Imperium Galactica (FT RP Group, OPEN)

[OMGeverynameistaken]

The NSFT galaxy is full of many varieties of nations, with an astonishing variety of species, tech bases, political systems and so forth (even if many of them are humans, using Star Trek tech, and running some alternative version of the Federation.) My experiences with EE have led me to believe that attempting to create a solid tech employed by a large number of nations, even allowing for minor variances, does not work, given the tendency of people to try to bend things their own way and to adapt tech and doctrine as they like. This led to significant divergence of tech on EE, to the point where several nations were essentially using non-EE technology.

There are also the limitations imposed by maps, activity requirements and so forth. Limited space often meant that players with an interest in the same nation were excluded, or that people who wanted to play their state a certain way were frustrated. Further, despite attempts to get EE into the larger sphere of galactic interaction, various arguments about tech and general inhibitions meant that this seldom occurred.

Thus, I have conceived a new idea, which addresses these problems and limitations.

Imperium Galactica is not so much an 'earth' as simply an 'RP group' of FT states interested in a sail/steam/diesel/atompunk (yes, those are all real things) theme. The idea of IG is to provide to those nations a starting point, and a community/environment similar to that of the current FT/OOC Arguement Thread and NSLegion. A place to discuss tech, potential threads, plots and what-have-you. It will also be a place to provide ideas for those who wish to start such a nation, and to discuss how such nations might interact ICly with more traditional FT states.

Such advice might include, say, how to create a state similar to 17th century France despite a non-human populace, or how 19th century Arabic culture could be worked into a star-faring nation. The idea would be to help players create a state that matches their vision, within the framework of IG. Other topics might be, say, how to apply a technology in a manner fitting the overall theme of the group. The idea would be not so much "this is how it will work" as "this sounds cool, lets do it that way," reflecting a more freeform ideal than EE had. IG will not have a 'hard' tech selection and I will not be enforcing any strict guidelines.

Interactions between IG states would be governed somewhat by a 'code of conduct' similar to that of EE's, that is, there would be certain rules of engagement between nations, and, of course, OOC arrangements would be encouraged. For example, the idea that it is generally considered impolite to casually annihilate civilian populations will be carried over, along with the prohibition against orbital bombardments (at least against heavily populated worlds.) There may be a sort of 'overall' galactic map, and factbooks will generally be encouraged, but the primary goal of the group will be to create an RP setting and to encourage interactions, threads, plots, and what have you.

I should also note that EE's political restrictions will not be present. If somebody wishes to make a communist state, a republic, or whatever, they are more than welcome to. All states made within the context of IG are entirely their owners creation to do with as they please. IG will merely be an advisory body on the creative side of things. Neither, I should add, will there be a single 'Earth' forming the center of the RP. Players are welcome to put multiple nations on the same planet, but are free also to have their own systems all to themselves.

So, with that, I am officially adding myself as the first member of IG. If you're interested, speak up and be added to the list. At some point I will create an IRC.


An application form, since people seem to like those:

IC Name of Nation - The name by which people will call your nation ICly
Type of Technology - The 'style' of technology you use (steam/sail/atom/dieselpunk/whatever else)
Inspirations/Aspirations - What inspired your state/what do you aspire that your state to become?
Government - Authoritarian dictatorship? Absolute monarchy? Communist rabble?
Personality - What is the 'personality' of your empire? Aggressive expansionist? Commercial entrepreneurs? Industrial giant?
Head of State - Who's at the top of the government pyramid? May be a government body if a single head does not exist.
Primary Species - What sort of subhuman filth composes your homeworld's population?
Initial Population - What is the total population of your empire (including colonial possessions)?
Total Empire Size - How many major systems/planets does your empire include?

My own application (you do not have to spoiler your applications):

IC Name of Nation - The Russian Empire

Type of Technology - Steam/Dieselpunk mix, with a dose of WH40k

Inspirations/Aspirations - A combination of the Russian Empire and the Imperium of Man, the Russian Empire of NS is a state bound by honor and tradition. Russia seeks to become a respected galactic power and to show that humans are a force to be reckoned with.

Government - Absolute monarchy

Personality - Russia is an expansionist, imperialist state, currently seeking to improve itself industrially and technologically.

Head of State - Tsar Nicholas IX

Primary Species - Humans, of course.

Initial Population -
~29,295,440,000 on Earth
~39,997,320,000 in Sol (Incl. Earth)
~131,566,556,191 on off-Earth colonies (including non-humans)

Total Empire Size - 20 worlds with over 10,000 people

The List:
OMGeverynameistaken - The Russian Empire
WIck - Venusian France
Yanitza - The Despotate of Draz’gha
Avenio - The Ambari Dominion
Tristiano - The Empire of England
Telvira - The Federated Stellar Republic of Telvira
ImperialOverLord - Venetian Astrumica Erratican
Azhuru - Empire of Azhuru

[OMGeverynameistaken]

bump

[Venusian France]

IC Name of Nation - The Carolingian Empire
Type of Technology - Victorian Steam Punk with a dash of Medieval Flair and John Ringo .FT badassery.
Inspirations/Aspirations - Historically the Franks were the badasses of the Dark Ages standing watch on the frontier against the Chaos of the greater world. In real life they fell apart after the death of their warrior kings and became the French. Now the Franks are back to keep that tradition alive against whatever threat comes against them in this new era.
Government - Imperial Rule, with loyalty to the Emperor. Vassals are medieval feudalism led by dukes that command great power and respect sometimes nearing the ability of the Emperor himself. Loyalty and Honor hold these elemental forces together.
Personality - Campaigns and the spoils of material and richest that result empower the Empire. Expansion is required to fuel the economy. Yet, in the home systems there is a general increase of social programs and infrastructure producing a Commercial and Industrial base that may one day eclipse the need for expansion and warfare.
Head of State - Charles Martel II known in IG region as the Hammer of the Franks.
Primary Species - Human. Most of the Colonial possessions are humanoid with a spattering of Alien races of various composition, such as Amazonian, Klendathu and your typical Skinnies or Greys that bring their own Ideological beliefs into the Empire. Service to the Empire is rewarded with citizenship and the rights of liberty and benefits entitled therein. Unlike some IG nations in the Frankish Empire loyalty and honor is respected foremost before even racial difference.
Initial Population -TBD
Total Empire Size -IG Sol with Venus acting as homeland and Capital. Orbital Habitats in the Asteroid belt and in orbit of Jupiter. There are currently a dozen out system colonies.

[OMGeverynameistaken]

Looks good to me. Added to the list.

[OMGeverynameistaken]

I've made an IRC channel on Esper. Those interested in talking about this, join #Imperium

[OMGeverynameistaken]

In the interest of providing a 'start point', there will be an (entirely optional) 'earth'. Consider this as a sub-group within IG, that those who are interested in may join. It will be much more limited in membership than EE was, with a grand total of six states, representing a more or less 'complete' colonization of Earth.

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/8761/mapderp.png

This will be somewhat more constrained, as we're probably going to adapt the EE timeline to this earth. In terms of tech, though, it will be just as open as IG.

[Yanitza]

IC Name of Nation – The Despotate of Draz’gha

Type of Technology – Mainly adopted technology from whatever human faction wants to be the former Imperial master as well as a spattering of reversed engineered Necron Tech

Inspirations/Aspirations – Mostly inspired by the 19th century Balkan states as well as the Pashalik of Yannina under Ali Pasha, thrown in a Janissary esque faction. The Draz’gha are a reptilian (still being worked out) race descended from an ancient empire that once dominated the Region. Upon rediscovery their descendants had mostly regressed into a series of Backwater planets.
In the recent century however , a regrowth of Nationalism amongst the Draz’ghar worlds had lead to a number of revolts, culminating with the Hero and Tyrant, Xarim the Despot unifying the strongest clan worlds and forging a new state.

Government – The Government of the Despotate is ruled with an iron fist by the Despot Xarim, who keeps his power with combination of Charisma and terror. Despite being a ‘unified’ realm, the Prime three clan worlds regard each other with a mixture of Suspicion and jealousy making cooperation a difficult task. An important faction within the State are the Adopted, a military order raised by the former imperial nation who used young Draz’gha and indoctrinated them to owe their allegiance to the occupiers, (Janissaries). The decision to join the rebellion was out of a desire for power, rather than kinsmanship.

Personality – While at the moment the Despotate is seen as a rogue state by many, inside there are two factions fighting to create the nations identity. On one side are the Revanchists who want to create a Pan Draz’gha empire like their ancestors consisting of Draz’gha worlds still under Human Domination. They also wish to see the full use and return of the Ancients technology, rather than reverse engineering it.
The ‘’Humanophiles’’ or reformists mainly headed by the Adopted, instead wish to see an abandonment of Draz’gha history and technology, and see the nation follow a human model, and believe the liberation should wait.

Head of State – Xarim the Despot

Primary Species – Draz’gha, something along the lines of this, http://www.google.com.au/imgres?q=velociraptor&hl=en&sa=X&gbv=2&biw=1024&bih=482&tbm=isch&tbnid=gMVJvyhGTx-vIM:&imgrefurl=http://www.revolutionmyspace.com/image-code-128/velociraptor&docid=vmqCcr2CupM6CM&imgurl=http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c230/olle141516/Dinosaurs/velociraptor_mongoliensis.gif&w=320&h=256&ei=wpvRTs_mMoTFmQXKoYXJDQ&zoom=1 although with many differences, Shorter snouts and tails, no claws, upright bone structure, forward facing eyes.

Initial Population – will figure out later

Total Empire Size- 3 primary clan worlds,a long with the capital based on an asteroid, and 2 other smaller colonies.

If I do get accepted I will need someone to play the role of the Ottoman empire for my nation, although probably without the declining part

[Avenio]

IC Name of Nation: The Ambari Dominion
Type of Technology: Steampunk/minor amounts of sailpunk
Inspirations/Aspirations: - The Dominion was inspired in large part by the late Roman Empire, and in smaller parts by Egypt under the Ptolemies and the Tribunal from the Elder Scrolls series.
Government: De jure an absolute monarchy, with power held by the Emperor and his appointed Imperial Council, but de facto power is held by the half-dozen or more Great Houses, who hold the vast majority of the wealth and influence in the imperial court. The majority of the Dominion's history have been made up of the houses playing king of the hill with the imperial office as a result.
Personality: - Paranoiac, reactionary and expansionistic; the Dominion keeps the human population of its empire under tight control via a monolithic state religion (Which sees the imperial family and the Ambari in general as living gods), a powerful and ruthless secret service and omnipresent military. As a result, the Ambari are constantly fearful of a human uprising, and thus the state's attention is always focused outward, on expansion and on foreign enemies, both as an economic necessity to feed the massive military-industrial complex, and to keep the masses passive and cowed.
Head of State: By name, the Emperor Symmachus III rules the Dominion, but as he is only six years of age, he rules alongside a co-emperor, his uncle and top general, Valerian, and with his mother, Claudia, as official regent. All three hail from the ancient House of Aurelo, who have held onto a fairly lengthy dynasty in the last century-and-a-half, but whose grip on power is beginning to slip.
Primary Species: The majority of the Dominion's inhabitants are baseline humans, but the ruling class, who call themselves the Ambari, are genetically-modified transhumans, with their most distinguishing feature being a yellowish skin and golden, almost luminescent eye colour and longevity, all conferred by a cocktail of carotenoids and other chemicals that the Ambari produce in their upper skin layers.
Initial Population: - 16 billion on the capital world of Veius, 10 billion on the home-system planet of Felathri, 8 billion on the colony world of Campeva and another 9 billion scattered throughout the remaining outposts and frontier worlds.
Total Empire Size: - Two fully-developed solar systems with three terrestrial planets between them and three colonial systems, with development ranging from small military outposts to the beginnings of major colonization.

[Tristaniano]

IC Name of Nation - The Empire of England.
Type of Technology - Steampunk, Fallout 3 esque before the atomic war, very much advance tech but still stuck in fifties mindset.
Inspirations/Aspirations - The Empire of England is a brainchild of mine in which the parliment was never created and England always stayed a absolute monarchy.
Government - Imperial Absolute Monarchy.
Personality -Aggressive expansionist, Industrial Giant, Supreme Navy.
Head of State - The Emperor Richard the Lionheart controls every aspect of England. He has a small cabinet of his most trusted advisors that handle the more day to day kinds of dealings, but he is still the supreme decision maker.
Primary Species - Human!
Initial Population -
25,550,500,000 on Earth
30,590,345,000 in Sol
145,459,900,000 on all other colonies.

Total Empire Size - 20 worlds and several solar systems.

[Telvira]

Seems like a good way to get myself back into NSFT...

IC Name of Nation - The Federated Stellar Republic of Telvira
Type of Technology - Atompunk overall, with some borrowing from an assortment of books/games/movies
Inspirations/Aspirations - Going for a Glorious Paladins/Defenders of Freedom with a very strict definition of what freedom is and how much of it is a good thing, and with a willingness to do whatever it takes to defend said freedom.
Government - Democracy on paper, sort of a constitutional monarchy in practice (it's very hard to get into politics and both parties are essentially the same)
Personality - Mostly isolationist outside of it's sphere of influence, which it will defend ferociously. Industrially advanced and willing to trade, so long as the trading doesn't undercut Telvira. Wants to eventually spread to incorporate all human and near-human states.
Head of State - The President and Congress have a checks-and-balances thing going on
Primary Species - Mostly human with various flavors of alien minority, mostly humanoid in nature
Initial Population - The latest Official Census is still ongoing (I cannot conceive of appropriate numbers for my planets. Suffice it to say there is a hint of an overpopulation issue on the core worlds and some of the outer worlds make Tatooine look like China population-wise.)
Total Empire Size - 13 Federated Worlds (fully assimilated), 20 Protectorate Worlds (planets in various stages of colonization/assimilation/occupation)

[ImperialOverLord]

IC Name of Nation - Venetian Astrumica Erratican (Official)
-More commonly known as The Vae (Acronym pronounced as 'Vay'),
-Derogatorily called 'The Vague'
-Demonym: Venetian
Type of Technology - Steam\Dieselpunk
Inspirations/Aspirations - Republic of Venice base, City-state, Heavily Byzantine with a healthy dose of Roman and all brought together cyborgian aspirations of Godhood.
Government - Autocratic Meritocracy, with minor variations depending on each planet. Loosely aligned 'Planet-States'.
Personality - Commercial entrepreneurs sounds nice. Industrialists and Bankers, elitists with a will to dominate helped on by a nation-wide God-Complex.
Head of State - Nominally the council of the individual 'Autokrators' of each planet. Kept in line by the illusive 'Exarch', who has no base planet.
Primary Species - A society with a love of self-augmentation. The higher in society you are, the more augmented you become. The augmentations are as individual as the people themselves, who though primarily human, are accompanied by a host of minority alien populations. Discrimination is rife, yet based on wealth, rarely by species. The top rung of society, no matter their origin, are more machine than man (alien). Hulking creatures of spinning cogs and steaming pipes to lithe creations with little sense of augmentation visible, yet are even less organic underneath their finely maintained skin.
Initial Population - Roughly 10 billion per Planet-State. Another odd 15 Billion Scattered across the Galaxy.
-Total: Est. 95,000,000,000
Total Empire Size - 8 Planet-States (including Mars), accompanying 7 systems (Sol the notable exception), and Diplomatic, Corporate, Mining, Banking, Industrial, Research and 'Other' holding scattered across 200 worlds (vast majority of worlds are owned by other entities with the exception of a few 'bought' mining or terraforming planets with minor to moderate operations)

[Azhuru]

IC Name of Nation: Empire of Azhuru
Type of Technology: Hmm I would suppose it would be similar to thinking medieval europe, minus the devout religion, and blend it with a bit of John Ringo and 40K.
Government: Monarchy with the whole fiefdom as well.
Personnality: Highly expansionist but carrying a elitist overtones.
Head of state: Ghul [Yes that's a title] Denira
Primary Species: Humans. [However you can hardly tell in any city since they have been genetically modified to whatever they wish]
Initial Population: 184 Billion Souls
Extent of Empire: 20 Core worlds, [Worlds exceeding 8 billion] 12 Colonies, 2 Military States

[OMGeverynameistaken]

Looks good.

Currently planning something. Anybody want to be some communists who get horribly crushed have lots of fun?

[Dolmhold]

IC Name of Nation - The Great Han Empire (China)
Type of Technology -

Tech 1: The 4 Great Chinese Inventions expanded:

1. Cosmic compass: Connects to the very fabric of the universe and provides a 3D Compass.
2. Vacuum Gunpowder: Uses Vacuum energy to shoot projectiles to insane speeds.
3. Paper-thin hyper-mass-produceable very strong view screens- Basically the name.
4. Mass "Printing" of Anything- The ability to mass-produce things very quickily and almost as if they were printing books.

Tech 2: John Ringo Epicness (No he is not mainstream because the science in his actually makes sense)

Tech 3: Usage of the 4 fundemental forces of our universe.

Inspirations/Aspirations - Conquering nature.
Government - Absolute Monarchy, advised by a council.
Personality - Brainy Industrialists who seek to conquer nature.
Head of State - Emperor Li Han
Primary Species - Humans
Initial Population - 130 billion-430 billion. I'm not sure how much it should be.
Total Empire Size - Three systems plus Earth territory. The first one has 5 inhabitable planets by terraforming every potentually inhabitable planets. The second one is the same. The third one is being terraformed. There are little inhabitable colonies scattered throughout the systems.

[Telvira]

Looks good.

Currently planning something. Anybody want to be some communists who get horribly crushed have lots of fun?

I'll toss my hat into that ring. Maybe a world in-between my space and yours? I need some external threats to get people to rally round the flag and expansionist Russians would work nicely.

[Yanitza]

Anyone have interest in Being my Former Colonial master?

[OMGeverynameistaken]

@Dolmhold
That doesn't really seem to be within the theme of IG.

@Telvira
That'd work fine. It may be a while before it gets started, though. Gotta finish up finals first

@Yanitza
I could cover that.

[Yanitza]

@Dolmhold
That doesn't really seem to be within the theme of IG.

@Telvira
That'd work fine. It may be a while before it gets started, though. Gotta finish up finals first

@Yanitza
I could cover that.

Cheers, I'll get involved in the thread with Telvira when it starts, try stir up a bit of trouble

[Rrudal]

(I have created a new nation for this rp)
IC Name of Nation - The Trans-Dimensional Empire of Rrudal
Type of Technology - Rrudalians are very technologically advanced, having discovered how to travel through trans-dimensional portals and worm holes. Their technology also varies depending on each of its conguered planets as their technology is built to be adapted to the world on which it is in use. This is especially true for their military technology.
Inspirations/Aspirations - The empire wishes to expand itself to the far reaches of the universe by absorbing all other sentient worlds in its path.
Government - Complete and total police state on a planetary scale. This goes for all planets under Rrudal influence
Personality - Very aggressive expansionist
Head of State - The Grand Rrudalian Council (which is secretly ruled by the Grand Rrudalian Director)
Primary Species - Rrudal is ruled by the Rrudalians (obviously) they look like this :http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110407032852/aliens/images/a/ab/Sideshot.jpg and this:http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110407032710/aliens/images/d/df/Battle_LA_Concept_Art_by_Paul_Gerrard_08b.jpg
Initial Population - Around 8 to 10 million for each planet in the empires possession
Total Empire Size - The empire consists of 28 planets, and due to the fact that the the empire is capable of trans-dimensional travel, the empire spans a vast amount of planets in different solar systems and galaxies.

[ImperialOverLord]

Looks good.

Currently planning something. Anybody want to be some communists who get horribly crushed have lots of fun?

Mind if I venture into that foray too? However it may be that I might fit in.

[Arthropoda Ingens]

The following passages are excerpts from Travelling the Western Rim by R. F. Burton

"My first contact with the insectoid species species I'd heard so much about (Although most of what I'd heard were, sadly, rumours of little factual value) occured on October 11th, travelling to one of the small worlds on the rim. Our ship only learned that this world was now under the authority of the wasps when it arrived, which worried many of us, although it turned out that this world's new owners were less hostile than is often presumed by those authors who choose to write secondary or even tertiary sources, rather than going out and looking at their subject matters themselves. [...] The representative I met after disclosing my role as the Queen's representative of Mankind was a slender individual, parts of her body being of a bright orange, while others were pitch black, even more so than a negro's - although they reflected the light quite beautifully. I was surprised her thin limbs could carry her. [...] The wasps' takeover had apparently been achieved with very little force - not very surprising in a system with maybe half a million inhabitants and a few gunboats as a defence that looks inadequate even against pirates."

"I soon learned that there wasn't just one, but several species of wasp, quite unlike our own kind - although I'm sure that some of my less enlightened countrymen still insist that the negro should be classified in the genus Pan. Although I haven't seen all of them myself, it appears that they all tend to be a little smaller than us - indeed, I did not meet an individual I didn't tower above. [...] I was also surprised to learn that there are three more genera the wasps appear to consider their near-equals. I had the honour of meeting one of them, a tremendous reptile well over two metres in height, in one of the local bars, looking at the alien' dancers just as I was. These reptile's ferociousness is not to be underestimated, as my conversation with him proved - indeed, their kind is still proud to have given the wasps a run for their money, and effectively fighting them to a draw - their eventual submission nonwithstanding."

"Apart from the many small alien populations now living under the wasps' rule, there are two more species worth noting, originating from the same system the wasps themselves call their home. The first of these that I met is a kind of small simian, with long tails and impressive moustaches rather like Brazil's monkeys, if bigger than them. They appear to play only a small role in terms of the Vespid Conferacy's - as they call it - economic or military affairs, but they can be found everywhere the wasps go, as little, agile servants for all kinds of domestic purposes. Their social structure is curious - apparently the wasps stumbled over them as they expanded through their system and onto its other planets while these simians were still living in the stone age, and proceeded to adopt them for this role as a kind of willing slave race. There can be no doubt that they're thrieving in this role - safe from predators, their population must've expanded quickly, and they're now travelling the stars -, yet their planet is effectively ruled by the wasps, not just politically, but demographically as well, quite unlike the Crocodylian's world."

"With the representative's blessing, I was able to hitch a ride on one of the Vespid Confederacy's warships, a kind of bulbous ellipsoid. [...] Sadly, I was unable to learn much about these ships' capabilities, though they are seemingly powered differently from Her Majesty's own warships. Tremendous, blinding electric arcs occur inside their boiler rooms as well as all around the ship, a fascinating, if frightening spectacle. [...] Strangely, these ships do not appear to have a chain of command as we know it, instead, the crew appears to decide collectively on which actions to take. I do not believe that this is a very efficient means of running a ship, but it seems to work for these insects."

"While on transit to the wasps' homeworld, I learned much about their history. Apparently, they'd been a warlike people, and their constant wars ultimately caused the extinction of several of their species - as I was told in quite a cheerful fashion while we were enjoying some fermented nectar. But with the development of terrifying atomic weapons capable of erasing entire cities, the wasps eventually realised that they were warring themselves straight to their entire genus' extinction - I've been informed that a good hundred cities were wiped out in the first ten years of these weapons' availability -, and slowly, the rules of engagement were changed to reflect this, leading to a more gentlemanly form of warfare not unlike the one we know. I'd eventually come to witness such warfare a few weeks later, between two competing colonies of wasps, which I believe tells us a lot about the Vespid Confederacy's coherence as a polity."

"The wasps' homeworld turned out to be quite the surprise - despite being industrialised, there's still plenty of forests and swamps remaining, providing space for the world's many, often extraordinarily huge insectoid lifeforms. Although no more intelligent than our animals on earth, there's no doubt that giant crabs, some three metres in height and many more in diameter, with claws that could cut a human in half rising from the swamps are among the most terrifying sights my eyes have ever witnessed."

"The last of the four major species within the Vespid Confederacy, I met on their homeworld in the wasps' home system. I'd heard a lot about them, but not yet seen one. One might think that a species of terrifyingly large wasps would be fearsome enough, but they hold nothing on this last species. Large, bulbous sacks floating in the air, cracking with electricity, their twitching tentacles always looking for something to feel... Truly, they're the most alien species I've ever encountered, though the individual I met did eventually turn out to be quite the engaging conversationist."

"My research into sexual matters was, sadly, of little success, although it turned out that although they're infertile, wasp workers still possess remnants of their dominant traits and may seek sexual satisfaction beyond mere reproductive necessities. [...] Although I'd had more pleasant encounters in the past, I nonetheless treasure this night's experience."

"Shannon's Star was the first place at which I actually encountered fellow humans within the Vespid Confederacy, even though the distinct lack of surprise the wasps had shown in my presence had made it clear that they're quite familiar with our kind. It appears that this colony - originally founded by refugees from Earth' dominent powers - was conquered in a rather violent fashion, and plenty of the local humans - now a minority - harbour strong resentment towards the wasps and their associated genera within the Vespid Confederacy. Even I, as a human myself, was resented as a 'Collaborateur' on account of my cooperation with the wasps to travel through their realm. [...] Most of the humans live rurally, persisting on subsistence agriculture alone. [...] Although I experienced a detonation and a shootout during my one-month visit, I've been informed that by and large, violence on Shannon's Star is pretty low compared to the none too recent past."

---

Okay. Lets get dirty.

Name Vespid Confederacy
Technology Pulpy. Lots of ATOMIC SCIENCE! and a healthy dose of ELECTRICITY!
Inspiration An alternative take on Arthropoda Ingens; For a change, the genus evolved conventionally, and there's only one genus, rather than a zillion. Well. Not counting vassal species, anyway
Government Largely informal confederation of debatable coherence
Foreign Policies Mildly expansionist, but consistently set back by internal squabbling regularly reaching the point of (Ritualised) civil warfare; Individual groups may or may not have a penchant for capturing strikingly beautiful human females for their nefarious purposes. Despite being a 99% female, 99% infertile type genus... Eh. It may be vassal species engaging in this kind of thing.
Head of State None; The whole thing's governed by regional population consensus (Hence the debatable coherence and frequent internal conflicts), barring vassal assets, which diverge considerably from this
Primary Genus The effectively dominant genus running the whole thing
Vespinae Maximus (Giant Wasps; Flightless) Six extant & 18 extinct species; Typically ~ 130 kg; slender build, variable colouring; Early eusocial stage
Secondary Genera Theyre vassals, conquered by the wasps, although the Crocodylians in particular maintain considerable military power themselves, and are in a sort of informal stalemate with the wasps - they'll cooperate because they'd lose an all-out war, but the wasps grant them plenty of privileges because they'd suffer immensely from an all-out war, too
Crocodylus Sapiens (Giant Crocs) Three extant & 9 extinct species; Typically ~ 260 kg; Heavy, stocky build; Variable colouring
Physalia Aeronautica (Giant Portuguese Man o' Wars floating in the air) Two extant & 6 extinct species; Typically ~ 60 kg; Giant, floating, gas-filled balloon producing an ominous hum and crackling static by way of bioelectricity and the eerie pulsing of their alien bodies; Capable of changing colour; Possesses aorund a dozen tentacles; Each specimen is actually a collection of a little under ten-thousand genetically distinct & heavily specialised individuals - only the collective superorganism possesses sapience, though
Saguinus Superbus (Relatively small pseudo-primates. Kinda like New World Monkeys) Twelve extant & 24 extinct species; Typically ~ 30 kg; Epic moustaches
Tertiary Genera Two- or three dozen genera, parts of which live under the Vespid Confederacy. Lost colonies, immigrants, etc - never the whole, or even the majority of a given genus, though
Astrography & Population
Stinger's Star (Home System) The only system within the wasp-sphere that has fully and completely inhabitable worlds - and four of them at that. It's a binary star system, with the two stars being circa 65 bn km from each other, and each having its own planetary system. Apart from the four major, inhabited worlds, it also includes another four gasgiants, four uninhabitable rocky planets, and a shitton of moons. It has no asteroid belts worth mentioning and a remarkably thin Oort cloud, the latter presumably on account of the gravitational play involved in the outer system(s) between the two stars. Total population is in the range of 17 bn sapients
Vespinae World 884 mio km^2; 221 km^2 land; Gravitational acceleration 9.6 m/s^2; One major & two minor moons; Eight major landmasses; Tending towards a warm & moist climate (Swamps/ rainforests are dominant, no permanent icecaps); 6.7 bn people
Crocodylus World 497 mio km^2; 136 mio km^2 land; Gravitational acceleration 9.84 m/s^2; One major & three minor moons; Four major landmasses; Highly variable climate with significant deserts and steppes, as well as small permanent icecaps; 1.1 bn people
Physalia World 677 mio km^2; 226 mio km^2 land; Gravitational acceleration 9.24 m/s^2; One major & one minor moon; Seven major landmasses; Significant permanent icecaps & deserts; Variable climate with large steppes and dry, temperate forests dominant; 3.4 bn people
Saguinus World 13421772 566 mio km^2; 177 km^2 land; Gravitational acceleration 9.6 m/s^2; One major & four minor moons; Six major landmasses; Highly variable climate, but tending towards temperate & moist with large forests (Small permanent icecaps); 5.4 bn people
Colonies These worlds have been either explored and 'Settled' by the Confederacy, or they were taken by force from other polities
Major Systems Of the colonies, these are the major ones, generally possessing at least one planet or moon capable of supporting rudimentary life, though none are fit for full colonisation
Rynn's Star A tidally locked, very large moon orbiting one of the system's six gas giants receives sufficient energy from the local star to support life. Unfortunately, the relatively low gravity results in a rather thin atmosphere. Add to this the naturally-high radiation and the constant asteroid bombardements that come with the location, and it's understandable why life is restricted to the aquatic. Nonetheless, this, as well as a few other moons and the odd station in orbit provides living space for over thirty million brave colonists
Fury So named primarily for the absurd temperatures on the system's sole life-supporting world, which had the unfortunate fate of travelling in a retrograde orbit around the local star and, over time, coming ever closer to it. The world is extremely humid, and it rains almost constantly - unfortunately, the water evaporates almost as quickly. With the average global temperature hitting upwards of 30°C (Earth: 15°C), everything within 30° latitude of the equator is basically dead, though life continues to cling on closer to the poles. There's about sixteen million sapients in the whole system, which gives a 'Wild West Frontier' feel... If it wasn't for the constant rain, anyway
Shannon's Star Shannon Tweed was the beautiful (If of poor repute) daughter of James Tweed, leader of a human migration treck across the stars, looking for freedom from their oppressive homeland, and believing that they would be able to make it without relying on the protection provided by a strong central state. This turned out to be an incorrect assumption when the first ships of the Vespid Confederacy turned up in orbit, much to the locals' displeasure. The human population remains to this day, and there's the odd ethnic squabble (The wasps don't care much, they're used to it from their own society). Oh, yeah, the system wasn't exactly perfect, either, though its sole world capable of supporting native life actually has a great deal of potential - unfortuntely, it's still at the stage where unicellular oxygen-producers are in the process of staging a planetwide extinction event, and an ozone layer is yet to completely form. But give it another half a billion years or so... There's a surprisingly large number of inhabitants in the system, almost a hundred and thirty million people, around sixteen million of which are human
Doom Moon So named for the most striking feature of the system, a planet- (Not moon, but Doom Planet sounds silly) sized spaceship of unknown origin that hasn't moved in at least several million years, and is orbiting the local star within the habitable zone. Nobody knows how to move the damn thing, but whoever left it there clearly didn't think about sterilising it before abandoning it - it has since developed its own ecosystem. Of course, it has also attracted plenty of colonists from a myriad of species. The Vespid Confederacy is one of the latest arrivals, and took over subtly, rather than by force, managing to gets its authority acknowledged by the other colonists without engaging in more than at most minor shootouts. The Doom Moon isn't without its dangers (It is a piece of giant, presumably military hardware, after all), but is nonetheless inhabited by more than five hundred million sapients - only a small number of which (Some sixty-four million) are Vespid Confederacy natives
Minor Systems The exact number and location of minor systems is debatable, since it's in flux - the wasps may simply overtake someone else's minor system (Be it by force or by more subtle means, I.e. being demographically overrun and randomly changing relevant allegiances on account of the local's actions), but they may lose systems in exactly the same fashion (Indeed, there are presently several small populations originating from the Vespid Confederacy existing under foreign authority). Typically, the Confederacy holds around thirty such systems, with populations that are generally under the million mark - these systems tend to be openly hostile to life, and usually only carry minor economic or strategic value

[Hyperspatial Travel]

IC Name of Nation - The Treaty of Alliance Concerning the Free Worlds of the Ariete Sector
Commonly shortened to 'the Free Worlds'.

Type of Technology - High-tech, but along the lines of Honor Harrington or Drake's RCN Series - a severe World of Sail feel to the technology at hand. While technology allows ships to move at magnificent speeds, a ship's movement speed is more subject to the skill of her captain and technical officers than the technological prowess of the ship in question. A skillful jump-drive operator is worth his weight in gold in any of the navies in the Free Worlds. Good 'weather' in the Aether allows ships to make far better progress than they might have otherwise done. Pirates are commonplace in the Aether, simply because of the Aristotelian way motion works there - a fast pirate ship can always run down a fat merchantman, and boarding is likewise commonplace - most weaponry does not work when a ship has engaged its Aetheric sails.

Inspirations/Aspirations - The Free Worlds themselves are governed a little like the Hanseatic League - hardly centrally, and without the sort of power that can oppose major centralized states. However, there's a strong component of the Holy Roman Empire there, as many of the Free Worlds are led by princes. While there's no Emperor per se, the Free Worlds are led by a Council, who are debating the issue of electing a central figure(head) to lead them so that they look less like prey to larger powers.

Government - A hundred different governments, and different laws to abide by every time one jumps into another of the member-states. Each of the Free Worlds has its own laws, though inside trade enclaves these are largely waived for the laws of Vortannan, the largest member-state.

Personality - Insecure and watchful. Each of the Free Worlds is a minor power at best, and none of them has the sort of navy which would really pose any sort of threat to a proper empire. As a result, the Free Worlds are full of squabbles and infighting between member-states, but an uneasy peace exists no matter what, as the Vortannan Navy tends to ensure no major conflicts occur between member-states.

Head of State - The Council of the Free Worlds is a tenuous body which has the (theoretical) power to declare war. In practice, the member-state of Vortannan has an unusually large influence on foreign policy, and being the only power with a truly significant navy, it's rare that other member-states oppose it on important matters. Of course, Vortannan is a deeply politically divided world itself, and so while Vortannan leads the Free Worlds, it's not always clear who leads Vortannan.

Primary Species - The Free Worlds are entirely human, though aliens aren't overly frowned upon. If you have goods to trade, you're usually welcome.

Initial Population - Still in the process of working this out. Somewhere between five billion and fifty.

Total Empire Size - Somewhere between ten systems and forty. Some of these systems are lightly inhabited, some well-fortified. Single planets

[Dolmhold]

I've been thinking and I'd have to change my app...

I'm going to cut out that sohon madness, it is too much like wizardry. Maybe the shark's six sense (electromagnetic) will do.

Anything else you want me to edit out?

I'd like to start my nation as a technologically capable but highly enviromentallistic nation that slowly develops into an epic industrial giant.

[OMGeverynameistaken]

@Yanitza
Come to think of it, we could replace 'evil communists' with 'uppity colonials', if you'd like to do that by way of an intro RP. That'd leave room to either go full independent or retain some sort of dominion status

@Rrudal
That doesn't seem to be within the theme of the group.

@ImperialOverLord
Depends on what arrangements are made with Yanitza on the matter.

@AI
That is a large wall of text which I will have to read more thoroughly. However, I approve of ATOMIC SCIENCE! and ELECTRICITY! I will also look forward to giant wasps in waistcoats and tophats.

@HST
Looks good. Welcome to the fold.

@Dolmhold
I think there's some fundamental misunderstanding as to the nature of what's going on here. Basically, this is a group for people with a strong 'past tech' influence, that is, sailpunk, steampunk, etc., within their nations technology. Nations will tend towards a strong Elizabethan/Napoleonic/Victorian feel, with lots of fancy uniforms, honor duels and generally being snooty to inferior species.

I haven't read John Ringo, but looking at some plot overviews, it seems more like mainstream science fiction than what we're going for.

[Azhuru]

@Dulmhold, Fuck yeah another John Ringo fan!

Oh and at OMG take a look at the Council Wars series. Thats definitly going back to the past. Like Charlemenge past.