Nordgard

Country Name: Nordgard Deonym: Nordgardian Language(s): Rikisch Status: Native Government: Military run Communism or Communism run Military (Where some states have an army, the Nordguardian Army has a state.) The Military forms the Body of the Government with the first General, as the defacto ruler, being elected by the 8 Second Generals. The 8 Seconds are made up of the General of the 1-5 Army as well as the General for Development and Espionage, the General for Logistics and the General for Civilians and Outsiders. The technique of being elected by its own, direct subordinates goes down to the lowest Lance corporal with the exception that there are two different sets of Command, as Officers are chosen by the coming of age with 16 to get an extended education and that mostly from old officers family of course. All Ranks are given on lifetime or till proven unworthy or unfit.

Population: 18 Million (with under 0.5% Outsiders)

Culture/Attitudes 

Nordgardians are incredibly collectivists, patriotic and have a high sense of civic duty. Sacrifice and hard work are also held in high regard. Their strong sense of community often translates in a distrust to outsiders, which is reinforced by the fact, that Nordgard is one of the only Nations with equality for everyone. While Drugs like Alcohol or Morphium are given out at special occasions or as rewards, it is frowned upon to lose control over it so that someone not able to walk or talk after alcohol consumption is viewed as weak and character weak.

Sexually, Nordgards population is quite liberal. Gay relationships are a non-issue and sometimes, for example in the case of female combat troops, are even encouraged. Nudity is also a non-issue. While at work the men and women are at least wearing some kind of underpants, it is perfectly normal to see naked men and woman together in or at the way to the sauna or a hot or cold pond. When in another country, this behavior often diminishes a bid, but only to a certain degree. This and the many lesbian couples in the combat troops brought especially the nordgardian women the reputation of being either sluts or man hating and are often the source of misunderstandings. Since very few people can actually visit Nordgard and mostly the only contact with nordgards culture are the mercenary combat troops, there are few chances that the myth of the nordgardians being all manhating, lesbian sluts will expire any time soon.

In non-combat troops women are encouraged to become pregnant, if there is a need of a population rise. Then their occupation could harm the unborn the women will get some kind of special treatment. After birth, most often the children will be breast fed by a foster mother. If there are none, the mother herself will take care of the child until it does not need to be breast feed. As soon as the child becomes a toddler, it will enter the Kindergarten. Here it will live until it becomes an adult. Of course, that does not mean, that the child is taken from its parents, since it will always stay in the vicinity of them, so that, if the parents are transferred to another city, the child will move to. In the Kindergarten and later in school, the children learn the basics of nordgardian life like reading and writing, calculating, the nordgardian martial art and basic knowledge in military tactics, soldiering, crafting, cultures, history and their environment. With the start of puberty, master craftsmen and veteran soldiers decide, after consulting the child of course, what further education the boy or girl will get. If they become apprentice in the various crafts, if they are recruit material or if they even get a higher education and will become future officers. At the end of puberty, the decision will be reviewed and may change but after that there are very few who manages to change their occupation without injury of one kind or another. If they get to old to work in their occupation, they often begin to work as instructors and teachers or will do less physically work.

Motivation to work hard and good is provided by competition between different villages or by privileges the single soldier or the whole squad can get. This can take the form of workfree days or even some holydays, extra resources for example for a small festival, drugs and sweets like alcohol, cake or hemp, extra visits to a prostitute, a priest or a masseur, special places in a parade, the allowance for a special cut of the uniform or better equipment. People who don’t work or otherwise misbehave on the other hand can be transferred to unloved works, loose many privileges, are degraded, publicly humiliated or sometimes even get cuts in their basic rations. The worst punishment nordgard has to offer is the exile.

As for the uniforms in general, there are for one 4 different styles for temperature and weather. One for the Winter, one for fall and spring, one for summer and the last one for mercenary troops in really hot regions. These styles are then divided in different cuts which are masculine/feminine and sexy/neutral. After that the occupation, status, army branch etc. are shown in a complex system of different ribbons, colors and other add-ons. Then again, for special feats done or for hard work, there are many different cuts for the uniforms that can be given as a reward.

In their free time, the nordgardian soldiers often sit together a tell each other stories of old nordgardian heroes or invent their own ones, sing and dance together, play bordgames, drill and exercise their military prowess or educate each other. In any case, the hobbies of the nordgards always involve several people and staying alone is mostly frowned upon.

Architecture 

Nordgardian architecture has a strong focus on defensiveness. Each small village has at least a wooden palisade with ditches or stone fields, if not a solid stone wall, which can even partially withstand artillery. Strategically important places are always equipped with modern star forts. In addition to trenches, walls and earthworks, the layout of the villages is planned in such a way that after the fall of the out most defense line, there are still natural chokepoints or places which can be easily barricaded. The red brick stone houses usually have a sloping roof and their interior is made out of wood for better insulation, which is often decorated with beautiful carvings on the walls and ceiling. Because of the long and cold winters, the windows and other openings are usually small to prevent the cooling of the apartment, although the insulation is usually reinforced by numerous carpets and furs. Beds are always big enough to accommodate 6 people so that in winter the soldiers can keep each other warm. In the summer, most Nordgarders sleep in tents to enjoy the privacy and cooler nights.

Economies

The nordgardian economy is a little mix between a planned economy and if you want a small part in capitalism. Every Village and every division get its necessary resources like weapons, food, coal etc. but also get a small amount of requisition points, with the option to get more of them for special feats, to request special equipment or resources. This system is also used to determine, which officers handle their budget well and what changes the plan needs.

Production wise the economy has a strong focus on military goods. Food is in an always low supply so most often, Nordgard trade for it which other, renewable resources like wood from its massive forests, their famous woodcarvings, Meat and Whisky or with the many mineral resources the nordgardians don’t really have a use for like silver and platin.

Aside from the massive Forests and bogs were the nordgardians gather high quality wood, honey, leather and pelts, venison, peat and herbs, there are two more natural resources, nordgard uses. For one, their mountains have huge deposits of Granit, chalkstone, jade and sandstone as well as many precious stones which are often exported. For two, nordgard is very rich in minerals. Iron, Copper, Zinc, Tin, Silver, Platin, Wolfram and Bauxite, Titan, Aluminum, Cobalt, Nickel, Chromium and Lead as well as Coal, Gas and Oil, Uran, Chromium and rare Earths can all be found in high amounts to suffice for centuries to come.

But the main bestseller are of course nordgards experienced and disciplined mercenary’s which are worldwide considered as elite forces. Many country’s hire nordgardian military advisors to train their own elite troops in the famous nordgardian martial arts or to modernize their whole military. There are even instances, were nordgardian generals were commanding both sides of a war. But for such instances, nordgard only provides the commanding officers staff.

While the militia makes roughly 90% of the population and combat troops ae around 10%, about 1% are mostly dropouts, bandits, dishonorable discharged, foreigners or decided to work in a field deemed not necessary for the military. These people are citizens of second class, have no access to the public healthcare or education and can't vote. Of course, every one of them can pay for the services of public healthcare and the mandatory education of 8 years, but the higher education, the universities for the Officers are of limits.

History 

Nordgard is the survivor of an old, ruined kingdom and technically still operates on the Commands of King Wulf the Great of the greater Reich of Haweln. Nearly 1000 years ago, the Kingdom fell through treachery to an outside force. The Army in the North, tasked with subduing some barbarian tribes, came too late to the rescue and all was over bevor they even got the message. In the following years, the "Nordgard", as it was the name of the army itself, was able to defended the remaining Kingdom from the aggressors who showed little interest in the cold and poor Countries of the north. With time, diplomacy and not a small amount of saber-rattling, the army managed to keep the country and even enlarge its size up north, all while the enemy in the south was more and more forgotten. Since then, Nordgard was mostly at peace. At peace meaning without taking in consideration pirates from the islands and the following punitive expeditions, the clans from the mountains and the deep woods still not subjugated and the renting of its own combat troops as mercenaries around the world.

With the arrival of the colonizers, much has changed for the nordgard government. The Technology, these humans have possessed much potential and also big threat, as the Generals are very much aware of the utter defeat, they would suffer, if they would go against these weapons with their own technology and tactics. So First General Finja Groß gave the order to acquire as much Information and Technology as possible from these strangers while maintaining the safety of Nordgard.

Environment:

Steep, rough Mountains, deep conifer forests, crystal clear lakes and rivers, mysterious bogs and moors. In the east wide steppes with mammoth herds and big cave bears, in the west steep coasts with spermwahles and see otters.

Technology:

Muskets with some very precise and long-range guns, economy based mostly on manufactory’s, pretty cheap cannons of good quality but definitely not the best ones in the world, in medicine, they are one of the leading countries, farming technology is on the rise with nordgard struggling to feed its population.

Education: Primary for everyone, Officers have an education up to 12 years before taking command. 2 University’s with focus on Medicine (Biology), Military Theory, Logistics, Architecture and Physics.

Punishment: Exile, forced labor, some not crippling body punishments and public humiliations

Flödejörnstat

Population: 400000 While the valleys of this steep stretch of land are mostly dominated by numerous lakes or high mountains, the dense mixed forests on the mountains are broken only by abruptly rising rocks. The animal world consists mostly of herds of reindeers, elks, wild boars, wolves and sabretooth tigers, grizzly bears, otters and beavers, the rivers are filled with salmon in the autumn and above all the giant stone eagles pull their circles around vapricorn and sometimes even mountain lions. Farming is usually only possible in those valleys where the moors have been laid dry. These fields, however, are extremely productive, and the story goes that the granite is so red in these lands, because it has been soaked with the blood of the slain peasants. Since this country is relatively rich in iron ore, it was settled very early and there are numerous old villages, which have been abandoned or simply forgotten and now are sometimes inhabited by other things. A few courtyards dod the landscape, mostly charcoal burners, hunters, or hermit cave dwellers and they are usually found on or even in the numerous granite rocks, which were exposed to corrosion by the end of the millennium and such formed natural ocuing fortresses. Villages are, like the individual farms, either lying directly on the rock or are located directly in old mines, and rarely can one find more than one handful settlements in the distance of a day's march (30 km radius).

City

Regardless of which side the capital city of Nordgards is entered, the first sight is the 100m high, rugged rock, which reaches into the river and on whose summit the repellent fortress Blodvagga lies. The fortress, whose blood red walls adorn the coat of arms of the city, has been built independent of it, but is now connected with the city by the converted and fortificated tunnels of the old mine. The only other access is in the north and is so steep that there is a cable winch for horses and bull carts. The red walls and towers, are reinforced with numerous cannons and shooting ranges. However, the majority of the defense systems have been struck directly from the stone, which makes bombardment even more difficult. The fortress, as is to be expected, is the headquarters of the local army under first General Finja Groß, who here commands the entirety of nordgard and her more than 2.000.000 combat-soldiers. The up-and-coming city and its massive harbor is the distributor for almost all the goods that are traded with ___ or other south-facing regions. The only city that competes with the Flödedestet trade is the northwest town of Vattenhav. As it has to be expected from a Town of this importance, very modern star walls surround the entirety of the city and the harbor is protected by two see bastions on either side of the fjord as well as one bastion on a natural island. Apart from the trade and the other trades of a typical town, there is still a considerable number of forges, as well as state brothels and a surprisingly large library, which is open to all Nordgarder officers and operated by the seers. Not directly in Flödejörnstat but within sight you can find a sandstone monastery of the Windsänger, which was at one of the many mountain peaks. The cityscape is dominated by the red granite, which can be found everywhere in the area. Mighty, double defensive walls protect the stone houses from wind, weather and possible attackers. The quarters and streets of the city are extremely thoughtful and planned. In the north and north-west are the tallest houses to break the icy winters, the streets are straight and clear, only broken by smaller walls surrounding the respective city quarters. At the sight of all the dark red houses, streets and walls, it is not surprising that the city is often referred to by many as "the red fortress". The history of the city is a little mysteryous. The place was abandoned more than 1200 years ago, where no one knows where the inhabitants went or why they left their home. It was only 900 years ago, that the mine was rediscovered and expanded by the Nordgardian army into a fortress to protect the trade routes. In the early times often besieged by surrounding bandits and sometimes even by smaller kingdoms and barons, the fortress was never conquered. With diplomatic skill, military threat, and an enormous economic upturn, the fortress first developed into a smiting hub and later a commercial city. The disappearance of the former inhabitants still drives people around and, depending on who you ask, the answer to this unsettled question is to find either in the moors, the deep lakes, the mountain peaks or in the mine itself.

Not Correctet

Other regions and cities

Vattenhav

Population: 100000

Located on the chalk cliffs of the north coast and directly by the sea, this city is the commercial port towards Uldan. The people here mainly live on fishing and whaling, the latter being particularly productive. Rarely, the Arberian dragon boats attacked the coast and the islands lying in front of it. The Arbergers, who dare to do so, are either impaled by the longbows or sunk the ballists of the Vattenhaver fleet, which is why they are usually looking for lighter prey in the South. It is, however, just the arrogance of the local northern guards who attracts the Arberger. For whoever is so defensive must have something to defend? And so year by year new Arbergs are going out to get a bloody nose or to get disappointed in the low yield.Characteristic for the villages of this region are the grass sodden houses, surrounded by wooden palisades, which often look as if the village had been built in a hillside. For those who are not on the coast, it is usually lucky that no moors occupy the valleys here. Ackerland is thus much more present than, for example, in Flödejörnstat, but of poorer quality. For this reason, only the most necessary of grain and vegetables is extracted from the soil, and the bulk of the food consists of the great sheep and herds of goats that are driven into the mountains and forests, as well as fish and choice meat, which is traded with the fishing villages

Haverhav

Winter: 200000

Summer: 30000

The Haverhavs, strategically distributed over the country, simply numbered in the absence of more original names, are the harbors of this area as a hay-loaf and trading post. Apart from the Haverhav, the grain port, and a number of fortified fishermen's villages on the eastern lakes, they are the only settlements in the endless tundracks XXX. In the summer, the annual deliveries of cereals are delivered in Haverhav from Flördejörnstat and are loaded onto caravans, which replenish the reservoirs of the Haverborgen. Although the former equestrian tribes have now completely reverted to the military traditions of Nordgard, they have maintained their nomadic way of life. In the spring, many of them go out to hunt for bisons, mammoths and wild barbarian tribes. In the autumn, the strictly matriarchically organized troops gather together again with the Haverborgen around the winter. In fact it is so that without these cereal deliveries life is often hardly possible. In some winters the snow cover is growing so high that the animals no longer find food and starve. Accordingly, these deliveries are coveted and valuable. In the beginning, young warriors from barbarian tribes attempted to attack and conquer the heavily guarded treks. However, since they bite on nordgardian steel, most have since moved to hunt down individual hunters and small groups and exchange them for grain or other goods. In some patriarchic tribes, however, these abducted women have a cruel fate, which, after their return, often causes a company of avengerresses to emerge in addition to the grain carcass. These unofficial elite units recruit themselves exactly from those prisoners and theirs reputation is correspondingly brutal. Hostages that can not be saved are often killed, rapists and hijackers who can be captured are often tortured to death or thier cattle and thus the livelihood stolen.

The whole effort around the cereal deliveries is mainly led to the sedentary To extend civilization from the coast further into the country and thus to open up the copper deposits as well as salt, pitch and sulfur. A strategy that seems to have sprung up with only a few localities in the last few years.

Angaborg

95000

The northernmost city of Nordgard is surrounded by volcanoes and mighty glaciers. Hot springs, whose steam is directed into the whole fortress by ingenious pipelines, ensure that the life here is quite tolerable. The only reason why this region is populated is the rich gold and gemstone mines,