The City of Darby was founded in the year 387 and over the past several centuries has grown into one of the largest cities on the continent of Krat, which is itself the largest continent in all of Hethren. Now, in the year 742, Darby is wealthy and powerful, and rules itself as an independent city state. There are over a hundred thousand people in the city. The city is enormous, by far the largest city in the region. Of all the cities in the Empire of Ralo, Monarchy of Kune, and Republic of Dwarn, only the Imperial City of the Empire of Ralo is even marginally larger. It has made a massive fortune by being the only place in the entire region where Imperial, Royal, and Republican traders and diplomats can gather and exchange goods and information. Additionally, the many rebel groups that live in the Barrows also maintain embassies in Darby.
The City of Darby keeps a large and well equipped land army that mans the city's walls. There are three thousand professional soldiers inside the city walls, though nearly every adult is armed in some way. The city's merchants employ few guards, as the city guard is well aware that Darby's existence depends on the safety and prosperity of the merchants. Magic users of every stripe are represented within the city's walls. Even the druids maintain a presence within Darby's network of public parks.
Nearly every race is represented within Darby. While no race has a majority or even a plurality within the city, Darby was founded by humans. This means that the Empire of Ralo considers the City of Darby part of their rightful domain. Were it not for the incredible wealth generated for their traders and the incredible opportunities generated for their spies and diplomats by the city's connections, they would have already attempted to directly conquer it. In reality, humans account for only twenty percent of the city's population, while elves account for an equal percentage and halflings account for roughly fifteen percent. All races are welcomes in the city, including the savage races from beyond the borders of the great nations and supposed civilization.
Darby is ruled by a council of nobles. The first three noble families were created when the city was founded, and are thus human. But there are now nine noble families on the council. Four are human, three are elves, one is halfling, and one is gnomish. The council makes all decisions that concern the city. There is no executive or lower level of government.
The magic users of the city are mostly organized into different universities and temples, with several powerful magic users enlisted in the military as well. Arcane magic use is not as developed or as common as in the Monarchy of Kune or the Empire of Ralo. Darby's true strength is economic, not magical.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
The Barrows
The Barrows are a relatively small, extremely fertile territory that encircles the City of Darby and lies between the Empire of Ralo, the Monarchy of Kune, and the Dwarn Republic. For over two thousand years the Barrows had held itself apart from the rest of the world, remaining undeveloped. It was largely just full of druids and elf villages. But with the rise of the great nations, the Barrows became the refuge of many different bands of outlaws and rebels. Over a hundred small groups make their home in the Barrows, hiding out not only from the different nations but from the few druids who survive. The elves have long since been driven away, unable to protect their villages from the thugs that have claimed the Barrows.
The fertile, lightly forested territories of the Barrows are interrupted by light, rolling hills and deep, fast-flowing rivers. Very few bridges have been built in the region, and even fewer are controlled by a faction with the will and the ability to repair those bridges. While Kune, Ralo, and Dwarn each maintain a single highway from their own empire to the City of Darby, these bridges are heavily taxes and watched constantly. Many merchants attempt to find other ways to pass through the Barrows, using bridges controlled by a variety of other factions that are less safe and careful to keep their own levies less expensive than those of the great powers.
The fertile, lightly forested territories of the Barrows are interrupted by light, rolling hills and deep, fast-flowing rivers. Very few bridges have been built in the region, and even fewer are controlled by a faction with the will and the ability to repair those bridges. While Kune, Ralo, and Dwarn each maintain a single highway from their own empire to the City of Darby, these bridges are heavily taxes and watched constantly. Many merchants attempt to find other ways to pass through the Barrows, using bridges controlled by a variety of other factions that are less safe and careful to keep their own levies less expensive than those of the great powers.
The Monarchy of Kune
The Monarchy of Kune is a large nation that is mostly made up of elves that is very close to the Empire of Ralo, located on the continent of Krat. Kune controls extremely large forested areas and two large inland seas. Kune is an ancient nation, nearly two thousand years old. They have only had four previous monarchs though, each having ruled for an extremely long time.
Within Kune, magic is common and practiced by a great many people. All forms may be practiced without restriction, and the druids remain prevalent and extremely powerful within Kune, as do bards and clerics. However, Kune's wizards and sorcerers are not as powerful as those of the Empire of Ralo. Magic is used in the lives of many more of the common people than in the Empire of Ralo, and it is often speculated that the elves have secrets that the humans and gnomes of Ralo cannot fathom locked away in their many academies and competitive guild organizations, though there has never been any proof of this.
The current monarch, Queen Mirabella the Second, is a frail, ancient woman of six hundred and forty years, who has been on the throne since her father was murdered more than six centuries ago. She is an awesomely powerful wizard, but her rule is failing as her people lose faith in the government. Her heir-apparent, Prince Tirralon, is a pompous and gullible young man who has just been thrust into the spotlight after the death of his two older sisters and elder brother in a terrible assassination plot. He was also almost killed, and bears terrible scars on his neck and shoulders where the assassin's arrows pierced him.
The Monarchy of Kune has a small, volunteer military supplemented by tiny town and village militias and slightly larger city guards. Only Kune's long-standing alliance with the autonomous orders of druids and their powerful animal companions allow them to protect their border from incursions from the Empire of Ralo.
While the Empire of Ralo does not want any of Kune's territory, they would like to push right up to their borders, which includes chopping down long protected forests worshiped by many druids and clerics within Kune. Kune also maintains a wary relationship with their powerful southern neighbor, the Dwarn Republic.
Kune is populated mostly by elves, with small pockets of fey and the occassional gnomish and halfling village along the frontier with the Empire of Ralo. The elves have not built great cities, preferring to build a multitude of small and medium sized towns. A city of ten thousand is a regional metropolis in Kune, and the capital is less than twice that size. This unwillingness to build large cities has also contributed to a lack of expertise at building defensive fortifications. The Monarchy of Kune has few castles, mostly located in traditional rather than pragmatic locations.
Within Kune, magic is common and practiced by a great many people. All forms may be practiced without restriction, and the druids remain prevalent and extremely powerful within Kune, as do bards and clerics. However, Kune's wizards and sorcerers are not as powerful as those of the Empire of Ralo. Magic is used in the lives of many more of the common people than in the Empire of Ralo, and it is often speculated that the elves have secrets that the humans and gnomes of Ralo cannot fathom locked away in their many academies and competitive guild organizations, though there has never been any proof of this.
The current monarch, Queen Mirabella the Second, is a frail, ancient woman of six hundred and forty years, who has been on the throne since her father was murdered more than six centuries ago. She is an awesomely powerful wizard, but her rule is failing as her people lose faith in the government. Her heir-apparent, Prince Tirralon, is a pompous and gullible young man who has just been thrust into the spotlight after the death of his two older sisters and elder brother in a terrible assassination plot. He was also almost killed, and bears terrible scars on his neck and shoulders where the assassin's arrows pierced him.
The Monarchy of Kune has a small, volunteer military supplemented by tiny town and village militias and slightly larger city guards. Only Kune's long-standing alliance with the autonomous orders of druids and their powerful animal companions allow them to protect their border from incursions from the Empire of Ralo.
While the Empire of Ralo does not want any of Kune's territory, they would like to push right up to their borders, which includes chopping down long protected forests worshiped by many druids and clerics within Kune. Kune also maintains a wary relationship with their powerful southern neighbor, the Dwarn Republic.
Kune is populated mostly by elves, with small pockets of fey and the occassional gnomish and halfling village along the frontier with the Empire of Ralo. The elves have not built great cities, preferring to build a multitude of small and medium sized towns. A city of ten thousand is a regional metropolis in Kune, and the capital is less than twice that size. This unwillingness to build large cities has also contributed to a lack of expertise at building defensive fortifications. The Monarchy of Kune has few castles, mostly located in traditional rather than pragmatic locations.
The Dwarn Republic
The Dwarn Republic is a large nation that formed only a century ago. It is by far the youngest of the great nations. The Republic is a semi-democratic place ruled by a combination of old, wealthy families and the will of the people. Roughly eighty percent of the Dwarn Republic's population are halflings. The Republic is the first large primarily halfling nation ever to exist on the continent of Krat. It is located to the south of the Empire of Ralo and the Monarchy of Kune. The Republic is the freest of all the nations, absent an explicit class separation or government religion.
The Dwarn Republic formed from over a hundred small halfing confederacies combining over a period of twenty years, when the halflings became increasingly nationalistic and assertive of their culture and borders. After these nations decided to combine and eventually hashed out a long and moderately centralized constitution, the Dwarn Republic was officially begun. But it lacked an army. While the halflings were willing to fight and provided legions of rogues supplemented by rangers and spellcasters of all stripes for these armies, they found themselves lacking direct combat soldiers. So they looked inwards, to the enemies they had originally unified to protect themselves against: orcs.
Roughly twenty percent of the Dwarn Republic's population are orcs. This is because the halflings struck a deal with the orcs. If they were willing to live in peace and contribute large numbers of melee soldiers to the army, orc communities would be exempt from all federal and provincial taxes (local taxes and tariffs would still apply). Thus orcs and halflings live together in peace within the Republic's borders, providing security for one another.
The Dwarn Republic's army suffers badly from a lack of fortifications along the borders. They do not have any special magical or engineering abilities to create these forts, despite how badly they are needed along a border so easy to cross. Instead, the halflings provide for their defense with mobile patrol units, where as many as ten halflings wander the woods and dispatch minor threats, reporting major threats. Major threats are then dealt with by the main armies, which are roughly two-thirds orcish. The Dwarn Republic has faced threats by many outside groups seeking to test the strength of the newborn nation. These threats include orcish and goblinoid tribes, ogres and trolls, giant kingdoms, gnoll clans, even raids by the dwarves.
The Dwarn Republic formed from over a hundred small halfing confederacies combining over a period of twenty years, when the halflings became increasingly nationalistic and assertive of their culture and borders. After these nations decided to combine and eventually hashed out a long and moderately centralized constitution, the Dwarn Republic was officially begun. But it lacked an army. While the halflings were willing to fight and provided legions of rogues supplemented by rangers and spellcasters of all stripes for these armies, they found themselves lacking direct combat soldiers. So they looked inwards, to the enemies they had originally unified to protect themselves against: orcs.
Roughly twenty percent of the Dwarn Republic's population are orcs. This is because the halflings struck a deal with the orcs. If they were willing to live in peace and contribute large numbers of melee soldiers to the army, orc communities would be exempt from all federal and provincial taxes (local taxes and tariffs would still apply). Thus orcs and halflings live together in peace within the Republic's borders, providing security for one another.
The Dwarn Republic's army suffers badly from a lack of fortifications along the borders. They do not have any special magical or engineering abilities to create these forts, despite how badly they are needed along a border so easy to cross. Instead, the halflings provide for their defense with mobile patrol units, where as many as ten halflings wander the woods and dispatch minor threats, reporting major threats. Major threats are then dealt with by the main armies, which are roughly two-thirds orcish. The Dwarn Republic has faced threats by many outside groups seeking to test the strength of the newborn nation. These threats include orcish and goblinoid tribes, ogres and trolls, giant kingdoms, gnoll clans, even raids by the dwarves.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
The Empire of Ralo
One of the largest nations on the continent of Krat, the Empire of Ralo is a landlocked nation of humans and gnomes. Magic is scarce and the Empire of Ralo strictly controls its use. Only the Imperial Wizards Guild is allowed to practice arcane magic of any kind, and druids are banned across the Empire and clerics are all officially in the government's service. Rogue magicians are imprisoned or executed.
The Empire of Ralo has a massive military that consists mostly of conscripts and an elite officer corps. All men are required to serve in the military from the ages of 16 to 19. The Imperial Wizards Guild is also required to provide the military with whatever magical support they require. In addition to mass conscription from age 16 to 19, the Empire considers all men from the age of 19 to 25 active reserves and has them report in for a full month of training every year.
The Empire of Ralo is ruled and mostly populated by humans. Only about ten percent of the population is made up of gnomes, and they live in separate communities and are exempted from military conscription. Roughly a quarter of the wizards in the Imperial Wizards Guild are gnomes. Some humans disrespect gnomes within the Empire, but humans and gnomes live together peacefully and with mutual respect most of the time. Volunteer gnomish soldiers serve in separate military units, though there has never been a gnomish High General or Imperial Minister.
The Empire of Ralo is heavily militarized and often aggressive towards other nations. The Emperor of Ralo considers himself to be the rightful ruler of all of humanity, and is determined to achieve domination over the other human nations of the continent of Krat. They have no allies amongst the other nations of the continent. Because of their enormous size, most nation's cannot avoid trading with them.
The Empire was founded roughly six hundred years ago as a small kingdom of humans and has grown into a massive empire over centuries of war and conquest with smaller, weaker neighbors. However, they have little interest in aquiring the territories of non-human peoples, only keeping gnomes as citizens because the gnomes asked to be peacefully absorbed in exchange for protection. Technology is relatively advanced in the Empire of Ralo. Massive defensive fortifications and advanced plate armor are produced widely for the military class. The Empire has produced a massive, well-organized pre-industrial society that holds the divine in disdain. Many of the temples are empty and druids, who oppose the ruthless exploitation of nature, are executed on site.
The Empire of Ralo has a massive military that consists mostly of conscripts and an elite officer corps. All men are required to serve in the military from the ages of 16 to 19. The Imperial Wizards Guild is also required to provide the military with whatever magical support they require. In addition to mass conscription from age 16 to 19, the Empire considers all men from the age of 19 to 25 active reserves and has them report in for a full month of training every year.
The Empire of Ralo is ruled and mostly populated by humans. Only about ten percent of the population is made up of gnomes, and they live in separate communities and are exempted from military conscription. Roughly a quarter of the wizards in the Imperial Wizards Guild are gnomes. Some humans disrespect gnomes within the Empire, but humans and gnomes live together peacefully and with mutual respect most of the time. Volunteer gnomish soldiers serve in separate military units, though there has never been a gnomish High General or Imperial Minister.
The Empire of Ralo is heavily militarized and often aggressive towards other nations. The Emperor of Ralo considers himself to be the rightful ruler of all of humanity, and is determined to achieve domination over the other human nations of the continent of Krat. They have no allies amongst the other nations of the continent. Because of their enormous size, most nation's cannot avoid trading with them.
The Empire was founded roughly six hundred years ago as a small kingdom of humans and has grown into a massive empire over centuries of war and conquest with smaller, weaker neighbors. However, they have little interest in aquiring the territories of non-human peoples, only keeping gnomes as citizens because the gnomes asked to be peacefully absorbed in exchange for protection. Technology is relatively advanced in the Empire of Ralo. Massive defensive fortifications and advanced plate armor are produced widely for the military class. The Empire has produced a massive, well-organized pre-industrial society that holds the divine in disdain. Many of the temples are empty and druids, who oppose the ruthless exploitation of nature, are executed on site.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
The Southern Empire
In the year of 1549, the first Governor General of Brazil arrived from Portugal. Born in the year 1500, this man was sent to the New World merely to get him out of Europe, where the superstious Europeans had begun to fear this man. He did not age, and held radical and un-Catholic ideas. His name was Manuel, and he took a new surname; Brasil. He led a large propaganda effort attempting to get colonists to leave for the New World, which ended up being amazingly successful. More than sixty thousand people followed him to the New World.
Over the next two centuries, he largely kept to himself, governing wisely and with few incidents. His radical ideas led to a dramatic change in the administration of the colony of Brazil. He led efforts to create large local industries and a self-sustaining local population. His rule of the natives and of the slaves was brutal, but much more even-handed than any other Portugese noble dreamed of. After ten years of work, African migrants were mandated to be freed, and children were prohibited from being born into slavery. The native population received similar treatments beginning in the late 1600s. And Brazil grew dramatically, attracting a constant stream of Portugese colonists that settled along the long coastlines.
During the Napoleonic Wars, the colony of Brazil raised and maintained a navy of some thirty frigates that asssisted Portugal in maintaining its independence. And when Wellington led his army into the Iberian Penninsula, Governor Manuel Brasil equipped and deployed ten thousand soldiers to assist him. As a reward for his service, the Governor was allowed to declare his independence in the year 1816 and decare the Empire of Brazil. He immediately turned his sights on the fragmenting and newly independent Spanish Empire. After ten years of solid economic and military growth, the Empire of Brasil was ready for its first ever wave of expansion and declared war against the republics of the former Spanish Empire in 1826.
Through careful use of diplomacy and a carefully timed suprise attack, Brazil was able to conquer the entirety of South America and the Federal Republic of Central America over a six year period. On January 1, 1835, a peace was concluded that left the Empire of Brazil controlling all of South and Latin America south of Mexico apart from three small European colonies still controlled by the Dutch, English, and French. And after the Mexican-American War, the Empire of Brazil immediately managed to purchase these three relatively insignificant colonial areas for large sums of money, leaving them one of the largest nations in the world.
After the Gadsen Purchase, the Emperor of Brazil (now known almost exclusively as the Emperor, a title he had held for 38 years) became convinced that the United States was determined to expand southward. Discontented with the Empire's border with Mexico, he decided to fight a war of annexation, intending to invite the US to join in along the north. But as the US became increasingly gridlocked, he abandoned this idea in exchange for a unilateral strike. And in the year 1857, the Empire of Brasil declared war on Mexico.
By this time, the Empire of Brasil was a highly developed nation, rougly equivalent in technology and economic development to the United States (though slavery had finally been completely outlawed in 1850, and the native population was busily being integrated into modern Imperial society). The war against Mexico should have gone smoothly. But it didn't. The Mexican government resisted skillfully in the south for six months, although the Empire was clearly winning every major battle. But in this time, Mexico had convinced Great Britain, France, and Spain to intervene upon their behalf, convincing these governments that the Empire of Brazil had to be stopped before it became so incredibly large that no other nation could successfully fight it.
And so these three European powers contributed enormous sums of money and large fleets of ships to combat the Empire. Spain took to the war enthusiastically, using it as an excuse to cover up their own inadequacies. While Britain and France tired of the war quickly (withdrawing all forces after only four months), Spain contributed for the long haul, landing an army of nearly 65,000 in Mexico. The Empire of Brazil was caught up in the Mexican-Imperial War from 1857 to 1860, when Mexico finally surrendered. The Empire then turned their attentions to the Carribean, quickly annexing Cuba and Puerto Rico to demonstrate to the Spanish that it was a mistake to oppose them. The Empire of Brazil eventually signed a peace treaty with Spain in 1862.
Following the bloody war in Mexico (over a quarter million combined dead), the Empire of Brazil announced that it was dissolving its regular army. The Imperial Guard, a force of 15,000 soldiers, would guard the Imperial City (what we would know as Rio de Janeiro) and the Imperial Navy would be composed of nearly five hundred light ships, each with a small compliment of marines, and only a dozen major battleships. This would remain the case from 1863 to 1899.
Between 1863 and 1899, the Empire of Brazil expanded their holdings in the Carribean slowly and peacefully, purchasing island colonies at every opportunity from Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands. By the turn of the century, the Emperor would have procued every single island for the Empire, including the very northerly (for the Empire) Bermuda. But by 1899, the situation was decaying quickly within the Empire. While the economy was free and booming and civil rights were widespread, being afforded to both genders and peoples of all colors and ancestry, there were no political rights in the Empire. The Empire of Brazil was still an absolute monarchy closely aligned to the Catholic Church (although nobody was forced to worship, many non-worshipers were angry that they were forced to support the Church with their taxes). Mayors and Governors were appointed, and the Senate consisted soley of nobles and clergy (although fairly revolutionarily for the time, female nobles were allowed to take powerful seats in the Senate). There was no Constitution clearly enumerating the rights that the Emperor had given his subjects
In 1899, the Empire of Brazil was rocked by a series of public protests and tax revolts. The Emperor refused to get involved or order his subjects to obey the laws, but many local officials acted without authorization. More than five hundred civilians were killed by policemen, and riots began to break out randomly. Reformers demanded a Constitution, a second elected house of government, and locally elected officials. And the Emperor as inclined to give it to them. Setting a speech for May of 1899, he would have announced these reforms. Until he was removed from the throne by his own Senate, eager to preserve their own power. While all attempts to kill him failed (he even regrew his own head after it was chopped off), he was still easily imprisoned beneath his own palace.
The Senate authorized massive repression of the protests and raised a massive army through conscription. The people (including the extraordinarily wealthy but politically dispossessed business owners) formed their own armies and fought back. The civil war killed over a million people in a mere two years before the Emperor escaped with the help of the Imperial Guard and proclaimed the dissolution of the Senate. The armies (still technically sworn to serve him) switched sides and executed more than two hundred noble families and their personal retainers. The Emperor on January 1, 1902, declared the Empire of Brazil to be a free nation and proclaimed a Constitution clearly carving out more than thirty different rights of the people, as well as forming a Constitutional High Court of nine judges to decide on all disputes about the Constitution. Mayors, City Councils, and State Legislatures are to be popularly elected, as in the United States, while Provincial Governors will still be appointed personally by the Emperor. However, all titles of nobility were revoked (besides those possessed by the Emperor himself) and each province is to send four Senators. Three popularly elected Senators, and one that is appointed by the Provincial Governor. The army was dissolved, although the massively expanded navy the Senate had created was preserved. Two of the most controversial provisions in the Constitution was that marriage could occur between any two people who had reached the age of twenty-one by a state official and that eminent domain for any reason was now unconstitutional.
In 1914, World War I broke out and the Emperor swore to remain neutral. He had no interest in the wars of Europe. He refused to assist any nation involved in the war. He also refused to cooperate with the League of Nations or any of the many international treaties that came into existence in the aftermath. The Empire, even more than the United States, remained detached and independently prosperous. The one major effect of World War I in the Empire was that it convnced the Emperor to begin investing in major research projects for new weapons, specifically tanks and aircraft. By 1930, the Empire of Brazil had the largest and most advanced air force in the world and was determined to keep it that way. They also invested heavily in the Imperial Navy, constantly updating ships and building new classes of vessels. Their tank research was left by the wayside, and in 1930 the Empire had only several dozen native tanks that were only mediocre international specimens. They decided to simply sell a production run to anyone who wanted them (they ended up exporting about three hundred tanks to various sources in Eastern Europe and Asia).
The Emperor knew World War II was coming, but decided that it wasn't going to affect him. He thought that it would simply be another European war and focused on keeping his country out of the world's economic turmoil (something that he was successful at doing). By 1939, the Empire was by far the most prosperous and advanced nation in the world. The Emperor had decided that he would simply be doing his part by allowing the Jews to find easy refuge in the Empire; no other aid to any nation or people would be offered. He knew that the Empire was safe thanks to its enormous and advanced air force and navy.
Despite knowing what had happened in World War I, the scale of destruction and Germany's apparent ascendance in the Second World War took the Emperor by surprise. He was shocked by fascism's easy victories and by the West being forced to rely on the much-hated (within the Empire) Soviet Union. The Empire had never even recognized the Soviet Union diplomatically. And so the Emperor decided to go to war. But he didn't want to involve his people in the brutal European war against Germany, who he felt was vastly superior to his ground forces. He amassed an army of nearly three-quarters of a million within the Empire and sailed them over for a massive attack...against Portugal and Spain.
The wars on the Iberian Penninsula were difficult, mostly thanks to geography. The Empire had enormous preponderance of force, and Germany decided that it couldn't spare any assistance after the main attack came in late July 1942. The Empire's intentions were unclear as they were not cooperating with the Allies and had never recognized the existence of any of the Fascist governments. Using numbers and superior technology and logistics to drive back the Portugese and Spanish armies, the Iberian Penninsula was completely won over by May 1944.
With an announcement on June 2, 1944, the Empire announced that its newly aquired territories would be annexed into the Empire of Brazil, shocking the world. The Allies and Axis both decried these actions, but neither were willing to attack Brazil with such an intense war going on in their own territories. After D-Day commenced, the Emperor decided that the Allies were going to win the war and decided to continue the mobilization of soldiers at home and moving them abroad into the Iberian Penninsula. And in September of 1944, the Empire officially declared war on Nazi Germany and landed a huge invasion force of over a million and a quarter soldiers in Yugoslavia and Albania. Tearing into not only German forces but Bulgarian and Partisan forces, Imperial forces adanced rapidly. The Empire even clashed with Soviet forces (they had still not begun regular diplomatic contact with the Soviets) until the Soviets decided not the contest Yugoslavia and focus on the Germans.
The war ended on a similar schedule to in the real world, with official resistance ending in early May of 1945. The Empire of Brazil announced the formation of two new provinces: Greater Illyria (Yugoslavia and Albania) and Iberia (Spain and Portugal). An enormous reconstruction budget was announced, and the Empire demobilized. The world had been shocked by the Empire's expansionism and by the enormously advanced aircraft and naval vessels they had deployed. The Empire was clearly at least ten years ahead of the rest of the world in air and naval technology and nearly on par with the US' warmaking technology in other areas (though the Empire wouldn't detonate a nuclear weapon until 1948).
The Empire became an increasingly capitalist and libertarian society under the general control of the Emperor over the next fifty years while consolidating its security in Greater Illyria. While rapidly working to develop Spain and Portugal's few remaining colonies, all were granted independence to various movements in 1966. These states remained allied with the Empire of Brazil. The Empire kept an army of roughly a quarter million stationed continuously in Greater Illyria to safeguard against Soviet Union. The Empire also rapidly embraced the use of nuclear power. By 1955, all of the Empire's submarines and aircraft carriers were nuclear powered, and by 1965 there were over a hundred nuclear power plants placed throughout the Empire. While ignorning the space race, domestic technology sped ahead of the rest of the world. The Empire's tanks and aircraft were at least a full generation ahead of the United States', and the standard of living was higher as well. Additionally, the Empire of Brazil refused to trade or speak with the Soviet Union or Communist China while giving Israel substantial support.
The Empire also shocked international sensabilities by refusing to join any of the world's international bodies or treaties. The Emperor did not interact with NATO, the UN, the IMF, World Bank, or GATT, among mnay other groups. The Empire would maintain its independence no matter what, as he announced repeatedly. The Empire largely ignored the outside world, signing limited free trade agreements and carrying out commerce like always. While the Empire refused to help Communism, it didn't spend any time opposing it either. And the gap between it and the rest of the world grew. Increasingly, the United States and Japan were its only competition in terms of invention and discovery.
Things continued on in this fashion throughout the Cold War. In 1987, the Empire announced that it had completed a major initiative called the Holy Shield. The Holy Shield would shoot down an approximate 55% of all ICBMs launched against the Empire and would research and upgrades to keep the Empire safe would continue. While this caused a shock in the Soviet Union, the nearing collapse of the dictatorship kept them from doing anything. Just as the Cold War ended and the Iron Curtain fell, the Empire announced a secondary major initiative nearing completion: a miniaturized nuclear engine that would power the Empire's larger naval vessels. This revolutionary engine allowed larger cruisers to also be outfitted with nuclear power plants, something that the Emperor had long looked forward to. By this time, a private space industry had also sprung up within the Empire. In 1990 and 1991, three massive telescopes were launched by private organizations. These telescope were more powerful and self-sustaining than the brand-new Hubble Space Telescope. These private organizations also began launching private space stations, with a massive combined project being put into orbit in three years, between 1997 and 2000. The Imperial Space Station has since been expanded a dozen times and has a full crew of seventeen. Eight different models of private spaceship have docked with the Imperial Space Station.
In the 1990s, the Empire, along with the rest of the world, was rocked by the internet. It embraced this new technoloy, quickly integrating it into an already vibrant and growing technology sector that produced cheaper and more powerful computers than anywhere else in the world. They also cut back on defense spending, cutting their army in Greater Illyria down to a mere seventy-five thousand soldiers. But they maintained their massive air force and navy, continuing to upgrade their hardware and training continuously. The Empire contributed close air support and mine clearing operations to the First Gulf War, suffering no casualties and losing only a single plane. By this time, the Empire was still exporting fossil fuels but used only gasoline and diesal; regular power generation relied entirely on nuclear power and hydroelectric power.
The Emperor was shocked by 9/11. The attacks enraged him, and he vowed to support the United States in finding its vengeance. Relations with the US had been uneasy throughout the 90s as the Empire refused to offer formerly Communist countries charity or send peacekeepers to areas that needed them. The Emperor called for 350,000 volunteers to form a true Imperial Army. He recieved over a million volunteers, and thus upped funding to create an army 750,000 strong. As the United States launched its attack on Afghanistan, the Emperor ordered a similar assualt launched against what he considered to be the leading cause of Islamic terrorism and a nation where the Empire had been funding assassinations since 1981: Iran. The Empire invaded Iran in a shock and awe campaign with 750,000 ground soldiers and full air and naval support in February 2002.
The invasion shocked everybody; even the US had no idea that the Emperor had planned to invade Iran and demanded privately that they leave and choose a more palatable target. The Emperor was shocked by the world's reaction, unable to understand by the United States was so set on invading only certain enemy nations, and refused to change his mind. He announced on March 28, 2002 the expansion of the Empire to the province of Persia, and warned the world that the Empire would not tolerate attacks against them or nations they maintained good relations with. The government of Iran fell rather quickly; they were unable to defend against the Empire's overwhelming force. But the Emperor had not bargained on such a long and bloody occupation. He had never had to deal with one before. The Empire, blindsided by this, adopted a truly brutal approach to annihilating its armed enemies througout 2002 and until mid 2005, increasing the number of soldiers in Persia until they peaked at 2 million. This campaign was spectaculaly brutal and cost over a million lives on all sides before the Emperor declared the region pacified in September 2005. But local resistance and terrorism dragged onwards. Only by managing to turn the Kurds and people of Baluchistan into allies did the Emperor achieve any sort of major success.
By the next decade, the region had begun to quiet. Terrorism was at an all time low and the entire world realized that if they sponsored terrorism within the Empire, they would destroy their military and annex their territory. Persia remained underdeveloped and violent, but things were getting better as the economy began to fully integrate into the Imperial economy and the Persian people were granted the freedoms of Imperial citizenship. It remains to be seen how stable former Iran will turn out to be or how the rest of the world will react to the Empire's most recent annexation.
Over the next two centuries, he largely kept to himself, governing wisely and with few incidents. His radical ideas led to a dramatic change in the administration of the colony of Brazil. He led efforts to create large local industries and a self-sustaining local population. His rule of the natives and of the slaves was brutal, but much more even-handed than any other Portugese noble dreamed of. After ten years of work, African migrants were mandated to be freed, and children were prohibited from being born into slavery. The native population received similar treatments beginning in the late 1600s. And Brazil grew dramatically, attracting a constant stream of Portugese colonists that settled along the long coastlines.
During the Napoleonic Wars, the colony of Brazil raised and maintained a navy of some thirty frigates that asssisted Portugal in maintaining its independence. And when Wellington led his army into the Iberian Penninsula, Governor Manuel Brasil equipped and deployed ten thousand soldiers to assist him. As a reward for his service, the Governor was allowed to declare his independence in the year 1816 and decare the Empire of Brazil. He immediately turned his sights on the fragmenting and newly independent Spanish Empire. After ten years of solid economic and military growth, the Empire of Brasil was ready for its first ever wave of expansion and declared war against the republics of the former Spanish Empire in 1826.
Through careful use of diplomacy and a carefully timed suprise attack, Brazil was able to conquer the entirety of South America and the Federal Republic of Central America over a six year period. On January 1, 1835, a peace was concluded that left the Empire of Brazil controlling all of South and Latin America south of Mexico apart from three small European colonies still controlled by the Dutch, English, and French. And after the Mexican-American War, the Empire of Brazil immediately managed to purchase these three relatively insignificant colonial areas for large sums of money, leaving them one of the largest nations in the world.
After the Gadsen Purchase, the Emperor of Brazil (now known almost exclusively as the Emperor, a title he had held for 38 years) became convinced that the United States was determined to expand southward. Discontented with the Empire's border with Mexico, he decided to fight a war of annexation, intending to invite the US to join in along the north. But as the US became increasingly gridlocked, he abandoned this idea in exchange for a unilateral strike. And in the year 1857, the Empire of Brasil declared war on Mexico.
By this time, the Empire of Brasil was a highly developed nation, rougly equivalent in technology and economic development to the United States (though slavery had finally been completely outlawed in 1850, and the native population was busily being integrated into modern Imperial society). The war against Mexico should have gone smoothly. But it didn't. The Mexican government resisted skillfully in the south for six months, although the Empire was clearly winning every major battle. But in this time, Mexico had convinced Great Britain, France, and Spain to intervene upon their behalf, convincing these governments that the Empire of Brazil had to be stopped before it became so incredibly large that no other nation could successfully fight it.
And so these three European powers contributed enormous sums of money and large fleets of ships to combat the Empire. Spain took to the war enthusiastically, using it as an excuse to cover up their own inadequacies. While Britain and France tired of the war quickly (withdrawing all forces after only four months), Spain contributed for the long haul, landing an army of nearly 65,000 in Mexico. The Empire of Brazil was caught up in the Mexican-Imperial War from 1857 to 1860, when Mexico finally surrendered. The Empire then turned their attentions to the Carribean, quickly annexing Cuba and Puerto Rico to demonstrate to the Spanish that it was a mistake to oppose them. The Empire of Brazil eventually signed a peace treaty with Spain in 1862.
Following the bloody war in Mexico (over a quarter million combined dead), the Empire of Brazil announced that it was dissolving its regular army. The Imperial Guard, a force of 15,000 soldiers, would guard the Imperial City (what we would know as Rio de Janeiro) and the Imperial Navy would be composed of nearly five hundred light ships, each with a small compliment of marines, and only a dozen major battleships. This would remain the case from 1863 to 1899.
Between 1863 and 1899, the Empire of Brazil expanded their holdings in the Carribean slowly and peacefully, purchasing island colonies at every opportunity from Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands. By the turn of the century, the Emperor would have procued every single island for the Empire, including the very northerly (for the Empire) Bermuda. But by 1899, the situation was decaying quickly within the Empire. While the economy was free and booming and civil rights were widespread, being afforded to both genders and peoples of all colors and ancestry, there were no political rights in the Empire. The Empire of Brazil was still an absolute monarchy closely aligned to the Catholic Church (although nobody was forced to worship, many non-worshipers were angry that they were forced to support the Church with their taxes). Mayors and Governors were appointed, and the Senate consisted soley of nobles and clergy (although fairly revolutionarily for the time, female nobles were allowed to take powerful seats in the Senate). There was no Constitution clearly enumerating the rights that the Emperor had given his subjects
In 1899, the Empire of Brazil was rocked by a series of public protests and tax revolts. The Emperor refused to get involved or order his subjects to obey the laws, but many local officials acted without authorization. More than five hundred civilians were killed by policemen, and riots began to break out randomly. Reformers demanded a Constitution, a second elected house of government, and locally elected officials. And the Emperor as inclined to give it to them. Setting a speech for May of 1899, he would have announced these reforms. Until he was removed from the throne by his own Senate, eager to preserve their own power. While all attempts to kill him failed (he even regrew his own head after it was chopped off), he was still easily imprisoned beneath his own palace.
The Senate authorized massive repression of the protests and raised a massive army through conscription. The people (including the extraordinarily wealthy but politically dispossessed business owners) formed their own armies and fought back. The civil war killed over a million people in a mere two years before the Emperor escaped with the help of the Imperial Guard and proclaimed the dissolution of the Senate. The armies (still technically sworn to serve him) switched sides and executed more than two hundred noble families and their personal retainers. The Emperor on January 1, 1902, declared the Empire of Brazil to be a free nation and proclaimed a Constitution clearly carving out more than thirty different rights of the people, as well as forming a Constitutional High Court of nine judges to decide on all disputes about the Constitution. Mayors, City Councils, and State Legislatures are to be popularly elected, as in the United States, while Provincial Governors will still be appointed personally by the Emperor. However, all titles of nobility were revoked (besides those possessed by the Emperor himself) and each province is to send four Senators. Three popularly elected Senators, and one that is appointed by the Provincial Governor. The army was dissolved, although the massively expanded navy the Senate had created was preserved. Two of the most controversial provisions in the Constitution was that marriage could occur between any two people who had reached the age of twenty-one by a state official and that eminent domain for any reason was now unconstitutional.
In 1914, World War I broke out and the Emperor swore to remain neutral. He had no interest in the wars of Europe. He refused to assist any nation involved in the war. He also refused to cooperate with the League of Nations or any of the many international treaties that came into existence in the aftermath. The Empire, even more than the United States, remained detached and independently prosperous. The one major effect of World War I in the Empire was that it convnced the Emperor to begin investing in major research projects for new weapons, specifically tanks and aircraft. By 1930, the Empire of Brazil had the largest and most advanced air force in the world and was determined to keep it that way. They also invested heavily in the Imperial Navy, constantly updating ships and building new classes of vessels. Their tank research was left by the wayside, and in 1930 the Empire had only several dozen native tanks that were only mediocre international specimens. They decided to simply sell a production run to anyone who wanted them (they ended up exporting about three hundred tanks to various sources in Eastern Europe and Asia).
The Emperor knew World War II was coming, but decided that it wasn't going to affect him. He thought that it would simply be another European war and focused on keeping his country out of the world's economic turmoil (something that he was successful at doing). By 1939, the Empire was by far the most prosperous and advanced nation in the world. The Emperor had decided that he would simply be doing his part by allowing the Jews to find easy refuge in the Empire; no other aid to any nation or people would be offered. He knew that the Empire was safe thanks to its enormous and advanced air force and navy.
Despite knowing what had happened in World War I, the scale of destruction and Germany's apparent ascendance in the Second World War took the Emperor by surprise. He was shocked by fascism's easy victories and by the West being forced to rely on the much-hated (within the Empire) Soviet Union. The Empire had never even recognized the Soviet Union diplomatically. And so the Emperor decided to go to war. But he didn't want to involve his people in the brutal European war against Germany, who he felt was vastly superior to his ground forces. He amassed an army of nearly three-quarters of a million within the Empire and sailed them over for a massive attack...against Portugal and Spain.
The wars on the Iberian Penninsula were difficult, mostly thanks to geography. The Empire had enormous preponderance of force, and Germany decided that it couldn't spare any assistance after the main attack came in late July 1942. The Empire's intentions were unclear as they were not cooperating with the Allies and had never recognized the existence of any of the Fascist governments. Using numbers and superior technology and logistics to drive back the Portugese and Spanish armies, the Iberian Penninsula was completely won over by May 1944.
With an announcement on June 2, 1944, the Empire announced that its newly aquired territories would be annexed into the Empire of Brazil, shocking the world. The Allies and Axis both decried these actions, but neither were willing to attack Brazil with such an intense war going on in their own territories. After D-Day commenced, the Emperor decided that the Allies were going to win the war and decided to continue the mobilization of soldiers at home and moving them abroad into the Iberian Penninsula. And in September of 1944, the Empire officially declared war on Nazi Germany and landed a huge invasion force of over a million and a quarter soldiers in Yugoslavia and Albania. Tearing into not only German forces but Bulgarian and Partisan forces, Imperial forces adanced rapidly. The Empire even clashed with Soviet forces (they had still not begun regular diplomatic contact with the Soviets) until the Soviets decided not the contest Yugoslavia and focus on the Germans.
The war ended on a similar schedule to in the real world, with official resistance ending in early May of 1945. The Empire of Brazil announced the formation of two new provinces: Greater Illyria (Yugoslavia and Albania) and Iberia (Spain and Portugal). An enormous reconstruction budget was announced, and the Empire demobilized. The world had been shocked by the Empire's expansionism and by the enormously advanced aircraft and naval vessels they had deployed. The Empire was clearly at least ten years ahead of the rest of the world in air and naval technology and nearly on par with the US' warmaking technology in other areas (though the Empire wouldn't detonate a nuclear weapon until 1948).
The Empire became an increasingly capitalist and libertarian society under the general control of the Emperor over the next fifty years while consolidating its security in Greater Illyria. While rapidly working to develop Spain and Portugal's few remaining colonies, all were granted independence to various movements in 1966. These states remained allied with the Empire of Brazil. The Empire kept an army of roughly a quarter million stationed continuously in Greater Illyria to safeguard against Soviet Union. The Empire also rapidly embraced the use of nuclear power. By 1955, all of the Empire's submarines and aircraft carriers were nuclear powered, and by 1965 there were over a hundred nuclear power plants placed throughout the Empire. While ignorning the space race, domestic technology sped ahead of the rest of the world. The Empire's tanks and aircraft were at least a full generation ahead of the United States', and the standard of living was higher as well. Additionally, the Empire of Brazil refused to trade or speak with the Soviet Union or Communist China while giving Israel substantial support.
The Empire also shocked international sensabilities by refusing to join any of the world's international bodies or treaties. The Emperor did not interact with NATO, the UN, the IMF, World Bank, or GATT, among mnay other groups. The Empire would maintain its independence no matter what, as he announced repeatedly. The Empire largely ignored the outside world, signing limited free trade agreements and carrying out commerce like always. While the Empire refused to help Communism, it didn't spend any time opposing it either. And the gap between it and the rest of the world grew. Increasingly, the United States and Japan were its only competition in terms of invention and discovery.
Things continued on in this fashion throughout the Cold War. In 1987, the Empire announced that it had completed a major initiative called the Holy Shield. The Holy Shield would shoot down an approximate 55% of all ICBMs launched against the Empire and would research and upgrades to keep the Empire safe would continue. While this caused a shock in the Soviet Union, the nearing collapse of the dictatorship kept them from doing anything. Just as the Cold War ended and the Iron Curtain fell, the Empire announced a secondary major initiative nearing completion: a miniaturized nuclear engine that would power the Empire's larger naval vessels. This revolutionary engine allowed larger cruisers to also be outfitted with nuclear power plants, something that the Emperor had long looked forward to. By this time, a private space industry had also sprung up within the Empire. In 1990 and 1991, three massive telescopes were launched by private organizations. These telescope were more powerful and self-sustaining than the brand-new Hubble Space Telescope. These private organizations also began launching private space stations, with a massive combined project being put into orbit in three years, between 1997 and 2000. The Imperial Space Station has since been expanded a dozen times and has a full crew of seventeen. Eight different models of private spaceship have docked with the Imperial Space Station.
In the 1990s, the Empire, along with the rest of the world, was rocked by the internet. It embraced this new technoloy, quickly integrating it into an already vibrant and growing technology sector that produced cheaper and more powerful computers than anywhere else in the world. They also cut back on defense spending, cutting their army in Greater Illyria down to a mere seventy-five thousand soldiers. But they maintained their massive air force and navy, continuing to upgrade their hardware and training continuously. The Empire contributed close air support and mine clearing operations to the First Gulf War, suffering no casualties and losing only a single plane. By this time, the Empire was still exporting fossil fuels but used only gasoline and diesal; regular power generation relied entirely on nuclear power and hydroelectric power.
The Emperor was shocked by 9/11. The attacks enraged him, and he vowed to support the United States in finding its vengeance. Relations with the US had been uneasy throughout the 90s as the Empire refused to offer formerly Communist countries charity or send peacekeepers to areas that needed them. The Emperor called for 350,000 volunteers to form a true Imperial Army. He recieved over a million volunteers, and thus upped funding to create an army 750,000 strong. As the United States launched its attack on Afghanistan, the Emperor ordered a similar assualt launched against what he considered to be the leading cause of Islamic terrorism and a nation where the Empire had been funding assassinations since 1981: Iran. The Empire invaded Iran in a shock and awe campaign with 750,000 ground soldiers and full air and naval support in February 2002.
The invasion shocked everybody; even the US had no idea that the Emperor had planned to invade Iran and demanded privately that they leave and choose a more palatable target. The Emperor was shocked by the world's reaction, unable to understand by the United States was so set on invading only certain enemy nations, and refused to change his mind. He announced on March 28, 2002 the expansion of the Empire to the province of Persia, and warned the world that the Empire would not tolerate attacks against them or nations they maintained good relations with. The government of Iran fell rather quickly; they were unable to defend against the Empire's overwhelming force. But the Emperor had not bargained on such a long and bloody occupation. He had never had to deal with one before. The Empire, blindsided by this, adopted a truly brutal approach to annihilating its armed enemies througout 2002 and until mid 2005, increasing the number of soldiers in Persia until they peaked at 2 million. This campaign was spectaculaly brutal and cost over a million lives on all sides before the Emperor declared the region pacified in September 2005. But local resistance and terrorism dragged onwards. Only by managing to turn the Kurds and people of Baluchistan into allies did the Emperor achieve any sort of major success.
By the next decade, the region had begun to quiet. Terrorism was at an all time low and the entire world realized that if they sponsored terrorism within the Empire, they would destroy their military and annex their territory. Persia remained underdeveloped and violent, but things were getting better as the economy began to fully integrate into the Imperial economy and the Persian people were granted the freedoms of Imperial citizenship. It remains to be seen how stable former Iran will turn out to be or how the rest of the world will react to the Empire's most recent annexation.
Welcome
Hello all my I'm sure numerous readers! The Creator's Circle will be a place where I create various worlds and settings for your amusement (even taking demands if you make any) and will occasionaly write stories in these different worlds. I will begin today with an alternate history that I have had in mind for quite some time and am quite excited about.
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