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Themes: An Introduction/National Anthem [Star Wars - Imperial March]
Business as Usual/High Society [Caesar III by Sierra - Rome Theme Five]
Internal Security [SimCity Societies - Authoritarian One/March of the Obedient]
Institutional Insanity [Apocalyptica - One]
The Victims' Song [The Dropkick Murphys (Cover) - Green Fields of France]
National Pros/Cons:
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Political Compass: Economic Left/Right: 4.62; Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 8.21Flag: The Empire's national flag, and the only one with any sort of legal status whatsoever, is the Griffin Standard--consisting of a stylized griffin, representing the Empire's strength and guile, in gold, to represent wealth (of both a material and cultural nature), bearing atop its head a stylized version of St. Cuthbert's Crown, which is that held by the monarch. In the Griffin's claws, it holds a mace, symbolism self-explanatory. All this is present on a dark red background, a traditional Imperial colour, and surrounded by a gilded gold border, because they can.
The Arkhovi flag, sometimes--and illegally--flown in that part of the country, is the Imperial Cross of old--consisting of a red orthogonal cross (representing the Church of Kohland) buffered by silver on all sides. Of the four quadrants created by this, the upper-left and bottom-right are filled by similarly buffered saltires, coloured the same as the central cross--these are symbols of House Simone, Arkhovi's former royalty. A silver stripe runs from the bottom-left of the flag to the upper-right, skewering those two quadrants, and in doing so represents the separation of the upper portion of the flag (including the canton) from the lower, less-honourable portion of the flag--the important class system and social distinctions upon which Arkhovi society is founded. They are, however, united by the Crown (the saltires) and their shared devotion to God (the large central cross). One would also note the relative size of the Royal and Church emblems.
The Kanen flag, flown in that part of the country, also illegally, is an adaptation of the Leelander's Cross. A golden orthogonal cross, with crossed arms, has its arms connected by diagonal bars, representing defence and cultural purity; all of this is buffered by steel, which has military connotations. The blue background is the traditional colour of the Kanen people since time immemorial.
Capital City: Arkchester, Avion, a bustling port city located on the river Tane. It has served as the seat of Arkhovi government for nine centuries; as a result, the city has a great deal of history associated with it, including dozens of landmarks ranging from pagan times to the modern day. These include several palaces (most of which now serve as government offices), towers (at least three of which were former Royal prisons or defensive structures) and monuments (ranging from statues of knights and heroes to military remembrance walls).
Form of Government: The Imperial form of government, on paper, is an absolute monarchy, headed from Arkchester. The King (or Queen, but this occurs rarely, as females inherit the throne only if no suitable male heirs exist) is given absolute executive, legislative, and judicial power. Since the Empire's inception, the throne has been held by House Gionat of Avion, and this could only feasibly change in the event of revolution, occupation, serious and unlikely constitutional changes, or the depopulation of House Gionat. This is, of course, never discussed as a possibility, even remotely. Of course, divinely appointed though he may be, His Majesty is but a mortal man, and appoints ministers to oversee various government functions.
In practice, however, there are significant enough corruption and public order issues that the Crown sometimes finds it difficult to implement policy. In particular, religious extremism continually provides a rallying point for independence movements and other groups that would challenge the Crown's absolute rule. Though as of yet, no civil wars have occurred, it is a continual concern of government entities that should tensions grow too strong, the Imperial system would find itself fighting for its very survival. The two main militant organizations that the Crown (and by extension its feared SSS) deal with are the Inquisition, representing the ghost of the Church of Kohland before its defeat and neutering at the momentous Battle of Aubonn, and Land's Eye, representative of the desire for a separate Kanen government and drawing much of its power from extremist Leelander cells.
Also of note is the Atsureki Corporation, which operates under Royal Charter. Since the Newcastle Accords of 1905, Atsureki Corporation's former sovereignty has been rendered null and void, replaced with Imperial sovereignty. The upshot of this is that Atsureki no longer exercises government functions; its holdings are Imperial colonies, those people living on its holdings have become Imperial subjects, and all of its activities take place under Imperial law and Royal decree. However, within the colonies, the Corporation runs the show for greatest efficiency, and does so under Imperial cover, despite the Crown's final say; it makes local executive orders and maintains its own army, navy, and air force. It has no foreign representation and negotiations pertaining to it are conducted by the Crown. Please see that entity's registration for more information.
Economic Model: Laissez-faire capitalism; almost anarchistic capitalism in practice. Regulations are usually absent; where they are present they are permeable enough to usually be ineffective. Even where regulations are effective in legal terms, it is usually easy enough to bribe the right people to prevent a regulation's enforcement. In particular, most of the country has administrators that are extremely hostile to labour unions. Another item of economic (as well as social) interest is that slavery, though banned in certain areas (with trade related to it restricted in a somewhat larger selection of provinces), remains common.
All this has resulted in an economy that changes extremely quickly--the Imperial economy is ridiculously prone to wild booms and extreme depressions. At the moment, however, everything appears to be going nice and smoothly, though Crown analysts have begun to warn of impending depression. The Empire's traditional industries--arms, motor cars, steel, and industrial equipment--are at present doing well, contributing to the boom. These industries are fuelled by a large labour force, slavery, and a magnificent amount of resources; in particular, the Ptera Range, south of Kanen, and the Telleni Range, north of Kanen (and the Arkhovi province of Inkheart) are mining areas of extraordinary quality; the island of Avion, and her smaller companions, supply a significant share of the world's oil. The forests of West Kanen are excellent sources of lumber, with the central plains of that country (and some of the southern Arkhovi coastal provinces) acting as fruitful sources of grain, fruit, and livestock. The coastal provinces, and Avion, are home to much of the country's industrial capabilities.
Tech Level: Medium. Though it lacks certain high-end technologies, and is fairly bad at diversification, what the Empire is good at it is excellent at, including industry, engines, armour technologies, ballistics, mass production and naval technologies. It should be noted that the Empire is generally bad at research.
Society: Imperial society is distinguished, in the world's eyes, mostly by its problems: omnipresent factionalism, a religious divide, violence, paramilitaries, a high crime rate and backstabbing. And these problems do exist. It is a society built on shaky and shifting foundations, with no single source of a national identity. In some ways, it is as some of the cynics know it: a lost nation, with no virtue in its present, a past filled with horror, and a future none dare to predict. But it is precisely this unique situation which gives the Empire such a unique opportunity to make its cultural mark.
For all the gunfire and vitriol sprayed by the extremists, both Kohlish and Leelander, they are just that: extremists, and nothing more. There are few places where these groups mix freely, however; most are in the relatively liberal border areas, or the Arkhovi coastal provinces, where the populace is both war-weary and of mixed enough ancestry that groups have begun to blend together. But even in the green fields of Francistra, or on the Avion Highlands, despite how desperately every noble, bourgeoisie, and proletarian would endeavour to deny it, years under a shared monarch have led to shared tradition and, sometimes, despite the news, a begrudging sense of a shared destiny and volition. But of course, few would dare to admit this in public.
Divisions aside, Imperial society tends towards relative authoritarianism and conservatism by world standards, with a distrust of republicanism and a fairly pervasive belief in Man's inherent wickedness. At the same time, industry, honesty, and loyalty tend to be central values, alongside conformity and personal strength of character. Imperial society is also well-known for its religiosity, though outright extremism tends to be rare (and concentrated in areas with a strong ethnic identity). The majority of the population subscribes to traditional moral structures and, as a result, rejects homosexuality and holds, by world standards, relatively racist and sexist attitudes, culminating in the still-legal but not omnipresent practice of slavery, which is, with the singular exception of convicts, targeted at ethnic, sexual, and especially religious minorities. Traditional morality, however, is not favoured in more liberal central areas.
The Empire's relative isolation on the world stage has led it to look at foreigners with an air of what your average subject would describe as "healthy suspicion". This, combined with limited immigration practices, has kept Imperial culture relatively free of foreign influences and could be said to contribute to the Empire's political structure and relative medieval-ism and barbarity.
Military Overview: The Armed Forces consists of the Royal Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, and State Security Section. All of the branches report to the King as Commander-in-Chief. All units are presently volunteers, but conscription is used during national emergencies--furthermore, conscientious objection is a criminal offence punishable by conscription. Recruitment and deployment in an armed capacity become possible at age sixteen, conscription becomes possible at age eighteen and enlisted men may serve until age thirty-three. Women, non-whites, homosexuals, and those of most non-Kohlish, non-Leelander religions are legally barred from serving except as conscripts. There are no legal prohibitions to the military acting as an "internal security force" and this is its most common deployment.
The Imperial political situation is largely responsible for the evolution of the standard operating procedures of HM Armed Forces. That the Empire is, in law at least, an absolute monarchy with the Armed Forces under the absolute command and supervision of the Crown has led to a highly centralized and controlled structure, robbing most individual units of initiative; however, it also leads to better command and control over the Armed Forces, which is especially necessary given the fact that, de facto, monarchical authority is challenged almost daily, and the societal divisions that cause such rebellions are present within the military's ranks as well--in particular the Army. The result of this, as well as rampant traditionalism in general, is a force that emphasizes attrition warfare to an incredible degree, focusing on destroying the enemy's ability to fight (as opposed to his will), and on his physical destruction or capture (as opposed to his retreat).
Given the insistence on extreme control of military movements, mobility is hardly emphasized, and this is reflected in the military's typical approach to matters--a focus on armoured warfare and a slow, controlled advance under artillery and air cover. Imperial Legions do not get to objectives quickly. They get there invincibly, in a straight line, defeating the enemy absolutely before moving on, taking a minimum of risks. Only SSS units dare defy this model of combat. As a result of all this, though the Empire must for pragmatic reasons place the Dullcoat at the centre of military thinking, it tends to put tanks in much higher regard than most other forces. The Empire deploys tanks in large numbers, very effectively, and compensates for its lack of certain advanced technologies by adding more armour, a better calibre of gun, and, as one subjugated tribesman famously stated, "more dakka" (in Tokpa, where "dakka" is approximately equivalent to "fire-power").
Typical order of operations is as follows--firstly, the enemy will be given exactly one chance to surrender without casualties. This goes on all levels--nationally (as a communique from the King to an enemy nation's head of state), as an army (from one general to another), as a unit (from one officer to another), and even as an individual, even after they have been taken prisoner (though those who find themselves in Imperial custody should be warned that being asked to 'surrender' would, in this case, be a choice between becoming a Subject and hanging). Once this cultural imperative, usually accompanied with bagpipes and much posturing, is dealt with, artillery fire begins immediately and does not stop until the Imperial standard flies over the enemy camp.
A mechanized infantry advance usually comes next. The function of a Jackal APC is not just to move infantry around; it's to give them a heavy machine gun to use when they get to their destination. These infantry are supported by groups of five to eight Wolverine tanks, which have no qualms about the use of incendiaries or canister shot (after all, the opponent had the chance to surrender and be subjected to humane treatment). Where the enemy deploys tanks in large numbers, Lion heavy tanks are sent in to finish the job. If ever these run into stiffer resistance or, heaven forbid, tanks of similar capability, Turtle tank destroyers are sent in to ensure a positive outcome. The line moves at one uniform speed and individuals do not depart from it. There are no daring solutions to problems; if the advance is held up, you call in further artillery support, an airstrike, or more tanks from a higher authority.
The only forces permitted to go ahead of the main lines are scouts--which typically call down artillery fire in their wake--and aircraft, which the Empire at least has the sense to use to gain air superiority before advancing with the rest of the military (usually). These campaigns heavily emphasize carpet bombing and the delivery of unreasonable amounts of fire-power, as well as more accurate attacks on specific assets using smaller bombers. Imperial fighters are designed to dogfight effectively, not necessarily reach high top speeds, and nearly all aircraft are armoured to some extent--including a metal plate behind the pilot's seat and a reinforced cockpit.
At sea, the Imperial surface fleet aims to cripple enemies in the traditional heavy-gun fashion, using heavily armed and armoured battleships with strong air support to ensure this. The Navy, however, is not designed to maintain stations across the world, and accordingly liveability is not a big concern, leading to the typical Imperial vessel consisting of a metal shell bristling with weapons. There is some measure of tactical innovation in the submarine fleet--particularly in that some are designed to act over long distances and raid commerce--but it would take a serious conflict to develop these technologies.
In summary: all of the branches, but particularly the Army, forgo tactical subtlety in favour of overwhelming numbers and fire-power--according to its critics, the real motto of the land forces is "We Have Reserves". The typical response to an army's destruction is to raise another and stay the course, which is easy enough given a large number of miscreants to conscript, plenty of factories pumping out war materiel, and a political structure that rarely allows for any measure of dissent. Due to this method of war, Imperial units are distinguished in their number, logistical abilities, armour, and raw offensive strength, but are severely lacking--often in speed, mobility, tactical guile, leadership, and innovation.
Units: Unless otherwise marked, all land "units" are regiments; all aeroplane "units" consist of twelve planes; all ship "units" are individual ships.
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