Steam and Steel: AltHist. Victorian STGOD

[Crossroads Inc.]

By the by, my love for this whole thing is such that I am offering to loan out my skills as a Graphics artist for this thing. Anyone who wishes for a 'flag' of thier nation or even a map of their area (once resources are plotted) give me some details ANd I will be happy to make something up for you

I already have my 'flag' which is just the Crossroads Inc Gear Logo.

[The Yosemite Bear]

so since it is being allowed, I also found out that the guy with the airship is actually from a sequel to 20,000 legeuses. Hmm Nemo, Moriarrity or Fu-Manchu.....

[Pablo Sanchez]

A Brief History of the Islamic Republic of Oman



With the decline of her Empire from 1860 Great Britain began to abandon her outlying territories so as to hold on to what she could; this was in some respects similar to the Roman Empire's abandonment of Britain itself in the fifth century. One of the first territories to be so "trimmed" was the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman.

After 1856 the Al Sa'id dynasty that ruled the Sultanate from the city of Muscat had maintained its rule primarily by virtue of British military assistance. Continually under pressure and sometimes direct assault from the devout Ibadi tribes based in Nizwah in the interior of Oman, the Al Sa'ids commanded little popular support outside the capital and without British assistance their days were numbered. In 1875 the Sultan Turki bin Sa'id had his army defeated in the field by a coalition of tribesmen, who then were able to take Muscat by storm. The Sultan and the entire Al Sa'id clan were put to the sword and the council of imams who had led the revolt settled in the erstwhile palace to determine the government to follow.

There then developed a conflict between the extreme fundamentalists and the moderates (much the minority) in the movement; the extremists were determined to build up in Oman a perfect Islamic union with laws administered harshly and directly from the Qu'ran. The moderates preferred to maintain a policy of toleration and pacific relations with other nations, and to modernize Oman while maintaining Arab culture and Muslim religion. This schism deepened and threatened to erupt into full-scale war, which the moderates would almost certainly lose, but events conspired to their advantage.

The coastal Arabs of Oman, though they had given only lukewarm support to the Al Sa'ids now determined that they would have to act to preserve their priviliges from an overreaching Islamist movement out of the interior. Members of the moderate faction actively courted their support, which brought with it the then small but still significant Omani navy. As the majority of the population subsisted along the coast, the fundamentalist factions found themselves outmaneuvered; together with infighting and lack of leadership, this meant that the moderates gained control of the agenda. They moved quickly to establish a compromise solution--there would be no more Sultanate, but also no Imamate.

Instead, a system of limited democracy was instituted, with each clan grouping having one vote in a national legislature. This legislature (Shura) then selected a national president and a body of ministers to carry out the laws. The definition of "clan" was left up to the government to determine, and the moderates moved to secure their hold by making historically fundamentalist clans individual larger and moderate coastal clans smaller, thus distorting the vote. To mollify the imams, they were placed in control of one half of the Republic's judicial system--Oman has Temporal Courts, in which a magistrate presides over trials for violation of Omani law, as well as Sharia Courts, which apply only to Muslims (the vast majority of the population) and judge violations of Islamic Law as presided over by an imam.

Each wilayat, or province, of Oman elects two representatives to the Shura. Initially composed of 110 men, the Shura expanded even as Oman expanded northward into the Trucial States (as of 1890, the border rests just beyond Abu Dhabi), such that it now counts 122 seats. The Shura has the power to draft laws and controls the purse strings of the Republic, but otherwise has little power. The current President of Oman, Ismail bin Haroun al Katiri, aims to continue the Republic's expansion into the trucial states and reestablish Omani preeminance over the East African coast, though he has preferred peaceful policies of trade and diplomacy over violence.

[Agent Fisher]

If its all right with you, Thirdfain, I would like to make a pirate/mercenary group.

[Crossroads Inc.]

A brief History of The Incorporated Republic of Crossroadia



It has been said that War is good for business. At the beginning of the Great War that began almost over 30 years ago, the great corporations of Europe salivated in collected anticipation of the need of industrial that was sure to come. Indeed in the beginning it was a golden age of wealth and lucrative business contracts for the most prominent of industrials. Ships, arms, guns, all saw their profits soar as the madness of war swept the nations of Europe.

Industry saw the war as something that could only bring more profit, and gave it not a second thought that anything else could befall the mighty nations. Yet the war went on, year, after year, after year. Each year slowly ground away the great economies of Europe, more and more nations found themselves scraping for anything they could find as their coffers grew bankrupt and their industrial infrastructure shattered.

The great corporations of Europe, that in the beginning had helped usher in war, now found themselves slowly bringing about their own destruction. Slowly, the leaders of several industries began secret conferences to save themselves from oblivion.

Driven by little more then the lust of money and rich with the wealth of capital gained by selling arms to Europe, a secret council of eight powerful industrial factions met in the fall of 1880 to work out a bold new alliance. The Eight came from across from the nations of Europe and held names known by all.

General Rupert Plumbean, retired from the British army and head of “Plumbeanian Weapons and Arms”
Director Heratio Maglicuty, Irish owner of a massive private security police firm.
Professor Theodore Throckmorton Head of a large Military Scientific Research firm in Germany
Ambassador Hugo Wizenheimer Ex Governmental powerbroker from Austria
Vice Manager Walter W. Wonker Leader of a main banking firm in Switzerland
Lord Admiral Fredrick Fandango Owner of a major Shiping firm and manufacture in Denmark.
Mr. Eustace Banks Head of a well known Scottish Farmers co-op
CEO Johnathan Andrews An Unknown figure and enigmatic leader

The Eight heads argued that Nationalism was dead. Countries founded on differences of race, religion, creed and colour had become too factionalized and too swept up in their own Fanaticism. Together they pooled their resources, enlisted many life long employees, families, resources and set off to found a new nation based on the simple idea of the Corporation.

Over the course of five long years, the, in secret at first, began to close and shut down factories, and slowly move important machines of industry away from the doomed nations of Europe. Deciding to start fresh, far, far away from the Turmoil of the old world, they slowly moved their asserts far to the East. Settling on one of the largest islands of their regions, they slowly began anew. Laying claim to what was known as Borneo, they quickly set about founding a new nation, one built from many creeds and oaths.

The new government, simply known as “Crossroads Incorporated” Delegated each of the heads a section of the Island to develop according to their histories, experiences and power.
Each section was formed into small Business towns where politics became ruled by corporate owners. A form of Democracy was established by which towns where subdivide into groups of 1000 employees, these groups would each elect a representative who would lobby Executives in power on what the will of the people wished. How well the will is actually listened too is open to debate.

None the less, small towns grew, fed by thousands of out of work labours from the old world. With the nations of Europe in Economic collapse, the promise of work and pay attracted many from across the seas. The mix of so many languages, religions and different culture invariably led to turmoil in the beginning. Yet the Leader, Johnathan Andrews ruled with an Iron fist from the capital, and while not cruel, none the less enforced harsh laws to keep the Employees in check.

Now, as the nation comes to prominence, it sets it’s eyes on the flood of nations seeking to escape as well. Holding true to it’s open and industry seeking nature, new arrivals are viewed more as new business partners then as rivals, and after the disaster that befell the Old World, the leaders of Crossroadia view peace as far more profitable then war.

[Dahak]

The history of the Hongkong Conglomerate is forthcoming, once I'm home from work again.
Location: Guangdong province, China

[Thirdfain]

If its all right with you, Thirdfain, I would like to make a pirate/mercenary group.

That'd be fine. You'll need *some* permanant base, however.

[Crossroads Inc.]

If its all right with you, Thirdfain, I would like to make a pirate/mercenary group.

Avast ye scurvy dog, Crossrodia be ready to make deals with any true blooded Pirate that sails the seas (or skies) Mate!

[Thirdfain]

Gunboats
Gunboats are cheap vessels designed for coastal combat. Their firepower makes them floating fire-support platforms, and they can be very effective in littoral waters, especially in colonial conflicts. Their use against enemy seagoing ships, however, is extremely limited unless they are armed with torpedoes.

Historical Example:
"Achelaos"-class GB
(Greece)
Summary: A cheap, British-built gunboat with minimal armament
Commissioned: 1884
Displacement: 404 tons
Length: 40 m
Beam: 7.415
Draft: 3.352
Max Speed: 10.2 kts'
Complement: 60
Armament: 1 20-pounder gun
3 37mm quick-firers

[Thirdfain]

The history of the Hongkong Conglomerate is forthcoming, once I'm home from work again.
Location: Guangdong province, China

Problem: Mainland China is ruled either by Dai-Nippon or the Manchus. You'd have the island of Hong Kong alone, and you are right in the path of the Nipponese invasion.

Hong Kong is technically a legal location, but it would be a rough starting place, for sure.

[SirNitram]

Could someone recommend somewhere with either no locals or very few, and a reasonable place for another Grand Experiment? I'm thinking a bunch of folks who have decided that both Europe and America aren't the right place to be, and are trying, once more, to build a perfect society.

Also, they will have flying machines. Not very good ones, but flying machines, by Thor!

[Thirdfain]

The East African coast, or Madagascar, would do the job well.

Flying machines are limited to early zeppelin capability.

[Vanas]

The Grand Duchy of Valua.


En Tenebrae, Lux
(In darkness, light)

Based on the once idyllic island of Sumatra, the Grandy Duchy of Valua began as a number of scattered colonies from various nations. Seeing, perhaps, more in common with their neighbours than their masters at home, they quietly began working more closely until 1871, when the island officially united under the banner of Valua. Led primarily by ex British Imperial and Spanish Imperial soldiers, a benevolent dictatorship was instituted and most of the fledgling nation's wealth was spent in short order attracting the disposessed, the dismayed and especially the learned to newly constructed cities on the once-verdant hillsides. With great focus on constructing scientific facilities and universities, the nation has enjoyed a quiet, if rather smoke-filled renaissance, especially in the fields of electricity and light. Their most potent creation is the 'Sun-Gem', a crystal that absorbs and stores light until it it released by an electrical charge. While the civilian population uses them for light sources and industry uses the heat to save on lumber costs, the military has it's own ideas.

On land, the nation may seem a little puritanical. Alcohol is allowed, if rationed due to the demands of the scientific community, while smoking and most drugs have been banned outright. Instead, the population ar encouraged to better themselves. Night classes run every day of the week, while free schooling is a universal right. The cynics may claim this may be a simple way to ensure that the population is brought up with a healthy respect for authority, but the goverment claims that the lessons learnt bolster the economy by allowing even the working classes hope for a better life and allowing them freedom and intelligence to innovate

With many new powers coming into the open in the Orient, the Grand Duchy sees this as an opportunity to expand it's own reputation through the power of Science.

---
The nation is currently led by Grand Duke Rufus Cavendish, holder of this grand title since it's inception. Formerly the Govenor-General of the British colonies, he now rules from the capital at Arcaia. Thanks to a large team of advisors, he is generally regarded as a relatively unbiased ruler even amongst the native population.

Head of the Navy (and unofficially, the armed forces in general) is Admiral Devante Cruz, formerly a Rear Admiral in the Spanish Navy. While sometimes exasperated by the demands of the research community on his shipyards, he's willing to assume that he'll eventually get a good return on it.

---

((Scary steampunk tech is always fun. Apparently, the first Tesla Coil was demonstrated in 1891...))

[SirNitram]

The East African coast, or Madagascar, would do the job well.

Flying machines are limited to early zeppelin capability.

I intend to crash many an ornithopter in the pursuit of heavier-than-air flight. Of course, since they're going to universally crash, I'll stick with lighter-than-air for real work.

[Crossroads Inc.]

I intend to crash many an ornithopter in the pursuit of heavier-than-air flight.

That was a lovely 'lol' moment when I read that

Naturally the Industrial, forward thinking nation of Crossroadia welcomes all research into Avionics.

[SirNitram]

Luminiferia

As the Great War's first causes revealed themselves, before the cannons first spoke, there were those who realized what was coming. They were men who had nothing to gain by such a war; foreign wars, far removed from Europe and the still-adolescent United States, could be profitable, but war on the Dying Continent was nothing to celebrate. Still, with America erupting into it's own internal conflict, there had to be a new land to settle on. Thus it was that some of the greatest minds and captains of industry conspired quietly, until the perfect location was found.

A long stretch of the African east coast was surveyed, valued, and simply bought from the Great Empires, granting the seemingly suicidal leaders even more money to throw away on their pointless struggle. The stretch of land was named Luminiferia, for the founders hoped it would grow in the light of science and reason, not the nationalism or extreme religion that has come to plague so much of the world.

Luminiferia has grown almost entirely by immigration through it's past thirty years. Freedmen from the lands who until recently still practiced slavery, moderate Muslims fleeing the Kaliphate, Europeans seeking solace from the seemingly endless war, and endless natives who saw the collapse of empires as their chance to start a new life. And their new home has treated them surprisingly well.

Though bias and racism still raise their ugly heads in the Land Of Light, extensive efforts are made to pursue true equality of opportunity. A shaky and newborn Meritocracy has been forged, seeking to position each citizen in a role where their natural talents are best used. A large, well-funded public education system has been erected, and the Lumin government often headhunt for great minds across the world, offering government grants when the old powers deny them.

Among those greatest acheivements in stealing away minds from the warring powers are Charles Babbage and Nicolai Tesla. Babbage had advanced his computing engines from far-fetched dreams to working, clacking-and-whirring reality before his death. Nicolai Tesla is a new citizen of Lumin, caught by the ever-watchful consulate when the American Thomas Edison reneged on a fifty thousand dollar contract with the inventor. His work has already advanced the understanding of Etheric Science, by revealing it's capability of liberating energy bound up in matter, and the methods to transform vacuum into a conductor, not a resistor.

The government of Luminiferia is democratic layout, with eligibility to vote based not on age, creed, or gender, but on passing a standardized test administered crafted by the heads of the universities within the Land of Light. Two houses of Parliment are in place(Lords Disciplina, elected from the science and engineering guilds, and the Lords Civitas, normal citizens elected by their peers), with a Chancellor elected by the unified houses.

With a long border with the Kaliphate and a history of promoting Natural Theology, Deism, and moderate religions, Luminiferia has often suffered attacks from it's less enlightened(In their own view, at least) neighbours. For this reason, the Lumin's borders are watched by a massive network of fortresses armed with weapons designed to fully exploit the advances in science that emerges from this strange country. Etheric Resonance Cannons and Beyond-Horizon-Cannons, guided by the powerful Analytical Engines, have cast more than one army back into Africa Proper.

Yet science and industry, the twin gears that power the Land Of Light, are voracious. Demand for raw materials, most notably the incredible material known as Aether, is pushing Luminiferia to look to the world for more than just new minds. A military almost entirely geared for defense now must contemplate the option of striding forth, to protect and, if necessary, claim new sources of materal.

[Vanas]

After actually looking around the map a bit more, I've relocated to Sumatra. More room to stretch my legs, more virgin forest to tear apart and concrete over. Oh, and I have an idea of what the landscape looks like.

[Dahak]

The history of the Hongkong Conglomerate is forthcoming, once I'm home from work again.
Location: Guangdong province, China

Problem: Mainland China is ruled either by Dai-Nippon or the Manchus. You'd have the island of Hong Kong alone, and you are right in the path of the Nipponese invasion.

Hong Kong is technically a legal location, but it would be a rough starting place, for sure.

I'd like to take the Hongkong and Macao colonies of Real Life. It may be a rough starting point, but it'll be fun to do. I think

[Agent Fisher]

The Orcas
The Independent Republic of Sulawesi



It was the End of the Great War. Nations where devastated, fleets in dissarry. A Captain had a daring idea. He gathered like minded Captains, officers and men together. They made their plans. They gathered transports and cargo ships, discretely filled them with 'liberated' supplies and their families. And on the appointed day, when all the Captains of the ships where at sea, they just took their makeshift fleet and set sail for a far off land.

They arrived in one of the many island chains in the eastern Indian/ western Pacific ocean.

It was from here that they struck out on their own, raiding ships, small colonies and ports.

However, the Orcas, as they called themselves, taking their name from the wolves of the sea, soon learned that just being a raiding force was not enough. The Orcas spent a year preparing and finally they took the largest port on island of Sulawesi, in Indonesia. They spent the next ten years consolidating their rule on the island, until they controlled all of it. While they solidified their rule, they also built up the port, constructing a construction yard, able to produce small and medium sized ships. For their larger ship needs, they use the wealth they have collected and buy from some of the larger powers.

By now, the old Captains and officers have all retired, their sons and even a few of their daughters have taken the helm, guiding the Orcas in their pirate activities, maiking it dangerous for ships to ply the waters on their own.

To help avoid nations striking their base, the Orcas have set up something akin to a puppet government, allowing the Orcas to safely base at Sulawesi while flying the puppet's flag, but once they are out at sea, they unfurl their Orca banner.

Government

The ruling council is made up of the old Captains. The current military leader is known at the Fleet Captain, currently Fleet Captain Amanda Ross.

[Adrian Laguna]

The history of the Hongkong Conglomerate is forthcoming, once I'm home from work again.
Location: Guangdong province, China

Problem: Mainland China is ruled either by Dai-Nippon or the Manchus. You'd have the island of Hong Kong alone, and you are right in the path of the Nipponese invasion.

Hong Kong is technically a legal location, but it would be a rough starting place, for sure.

I'd like to take the Hongkong and Macao colonies of Real Life. It may be a rough starting point, but it'll be fun to do. I think

Damn, I hate it when people take a puny strip of land and somehow are still as powerful as more reasonably sized nations. You don't need a huge land area to build an empire, but there is a certain minimum. After you go below a certain size you find yourself at a dearth of resources.

Oh well, it's Thirdfain's call. I'll hold on to the hope that he agrees with me and at the same time make preparations for having to live with it.

[Thirdfain]

For certain. For one thing, the Formosa Kaigun of the Imperial Nipponese Fleet is by itself as large as any national navy we'll see at game start, never mind the rest of it- and they will effectively control the seas around Hong Kong, should it please them. Your only neighbors will be brutal imperial powers locked in deadly struggle- one is desperate, the other, victorious and looking for more good meat. Long story short, you'll need to be a tributary state to one or the other unless you want to face conflict with a great
power from the start.

[Agent Fisher]

So, TF, does my nation/group work for the story?

[RedImperator]

Kingdom of Dai Viet

Southern Vietnam had only been under French rule for a few years when the Great War broke out in Europe. With the French distracted in Europe, the Nguyen Dynasty began asserting itself in confrontations with their nominal overlords. The Vietnamese were assisted by France's enemies in Europe, which supplied weapons, training, and advisors to Vietnam's antiquated military.

However, France recognized the value of Indochina, and was determined to hold onto the territory even as the rest of its overseas empire crumbled. Several revolts were brutally crushed, and in 1880 the French captured Hue and laid siege to Hanoi. The Nguyen Dynasty, suitably cowed, returned to its previous subserviance. However, the long slog up the peninsula through the jungles, against native soldiers armed with modern weapons, had exhausted the French, and Nguyen dynasty itself, never popular, found itself teetering in the wake of its humiliation.

In 1882, revolts against the Nguyen Dynasty, under the leadership of a disaffected mandarin named Pham Manh Hoang, broke out all throughout the northern two-thirds of Vietnam. French colonial forces attempting to help put down the rebellion were devestated by disease and hampered by bad weather. The royal army was no more successful, ruined just two years previously in the war against the French and ineptly lead by the same corrupt regents who'd botched that war. Units began deserting en masse and joining the rebels. By January 1883, Emperor D?c ??c was confined to the grounds of his own palace in Hue when he abdicated, ending the Nguyen Dynasty.

Pham took the throne and immediately began consolidating his new kingdom and making plans to evict the French when the time was right. However, mindful of his predacessors' failures, even with European weapons, he undertook an ambitious plan of modernization based upon the Meiji Restoration. While the French in their colony of Cochinchina, centered on Saigon, watched more or less helplessly, Pham institued conscription and with the help of Japanese advisors laid the foundations of an industrial revolution.

By 1890, the French Empire was in ruins, and Cochinchina stood alone as France's last bastion in Indochina. The Sultanate of Siam had already overrun most of Cambodia and Laos, and its de jure protectorates of Annan and Tonkin were unified under Pham and poised to eject the French. The tattered French colonial forces and their native allies waited for the inevitable. Then, in June of that year, the Emperor Pham's agents approached Governor-General Ernest Constans with an offer to peacefully bring Cochinchina under the rule of Hue. In exchange, the French colonists would be allowed to remain in the country as citizens, with all the rights and privleges thereof. They would be allowed to retain the French language and Catholicism, and Constans and other important French citizens were promised status in the new kingdom.

Pham's motives were not entirely altruistic. Despite the modernization, the French still represented the greatest proportion of scientists, engineers, and Western-trained soliders in Indochina. Pham was well aware of the disintegrating situation in Europe, and knew that if the French colonists were ejected, they would more than likely wind up resettled somewhere else in the Indian Ocean basin, assisting one of the kingdom's potential new rivals. Constans was also aware of this fact, and the impossible military situation he faced. He was also aware that France was no longer able to send its distant colony support. Though neither Pham nor his agents ever explicitly threatened it, both sides were aware that if Cochinchina were conquered by Dai Viet, the French colonists there would be held as prisoners in the kingdom--if they were that lucky.

On August 2, 1890, with no instructions forthcoming from Paris, Constans met with Pham personally and agreed to the terms offered. Vietnamese armies marched into Saigon under the royal banner three days later, ending French rule over Indochina. Vietnamese armies also entered the parts of Cambodia and Laos still held by France, and annexed them to Dai Viet, ostensibly to keep them out of Siamese hands.

Two years later, Vietnam is still in the midst of the difficult process of integrating Cochinchina, Laos, and Cambodia, while at the same time continuing to modernize. It maintains close relations with Nippon, willingly acting as a counter against Siam's influence in Southeast Asia. Siam and Vietnam are rivals and have territorial claims on each other. However, for the time being, relations are peaceful.

Government

Vietnam is an absolute monarchy under the rule of Pham Manh Hoang. However, he maintains a council of Japanese, Vietnamese, and French advisors with considerable influence over the government of the kingdom. There is a small but vocal democracy movement, largely led by French-Vietnamese in Saigon, but gaining influence in the north. The kingdom tolerates it so long as it does not go so far as to advocate republicanism or civil disorder.

[Beowulf]

Crown Colony of Northern Australia

Located on the northern coast of Australia, this bit of the British Empire has maintained it status, all to the contrary be damned. Hence, it's still ruled by a Colonial Governor (though the current one was chosen by the prior, and it's been years since news of such should have reached Britain), and it's ships fly the Blue Ensign of the Royal Navy. It remains on good terms with the other colony on the continent of Australia.

The Colonial Governor is the 35 year-old Baron von Wulfenbach, Admiral of the Blue, Lord Klaus Battenberg, formerly of Denmark aka "the Wizard". He, along with his "madboys" control the city of Darwin, along with extensive amounts of territory along the northern coast. Madboys are so called because they are mad scientists, who possess the inborn ability to rapidly progress the field of science, but frequently possess the traits of megalomania and lack of all common sense.

The colony's flag is the blue ensign defaced with a stylized Sturt's desert rose.

The colony is fortunate in that it has been able to raise troops from the settlers, as opposed to depending on whatever troops it had from Britain before the effective end of the Empire. Most of it's current inhabitants are refugees, either from the Potato famines, sundry other disasters, or the Great War.

It's home to a nascent shipbuilding industry headed by John I Thornycroft & Co. It's also home to a burdgeoning armaments industry, including Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Co. Ltd. which, amongst other items, makes Lee-Metford pattern rifles for the army. Another notable refugee company is Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Luftschiffahrt which makes naval scout ships.

more to come, stay tuned.

[Straha]

I'm interested...


:: goes brainstorming for nation ideas::