PureNES: Epoch of Glory

Technically Dark, I need a story. ;) Then you'll get those shiny stats.

Ok, the update is in progress. Target date: Thursday.

United Republic of Alhaven
Ruler/Player: Cleric

Government: After the First and Second Wars of Liberty, the revolutionary councils were replaced with a permanent government. Slightly influenced by the Stadten of Mettlingen, the Chamber of Representatives has delegates directly elected from the 45 representative districts. Originally the government was more decentralized, and Presidential power was much weaker. However, the Western Rebellion of 1466-1469 resulted in tighter federal control over the districts, as farmers rose up against perceived oppression from Verres, and were gradually crushed in a series of brutal campaigns. Today, the executive has gained veto power over bills, and virtually controls the courts, which is viewed as necessary to combat the influence of Jathalland and Mettlingen...but still unnerves some.

Technology: The vast gap of the Terian Ocean has created a technology gap as well, of about a generation between Alhaven and Arios. Knowing that their rivals were more advanced, the URA has recently poured investment into industrial growth, particularly the expanding steel industry. (See economy) However, the URA still fields first-generation ironclads and Great War era artillery. Still, if they could get some decent engineers from abroad, their technology could be upgraded. The URA has also developed rudimentary airship technology.

Culture: The two most common attributes of the Republic's culture are Metti resourcefulness and Athurian discipline, which combine to create a very enterprising, commercial-oriented culture that occasionally turns violent when necessary. There are also strong Jekeveran and Gosican minorities, and in general the east coast cities are a diverse mix of cultures. It is generally viewed that Alhaven is a 'land of opportunity' for those willing to work hard and sacrifice their old loyalties. Most Republicans firmly believe that one day, all other nations and colonies on Alhaven will be swept aside, as the "Glorious Island" is united under Verres' rule.

Economy: During the Wars of Liberty, what would become the URA was a sparsely-settled agricultural land, with 90% of the population farming the countryside. The few trading cities on the east coast gradually grew to become thriving metropoli, almost as large as the great cities of Arios. Centered around Port Verres, an industrial sector centered around steel, firearms, and shipping has begun to make the URA's economy a powerful one. But it still has a long way to go.

Military: Currently engaged in war, the URA's military has swelled to a professional force of 100,000, augmented by 125,000 conscripts. Large sections of the military are also dispersed across the somewhat wild frontier, though most is engaged in battle with Mettlingen. The navy, long overshadowed by Jathalland, is made up of 40 ironclads, and 80 ships of the line, heavy frigates, and steamship gunboats.

Infrastructure: Over time, a fairly developed road network connected most of the major cities, and gradually extended into the heartland. The railroad, a technology only 60 years old, has also begun to cross the land, and a transcontinental connection is currently being built. The telegraph, an invention of Guild Kuurel put to good use, ensures speedy communication, but travel is not so easy, especially in the western regions that are more sparsely populated. Only stage coaches extend to the most remote portions, and banditry, as well as native raids, remains a sporadic problem.

History:
Spoiler :
The first colonists to settle the Elvetan river basin were Metti. Their scattered settlements coexisted with the shrinking native villages, until the arrival of Athurian, Jekeveran, and Gleanne immigrants. The center of the continent gradually fell under Jathalland’s dominion, with the last few Mettlingen holdings forcibly captured during one of the intercolonial wars. Central Alhaven developed a free and unrestricted lifestyle that was abruptly shattered when Jathalland attempted to reorganize the chaotic frontier regions into ordered provinces. Farmers in the backcountry rioted against the moving/abolishing of courts and county seats, viewing it as a distant King exercising total tyranny over their lives. Jathalland was notoriously slow to deal with the growing problem, and by the time troops were dispatched, the merchant guilds had already propped up the rebellion, and set up shop in the coastal cities. A long and bloody war culminated with Jathalland being forced to recognize the new republic. Though somewhat unstable, its multiethnic character has attracted many immigrants from Callixtus and Thule in particular. The culture remains quite hardy and uninterested in Arios politics, though they strongly resent the continued colonialism in the region, even from their occasional ally Mettlingen. Even now, URA supported rebels are revolting against the corrupt authority of the guilds, and war has already begun...
 
Technically Dark, I need a story. Then you'll get those shiny stats.

Technically, I didn't need that rant about how pathetic the tiny island nation was :). Since I basically had to start over, I think I'm excused for a little while :P.
 
Technically, I didn't need that rant about how pathetic the tiny island nation was :). Since I basically had to start over, I think I'm excused for a little while :P.

That's fine. Though I can still squeeze your events into the update if you're interested in doing a story/orders/whatever.
 
Fine- just answer three things:

1.) The capital is Arg'lat, I think?

2.) Is there a defined meaning of the nation's name?

3.) Its basically despotic, correct?
 
1. Arg'elat.

2. Argai basically means "Great People" or "Ruling People."

3, Yes, though the Khanate is broken up into hundreds of different tribes and clans, all of which theoretically owe loyalty and soldiers to the Khan in times of need. Only 50-60% are consistently loyal though, and the rest just ignore you, being too far away or not recognizing your authority. But it's still a lot.
 

The boy raged in a silent slumber, twisting viciously in the satin sheets that bounded him to the padded matting. The boy had shaggy, incredibly unkempt to the point where it threatened to disguise all forms of the obvious boy’s ancestry, dark brown hair that had been allowed to fall freely. A lean octagonal room, thin slates of wood aligned to serve as a wall, surrounded the contorted figure and the light falling from numerous candles threw figures against the wall. Along the light walls of the room, a dozen short tables had been set up and covered by candles in every available space. In the middle of the room, lying upon the earthen floor, a number of padded mattresses had been set down, and with the boy placed inside the covering sheets, a number of thick ropes had been drawn and tied.

Hidden within the falling shadow of light, the two men watched the boy’s progress silently. One, an elder with far too many years tied to his being, watched the unvoiced struggle with a sense of extreme sadness. His drooping white beard, tied with royal bands descended from the most ancient of rulers, tinged with a feeling of misery. He stood off to the side of the boy, running his fingers down an exposed hilt.

To his slight left, resting on his knees, an old shaman stood with his hands held over the boy’s temple. Unlike the boy’s father, the shaman had committed himself to the gods and had cemented the offering by shaving completely. He mumbled incantations, bringing his fingers across the boy’s temple in an arc before dragging them in the complete opposite direction. Finally, after uttering a dozen or more chants, the shaman looked up with weary eyes. “I’m afraid there is little more I can do, for now.” The old shaman stood up, cringing as he straightened out his knees before continuing. “I have asked for the blessings to be bestowed upon your son, my liege, but I am not sure that even it will be enough to bring Jalgan back to us.” He paused, swallowing hard. “My liege, I believe it is time for you to select another heir.”

The old khan stiffened at the notion of the thought, eyes jerking towards the boy automatically. He paused, dry throat cracking, and uttered a simple sentence “I will consider it.” Without pausing to comment more, the old khan tore out of the structure into the wide streets of Arg’elat. The sunlight dashed into the small room, flooding the structure and illuminating every crack and crevice in the room. The old shaman shuffled slowly to the hanging cloth, moving with remorse. Casting one last look back at the body of the eldest prince, the old shaman noted with gloom as he noted how deathly the still body looked.
 
Boiler Room Interlude

"So what are we going to do?" asked Steven Hawkesbury, leaning heavily on his coal shovel.

Azim gave a thoughtful look into space.

"I cannot say. I believe our fate rests with the Captain. And he has been acting- erratically, as of late."

"Erratically?"

"Making trips with little purpose, steaming around half of Alhaven to visit Elesius, picking fights with port officials..."

"Then we're doomed?"

Azim continued to stare into the fire. After a long pause, he responded.

"No, I don't. For all of that I have said, I have known Zruyk be an enormously slippery and evasive character in the past. And just recently, when he escaped Port Verres."

"So you think-"

"So I think that we should keep our heads down until the moment is right."

A figure burst into the room.

"Hey you two! Keep working, your rusting wreck is holding up our convoy!"

"Well maybe-"

Steven began a retort, but was stopped by Azim's strong grip on his shoulder.

The guildsman looked at the two and grinned.

"A Hadiri... and Athurian. At least your captain knows where to put the human waste. NOW SHOVEL!"

Seemingly sated by the two sailors' renewed efforts, the figure left the room without further snide commentary.

Steven looked up at Azim for a moment.

"Soon?"

"I can only hope."
 
The thick plottens

Adam walked quietly towards the large, interesting room. Entering the lounge he quickly scanned the room for Donald. People, engineers and technicians alike rested in this room from their job. Donald was a rugged, black man who sported gray pants and a regular white shirt. Sure enough there he was leaned against a wall, reading newspapers that were at least week old.

"Still trying to catch up with the current events?"

"It is an interesting time we live in. So many mysteries and so little time to study them." he replied while closing and folding the old, dried out newspapers which had a large coffee stain. "...so have you got more blueprints or schematics for me? The last batch of ones from Jathalland proved incredibly useful for improving and modernizing the industry. The widespread dissemination of this would normally take a decade or two, but with the soaring immigration of both skilled and unskilled workers I believe our industry will be on the level of Arios nations under a decade."

"Fascinating, but to answer your question no I dont have any more plans for you."

"Oh, so what brings you here then?"

"I'm here to requisition a transport. Project AA dash seven eight."

"Ah yes that project, no problem. Anders go ready the hangar!" he shouted to a young technician who obeyed "Would you like to see other what else has sprung up from the designs you brought us?"

"Sure, why not."

Donald took Adam for a walk to the nearby roofed drydock. Inside was a skeletal framework for what seemed a metal, steam powered ship. It's size was not particularly impressive but the turrets seemed threatening enough.

"What is this?"

"That is one of the black budget projects, the URS Sea Snake."

"Why black budget, also the designs I brought back here was not like this. The thing on the blueprints was massive. This is perhaps a third of it's size. Why the change of design?"

"Well, I got tired of reverse engineering and I was contacted by several admirals who disagree with the notion of these so called dreadnoughts....or pre-dreadnoughts whatever. Mainly it's a thing of not putting all your eggs in one basket and ship armor is nowadays more or less of the same strength. They want lots of fast, averagely armored ships which pack a decent punch and I agree with them."

"So what happened?"

"They managed to reach a compromise, convincing the Secretary of Navy to commission the Sea Snake as a black budget project while keeping the prototype dreadnought URS Sea Turtle official. I handed that job to one of my subordinates while I took direct control of this project. Anyways...how's Bill?"

"He's okay, though he's uneasy because this the last year of his elected term."

"Is he going to run again?"

"Most likely. Just in case he doesnt get reelected he named the class of that massive dreadnought ship Tina, you know by his wife."

"Hahahaha. That must have pissed off that red witch."

"Yup, she broke a chair on him."

"Ouch...either way not even one third of this baby is finished. But I can feel that it's machine spirit is a good one."

"Machine spirit? Dont tell me you believe that wacky cult?"

"Look, your not a man of science or technology. I wouldnt expect you to understand, but for me and many others here God is manifested in technology and scientific wisdom."

"Yeah, but as it said:Those who know the face of God know madness."

"Hahahahaha, that is probably true. Come lets get to the hangar. Your airship should be ready."

They walked a rather long trip from the dry docks to the hangars. This whole place was essentially a massive factory. Forge Area 23 could produce most if not all weapons in the arsenal of the Alhaven Army, Navy and recently Airforce. Awfully centralized yes, but as the name said it was one among many.

"Here is your transport. Knowing the type of wetwork you do I had placed some light armor and guns on it. It's machine spirit is happy and should serve you well. Are you going to tell me now what is the great emergency?"

"There was an attack on Verres by Guild ships. They used suppressive bombardment to stall the Verres Fists division of the Marine Corps stationed there. Apparently it was a raid, they took something or someone of great value to them. Even though the Navy is stretched it must have been something important when they would risk an attack on the capital."

"An attack on the capital? No. So what is your job?"

"I've got an interesting report from one of the port officials who was there during the attack. I am on a manhunt. For Zruyk."

OOC: I am going away to Herzegovina tomorrow and should be away a week at most but still NPC me if you dont get back in time. Also Thy for the third time what is that nation that is surrounded by URA on all borders? The one between former Metti territory and core URA territory.
 
Did you have plans or can I butt in? :p
 
Out of Fire, into Battle

"We will be leaving several of our staff on your vessel to ensure loyalty. Then, we will be transferring a marine contingent over. Your ship shall be their base."

"And what about arming my crew?" asked the Captain.

De Vries gave his infuriating grin again.

"Do you really think I'm an idiot Zruyk? You will sail this ship for Dreningen. My men will use it."

Seeing Zruyk's mouth begin to open, De Vries continued.

"There is no debate on the matter."

With that, De Vries turned and walked along a board between the Silver Ray and his ship.

Zruyk fumed, refusing to gaze up at the Orange and Blue colours of the Guild Dreningen flying above his ship. It had been several days since his ship had first been captured by the guild, and they had been sickening. The grizzled Metti captain hated it. He hated the situation not for it was, but for what it wasn't. He hated De Vries, he hated the man's arrogance, his unwavering conviction in the goodness and necessity of the guilds. He hated how he was not suffering at the hands of his captors, but his crew was. He hated the perceived comforts on the other side of the fence, the side of the Guilds. And he hated how he was tempted... oh so tempted. The silver-tongued De Vries never failed to make powerful arguments for his case. The guildsman had accepted Zruyk's dislike of his organization, so he started playing the angles of patriotism, and emotion.

Our goals are the same, I request nothing more than your temporary co-operation. Our paths diverge the second that Mettlingen is freed...

Have you abandoned your country? Your home, your friends, your family... why do you run from it...?


"Your home city of Baas was taken after hours of heavy bombardment by the Gosicans, the cemetary was flooded with the bodies of dead civilians. Will you leave their bodies to rot under the flags of conquerors?

It was nothing less than mental torture. And Zruyk was doing his best not to crack. But he was questioning just what he was holding out for. Many others abhorred the Guilds, but they served them nonetheless. Mettlingen had been de facto governed by them, was turning against them treason? Why did he resist? The Metti captain gave a strange noise and winced, shaking the thoughts from his head.

He walked over to the side of the ship, and leaned on the metal railing. Zruyk gazed off into the distance, seeing a bank of fog rolling in. And in it... he performed a double take and squinted off into the distance. He saw several dark shapes. Were they ships, or just shadows? Zruyk couldn't tell. A moment later, the shapes disappeared fully into the fog.

"What are you looking at?" asked a guildsman gruffly.

"The beautiful sunset."

"But there is no sunset. It's too overcast to see-"

Then the man noticed Zruyk's grimly sarcastic face.

"Oh."

The man scowled slightly and walked off. Shortly afterwards, Zruyk left the railing and climbed down into the bowels of the ship. Turning through a few dark hallways, he entered his own room. Climbing on top of his meager bed, Zruyk pulled out a telescope, pushed open the porthole, and looked out into the fog. The shadowy ships were back. One shifted into clarity for a moment, before once again disappearing into the fog. But it had been there long enough to show his flag.

"Gosica..." the Captain breathed.

Inside his head, a whirlwind of arguements was set off.

Damn them! Invaders, murderers! They will pay!

Do you really trust what De Vries says Robert? They invaded, yes, but they are not murderers. The Gosicans are a... decent... people.

Couldn't it have been anyone else?

What to do...

Okay, ships which are fighting the guilds approach. Now is your chance to save yourself. And your crew too.

But it's Gosica! You know what they've done!

Is it any worse that what the Guilds have done? Gosica occupies a country, they cause some suffering- the Guilds have strangled Mettlingen-

No, they feed it!

-for generations, pouring misery upon us. It is time to stand up against a great evil!

Evil?

Remember Mother and Father...

Agh!

Remember... Kees.

No! Yes! Aaargh, why? Please stop!

Remember them all. Can you fight for the murderers?

NO!


Zruyk's eyes shot back up. The start of a tear was brushed out of his eye by his rough sleeve. His mind was made. He pulled a bag out from beneath his bed and set out.

The Metti captain moved through the ship with purposeful strides, until he reached the boiler room. There, he found Piet, Hawkesbury, Azim and Jan, all surrounding the URA Port Official, who was still rather dazed from his concussion.

"Crew... is anyone else in here?"

"No." responded Piet quickly, "Other than Benjamin here."

"He can talk now?"

"Yes, damnit, let me go." Benjamin moaned, trailing off.

"As soon as we can, we didn't really plan to have you as a guest in the first place. Now, we're about to get rid of that abomination of a flag flying on the ship."

"We're rebelling?" asked Steven with some enthusiasm.

"We've got... help coming. Very soon."

Zruyk placed the bag on the floor, opening it to reveal several weapons.

"I will not spill blood, Captain." stated Azim flatly.

"Then use a club. Anyone else have problems?"

Piet pulled out a knife without any response. Jan took out a heavy, rusted knife with enthusiasm- too much enthusiasm, Zruyk noted. Azim took out a baton, and shut his eyes in a prayer.

"Hawkesbury?"

The Athurian boy had a deeply troubled, pale look upon his face.

"You don't have to if you don't want to. This isn't a thing about heroes Steven. You can keep an eye on Ben."

Colour flushed back into the youth's face.

"Thanks sir. I'll do that."

"Excellent. When you hear cannonfire, come to the deck, prepared to fight."

With that, Zruyk set out. His body nearly shook with nervous energy, as he tried to avoid thinking of what he was about to do. He nodded to a guildsman who he passed in a hall, then hit him in the front of his face with a brutal elbow. Zruyk grabbed his body before it fell, and muscled the guildsman into a storage closet. It was just as he finished this job that he heard a nearby crash. He raced up to deck to see a hole blasted in one of Dreningen's ships. More distant booms warned him of further fire. Several more Dreningen ships were hit before a frantic response began. Zruyk was shoved out of the way as guildsmen raced off, sprinting along the thin gangplank to the larger ship the Silver Ray was tethered to.

At this moment, Zruyk's crew rose from below, and began to attack the remaining guildsmen on the ship. Piet only fought those who got in his way, as he raced for the bridge. Azim knocked several men unconscious with his fists and baton. Jan Mieken attacked every Dreningen man he could find on the ship, bathing his blade in blood. Zruyk sprinted up the steps to the bridge, and entered the room at full speed.

A gunshot was there to meet him.

The Metti captain froze. He expected pain, but felt none. Time resumed with another click of the gun. Zruyk leapt at the guildsman holding the weapon, and wrestled it away from him. He struck the man firmly in the skull with the butt of the gun, and the figure went limp. A second later, Piet reached the bridge as well, clutching at his arm, which was bleeding heavily.

"Are you alright?"

"I'll live."

"Good. Get us out of here."

"I can't with the tethers still in place."

Zruyk cursed, and opened a compartment hidden under a seat. From it, he pulled out a large axe.

Piet stared.

"Is that a Thulean Ceremonial Axe? In Seraph's name, how did you get that, and why didn't I know about it?"

"Another long story. Anyway, keep this in case Dreningen tries coming back." Zruyk tossed his first mate the guildsman's revolver, which Piet fumblingly caught, firing into the wooden wall, right next to the previous bullet. The Captain set off down the stairs, and was nearly shaken off the ship by a direct hit to the hull by Gosican fire.

All around him, the seas were consumed by battle. The ten-strong Gosican force was being held off by three Dreningen vessels, while several others fled.

Robert Van der Zruyk raced along the side of the Silver Ray, hacking through all of the ropes constraining his ship. After reaching the far end of the ship, he rose to see a furious face. De Vries. The man pulled out his rapier, and raced along the gangplank towards Zruyk. With an almost maniacal grin, he swung the axe down on the end of the plank. It splintered, and De Vries plummeted down into the water, only managing to let out a brief yell before striking the water.

Zruyk spun around, to see a guildsman, who kicked the lowered axe out of his hand.

"Treacherous scum!" shouted the man, pointing his gun into Zruyk's chest.

A gunshot rang out. For the second time, the Metti Captain felt no pain. The guildsman fell to the ground, a clean bullet-hole blasted through his neck. Behind him, the figure of Benjamin stood, and beside him, Steven.

"I thought we took your gun!" exclaimed Zruyk.

"A man has a right to own multiple weapons." responded Benjamin, venturing a small grin, "And I think... that you guys definitely aren't in the guilds."

Zruyk was strongly tempted to make a comment mocking the understatement, but decided against it.

"I'm glad you see that. Steven."

"Yes?"

"Good timing in coming up."

"It was his call sir." responded Hawkesbury, pointing at Benjamin, "We came up when the cannons started breaking through the hull."

Zruyk nodded, then pointed to the Dreningen flag still flying above the ship.

"Care to do the honours Hawkesbury?"

"Sure!"

The young Athurian clambered up the mast of the ship with surprising agility, and reached the flag. With little ceremony, he ripped it off, spat on it for good measure, and flung it into the air. It was caught by the wind, and blew away from the battlefield and into the ocean.

"I think we could have desecrated it more than that, but good work."

Steven beamed.

"Now, get to the engine room. We need all the speed we can get here to escape."

"Yes sir!"

Zruyk gazed around. Several bodies were on the deck, blood on five of them.

"Captain!" shouted Piet from the bridge.

"Message from the Gosicans."

Zruyk sighed and made a frustrated noise through his gritted teeth.

"What do they have to say?"

"Do not attempt escape. Cannon will be used if needed."

"Again?" asked Mieken.

"It seems so. Looks like we'll be rolling out the welcome mat again."

"I can't find the red carpet cap'n. We'll 'ave to use the bloody deck."

"Fine by me."
 
At least the bloody deck is red ;) It's better, if not as good as a red carpet :D

My vacation in San Francisco followed around by two screaming and fighting little cousins have been very inspirational for me as I've had a first-hand perspective of intra-sibling relationship between brothers.
 
lol a vacation to San Francisco. How are you likeing my nextdoor city.
 
My vacation is over, I came back today :p I love the cool weather (in comparison to Los Angeles) but I hated the terrible parking spaces, the "small" city streets; not to mention all that cultural and intellectual feelings that emit from the city :mischief:
 
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