1618: Alternative Divergence [AH][OOC-OPEN]

[Arvenia]

What do you guys think the Fei Dynasty's total population would look like (in numbers)?

The Ming dynasty had a population of 160,000,000 at this point in time, the Southern Song took 60% as that's roughly the percentage of people that loved south of the Huai river (roughly the border between the two of you) historically.

That leaves 64,000,000. The Northern Yuan had an estimated 2,300,000 at this point in time, maybe with another million more in the other Mongol territories that you own. Your Siberian territories are going to be somewhat lacking in population. I'd go with around 70 million. Maybe 75 million at the most.

I see that Song has 115,000,000 people, despite it being geographically/territorially smaller than Fei.

[Sao Nova Europa]

The Ming dynasty had a population of 160,000,000 at this point in time, the Southern Song took 60% as that's roughly the percentage of people that loved south of the Huai river (roughly the border between the two of you) historically.

That leaves 64,000,000. The Northern Yuan had an estimated 2,300,000 at this point in time, maybe with another million more in the other Mongol territories that you own. Your Siberian territories are going to be somewhat lacking in population. I'd go with around 70 million. Maybe 75 million at the most.

I see that Song has 115,000,000 people, despite it being geographically/territorially smaller than Fei.

Southern China is far more populated. Combine this with Song owning North Vietnam (where vast majority of Dai Viet's population was concentrated before the southern expanse, so about 5 mil) + a bit higher number to account for lack of Mongol conquest and 115 million is a reasonable number.

Also larger territory does not mean larger population: Bangladesh in RL has 20 million more people than Russia despite being a fracture of Russia's size.

[Tracian Empire]

The Ming dynasty had a population of 160,000,000 at this point in time, the Southern Song took 60% as that's roughly the percentage of people that loved south of the Huai river (roughly the border between the two of you) historically.

That leaves 64,000,000. The Northern Yuan had an estimated 2,300,000 at this point in time, maybe with another million more in the other Mongol territories that you own. Your Siberian territories are going to be somewhat lacking in population. I'd go with around 70 million. Maybe 75 million at the most.

I see that Song has 115,000,000 people, despite it being geographically/territorially smaller than Fei.

Yes, 96,000,000 as 60% of the Ming population, + population for Yunnan, Tibet, Northern Vietnam and a slight adjustment for the lack of Mongol conquests.

The Song are territorially smaller, but a considerable part of the Fei territories are represented by the Mongolian and Siberian steppes, which aren't areas known for their overpopulation.

Southern China and northern Vietnam are by comparison more urbanized and more viable for extensive agriculture.

You are essentially receiving the same treatment, the historical population of the area (which seems to be of around 67 million), with a slight adjustment that you can take depending on what you want up to 75 million.

[The Ik Ka Ek Akai]

Full Nation Name: The Roman Empire (Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων-Basileía Rhōmaíōn|(Imperium Romanum), the Empire of the Romans (Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων-Basileia tōn Rhōmaiōn|Ἀρχὴ τῶν Ῥωμαίων-Archē tōn Rhōmaiōn|Imperium Romanorum). The phrase: the Emperor, Senate, and People of Rome (Η βασιλεύς Σύγκλητος και ο Λαός της Ρώμης - I Basileus Sýnklitos kai o Laós tis Rómis|Imperator Senatusque Populusque Romanus) is used to officially refer to the Roman state, which is also commonly referred to simply as Rome (Ρώμη-Rómi|Roma) or the New Rome (Νέα Ῥώμη-Néa Rómi|Nova Roma). Other names like the Roman Republic (Πολιτεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων-Politeia tōn Rhōmaiōn|Res Publica Romana) and Rhomania (Ῥωμανία|the Land of the Romans), or Rhomeis (Ῥωμαΐς|Rhōmais) with the derived (Βασιλεια Ρωμανια-Basileia Rhōmania|Imperium Romaniae) also exist.
Majority/Official Culture: Roman (Ρωμαϊκή-Romaïkí). The Roman view on the culture of its citizens is different from that of other nations, as it is based on the concept of Ρωμανότητα-Romanótita (Romanity, or Romanism). This is the idea of the Roman civilization and culture rather than the ethnic reality. The use of the true Roman language, the (Ρωμαικα-Romaika|Roman/ Roman language) what some may call “Greek”, the one true Orthodox Christian faith, and subordination to the imperial authority are the main pillars of this identity.

Other cultures which refuse to acknowledge this divinely ordained scheme of things or dare to challenge are guilty of a form of heresy in the eyes of the Roman culture, to be pitied or to be condemned, as people of the nations (έθνη), and as barbarians (βάρβαροι). Such cultures present throughout the Empire are then actively persecuted using this reasoning, being forced to go through a cultural process known as Romanization, a process of acculturation, integration and assimilation.

Territorial Core:

(Image)

Territorial Claim: At least as a part of the Roman imperial theory, the Romans consider all the countries which belonged to the Roman orbis, to the Roman world, to be their everlasting and incontestable possessions. In practice however, this imperial theory has never quite recovered, and the current Roman policy is focused on finalizing the reconquest of the Holy Land, and on pushing onward into Egypt.

Capital City: Constantinople, Konstantinoupolis, the New Rome, the Second Rome, the Eastern Rome, Roma Constantinopolitana, the Queen of Cities, the Great City, the City of the Emperors, the Reigning City, the City, the God-Guarded City, the Great City of the Romans, the Throne of the Romans, the Eye of the World, the Envy of the World, the City of the World's Desire.
Population: ~17,000,000

Government Type: Caesaropapist absolute monarchy with bureaucratic and militaristic elements
Government Ideology/Policies: Roman and Orthodox traditionalism
Government Focus: The Empire is currently focused on the expansion of its military-bureaucratic system, and supporting the adaptation of the economy in face of the changing of trade routes and the expansion of Roman merchant power in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Head of State: Basileus Autokrator Mikhail Palaiologos Doukas Komnenos Ioustinianos Sebastos (Short Title)
His Imperial Majesty, Mikhael Palaiologos Doukas Komnenos Ioustinianos, in Christ Basileus and Autokrator of the Romans, Kaisar and Despot of the New Rome, Forever Sebastos and Sotiras, Sebastokrator and Nobelissimos, Porphyrogennetos, Viceroy of Jesus Christ on Earth, the Pious and the Blessed, Defender of the One True Orthodox Faith, Great Protector of the Holy Cities of Constantinople, Antioch and Jerusalem, Lord of Our Sea, Sovereign of the Holy Order of the True Cross, Grand Master of the Order of Saint Andrew, of the Order of Constantine the Great and of the Order of Justinian the Great, Emperor of Emperors, King of Kings, Ruling Over Those Who Rule (Grand Title)

Head of Government: Grand Logothete and Hypatos Alexandros Kantakouzenos
Government Description:

The Roman Empire is a highly administrative and bureaucratic caesaropapist absolute monarchy, with the Roman Emperor holding the supreme authority in both secular and religious matters. In practice however, the empire has certain elements which would belong to a more mixed type of government. The monarchy is of course, clearly embodied in the person of the Emperor, which rules the nation as a hereditary despotic autocracy. He is sacred, elected by God as the Viceroy of Jesus Christ, and is considered to be the law animate. All the authority in the state emanates from him.

Beneath the Emperor stands the bureaucracy, a well-developed civil-military administrative formed by offices that are arranged in a clear order, and which is marked by a competition between the civil aristocracy, generally based in Constantinople, and the military aristocracy of the themes. The administration is highly ceremonial and intricate, but also efficient and flexible, a dual legacy of the Empire's long existence. The most important officials are the Logothetes, who serve as ministers and secretaries of state with clearly specified functions.

While power is centralized in the capital, it is practically delegated in the themes, (θέματα - thémata), provinces where the civil and military powers are combined in a single person, the Strategos (Στρατηγός), who is chosen by the Emperor and who acts as the Emperor's viceroy.

The Senate, despite still being portrayed prominently alongside the Emperor in official phrases, and serves as an honorary council, with an advisory role, and with members appointed by the monarch.

Certain small democratic elements exist through the influence of the demes, chariot associations which play a political role through their position, one where they serve to express the popular will to the Emperor through their acclamation during the races. Such demes exist in most major cities of the Empire, but those in Constantinople are particularly relevant, as they are partially integrated in the administration, where they serve as the main way for regular people to petition the throne.

A theocratic element is also present through the power of the Orthodox Church, which while subject to the Emperor's authority, is a rich and strong institution with an influence that can permeate the entire imperial administration.

Majority/State Religion: Imperial Roman Church
Religious Description: Roman Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodoxy. The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox Church practices what it understands to be the original faith passed down from the Apostles. The Orthodox Church in the Roman Empire is, led by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, who is recognized as "primus inter pares" (first among equals) between all the Orthodox bishops and patriarchs. The Orthodox consider the Church to be a union of various autocephalous patriarchates in full communion with each other. Besides from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the other Patriarchates under Roman control are the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East. The Basileus, due to his supreme authority in both secular and religious matters, is considered to be divinely ordained, as the Viceroy of Jesus Christ on Earth, and all Patriarchs must receive his confirmation before taking their positions.

Economic Description: The Empire maintains a strong and advanced economy that has not yet been fully affected by changes in the maritime trade routes. Trade as such remains one of the most important foundations of the Roman economy, with Constantinople serving as the center of an extensive trade network, with trade being strictly controlled by the state. The Empire maintains a strong monetary system, controls interest rates, and directs the actions of guilds and corporations.
Major Production: Silk and other textiles, grain, olive oil, wine, ceramics, perfumes, traded spices


Army Description: The Roman Army (Ρωμαϊκός Στρατός- Romaïkós Stratós|Exercitus Romanum), or the Army of the Romans (Στρατός τῶν Ῥωμαίω-Stratós tōn Rhōmaiōn|Exercitus Romanorum), is a direct and uninterrupted continuation of the Roman army of old and of its traditions, being renowned for its level of discipline and organization. The Army emphasizes the martial tradition of the old Roman legions and combines it with a religious duty and even fanaticism which has been proven in the many wars against Islam, while individual units maintain the traditions of Roman units that go all the way back to the Notitia Dignitatum, strengthening the morale and unity of the troops. The reformed theme system helps the Empire in fielding a force that is numerically superior to that of nations of a comparable size, and the localized centers of command provide a adaptable and in-depth defensive system. Much like other armies of the era, the Empire generally uses a combination of musketeers and pikemen, and use a clearly established formation system, with a hierarchical system of units and officers ranging from the regiment-sized tourma (τούρμα) to the ten man kontoubernion (κοντουβερνιον), giving the Romans the ability to field armies that can divide themselves into small and mobile groups, and while maintaining a good level of command and communication. The imperial forces are also well known for their auxiliary forces and for the attention that they give to supplies, medical teams and engineers. The Romans also employ specialized units of grenadiers and flame-throwers. The imperial tagmatic force numbers 52,000 including the guards, while the thematic force could hypothetically in case of a full mobilization of their forces could gather an additional of 110,000 men, but that is unheard of as such a mobilization would disrupt the Empire heavily, particularly in terms of economy and agriculture which would be heavily affected by the mobilization of so many peasants. Usually while on a campaign, the combined imperial forces range somewhere 70,000 and 90,000.
Army Weakness : The Roman Empire is fundamentally faced with several strategic issues which limit the effectiveness of its army. The first is that its very territory divides its attention between two continents and very long borders which essentially means that the Roman Army can very rarely bring its full force against a single enemy, as any movement of troops might weaken a specific part of the border and encourage hostile actions, which is only further compounded by the generally negative relations that the Romans have with most of their neighbors. Other weaknesses concerning the army include conservative views on cannons and on fortifications, and the limitations of the theme system - as thematic soldiers are usually not as well armed or trained as the soldiers of other nations.
Naval Description : The Roman Navy (Ρωμαϊκό Ναυτικό-Romaïkó Nautikó|Classis Romanum), or the Navy of the Romans (Ναυτικό τῶν Ῥωμαίω-Nautikó tōn Rhōmaiōn|Classis Romanorum), is a small and predominantly defensive force. It is a well maintained force, organized in an Imperial Navy based in Constantinople and in defensive fleets organized around the coasts around the thematic system, but it is singularly focused on maintaining the safety of the Eastern Mediterranean and of the Black Sea. The Romans mainly use galleys and galleasses, manned by professional soldiers, and they make extensive use of naval forts and fortifications, particularly in their Mediterranean islands and around the Straits, and Greek fire is still used both on ships and in forts.
Naval Weakness : The navy is profoundly marked by the Palaiologoi focus on the army, and while it is more than suited to defending the coasts and seas that are important for the Roman Empire, it is in only a limited position to carry any offensive engagements and is a far cry from the periods in which the Romans served as the undisputed masters of the Mediterranean. The Romans are somewhat conservative and greatly favor galleys and other such ships, which is starting to rapidly leave them behind the development of sailing ships such as the Western galleons.
Further Military Description:

The Roman Army is essentially divided into three main forces. The armies of the themes (θέματα - thémata) and the forces organized and recruited by the provinces with the same name. The soldiers of each theme are being granted land to work as long as they serve in the military, in order to support and to equip themselves, which gives the Roman armies a constant supply of peasant-soldiers without the use of conscription. The military organization is not neglected, and the units can mobilize relatively quickly in times of need. Under the authority of the themes, but of a different type are the akrites - (ἀκρίτης), irregular troops formed by soldiers which are granted land next to the Empire's borders. They act as border guards in times of peace, and as scouts and raiders in times of war. In case of enemy invasion, they try to protect the local population and to harass the attackers until the thematic forces are raised.

The tagmata (τάγματα) are the standing armies, usually garrisoned around the capital. They are formed by professional and loyal soldiers, and represent the core of the Empire's forces. They are divided in distinct regiments with traditions ranging all the way back to Constantine the Great. An important part of the tagmata is represented by cavalry forces, and they make extensive use of firearms. The are paid regular salaries, and also benefit from an organized auxiliary force which serve as support corps. They are well trained and are held to an extremely high standard, usually recruiting already experienced soldiers from the themes.

The final part of the army is represented by the Varangian Guard (Τάγμα τῶν Βαράγγων - Tágma tōn Varángōn), an elite unit of guards organized as a tagma. The Varangians are different from the rest of the units of the Roman Army, as their ranks are mostly formed by foreigners. The Guard was created at the height of the Viking Age, with its first members being provided by the Nordic warriors of the Kievan Rus. The Nordic warriors quickly proved their loyalty, and their battle prowess became legendary. The Guard is no longer formed only by men of Nordic heritage, nor is it formed only by Germanic people, as it was during the late 11th century, but the Varangians are still worthy of their heritage. Like in the days of old, the "axe bearing foreigners" are some of the best warriors under the command of the Romans. They are organized like a modern unit of pikemen and musketeers, but their members are handpicked and still use their traditional viking-style axes in close quarters combat.

Usually, the individual strategoi in command of the thematic armies are given independent command in term of dealing with threats, but in order to facilitate an organization of forces in a specific area, they respond to superior officers known as Domestics. The Domestic of the East (Δομέστικος της Ανατολής, Domestikos tis Anatolís ), is in charge of Asia Minor and the Levantine territories of the empire, and the Domestic of the West (Δομέστικος της Δύσης-Domestikos tis Dýsis), coordinates the Empire's territories in the Balkans. The Grand Domestic (Mέγας Δομέστικος-Mégas Doméstikos) is present in Constantinople and serves as a commander in chief of the Imperial forces as long as the Basileus himself does not take command.

National Goals : A continuation of the wars of reconquest against the Arabs, strengthening the Balkan frontier, improving the Empire's diplomatic position
National Issues : The recently conquered regions in the Levant need to be properly integrated, and a religious agreement has to be reached with the Oriental Orthodox positions in the Levant and in Egypt which are still hostile to the Imperial Orthodoxy, the bureaucracy could be somewhat streamlined.
National Figures of Interest :

• Constantine the Great
• Justinian the Great
• Basil II the Bulgar Slayer
• Alexios I Komnenos
• Michael VIII Palaiologos

• Emperor Michael IX Palaiologos
• Prince Konstantinos Palaiologos, current Despot of Morea, younger brother of Emperor Michael
• Prince Manuel Palaiologos, Despot of Trebizond, youngest brother of Emperor Michael
• Princess Sophia Palaiologos, twin sister of Emperor Michael
• Princess Maria Palaiologos, younger sister of Emperor Michael
• Princess Anastasia Palaiologos, youngest sister of Emperor Michael
• Alexandros Kantakouzenos, Grand Logothete and Hypatos
• Ecumenical Patriarch Anthimus VI of Constantinople

National Ambition/Aspirations : A restoration of the Empire was it was in the days of Heraclius, including a reconquest of Egypt and of northern Africa, and especially, the reconquest of Rome itself.

History :

• 1071 - After losing the Battle of Manzikert, Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes is captured and then released by the Seljuk Sultan. With the Mamluk guards the Sultan had given him, Romanos captured Andronikos Doukas, the traitor who had caused the rout of the Roman army during the battle. Romanos, the Mamlukes and his loyalists then clashed with the traitor Roussel de Bailleul and his mercenaries, killing him. Romanos remained in Anatolia for a few more years, strengthening the remaining garrisons, his survival also guaranteed the survival of the treaty he had signed with the Seljuks, meaning that most of Anatolia was spared from a heavy Turkish invasion. After his eventual death at the hands of his co-emperor, Michael VII Doukas, years later, the Seljuks moved against the Romans but they did not have the success they did in real life.
• 1081-1186 - Under the Komnenoi dynasty, starting with Alexios the Great, the Romans rallied against the Seljuks. Alexios called for Western help, being surprised by the movement of the Crusades, but with the Roman army in a much better position, they were able to fight alongside the Crusaders and to force at least a de jure recognition that the Crusader states were to become Roman vassals. Relations eventually broke down, leading to the Roman-Crusader Wars, but under a series of highly competent military Emperors, the Empire recovered significant territory in both Asia and Europe.
• 1186-1204 - The last Komnenoi emperor, Andronikos I Komnenos, was overthrown by the new Angeloi dynasty, which in their short reign proved to be one of the worst dynasties the Romans have ever had. Also known as the "Decades of Anarchy", their period of rule was marked by palace coups, internal conflicts, civil war, and a collapse of imperial authority. The Muslims and the Crusaders reconquered parts of the Levant, the remaining Slavs revolted in the Balkans, and many other conflicts weakened the state, which proved to be unable to maintain the centralized and highly professional army of the Komnenoi Emperors, while theme system, long ignored, was unable to provide reinforcements. The Roman state essentially started to crumble, and this all culminated in the Fourth Crusade, which the Venetians diverted from its original purpose of striking against Egypt in order to support the claims of an Angeloi claimant. The Crusaders besieged the city and took advantage of the disarray of the Roman forces to break through the coastal walls, but the defenders were rallied by megas doux Alexios Palaiologos, a military official and relative of the Komnenoi dynasty. The Romans managed to take advantage of the fact that the Crusaders had started to sack the city and that their cohesion had been broken, and recovered the walls, while using Greek fire to burn Venetian ships. The Crusaders inside the city were massacred, and the city was saved. Alexios Palaiologos married Princess Eirene Komnenoi and was acclaimed Emperor by the people of Constantinople.
• 1204-1261 - The Latinokratia (Rule of the Latins) marked the period in which Catholic principalities were formed throughout former Roman territories with the help of the Venetians, including a Latin Empire in Thessaloniki, led by Count Baldwin of Flanders who married an Angeloi princess. This was combined with a civil war, as several other claimants refused to recognize the new dynasty, including an Angeloi state in Nikaea, a branch of the Komnenoi family in Trebizond, and in Epirus under the Doukai family. This was a general period of war and conflict, even worse than the Decades of Anarchy, and were marked progressive massacres against the Orthodox population by the Catholics, who were hoping to occupy all former Roman territories as a new Catholic Roman Empire, and then to continue with Crusades against the Muslims. The Palaiologoi, centered in Constantinople, began a campaign of reunification and reform, earning the support of the Ecumenical Patriarch and of the Orthodox Church, which proved to be fundamental in their reconquests. The new dynasty first dealt with internal dissent, conquering the rebel areas and strengthening their claim through marriage - the son of Alexios Palaiologos, Andronikos Palaiologos, married an Angeloi princess, while his son, Michael Palaiologos, married a Doukai princess. It was under Michael Palaiologos that the situation was pacified, with all other opposing claimants dealt with, which allowed the Romans to focus on the Latin states - culminating in 1261 with liberating the old co-capital of the Empire, Thessaloniki, and the destruction of the Latin Empire. This was however done at the expense of the security of the eastern borders, which soon led to other wars with the Turks.
• 1261 - 1491 - The Palaiologoi restoration deeply reformed the empire, with reforms in nearly all fields. The new emperors were particularly careful to restore the system of the themes that had been so necessary for the protection of the empire before, fighting aggressively against the pronoia system and feudal elements, centralizing power and expanding the imperial bureaucracy. A proper Imperial fleet was restored, and by the mid 1300's it began aggressive campaigns against the Venetians and the remaining Latin states in the Eastern Mediterranean islands. Crete, Naxos, Cyprus and Corfu were all recovered, one by one, as the Romans took advantage of the wars Venice had in Italy, and defeat its remaining forces in the east in the Second Battle of Cephalionia. On land, the major rivals of the Palaiologoi were the Serbians in the Balkans and the Ottoman dynasty of the Seljuks in Asia. Despite the military focus, the Palaiologoi did not want to repeat the mistakes of the soldier emperors at the beginning of the millennia, and sponsored artists and scholars, leading what would become known as the "Roman Renaissance", while also establishing libraries in most major cities of the Empire - unwilling to repeat the risk of losing them all as when the imperial libraries in Constantinople were nearly set on fire by the Crusaders. Diplomatically, the Palaiologoi attempted to improve relations with the Papacy, which had opposed the Fourth Crusade and had excommunicated its leaders, and to perhaps mend the Great Schism, though that was not to be. This, combined with the establishment of good relations with some of the Italian states that had opposed Venice led to greater communications between Constantinople and Italy, with Italian scholars coming to learn in the East - and leading to the Great Renaissance of Europe. With the power of the Serbians destroyed and the Balkans secured, and with the Seljuks heavily defeated against the Mongols, the Palaiologoi managed to restore imperial borders to a reasonable degree of safety comparable to what existed during the Komnenoi rule.
• 1491 - 1618 - With the borders secured, further Palaiologoi continued to strengthen the empire, waging continuous wars. In the West, successive emperors managed to restore the Danube border and to reconquer what had once been Bulgaria and attempted to avert other possible conflicts with Catholic states by establishing buffer vassal states, but this brought them into conflict with other European states. This led to many conflicts between the Romans and the Hungarians, and later on with several Roman-Habsburg conflicts, although most of them were resulted with compromises and neither side believed it had the resources for a full war, and both sides had issues elsewhere, resulting the permanent crystallization of this system of buffer states.
  Meanwhile in the East, the Romans began a massive conflict with the Mamluk Sultanate and the Caliphate, as the Romans finally went on the offensive. Antioch was liberated in 1550, Damascus had fallen in 1560, and despite setbacks like the defeat in the Battle of Sidon, the Romans gained the upper hand, liberating Jerusalem in the Mamluk-Roman War of 1582.

RP Sample: Here

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Accepted

[Arvenia]

I see that Song has 115,000,000 people, despite it being geographically/territorially smaller than Fei.

Yes, 96,000,000 as 60% of the Ming population, + population for Yunnan, Tibet, Northern Vietnam and a slight adjustment for the lack of Mongol conquests.

The Song are territorially smaller, but a considerable part of the Fei territories are represented by the Mongolian and Siberian steppes, which aren't areas known for their overpopulation.

Southern China and northern Vietnam are by comparison more urbanized and more viable for extensive agriculture.

You are essentially receiving the same treatment, the historical population of the area (which seems to be of around 67 million), with a slight adjustment that you can take depending on what you want up to 75 million.

What advantages do Song and Fei have, respectively?

[Tracian Empire]

Yes, 96,000,000 as 60% of the Ming population, + population for Yunnan, Tibet, Northern Vietnam and a slight adjustment for the lack of Mongol conquests.

The Song are territorially smaller, but a considerable part of the Fei territories are represented by the Mongolian and Siberian steppes, which aren't areas known for their overpopulation.

Southern China and northern Vietnam are by comparison more urbanized and more viable for extensive agriculture.

You are essentially receiving the same treatment, the historical population of the area (which seems to be of around 67 million), with a slight adjustment that you can take depending on what you want up to 75 million.

What advantages do Song and Fei have, respectively?

Tough to say without actually seeing your app. I can only guess, but you can quite easily look at other Chinese northern/foreign dynasties in history for inspiration, particularly the Jurchen Jin, the Yuan and the Qing. It's not like having a higher population instantly tilts the balance in the favor of the Song - there were plenty of Chinese dynasties that had much larger populations than their northern opponents and still collapsed.

I'm not even sure what the origin of the Fei is supposed to be here, without a history, but owning Mongolia and the steppes would certainly give you a powerful cavalry force.

[Aegeonia]

Full Nation Name: Kingdom of Oyo
Majority/Official Culture: African, Nigerian
Territorial Core: The southern coast of Nigeria and Benin
Territorial Claim:
Some of Western Cameroon
Capital City: The City of Lagos
Population: 400,000
     
Government Type: Monarchic
Government Ideology/Policies: Expansionism
Government Focus: The Government works on building the economy, and also try’s to keep the country stable
Head of State: King Mykel
Head of Government: King Mykel
Government Description: The government is completely run by the King, and many citizens of the country do not like his rule
     
Majority/State Religion: Smahsian
Religious Description: After Thousands of years of other African tribes religions mixing together, Smahsian was created, it mainly is Egyptian like, with some other Local religions mixed in

Economic Description: The Oyoian Economy is very small, and they mostly trade with local African tribes, Trade has started with the Spanish and Portuguese Empires as they build colonies closer to Oyo, but the economy is still very small
Major Production:
Gold, Pepper, and Slaves

     
Army Description : The army consist of about 3,000 Soldiers, they mostly are just fitted with simple crossbows and shields, with some army, and have nothing too special about themselves
Army Weakness : The army is very small, and they don’t have the most
“Advanced” technology for the time
Naval Description : No National Navy (but many towns have small navy’s that defend the local area)
Naval Weakness : The navy is non existent, so it’s very weak
Further Military Description : None
     
National Goals : Fix the Economy, Gain Influence Around Africa, Not be colonized by the Europeans
National Issues : Very Poor Economy, Rather Unstable Government, Tyrant King, And European Powers are getting closer to their homeland
National Figures of Interest : None
National Ambition/Aspirations : To Expand around Africa, and become a Regional Power
     
History :

About 1.7 Million years ago, the first people came to the Nigerian Area, then they made Tribes during the Stone Age, they started farming in the Neolithic era, and they made tools during the Bronze and Iron Age, Oyo quickly became the strongest African tribe, then they made a kingdom, and soon they expanded and made cities, and started becoming more powerful.

Eventually the 1400s started and Oyo Started losing power, in 1567 King Hahn became the king, and Oyo started becoming even more weaker, then in the 1600s king Mykel became king, and Oyo became much weaker, but still very strong in the area, and that leads us to the present day
RP Sample: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=519995
     
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[Remnants of Exilvania]

Full Nation Name: The Kingdom of Bohemia
Majority/Official Culture: West Slav (Czech, Moravian, Sorbian) & German (Sudeten, Saxon, Silesian)
Territorial Core: Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia & Lusatia
Territorial Claim: Autria, Styria, Hungary, Poland...
Capital City: Prague
Population: 3~ million

Government Type: Elective Monarchy
Government Ideology/Policies: Militant-Religious
Government Focus: The restoration of the glory days of the Bohemian Crown, religious equality between protestants and catholics in the Holy Roman Empire and the removal of non-Christian elements from the continent.
Head of State: King Vilém František Kolowrat-Žehrovský
Head of Government: Royal Chancellor Jindřich Matyáš of Thurn-Valsassina
Government Description: The government is founded on the Charter of 1463, drawn up by the popular King Jiří z Poděbrad in order to pacify the lands of the Bohemian Crown with the Compacts of Basel at their core and enshrine the elective monarchy in a legal document. It was further modified in 1556 following the Peace of Augsburg dialing back a little on the protection of protestantism, as this was no longer seen necessary, as well as expanding it to guarantee and enshrine the rights of the crownlands. The final modification would come in 1575 with the Confessio Bohemica and the deposal of the ruling Catholic Monarch, drastically lowering the power of the King and increasing that of the estates. The over 100 articles of the Bohemian Constitution include the following:

• The creation of a General Parliament from the Estates of Bohemia as well as the Crown Lands of Moravia, Silesia, Upper Lusatia and Lower Lusatia, with each land being equally represented.
• The transformation of the Kingdom of Bohemia from a hereditary monarchy to an elective monarchy, with the King elected for life by the General Parliament.
• The King is a sworn servant of the Constitution and must uphold it at all costs.
• The King shares legislative and executive power with the General Parliament. Both sides must be in agreement on initiatives and execution.
• The Crownlands' own constitution and Estate Parliaments cannot be retroactively changed by the King or the General Parliament. The King and the General Parliament must veto such decisions before they can be approved within the local Estate Parliaments.
• All Estates must, porportionally to their size and their financial capabilities, contribute taxes and militarily to the defese of the Kingdom.
• Protestants and Catholics are equal.
• The National Religion is Hussite. As such the appropriate Religious Estates are free to create local churches and appoint their own Ecclesiastical Courts without interference.
• Officially ordained, local priests may preach the Bible at any time in any place in any language they so please.
• The priests and the flock are equal before the Lord and thus may both eat from the flesh of Christ and drink the blood of Christ.
• Members of the Church engaging in worldly crimes are to be persecuted by a worldly court rather than an Ecclesiastical Court.
• In times of of national crisis such as war, plague, natural disaster and godly punishment, the King is granted full executive power and the General Parliament's consent is downgraded to a delaying veto.

Majority/State Religion: Hussite
Religious Description: The schism within the Hussite faith between the moderate Utraquist Wing and the extremist Taborite/Orebite Wing was mended during the reign of King Jiří z Poděbrad, the man so intent on creating peace between the various religious groups and possible through the enforcement of the 4 Articles of Prague during the Hussite Wars. Over time, with relative peace and a slow decline of religious corruption, the Utraquist Wing manifested itself as the dominant group, with the Taborite/Orebite Wing becoming more of a zealous undercurrent with which the teachings were spread and lived, an undercurrent oft ignored by those within the wealthy estates but strongly manifesting itself among the peasantry and the priesthood. The Taborites' continued life was especially aided by their leaders' and troops' excellent fighting ability which was declared a result of their faith rather than the strength of their bodies, the length of their training or the quality of their arms by later chroniclers seeking to utilise the faith and its strength as a good motivator.

As of the current time the Hussite Faith stands on 5 cornerstones, a belief of Jan Hus and the 4 Articles of Prague, all of which boil down to the following:

• 0. Disavowal of Papal Supremacy.
• 1. Freedom of Preaching.
• 2. Communion in both kinds.
• 3. Poverty of the Clergy.
• 4. Punishment of notorious Sinners.

Economic Description: As the sole Kingdom of the Holy Roman Empire, an Elector and a long time powerful nation, Bohemia's land's are economically well developed, with many artisans, craftsmen, rich mines, artists and the like and the first University of all of Eastern Europe, the Univerzita Karlova, produces a steady stream of innovative and well educated minds.
Major Production:
This will be subdivided into multiple parts:
Lower Lusatia

• Wine Cultivation

Upper Lusatia

• Wine Cultivation
• Wool Textile Industry
• Linen and Mixed Textile Industry

Silesia

• Woodchipping Industry
• Wool Textile Industry
• Linen and Mixed Textile Industry
• Madder Cultivation
• Beer Brewing Industry
• Grain Cultivation
• Gold Mining
• Lead Mining
• Silver Mining
• Iron Mining
• Cattle Breeding

Moravia

• Wine Cultivation
• Wool Textile Industry
• Cattle Breeding
• Ironworking Industry
• Iron Mining

Bohemia

• Wine Cultivation
• Wool Textile Industry
• Silver Mining
• Iron Mining
• Copper Mining
• Tin Mining
• Ironworking Industry

Army Description : The Bohemian Army does not exist under normal circumstances/peacetime beyond that of simple town militias existing to police and preserve the peace. However, the constitution has specific instructions on its leadership and provisions, the Crownlands each having to elect a Defensor whose responsibility is to oversee and command military mobilisation, equipment and training within their respective Crownlands. In case of war, the King assumes supreme command of the army. Funding and equipment is sourced from the Bohemian Estates and the Estates of the Crownlands, as outlined in the constitution.

Troops are generally raised from Mercenaries but also locally recruited Taborite forces known for their zealotry in battle. In battle they employ the widespread tercio formations and rely on more defensive styles of warfare, generally doing all they can to gain advantageous positions or at the very least erect earthen walls to protect their troops. Upon breaking an enemy attack, they then tend to go on the counteroffensive, using infantry and reserve cavalry in hopes to break enemy troops and cause a rout and subsequent massacre. The general tactics go all the way back to the Hussite battle tactics of the 15th century, centered around the wagon forts, though wagon forts are now only rarely used due to their high vulnerability to cannons and their lack of effectiveness against large numbers of infantry.
Army Weakness : Bohemian Forces are generally on a defend-counterattack mindset for battles. Their tactics consist out of maneuvering themselves into a strategically advantageous geographic position by any means necessary, including forced marches which tend to disintegrate and demoralise the armies in question. Once in position they are, well, defensively minded and as such, if the position isn't a downright godly chokepoint, tend to be easily bypassed. Something to otherwise note is that the Bohemian Armies and commanders are generally poorly versed in siege warfare, grand sieges having not often been a part of Hussite Wars nor being of much concern for a so defensively minded army.
Naval Description : Doesn't exist.
Naval Weakness : It's weakness is that it doesn't exist.
Further Military Description : [[OPTIONAL]]

National Goals : The cleansing of Europe from the heathen and the nonbeliever and the creation of the first, greater, christian, european federation based upon the principles of the visionary King Jiří z Poděbrad.
National Issues : Affected by the general unrest within the HRE. There is also serious theological debate between Old Utraquists and Neoutraquists concerning further modification of the Hussite faith to accommodate further, more Lutheran, influences. There is also, despite the fairly modern constitution, serious problems with it or rather the self serving interests of the estates, often hampering it.
National Figures of Interest : Přemysl Otakar II (deceased), Karel IV (deceased), Jan Hus (deceased), Jan Žižka z Trocnova (deceased), Jiří z Poděbrad (deceased), Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna
National Ambition/Aspirations : No, I am not going to write it a third time.

History :

• 1433 - The Utraquists, emboldened by continued Taborite Successes, refuse the partial acceptance of the 4 Articles of Prague at the Council of Basel, electing to continue the war together with the Taborites, Oberites and Sirotci.
• 1434 - Hussite forces under the leadership of Prokop Holý and backed up by Polish Forces with which they had entered an alliance against the Emperor crush Catholic forces at Most, greatly strengthening the Hussite position within the Holy Roman Empire.
• 1434-1437 Continued large scale purges of Catholics within Bohemia-Moravia, forced conversion of the priesthood and forced expropriation of the Catholic Church.
• 1439 - Acceptance of Hussite demands at the Council of Basel by the newly elected and weak Antipope Felix V and the Council. Granting the Hussite movement peace and acceptance by the remaining attendants of the Council.
• 1440 - Election of Prokop Holý as King of Bohemia.
• 1444 - Second Settlement of Konopiště, settling of religious differences and policy between Utraquists and and Taborites, elimination of the ultraextremist Orebites.
• 1447 - Aschaffenburg Agreement, the Hussites stop their continued support for the Council of Basel to curry favour with the Lords of the HRE and the Papacy.
• 1448 - Concordat of Vienna, after negotiation with both the Emperor and Pope Nicholas V, the Hussite Movement gains recognition and lasting peace within the Empire, its section of the Compacts of Basel is recognised as lawful.
• 1453 - Ladislaus the Posthumous was elected King by the Bohemian Estates on suggestion of the Emperor in order to improve relations. Relations between King and Estates soured shortly after when Ladislaus expressed sympathies for the Catholic Church.
• 1457 - Death of Ladislaus.
• 1458 - Election of Jiří z Poděbrad as King of Bohemia.
• 1459 - Open declaration of support for Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, in opposition to the Emperor. The idea was to surround Austria and the Emperor with two potentially hostile states and thus keep him in check and prevent another war.
• 1460 - In reaction, Pope Pius II revoked the Compacts of Basel.
• 1461 - Formation of the Zelenohorská jednota, a catholic counteralliance within Bohemia consisting primarily of powerful catholic nobility.
• 1462 - Bohemian Civil War between Hussites and Catholics. The intervention of Matthias Corvinus in favour of Jiří z Poděbrad in repayment for his earlier support however ends the revolt early.
• 1463 - Creation of the Bohemian Charter following Jiří z Poděbrad's failure to negotiate a European Federation and general peace.
• 1466 - Excommunication of Jiří z Poděbrad by Pope Paul II. Invasion of Bohemia by Emperor Frederick III.
• 1471 - Utraquist Counteroffensive sees Emperor Frederick ousted from Moravia and Bohemian troops entering Lower Austria. The march on Vienna is stopped however by the sudden death of King Jiří z Poděbrad.
• 1472 - Election of Jaroslav Lev z Rožmitála a z Blatné as King. Successful peace agreement with the Emperor. He was catholic but had been a staunch follower of King Jiří z Poděbrad for whom he had undertaken a grand tour to improve the foreign image of Bohemia. Due to his faith, his loyalty to the King and his excellent diplomatic abilities, he had been elected and his reign as king was marked by peace and relaxation of relations with the powers that be.
• 1512 - Rerecognition of the Compacts of Basel by the Papacy.
• 1556 - Peace of Augsburg. Bohemia becomes officially Hussite. The Bohemian Charter is overhauled to remove some of its more anti-catholic passages as the Hussite position within Bohemia is now clearly officially sanctioned and protected as well as to expand it to also contain rulings concerning the Crownlands. Catholic Monarchs continue to reign in Bohemia to appease the Holy See.
• 1575 - Confessio Bohemica. The Catholic King is forcibly relieved of his throne by the Bohemian Estates following attempts to enforce cuius regio eius religio. Following this breach of trust by the King, who had been elected by the Estates, the Bohemian Charter is once more revised into the Bohemian Accords, greatly reducing the power of the King and expanding that of the Estates.

RP Sample: viewtopic.php?p=37980389#p37980389

#AltDiv (Do not delete this, it is used to keep track of the apps)

[Sao Nova Europa]

Reorientation 1102 – 1600 AD
This period of Pagan would be one of reform, refocus and reorientation, with previous structures being made a new both literally and figuratively with the Empire entering a Golden Age, albeit one born from a shaky start as the conflict with the Mongols to the north resulted in the loss of the Northern parts of Vietnam to the Khanate further losses were prevented with a combination of tribute and guerrilla warfare.

Just want to point out that the Khanate never conquered Northern Vietnam, as the Mongols never conquered Song in the first place. Probably the Mongols remained confined to Northern China. Also Song history does mention Đại Việt as an independent state when it was conquered, though I am willing to perhaps change this.

[Elsbrat]

I talked to Hindustan's player about their inclusion in this application, and hope the historical difficulties with the Uzbeks being replaced by the Crimean Tatars is okay. I also talked to Al-Andalus' player about their inclusion here.

Full Nation Name: Safavid Empire
Majority/Official Culture: Persian
Territorial Core: Greater Iran +. So Greater Iran plus some additional areas. Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan (Western half/Baluchistan), Iraq, Armenia, Ajerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman
Territorial Claim: Mombasa, Zanzibar, Uzbekistan, Arabia (especially the liberation of Yemen), Georgia (archaic, unrelinquished)
Capital City: Baghdad, Iraq (Winter Capital), Isfahan (Summer Capital)
Regional Capitals: Muscat (Arabia), Isfahan (Summer Capital), Quetta (Eastern Provinces), Kandahar (Afghan Veyalet)
Other Important Cities: Tabriz (important trade center), Ormuz (Maritime Silk Road)
Population: 15,297,312

Government Type: The Safavids are an absolute monarchy with an imperial bureaucracy, and also known as the Gunpowder Empire of the region. With the increase of the use of gunpowder technology, the Persian Empire under the Safavids has undergone a period of centralization, and are characterized by an increase of per capita income, population, and, lastly, territorial gains through the application of firearms for goals of territorial expansion.
Government Ideology/Policies: Imperialist
Government Focus: The Safavid Empire is focused on maintaining the stability of the nation, the continuation and expansion of trade, and the capacity to defend against military invasion by any of their neighbors.
Head of State: Shahanshah Abbas the Great, Shah of Persia, Shah of Ormuz, Shah of the Afghans (other titles include Sayyid)
Head of Government: Grand Vizier Saed Pasdar
Government Description: The Safavid dynasty rules over an imperial bureaucracy with extensive anti-fraud department procedures that place the Shah at the head of the Empire and shrines them as a proven descendant of Mohammed in absolute power in life as the head of the religious state and the state itself. Each part of the government - or Office - has a deputy that keeps records of the activities of state officials and reports it to the Shah, with the Grand Vizier/Prime Minister being the Shah’s personal deputy. Ministers and officials in government and at local levels were chosen based on merit, with extensive surveillance and the fostering of rivalries allowing the Shah to maintain absolute power.

Eight Veyalets administered by regional governors with their own budgets, militias, and with some to total oversight of their Veyalets exist at the frontiers of the Empire, most of them in mountainous regions, offering varying levels of tribute. The four primary Veyalets - Kurdistan, Georgia, Kurdistan, and Bakhtiyari - are the most easily controlled, with local rulers appointed. Meanwhile, in the Arabian Veyalet, they are ruled by a Deputy of the Shah and report directly to the Shah. Baluchistan is, likewise, ruled by a Deputy of the Shah and report directly to the Shah, and Afghanistan is ruled by a council of non-hereditary Emirs, with local power offset by a garrison from the Imperial Army. Tributes from the four primary Veyalets are the lowest - though tributary soldiers are at the same level as others - with Afghanistan’s, Baluchistan’s, and Arabia’s tributes being the largest. These Veyalet’s militias exist as the first defense against invasion.

Majority/State Religions: Shi’a Islam

Economic Description: The Safavid Empire’s hallmark is a lengthy period of stability & the revival of the Silk Road leading through Northern Iran that has led to the gunpowder empire having a powerful agricultural and trade industry, with agricultural use of fertile land vastly improved under Abbas the Great. In Afghanistan, mines produce gold, iron ore, copper, marble, limestone, and sandstone for use in currency or other industries while lapis lazuli, tourmalines, emeralds, and rubies serve as high value luxury goods. Opium, tea, and other valuable agricultural goods like fruits, nuts, citrus, vegetables, and a variety of roots and tubers are also produced. From abroad, Persia works with Europeans to bring their military more equipment and aid in modernizing the burgeoning gunpowder empire, spice, woolens from Europe, cottons from Gujarat, metals, coffee, and sugar. Using ports in Syria and Lebanon with thanks to the Byzantine trading apparatus, the Silk Road of Iran is able to trade in the Mediterranean with relative ease. On another hand, Safavid mercenaries offer significant income in regional wars for those who can pay well. Safavid merchants operated as far as Sweden and China. In short, the Safavid Dynasty’s work on the economy of Persia to restore it to the economic stronghold straddling the West and the East has been successful, marking them as a major economic power that is noted in this time frame for having unusually high taxes placed on trade from the Southern Indian Kingdom, the Christian Cheriyan dynasty. Meanwhile, they produce and export…
Major Production: Textiles, silk, Persian carpets, foodstuffs (including dried fruit), tobacco, horses, goat hair, pearls, and a spice exported to India, arrows, bows, polyenes, swords, arcs, saddles, and paints, jam, pickles, flower and fruit extract, and pickles. Another major aspect of trade isn’t in their production, but in the amount and diversity of goods that flows through Iran, which can be seen here [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_in_Iran%27s_Safavid_era#cite_note-3[/url]. More than 500 ships can be found docked in Safavid ports, primarily thanks to total control of the Strait of Hormuz including Muscat, at any given time, and protected trade on both the roads and seas of Persia and the concept of the Maritime Silk Road they pursue is a major draw for international trade.


Army Description : The Safavid Army is split between three primary branches, with 4 smaller branches within one of them. These forces are the Royal Corps, the Qizilbash, and the Provincial Tributary Forces - the latter being militias that can be fully mobilized in war time from the eight major Veyalets situated on the frontier of the Empire. The standing army is broken up into 4 branches, with 28,000 Shasevans making up the most sophisticated, well-armed branch and serving the Shah personally. Elite Ghulams (slave-soldiers) number 40,000 professional soldiers with 8,000 royal bodyguards and 32,000 cavalrymen that are known to benefit from an increasing armament of firearms. Meanwhile, the Tofang-Chis number 18,000 and serve as Muskeeters. On the other hand, imported European goods and Western advisors enabled the development of an 18,000 strong traditional artillery force.

The massive tribal Qizilbash army makes up a powerful but influence-neutered section of the military that reports directly to the Shah for the first time in history, greatly increasing control over the force and after decades of rule since 1588 his control means that civil disturbances or issues promulgated by them in the past are significantly less likely. The Qizilbash rival the royal corps in size and have the potential to remain the most powerful and most effective part of the army, with numbers surpassing the size of the Royal Corps. Despite this, Abbas has successfully eclipsed the power of the Qizilbash in terms of the royal house, the military, and civil administration, allowing him to use their power to mount war efforts and build Iran into a military powerhouse.

The fort system of the Persian Empire paired with fine roads, well-built bridges, and infrastructure like mounted deliverers of mail and news across the Empire mean that invasions and raids are reported to local garrisons quickly. The fort system enables the defense of the Safavid dynasty’s territory, but they are also excellent places to launch assaults from. Traditionally, Baghdad - with a population of around 500,000 people - is the capital in the Winter, and when that is so the 8,000 Royal Bodyguards and 28,000 Shasevans act as the City’s militia. In the summer, they act as Isfahan’s militia. Additionally, further soldiers can be drawn upon as Tributary Soldiers from the militia of the eight [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velayat]Velayats[/url], with the sixth, seventh, and eight in Arabia, Afghanistan, and Baluchistan respectively. Some, for example, are expected to provide 12,000 cavalry men and an equal number of footsoldiers. This means that Iran, effectively, has one of the largest armies in the world (fifth or sixth).
Army Weakness: The Safavid Army is reliant on imports for their more sophisticated equipment, as the Empire is not fully self-sufficient when it comes to the manufacture of firearms at the moment. The massive size and decent equipment of the Safavid Army is offset by the fact that the Qizilbash are essentially an internal, semi-autonomous armed vassal or well-armed province. The usage of slave soldiers in the Royal Corps means that similar problems to Janissaries or Mamluks could crop up, with the dangers posed by the behavior of the Ghulam being somewhat proportional to how well treated the ethnicities that they are made up of are and with the danger further amplified by the fact that there is a path to freedom for veterans and the wounded. These Ghulam are expensive, and while they are not connected to the rivals of the Shah that might be found amongst the Qizilbash, they have the potential to be a dangerous and influential political group - as is fitting of the armed representation of the “Third Force” of Circassians, Caucasians, and Georgians integrated into Persian society.
Naval Description: The Imperial Navy has a strong naval tradition due to the history of Persians as merchants and privateers. Meanwhile, it has Omani, Bahmani, and Qatari sailors that provide their expertise with major docks in those areas as well as a couple in Iran that have allowed the Imperial Navy to produce a decent fleet to pursue their naval doctrine. The talents of the Gulf Arabs at sea are well-known and respected enough that they have come to be advisors in the Caliphate of Hindustan’s navy, managing and commanding it in exchange for porting access, military access (a la EUIV, if they need to move troops through Hindustan they can), and free ships (17 warships) - leading to admirals, captains, and navigators native to the Safavid Empire doing good work in Hindustan’s navy and giving a boon to the size of the Persian navy, and the number of larger vessels they could manage to possess in this time. The Imperial Navy is made up of a large number of smaller coastal defense vessels and escort ships meant to escort their trade vessels. They have the capacity to hire a large number of privateers as well. The primary advantage of the Imperial Navy is in their capacity to defend their coasts, the Strait of Hormuz, and their trade and oust most opponents from those areas but due to their focus on this they are not capable of winning on the offense with significant naval powers and would have to play defensively. The Imperial Navy maintains what is essentially total domination over the areas it inhabits (Gulf of Persia and, Hindustani waters [the latter in defense of Hindustan, as part of their military agreements]), while the control of shipyards and ports in Omani land has allowed for them to compete with local powers for control in the Indian Ocean - with the Western Indian Ocean as their stronghold due to them controlling one of the three locations needed to control Asian-to-European sea-based trade (the others being the Gulf of Aden and the Malacca straits).
Naval Weakness : The Safavid Empire has begun developing more extensive capacities for shipbuilding, leading them primarily to be a land power. The navy is primarily focused upon the development of sea-based trade and protecting that trade, and has undergone major development since the conquest of the Nabhanis in 1570. They are exceptionally prepared to defend their coasts, the Strait of Hormuz, and their trade, but prolonged naval conflict with better built navies is likely not something that would go their way without putting their merchant marine into war. Their focus on protected trade also means that the larger surface combatants they possess are fewer than their smaller vessels. The navy has the doctrine of a merchant navy bolstered with a heavy focus on protected trade, and rather than having two separate, fully-funded navies the entire navy is essentially the merchant marine and putting those ships into war disrupts the direct income from trade, thus making the nation more reliant on a mixture of private taxes and tariffs.

National Goals : To maintain land-based and maritime trade routes, and to offset Cheriyan’s attempts to dominate the Indian Ocean. The Safavid’s goal here is not to control trade in the Indian Ocean, but rather to maintain continuity of trade - which thanks to Omani, Bahrani, and Qatari sailors, ports, and naval expertise enabling the pursuance of a Protected Trade doctrine has so far been successful. To develop mining in Afghanistan (in process, 18 year project), to balance territorial desires with other needs (such the Byzantines allowing religious usage of the Temple Mount, and the need for Muslim unity meaning that activities against Georgia, Byzantine, and other, large Muslim nations means expansion is not a primary goal right now), to establish powerful merchant fleets to enable trade wide and far beyond the Silk Road of Iran in their Maritine Silk Road. The development of a combat-ready fleet, or even the purchase of a number of larger, foreign-built vessels is a priority.
National Issues : Raids across Safavid borders, Ethnic rebellions, power shifts between the Caucasians and Qizilbash, and Abbas’ paranoia leading to him killing his own son in 1614 are all major issues in the Safavid state. The court intrigues of Abbas are plentiful, and must be carefully tended to so that Abbas is not bitten in the arse by his own diabolical plans to maintain absolute control of everything within the Persian Empire.

History :

• 945 through 1118 - Seljuk Victory over the Abbasids - The Seljuk Empire’s rise has been astronomical, and in the Battle of Baghdad the city overrun and the Abbasid’s flee to Cairo. This leads to the Seljuk Empire gaining and maintaining control over large swaths of territory.
• 1218 - When the Khwarazmian Empire governor at Ortar doesn't confiscate goods or execute the Mongolian diplomats, this led to a tributary being formed and the Mongol Invasion never occurring.
• 1374 to 1420 - Qara Qoynlu rises in the West of the Khwarazmian Empire, leading to the start of the fracturing of the Khwarazmian state. The Khwarazmian would be left operating out of Isfahan. Under siege from Afghans, Crimeans, and the Turkomen, the Khwarazmian capitol would fall by 1401 - signifying the collapse of the Persian Empire, which wouldn’t be totally reunified until the rise of the Safavids with their unconditional victory over Aq Qoyunlu in 1505.
• 1501 - Azerbaijan, Shirvan, Dagestan, and Armenia are Ismail the First’s territories at the time.
• 1502 - Hamadan captured Ismail’s forces
• 1503 - Shiraz and Kerman fall in 1504
• 1505 - Najaf and Karbala fall to Ismail I.
• 1505 - Baghdad captured by Ismail I
• 1505 - The end of Ismail I’s conquest of Aq Qoyunlu is completed with the defeat of their forces at their last fortress, Rohada, leading to the Confederation to be replaced wholesale by the start of widespread Safavid rule thanks to the powerful Qizilbash forces utilized to seize control over the wide swathes of territory.
• 1501 through 1524 - The reign of Ismail the First would be characterized by his conquest and remaking of the territories of the former Persian Empire in his own image, reunifying Persia and beginning the history of modern Iran. Ismail’s rule would be characterized by the rise of the Twelver denomination of Shi’a Islam as the state religion of the country, seeing massive amounts of conversions throughout the Persian Empire. Dying in 1524, his successor’s state would be characterized by the establishment of an absolute monarchy.
• 1524 through 1576 - Tahmasp the First’s reign saw the establishment of Persia as an absolute monarchy. The early years of his reign saw the Qizilbash leaders in a state of civil war that lasted nearly a decade, ending eight whole years after the start of his reign in 1532. Following this, Tahmasp the First managed to assert his authority over the state and begin a long process of the centralization of the Persian Empire into a modern Imperial state that would conclude with the work of his future descendant, Abbas the First. Tahmasp the First saw military victories against the Jabrid Dynasty with them being conquered by 155 and and the Nabrahnis were conquered by 1570, bringing the Arabian frontier of the empire under their control, leading to the seizure of Muscat and the establishment of a powerful mercantile center that would kick-start the Persian economy due to the value of trade in Muscat. With the Strait of Hormuz under their control, the Persians would further develop their proud naval tradition as merchants and begin pursuing a doctrine of protected trade to aid in their sea-trade goals.
• 1576 through 1577 - Ruling for under a year due to a suspected assassination by poison, a woman named Pari Khan Khanum became what was essentially the defacto ruler of the state and positioned Ismail II on the throne of Persia. Ungrateful, he continued his father’s program of Georgians, Caucasians, and Circassians being brought to Iran to create a new layer of Persian society - a multi generational issue that would continue under future rulers, leading to local rulers, craftsmen, cattle breeders, soldiers, and more being descendants of those that had been settled in the areas. Ismail’s campaign’s in the Caucuses were successful, and this would result in them being brought completely under heel save for the remainder of the Georgian state - which survived thanks to Byzantine outreach to the Persians. Wanting to avoid the war, the Romans and the Persians exchanged something. The Persians would guarantee Georgian independence in exchange for religious access to the Temple Mount. Meanwhile to the North, the Uzbeks were conquered. Aside from that, the Ismail the First was a Sunni sympathizer who was assassinated before his programs could succeed.
• 1578 to 1587 - Pari Khan Khanum’s reign was characterized by a decline in Persia’s military power due to external threats from the resurgent Crimeans to the North, who were hell-bent on seizing back control of the Uzbek lands, and whose large-scale invasion of the north of Persia successfully did so. Her reign would start with a power struggle with the father of the future Shah of Persia and end with a coup brought about by her half-nephew and the current ruler Abbas the First, who would ride with an army to seize control of the throne from the stubborn Pari Khan Khanum after the death of the 9 year old Shah, Ismail the Second’s son. Pari Khan Khanum’s reign saw no significant military successes, and the de facto ruler of the Persian Empire was in fact characterized by a loss of territory and to the Crimean Tatars that would only be successfully seized claimed back - save for Uzbekistan - by her successor after military failures and loss of core areas in Armenia and azerbaijan were lost.
• 1588 to 1618 - The rise of Abbas the Great was fierce and swift, as he seized control of the Persian Empire with the assistance of the person who kept him as his ward, ascending at age 16 and at some point in his reign he began a series of fierce military campaigns that successfully seized back large areas of core Persian territory from the ambitious Crimeans to the North. Abbas the Great would quickly be seen as one of the most successful leaders of Iran, with his 4 predecessors not quite reaching the level of military reform, technological advancement, or massive agricultural development of fertile land, nor did they complete the creation of the Third Force of Iranian society. He developed the ghilman system, with Circassian, Georgian, and Armenian slave-soldiers joining civil administration and the military. He successfully garnered more influence and power than the Qizilbash in all areas of the state, and regained lost provinces against the Crimeans thanks to his reforms of the Qizilbash. He did not manage to successfully seize control of Uzbekistan, but repeated military victories over the Crimeans have led to the belief that he would be capable of doing so. Following the conquest of the Afghanis, he would also showed skills of diplomacy, sealing a military alliance with the Hindustani Caliphate to the East by betrothing his daughter to the heir of the Emperor - this Safavid Princess earning a dowry given in advance composed of a large amount of elephants, and a month’s worth of production of gold, pepper, salt, and various other goods. Resettlement programs began in Baluchistan, along with natural resource efforts.The arrangement of a military alliance and trade partnership with a special focus on naval assistance was formed with Al-Andalus, officially having greatly expanded the defensive power of the Persian state. His reign has so far been characterized by sweeping, successful changes in Iranian affairs and the tutelage of his heirs, re-establishment of the Silk Road, and the growth of Persia into a major economic power in the region. What comes next, only time will tell.

RP Sample:

The winds above Metropolis rushed into Ursa’s ears. She could hear the heartbeat of everyone in the city, screams from someone being mugged, and a plane moving through the skies. These gifts were the blood rights of the Kryptonian race. So, it came as no surprise when she heard the sound of a car door being opened and closed - that thud universally known to people on Earth - followed by the footsteps of a taller man in dress shoes that kicked small bits and pieces of asphalt forward on what was normally a pristine road. That sound reached her before she even saw Lex Luthor, and she kept moving forward until she saw him. Until he was in front of her. She’d have to go around him now, but he seemed to want something so she waited for the familiar man to speak, and when he did he had a point but she also realized that she definitely recognized him. It dawned on her. This wasn’t the same Lex Luthor that got relieved of being Secretary-General of the United Nations, was it?

Lex Luthor, you said? Were you ever fired from a post at the United Nations due to the anti-corruption clause?” She asked. It was a simple question. Maybe to him this would make the nature of her origin clearer. Maybe it would add another unknown element to the question of “who is she, where did she come from, why is she here?”, but that was yet to be realized. Perhaps his mind would figure it out. Ursa decided that it might be best for her to keep her identity to herself for now. Guessing she was a Kryptonian Sorceress was far from an every day realization, something that was only of benefit to her.

The giant eye to her right - larger than her head, surrounded by a green energy like she was, and giving off a mix of energy signatures that would be of interest to anyone that could successfully scan it - caught an energy signature similar enough to hers that it caught Ursa’s attention disappear through one of the spectrums it could see in (dice rolled, talked to Ace). The eye shuffled through the rest of the spectrum, but it couldn’t find it. That was disappointing. Were they gone, or did they just become invisible? She was distracted by the approach of another signature, one she could hear flying through the sky directly towards her. She was covered in another layer of green energy, and adjusted her stance. She didn’t know whether or not she’d have to fight.

Ursa looked up to the sky to see someone she didn’t at all recognize. Someone new. She wasn’t sure if she had missed him in her universe, or if he just wasn’t there. It was something that was up in the air. Like a lot of the things in this universe it was just something that she wouldn’t know, and had to figure it out for herself. Ursa hovered upwards, symbolically evening the ground between Icon and her.

”Your guest…” She said, deciding to answer for herself.

... Is lost.” She finished, hovering slightly above Icon and staring him down. The eye gazed at Icon too. Ursa seemed lost, but color was coming back into her face. It was clear that whatever had brought her here was wearing off, and even more abundantly clear that she had quite the personality.

#AltDiv (Do not delete this, it is used to keep track of the apps)

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

Full Nation Name: The Caliphate of Al-Andalus
Majority/Official Culture: The Caliphate is culturally extremely diverse. The largest percentage of the population speaks some form of Spanish, though the Spanish populace mostly makes up the peasant class in rural areas and in the North, similar to the Portuguese in the West. Andalusian Muslims are the next-biggest group, forming much of the southern urban population and filling many of the positions of power. Their culture is dominant, but still a (large) minority. Berbers make up the next-biggest part of the population, and finally there is a sizeable population of Jews on the Peninsula.
Territorial Core: Iberia, the Azores, the Balearic Islands, much of the New World (including South America, Mexico, the Caribbean and some parts of Portugal.
Territorial Claim: The Caliphate officially lays claim to dominion over the entire Muslim world, as well as all the undiscovered lands in the Americas.
Capital City: Cordoba
Population: 10 million in Iberia, in the colonies population levels are historical

Government Type: Elective semi-centralised monarchy
Government Ideology/Policies: Combination of technocratic meritocracy and a theocratic militarist state, depending at which level you look.
Government Focus: Colonial expansion, market expansion, discovery, scientific progress and internal economic development
Head of State: Caliph Abdus Samad al-Kanan
Head of Government: Hajib Muhyddeen el-Safi
Government Description: The government of Al-Andalus has a sharp split between the worldly and the divine. The religious institutions are higher in hierarchy, and are headed by the Caliph. Included here are not only the mosques and the religious tenants, but the legal courts and the traditional educational institutions as well. Meanwhile, the mundane government deals mostly with the army and the navy, and increasingly with international shipping and import taxes. The balance of power between these institutions is shifting, and has been shifting for over a hundred years. While traditionally the army and the navy relied on the wealth of the Caliph and the support of religious institutions, these forces have increasingly gained wealth through foreign wars and colonial expansion. The advent of the cannon has made field battles more and more important, and this has led to the creation of large centralised armies. The more meritocratic secular government also enjoys more and more support from the up-and-coming merchant class. More and more, the Caliph and his institutions rely on the protection of the secular army and the Hajib, the chamberlain of the Caliph.

The position of Caliph is elected through a complicated process. Only descendants of Mohamed can be elected to the position, and these are usually selected from one of the elite families in Andalusia. These candidates are vetted by the supreme Islamic court, appointed by their predecessor. Traditionally, virtue and knowledge of law have been important factors. However, over the last 100 years, the position of Caliph has become a bargaining chip, and support by the army now is one of the main factors being considered.

The Hajib is appointed by the Caliph, but only the Court can remove a Hajib, meaning that the position is politically secure. Factually, hajibs can often appoint their successors by making them their deputies for a time, ensuring that they are the best pick for the job once the previous one dies or resigns. The power of state can eb and flow between Caliph and hajib regularly, as one or the other has more allies within the state. The same goes for the various branches of each pillar of government. Under the Caliph, the courts, the mosques, the universities, or any number of charitable institutions, as well as some of the noble families, can enjoy precedence and power over the others. The army and navy vie for power in the secular arm, together with more commercial interests and again, the power of the various noble families. As in every aspect of society, religion is important in both pillars, having more or less influence depending on the eb and flow of society. Currently, the universities hold most sway under the Caliph, while the hijab is in the pocket of colonial governors with a militaristic view on scripture.

Majority/State Religion: Sunni Islam

Economic Description: Andalusia has a pretty urbanised economy that centres around manufacturing, Islamic banking, ship production and oversees trade. Andalusia is the gateway to the riches of South America. As such, many silver smiths, increasingly Jewish refugees from the rest of Europe, are engaged in high-level jewellery making.
Major Production: Financial assets, ships, jewellery, art, books, manufactured goods, sugar


Army Description: The army of European Andalusia is centralised around the Hajib, the chamberlain of the Caliph. They owe loyalty to the Caliph, but their entire administration is run through the Hajib, whose offices take care of pay, supply and promoting or demoting officers. The professional army is centred around the thalith, which translates into ‘a third’. The thalith is made up of both pikemen and musketeers, as well as men wielding swords and shields. The long pikes are modelled after those of Alexander the Great, whose methods have long been studied in the universities of Andalusia. Though powerful, the thalith can only be as strong as their cavalry escort. Andalusian cavalry is renowned for their quality, discipline and courage. While the thalith engage in a field battle, covered by artillery, it is the job of the cavalry to both protect the cannon and exploit weaknesses in the enemy line that might lead to a total route. However, as time progresses, the thalith have proven themselves more and more powerful, and more and more able to defeat an enemy on their own, which has threatened the position of aristocratic elites in the cavalry.

How different is the colonial army. While nominally falling under the hijab, colonial forces are more like militias and are paid for and controlled by various colonial governors, who act more as warlords. Following more than 100 years of jihad in the New World, siphoning more and more religious warriors looking for gold and conquest, the soldiers of the New World are the most zealous and religiously motivated in the entire empire. They are world-renowned for their skill and much sought-after as mercenaries, though they are likely to turn against any non-believer, or any unguarded treasure. The large-scale thalith has no function in the New World, and as such these armies are more loosely organised around musketeers and especially swordsmen, who are the face of the Andalusian empire abroad. Bands of these mercenaries are also active in western Africa, engaging in slave capture missions in the name and in pay of local rulers.
Army Weakness : Besides internal conflicts of competing command structures and loyalties, the time of the thalith is slowly drawing to an end. Improved cannon and firearms make the cumbersome pike-oriented thalith a sitting duck. While the effects of this will take time to materialise, and it will take until the 1640s until the formation is truly obsolete, it is showing its weak points already. Besides, having a large centralised army under the practical command of the head of government instead of the head of state is a recipe for internal unrest. More and more, the secular government is calling for an end of isolationism and a more practical involvement in Europe.
Naval Description : The Andalusian navy is its true pride. It needs to be, to protect Andalusian trade and holdings all over the world. Andalusian shipping reaches from South America to Indonesia, even up to China and Japan. These far-flung colonies and routes require a strong fleet to protect them, as well as the Mediterranean trade which Andalusia covets, so Andalusia has built itself one of the most powerful fleets in the world, based around large ships-of-the-line and armed trade ships. Unbeknownst to the Caliph, the Great Port of Cartagena has been expanding construction of transport ships in order to enable naval invasions in conjunction with the army.
Naval Weakness : The navy is expensive. So expensive, in fact, that the state cannot actually pay for it through taxes. It requires a constant supply of gold and silver from the New World, as well as trade income, to remain viable. Thus, it is a venture that Andalusia has tied itself to: the fleet requires an empire as much as the empire requires a fleet. Thus, Andalusia needs to constantly expand its trade reach in order to justify the expense and to actually pay for the expense. Currently, trade is being expanded into the Indian ocean and the Malaccan straits, though it is hard to compete with the established empires that already exist there. It is looking more and more likely that a major naval conflict, in which privateers can capture enemy shipping, is the only way to truly balance the books, which makes a war necessary just from a financial standpoint.

National Goals : To strengthen and unify worldly Islam, to spread Andalusian knowledge around the world, and to make a pretty penny doing so, while retaining a dominant position in Europe.
National Issues : Andalusia is currently relatively peaceful and isolated from European affairs. In order to affect the world and become a true player in politics, Andalusia will have to contend itself with its European rivals, and that might mean drawing the ire of European Christendom. Meanwhile, Islam remains divided between various powers. Internal unrest and looming governmental crisis is also something that must be considered.

National Ambition/Aspirations : Peace v. war: is it possible for a power in Europe to maintain peaceful relations and be a patron of arts, science and culture, or must such a power always devolve to war?

History : In 1212 AD, the shepherd Martín Alhajam, living near Las Navas de Tolosa, decided not to interfere with the looming battle between Muslim and Christian forces in the area, rather fleeing to safety with his flock. Only for a moment did he consider leading the Christian forces through the gap of Despeñaperros, before deciding that risking his life was not worth the possible results. Robbed of the strategic value of this pass, the Christians would have to face the forces of Caliph Muhammad al-Nasir in open battle. Here, the archers of the Almohads reigned, and the numerically superior forces of the Caliphate vanquished the united Christian forces, inflicting incredible casualties. The fact that the existence of Gaul made it hard for Christian troops to enter the peninsula certainly helped as well. No matter the reason for the victory, the Almohad troops marched straight north. Not long had the Christian kings been defeated in battle or they started warring amongst themselves, each petitioning to the Caliph to sell out the others to maintain their positions. None were heeded. The army of the Caliph marched north, subjugating Castille and further accepting the vassalage of Sancho VII. The other Christian states were left in disarray. Officially, Muhammad al-Nasir claimed that this was because it was easier to keep the Christians in check this way, but in reality, he had neither the time nor the manpower to wage a substantial war against the Christian kingdoms, and this way he could buy a few more years of peace.

In reality, his hold over Andalusia was not as strong as he might have hoped. With the conquest of much of Castille and the middle of Iberia, Andalusia had reached a tipping point where it could no longer be stably governed from Maghreb. Over the next few decades, the Andalusian taifas, or city-states, began asserting more and more of their dominance, under the leadership of the taifa of Cordoba. The short-lived republican government of Abu al-Hazm was used as an inspiration, and slowly but surely Al-Andalus developed a shadow administration which was far more direct and effective than the provincial rule from Maghreb. When Idris II, 'al-Wathiq' was assassinated by a palace slave in 1269, this shadow government declared their independence, without electing a new caliph. The various taifas would come together as an Al-Andalusian confederacy.

It was an idea not long for this world. While initially united because of the sudden disposition of the Maghreb caliphs, which allowed each city-state to bestow upon itself a form of republican government, the city-states soon began to diverge. Grenada and the surrounding cities were conquered by Berber adventurers who laid claim to Al-Andalus as a whole. From the north, the Christian kings began to encroach more and more, threatening to re-establish Castille. One by one, the city-states fell to either internal infighting or foreign intervention. Still, what can be called the Andalusian Confederacy reigned peacefully for forty years, and was only officially disestablished in 1340, though it had been long-defunct since then.

The incursion of a large Christian force into Castille, capturing Burgos, would finally trigger the various Andalusian city-states and Berber mercenary groups to form an uneasy alliance. It was recognised that Christian rule over Al-Andalus would end badly for the Muslim and Jewish populations there. So, in 1329, the Grand Council of Cordoba elected a new caliph for Al-Andalus )and technically for Maghreb too). The picked candidate was Muhammad Ibn Abbad Al Mutamid, a Berber warlord who was seen as the best military commander of Islam. His views were fundamentalist, though, and while his Jihad managed to recapture Burgos and re-established rule there, also defeating and capturing Aragon, his rule at home was vicious. He used his power to remove opposition from the Grand Court, which had been established to put a check on the powers of the caliph. In full command of the army, al-Mutamid imagined that he was beyond reproach.

When he died in 1391, his nephew took over from him, safe in his dependence on the army. He was however not ready for court intrigue. The Night of Roses, a palace coup, would see the end of his short dynasty. In one night, on the eve of the Ramadan, he and his entire family were assassinated. The Islamic courts had had enough. In his place was elected Abbad al-Mu'tadid, a lowly Andalusian emir whom nominally ruled over Cordoba, but who had always shared power with the court and the ministerial council there. This started a golden age of Andalusian culture and science, with almost every city establishing some form of university. This was also when many religious restrictions were lifted, and young men were allowed to travel abroad to attend Christian universities. Meanwhile, for a short time, even women were allowed to attend university in some cities, though the influx of European ideas would eventually lead to more regressive views on women entering the mainstream. This period is the origin for many latin translations of ancient texts from Rome and Greece, which had only survived in Arabic until that point, and many Europeans would attend Andalusian universities to learn about these translation, as well as cartography and astronomy.

In 1492, Abdul Kader al-Rahimi made the most accurate map of the world so far. From his calculations, he concluded that the world was about 90 percent water and 10 percent land, which he considered to be incorrect. There had to be a balance of land and ocean, he hypothesised, and that meant that there had to be an enormous landmass yet undiscovered, most likely in the vast ocean between Europe and Asia. With funding from various universities, he got together a crew and made the dangerous voyage, against the protestations of many of his colleagues who did not see why the division between land and sea had to be 50-50. Still, al-Rahimi made the voyage, and against all olds discovered a whole new continent, the Americas.

‘Discovery’ and subsequent conquest of his area was mainly left up to private individuals, with the caliph only legislating some aspects. The Aztec empire was subjugated more by missionaries, who converted the Aztec emperor to Islam and advised him, until disease, famine and civil war led his people to voluntarily submit to the rule of the Caliph of Andalusia. This was not without violence either, as jihad was waged against any cities that did not voluntarily submit, and the threat of Berber mercenaries descending on Tenochtitlan was certainly part of the reason for their subjugation. However, it was not as violent as it could have been, and Islamification of the area was gradually achieved. How different was the subjugation of the Incan empire, which was achieved purely by military conquest. Their empire was carved up between mercenary warlords and their people were enslaved, with only the most convincing converts escaping massacre. This area would long elude control from Cordoba.

In 1530, the caliph in Cordoba legislated his control over the New World, stating that all conquest made by his subjects were his, by right, and that his domain extended over all Islamic lands outside of the Old World. While initially insecure, the caliph would eventually wrest control using the navy, protecting only shipping from ports that had accepted his governors. In 1535, the caliph outlawed slavery of Muslims, and mandated that every captive would get the chance to covert before being enslaved, and that every convert would have to be released. This policy would hardly be universally applied, as colonial warlords found many theological arguments to doubt ‘insincere conversions’, but it did hasten the spread of Islam throughout the New World, and made imams into protectors of their flock. For labour, then, the new warlords, ancestors of the later plantation owners and mine prospectors, would turn abroad: partially to sub-Saharan Africa, where prisoners of war could be found; a class of subjects for whom the caliph had created a loophole. Also, since Christians were known to be firm in their beliefs, more and more Christians, both from Europe and Africa, were sold into American slavery, partially with the help of North African pirates. The increased demand for slaves also increased Mediterranean piracy as a direct result.

Now, it is a century later. In order to protect trade interests, Andalusia has remained politically largely neutral, and isolated from European affairs. Their American trade would do the talking. However, this neutrality is coming under pressure. More and more other Europeans are setting foot in the New World, and claiming territories that rightfully belong to the caliph. Some argue that Al-Andalus, a learned bastion which translated the classics, is the successor of the Roman Empire and should establish itself as a European empire, to do away with its Christian rivals and conquer Rome itself. Others are more pragmatic, seeing war as a way to raid enemy shipping. Andalusia, with the best fleet on the continent, is set to win any naval engagement they partake in. Many voices whisper that in order to take their place in the sun, loyal allies should be sought on the continent, to spread Andalusian influence there. Yet others crave the unification of Islam. One thing is certain: the golden age of peace and prosperity is not so certain anymore, but whether maintaining it will require spilling blood or isolation, no-one knows.

#AltDiv (Do not delete this, it is used to keep track of the apps)

[Theyra]

Reservation

Nation Name: Kingdom of Tamazgha
Territory: Morocco, Western Sahara, and Algeria/ Colonies in Venezuela, the Lesser Antilles and North Carolina

#AltDiv (Do not delete this, it is used to keep track of the apps)

*Note: Reservations will last for 48 hours. The OP board reserves the right to be subjective in regards to accepting and removing reservations.

[Chedastan]

This looks interesting. I'm considering making a reservation possibly for an Italian state, like an Alt!Papacy under full control of the Roman Inquisition, or something more alternative like a Northern Italy under a Catharism resurgence.

[Oscalantine]

Full Nation Name: Kingdom of Oyo

Errr... quick question: are you done with this app?

[Chinniwana]

To all the European States, how would you feel, if instead of Swiss Guards, you had Mongolian/Tatar Guards?

[Khasinkonia]

-snip-

And there's my app! All done and ready to go, pending approval of course.

[Oscalantine]

To all the European States, how would you feel, if instead of Swiss Guards, you had Mongolian/Tatar Guards?

Unless it comes with its own transport, sounds incredibly expensive, and being an European in this timeline coming with the slice of bigotry for all non-Europeans... I think I'll stick with my knights.

[Pasong Tirad]

Reservation

Nation Name: Kingdom of Sicily
Territory: Sicily, Malta and Calabria
#AltDiv

[Mersdon]

Full Nation Name: the Rus' (often referred to by historians and chronologists as the Second, or the White, Rus')
Majority/Official Culture: The White/Second Rus' is a very multicultural state- within its boundaries, it boasts large populations of White Ruthenians, Kievan Rusyns, Lithuanians, Semigallians, Courlanders, Livonians, Cumans, Kipchaks, Baltic Germans, and a smattering of assorted other eastern Slavic peoples, such as the Cossacks. The ruling class in the Rus' are largely composed of the descendants of those Kievan nobles who fled the sacking of that city by the Mongols in the 1200s, as well as a sizable contingent of Lithuanian, White Ruthenian, Polish, and Baltic German notables. Across cultural and ethnic lines, German tends to be used as the lingua franca (given the outsize influence that trade with the Hanseatic cities and with Central Europe has on the Rus’ economy).
Territorial Core: Modern-day Belarus, the extreme westernmost reaches of central Russia, and Lithuania (aside from the Memel Strip), together with the northern (unclaimed) reaches of Ukraine and Livonia
Territorial Claim: The Rus' has historically been a nation content with its focus on its domestic quarrels and issues, especially with regards to the thorny issue of indentured servitude vis-a-vis the peasantry and the nomadic peoples of the south-east, but with the ascension of the western-oriented Vadim II to the throne, the state has begun to shift its attention to securing a port on the Baltic to call its own (which would help immensely with increasing tax revenues associated with the Baltic grain and lumber trade, given that most of the crop intended for export from the Rus' must pass through Prussian or Hanseatic ports, raising prices for Rus' products and therefore rendering it less competitive on the international market). As a result, the historical dukedoms of Courland, Semigallia, and the remainder of Livonia have all been marked for annexation or subjugation in the near future by the upstart prince in Vilnius.
Historically, given the Rurikid blood that flows through the Grand Prince's veins and that of his family, the White Rus' has maintained its claim to be the original Kievan Rus' descendant, although the territorial claims associated with that generally exist solely on paper, as compared with the actual facts on the ground. Nonetheless, should any monarch sufficiently brave and/or foolhardy think of reclaiming the Rus' former stomping grounds, they would, at the least, have the legal justification to do so, should they so need it.

Capital City: Historically, there was no year-round capital for the Rus' to conduct its business from; instead, the monarch of the time and his courtly retinue would shift from province to province on a monthly basis, installing themselves and holding court in the best quarters that the area's lords and magnates could offer. However, following the controversial Brest Reforms of 1593, the princely court has largely remained in the city of Vilnius, which has served to boost that burg's rise in affluence, population, and as a regional commercial entrepôt.
Population: 1.9 million (~1 million in White Ruthenia, ~600,000 in Lithuania, and ~300,000 in those parts of the Baltics, northern Ukraine, and western Russia that remain under Rus' control)

Government Type: Grand Principality with a weak noble legislature (the Great Rada)
Government Ideology/Policies: Opportunistic/Expansionist (although the government's focus varies based on the priorities of the prince in power)
Government Focus: Expansion, expansion, expansion! The Rus' desires a return to relevancy on the world stage, and has already begun the process of reforming its institutions and governance to fully harness its potential to do so; however, more is needed. More is always needed... and time is short...
Head of State: Grand Prince Vadim II Rurikid-Jagiellon, crowned August 1615 (age 28)
Head of Government: Officially, the monarch is both the head of state and the embodiment of the state; however, in his absence, the Grand Prince's trusted chamberlain, Pawel von Welsburg, Margrave of Duenaburg, generally handles affairs of state in Vilnius.
Government Description: The Grand Prince, effectively, has untrammeled executive power across the entirety of the Rus'; his word is law. However, the threat of a mass revolt by the nobility, should he trample on their rights or prerogatives in too grievous a manner, keeps the worst of any potential excesses in check. The Great Rada, effectively an assembly of the nobility of the land, meets twice a year, once following the springtime harvest, and once following the autumn harvest. Both sessions meet for at least two weeks, or until their official dissolution by the Grand Prince or his duly appointed regent, following which they must disperse back to their estates to oversee preparations for the next campaign or harvest, whichever it may be. This custom permits plotting and intrigue among the nobility to be conducted somewhat more freely than it would have been had they been resident year-round in Vilnius, among the Grand Prince's informants, but it also means that their bases of power and lines of communication remain disparate and vulnerable to interception.

Majority/State Religion: Officially, the court follows Eastern Orthodox Christianity (although religious freedoms are generally guaranteed, which is a necessity given the mostly Catholic and Protestant population present in many towns and hamlets along the Berezina and the Baltic Sea, as well as among the merchant classes further inland).

Economic Description: Primarily agricultural and pastoral in nature, although finished and luxury goods are produced in most towns (of which the largest are Vilnius, Minsk, Kaunas, Brest, and Duenaburg).
Major Production: Hard and softwoods, grain (mostly rye, barley, and wheat), and peat/potash farming compose the vast majority of those products manufactured or harvested within the borders of the Rus'. However, there is also a thriving, although smaller, trade in amber, horses, and ironwork present in many major cities here, along with the accoutrements and finished products associated with those items.

Army Description : Large, but mostly based on the peasant and freeholder levies raised by regiment and sorted by region (the Streltsii). These levies tend not to be the most professional, and the quality of their manpower and arms varies based on the lord that brings them up, but they certainly can make up for their uneven skill with sheer numbers. The light cavalry raised by the Cossack and Lithuanian lordlings are largely composed of nobles and their retinues, but their skill remains nigh unsurpassed in Eastern Europe (save for the nomadic horsemen of the steppe further south). Finally, the heavy cavalry- the Winged Hussars and the wheellock-wielding knights of the Grand Prince's own retinue- that Prince Vadim can call upon are perhaps the cream of the crop that the Rus' forces can offer, with an almost extreme sense of esprit de corps, elan, and bravery (which, quite frankly, could oftentimes be called foolhardiness under fire). A single unit of six cannon and their gunners are all that the Rus' can call upon for action in the field at any moment; they remain quite cumbersome to transport (requiring multiple teams of mules or men, and reinforced carts and mounts besides) and thus are a liability of sorts out in the open.

At its maximum theoretical extent, the Grand Prince can call up to 80 banners' worth of men to arms; each banner, raised up and led by the nobility, generally has anywhere from 600 to 800 men, which means that up to 64,000 soldiers could be brought to the field of battle, if given enough time to form up. It should be noted, however, that the overwhelming majority (perhaps 4/5ths of this force) would be composed of peasant levies and corvee laborers conscripted but for a single season, and thus are rather weak if pitted against disciplined and well-equipped bodies of soldiery. However, their duty in combat is not to overwhelm the enemy's positions with a wall of bodies, but instead, to hold them in place; the hammer to this metaphorical anvil would be the light and heavy cavalry of the Rus', whose number- which varies from anywhere from 6,000 to 12,000 horsemen- are usually more than sufficient to see those foes foolhardy enough to challenge the Rurikid state in open battle off.
Army Weakness : Aside from the Grand Prince's retinue and that of the lords around the Rus', there is effectively no year-round force of professional soldiers on call; levies must always be called up from the provinces and from the cities when a campaign is imminent, which always takes at least a month to perform and assemble and shortens the possible campaigning season by no small amount of time. In addition, the autumn and spring harvesting seasons often lead to desertions occurring among many of the levies from the countryside, due to there being a lack of manpower left behind at home to reap the harvest and plant the next season's crops. The formation of a standing, regular force of soldiery should be an objective for the state to accomplish in the near future, but for now, that looks rather unlikely,
Naval Description : Currently, there is no naval force that the Rus' can speak of; there are some riverine lordlings that maintain small patrols on their local waterways to protect the trade that goes on there (although the vessels used could generally qualify as commercial barges with heightened gunwales attached otherwise); but that's about it.
Naval Weakness : If your state has no navy to speak of, you can't have any nautical weaknesses to speak of, am I right?

National Goals : The capture of a major Baltic port and its environs is a major objective for Grand Prince Vadim; although Memel would be the most strategically logical to seize, given its proximity to the capital and its position at the mouth of the Niemen, the capture of Riga is widely seen as a more achievable goal by both the court and the merchant class. It may well prove to be the more lustrous prize out of the two, as well, given its large population and role as the main grain export hub in the northern reaches of the Baltic.
National Issues : A major reform of those powers afforded to the nobility is sorely needed, especially as they control the recruitment and equipping of princely levies in their lands. In addition, a majority of the Rus' most effective cavalry unit, the Winged Hussars (ooc: yes, yes, I know, so original, right?), remain largely composed of the provincial nobility, whose upbringings tend to emphasize skill in the saddle and of the lance far more than their more urban counterparts. A professionalization of the Grand Prince's heavy cavalry force is in order; thereafter, the Streltsii regiments, still bloodied from the purges instituted by Prince Vadim's predecessor, his uncle Prince Boleslaw III, will need to be molded into unquestioning executors of the Prince's will. Nonetheless, they should perform the job of seizing the Baltic region south of the Dvina just fine, given their sheer numbers. The Rus' has but one cannon foundry and one arquebus manufactory to its name, both based in Vilnius, but they should be able to produce the cannon and shot needed to batter down the walls of towns like Mitau, Libau, Pilten, and Riga in time for the Grand Prince's campaign to start in the spring. Soldiers of fortune, especially those from the Swiss valleys and from the Netherlands, should be able to man the artillery thus produced; it is only with these parts of Prince Vadim's new army working in tandem that the goal of having the Rus' banner fly over all of Livonia and Courland-Semigallia can be achieved.

The peasantry and burghers remain unsatisfied with the progress made by the new Grand Prince on his promises to reduce the cost of trade and production for those in the fields and in the cities; they are willing to give him a chance to open a window onto the rest of the world through that Baltic adventure of his, but should it come to grief, they may just decide to take matters into their own hands. It will take a well-resourced and inquisitive player on the regional stage to push them towards such a course of action, however. The fields remain lush with amber and brownish-yellow stalks of grain, the forests abound with game and desirable types of wood, and the craftsmen's workshops and market squares of the nation are full of the hubbub of commerce being transacted and of work continuously coming in. Life isn't amazing, that much is true; but as the more dour and cynical among the plebes never fail to renind them, things could always be worse.

National Figures of Interest :
Marquess Oscar Piorunska, a noble from the wooded hinterland around Mogilev of distant Bohemian extraction, leads the Reiter faction of the nobility in the court, as well as in the Great Rada; as a rule, this faction supports a return to the serf-based system of feudalism that once prevailed across most of the Rus' prior to the enactment of the Brest Reforms. However, its power is currently weak, as many of its brightest luminaries were sent to the headsman following the failed Streltsii militia uprising of 1603. It will take a benefactor willing to supply arms and financing that no single lordling in the Rus' currently has to make them a force to be truly reckoned with in Vilnius.

Grand Prince Vadim II leads the Sickle-wielder faction in the court; given that the prince's attention remains largely consumed with an ongoing reform of the Rus' Streltsii regiments and with preparations for a campaign in the Baltics, the Margrave of Duenaburg generally has been entrusted with maneuvering this cohort through the halls of power and with maintaining its dominance in Vilnius. All but the most isolationist and/or traditionalist merchants and peasants generally support this faction's goals of decreasing grain and lumber duties by seizing a Baltic port for the Rus', as well as by maintaining the reforms implemented in 1593; however, many of the nobles out in the countryside stand opposed to this faction, largely due to the threat that the Sickle-wielders pose to their historic privileges. Given a drastic turn in fortunes with regards to trade flows, military successes or defeats, or dynastic politics, however, this faction's ascendancy may be thrown into doubt...

Of course, there are the peasants and merchants, craftsmen and guild members, that form the vast majority of the populace all across the Rus', but their thoughts and needs with regards to the current political system and its responses to their situations in life are not needed nor desired by anyone who sits in the Grand Rada. However, given enough reason and resources to revolt against their rightful social betters, especially if one were to promise that everything would be over in time for harvesting season, they just might go ahead and try to overthrow the current government and its abettors... but for now, that might just have to be treated as a mere prospective view of the future.
National Ambition/Aspirations : The Rus' (or Prince Vadim, at least), desires great power status, and to be respected across the entirety of the continent, one day. The Third Rome may have shrunk over the years, that is true, but it has not yet begun to fight!

History : [[Can be formatted in paragraphs or as a bulletpoint timeline.]]
RP Sample: [[Either a link to a past post, or an example written right here.]]

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[New Luciannova]

Is there a list somewhere of what is already taken so I have some idea where to start?

[Tracian Empire]

Reservation

Nation Name: Kingdom of Tamazgha
Territory: Morocco, Western Sahara, and Algeria/ Colonies in Venezuela, the Lesser Antilles and North Carolina

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*Note: Reservations will last for 48 hours. The OP board reserves the right to be subjective in regards to accepting and removing reservations.

Reservation accepted

[Tracian Empire]

This looks interesting. I'm considering making a reservation possibly for an Italian state, like an Alt!Papacy under full control of the Roman Inquisition, or something more alternative like a Northern Italy under a Catharism resurgence.

Normally I would quite enjoy the notion of a Cathar state, but as things are Catholicism is almost non-existent (Albion and Gaul are Catholic but they are officially secular and in conflict with the Papacy respectively), so we do really need a Catholic state. That's why I'd be leaning towards the first option.

[Tracian Empire]

To all the European States, how would you feel, if instead of Swiss Guards, you had Mongolian/Tatar Guards?

I can't speak for the other states, but Mongolians and Tatars could be recruited into the Varangian Guard

[Tracian Empire]

Reservation

Nation Name: Kingdom of Sicily and Sardinia
Territory: Sicily, Malta and Cagliari in Sardinia
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Reservation accepted

[Tracian Empire]

Full Nation Name: the Rus' (often referred to by historians and chronologists as the Second, or the White, Rus')

#AltDiv (Do not delete this, it is used to keep track of the apps)

Normally we encourage people to make a reservation first - but I will be reviewing your app as soon as possible.