Editing Autia (section)

====Kingdom of Sostenfiel====

In the east, beyond the Emerald Ocean and the machinations of the Nantic States and their vassals lies the continent of Tismo. A strange land filled with beastly cultures of humanoid animals, ancient empires, and numberless hordes of worshippers praising vile gods. In such a land the influence of the common man is always impeded by these forces, being at the frontier of eastern civilization. However nestled within the vast mountain ranges shielding it from the murderous hordes of nomads lie the heartlands of the vast Kingdom of Sostenfiel. Characterized by foreigners for its piousness to their gods and a constant aching for invention shown in the great whirring gears and dials littering their cities working towards some convoluted purpose, it remains a bastion of order shining all throughout Tismo in defiance of the mongrels who yearn for chaos and destruction. And yet the origins of the realm describe of a great struggle to reach this point. Centuries ago as the Sartyrians made their rounds around the world and bringing ruin to whoever crossed them on their warpath the original Sostenfielians started out as an isolated group of mountain men in the north. They had built small settlements in the mountains they called home and became extremely adept at traversing them as their mountain god Fiel was said to do. Meanwhile in the south of their homeland a league of sailors had colonized the land choosing to sail the coast and build elaborate stone churches to their own god Sosten, a representation of their ideals of building and expanding. Very little contact between these two vastly different groups of people and they chose to stay separate due to no pressing threat. This tactic and their slow expansion worked perfectly for the time as they remained cheerfully naïve of what lay beyond their mountains. This blissful ignorance would soon be stripped away as right outside their territory within the vast steppes of the nomads Temur had just been crowned Supreme Khan.

The great khan turned his maddened and lustful brain towards greater conquests following the unification of the nomads under his command. His push against the Gnomes of the Jade Empire had been successful, why not seek to expand instead of simply repel? His machinations then turned towards the rest of Tismo, as a detachment was sent towards each corner of the continent. To the southwest a relatively small force (by their standards mind you), merely an outrider force of two hundred griffon riders and three thousand greathorse riders armed to the teeth. Such a force was incomprehensible to the mountain dwellers and even though several riders died on the tight mountain passes there were enough cavalrymen and griffon riders to successfully siege and raze their capital. No matter how staunch a defense was led against them it was fruitless. As they retreated to the south they eventually reached the settlements of the sailors who were extremely confused at their sorry state. After seeking a meeting with their lords the once proud and defiant nobles of the mountains prostrated themselves before the southerners pleading for a truce to be negotiated and their skills shared so they could repel the remaining invaders. The only issue was that their leaders seemed to always have conflicting interests with each other and as they quibbled over who should be represented most in the upcoming treaty valuable time was wasted. A cause was needed to rally around and eventually it seemed like religion could be this driving force, for a holy war can be a very convincing motive for some. The newly made treaty reflected this as it stated that an official church would be established worshipping a new god, a fusion of both their gods known as Sostenfiel. While no side was particularly pleased with this outcome they both agreed to rally behind this new deity in order to work together in a counterattack to banish these invaders.

And so it was that a war of reconquest began or as they called it a "Reconquista". Having held the line for long enough the defenders of the mountains who had been left behind had finally been slaughtered down to the last man, having thinned the numbers of the encroaching Dalavchtai by a respectable margin. That night the vile nomads celebrated believing that the land was theirs now that they'd occupied the north of it, little did the expect the series of assaults and traps sprung upon them in the mountains over the next week by a force twice as large and far better equipped then before. Through skilled use of hit and run tactics using superior knowledge of the terrain to trap their enemies in several choke points the newly established Sostenfielians had emerged victorious and had taken back their lands finally unifying in the process. Their crusade travelled through swathes of land to their north and east helping any other civilizations in the area who were being overrun and as they travelled their culture slowly grew in scope creating metal and glass cathedrals to Sostenfiel recruiting new converts from the rescued to pray in them. In this pattern of melding cultures their nobilities also married into each others bloodlines further establishing the newfound bond and four regions were marked out acting as the provinces of the kingdom. Naevare was the southern section belonging to their sailors, Aragonia was to the north encompassing the mountains that shielded them, Castilles was their eastern section and Portugel their northwestern territory. Having established themselves throughout the southwest of Tismo by this point their armies returned home to great fanfare as the focus shifted from military expansion to border defense.

Revolutionary inventions were pumped out with the tercio formation being particularly useful against horses from further Dalavchtai raids on their borders alongside several massive cannons and handgunners accompanying them utilizing their newfound discovery of gunpowder as a byproduct of their first encounters with the Tortles. However their crowning achievement was the discovery and mass production of airships to defend their borders from the neverending onslaught of nomad griffon riders that seek to break through. This was accomplished initially through the work of their mages, the vast majority of which being enchanters or artificers as they are known here. These mages enchanted balloons to lift up seemingly impossible loads with the aid of magitech produced by them lightening its weight. This is a pattern repeated even now with their aerial fleet (the largest fleet of airships in the world in fact) deploying unfathomably large airships whenever possible with enough guns to singlehandedly destroy whatever is troubling them. Meanwhile back on the ground the increasing sophistication that was being found in their airships had also began to apply to the Sostenfielians as well, with their artificers constantly pushing out new sketches for inventions with reckless abandon. Their sketches commonly incorporate several gears and levers in their design, enough to bewilder and confuse a normal person in how this mess even works. These nightmarish contraptions of dials and gears have spread into their cities as well with exotic animals being converted into fully functioning and tireless machine versions of themselves and devices such as trains and guns being enhanced with a bevy of expensive modifications being applied. Overall it just feels like too much for most. These enhancements have also become widespread in their military with even their lowest soldier having just enough to commission a suit of plate armor and have their rifle shoot twice per shot.

People:

Sostenfielians greatly resemble Nantic humans in appearance, having a fair skin and typically with brown or black hair. Other characteristics such as typical strength are also shared but fashionwise they choose to dress quite flamboyantly dressing themselves in black or brown clothes with a puffy white collar for men or colorful robes or dresses for women.

Religion:

Sostenfiel, god of mountains, building, home and invention is the only worshipped god among the Sostenfielians. His church is the one of the most powerful entities in the kingdom, directly advising the monarch and his family and is led by a pope.

Magic:

The gift of magic among the Sostenfielians is about the same as a standard country of men, with the vast majority of mages being enchanters. Strangely enough they mostly take up positions as inventors, allowing the strange clockwork contraptions that the nation is known for to exist with their work alongside various magitech pieces. Examples of magitech include technology that lightens an object that it is attached to and a limited gift of intelligence to their clockwork animals allowing them to automatically activate the levers and subsections of their body needed to perform certain actions.

Economy:

As wonderful as their contraptions seem when in action, the materials needed to develop them are costly and their creators eccentric. This means that the nobility funds the majority of endeavors related to their technology with these devices being quite expensive for an average citizen. This does not mean they are inaccessible however as through the nations export of magitech, olives in both their original form and as olive oil, weapons have left them quite rich and through family businesses selling these products citizens make enough money to comfortably buy a weapon modification or two. Additionally in some cases with enough bribes you may convince a trader to sell a clockwork animal. It would be a hard sell for sure but should you successfully attain one you'd have a beast with very high resistance to most forms of harm that never tires unless its mechanisms are opened up and broken. The term "clockwork animal" has become more up to debate as of recently however as rumors have been circulating that a primitive man with skin of iron that moves around by a series of levers and weights has been made. This metal man has been named a "robot" and is assumed to essentially be a golem functioning without the aid of a magic core. Lastly the final method of making money the Sostenfielians have made is through tourism, as their lands are about the only location on the continent being very welcoming of visitors leading to the kingdom's nickname of "the gateway to Tismo".

Military:

No matter how odd in clothing and behavior the Sostenfielians may seem, when it comes to battle they cast aside their petty concerns and with grim determination perform their duty. This is a byproduct of the Reconquista, as ever since that day the invading Dalavchtai were repelled they have forever earned the ire of the nomads who embark on great incursions against their mountains with armies that seem to grow in size every time they try.

As such the military is very well funded by the nobility with foot troops armored in plate armor wielding ranged weapons such as rifles or blunderbusses and either a mask or a helmet with a feathery plume on top. Alongside this they do possess melee weapons such as spears, pikes, halberds or rapiers as backup, all traditional weapons of their land. All well and good, however the most exciting point of enlisting for most is the tradition of each soldier modifying their weapon. These modifications are performed by the artificers in their regiment adding things like a mechanism allowing their guns to shoot several times in one shot or perhaps a magitech ring which makes bullets shot through it gain the added properties of lightning. The longer one has served in the army the more modifications of this manner they have. Following these dauntless warriors come a bevy of devices such as the aforementioned clockwork animals, iron beasts with three revolving turrets to serve as cannons, mounted knights with a mechanical steed and a lance mounted gun and other such wonderous contraptions. However the nation has its greatest strengths in aerial combat with massive airships releasing small fighters and metallic birds to sabotage vital points for enemies, blow anything below it to smithereens with several payloads of bombs, cannons and turrets or simply serve as a means of travel. When not defending their own borders some regiments help in defending the boundaries of other nations such as Dun Costa and the Sheeple Folk Confederacy. However there exists one more force within their borders, one well hidden from the public eye with the orders of "preventing dissent". The members of this order are known as Inquisitor Artificers and are outfitted with the best magitech weapons and armory available commonly inventing and using their own tools as well. They ensure there is no corruption among the nobility and serve as the spies of the church of Sostenfiel.

Miscellaneous:

The Sostenfiellen fleet is divided into three legions each commanded from a Heavy Battleship-class Cruiser

The First Air Legion, Headed by Marshal Alara Ailes is mandated with protecting Naevare. The most pretstshous of the legions, it has the most battleships under its command and is primarly served with defense of naval trade routes. Ailes , known for his good looks and charm has become a bit of a celebrity among the nobility.

The Second Air Legend, headed by Marshal Shah Reik patrols Castilles. As the Crocidians provide little threat, Reik has seen fit to embed themselves in lavish luxuries. Rumors of their parties have stretched across the kingdom and drawn the ire of their church for their disregard for mandates. The low threat has lead the second legion's airships to be the smallest of the three.

The Third Air Legion, patrolling Portugel is headed by Marshal Ora Ora Ahnt . Faithful to a T, she rose through the ranks of the Inquisitor Artificers before being "kicked upstairs" after a critical mission. Formerly the least armed of the legions, recent pressures from nobility have led to a build-up of arms on the border when the Khanate. Many feel Ahnt will pressure the Pope, whom she has a close bond to, into declaring a Fatwa against the Khanate as she and several members of the clergy are part of an aggressive faction of the church that seeks to expand the glory of Sosten by force. The current Monarch opposed this plan, but as they approach death, political forces circle like vultures to push this war.

The fourth region, the mountains have no dedicated fleet due to their relatively sparse population and hard to navigate airways.

The monarchy is elective, members of the nobility, clergy and militray are assigned votes based on prestige which are then used to select the monarch upon the currents demise or incapcitaion. The voting power of each voting party is weighted. The Pope has the most votes with 1000 while the lowest rank of soldier has 1. The commander of the first legion has 400 the second 300 and the third 200. Ora Ora Ahnt has been using the militray build up fo her region to pad her faction with enough votes to pick a zealot as the next monarch.

Story:

The following letter, marked urgent and bearing a pair of bloodied handprints, was discovered on the corpse of a messenger, 200 yards from the city gates.

“To Force Commander Javier,

Fort Ticonderoga Weekly Update Report #32

The scouts I sent on patrol have returned. Three died within sight of the fort, the other two are on deaths door, their wounds festering from poisons that we have no antidote for and are expected to pass by sunrise. They have sacrificed their lives to deliver the safe passage of a defecting servant of the Khan, one who claimed to have attended his former lord at a meeting between the Khan and the representative council of the Maritime Khurultai. Between his statements and what we have gleaned from our stubbornly silent prisoners, we have confirmed a number of the speculations surrounding the forces of the Khurultai.

First, the good news. We have confirmed that the silks, leather, fur and bones ‘accessories’ are actually indicators of rank and speciality amongst their military forces. Only the feathers attached to the helmets appear to be personal adornment of an independent nature, while the metal armor itself is prized for multipurposed functionality, rather than any sort of indicator of experience. Apparently the pattern and placement of bones indicate rank, while the quality of leather and fur indicate their assessed speciality. The silk tassels they wear indicate their training, woven in highly complicated patterns to indicate which of the twenty roles they have knowledge in, and while we know that the length of the tassels indicates more completed training courses, we’ve yet to identify the corresponding symbols for each regime.

We now know that all ranks carry a pair of inbuilt katars in their gauntlets as weapons of last resort, as well as compact repeater crossbows, which are typically loaded with poison laced bolts. Only the frontline medics carry the antidote, which may be as few as one in fifty infantry members. Those who do not handle the poison deftly are soon drummed out of the military. We’ve also confirmed that many of the more exotic weapons we’ve seen deployed- giant cleavers attached to lengths of chain, towering shields that resemble axe blades, anti-cavalry blades that resemble slabs of sharpened stone and the serrated rotating chakrams affixed to the arms- are thankfully rare. The larger repeating crossbows, however, are given to two in every ten of a platoon.

Sadly, that’s the end of the good news.

We’ve been utterly wrong about the sheer scale of their military strength, as well as the population in general. If this servant’s story is to be believed, and it bears some sincere weight, considering he is also on death’s door from the poison rained down upon my soldiers, the Maritime Khurultai might possess one of the largest military forces of the known world.

The representative council made it quite clear, despite the surprise of the Khan, that they possess seventeen combat command zones. Two are honor guards, confined to their largest cities for home defense on both continents, each at minimal combat strength and mostly serving as recruitment corps. Seven stand at full combat strength, four attached to the border on Lapus and three on Tismo. The remaining eight have varying levels of combat strength, three of which are spread across their nine fleets of ships as security.

Though this requires verification of the highest priority, this testimony indicates that the Martime Khurultai possesses well over one hundred million infantry forces, with enough naval capacity to move upwards of thirty million troops overseas in a matter of days. This is without factoring in the mountain sized tigers we’ve heard so much about. Needless to say, we share the Khan’s opinion of the sheer incredularity of such a capacity for war.

My lord, I’ve just been informed that a fire has started in the infirmary and that the prisoners have escaped. I am cutting this report short and handing it to a messenger to ride posthaste on my fastest horse. I fear we might all be dead by morning. Please, send my love to my wife and children.

Fort Captain Maximillion Estavez IV

For Sostenfiel.”

More Miscellaneous:

The great bulls of Sostenfiel are the national animal of the kingdom and a symbol of their god due to its resiliency. As such bulls are venerated by the Sostenfielians and it is a tradition for brave warriors to prove their strength by battling a bull in one of the many bullfighting rings spread throughout the nation. Should they succeed it is seen as a sign of favor by their god and their power is considered legitimized. Alongside its theological connections, the bulls and cows in general that inhabit the kingdom are remarkably easier to tame and ride than most other places. This has led to it essentially being the workhorse of the nation and their workaround to the stigma against horses. Alongside this mounted knights have since the nation's birth ridden atop great bulls with their heraldry shining proudly on the creature's sides and serve as shock cavalry for the Sostenfielian ground forces. Employing their powder-lances as they call the lances with firearms attached to them that they wield to get a few shots off from a distance, these knights are fearsome opponents capable of wreaking havoc in enemy lines from a charge.

Quick sidenote, clockwork animals are still used among the knights. Some instead choose to ride mechanical versions of the common bull or more exotic steeds like rhinos or elephants into battle however these knights come from high ranking noble houses possessing several votes with poorer nobles and squires settling for bulls. As such about 60% of knights ride bulls with their organization being similar to most other nations with knights having knightly orders. These knights however are officially endorsed by the Church of Sostenfiel and when inside their headquarters look more like preachers than seasoned warriors. Their fanatical nature and zeal in battle helps further cement this point.

While Sostenfiel may seem a nation heavily automated with great contraptions whirring away to accomplish some convoluted goal and an advanced army this rampant industrialization is mostly contained within an ever expanding sphere from each city. The countryside even today is renowned for stunning scenery with beautiful mountains and rivers. While a vast number of the population live inside the massive cities of the kingdom, the people who live out here are farmers and use the land to grow food for the greater populace. Alongside this nearly every noble house throughout the whole of Sostenfiel has some kind of retreat they visit in the warmer months or whenever they seek respite from the constant intrigue and schemes in the city. Some even take to exploring the roads and visiting the other regions to find worthy champions to duel. Dueling in question is a well respected art among the Sostenfielians where knights and nobles alike seek to challenge each other to duels of finesse and strength. It's a sort of unofficial prerequisite for Sotenfielian military commanders to have some dueling experience with many duelists being enlisted as melee specialists. The most renowned of these men and women are said to rival even the elves with their keen sight and speed and even a peasant who takes up the rapier should they be skilled enough can earn noble titles and knighthood. A known subgroup of duelist are the conquistadors, a sort of mercenary captain employed by the state who patrol the kingdom and beyond doing as they please so long as they send money back home. This includes raiding of Crocidian/Crocuban settlements and from the lizardfolk beyond as on their journeys they pick up skills beyond the rapier such as deft use of firearms and use of poisons. Conquistadors who show up in a battle may not have the equipment of Inquisitor Artificers but their tactical and martial skills alongside foolish bravery more than make up for it as they are sent to assassinate enemy targets.

Diplomacy with other nations and races are quite a mixed bag for the Sostenfielians. They first and foremost are eternal enemies with the Dalavchtai nomads to their northwest and as such see it fit to dispatch the Sostenfielian Free Armada to assist the sheepfolk of the Sheeple Folk Confederacy in fighting back the hordes. This has led to good relations between the Sheeple and the Sostenfielians as the sheepfolk have no national military force and as such the aid has led to an alliance between the sides with shipments of high quality wool, crafts, animals and scrolls of air magic being sent out of gratitude. The last one in particular is invaluable among the Sostenfielians as artificers employ the magic inside the scrolls to power the magitech devices used to remove the need of a massive open balloon to make an airship work by making the deck far lighter. Meanwhile in the south the Issbjarns are seen as trading partners and both sides simply trade and leave each other be. As for their stance on Autian nations, so long as they haven't been attacked by a nation they welcome just about anybody to come visit their nation to see the sights or engage in diplomacy. The main source of contact most Autians have with the Sostenfielians are the Free Armada who are currently stationed in Autia having been hired by the EU to bring the allied air force out of the picture in the invasion of Ercaenmedi, a job they have been performing quite admirably as of now. They have been holding back the Zeppelins, Aero-Cruisers, Aero-Maschinen and Aerofortresses sent by Belkan alongside its allies airships at the moment even with their status as the smallest Sostenfielian aerial fleet but the situation hasn't resolved just yet.

The Free Armada are essentially the fourth and smallest Air Legion belonging to the Sostenfielians being made up of mercenary vessels and endorsed by the church to travel outside of their borders and battle for the highest bidder. It is led by Marshal Nil Vaca.

Back in Tismo and their homeland however, the Sostenfielians are quite pleased with their affirmation of strength to the outsiders. The vast majority of their technology is still hidden to the Autians but what they've unveiled so far is enough to ensure no nation will desire to challenge them openly lest they find themselves at the business end of their aerial fleet's weaponry. Back to the races of Tismo however with the Empire of the Jade Pyramid. It exists on the exact opposite end of Tismo resulting in a situation where both sides know each other but haven't met very often. This leads to a neutral feeling between the two parties as neither really care enough to cross the whole continent just to engage in a diplomatic meeting. The Xiklik of the Shattered Edge Mountains also apply to this rule with legends of great insects swarming out of dark holes in the earth coming to the ears of the Sostenfielians but no incursion has reached their territory just yet. The Xiklik usually are softened up by the Gnomes of the Jade Pyramid and when they keep going west are finished off by the Dalavchtai once they enter their land. Dun Costa is just seen as a foreign race of strange people and little contact has been made resulting in a neutral impression between both parties of each other, quite a similar situation to the gnomes. This is the point where positive diplomacy ends as the Sostenfielians have either declared war or are heavily disliked by Ar-Haughtra, the Khuluritai, Skvoenbard, Crocidia/Crocuba and the lizards. The Ar-Haughtra and Skvoenbardians have raided Portugel on a few occasions tearing a path of carnage across the farmland. However after two days time the provincial capital of Libonna noticed what was going on and dispatched a regiment of foot troops alongside the order known as the "Knights Algraveia" to put down this incursion repelling the intruders back to their homeland and making an enemy of both races.

A fairly recent threat has been the infuriatingly enigmatic Maritime Khuluritai, constant reports of contradicting and clearly false intelligence have frayed the minds of the military at the amateur nature in how ludicrous the information they receive is in addition to the difficulty to even get this information in the first place. As a preemptive measure the Khuluritai have been marked up to being the second most pressing threat to the nation, second only to the Khanate with the Third Air Legion being on standby to deal with a possible assault. For now it seems the threat is sufficiently prepared for but the mysterious nature of the Khuluritai have led to the Artificer Inquisitor Zé Cardoso embarking into the lands of the Khuluritai seeking to bring home a broken captive willing to give away more definite information about the nature of the Khuluritai and their forces. And lastly the lizardfolk to their east are seen as ripe pickings for many conquistadors who venture outwards and sack their temples searching for both magic and precious materials such as gold and gems. Any further action has not been taken as the lizards refill their temples with new artifacts and gold to make up for what is lost leading to the exact same measures being taken of looting what can be found in the night and not getting eaten by the fauna.

As of recent one of the worst possible scenarios that could unfold has come to pass. When the Khanate comes charging at the borders of Sostenfiel the primary advantage between the forces has always been aerial superiority. While encirclement tactics and ambushes have worked well in the Dalavchtai's favor more often than not their griffon riders, regardless of the massive numbers they are fielded in have been defeated by airships. In a battle against the hordes of of the Dalavchtai in the mountains a group of frigate-class airships were cornered in the convoluted mountain passes by a force of griffon riders a thousand strong and were boarded and overrun. The poor souls of these unfortunate vessels were then dragged to the nomad's camp stationed next to the mountains on the other side with the wreckage of their ships and were subjected to unspeakable torture until they would reveal the secrets of building airships as they do. Eventually the pilots of the frigates gave in and production has slowly began of great red ships with bomb firing mortars stacked on each layer of the pagoda at their center and all throughout. And now when the Khanate rides to battle, as they always do they adapt the technology of whatever they take for themselves into their combat tactics. And these red ships now slowly stalk behind their giant eagles, griffons and black dragons.

''This is a sort of apology as I went way too far when making these guys. Here are the most important weaknesses related to the Sostenfielian army which will serve to counter some aspects of it.''

1. The spending necessary to maintain a professional military meant to defend the nation alongside the money needed to purchase magitech, specialized airship parts and clockwork animals and other such machines is quite frankly ridiculous. This has led to a relatively small force making up the army which actually functions as I’ve described in other descriptions of it. 70% of the army (which still is nowhere near the size of nations like the Union in the end) is purely just fodder levied spearmen, pikemen and halberdiers with a few arquebusiers thrown in who usually die on their first actual mission, lack any real discipline and have very little experience. The combination of these two issues often lead to Sostenfielian forces being dangerously outnumbered on the battlefield regardless of their technology.

2. The interests of the church and the military often collide leading to spats between the clerical representative in a regiment and the leader, this in turn leads to contradicting orders and a great deal of confusion among the ranks should the two be purposely stirred up into arguing.

3. The noble houses who have children serving in the army often work independently from any greater authority. This independence leads to many regiments having completely different goals than others with situations such as a leader leaving halfway through the battle because he saw his rival who he’d been aching to kill for the last few years was injured and alone in his tent leaving a prime opportunity open for the assassination. Immediately after hearing this the leader and his best men left the battlefield leading to a resounding defeat on the western front of the battle. This self-centered and arrogant leadership embodied by several leaders has been a massive problem for Sostenfiel ever since its founding.