World Building Group Thread (our RP name is a WIP) [OOC]

Thanks! Hope I can contribute somewhat to the world-building and later, the rp. Is this thread going to be the main method of talking and discussion or will there be some kind of archive where you can add ideas and such?
 
Name: House Shial'Kot

Leader: Matron Myrtressa Kom'Mok.

Motto: Never a Memory, Always a Dream, Forever a Nightmare

Population: Approx.: 500,000 adults.

Capital: Corenden, by imperial edict. In times past, the House had no center that could be called a capital. As such, the imperial center that was established after House Shial'Kot joined became the capital, although it is relatively thinly populated.

Clans: There are a total of 58 large clans scattered across the Ferren swamps. Although there are numerous smaller clans that create the true bulk of the House.

Race: They pull from all races across the empire, and even from the people who do not fall into the empire's domain.

Culture: In their eyes, House Shial'Kot is a haven for those who wish the master the art of war as an individual. They focus on squad and individual tactics and strategies. The aim is to become the strongest individuals they can be, while keeping their family and clan safe. No matter what the cost. Given their environment, they naturally avoid most forms of mechanized warfare, beyond the odd aircraft. They deploy commandos, spies, saboteurs, assassins, directly for the overlord or for whoever can hire them. Clans are both tightknit and competitive with each other as they work to win in various war games and hunts while ever seeking to improve their art of war. They also jockey for favor with the Matron on Patron of all the clans, who speaks for and leads the House as a whole. To outsiders who wish to join, or merely idolize, House Shial'Kot, they are a free people who live largely free within their swamps. There are hardly any hierarchy, beyond who is in charge, and those in charge are simply the best of their clan. That meaning the best range from being an expert hacker or simply the strongest muscle. Everyone can have a place there, and that place, once earned, is respected regardless where you came from. To those who look with dislike upon the House, see them as terrorists for hire, without any form of a moral compass beyond the ones their employers enforce upon them. The truth is more complicated, but simple enough. In short, neither is wrong. There are clans who will do any job presented to them, no matter how dark and dirty it is. At the same time, there are plenty of clans who hold to a strict sense of honor and justice, refusing any work that seems to cross their lines. They all coexist in an overarching society that doesn't care about one's past, but what one will contribute. Those who contribute little, can expect to be on the lower ends, but those who contribute much, earn positions of leadership, prestige in history, and even a clan of their own.

Contribution to the Empire: Aforementioned special force units and elite operatives that can undertake any covert, or overt, squad or individual mission with deadly effectiveness. In short, tools of war to serve the overlord's whims and ends.

Military Force: 500,000, their entire adult population.

Ambitions: House Shial'Kot currently has no ambitions beyond the continuous improvement in the matter of warfare on all levels. They have no territory desires, blood feuds with the other provinces, nor radical desire to leave the empire. In short, they simply wish to continue to be as they are and forever improve themselves.

Relations: House Shial'Kot holds no formal relations with the other provinces, but are more than happy to deal with them. This truly means that most, if not all, the other provinces do not wish their rivals, or allies, to know that they hired some clan in House Shial'Kot. After all, assassination and espionage are not kindly looked upon. Despite their general claim of being simply blades for hire, every province has, at some point in their history, suffered from particularly destructive attack from House Shial'Kot being hired. Only the overlord themselves has overt dealings with House Shial'Kot and recognizes them as part of the nobility. This generally means that Matron Myrtressa Kom'Mok and some form of entourage attends the various functions, feasts, balls, etc, that the overlord may or may not put on.
 
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@ChelonianCommander My worry is not the population number for the region, my worry is that I have too many special forces overall. Afterall, I'm creating a number that approaches half the size of some modern day militaries, like U.S.A, North Korea, and exceeds half in the cases like Russia and South Korea. These standing forces likely include everything from G.I.'s to their most elite soldiers. Which means that I'm likely out pacing the majority, if not entirety, of every nation's special forces numbers. While providing a variety of special forces is the point of my faction, I don't want to overkill it.
 
I like the faction Shadras. I think the 500,000 seems a little high to me but I think it's workable. It sounds like there are a few controls in place that will not make this overpowered like the competitive factors you mentioned. Also I might be misunderstanding but when I think about special forces I think they're trained as elite but they are more suited to specific objectives and generally would not perform well in a conventional ground war in a head to head confrontation.

I'm going to work on my faction some in the next hour or so. I'm going to look at having my faction supply portion of more conventional force for the empire. There's some information I'd like to add in as we go along on noble titles and relations to the imperial family as we get more into detail there.
 
I have a faction idea if you don't particularly mind (I'll just organize it in the same way as Shadra's)
Name: Fief Asaclya

Leader: [Exiled] Diaetor Tane Saefer, currently under military occupation
Leader Motto: What I say was said in Heaven and so it shall be done.

Motto: Dispel cowardice & hold steadfast, God commands it.

Population: 673,000 total

Capital: Ferdal, the only city present far antarctic south, the capital of Asaclya rests near to the south pole of the planet, nestled within the heart of a vast mountain range engulfing the land. Over 80% of the population resides in the capital, being the most well-defended location in the Antarctic as well as a center of agricultural production.

Clans: There are no clans in Asaclya. Instead, the kingdom is ruled by a Diaetor, a divine ruler believed to be acting as God's hand. Diaetors are not heretical, but are chosen through trial by combat in an elaborate ceremony.

Race: The primary race present in Asaclya are Humans. There is some reliance on Servitors, mechanical constructions made to perform repeated simple tasks.

Culture: Asaclyans are a deeply religious society with dependence on the church in many aspects. An agricultural-based economy, much of the population lies within a class similar to peasants with the notable exception being their status of off-duty professional soldiers. While their church and economic systems developed as a result of their environment and past history of originating from further north, the military system is a fairly recent development, but has had radical effects on the culture of Asaclya. Influenced by the numerous attempts of annexation/vassalization from the Empire, the culture now reflects a grim and remorseful perspective on life, always under the constant threat of another life taken by another invasion attempt. While not inherently negative, this view is often in the context of mourning the lost and striving to live life to the fullest, lest it be cut short by another untimely war. In summary, the Asaclyans are a proud people, hardy and deeply devout, they are known for their steadfast nature and a relentless resolve, hard to douse, yet child's play to re-ignite.
To foreigners, the Asaclyans have long been demonized as religious fanatic imperialists with delusions of grandeur and hopes of one day toppling the Empire and superseding it. While some of this may have been true many generations ago, with the rule of past Diaetors, these ambitions have long since left the memories and culture of this icy land.

History: Asaclya is an old colonization attempt from the forgotten histories of one of the kingdoms prevalent before the rise of the Empire. While they had kept close contact for fear of isolation, the fall of this long-lost kingdom led to the self-imposed isolation of Asaclya for the past few centuries from fear of annexation. There was little that their technology could not provide them with, including modified seeds that would be resilient to the icy weather, low sunlight, and poor soil at the expense of growth rate, as well as excellent generators of heat and insulation. Over generations, the hardiness of these people and their crop have adapted to fit their environment better.
Isolated, the Asaclya developed alone, focusing around their well-defended capital in the center of the antarctic mountain ranges. The population grew slowly from the original colonists due to the difficulty of child-rearing in the extreme cold, resulting in a relatively high child mortality rate when compared to Northerners. Eventually, as the capital came to encompass the surrounding mountain ranges, making use of terrace farming and walls built along the range.
With the rediscovery of the lost colony, a series of wars of reconquest were ignited. With it, came the rise of Asaclyan military might and theory. However, the vast majority of wars were characterized by the Southerners defending with one exception. Marching forth from the capital, leaving only a meager garrison, the Diaetor at the time, in a mad nationalistic fervor, struck out North, snatching a victory from the jaws of defeat until the eventual rout back to Ferdal following the decimation of his invasion force in the following battle, ending all potential for another future incursion with the loss of nearly 50% of the invasion force.
Little as changed in the past 20 years, with the inevitable capture of the Fief only 2 years ago, fresh in the minds of the families of Asaclya. Diaetor Tane Saefer is no where to be found, cast into exile only months after his coronation and has seemingly vanished from the peering eyes of his people, seeking a rebellious banner to rally behind. Yet, with the disappearance of their divine leader, little hope of a rejuvenated and free Southern bastion can be found.

Contribution to the Empire: Little to none currently. Potential to contribute in the fields of temperature control and agriculture with possible applications in spacecraft.

Military Force: Potentially 450,000: all able males and volunteer females. However, is currently under military occupation and the native military has been reduced to a mere policing force.
Traditionally, the Diaetor personally leads the military of Asaclya in the event of any war, defensive or offensive, with the latter last occurring a little more than a century ago during a time when the rest of the world rediscovered the existence of the Asaclya. The military led by the Diaetor has always been an incredibly formidable and well-organized fighting force, especially on their home territory or frontier due to their extensive experience with the landscape. They utilize a variety of methods from direct engagements to harassment to attrition-based warfare and are versatile in tactics from necessity when facing the numerically and technologically superior opponents to the North.
 
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Here's What I've got so far.

Name House Bausan
House Bausan is descended from the imperial family and is fiercely loyal to their rule. Once we have more information on the history I'll work on how there is a relation once we get some general timeframes going. But I'm thinking by this point probably distant cousins but probably started by a brother to a long-dead emperor or something?
Led by Duke Selim Bausan
Location Residing in the Mountains and Steppes with the majority of the faction dispersed around the border of those two regions if that's workable?

Contributions to the empire: The main export in this province is; arms, small consumer goods, light vehicles and military aircraft. However, first and foremost the province also provides significant military forces and military training facilities and education. The Military academy and training camps of house Bausan are world renowned for providing some of the best conventional forces. Additionally

Structure: There are two main classes in the province controlled by house Bausan the Ruling class and the nonruling classes beneath them. The ruling class is comprised almost entirely of nobles. Minus some lower positions open to the nonruling classes. There is an intricate court life outside of the imperial court itself residing within the capital of the province. There are limited opportunities for upward mobility for the lower class. However the first and foremost is through military service. A number of promising individuals will be admitted to the knighthood academy if they prove to be extremely capable and a valuable asset to the organization. (I'll provide more information on knights and the noble structure later on. )

Friction with the Caretakers: House Bausan maintains a sect of their military dedicated to policing the border with the Caretakers. There is a strong resistance to the group as they feel they are a direct threat to their noble blood and intern a threat to the imperial family and the empire as a whole. More details to come on that stuff! This is also going to make them less reliant on any form of Artifical intelligence software.

I haven't really decided on any population stuff yet but I'll look into that with more time. Also, I'll try to add more information on the military as well over the weekend!
 
Question, if this is a medieval sci-fi and we have access to tech that is better then modern age, wouldn't it make more sense if most factions have populations in the millions? Cause I feel like I might need to rework my faction since I'm planning to have my military take up 3% of my population, which is like....6.9 million.

I will however change my population to match everyone else though until further notice.

EDIT: Fun fact, I was talking to one of my friends about my faction and he said that my faction could actually be very dangerous if played well, due to the fact that we're so wide spread and the fact that we provide mechanical and medical services, we can straight cripple an area who heavily relies on us for such services.
 
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@ChelonianCommander I think your population is quite fine, both the overall and military. The question of debate with my faction is that I am creating a faction that is strictly military and, furthermore, strictly various forms of elites that range from commandos to spies to assassins and beyond. My main concern, to which @Sokka brings up valid points, is that I may be making an OP faction. To put perspective behind it, my force of elites is currently 1/14th of your total military force. Now, I need to look up and see if that is a reasonable amount. To address your final statement, I will agree that that is the case, but if the true leader of our mighty empire chooses to step in, then it will get very interesting and, quite likely, difficult for your faction. After all, the empire has, some how and some way, bound our various factions to it. We are beholden to it.

@Sokka You are quite right. They do not excel in head to head confrontation when solidly outnumbered by trained forces. Naturally, they do not seek to fight those battles. With discussing with one of my dearest friends and long time sci-fi and fantasy lover, the answer has simply become more research. While my forces may have significant numbers, I do need to set the scale against the entire empire's military. At the same time, I can also not daydream that I am the only one with special forces. So, I'm going to look into forces like terrorist organizations, their estimated numbers, look into what percentages of total military forces are special forces. So, much work to do.

To everyone and to attempt to address @Sokka 's concerns on my factions limitations that I failed to mention in my faction overview. After I finish my research, and hopefully not not added to any watch list, I'll give it a massive update. However, my faction has been actively disinterested in using its military power to try and gain any political or territorial clout beyond what they currently have. They are satisfied as remaining tools to the overlord and selling out their various clans to the other factions within the empire for their various intrigues. For example, perhaps @Sokka 's House Bausan hires a clan to crack The Network Caretakers', uh, network, to discover some of their charity deployment plans. Why? The clan hired didn't care. You're paying and not hurting the overlord directly. That's all they need. Then, perhaps, The Network Caretakers discover the hack and hire another clan to respond to this. Because they are content, they will never try to expand beyond their current borders and boundaries. As such, you need not worry about them trying to suddenly go all world domination and overpower their way through everyone else, which they couldn't anyway. I'll talk about why after my research answers my running hypothesis that my faction would suck at basic military conquest.

In my next post, I'll review and do a critique of @Kian 's and @Sokka 's factions. But for now, dinner.
 
Sounds good, I was wondering if my faction would actually fit into the world and all. Looking forward to it.
 
Hey guys sorry if I haven't posted any more information on my faction this week at work has been hell but there's only one more day to the weekend!
@Shadras I agree and they don't seem overpowered at all in perspective, I think given the numbers we are looking at you might even be able to scale that up if you wanted to. I'm always interested in a bit of cloak and dagger stuff so I'm excited for that when we get into RP later on. :D

I'm still trying to work out a population size. I like the nobility idea I have however I think the one problem with a single household is their size limitation. Then the entire system to me would fall apart as population size scales up. The main way to preserve this seems to be through force and propaganda, however, I feel like that's pretty stereotypical of a noble group. So I'm trying to make that my fall back option and looking to see if there are any alternatives.
 
I think the idea of "house" can easily refer to the ruling noble family. But I don't think any particular faction needs to follow that rule. After all, I call my people House Shial'Kot, but their leader's name is Kom'mok. Entirely different. Why is the name then Shial'Kot? Find out when you pry into my faction's secrets! Moving on.

Research done, for now. It was shorter than expected and very illuminating. For starters, holy cow we are currently small. Sorry for the delay, but time caught up with me and life and stuff. So, onward to my immediate and estimated facts. I say estimated because populations are difficult to be exact.

So far, from a few, not truly well sourced news sites along with the advice of the military side of my family, special forces are generally less than 1% of a nation's total active military force. So my 500,000 needs to be a solid way less than that. Currently, the estimated total active military forces across the globe, which this is more reliable is:
17,800,000 people.
This does not include reserves or paramilitary. I am, obviously, over percent. This can be mitigated as we wish, but we'll need to agree to it.

Current population of the globe is about 7.5 billion so, with a bit of math, we get that active military forces account for about
0.2% of the global population.

Next post, I'll post some estimations and then how this figures roll into my review of @Kian 's faction. @Sokka , give me a bit more time if you would.
 
Alright, so now I get into some predictions and estimations of the empire's total strength and population. Bear in mind that these are all merely speculation and by no means fact for our RP.

To begin, since we are in the distant near future, let's give the globe a population of 9 billion or so people. Taking our current percentage of military pop., we arrive at an active military force of about:
21,360,000 people. Not including reserved and paramilitary forces. These can be estimated numbers for us to play with and can grow or shrink based upon our ideas.

Oh, if you're curious @ChelonianCommander , your country sits around Taiwan and Niger in population, the 56th and 57th place out of some 233 nations.

So, @Kian , I only have one major issue with your faction. I like it's history and that it's a fairly new conquest, and I also enjoy their dedicated faith and how the wars have shaped their culture. However, I struggle to imagine how they were able to chain up a series of offensive victories before being routed by a faction that could, within solid enough reasoning and despite there still being some nation that the empire hasn't conquered yet, form up and throw 3 million men and women into the logistics and martial defense of their nation. Especially when you have your faction winning by the skin of their teeth each battle, which suggests heavy losses, and say that the empire is more technologically advanced. In a world which was roughly voted upon to be without unexplainable powers and magic, I simply cannot envision a relatively strong invasion and conventional warfare with the rough half-a-million your faction has.

@Sokka , I like your faction quite a bit. I particularly love that you included some of the relations with other factions inside the empire. It adds color to it and helps paint the world as a whole. I can't wait for the population numbers and its military might, what I definitely also want to see is how it was pulled into the empire as it helps define its relationship with the empire.
 
@Shadras

Sounds good, most of the history I just came up with on the spot and was p much just focusing on flavor text. Makes a lot of sense w/ the explanation and all. Also just updated it too. Thanks!
 
Well, the other thing everyone can do on their own are put forward a race they want to include on our planet.

The next group objective is, I'd imagine, the creation of the core sector of the empire. The seat of our overlord. Is it male or female who's in charge. Are they immortal? What race is the overlord? What are the empire's current policies? Etc.

That all being said, I feel we should let other people to catch up.
 
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