-5 Initiative for 1 Cavalry Brigade (0.2 upkeep/brigade, 1 upkeep/5 brigades)
-5 Initiative for 1 Artillery Brigade (0.2 upkeep/brigade, 1 upkeep/5 brigades)

Navy Units
-3 Initiative for 1 Small Ship (0.1 upkeep/ship, 1 upkeep/10 ships)
-8 Initiative for 1 Large Ship (0.333… upkeep/ship, 1 upkeep/3 ships)

Especially in the navy, more units will become available as technology develops sufficiently to reach that level.

Both Army and Navy have a Quality stat. The higher this number is, the better calibre the officer corps or military leadership is. This number will increase as these officers get more experience and better training, and it can also decrease.

It is entirely dependent on where you are in the globe, but we have reached an era where people tend to frown upon war for the sake of pure aggression. Thus, even if it is entirely superficial, it is useful to have a casus belli. In addition, campaigns over small parcels of territory is quite common; the era of total warfare as seen in the 20th century is pretty far off.

When on campaign, it is also useful to provide some extra funding for supplies, else your troops will be forced to live off the land. The latter is not necessarily a worse option, it just has consequences for the people living in that land.

Lastly, sending large numbers of soldiers to unfamiliar climates in this era is a quick way to lose large numbers of soldiers.

Housekeeping​

Updates will be somewhere between every 3 weeks and monthly, as of now. This might change. We are starting on 1 January 1720, and turns will be 3 years each. The first will be 1720-1722, the second 1723-1725, the third 1726-1728, and so forth.

Please send orders by CFC PM, and please try to limit them to a single PM if at all possible. I have no real preference how you want to go about doing this; do orders in whatever format you’re comfortable with.

I have rather little patience for SRSBSNS drama or forum politics, please keep those separate from the the game.

I'm usually on IOTchat, if you want to talk or ask questions - I'm always willing to, again, no question is too stupid, and I'm always more than happy to help! In fact, the more you ask me, the better off you'll be. I can almost certainly answer CFC PMs as well. Chatango PMs are rather terrible, so another route is to use Steam messages - mine is Rapunzel-chan (seriously, don't ask). I am usually am able to answer those, though I have a habit of going AFK while leaving my status as online - if I don't immediately respond that is probably the case, and apologies in advance.

Current Players (thanks Double A)
NOT UPDATED FOR 1726 YET

Western Europe
Albion/thomas.berubeg
Brittany/Robert Can’t
Catalonia/JohannaK
Francia/Omega124
Galicia/Tyo
Italy/Seon
Scandinavia/Angst
Scotland/Civ’ed

Eastern Europe
Bilyar/Grandkhan
Bulgaria/Tolni
Greece/Polyblank
Minsk/Ahigin
Pannonia/ZeletDude
Sigurdia/Mosher

Africa
Maghrib/Terran Empress

South Asia
Abdalid Empire/Red_Spy
Bihar/christopher_sni
Karnataka/Double A

SE Asia
Sunda/Reus
Vietnam/ChiefDesigner

East Asia
Asadeul/Bair_the_Normal
Jalairid Khanate/Zappericus
Kumajima/Immaculate
Mainland Japan/christos200
Yamato/Justo

New World
Nuevo Leon/Azale

Backgrounds (from the pre-thread):
New World
Western Europe
Eastern Europe
Asia Minor
Middle East
North/East Africa
West Africa
South Asia
Southeast Asia
China
Japan/Korea

Updates:
1: 1720-1722 Part 2
2: 1723-1725 Part 2

Update Maps:
1720 (Labeled)
1723 (Labeled)
1726 (Labeled)
(Labeled maps thanks to Ahigin)

Other Maps:
Religions, 1720

Regional Maps:
Albionese Flanders, 1720 (thomas.berubeg)
Albionese Indian Ocean colonies, 1720 (thomas.berubeg)
Albionese Westmark, 1720 (thomas.berubeg)
Francian colonies, 1720 (Omega124)
Maghribi Indian Ocean colonies, 1720 (Terran Empress)
Maghribi New World colonies, 1720 (Terran Empress)
Scandinavian colonies, 1720 (Angst)

Reserved

Devreser

There has been some level of confrontation between important advisers in the court of Asadeul, or Jusen, over whether the court should attempt to shed the Japanese cultural influences that had been dominant for the better part of the last two hundred years. The seeming renaissance of China to the west has provided a potential alternative cultural sphere to attach to, or perhaps Asadeul can attempt to do what Japan did and create a sphere of its – her – own.

Or perhaps there is another alternative: the introduction of both Christianity and Islam by foreign traders has resulted in both religions growing into significant urban minority faiths in Asadeul’s cosmopolitan port towns, which are spreading into the rural interior to boot. They now compete with each other as well as with local beliefs and Buddhism for converts. The same holds true for parts of Japan itself, especially in the Yamato lands.

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The great landmass to the south of Nusantara and the Spice Islands had already been known to Albionese explorers, and quite possibly the Leonese before them. However, it was a Sundanese sailor with the tentative backing of the Sundanese court who in 1716-1717 became the first to circumnavigate it, as well as making contact with numerous indigenous tribes, especially along the southwest and southeast coasts.

Bihar has recently seen its major cities expand rapidly thanks to peasant migration from the countryside, spurred in large part by feudal landlords seizing peasant shareholds and turning them into wage operations. Patna in particular has expanded far more rapidly than its infrastructure can manage. Throughout other parts of India, especially Karnataka and the Indus Valley, the same pattern seems to be recurring, but in Bihar, it is far more pronounced than anywhere else, and the others seem to be taking cues from Bihar.

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The slave trade in both West and East Africa continues healthily, spurred on by a desire for labour in the New World plantation colonies, especially on the islands of the Sea of Songs, southeast of Hibracia. There has also been increasing number of slaves imported elsewhere. But, especially in Albion and the Maghrib, there is increasing opposition to the idea that humans can be property, and the voices to abolish slavery are small but increasing.

There has been increasing contention between the increasingly fundamentalist Hijazi government over the hajj, including reports of Shi’ite pilgrims being singled out and discriminated, and even killed, during the hajj of 1131 AH. There are no official confirmations of this, of course.

---

In the last decade, the northeastern Mediterranean has become a nexus of piracy, as Italian, Egyptian, and Anatolian vessels in particular come under constant attack, to the point where merchant vessels are warned to avoid the southern end of the Aegean Sea. Many of the pirates are believed to be operating from bases on remote Greek islands, and there has been pressure placed on Thebes to take action against the pirates, something it has yet to do.

This is not the only thing radiating from Greece these days. There is another, far more implicit force slowly at play. The success of the Greek revolution and Greece’s unique government, appealing both to the ancien regime and to commoners, has inspired similar movements throughout the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean rim, and even further abroad.

The conclave of 1719 brought a Raetian cardinal from Son Gagl to the Pontificate, taking on the name Dominic IV. It is an unwritten secret that the election, like many of the last dozen or so, was largely a compromise, to avoid either a Francian or an Italian taking the papacy. Thus far, however, the new pope seems to have nicely courted himself with the Italians, threatening to unravel the delicate balance.

---

In northeastern Hibracia, the rise of the Meskwaki sultan as the dominant force inland has displaced a good number of existing peoples, primarily the Shawnee and Haudenosaunee, eastwards, where they have begun making – sometimes violent – contact with Francian pioneers plying further into the interior. The Francian colonies of Tabacterre and Forêterre in particular has been at the forefront of this contact.

The west coast of Hibracia is still largely uncontrolled, even if Albion may claim it. But there are others: the Kumajima expedition that crossed the Pacific a decade ago and extensively traded with the local inhabitants is still well-remembered, both here and back in Asia. On the return journey, the expedition landed on a chain of islands whose inhabitants call it Hawai’i, and traded there also. In Kagoshima, some influential figures with a now clearer picture of the New World have begun pressuring the court to back another expedition, this time, perhaps, with the ambitious goal of establishing a permanent base.

---

OOC

And so that’s the little mini-update. As I said, stats aren’t quite done yet, but I’ll try to get them up by mid-this week (6-7 January or thereabouts)

Go ahead and post to your heart’s content! In fact, please do check in so I know you’re officially playing.

Brittany Bestany (Subscription post)

Albion is here

The Grand Princedom of Minsk is here.

Under Initiative you will see four numbers: Net Total (Income-Expenses)/Banked. Those expenses are listed below.

Click to expand...

Wait a sec. You can bank your initiative?

Finland checking in.

Hey,

Is there a list of nations that are still available?

Here, here!

Ahigin said:

Wait a sec. You can bank your initiative?

Click to expand...

Come to think of it, bank doesn't really work for anything else either since a treasury isn't really a bank anyway?
(Think of it as a combination of building up political favours and having money stored away or something)

ZeletDude said:

Hey,

Is there a list of nations that are still available?

Click to expand...

This is the list of nations that were taken, anything else is still open!

Maghrib here

SouthernKing said:

Come to think of it, bank doesn't really work for anything else either since a treasury isn't really a bank anyway?
(Think of it as a combination of building up political favours and having money stored away or something)

Click to expand...

Well, I'll accept this simply as an abstraction of game mechanics. If I were you, I'd separate it into two stats, such as Leadership and Economic Points. But then again, I'm not you, and I'm perfectly fine playing the game as it is.

I will take Pannonia then!