OOC: This is Fanboyist here, with a secondary nation. Not a puppet. It will exist independently of Fanboyists, and I am using it as an opportunity to RP with a different sort of government, one which is not possible with the destratified society of the FRF. There may be limited interaction between the two nations, but I will try to keep that to a minimum. Thanks.
I would appreciate it if you asked first (via telegram) if you want to join in here. I'd prefer this to remain a character RP as the nation enters its turning point before entering the world stage.
Basic Information:
Basically, the old Magnarch Severus (the country's ruler, a non-hereditary emperor) is corrupt and is showing the beginnings of insane paranoia, and the forces that be are intent on replacing him (ultimately, they will succeed.)
Factions/Groups:
The Praefecture:
The Praefects are effectively the nation's secret police; they are the long arm of His Lordship's paranoia. They root out suspected conspirators, keep people mostly quiet, and so on. They are headed by Captain Cassius Xanthus, a nasty piece of work in his own right (enjoys torturing people, has a psychological fascination in fear and pain). May or may not survive the rebellion, but he won't come out on top, regardless.
The Consortium:
The Consortium is a network of powerful merchants and tradesmen, who ultimately run the commerce of the city. Magnarch Severus is bad for business (with his paranoia) and the Consortium, headed by Alexander Oppius, would like it if he ceased to be a problem.
The Watch:
The Watch is basically the regular police force for the city. They're a bunch of city boys, by and large, who signed on for the decent pay, the uniform, and because for the most part, its not a particularly dangerous job (his paranoid Lordship tends to use the Praefects for anything dangerous that he wants removed. Not a particularly brave or intelligent (in a books sort of way) bunch, but plenty resourceful when they are inevitable caught in the middle.
The Winds:
The Winds view themselves as the agents of power in the city: when a Magnarch has outlived their usefulness for the Empire, they find a replacement and remove the old one, generally. They are the lead in the conspiracy to depose Severus, and are led by Exarch Ignatius, who is relentlessly devoted to his organization's ancient duty.
Its meant as a character RP to develop the nation, its characters, and explain the change in leadership that leads to its proper emergence, as I figured it would be more fun than a regular "-nationname- enters the world stage" thread.
IC:
The Great Empire. A peculiar nation, in its own way.
For starters, unlike many Empires, it lacked an Emperor.
There was the Magnarch, instead. Like an Emperor, but not a hereditary job. It went to who earned it, in a sense.
Second, there was not, in any real sense, an empire. Not that its people seemed to notice.
Oh sure, a great empire had once existed. It had stretched thousands of miles. Subjugated many peoples. Spread its influence.
But that had been gone for nearly two hundred and fifty years now.
Since then, the Empire, commonly referred to as the Great Bastion, consisted of a grand total of five cities. Ok, seven, but three of them may as well have been one. Now the Empire consisted of possible five million people.
And such odd people. They seemed utterly unaware of any of this diminished glory.
Nope. To them, it was still an Empire. Imperial control had never been completely strong in most places anyway. People could call themselves what they wanted, they were still part of the people.
What did the people call themselves? Matrians, generally. That was their religous affiliation, but it was also what they were. A peculiar religion, for a peculiar people.
Strange that.
There were a few cities. In the north, North Bastion. To the West, West Bastion. Eastward, East Bastion, Southward, South Bastion. Simple enough. But then there was the fifth. Ah, the fifth.
It was called many things, generally referring to its parts. Old Bastion, New Bastion, but most of all, Grand Bastion. That was not, of course, the city's original name. But it had become so, over the centuries. It was not unwarrented. Even in modern times, the city was fortress. Damn near impenetrable. What was not wanted stayed out, and what was not safe to know stayed in.
It was to this peculiar city, to this peculiar folk, that a sudden change came.
