NutraNESIV.6: The Dread Kings of Ekra

nutranurse · Feb 13, 2012

NutraNES
The Dread-Kings of Ekra

Overview

The old regime has crumbled. Once Ekra was held in the iron grip of the High Kings, but the untimely death of the late High King Bogor-Taniion the Patron, the apparent death of his son and heir, the infant High-King Gogzur-Garion, and the destruction of the imperial capital of Urst by a group of over-ambitious lords has plunged the continent into an era of chaos and strife.

Players of this NES take up the bloody mantles of the Dread-Lords of Ekra--brutal warrior-kings living in an equally brutal land. Your rules are absolute; Your goals may be whatever you wish them to be. However, more likely than not few will survive the dark times to come.

Playing The Game
Each player will take control of a single High Clan--the premier sociopolitical members of the Ekran society. Players are the lords of their clan and for all intents and purposes have complete control over those underneath you, however I implore you to not be too much of a tyrant without the force of arms to back it up.

Turns & Timescale
Each turn will encompass 10 years, which seems like a lot of time, but not really when you consider that both Elves, Orcs, and Orelves are a fairly long-lived peoples.

Elves live for 250-300 years
Orcs live for 200-250 years
Orelfs (Half Elf-Orcs) live for 100-150 years

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Castles & Cities
The lifeline of the players lie in their castles and cities. Both come in two variants, small and large; both provide the two most important stats, income and manpower. Castles provide more manpower, while cities provide more income. More castles and cities can be constructed as the game goes on. Costs for these grand projects must be negotiated with me.

Below is a table relating the base manpower and income¤ generated per turn by castles and cities:

Income
This is the generic term for money, supplies, raw and finished goods, etc. If you have a lot of income assume that you are well off. If you do not have a lot of income start a war. Cities and castles generate income, but cities generate more income than castles. Players use income to fund virtually every action they can think of; when in doubt throw income at the issue. Income is represented by the ¤ symbol.

Manpower
This stat deals with your soldiers and how many soldiers you have. There are three kinds: 'Pool' manpower; 'Standing' manpower; and 'Realm Garrison' manpower. These will be explained in-depth further down. Manpower is represented by the symbol.

Pool Manpower refers to the 'potential' your clan/realm/kingdom has for individuals it can make into soldiers. Essentially every single able-bodied and willing Elf, Orc, and Orelf within your realm is represented in the manpower pool. There is no ¤-cost for having men in your pool and you can count on the individuals in your manpower pool to take up arms and defend their homes in the event of an invasion. However, they will not fight nearly as well as soldiers who are organized into proper armies.

Standing Manpower refers to the able-bodied and willing individuals who are employed as trained, vaguely professional soldiers. These are the Orcs, Elves, and Orelves who make up your armies and are the ones who can be mobilized for offensive campaigns. Moreover, standing manpower better defend your territory and you can employ standing manpower to conduct petty raids on neighbors without the need to mobilize them. For ever 1,000 of standing manpower you have you must pay a 1¤ maintenance.

Realm Garrison refers to the soldiers stationed in and around your castles as well as the Orcs, Elves, and Orelfs entering your pool manpower. Only castles can provide realm garrison, meaning that you only generate manpower if you hold castles. This is to give castles a benefit akin to the increased income ¤ generated by cities. In the event of an invasion your realm garrison may be reduced to represent the losses sustained by both civilian and military defenders; in such a scenario the manpower generated by your castles first must refill the realm garrison to maximum capacity before it can start to provide you with pool manpower.

e.g., Player 1 holds 3 small castles, giving him a realm garrison of 1,500. Player 2 invades, successfully takes one of Player 1's small castles and does significant damage to Player 1's realm. Player 1's realm garrison is reduced to 200. He still receives 1,000 realm garrison per turn for holding 2 small castles, however 800 must go into Player 1's realm garrison, leaving only 200 to go into Player 1's manpower pool.

Settlement Type | Realm Garrison/Manpower Generated Per Turn
Small Castle | 500
Large Castle | 1,000

Manpower can also be 'purchased'/'recruited' for an expenditure of income¤. City-heavy realms will not be penalized because they will be able to purchase manpower, so do not fret if you have more cities than castles. Recruited manpower immediately goes into your Standing Manpower.

Standing Manpower must be 'Fielded' for offensive campaigns. Fielded Manpower incurs a higher income¤ cost and this cost represents the maintenence of necessities for an army out in a field. The total income¤ cost for a fielded army can be seen as analogous to the cost of launching a campaign, however in certain situations it may be prudent to provide more income¤ for your campaigns.

Below is a summary for the list of costs concerning manpower:

Pool Manpower costs 0¤/1,000 to maintain
Changing Pool Manpower into Standing Manpower costs 1¤/1,000
Standing Manpower costs 1¤/1,000 to maintain
You can Recruit Manpower for 5¤/1,000; the recruited manpower becomes Standing Manpower
You need to convert Standing Manpower into Fielded Manpower to go on offensive campaigns; Fielded Manpower costs 5¤/1,000

Navies
Navies operate somewhat similarly to normal manpower. 20 Ships = 1,000. Pool manpower can be converted into ships at a conversion rate of 1¤/1,000 (e.g., to get 40 you would need to spend 2¤ and 2,000 from your manpower pool). This change is permanent and losing ships means you lose that manpower forever! Ships cost 1¤/20 to maintain.

Coastal Castles and Cities both provide a base amount of ships. The amount provided is shown in the table below:

Clans with the 'Seafaring' trait receive a larger base amount of ships from their settlements. The amount provided is shown in the table below:

Base ships will refill a player's navy if the amount of ships they have drops below the total sum of base ships from all their settlements. Upon conquering new settlements players must wait 1 Update for the settlement to begin providing its base ships.

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Miscellaneous Mechanics

Roads: At the start of the NES there is only a single major road: Bragga's Path. The Path, as it is commonly referred to, is perhaps the single-most important example of engineering that Ekra has thus far put forth. It is an extensive road tracing the conquests of the first High King of Ekra, Bragga 'the Bold', and it links together Ekra's largest cities and most formidable castles. The road is obviously important as it provides a way through some of the island's more treacherous terrain. More roads can, and probably will, be constructed, and the costs for these roads must be negotiated with me.

Updates: At best the NES should update once a week, at worst updates will come out every one and a half week. Updates will include pretty much everythig that has gone on in ten year time-span.

War: What is war good for? Pretty much everything. Most updates will contain at least a few conflicts, and given the length of each update these conflicts will tend to be resolved in a single update. Multi-update spanning wars are truly tremendous wars to behold. Wars are conducted via players determining how much manpower they are going to expend on each campaign and then giving a series of campaign goals. There is no need to go further than this, although I do appreciate added detail, but do not go overboard!

Orders: Orders should be PM'd to me unless we have a prior agreement. Orders should have the following title:

NutraNESIV.6 Update [#] [Clan Name]/[Player Name]

I will refuse orders not sent to me with the proper title format (it really, really, really helps me find orders at a glance and makes the updating process easier). Beyond this orders must include your current stats, as well as spending amounts.

Spending: I am unashamedly stealing this mechanic from kkmo who made it for his lovely Lords of the Rising Sun NES. To ease players into the game and not cause them to be lost at what to do I am limiting what players can do to a few specific categories. Each turn players will allot income into various spending categories and will use these categories as a base for what exactly they want to do.

Player Profiles

If I do this right the entirety of the game can be summed up in your player profile.

Clan Name-Dynasty/Inter-Dynasty Affiliations
Your clan name and the dynasty they belong to will be listed here, alongside any outside affiliations they might have to other clans. The dynasty your clan belongs to serves as a reminder for you to see just who is on your 'side' or who you should look out for in particularly. Dynasties over the course of the game will change as players forge realms of their own.

Inter-Dynasty Affiliations are gained through marrying off scions of your clan to other acceptable scions. There is a great incentive to marry off your children and their children because otherwise your clan might die out!

Lord Name (Race/Age/Sex)
Your clan's ruling lord will be listed here, alongside his/her race, age, and sex. These are all pretty straight forward. The only thing I will expand upon is age:
Elves live for 250-300 years
Orcs live for 200-250 years
Orelfs (Half Elf-Orcs) live for 100-150 years

Heir (Pretenders)
Your heir is the person you expect to succeed your current clan lord. Alongside the heir's name their age, race, marital status, and gender will be listed. From time to time pretenders will emerge to challenge the succession of your desired heir. Alongside their name will be their age, race, marital status, gender, and support. Support details just how big of a threat they pose to the unity of your clan, and ranges from 1 to 10. In the event of a pretender arising you generally have one of three options: back the new pretender, kill the pretender, or attempt to placate the pretender.

Family (Relation, Race, Age, Gender, Marital Stats)
Here I will list the important members of your clan. Generally they will be the sons and daughters of your ruling lord, though from time to time a powerful niece/nephew, brother/sister, or cousin will be listed here. Feel free to use them as pawns in your schemes.

Holdings (Name/Type/Expected Income/Manpower)
Here I will list all the important places your clan has dominion over. The type will be either Small Castle-Large Castle/Small City-Large City. The expected income they generate for the next turn will also be listed here, but please note that this is just an estimate and not the true income they will yield.

Manpower (Army Desc.)
I will list your manpower here and how many are currently raised for warfare. The manpower stat will display small numbers (it most likely will never broach the double digits) but in truth represents hundreds of troops. Every unit of manpower represents 500 warriors. It costs 0 income to maintain 1 unit of unraised manpower. When raised for war it costs 1 income to maintain 1 unit of manpower, ontop of the campaign's costs. War is expensive.

Alongside the manpower number is a short, descriptive blurb about just what kind of soldiers are in each unit. Your army description is somewhat important and it pays to pay attention to what kind of units you can field so you can adjust your campaign tactics accordingly.

Please note that manpower can never be purchased. Each turn your castles and cities generate manpower and just how much you have to use is listed here. In the event of a true crisis you can choose to mobilize your non-military population. The amount of manpower your receive from this action is double the number of that city's/castle's generated manpower. However, these troops are not true warriors and raising them will most likely see damage to their city's/castle's income.

Income (Estimated True Income - Maintenance = Spendable Income) (Stored Income)
Here the income of your clan is listed in a simple formula: estimated true income before maintenance - maintenance of your clan = spendable income. In your orders you do not have to allot extra income to the upkeep of your soldiers and various long-term porjects unless you are feeling particularly generous. The spendable income you get each turn will be what you put into the various spending categories. Please do note that as the amount of income you get per turn is an estimate, as all sorts of bad things can befall your castles and cities that see the amount of income they generate be lessened (or increased, in certain cases). It is a good idea to never overspend and to always have a sizable store of income.

Clan Factions (Strength/Loyalty)
Within your clan there will most likely be various minor factions that can subtly influence the way you play the game. These factions range anywhere from religious sects, important/uppity vassals, angry lowborns, and foreign merchants. Their strength is how much power they hold within your realm and ranges from 1 to 5; at 5 their power is almost equal to yours. Loyalty likewise ranges from 1 to 5, where five is complete and utter devotion.

Favor (Major Faction's Name/Favor Amount)
Lastly your clan will interface with the major factions in the realm through this stat. If a major faction is not listed in your player profile assume that you are on neutral grounds with the faction. Favor ranges from -10 to +10, and anything over +/-7 is difficult to achieve without some sort of tremendous display that engenders great love/ire. Major factions are listed elsewhere.

Fear (#)
Fear fulfills the same function as 'Prestige' does in other NES'. It is a measure of just how prominent your clan is and can be taken as your 'score' if you really want to. Although no one really wins the NES, the clans with the most 'Fear' are arguably the winners. Fear is not garnered through simply terrorizing your foes, but terrorizing them in such a sick and twisted way that even the most hardened warrior thinks twice about attacking you. Brute force alone cannot gain fear; in fact, in some cases brute force alone sees your fear score drop.

Projects: "Project Name" (Progress, Cost for Advancement)
Projects encompass any multi-turn investment meant to better your realm somehow. This ranges from strengthening walls to training a special kind of troop to introducing new crops to building whole new settlements. Most projects will take multiple turns to complete and will cost ¤ each turn. To find out the price of these projects you must negotiate with me. To reward builders/encourage players to have a lull in between their wars, during turns in which players preform no offensive or defensive campaigns they can choose a project and have it advance two stages; they must may the cost for EACH stage, so if both stages were to cost 5¤ each the player would have to pay 10¤. Raiding does not count as an offensive action. Players can have a maximum of 3 projects running at a time.

Sample Stats

Spoiler :

Spending

Again, I must credit kkmo with this brilliant mechanic, as it makes both mine and your jobs easier. Spending is the concept that any action done by a clan in this NES will fall into one of eight categories:

Military
Infrastructure
Religion/Magic
Foreign Relations
Internal Relations
Trade
Reinvestment
Treasury

Military spending encompasses anything related to your soldiers outside of general maintenance. Remember that general maintenance is already accounted for and so military spending is about training your troops to fight in different ways or funding military campaigns. Anything relating to manipulating your manpower poolsuch as recruiting drives, propaganda, mobilizing civilians, etcalso falls under military spending. Subterfuge is also tied to military spending.

Infrastructure deals explicitly with the construction of new castles, cities, and roads or the construction within already built castles, cities, and roads. If you want to expand a castle's barracks then throw that income here; if you want to build tolls alongside your stretch of Braga's Road then throw that income here; if you want to erect a new castle and make your neighbors fearful/envious then throw that income here. The upgrading of already existing castles and cities also falls under infrastructure spending.

Religion/Magic plays an important role in this NES and the fictional society in this NES. As the NES progresses players will find that magic and religion are one in the same, but initially who knows what will happen! When you put income into this category you are actually just donating money to the leaders of your clan's chosen faith (either the Cult of Many or the Goddess Sect). When dealing with religious major factions putting income into religious spending will have positive/negative effects on your relations with other religions depending on who you decide to favor. The use of spending to influence magic and magical affairs will be revealed once magic enters the fray.

Foreign Relations relates to every peaceful action your clan can preform with other clans. If players make diplomatic agreements that see the use of income then put that amount of income here in the foreign relations category. Weddings between two different clans or factions outside of your clan also falls under the foreign relations category. Interfacing with secular major factions also falls under this category.

Internal Relations refers to your lord's efforts to interface peacefully with factions and individuals within your clan. It is important to keep your vassals happy and make sure the lowborns remain blissfully unaware of the greater going-ons. Sponsoring certain events such as festivals, tournaments, etc. are ways to do this, and I encourage you all to be creative in your politicking. Marriages that deal with factions/families within your clan also falls under the internal relations category.

Trade matters are any matters that deal with the abstracts of economics. Trading within your clan, trading with other clans, and trading with other factions are all ways to generate extra bits of income, so it is a good idea to attempt to foster trade within your clan's realm unless you are hellbent on making sure all your gold is red and bloody.

Reinvestment is my way of giving you an out if you have no clue what you want to do and are willing/stupid enough to let me dictate where your spending goes. When you put income into reinvestment you are basically putting income into the hands of your advisers and telling them "Look guys, I just want to kill things so you do all the stuff that doesn't deal with killing things. kthxbye."

Treasury spending is not spending per say, but putting away income so that you can begin to build up a nice buffer zone between you and all those nasty events I will throw at your clan. It is generally a good idea to put some money into your treasury each turn as you never know if the amount you are spending this turn is the amount you will be receiving this turn due to various events and factors.

Diplomacy

Diplomacy in-thread should be formatted as follows:

From: (Clan Lord) of (Clan

To: (Recipient Clans)

Text

nutranurse · Feb 13, 2012

Concepts

Ekra: An Overview
Ekra is an old society in the world of El-Or. Its people know that it is an island, but not much else outside of that. The island itself is fairly large—for reference it is almost twice the size of Japan, though much less mountainous. Ekra's climate is dry, and the land is dominated by vast steppes and sweeping plains, with a few, large mountain chains hiding away clusters of forests and hills.

The native animals of Ekra, including the sentient humanoid species of Elves, Orcs, but not Goblins, are ferocious creations. Among the nations that Ekra has regular contact with the island has a reputation for being particularly dangerous for non-native peoples. Early in its history terrible, wild beasts littered the land, and even today these creatures strike fear into many hearts. Drakes are by far the most famous of these creatures, and the Ekran drake is known to inhabit all regions of the island.

Ekra is—or was, as you players will find out—ruled for centuries by the High Kings living in the eastern shadows of the Gaarouk Mountains. The rise of Bragga the Bold, Ekra's first high king, is not a story of ambition and skill, but one of seemingly divine favor. Instrumental to the emergence of the island-unifying High Kingdom was the emergence of the Cult of Many simultaneously all over the island shortly before Bragga's birth. The Cult espoused the worship of the Many, a strange pantheon of ill-understood Gods who demand only one thing: the cultivation of fear.

Elves, Orcs, & Goblins
Three humanoid races are native to Ekra, though players should only regard two as 'sentient': Elves and Orcs. Ekran Elves and Orcs are large, robust creatures. 6" (183cm) is short to Ekrans; the average height is between 6"7-7"2 (200-218cm) for males and a bit shorter for females. Ekran Elves tend to have tan to brown skin colors, while their Orcish cousins range from brown to muddy-green. Interbreeding between the two races does occur from time to time—though mostly among Highborn clans Orelfs tend to take the coloring of their parents, but are significantly shorter and most rarely stand above 6"5 (195cm). They are, however, much stronger than their parents as well as more dexterous.

Elves live for between 250-300 years. Orcs for between 200-250. Orelfs anywhere between 100-200 years. Goblins a scant 40-60. Now, it is not known why Elves live so much longer, but it really does not matter: very few Ekrans live to see past their 200th birthday. The Ekran society is a violent one due to the obsession with cultivating fear, and while this violence may have changed from outright tribal wars to subtle conflicts due to the 'civilization' brought forth by the High Kings it is just as bloody.

Elves/Orcs have long childhoods, actually. From 0-20 they are considered infants/toddlers (and age appropriately to that), from 20-50 they are children and 50-90 to 100 they are adolescent. Again, their bodies age appropriate to that during these periods. Now, I am not going to go into the traditions and rites of middleborn orcs/elves (who make up the majority of the orcish/elven population) as you guys take on the roles of Highborns, deal mainly with other Highborns, and truthfully only care about other Highborns. Basically, it boils down to a Highborn mother deeming her child as ready to enter the adult world and that child expressing his/her wish for what they would like to do with their lives (mercantile path, warrior's path, priest's path); normally this has already been decided for them well in advance and much of their century-long childhood has been spent gearing them for this. Once the child 'declares' they are tested by the local masters of their field and are then admitted into society as adults. If they fail they are ejected from the Highborn world and must find their way among the middleborn.

The enslavement of Elves/Orcs is not entirely uncommon, though slaves taken in this way are either war-captives or debtor slaves. Elven/Orcish slaves are seen as something of a luxury and are employed by wealthier Elves/Orcs to do menial tasks. Sometimes a Highborn will seek to 'trick' or 'trap' a particularly enterprising/useful middleborn Elf/Orc into bondage, and in such instances outside slaver parties, such as the Guagziir, are used.

Goblins deserve a small mention at this point. They are considered to be the lowest of the low, and in comparison to the Goblins of other parts of the world the Ekran Goblin truly is lowly. They are small, squat, ugly creatures whose only saving grace is their ability to be easily bullied and their astounding breeding capabilities. Prior to the appearance of the Cult of Many Goblins were free, though in the generation between the Many's appearance and the birth of High King Bragga the Bold the majority of Ekra's Goblin population was subdued.

Highborn, Middleborn, & Ekran Society
You are all taking on the roles of the highest of the Highborn population—Ekra's ruling class. You are the 1% of the 1% and can count yourselves among the most feared, and thus most powerful, men and women in Ekra. Highborn Ekrans are the descendants of the first elders of the Cult of Many. These distant ancestors claimed to have been spoken to by the Many and wielded considerable religious, political, and martial power over their tribes. While the ability to have conversations with the divine never passed onto the children of these first elders, the power the possessed did and it has remained largely constant for over ten generations. In their current incarnation the Highborn families have little ties to the Cult, despite providing the leadership for the religious institution. They are wholly political beings and are secular aristocratic rulers of the land they own.

The Highborn caste can be further divided between lesser Highborn and true Highborn. The lesser far outnumber the true, and most lesser Highborn families can trace their heritage back to to middleborn families who managed to get themselves feared enough that some Highborn family wished to ally themselves with the upstart family. Lesser Highborns are tasked with the day-to-day activities of ruling cities or castles. They are the minor officials, the mid-level officers in armies, the couriers and diplomats, and most importantly the merchants. True Highborn consider commerce a dishonorable activity, but are not so honor-bound that they are blind to its benefits. So true Highborns assign such duties to lesser Highborn families—usually newer ones raised from the ranks of the middleborn—which dishonors the chosen family, but enriches them immensely.

True Highborn can trace a direct line back to those first prophet-elder ancestors who simultaneously established the Cult of Many all over the island. They occupy the highest positions in the military and government(s) of Ekra. Theoretically the head of every Highborn clan is an elder, though few opt into the Cult's ranks, and the Cult itself has become an entity separate from the dynastic politics of Ekra. In reality the true Highborn, the players, do not do much save for distribute the revenue to keep their estates running, interact with other clans via war or diplomacy, and cultivate fear. The last of these three is the most important occupation for the small number of ture Highborn.

The Ekran society revolves around the notion of fear being power. How exactly fear is cultivated is a matter of many arguments, though it can boil down to 'civilized' clans engaging in treacherous subterfuge and sly machinations, while the more 'savage' clans brutally oppress those around them. Fear is the only thing that allows the true Highborn to retain their positions at the pinnacle of society, and whatever religious connotation 'fear' may have due to the Cult of Many the Highborn clans rapaciously cultivate fear to serve their political ends.

Middleborn Ekrans fill pretty much every faucet of society that you can think of for urban-dwelling peoples. They are skilled and unskilled craftsmen, low-level officials in both the government and Cult, soldiers, and whatever else needs to be done to keep the various cities and castles of Ekra thriving. Most middleborn take on the jobs that their fathers took on and lead quiet, insular lives within the cities that they are born in. Few middleborn actually leave the cities that they are born in due to the High Kingdom laws forbidding them from doing so. The only exception to this are merchant-families who conduct the greater amount of trade in the High Kingdom and are given free access to enter and leave cities and castles.

The Cult of the Many & the Goddess Sect
One of the more unique aspects of Ekran society is the island-wide unquestionable devotion to the Cult of Many and its various philosophical offshoots. The Cult came about roughly at the same time almost 2,000 years ago a generation before the birth of the first high king, Bragga the Bold. In that generational gap worship of the Many spread rapidly across the island as independent warlord-elders united warring tribes under the direction of the terrible and mysterious Many. Cultists worship a pantheon of dark deities that are relatively unknown, but feared nonetheless. Even the highest, most knowledgeable elder of the current day does not know the face or name of any single member-god of the Many, though they certainly know the will of the whole pantheon: fear. The Many demand that fear be birthed in the world and that fear must rule it. How Cultists go about garnering this fear is the source of numerous arguments and minor schisms in thought, but it does not seem to matter as fear is always the end result.

As High King Bragga the Bold and his descendants conquered Ekra the status of the Cultists and the Cult of Many became increasingly complicated. At first those rulers that submitted to Bragga were elders themselves, but by the rule of High King Volo-Amonion the Drake-Killer, the third high king, most rulers had no direct ties to their faith. High Elders and Elders were drawn from the ranks of third and fourth sons and daughters, and without land of their own to govern they wandered the High Kingdom spreading fear. It was not till the tumultuous reign of High King Baol-Beinion the Small that the Cult began to take on the form that it has now, and this was only the result pf a dramatic schism that resulted in the birth of the Goddess Sect.

Because there had been no truly direct contact between the Many and its Ekran worshipers since the times before the High Kingdom the Cult had become a patchwork assembly of various elders wandering the land with no real unity in their beliefs. High Queen-Mother Callimeldë was one such elder, and perhaps the only elder to have any real political power due to her regency over the young High King Baol-Beinion. According to the beliefs of the Goddess Sectists Callimeldë was the first elder to hear the Many in centuries—but the miracle did not stop there. A sole member of the Many separated themselves from the shadowy group and presented herself to the Dowager High Queen-Regnant in the pale form of a woman of a race entirely unknown to any Ekran. According to Callimeldë this was the Goddess, and so far as she and her followers were concerned the strange apparition was the only Goddess that ever was or will be.

The subsequent schism was slow to boil, but once it did blood ran in the streets of Urst. Callimeldë herself stood with the thug-sectists who attacked Ekrans indiscriminately and the Dowager High-Queen public tortured and executed numerous Orcs and Elves of both High and middle births. Such passionate displays of faith were virtually unheard of even among the most devout elders, and Callimeldë's sect posed a larger threat than some minor diversion in 'cannon' religious thought. For the first time the elders of the Cult united and began to fight back against the Sectist belief, eventually culminating in the expulsion of the Sectists from Urst and all the Heartlands and the execution of the High Queen-Mother at the hands of her own son.

Thereafter the Cult of Many took on a structure and order that tied it closely to the Highborn clans of Ekra, but still keeping it an independent entity. The Cult made its home in nearly every city of Ekra, though the Goddess Sect thrived on the frontiers. In current times the tensions between the Cult of Many and Goddess Sect has lessened. The leaders of both faiths have realized that they largely believe in the same thing—fear—and only differ in belief of what entity demands fear be cultivated. The Cultists adhere to the tradition belief in the Many, a pantheon of unknowable gods, while the Sectists believe that the Goddess is the entire pantheon herself, though her dark will is just as unsearchable.

Technology
Technological advancement has been a slow thing in Ekra due to the violent inclinations of the island's native populace. Only recently, within the past few generations, have the Ekrans began to 'standardize' their world through the use of alphabetic & numeric scripts, metrology, and coinage. Much of this was in turn propelled by the advances made in transportation—specifically improved roads, widespread use of animal & water power, and specialized ship designs—that characterized the early history of the High Kingdom. Ekra has taken its first steps into an era of widespread communication and (relatively) safe travel, bring new wealth and joining together cultures to create something truly 'Ekran'. In terms of infrastructure the ability to transport building materials all across the island has seen leaps in the field of architecture, with the most common style being large, formidable buildings supported by a mix of free-standing columns and shallow underground foundations. Aqueducts can be found extending from Ekra's largest cities. On farms tools are increasingly being edged with celestium—Ekra's native metal—and many middleborn Goblin-overseers irrigate their fields with the aid of waterwheels. Wheeled vehicles are fairly common, though they are rarely used in warfare due to the spread of the Hekran stirrup all across the island.

Warfare
Warfare in Ekra is a fairly ad hoc affair where soldiers are drawn up for a specific campaign, told to stab someone, and then they do it. There is not much in the ways of generalship due to the lack of proper command structures and the inability for the warlords to grasp the notion of tactics on the battlefield. A good Ekran warlord is a charismatic warrior able to lead their soldiers into the charge and never once removing themselves from the slaughter. This is, however, very different from the smart warlord who keeps their distance at the cost of honor. Even then, the more cunning warlord at best divides his soldiers into a few large groups and sends them into the fray hoping for the best. Strategical concerns are far more understood by warlords mainly due to the sweeping conquests of the High Kings necessitating logistical planning.

In terms of weaponry and arms spears dominate the battlefield. The Ekran spear is fairly short and meant for quick stabs able to penetrate many kinds of armor, thus giving even a lowly middleborn soldier a chance to kill a well-armored Highborn enemy. Javelins are the favored ranged weapon for similar reasons, although a few warlords have begun to explore archery as a longer-ranged alternative. The real source of innovation, however, comes from the distant island of Hekra and the stirrups they brought to the Ekran peoples. Prior to the introduction of stirrups chariots and (inaccurate) ranged cavalry were the only kinds of cavalry in Ekran armies, and they were easily overshadowed by infantrymen. However, since the reign of High King Kadash-Turin the Horse-Eater, when stirrups were first brought to Ekra's shores, cavalry has become an increasingly important—if not dominant—force in many Ekran armies. 'Heavy' cavalry in the vein of medieval European knights are not at all in existence, and the heaviest cavalryman is more so a skilled melee fighter on top of a fearsome mount. Ekrans ride a variety of animals, however the most widely used mounts are horses and wargs.

A special mention should be given for the highborn noble infantries and cavalries. Regardless of whether or not they are on foot or atop a mount, highborn warriors approach Ekran warfare as an extension of the cultivation of fear. In order to create fear in the enemy forces it is traditional for highborn warriors to do themselves up in the most fearsome visages that they can muster, causing them to stick out on the battlefield. This would be more of a problem were it not for the innate cultural fear middleborn Ekrans have for their highborn rulers; most middleborn shy away from the highborn warriors who are free to fight among themselves for fear and honor.

Laws
Early in the reign of the high kings they found out that it was far easier to run their emerging empire with as few laws as possible, though these few laws were strictly enforced and to this day carry a single penalty: death. The most important of these laws that players need to understand is the limitation placed on most middleborn Ekrans that binds them to the vicinity of their birthplace. Since the time of High King Nog-Neurdir the Books-Keeper more and more Ekran middleborn have been born in the cities and castle-towns of Ekra, causing each settlement to become a metropolis in of itself. Most middleborn Ekrans will not see the vast majority of Ekra unless called for war (which happens frequently enough), and the only middleborn allowed to freely travel are merchant clans who have received special dispensation from the ruling highborn lords & vice-lords. Outside of this law and a few others the clan lords of Ekra are free to impose their will on their holdings however they wish.

Other Lands
There are foreign lands that have regular, lasting contact with Ekra: Hekra, Elas-Ch, and Further-Far. Of these three Further-Far ironically is the closest to Ekra and can be seen in the south-western corner of the map. Further-Far is a small island much colder than Ekra, but almost as flat and dry. Further-Far was once thought to be a barren wasteland by Ithilidren and Rhuitaure explorers, but nearly around the same time as High King Bragga the Bold began his conquests the Ekrans were contacted by a race of ratmen who call themselves the Muroid. Over the history of the High Kingdom Muroid traders have proliferated the southern coastal cities of Ekra as traders of precious stones, quality hides, and an assortment of trinkets and baubles.

Hekra and Elas-Ch are north-eastern islands that all at once captivate and repulse Ekran minds. Elves, Orcs, and Goblins populate the two islands, but remarkably contrary to Ekran society the Goblin populations of Hekra and Elas-Ch are free—some even rule realms of their own. The foreign Elves and Orcs of these somewhat distant lands are smaller than their Ekran cousins, though this does not necessarily mean that the Elves and Orcs of Hekra and Elas-Ch are weaker. In fact, alongside the trade that Hekrans and Elas-Chins bring are mercenaries. The peoples of Hekra and Elas-Ch seem to be somewhat more advanced than the quarrelsome warlords of Ekra, if the mercenaries that occasionally arrive on Ekran shores reflect the capabilities of their homelands. Hekran/Elas-Chin ships, arms, and goods are better made, more efficient, and are highly sought after by the Highborn families. Hekran & Elas-Chin mercenaries were once a much more common sight—and aided High King Bragga in a few key battles—but now have become something of a rarity due to the political upheaval that has overtaken the two rich islands.

The geography of Hekra and Elas-Ch is far less known than the close island of Further-Far. Trades from Ekra, Hekra, and Elas-Ch bring stories of a pair of humid lands choked by green.

Drakes
Drakes are a ferocious species that have captivated and terrified Ekrans for all of living memory. Drakes are not dragons. Dragons exist and are disgustingly powerful entities made from magic itself. Drakes are reptiles, albeit impossibly large reptiles. They come in two main sub-species: land drakes and mountain drakes. When Ekrans think of drakes they are most likely thinking of land drakes, the more common of the two. Land drakes are large wingless beasts that can be anywhere from 8 to 15 meters tall and just as long. They are fast, powerful, and disturbingly quiet creatures for their size. Land drakes are found in the forests, grasslands, and steppes of Ekra.

True to their name mountain drakes primarily live in the great mountains of Ekra. They are smaller than their land-bound cousins, ranging from 6 to 13 meters, but are capable of flight. The stamina of these drakes (and all drakes, in fact) is prodigious, and a mountain drake can fly from one end of Ekra to another over the course of a few weeks. Mountain drakes are more agile than land drakes and are less fearful of Ekran settlements due to the infrequent contact most mountain drakes have with the settled species of the island.

Regardless of their sub-species drakes are solitary creatures, only meeting to mate. No one quite knows how long drakes live, though some have guessed the drake lifespan to be anywhere between 1,000 to 10,000 years long. Most drakes are bestial in nature, living only to eat and sleep; a few, however, are born with an intelligence that can only be described as disturbing. These 'true' drakes are the drakes that are able to communicate with Ekrans through a draconic language that the true drakes simply seem to 'know' upon being born. True drakes seem to have a compulsion to seek out and befriend a single Ekran, who in turn becomes the true drake's partner in all things and is referred to as a 'drake-friend' by other Ekrans. Upon the death of the true drake's 'Drake-Friend' the true drake seeks lives out the rest of its life in seclusion.

Monstrous Creatures
Reminder

The High Kings & Their Notable Deeds

Spoiler :

nutranurse · Feb 13, 2012

Joining the NES

Player Applications
Upon expressing interest to join the NES please fill out and post the following template:

Spoiler :

Player Name is straight forward, so I will not go into it.

Clan Name is what you want your clan to be named. Nothing stupid and no 'Nailbasher' or 'Bloodfist' or whatever. Think Tolkein-like names for Orcs and Elven name for Elves (I recommend these name generators: A General One; For Elves; For Orcs) Your [Attached Dynasty] is which dynasty your clan belongs to at the game's start. Now here's where looking at the map comes in handy. Look a few posts below.

Feel free to select any one castle/city from whatever dynasty you wish to be a member of. The only dynasty that are restricted from players is the Imperial Dynasty.

Do not worry, you will begin with more than one castle/city. The starting castles/citues is just what your dynasty counts as their 'ancestral lands'. Please try to leave players with some room to take nearby cities/castles unless you want immediate conflict!

Starting Dynasties

Spoiler :

Clan Traits

Spoiler :

To further make your clan special here is a list of traits with which you can customize your clan. Remember, none of these traits of huge, monumental effects and are meant to act as flavor. If you think of other traits please use them and I will let you know if it is fine (which more often than not it will be). Choose two traits.

Certainly Civilized
Your clan has long basked in the glory of the high kings, and though their time may be over that does not mean the civilized light they brought must dim. Certainly civilized clans are just that: certainly civilized. There is no doubt about it in their minds or in the minds of others.

Utter Savages
Those around you may have given themselves over to the softer arts of subterfuge and speech, but you and your clan knows that raw power is the true way to make people fear you. Your ways are simple, but effective. No matter what fine trappings you wear your heart remains wild and your thoughts bloody.

Seafarers
Most clans shun the waters for the breeding-place of demons, but yours knows better. The sea is a gilded path no worse than Bragga's great road. *Note, this does not mean all other clans are barred from sea-travel/trade*

Raiders
Your clan particularly enjoys a good raid and are particularly good at them. Striking fear into an enemy's heart has nothing to do with stabbing him in it. When you sweep through his land, eradicate his Goblin slaves, and leave him with nothing save for an empty belly you can see the fear settle in his eyes as he realizes that his death will be slow and lowly.

Silver-Tongued
Fear has nothing to do with swords, fear is little else but a state of mind that you can put someone into with little else but your sharp tongue.

Ruthless
Your clan is particularly cruel, which engenders nothing but hatred from others, but in their hatred there is fear.

Cunning
Tell me, what is more terrifying? The Great-Bear that charges you and rips you limb from limb or the simple snake that nips your ankle and leaves you dead in three days never knowing what killed you?

Devout
The answers to all of life's questions lie in the Gods/Goddess. Do not ask any questions, simply obey and follow their dark and terrible will.

Taskmasters
The high and low lords can fight as much as they want, but in truth what needs to be done is done by their Goblin slaves. Your clan knows this much and are particularly apt at working the little green bastards into the ground.

Cultured
The question is not who is civilized who is not, but who of the two camps can recognize the merits of both their past and their future. Your clan is one of those few.

Decisive
As a highborn family your clan has to make plenty of weighty decisions, and unlike many lords yours rarely errs over what to do next.

Meticulous
You and the scions of your clan have a certain eye for detail. Some would say that in a time as wild and savage as this that the details hardly matter, but to those people you say that their armor can easily be undone by hitting that latch, and that latch, and this latch.

Devious
Your clan has a longstanding reputation for being particularly nasty in all things that they do. Some see you with scorn for this, others respect you.
*Note, this is not the 'Free Fear' trait. Think of it like how you would think of the 'Bloody Mess' trait from Fallout fame. When you do something pretty mean and nasty it will be described in even meaner and nastier terms.*

nutranurse · Feb 13, 2012

The Heartlands

Spoiler :

The Elflands

Spoiler :

nutranurse · Feb 13, 2012

The Eastern Reaches

Spoiler :

The Western Extent

Spoiler :

nutranurse · Feb 13, 2012

Major Factions

Cult of Many
Religious
Faction Strength: Overwhelmingly Powerful (Most peoples of Ekra adhere to some officially sanctioned strain of the Cult of Many)
Favored Actions: Creating fear in the name of the Many, Donating to the Cult
The Cult of Many are the enigmatic religious organization centered around the equally religious pantheon, the Many. There are many different sects of the Cult, though all are beholden to the Orthodox Cult that rules from the High Capital of Urst. The differences between these sects tend to revolve around how best to please the Many, though all sects agree that no matter what method is taken the end result must be fear.

Goddess Sect
Religious
Faction Strength: Powerful (There are pockets of Sectist beliefs all over Ekra, and the religion is very popular among Orelfs, however the Goddess Sect lacks a central authority and its power is largely regional and not on the same continental basis as the Cult of Many)
Favored Actions: Creating fear in the name of the Goddess, Donating to the Sect
The Goddess Sect began as a minor sect of Cultist thought, though radically departed in core beliefs once the Sectists professed that the Many are in fact a single entity known as the Goddess. A schism between the Sectists and Cultists summarily ensued and the result was the mass diaspora of the Sectists from Urst and all over Ekra, where they were able to form religious enclaves in these remote areas.

Clan Guagziir
Mercantile
Faction Strength: Moderate (The Guagziir are present in virtually every port where they hawk their slaves, but they hold very little actual political power)
Favored Actions: Hiring Guagziir Mercenaries, Purchasing Guagziir Slaves, Granting Guagziir Merchants Commercial Preference
The Guagziir are not a clan in the traditional sense that their mainland cousins adhere to. They are a collection of Orcish, Orelf, and Elven slaver clans that move all through Ekra, though roost in Vog's Broken Islands. The Guagziir are mercenaries, merchants, slavers, and raiders of all standings, though most clans hold them with a certain disdain.

Grey Doorsmen
Enigmatic Shadow Organization
Faction Strength: ???
Favored Actions: ???
???

nutranurse · Feb 13, 2012

Misc.

nutranurse · Feb 13, 2012

Maps & Updates

Pre-Update 0
Dynasty Map @ Update 0

Plain Map @ Update 0

Named Map @ Update 0

Taken Areas @ Update 0

Update 0
Clans & Capitals @ End of Update 0

Update 1 (I)(II)
Clan & Capitals @ End of Update 1

Clan, Capitals, & Cities @ End of Update 1

TerrisH · Feb 13, 2012

hmm. interesting.. will toss my hat in sometime tomorrow.

Seon · Feb 13, 2012

Subbed.

merciary · Feb 13, 2012

I'll have something up tomorrow.

thomas.berubeg · Feb 13, 2012

Thomas.Berubeg
[Clan Endain]-[Grokar Dynasty]
Prazna Rugelah (80)
Rabahalon (City at the mouth of the river at the bottom of the Bay in which that Island Kingdom is situated)
Clan Traits:
Cultured
Meticulous

And by god, I wish I could have Cunning and Seafarers as well

nutranurse · Feb 14, 2012

Cool. Added a 'taken areas' map in the application post. I encourage lurkers to join! And if you don't want to join let me know why. I'm receptive to criticism.

Also the list of high kings has been added.

edit: Section on general warfare added.

Dreadnought · Feb 14, 2012

Dreadnought
[Clan Laedireth]-[Tathsume Dynasty]
Lord Taerth (170)
Malthenhûb (northernmost city, on the island) [name means Golden Harbor]
Seafarers
Civilized

Northen Wolf · Feb 14, 2012

Subscription post. Got to get to work now.

Looks (Y) tho

Seon · Feb 14, 2012

Seon
Noroature Dynasty, Clan Undine
Lady Larina, 49
Isme- One of the two cities in the natural harbor.
Cunning
Meticulous

Vylinius · Feb 14, 2012

Lopaz
Clan Scalesian-Gazniir Dynasty
Lord Acturus, 28 (or whatever equivalent to that age would be for an orelf)
Varasia (Uhmm the city next to the large lake south of Imperial Ekra and next to the river flowing into said lake)
Decisive and Meticulous

Masada · Feb 14, 2012

Masada
[To be determined]-Guuagziir
[To be determined]-101
The Guuagziir Castle on the Bragga's Road
Ruthless
Cunning

Any chance, I could get a trait that suits my signature play style brah?

nutranurse · Feb 14, 2012

Nefarious?

Edit: Also there is no Guuagziir castle on Bragga's Road, do you mean the Argoosh?

Edit, Edit: Added "Devious" trait.

KaiserElectric · Feb 14, 2012

Quite interesting.

I'm going to peruse the rules a bit more thoroughly, but this looks promising. You have a "maybe" over here.

NutraNESIV.6: The Dread Kings of Ekra

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Mischief?

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Wandering the World

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Deity

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