You might want to not that the retreat out of Tanimbar was quite difficult. The Burcancy & Tanimbar waged a very successful war w/ Cedonia and also helped raise the native population to resist.
Also, I believe that the Burcancy established Vizinia as a protectorate and an ally, although I am sure you can find loyalists there. We have been supporting and rebuilding the economy. And there is a formal alliance between Vizinia and the Burcancy.
Joel
Andrew Janssen wrote:
Since there's been such a lapse of time with Cedonia being involved in the game world, I think it would be a good idea for me to update some of the society's determinants and key elements, and possibly fill in a few of the historical blanks. Comments and alternative points of view are most welcome.
In 1422, the Empress Yzara was apparently killed when the Sinari took Thalcedon, the capital city. The heir presumptive, her uncle the Duke of Caladyn, was besieged in Talishera at the time. The Sinari invasion trashed the central government, and left nearly half of the Cedonian legions stuck in Tanimbar without support or supply. Duke Caladyn and his surviving troop eventually made it back to Cedonia after the end of the God-War. The southern army, however, under General Zenos, had to make a fighting retreat out of Tanimbar and across Vizinia, which had risen in rebellion along with the city of Zelkor.
In 1424, the empire was essentially fragmented up into scores of counties, duchies, and baronies, all of which paid lip service only to the notion of the Empire. The problem was, who would be Emperor, if anyone?
By 1436, three major political polarities are coalescing out of the mix. Duke Caladyn still controls the legions from northern Cedonia and Selaria, and uses them to control the northwestern portion of the old Empire, including the cities of Losela and Caladyn. General Zenos has the loyalty of the soldiers he rescued from Tanimbar, and has his powerbase in the south of the old Empire, as well as support from some Vizinians. Finally, in Tirmar and along the Gulf of Gomel, all the way to Thalcedon itself, support is growing for the idea of doing away with Emperors and setting up a Republic, as in Kaeir. The driving force behind this movement is Doctor Aldan Vellin. Before the wars, Dr. Vellin was a civil engineering graduate student at the University of Thalcedon. He received his doctorate in 1420, and after the fall of Thalcedon in 1422 he was heavily involved in the rebuilding effort. He is now, for all intents and purposes, the Mayor of Thalcedon.
These, then, are the three key elements now in Thalcedon. Note that where I have two numbers, the first is for actions taken outside the element's faction/powerbase; the second is for actions that are strictly internal to the faction.
Duke of Caladyn:
Influence:-2/0 The duke is notoriously honorable in all his dealings, and his external influence suffers because of his refusal to dig up dirt.
Authority:0/+2 Legally, the Duke *is* the heir to the throne, although for the moment he is not using the title. More importantly, he was and is the most senior field commander of the Imperial Legions, which gives him some power even in areas outside his powerbase.
Consent:-1/+1 While the Duke is quite charismatic and is admired by his troops, he was never very popular among the nobles at court, and especially not in the areas he helped add to the Empire, Tirmar & Vizinia.
General Zenos:
Influence:+2 General Zenos is a rare creature--a political general who can also fight. He knows where the bodies are buried in Cedonian politics; more often than not, he buried them himself.
Authority:-3/+2 While the men of the legions he used to command recognize him as their commander, to most of the rest of the Empire, Zenos is a mutineer.
Consent:-2/+3 Again, the fact that Zenos is a mutineer in the eyes of the rest of the empire hurts him. His men, however, would follow him to Hell and back. Indeed, most of them would say that he led them out of Hell once already, on the long retreat from Tanimbar.
Dr. Aldan Vellin:
Influence:-2/+3 Most people outside of Tirmar and Thalcedon find Dr. Vellin's beliefs about government and the relationship between governor and governed to be absurd. Within those areas, however, and *especially* within the cities and universities, his ideas are highly influential
Authority:-1/0 Dr. Vellin, *as yet*, does not hold any office other than Director of Thalcedon's Department of Public Works. This may change.
Consent:0/+2 Again, Dr. Vellin's theories are unpopular outside of Tirmar and Thalcedon, especially with the rural nobility. The rural laborers, however, find them somewhat attractive.
There you have it. To summarize, the Duke of Caladyn is a Royalist; General Zenos is a would-be-despot, possibly a Fascist-analogue; and Dr. Vellin is a Republican(*not* in the American political sense of the word). I'm still working on actions for the year, if anyone has a concern about this outline for the key elements, please let me know soonest. Also, as a side note, I've noticed some discussion on the list about Technology in Qaiyore. Dr. Vellin is definitely a "pro-technology" type, while the Duke tends to be "pro-magic". As for the General, if it doesn't have a military application, he doesn't care about it.
Andrew Janssen
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