Belkan

(part of the Autia setting)

General:

The north western territories are mostly controlled by the Belkan nation, a great nation ruled by a dictatorial aristocracy who have been blessed by the god of the skies "Ace" to have access to air magic, they have used this gift to master the skies with mighty feats of flight, magitechnological engineering, and a wide and dangerous array of doomsday weapons, and for some reason they keep loosing wars, they consider all magics that are not of Ace's purview to be lower forms of magic, only fit to be wielded by the peasantry.

The nation is sometimes also referred to as Belgan.

People:

Belkan is a large Nantic nation on the Northwestern coast of Autia. Compared to other Western nations Belkan is fairly homogeneous Nantic, the worship of the God Ace is state-sponsored, but it also has a significant Ercaenmedian minority. It Is a very populous nation second only to Alkor in the West.

Military:

Summary:

Belka employs a large coscript army backed up with elite units and a professional officer Corp. The majority of the army made up of musketeers, halberdiers Spearmen and elite auxiliary detachments of Swordsmen, Pikemen and Cockatrice Lancers. With units of full-plate armored Knights and Shock halberdiers acting as very professional shock elements. The most famous part of the Belkan Military is the Air Force, made up of Griffin Knights, Eagle riders and armored zepplin warships. The Belkan Military is feared and respected capable of winning numerous tactical victories, but frustratingly incapable of strategic success. >

Air Force:

Large air force using a variety of magical mounts and magitech inventions. The upper echelons are dominated by the landed elite but there are still many commoners in the ranks that ride lesser mounts. Aerial Service soldiers are equipped with a brace of pistols, bombs and occasionally long lances for diving attacks. The wearing of half plate with padded gambesons has been adopted solely for this force to keep "pilots " warm and reasonably protected.

In Belkan lands the Griffin is viewed as the most noble and ferocious creature of them all, for they are a symbol of the great God Ace and of the country itself. Taming a Griffin is seen as a thing of great prestige in the Belkan nation but riding one into battle is another thing entirely. Griffin riders are some of the most legendary figures in Belkan history, as to take one to war requires great intellect,will and strength, and often they will be reserved for the hardiest Grand Masters and Generals in all the nation with many of Belka's past kings coming from the ranks of the riders. It is said too that Ace will ride one in his final battle against darkness smiting all who come before him and Belka's warriors follow in this great tradition. The charge of one Griffin Knight can break a Regiment, the charge of a whole Squadron can break an army.

The Belkan Airfleet:

To compete with their Alkorian neighbors who have a large and mighty navy the Belkan Air Force has invested heavily into armored Zeppelin battleships. At their core the Battleships are held aloft by wind storms captured by the State Mages and boast steam powered propellers as well as Steam Cannons for offensive weaponry. They had some success during the 298th Belkan-Ercaenmedian where a squadron of these vessels managed to bomb and cripple several Ercaenmedian watchtowers at the cost of two of their own number. They boast considerable hangers and roosts for Eagles and Griffins should they ever be attacked by enemy fliers.

Land Army:

Professional and disciplined conscript army makes up the bulk of the military. Each force is divided into Corps which are further divided into Divisions. Tactics rely on long range cannon to support close range Infantry pushes. The wearing of a cuirias, steel helmet, and sword are still required by Belkan law for all Infantrymen. With the majority of the infantry being made up of Musket, Halberd and Spearmen formations with some elite Pike and Swordsmen units for support.

Shock Cavalry have Cockatrice mounts and wear full plate. Still have the Knightly tradition of massive fuck off lances as well

Because if this military tradition the Belkans are able to have an overly large military compared to their neighbors with around the same population.

Belkan foot infantry:

Mass produced helmets, breastplates, halberds and swords for the common conscript while the Knights get all of the magic enhanced goodies.

The 7th Division Gutnacht Guard:

The Gutnacht Guard (Belgan:Gooddeath Guard) are an elite Shock-Halberdier Division of the Belgan army. Belgan infantry were the elite shock troops of the Nantic Empire and the Shock-Halberdiers continue this fine tradition in service to their own nation. Shock-Halberdiers are a combination Grenadier-Halberd unit equipped with full plate armor, a brace of pistols, a bag of grenades with a flint, a short Messer style sword or Warhammer and a cut down infantry halberd known as a Kravat. The Shock-Halberdiers of the Belgan army are a completely professional force dedicated to breaking enemy battle lines and defensive works in devastating shock assaults. The Gutnacht Guard are the most famous Division of shock-halberdiers serving from the mountains of Ercaenmedia to the deserts of Afrozil they are known for their great sense of honor, when fighting foes who they view to be honorable, and a sense of mirth and camaraderie seen only among those extremely familiar with death. And familiar with death they are as the Division has been wiped out to a man several times in it's history, the first being to the Alkorians at the Third Battle of Pasreik during the Northern War and when peace was restored members of the reconstituted Division would be permanently assigned to the Belgan Embassy in the Empire. This penchant for death is reflected in their war banner which features a fearsome skeletal unicorn, as the men of the unit view themselves to be cursed but know that they can use their fearful reputation on the battlefield.

They will often be equipped with weapons too experimental and dangerous for other units like lightning carbines or spell casters. But most prefer a simple halberd, carbine and clear sky to die under.

The Belkan Imperial Navy

While the Belkan Air Force is the most talked about branch of the Belkan military it also operates a sizeable navy in the Dead Man's Sea and upper Ignis Ocean. The main force of of the Belkan Navy is its Ironclad Frigates, midsized steam and sail warships with a sizable broadside armament of rifled cannons. These warships are assigned convoy duties protecting the Empire's merchant marine and even, In some cases, serving on the line of battle. These ships are often faster than their Alkorian counterparts due to the adoption of screw propellers across the Belkan fleet, a point of great pride among the Northern Nantic sailors. While Frigates make up the bulk of the surface fleet the true power of Belkan's Navy is in it's growing collection of fully enclosed ironclad warships. First are it's Cruisers, medium ranged steam-powered warships fully enclosed in plates of thick iron, and it's Battleships, the pride of the Navy these ships are floating fortresses boasting double and triple gundecks and vast crews. While these ships are the most intimidating part of the Belkan fleet to many an Alkorian admiral, a growing number of Battleships have had experimental conversions fitting them with vast feeding bays or fuel tanks for Belkan's aerial units. With several of these "Aero-Carriers" already being put to sea carrying squadrons of compact and bomb laden Marine-Eagles. In growing frustration with a number of other nations fielding air units much of the Belkan Navy has been pressed into using explosive rockets and mortars, but most sailors are unconcerned that any nation will be able to seize control of the air from them. >Frigates Morgan class, Galtheim class >Cruisers Von-Erichson class, Gryphon class >Battleships Balkheim class, Aceon class >Carriers Von-Valzheim class >Prefix IBN

Religion:

The main religion of Belkan is focused around a pantheon of six deities, each one split into a couple that governs the sky, land, and water.

The Boreal Duo:

The head god Ace and the cause of his eternal affections Lune, Ace is seen as the sun and is the otherwise defacto leader of the gods, he's like a cross between Zeus and Oberon, eternally youthful in appearance and personality, prone to going after anyone who would like to get dicked down by a god, and constantly simping for his ex-wife Lune, who is represented by the moon and divorced her ex-husband Ace for cheating on her, both control the sky and were the ones who gifted the Belkan's with Sky magic, which is seen as the highest form of magic and is to be pursued by all who are capable

The Growing Couple:

Neir is the god of trees and vegetation and is represented by the Neiroot walkingTrees which can be found hobbling about Belkan territory, Neir is a fatherly sort who taught the first Belkans how to create homes and where to find and catch food and water, Neir's wife is Gayin, who is represented by a pickaxe and blacksmith's hammer, Gayin was the mother of the Belkan's and, and her fertile Earth split open to reveal the miracle metals of Belkan to it's inhabitants, Gayin was said to be the first to teach mining and smithing to the Belkans, she and Neir are said to have a more work-based relationship, with the both of them mixing their elements together to make something better

The Drowned Lovers:

The last two Belkan gods are Shull, and Liik, representing Salt and Fresh water respectively, they oversee the Belkan underworld as it is a deep ocean that leads to the either the other sky where Belkan's who have lived good lives wait and relax while waiting to be reincarnated, or to the Brine, a deep pit of Dead Ocean where a Belkan who has lived an evil life is to be encased in memory-and-power-draining salt before being sent back to be reincarnated, the couple themselves are often seen as an elderly couple in their twilight years who have grown lovingly dependant on one another It is said that like all Belkans bow down to Ace, all other gods do too, as only his clouds and sky can create life by mixing it with the others, for instance, he mixes his clouds with Gayin's Earth Rumbling to make Thunder and Lightning, and Ace mixes his clouds with Liik's fresh water to make healing rains

Culture:

Belkan dress is based on Victorian era France and Britain, with ostentatious outfits often made with the feathers of Gryphon-Drakes, the fleece of Alpacas and the spider threads of Great-Arachne, their government is based around a dictatorial Meritocracy that itself is based around military honours achieved and campaigns fought in, it is mainly because of this and the fact that Military service is mandatory from the ages of 18 to 25 that most noble houses can seemingly rise out of nowhere and seemingly fade back into said obscurity, this also creates a rather hyper-aggressive people who are constantly trying to get into fights with foreigners in the hopes of causing an international incident and thus a war they can show off their skills and new military weapons

Economy

Belka is an industrializing nation. With the invention of easily produced farming golems by the famed Mage-Inventor Vincent Di Leo most of Belkans population are being forced into the cities. It's constant warring has forced it into developing many homegrown industries, and Belkan makes much of it's wealth selling manufactured goods of all kinds throughout the continent.

Magic

Belkans practice Aerial magic and look down on all others. This includes enchanting weapons with lightning, with the famous Dragonslayer lances of the Knightly Houses being am example of, and using wind magic to conjure up storms and gusts of wind to weaken enemies and blow allies to safety.

History

The area that would become Belkan would originally be settled by tribesmen from the North fleeing the predations of the Ogres that inhabited the frozen lands. They would settle many petty kingdoms in the Northwest all the way to Ercaenmedias Southern borders. These Kingdoms would later be conquered by the Nantic Empire with the Nantic peoples and native Belkans (Northern Europeans) mixing and forming a distinct ethnic identity. The Belkan provinces eventually would declare independence from the Nantic Empire and break off with large areas of Belkan and Ercaenmedia forming the Belkan Kingdom, with the Ercaenmedians migrating into the area and declaring independence as their own nation a few centuries after the founding of the Kingdom. The Belkan Empire, which would expand to the islands to the west and establish colonies on the Northern Continent, would later assault and conquer Ercaenmedia in the Northern War but would press to far in trying to conquer the entire West leading to it's defeating by Nantes, Alkor and the Western Coalition stripping it of pride and colonies. Belkan would spend the next 150 years waging pointless small Wars against Ercaenmedia and occasionally Alkor, launching a few half-hearted attempts to conquer the country which would fall apart under Ercaenmedian and international pressure. In the last 50 years following the election of the first High King of the Erich House Belkans fortunes have turned around. With a Belkan aerial expedition once more winning them colonies on the Southern continent (just throw something Belkan somewhere there) Belkan pride is slowing being restored.

Superweapons:

>The James:

Named for the then High King James Horyg it was a 'Cybernetically Augmented' Gryphon based on Goblin Magitek designs which rendered the Gryphon in question practically immune to aging effects, it was capable of utilising twin magitek canons in the under chest (Reffered to as the 'Breast Fire' by the Belkans an the 'Hot Tits' by their enemies) and also possessed a 'Lightning-Cannon' mouthpiece (reffered to as the 'Jame's Roar'), was actually utilised during three wars the third Belkan-Alkor war, the fiftieth Belkan-Ercaenmedian war and the fifty-first Belkan-Ercaenmedian war, was eventually trapped and supposedly killed above atmosphere with an equally augmented Ercaenmedian Silver-Wyvern 'Hard Grip' and it's unknown pilot.

>The Greenschmit

Named for an old Belkan noble family, it was the first 'Purely Mechanical' aircraft utilised by the Belkans, a massive aircraft carrier that appeared as a large sky-ship forged of metal with large, unmoving, bird-like wings, it was able to carry up to sixteen other pilots and their subsequent steeds, while still maintaining room for the ten men and women needed to keep the Greenschmit fully operational, had up to eight hard artillery canons, two magitek canons and a pilot's 'magical amplifier' in desperate situations, was only utilised during the seventy-eighth Belkan Ercaenmedian war where it was destroyed after multiple sorties via an impromptu kamikaze technique performed by Guy Hawkes of the Third Ercaenmedian Wyvern division, and then subsequent full destruction by the remaining two members of the Third Ercaenmedian Wyverns.

>The True Jameson

Named for the original James, it was a technical marvel based on the original 'cyberisation' of Gryphons that had taken place since the use of the original James superweapon, It was the cyberisation of a captured Grypho-Drake, the much rarer Gryphon subspecies found in the mountains that seperate Ercaenmedia and Belkan, the creatures are notoriously territorial and have no love of any creature that is not a Grypho-Drake, the Cyberisation process that was performed made the beast obedient while updating the original Jame's model to suit the latest form of warfare, enabling for hard-artillery, multiple magitek canons, a 'Tail-slayer' Close combat armament placed in the tail of the beast. Saw usage throughout the one-hundred-and-twentieth through to the one-hundred-and-thirty-first, used specifically as an ace unit, and even more focused as an 'Ace-Killer', it did not matter how many wars were lost during it's use for it always ensured that Belkan could kneecap the enemies in specific places allowing for continuous land gains even with the losses, was eventually destroyed in a 'Joint-Hell-Dive' with the Ercaenmedian Grypho-Drake Pilot Louis le Blanc.

>The Yates

The Yates were a series of Magically created Golem-drones that were utilised alongside the 'Queen Yates' battleship, named after the then Lady chancellor Delilah Von-Yates and used to devastating effect amid the eighteenth Belkan-Alkor war, the first Belkan-Harlbourg war, and two-hundred-and-fourty-ninth Belan-Ercaenmedian war, was eventually destroyed in the first joint operation between Alkor and Ercaenmedi through utilisation of the first 'Skycanon' Artillery base set up in the Ercaenmedian mountains.

>The Harlan

Named for Lord Chancellor Harlan Von-Yates the second, it was a high powered magitek tower that fired out focused Sky-magic beams of lightning, was utilised to great effect during the two-hundred-and-fiftieth Belkan-Ercaenmedian war, still stands to this day but hasn't seen use as Belkan has never been pushed back far enough to reutilise it as anything but a defence system, has suffered heavy damage throught the resulting years of war but has been rebuilt each time with a bit more fire-power.

>The Von-Valzheim

Designed for the upcoming three-hundredth Belkan-Ercaenmedian war, it was based on a cross between the Harlan model Sky-tower and the basic Ercaenmedian Sky-canon model, it's theorised that this weapon, if it could be mounted upon some manner of aircraft, would be otherwise unstoppable, only time will tell what becomes of it

>Earthflippers

While the Von-Valzheim is Belgan's most powerful weapon, it is not necessarily the deadliest. Twenty years ago after the 300th Belkan - Ercaenmedi war, the Belgan army built a bunch of steamrockets containing highly powerful doses of world magic.

Nicknamed as Earthflippers by the engineers, these easy-to-build rockets would be able to lift entire chunks of land and flip it upside down. Enough of them could theoretically lift up the entire Iron Crown and use it to comb all of Autia. The project ended up being scrapped however as the design would be too easy for Ercaenmedian forces to reverse engineer the weapon from even an already detonated rocket, which would cause the war to be far more deadlier for both sides.

That and were literal hundreds of other superweapon designs the country were and are still working on. In a matter of fact, the constant delays and redesigns kept the delaying the planned date of the 300th war, first it was planned for 10 months, then delayed to 16 months, 25 months, 3 years, 5 years, ect. Ironically this led two entire decades of peace between the two countries, the longest ever since the 1st war. During this relations between the two countries improved, Belkans became more tolerant to their Ercaenmedian minorities, Ercaenmedian troops would avoid attacking Belkan troops assisting Harlbourgh whenever possible and an Ercaenmedian politician even half-jokingly said that if the nations were to unify, nobody could really stop them from conquering all of Autia.

Unfortunately, when Belgan was designing the Earthflipper on Goblin Island, an Alkorian spy had stolen some of blueprints and brougth them back home. In secret, the Alkorian government would build their own Earthflippers. And faced with the threat of a Belgan - Ercaenmedi unity, Alkor is planning to use the rockets on Kotwica Bay and blame it on Belgan.

Fortunately for Alkor, this peace is already quickly starting to erode. With the tensions between Ercaenmedi and Belkan rising after the first battle of Poole Harbour and the invasion of the Belkan Arktikos.