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CO-OP(s): Valefontaine
[- THEME SONG -]
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It’s a dog eat dog world out here. One way or another, you’ll have to make your place. Whether it’s on the blood-drenched battlefield, sandy dunes and beaches, or the concrete jungle you live in, there’s always something for someone.
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THE QUICK RUNDOWN
Welcome to "WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOR", a MTpunk postmodern roleplay taking place in the bizarre world of Tsion. Inspired by the flicks of the late twentieth century — from neon-lit bars akin to 1988's Cocktail, starring Tom Cruise, to gritty Hong Kong Action cinema shootouts like 1986's hit classic A Better Tomorrow, to hellish warzones of years past and present, Without Fear or Favor has been a long-running project aimed at envisioning a world akin to our own, marred by post-modernist grit in a free-form, pseudo-sandbox format that takes you through a world stricken by corporate secret wars and intrigue, proxy conflicts, mercenaries and crime.
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WELCOME TO TSION
WELCOME TO TSION
Four-hundred and twenty-two years ago, the world was a much better place. The computer, the World Wide Web and many more innovations in the field of human ingenuity had transformed society across Tsion. The tribute to mankind's achievement — the International Moon Base and the International Space Station — glimmered in the skies above, a beacon to innovation and achievement. That all changed, however, when the Final War (oxymoronic now, one could suppose) came about. Though innumerable records were lost on the days of then, it'd been a war of ideological premise — even in their brilliance, the predecessors of four centuries' past were catastrophically foolish.
From the thirty-first of December 1989 to the first of January 1990 CE, the bombs fell. There were no corners of the world that wouldn't suffer what'd followed. Famine, starvation, mass hysteria — nations folded in the chaotic aftermath, consumed by internal strife of inconceivable scale. None had emerged from the terrible conflict unscathed, and those that had survived had been undeniably changed. Society, ideology — forever altered by a conflict of unbelievable scale. Nobody truly won that war, but the grudges that would remain would last centuries.
Notions of pre-Calamity concepts like internationalism and space travel a distant memory, mankind stagnated. Centuries of conflict had created a great divide between those privileged who held onto the mysterious technologies of the old world, and those who struggled to survive in the new. Old-world governments unfathomably byzantine with bureaucracies and budgets nigh-transcending the comprehension of the layman reveled in their hedonistic sacrosanct, surviving into the testing new time with the scars of battered societies triumphant over the trials of the War, yet nonetheless decadent. Megacities, ever-growing upward, downward and outward, now dotted the Atlantic shores of nations that'd endured the annihilation caused by the Calamity.
Once the flames of the Calamity had settled, it was business as usual. Mankind had a great tendency to move on...or bury their heads in the sand, depending on one's perspective. Nations waged war, armies loyal to nations, corporations or themselves blazing trails and killing men in the name of God, patriotism and the almighty Dollar.
The year is now 422 A.C. — a mere twenty-nine years after one of the greatest conflicts since the semi-apocryphal Final War devastated the Atlantic. Even now, the memories of nuclear hellfire remain strongly embedded in the people, horrors of generations sent to die in foreign lands still fresh in the public conscious.
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NATIONS OF THE WORLD
NATIONS OF THE WORLD
THE FEDERAL STATES OF EUPHEMIE
The Federal States of Euphemie — the Bastion of Civilization, the pearl of Ophir. Some call it harbinger, other call it savior. Euphemie has seen by far the most impressive growth since the Calamity, which it managed to survive, albeit battered and permanently changed. Much of its allies in the East, Mederum, are long gone, save for the technocratic Emirate of Qarik. In its place are the northern Federal Republic of North Ophir, the successor state of the pariah known as Aenara and Siedenunland, and the Fourth Alvimian Empire to the south, once its greatest rival.
TORCH CITY
If Euphemie is the pearl of Ophir, then Torch City is the pearl of Euphemie. A massive megalopolis worthy of its own praise, Torch City is rivaled in size by few cities, save for the literal country-sized city of Imalakia in southern Mederum. There are as many wonders to Torch City as there are people, almost forty-million people calling the urban megacity their home, from the boroughs of Ricus Bay to Morhatten.
In the background, Euphemie may seem to be free and fair, but it faces a dark shadow war raging in the background. Private warfighters of megacorporations worthy of being called their own quasi-states fight wars both in faraway lands and office buildings, conducting corporate acts of espionage and sabotage that go undetected to much of the world. Entire shadow networks are domineered by the most pragmatic of executives, comprised of a wealthy oligarchy who enjoy their roles as the judge, jury, and executioner of the urban jungle.
As said before, not everything is sunshine and rainbows in Euphemie. Turmenista, once its jewel in the Atlantic, was decimated during the so-called “Second Calamity” by Tangaliroan nuclear weapons that set off a Tokamak reactor in Arcadia, formerly the capital of the island state. Almost the entirety of the main archipelago of Turmenista was rendered inhosphitable from the radioactive fallout, forcing an exodus of millions to Torch City, the Coral Islands, and other islands near Turmenista. Once the war in Mederum cooled down, Euphemie, at the behest of its current governor, sent 60,000 Solaran prisoners of war to rebuild Turmenista and contain the radiation, disregarding all safety and ethical concerns. What came about from this was the dystopian Neo-Arcadia, a dark copy of Arcadia ruled by corporate oligarchs and corrupt politicians, and marred by ethnically-backed gang warfare between Turmenistan and Solaran gangs.
In the metaphorical backwaters of Euphemie are the states of Canten, Augusta, and Red Pine. Augusta has widely been ridiculed as a land of racists and hicks, but they have grown to dominate politics west of Torch City due to being largely spared the crop failure-inducing nuclear winter of the Transatlantic War. Canten has long since been Augusta’s rival, flaunting a past legacy of independence from Aenara during the archaic days of horse-drawn carriages and black powder firearms. Red Pine was reunified with its southern half in 392, during the so-called 'Reunification War' — the legacy of then-President Neworder leaves him revered to godlike extent in the Euphemian state.
West of the Euphemian 'heartland' are the states that once comprised the 'Republic of Oesterra' — unified with Euphemie under the 'More Perfect Union' declared at the end of the Transatlantic War. The legacy of this unification is still apparent: the western states of the Federation are staunchly individualist, religiously distinct from the rest of the nation. Where most praise past Presidents as divine aspects of God, the predominantly Ourielist population of Oesterra praises a different God entirely.
Euphemie maintains a large, well-funded and powerful military, as well as a strong presence in the Atlantic and a growing presence in the Pacific, projecting vast influence between both continents. The greatest evidence of this dominance is seen in Mederum, as it established military cantonments during the great war during the 390s. Its fleet is aging and soon to be surpassed by its former rival, but only time will tell if Euphemie’s great armies will be mobilized once more for another war.
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ALVIMIA
Tropical beaches, busy megacities and dense tropical rainforests comprise the Fourth Alvimian Empire. Often poetically referred to as the crown jewel of the Atlantic, Alvimia endured defeat and crisis in the Fourth Alvimian-Euphemian War of 392 to rise organically to a significant regional power, with influence in south Ophir second only to its northern neighbor.
Though Alvimia and Euphemie were once harsh rivals, they have since become allies under the Porto Plácido Pact and the subsequent International Coalition that formed in the Transatlantic War, and exists to this day through the Ophiric Security Cooperation Organization (OSCO).
Though the war in Red Pine saw the abdication of the House of Pantaleão, the referendum of 418 saw the restoration of the Alvimian Empire, under much more democratic pretenses than the third. Harmoniously integrating the democratic framework of the United States of Alvimia, the new 'Empire' sees itself a dominant power in the south Atlantic, exerting itself upon the various nations there, namely the more impoverished states on the subcontinent of Kir.
Despite alliances, Alvimia competes with its northern and southern neighbors — Euphemie and Velezia, respectively — over naval dominance of the Atlantic. Its fleet is modern, advanced, and continues to grow with every passing year. The Nero-class Battlecruiser, a direct successor to the Nero-class cruisers that were obliterated by Euphemie during the war, are among the most powerful and advanced surface vessels to grace the Atlantic Ocean.
What awaits the Alvimian Empire — peace and prosperity, or another war to test the fabric of the nation?
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AKHMANAR EMPIRE
By far the oldest standing state on Tsion, Akhmanar is a sovereign state located on the Atlantic coasts of Mederum, and near the Jade Sea region, giving it a strategic geopolitical position and control over both the Atlantic and Jade Sea. One of the world’s longest rivers, the Sebhet, once known as the “Blood of Empires,” runs through the country past its great capital of Yevosh and empties into the Sebhet Delta and into the Atlantic.
Urbanization in Akhmanar has climbed to over 90% since the Calamity, leading to growing megaregions along the Sebhet. It suffered during the wars in 393, transitioning from the theocratic and mostly democratic Akhmanar Republic to the totalitarian Federated Order of the United Republic of Akhmanar, or FOURA. After experiencing this stint in totalitarianism, the FOURA gradually began to appease to the public's demands to return to the Republic's style of governance, but remained steadfast in an impartial transition to something entirely new. It soared past the economic, military, and political levels seen in its Akhmanar Republic and FOURA days in the form of the Akhmanar Empire, consolidating itself as a proper Emerging Power in Mederum. Lands once ruled by ancient legendary pharaohs are now ruled by regional governors, its unicameral legislature restored to the meritocratic Vizier Assembly, and its judiciary branch headed by nine prophets representing each god of its religious pantheon. However, the old FOURA regime still maintains power, albeit power which is waning steadily.
On paper, Akhmanar’s so-called pharaoh, Akhen-re, rules with an iron but fair fist from behind mostly closed doors due to his deteriorating health. In reality, though, Akhen-re serves a more or less rubber stamp role now, his functions delegated to powerful bureaucratic oligarchs and military leaders. His secret war in 394 against the secretive Black Sphinx, an ultranationalist and religiously fundamental group of assassins, was lost, with the aging Akhen-re placed into a medically-induced stasis-like state to be “mentally entombed” by the shadowy order of assassins. Many of these ultranationalists have even infiltrated the inner circle of the government, waiting for the right moment to finally “pull the plug” on the 100+ year old leader, so to speak, thereby allowing their precious religion to return to the Empire. With public support of Akhen-re’s regime dwindling as the religious fundamentalists gain more popularity, the days of Akhen-re’s regime seem to be drawing to a close very soon.
The Akhmanar Empire has become an emerging military and economic power in Mederum, far surpassing its pre-FOURA days. Its military doctrine revolves around “peace through superior firepower,” as it has reacted rather violently and explosively to even the most minor of border skirmishes with its once powerful southern neighbor, Sanjar. While its navy seems to be average, its ground forces are respected and feared for their discipline and firepower. It maintains close political, economic, and military relations with a Southern Ophiric nation, the Republic of Velezia, which it has tested nuclear weapons with and offered its military services to many times.
Akhmanar has returned to its days of having a powerful theocratic base in the state. This is none more evident than in Pharaism, its dominant polytheistic religion, as well as The Nine, a group of nine deities that serve as the dominant gods of the Pantheon. They comprise of the Sun God and King god Atum, his children Shi and Tunfet, their children Get and Turok, and their children Horet, Sebek, Nephon, and Armun. They rose to importance during the rise of Pharaism, and have remained prominent in Akhmanar throughout its history, each having their own respective and popular religious cults and sects, political factions, and Prophets to represent them in the Pharaist Court, the country's highest civil and religious court.
In 393, a dying priest representing the sun god, Atum, gave a cryptic omen of shadows, fire, death, and rebirth coming upon Akhmanar. This vision became true in 394 during a total Solar Eclipse, in which the Black Sphinx rose up and wreaked havoc among the FOURA’s leadership. Also during this time, a so-called “Second coming of Atum” and his son Horet occurred, which some believe prompted the reclusive nature of Akhen-re and the secret victory of the Black Sphinx. This begs the question.. what sort of “second coming” actually happened during that total eclipse?
NICHES
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ACTORS
The tribulations of the Transatlantic War saw the rise of multinational corporations subject to little restrictions from national governments, their operations bound only to two interests: profit and private interests.
To most, Clancy Petrochemical is your average industrial conglomerate, with hands in the oil industry, the production of chemicals and so forth. Reality, however, is much more devious than that. Clancy Petrochemical is a corporate empire, with hands in security, defense, and the morally questionable. Running private armies across the continent and abroad, the Euphemian — formerly Oesterran — conglomerate is among the most devious companies in the modern world.
SOSEC, or South Ophir Security, is a multinational private military corporation that has found itself operating in both rural countries and urban metropoli. Born from an Akhmanari company that operated in Velezia, SOSEC benefitted from a hefty payroll from both its home country and Velezia, eventually growing to become something capable of functioning more or less without its main benefactors, though it still accepts donations from them. Its clients are as lucrative as the men and women who make up its ranks, all highly-trained for a variety of tasks and efficient at their jobs. Such clients include high-ranking chief executive officers, presidents, and religious hierarchs. SOSEC even has its own subsidiary companies which make its equipment, largely derived from Euphemian or Akhmanari equipment. It operates a small private fleet of transport vessels and riverine craft and a large air force of cargo planes and helicopters, to help assert it as, truly, a global organization.
Anders Bioelectronics is a massive, privately-owned pharmaceuticals conglomerate based in Torch City, but with operations since expanded to Akhmanar, Alvimia, and Utsan. It operates especially in Utsan, having effectively vassalized large sections of the country through the corporate practice of “buying out” areas of the country. It was founded by Dr. Travis C-MOON Anders, who worked closely with the Euphemian military’s Chemical Weapons development program in the 380s, and allegedly contributed to its massive black budget, though this is all conspiracy theory. Today, Anders Bioelectronics works to cure the world of its most incurable of diseases, actively pursuing a cure for cancer and other infectious diseases. It often embarks on excursions into Kir and Alvimia, curing the native population of whatever diseases they may have, as well as scouring the land for rare fauna to use for their pharmaceuticals. According to conspiracy theory, Anders Bioelectronics even abducts some of these natives for their own tests, disregarding most ethical concerns.
Anders Bioelectronics is currently led by Maxwell Anders, the only son of Dr. Travis Anders. Travis was a successful doctor, entrepreneur, and businessman from Louisa, successfully curing many patients (including his own son) of a mysterious neurological disease known as Bormann’s Syndrome. Travis Anders went on to establish Anders Bioelectronics, handing off the company to his son before he died. The details behind Bormann’s Syndrome and how it was treated still remain a mystery to most professional doctors.
The Black Sphinx is not a corporation, but a secretive order of assassins and ultranationalist Pharaists who operate in Akhmanar, independent of the government’s discretion—or, better yet, of their awareness. Founded as early as 30 B.C., the Black Sphinx was among the most ancient and mysterious of elite secret societies in the world, trained in an ancient martial art with origins as old, if not older, than the group itself. As secret as they are, the Black Sphinx became mostly public with the “Second coming” of Atum and Horet in 394, in which the assassins’ modern actions of disrupting the FOURA regime became public if only for the briefest moment. Today, the Black Sphinx are as secretive as they were in 394 and for much of history, actively picking off threats to the Pharaist regime and working to slowly and steadily dismantle the FOURA regime, man by man.
GIFTEDS AND ESOTERICS
There are certain unnatural “quirks” to this world that make Tsion different compared to our world. First and foremost are “gifted” people, or those with extra-sensory perception—ESPers, if you will. Some of these people have precognitive abilities, others can read minds, and others have abilities specifically designed to counter or blank those with psychic powers. These special individuals come about as rarely as they appear, their existence marred in secrecy or obscurity.
A more open wonder are the various forms of martial arts that have become grounded in the more obscure ends of cultures across Tsion, some of these arts older than most nations that are seen today. In particular, there exists a certain sect of martial arts that specializes in the paralyzation of opponents via pressure points, which has become mainstream in most special forces communities. Although its pure, non-watered down form remains dangerous due to the potential to mentally degrade those unprepared for the esoteric training methods used to become a master in the arts. There exists schools which focus on the utilization of chi, a combination of one’s mental, physical, and “soul” energy to achieve seemingly supernatural feats of physical prowess, as well as those which combine guns with hand-to-hand combat to create a deadly combination of fists and lead.
THE SUPERNATURAL
The supernatural is something often glossed over in Tsion — and rightly so, for knowledge like this in the right hand could spell another Calamity. It was said that in the beginning of the universe, God killed himself to create the world, creating seven to preside upon its continued prosperity. It was also said that on December 31st, 1989, this knowledge of the “universal truth” was made clear to man, and humanity’s fate quickly became a dispute among the seven “archons”, or gods. One of them, Absalom, tricked the Archon Eden into seemingly saving humanity, his folly causing the destruction of the Interstice upon which they resided. The ensuing fight as they were cast down onto the world caused the destruction of parts of Torch City in a massive explosion, kickstarting the calamity.
Archons are a name given to the avatars of metaphorical “gods” which once presided over this world, but were cast out from the Interstice, the interdimensional realm from which they ruled, in their bickering. Archons are effectively immortal, only able to be killed by other Archons. The true “death” of an Archon triggers a massive explosion, which can be mistaken for a nuclear blast. Archons have no powers beyond immortality, are much stronger than the average human, and can regenerate from destruction or disfigurement in any appearance or gender they will.
Angels, on the other hand, are the servants and enforcers of Archons. While much stronger than the actual human and ageless themselves, Angels can be killed by Archons and mortals alike, albeit with more difficulty for the latter. Many of these angels have infiltrated governments to act as the eyes and ears of their respective Archons.
Finally, there are Amalgams, beings of “forgotten” energy who now preside in the Interstice, but lack the ability to enter our world except on specific circumstances. Most of these amalgams are nothing more than feral eldritch monsters, but a certain few can be considered “sentient”, though they are as rare as they come.
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ON TECHNOLOGY
ON TECHNOLOGY
Technology in “WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOR” is more or less where it is in circa 2000 in our world, but with a few modifications. Personal computers, blocky smartphones, and an ever-expanding internet are now ubiquitous, as are vast, well-established telecommunications networks and fledgling space programs. The use of nuclear weapons carries no psychological weight or implications to it as it normally would in our world—such weapons have been used for tasks like destroying battleships of interest, disrupting enemy fleets, or even destroying entire nations. However, as seen with the Calamity and ensuing nuclear winter of the Transatlantic War, they have seen much less use than they originaly had.
One of the more interesting aspects of technology on Tsion are “artifical intelligences,” though calling them artificial intelligences is more or less calling your average smartphone’s virtual assistant an artificial intelligence. As seen with some satellite A.I’s and ship-based A.I.’s, many of these artificial intelligences are capable of a variety of functions, such as managing complex equipment and running hundreds of algorithms all at once, or even running elections and nuclear weapons silos. They do not truly have sentience at the end of the day—they simply “pretend” to be, much like your own smartphone’s Siri or Cortana. At the end of the day, these A.I.’s are just machines, servants of humanity.
Of course, technology here is mostly free form, grounded partly in reality and some “feasible modern concepts” that have not been seen in our world, or only in video games. Remember that the OP and Co-OP still reserve the right to judge any sort of technology or superweapon as acceptable or not.
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RULES
- I run the RP with Valefontaine and our word is law. Follow it.
- We reserve the right to grade and evaluate any and all sort of technology or “wank.”
- Do not Godmod or Metagame: Godmodding is defined as your character or nation doing something inexcusably overpowered or otherwise deemed as "bullshittery." Stay within logic and reason, one soldier cannot take on a whole band of criminals and expect to live, and one nation can't destroy the entirety of the world in one run. Stay within reason. Metagaming is a bit different - this is defined as your character or nation knowing things that they couldn't possibly know, such as a policeman knowing the location of every criminal in a city without even knowing the layout of the city itself. Same goes for technology. If you ever have a question about tech, feel free to DM me.
- Don't be a dick: This applies to both OOC thread and Discord. I presume everyone here is mature enough to handle themselves and know the difference between banter and blatant flaming. A character can be a total asshole in the IC, but that's no excuse to be one in the OOC.
- No One Liners: I cannot stress this enough. You posts must have at least three full lines of text per each IC post. Anything less than that is generally frowned upon and considered laziness, thus making it unacceptable. Anything greater is acceptable and is smiled upon, mostly.
- No 'Dick measuring' contests/Wanking: This is defined as when two people argue over whether or not X is more powerful than Y. Sure, debating about it is fine, as is showing off aspects of your nation, that's okay too, but don't turn it into a blatant and violent competition in the OOC or IC, and don’t wank — meaning blatantly godmod under a thin veil of “following the rules.” This doesn't contribute to anything and just causes unnecessary conflict in the OOC/Discord. Everybody and everything in this roleplay has their strengths and their weaknesses. No one thing is blatantly better than the other. The moment two people are seen excessively power wanking, they will receive a warning.
- Keep it Clean: This is a general NS rule, and at this point is the law of the land. Keep the RP PG-13. I understand it's a bit of a blurred line between what's PG-13 and what's R nowadays and that this site has a big age range, but so long as it's nothing sexually explicit, or overly violent, it's passable. If it's a horribly grotesque and frighteningly realistic torture scene or a pretty damn well written sex scene, it's probably not gonna be allowed by me or the mod patrol. If it's the aftermath of the aforementioned scenes or is faded to black before things get heated, then it'll be okay to post. This is no place to act out deviant fetishes.
- No multicolor or odd dialogue: I understand that Nationstates's format is hard to read for some people - that's what the dark theme is for. Bottom line is, no colored text, and no italicized/bolded/underlines paragraphs. Reserve them for their proper use instead of using them for everything. Please try to make it at least readable, as well. In short, if you feel we can't read the post without having our eyes blinded by insane technicolor text or can't follow the post, then don't post it.
- As for person-run RPS and peer-to-peer RPs, so to speak, you are responsible for keeping your own pace. Please do not hold others up during posts, as this is an inconvenience and inconsiderate to them.
- If you have a problem with a player for any reason, politely take it to TG or discord DMs. If that does not work, contact an OP or a CoOP. Do not turn the OOC thread or discord into your own battleground between your opponent in question.
- Try to get others involved as well: This is a collaborative effort. Don't turn this into a personal writing haven, try to get others involved, even if you don't want to. RPing with others, at least to most people, happens to be more entertaining than RPing with yourself. A major facet of this RPing is focused on interaction.
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APPLICATIONS
This roleplay is both a character and nation RP, if you probably already weren’t aware now. Players can take the role of a character in an open world, with most nation-related roleplay happenings and geopolitics delegated to side roles and functions mostly based on Discord. As such, Character RP is by far the most important aspect of this roleplay, with room to participate in canon-related news threads and social media shenanigans. Applications here, therefore, are as one can expect them to be, though only app for characters you know you are going to keep for prolonged periods of time.
![[- CURRENT MAP (DISCLAIMER: May not be frequently updated) -]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/512097107340034078/627913861592252439/unknown.png){kind=link}
