By the way, sorry if my rambling monologues of posts are screwing up how you guys are envisioning your kingdoms and the balance of power. I kind of figured that given the likely lack of much in the way of natural resources other than fish in Sovnscrine, being the only people who could beat the Demons could be one of our ‘bargaining chips’ if you like for the negotiations. When it comes to describing your own kingdoms, let me know if I say things that go against how you imagine them - I’m sure I can edit where necessary!
The way I took that was that Sovnscrine has a lot of soldiers and great strategy and order. Then other nations could have other things such as my nation is like the dwarves in Warhammer and has gunpowder and stuff. Barbissar Tisk’s army probably has a lot of guys a lot of discipline and a lot of metals etc. Sovnscrine is a very well rounded and orderly nation and is the only one who can beat the demons now but later when there’s more they will have to rely on other nations to aid them.
I picture your nation kinda like Britain but with a more almost viking style setting. So your nation may have the most powerful army but could rely on another nation for metals, one nation for more ranged units or siege weapons etc
What I was intending was the Sovnscrine is probably the ‘Viking’ nation - in terms of fighting, while we are disciplined we aren’t necessarily about all the different formations, and while there wouldn’t be an awful lot of us, the byproduct of our lands being so inhospitable has meant that we’re really good at fighting. However, we don’t like war very much, and don’t like to draw too much attention to it. I sense that the whole ‘huge army super orderly lots of war machines’ thing is probably more Dairann’s thing, while you guys are the ones using all this new fangled gunpowder. If it came to all out warfare, we’d probably win, but we’d also probably be the least likely to start it in the first place.
With the demons, I envisioned it as follows: we are a fairly self sufficient kingdom, so we’d probably get by on food and essentials, and the lands are harsh enough and our people hardy enough that on our own, we probably would never be conquered, and would be able to survive. However, just because we can, doesn’t mean we want to. The last thing we want is for us to be the only place left. But while we might be able to keep our own land free, there’s no way in hell we’d be able to protect the others, which is where places like Dairann and Duskhallow come in. We would probably be more along the lines of elite soldiers that train the others and perform the essential missions like last minute aid and attacking leadership etc, while Dairann has the sheer numbers and strength in arms and Duskhallow provides the edge of gunpowder and other such inventions.
Overall, I see us as a fairly isolated place, not reliant on anybody else or having others reliant on us. We might have perhaps the best fighters, but I think it’s you guys who have the greatest emphasis on the military. Perhaps in the military aspect of negotiations, it’s Dairann that you turn to as an ally for wars, having the biggest army and being the most inclined to use it; Duskhallow for the weapons and war machines, with you guys using these super advanced things called ‘cannons’ and preferring the conditional tense (sorry, couldn’t resist. Is the use of that instead of the past tense designed to emphasis how different your character is?), and us for the coming battle against the demons, as while we don’t like to go to war very often, the demons would be a common threat that we would be willing to unite and fight against. Do you guys think that sounds about right?
Ahh I see lol that makes sense. Yes you would probably win verses Duskhallow in a fight but if you tried to siege them the tables would be turned Due to the mountains and swamps as well as powerful fortifications. Now if Duskhallow were to defeat your army and get to your city then you would be doomed due to cannons etc lol. But the likelihood of that happening is like zero lol. Duskhallow is a very intellectual nation.
From my point of view the various nations are based on the following:
Calderon: As you may have guessed by now, I envisioned Calderon to be essentially Britain if the Romans and Saxons had never invaded, i.e. Celtic Britain if it had been allowed to develop for about around 1000 years after the point in time when the Romans invaded in our universe (AD 43). Calderon is highly religious and utterly loyal to its Druid priests*, with a large number of animals being seen as sacred, yet it is also unified under one leader** and there is no sign of rebellion or insurrection. While there are a lot of coastal villages, Calderon also has some agricultural settlements that make use of the highly fertile land to deliver high yields of good-quality crops, some of which are used to trade with those nations whose location makes them considerably less adept at farming. Calderon also has arguably the greatest craftsmen in the world, and thus another of its exports is intricately-crafted tools, weapons and jewellery. In terms of military power, Calderon’s army is based around a core of elite chosen warriors and relatively few regiments of other well-trained soldiers compared to other kingdoms, with the bulk of its forces being made up of warbands raised from the local population wherever a battle is to be next held. Morale in a Calderon army is always extremely high at the beginning of every battle, making its warriors, cavalry and chariots difficult to break, but aside from the Lord’s chosen warriors, Calderon’s soldiers have varying levels of discipline and are difficult to rally once they have started to retreat.
Dairann: I see Dairann as being a typical High-Period Medieval faction, with plate-armoured mounted knights aplenty supported by less well-armoured men-at-arms, missile troops and the odd war machine. In fact with Dairann’s huge army I believe it is exactly the same as Medieval France was in the height of its power, bar the culture - I don’t know if you do want to resurrect Bretonnia @Y’ttar Scaletail but the opportunity is there for the taking.
Skagaskon: From my mind’s eye Skagaskon is made up of dour, stoic, down-to-earth folk much like the Anglo-Saxon army was, and relies on a solid wall of skilled infantry backed up by missile support, although you are free to correct me on this
@Xasto. I’ve envisioned that they have been having trouble with attacks from Dairann coming in from their eastern border so they have built a wall that they have named the Dairann Wall (rather unsurprisingly), and have an attitude akin to the watchmen from Game of Thrones.
Ironfell: To me, Ironfell appears to be a more Early Period Medieval faction, with a fighting style akin to Norman England and a feudal monarchy to match. Due to being almost entirely surrounded by mountains on two sides and coastline on the other two, they keep to themselves for the most part but attempt to maintain good relations with their neighbours in Calderon and Skagaskon. I imagine
@Vosrik will be able to fill in any additional details.
Lystenbur: From @LizardWizard’s posts it appears to me that Lystenbur is split into various states ruled by merchant families all vying for power, like Renaissance Italy (and GW’s interpretation of Tilea). The armies of the various states are small but can combine to form larger forces as needed (as long as their various masters agree with one another), yet, being merchants rather than warmongers, the people of Lystenbur would rather trade with outsiders than fight them (although they have no qualms about fighting amongst themselves).
Ewald’s Islands: I have been provided scant information on where Adelina Ewald lives due to @Paradoxical Pacifism’s early departure from the game, but I’m still including her island home in so that his lore Building hasn’t gone to waste. I have thought that perhaps the people of Ewald’s Islands (still working on a suitable name) are like the Ancient Greeks culturewise in that they have a vast array of skilled artisans, scientists, inventors and philosophers, although in their case it is due to them spending a lot more time developing their society over their military.
Just a few observations about the other kingdoms in any case. Hope this is OK with everyone.
*Essentially Celtic Britain was similar to Medieval Europe many hundreds of years later in that although there were various tribes/kingdoms fighting each other they were all subservient to a religious body outside of the main caste structure - in Medieval Europe it was the Pope based in Rome, in Celtic Britain it was the Druids based on Anglesey. Like the Pope with Medieval Europe, the Druids had the power to unite the Celtic tribes if they had been given the opportunity, which is why the Romans had them massacred in probably what was Britain’s first religious genocide - so they couldn’t unite the Celts and drive the Roman invaders out.
**In Celtic Britain around the time when the Romans invaded, the Catuvellauni tribe in the area that is now London, Surrey, Essex and Oxfordshire had started to rise in power. The king at the time, Cunobelinus, had posted his brother as king of the Cantiaci tribe in what is now Kent and East Sussex, and his warriors had defeated the Atrebates tribe in Hampshire, sending its king, Verica, into exile (indeed it was Verica who persuaded Emperor Claudius of Rome to invade Britain to get his own back). Now if the Romans had never invaded Britain for some reason, it I should likely that the Catuvellauni would have been able to continue their conquest of the other British tribes. Therefore, it would have been possible that the Catuvellauni would have eventually been able to unify all the British tribes under one king, either through conquest or manipulation through puppet chieftains like Cunobelinus’ brother, and if they received the support of the Druids, their dominance would have been guaranteed. Furthermore, while the Druids would have continued to support Catuvellauni rule, none of the conquered tribes would have dared to lift a finger in rebellion.
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