Recorded History [OOC]

[Alleniana]

Good. I'd assumed because Reatra google translated a Chinese word, I should too, but I'd rather be creative.

I did what?

To be fair, xian and li are both pinyin of Chinese words, it's a reasonable assumption.

Anyway, so, everyone, yes or no to possibility of Chinese (or even Indian, but far far less likely) IR?

[Finland SSR]

I did what?

To be fair, xian and li are both pinyin of Chinese words, it's a reasonable assumption.

Anyway, so, everyone, yes or no to possibility of Chinese (or even Indian, but far far less likely) IR?

No.

*raises anti-Sen flame shield*

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

Ave atque vale, then.

Huh, how did you figure out what I said?

I reside in the porcelain tower. I know my Latin.

[Alleniana]

Huh, how did you figure out what I said?

I reside in the porcelain tower. I know my Latin.

vero? deinde te rogabo; quid est tuum nomen in lingua Latina?

[Finland SSR]

I reside in the porcelain tower. I know my Latin.

vero? deinde te rogabo; quid est tuum nomen in lingua Latina?

Baltic Sea? Dende is an African dictator; squid is very nomnom in Latin language?

[Alleniana]

Application
Okay, scrap the theocracy idea, I thought of somethings I'd like more. Hope this is alright

Poster: The Assorted Saharan Outposts
Name: The Falayno, The United Falayno Tribes, Falayno, Falayno, Falaynoan, Falaynoes, Awala Falayno, Awala Suakano Falayno Tikolbay, Falayno, Falaynoan, Falaynoes

Maybe a tad advanced, but it could be justified by mentioning diffusion from trade. Accepted, but do try to find a way to fix that gap.

Application

Poster: Altito Asmoro
Name: The Tribal Chiefdom of Toda, Todaians, Todans

A bit more detail and a bit less societal complexity would be preferably, but accepted anyway.

vero? deinde te rogabo; quid est tuum nomen in lingua Latina?

Baltic Sea? Dende is an African dictator; squid is very nomnom in Latin language?

huc, potestis videre barbarum qui non sciit linguam Latinam; hic barbarus est Lituanicus

[Finland SSR]

[box]Application
Okay, scrap the theocracy idea, I thought of somethings I'd like more. Hope this is alright

Poster: The Assorted Saharan Outposts
Name: The Falayno, The United Falayno Tribes, Falayno, Falayno, Falaynoan, Falaynoes, Awala Falayno, Awala Suakano Falayno Tikolbay, Falayno, Falaynoan, Falaynoes

Maybe a tad advanced, but it could be justified by mentioning diffusion from trade. Accepted, but do try to find a way to fix that gap.

A bit more detail and a bit less societal complexity would be preferably, but accepted anyway.

Baltic Sea? Dende is an African dictator; squid is very nomnom in Latin language?

huc, potestis videre barbarum qui non sciit linguam Latinam; hic barbarus est Lituanicus

Allen laughs, protests barbarian videos as no split of the Latin language, barbarians are Belarusians

[Alleniana]

Maybe a tad advanced, but it could be justified by mentioning diffusion from trade. Accepted, but do try to find a way to fix that gap.

A bit more detail and a bit less societal complexity would be preferably, but accepted anyway.

huc, potestis videre barbarum qui non sciit linguam Latinam; hic barbarus est Lituanicus

Allen laughs, protests barbarian videos as no split of the Latin language, barbarians are Belarusians

st, barbare Lituanice!

I'll set up a poll.

[Finland SSR]

Allen laughs, protests barbarian videos as no split of the Latin language, barbarians are Belarusians

st, barbare Lituanice!

I'll set up a poll.

Sit, awesome people!

Is it a poll on how OP the Itrii UA is?

[Alleniana]

st, barbare Lituanice!

I'll set up a poll.

Sit, awesome people!

Is it a poll on how OP the Itrii UA is?

minime, ecce

[Finland SSR]

Sit, awesome people!

Is it a poll on how OP the Itrii UA is?

minime, ecce

Minimalize, ecchi

[The imperial canadian dutchy]

>Sees suggestion of IR in China and India
>

[The Grim Reaper]

Ban the IR altogether.

[The imperial canadian dutchy]

Ban the IR altogether.

Ned Ludd plz

[The Holy Dominion of Inesea]

I did what?

To be fair, xian and li are both pinyin of Chinese words, it's a reasonable assumption.

Anyway, so, everyone, yes or no to possibility of Chinese (or even Indian, but far far less likely) IR?

There simultaneous industrial revolutions

[The Grim Reaper]

Application

Poster: The Grim Reaper
Name: Nagadeva (the nation as a whole), Upaladbipa (the island of modern Sri Lanka), Kholamalya (the modern Maldives); Devatma (Demonym)
Symbols: Cowry shells represent Kholamalya specifically, but are also a symbol of Nagadeva cultural and ethnic tolerance - those which do not change - as well as Nagadeva's economic strength. Sapphires, similarly, represent Upaladbipa specifically, but are a symbol of Nagadeva religious and ideological tolerance - those which are changing - as well as Nagadeva's united military symbolism. Opals represent Nagadiva as a whole, and represent its shared political bodies and societal developments.
Territory: Sri Lanka, the Maldives

Government Structure: Nagadeva is a city-state, brought together by cultural, religious, and societal pluralism. Based on the philosophical tenets of Devarsana, or the "Vision", Nagadeva firmly believes that it is a religious calling to adopt as many faiths, ethnicities, and cultures as possible, drawn together by a joint interest in trade and the arts. Nagadeva is fundamentally a nation built on seafaring trade, using a relatively advanced fiat currency system (cowry shells, produced in Kholamalya) to make patronage and moneylending possible. Nagadeva is governed by Varasanai Raktabyati (Raktabyati the Visionary), and his apprentice, the Acarya (Father) Grantha Prabhenansa.

Built mainly on their monopoly over the currency system, controlling the use of cowry shells and the enforcement of debts denominated in cowry shells, Raktabyati is credited with creating the first organized government in Upaladbipa. Nagadeva is the capital of a loose confederation of settlements and local tribal leaders, maintaining trade relationships with their culturally aligned allies in Upaladbipa and Kholamalya. The federation between Nagadeva and settlements across Kholamalya and Upaladbipa is based on Nagadeva's status as a centre of trade, fielding a small contingent of sea-faring trade vessels. These trade routes are used to foster religious unity with the spread of the cowry shell trade being accompanied by Raktabyati's Vision, giving a formal base to the native polytheistic spiritual practices of the islands.

Ideology/Policy: Nagadeva is extremely culturally, religiously, and ethnically tolerant, to the point where it refuses to allow overassimilation. The wealthy of Nagadeva are expected to maintain culturally and artistically diverse communities, such that they can fulfill the Vision of a spiritually diverse nation. The Vision is predicated on the relationship between the physical world and the spiritual world - property owners are considered to be religious heads, and are called upon to form into religious hierarchies based on the importance of their properties. For example, Raktabyati lives at the river-harbour of Nagadeva, and derives his religious power from his spiritual link to the God of the harbour, as the harbour of Nagadeva is the 'heart' of the world. In practice, outside Nagadeva itself, these religious hierarchies tend to mirror the native traditions for the most part, utilizing household spirits, but attribute the power of local religious leaders to geographically linked higher spirits rather than traditional customs.

Leaders: Raktabyati is an ambitious, intelligent man. While generally unassuming, he is considered to be extremely charismatic and intelligent - he is heralded by some of the devout as a prophet of the spiritual world collectively. He is an extremely capable mathematician and philosopher, having developed the Vision based on his beliefs that the spiritual world, to be fundamentally 'natural' and realizable, must mirror the importance placed in the physical world on family homes, farms, and natural landmarks. What child has never looked at a mountain and felt awe, or across a sea and felt fear? These characteristics are those of the spirits, and those humans who dare to tame them tame the spirits. But not all spirits are equal, just as not all men are equal. Raktabyati came from a wealthy trading family, working as jewellers, and sending expensive gemstones to India and the Middle East via the Indian trade networks.

Grantha Prabhenansa is similarly intelligent, but does not possess the same overwhelming charisma. While respected for his intellect, he is only particularly recognized as a great mind amongst his peers - as a mathematician in particular, but also as a natural philosopher, with a seemingly innate understanding of the environment around him and how to manipulate it. An architect and dockworker by trade, as a teenager, he made his mark as a capable leader of far older men in overseeing the construction of the flighty trading vessels that form the backbone of Nagadeva's society. It was when he was in his late teen years that Raktabyati approached him, believing that a riverboat he was building was annointed by the God of the Harbour, and could take him to Kholamalya.

Raktabyati paid all that he had to rent the vessel, and shared the Vision with fortuitously agreeable merchants. He convinced them to allow him to take small amounts of goods to Kholamalya, offering them the promise of small, practical quantities of cowry shells. The spices and wood that he would take with him were light and could be carried in high quantities, even by the small boat constructed by Grantha, and fetched a large quantity in cowry shells from the needy people of Kholamalya. Introducing the Vision to Kholamalya, he called upon them to give him exclusive rights to import cowry shells, promising to match any offers from a competitor upon his return, backed by his generous first purchase. From there, Raktabyati convinced the merchants of Upaladbapi to utilize the new-found common good to barter, offering his services as a trade broker, and Grantha's as an assayer. By the time Raktabyati had reached his later years, the cowry shell had become synonymous for an arbitrary unit of trade, and allowed Raktabyati to ensure he could pay back any debt he undertook in cowry shells through his control of the cowry shell trade in far-away Kholamalya.

Foreign Relations: Nagadeva is often viewed as a strange political outcast, albeit not an unpleasant one. It is avowedly polytheistic, encouraging its residents to continue practicing their own faiths openly, but brutally cracking down on any faith that should threaten the Vision of independent, diverse religious freedoms. This includes, for instance, syncretism that does not seek to create new institutions but to co-opt existing ones - such is considered to be undermining the Vision. As a result, it is often viewed with distrust and confusion by nations across the world - however, it is valued as a fairly tame filter between monotheistic and theocratic states, and religious rivals who would seek to usurp their religion, rather than simply adopt it as another token in the Nagadeve pantheon. Other than religious tensions, Nagadeva is generally considered to be a trustworthy trade partner and militarily unassuming, with a worth in the world created more through its status as a gateway between nations, and languages. Their willingness, and capacity, to provide translators for most major languages to their immediate neighbours is welcomed, and they have a tradition of multilingualism that far outpaces many others.

Capital: The capital of Nagadeva is Nagadeva, situated at modern-day Anuradhapura.

Demographics: The population of Nagadeva is in the tens of thousands.
Ethnicity: Most who live in Nagadeva are either Veddic (Upaladbipa), or Maldivian (Kholamalya). Many other ethnicities are encouraged and supported financially, until they can establish themselves, but they are so few and far apart that they are not worth mention, besides generalised South Indian immigration.
Language: Both of the major languages in Nagadeva, Upaladi and Kholamai, are closely related. They are not mutually intelligible, but there is a widely-used tradespeak which can be used to generate mutually intelligible sentence fragments, as well as a unified numerical system. Other languages are innumerable.
Religion: Devarsana, the Vision, is a polytheistic religion incorporating a number of divine hierarchies into a pantheon. The Vision dictates that hierarchies are attached to geographic locations, shaped by and shaping the development of society as they mature. These hierarchies do not just reflect spiritual beliefs, but the hierarchy between property owners and those who tend to their property. Property owners include heads of households, shipowners, and tribal chiefs.

Military Organization: A professional army, maintained specifically to serve the Visionary in debt collection and the keeping of the peace.
Army: Extremely small, mainly utilized for policing. They number, at the most, in the dozens.
Navy: An extensive merchant marine, capable of river-transit and shallow sea operations. Capable and veteran sailors, but minimal military training - their greatest advantage is maneuverability, both by design and by skill. Most merchant retinues carry slings, which form effectively the entirity of Nagadeve martial prowess.
Air Force: 1 F-35 carrier-launched fighter jet.
Space Fleet: A very ambitious canoe.

Economy: (How is the state's economy? Describe wealth inequality, unemployment, net worth, etc. Describe the government's role, the people's attitude, and everything else relevant to the current economy as a whole) Wealth inequality in Nagadeva is relatively high. Wealth tends to be concentrated in the mercantile classes - those who are capable of organizing trade expeditions. The Visionary's government has minimal impact on the going-ons of economics, besides its role as a proto-banking institution for the wealthiest merchants in Upaladbapi, and its near-total domination of the Kholamalyan economy (accounting for only a few hundred subsistence fishermen).
Infrastructure: Nagadeva is on the cutting edge of hydraulics and coastal engineering. While it does not have the same scale of architecture as large nations, it has extraordinarily skilled craftsmen, and extremely long-term urban planning that allows for impressive feats of human endurance. Nagadeva has riverside docks built over years according to carefully cultivated plans that would put to shame even the ports of a large nation, haphazardly built around need, and irrigation channels that line the city.
Trade: Nagadeva has an extensive trade surplus, trading across Asia and into the Middle East. While it rarely endeavours to perform the entire route itself, Nagadeve traders do broker trades along the route with some frequency, and Nagadeva is well-known as a trading post, exchanging the goods of Indochina and the far east for what can be provided of the Levant and the Middle East. Nagadeva itself produces large quantities of spices, gemstones, and finished works, like glazed pots. It also promotes the use of cowry shells as a currency, by enforcing its use for essentials - requiring that debts incurred in Nagadeva be denominated by cowry shell, instead of through prior arranged goods. Such debts include the cost of maintaining vessels, and of lodgings, while attempting to sell goods, and are commonplace in Nagadeva, where the common use of the cowry shell makes them easy to calculate and repay with the assorted remains of a successful sale. Nagadeva tends to import cultural artifacts and goods of unique worth, but, more importantly, imports much of its iron. While Nagadeva is aware that it would be possible to produce iron itself, it does not have the necessary skills available to maintain high quality crucible forging at this time.
Currency: The Kholamalya cowry shell is used as a proto-currency by Nagadeva. There are no subdivisions of the cowry shell.

History: Raktabyati is considered the Visionary, the man who had the Vision and introduced it to Nagadeva. Using substantial profits from a carefully gained monopoly over the cowry shell trade, when Kholamalya remained an independent, cultural confederation of subsistence fishing villages, he was able to gain significant economic power by controlling the import of cowry shells to Upaladbipa, and the export of tools and basic resources to Kholamalya. Already used loosely as currency for traders across the world, Raktabyati promoted their use formally within the Nagadeve sphere of influence, by negotiating their use to denominate merchant debts through his promises of increasingly large services. The Vision served his goals, to promote his own interest in finding out more about the world that already used his beloved cowry shells, and to encourage the propagation of the cowry shell as a necessary tool in allowing for formal organization and propagation.

Nagadeve was a pre-existing settlement that acted as a gateway for independent villages across Upaladbipa to trade with the world at large, selling their goods to the few merchants in Nagadeva capable of extending trade routes into India, and then to the Middle East and Indochina via Indian contacts. Raktabyati's pseudo-coup of the settlement, and his positioning of himself as an economic and religious power, has given him a sphere of influence stretching throughout Upaladbipa, with the Vision appealing broadly to local powerbrokers looking to consolidate their spirituality with a strong recognition of their divine authority.
Miscellaneous: (Anything else that needs to be said that doesn't fit in an above field?)

429 (This is used to mark this as an official application. If this is not present, I can't search "429" and find this application)

Ok, I've shaved it down to a city-state now. EDIT: And added an economy section >_>

[Alleniana]

To be fair, xian and li are both pinyin of Chinese words, it's a reasonable assumption.

Anyway, so, everyone, yes or no to possibility of Chinese (or even Indian, but far far less likely) IR?

There simultaneous industrial revolutions

Only if it's realistic; if Europe is united into a giant empire that decides to prevent technological innovation while encouraging population growth, it would make no sense for it to progress towards IR at same rate as a competitive, colonial, scientifically-minded east Asia, and vice versa.

[Finland SSR]

My viewpoint is that the IR can happen fuckin' anywhere, even Jan Mayen or on Mars, but the player needs to have the requirements (which there are a lot of), patience (also known as surviving and keeping the requirements long enough, MTTH bitches), and be on the right time period, i.e. no IR on the Classical Era. And be the first to achieve all three.

Here are two examples:

The Dong Dynasty:
Approx. 1120 AD - too early;
Has gone through a feudal system, early strands of capitalism are showing themselves;
Solidified centralized rule;
Does not have coal or iron deposits, has to trade for them with a nearby state that is rich with them;
Is incredibly wealthy and has a lot of capital within it's peoples hands;
Has a large population, but it is spread out through a large territory;
Basic trade operations with nearby states, is rather mercantilistic;
Has a large hostile nation/big tribe on the northern border that it has to keep on check, only recently broke away free, too;
Technologically advanced in comparison to it's neighbours, but the advancement is sporadic and driven by independent men;
Ancestor worship and various conservative polytheistic beliefs, the Emperor is also the main religious figure;
something more

SENTENCE: No Industrial Revolution.

Republic of Itria:
Approx. 1770 AD - just in time;
Has gone through a feudal and an Early Modern system, is in a capitalist era;
Solidified centralized rule;
Has large iron and coal deposits, and quite close to the main manufacturing base;
Is incredibly wealthy and has overseas colonies to exploit, has gone through the Commercial Revolution, large amounts of capital in the people's hands;
Has a large population, densely packed around the major cities;
Large-scale trade operations across the globe, holds overseas colonies, follows laissez-faire capitalism;
Is in relative peace with it's neighbours, has existed and developed somewhat peacefully for hundreds of years;
Technologically advanced, has the necessary inventions, has gone through the Scientific Revolution and the state funds research;
Monotheistic religion, but the government is secular and the church has little impact on the people's lives.

SENTENCE: Ahoy, IR! The stage is set - maestro, choose your instrument, and let the music play.

[The Holy Dominion of Inesea]

There simultaneous industrial revolutions

Only if it's realistic; if Europe is united into a giant empire that decides to prevent technological innovation while encouraging population growth, it would make no sense for it to progress towards IR at same rate as a competitive, colonial, scientifically-minded east Asia, and vice versa.

Or if Europe gets rammed with volcanoes and nomadic raiders and meteors and micro ice ages and plagues

[Finland SSR]

Only if it's realistic; if Europe is united into a giant empire that decides to prevent technological innovation while encouraging population growth, it would make no sense for it to progress towards IR at same rate as a competitive, colonial, scientifically-minded east Asia, and vice versa.

Or if Europe gets rammed with volcanoes and nomadic raiders and meteors and micro ice ages and plagues

Oh wait

[Alleniana]

even Jan Mayen

Does this imply that Jan Mayen IR is unlikely, or, god forbid, unrealistic?

Yes; the decision is between considering the criteria like this and deciding IR based on it, or between manipulating history to give us European IR for convenience.

Or if Europe gets rammed with volcanoes and nomadic raiders and meteors and micro ice ages and plagues

Oh wait

IRL there was only really one; there were certainly nomadic raiders and plagues though, but definitely, given volcanoes and shit all over the place, maybe not

[Altito Asmoro]

Application
Okay, scrap the theocracy idea, I thought of somethings I'd like more. Hope this is alright

Poster: The Assorted Saharan Outposts
Name: The Falayno, The United Falayno Tribes, Falayno, Falayno, Falaynoan, Falaynoes, Awala Falayno, Awala Suakano Falayno Tikolbay, Falayno, Falaynoan, Falaynoes

Maybe a tad advanced, but it could be justified by mentioning diffusion from trade. Accepted, but do try to find a way to fix that gap.

A bit more detail and a bit less societal complexity would be preferably, but accepted anyway.

Baltic Sea? Dende is an African dictator; squid is very nomnom in Latin language?

huc, potestis videre barbarum qui non sciit linguam Latinam; hic barbarus est Lituanicus

More detail on which parts, Allen?

And less societal complexity?

[The Grim Reaper]

even Jan Mayen

Does this imply that Jan Mayen IR is unlikely, or, god forbid, unrealistic?

Yes; the decision is between considering the criteria like this and deciding IR based on it, or between manipulating history to give us European IR for convenience.

The only acceptable compromise, in my opinion, is to have the IR start in the Americas, and pull a Sunset Invasion on this popsicle stand.

[Alleniana]

Maybe a tad advanced, but it could be justified by mentioning diffusion from trade. Accepted, but do try to find a way to fix that gap.

A bit more detail and a bit less societal complexity would be preferably, but accepted anyway.

huc, potestis videre barbarum qui non sciit linguam Latinam; hic barbarus est Lituanicus

More detail on which parts, Allen?

And less societal complexity?

In general; detail in one part of an app can make up for a slight deficiency in another.

As in, make your government, economic system, policy, organisation, etc. less advanced.

[Altito Asmoro]

More detail on which parts, Allen?

And less societal complexity?

In general; detail in one part of an app can make up for a slight deficiency in another.

As in, make your government, economic system, policy, organisation, etc. less advanced.

I'm not quite understand, Al.