Scenario

Resume

Nuclear bombs belong to the distant past. These weapons of mass destruction were replaced by new ones: biological weapons. And humanity paid a high price.

2079 - The United States of India and Gowa (USIG) secretly began the development of a biological weapon, Agent Ext-Y.

2084 - Under demographic pressure and in the hope of capturing many of the resources essential to their economy, the USIG launched a war of expansion, invading Pakistan and Afghanistan. This was the beginning of the “Mad War”.

2085 - The War lingered on. Afghanistan wasn’t called “the cemetery of Empires” for nothing. The Army Staff, pressured by time, activated the Ext-Y plan.

April 7, 2085 – Date referred to as “Ground Zero”. Agent Ext-Y was first used on the resistance; infected people developed acute paranoia, which quickly turned into crazed bloodthirstiness. They started killing everyone in sight. However, it was designed to only attack the neurons of those carrying a Y chromosome. Consequently, the victims could only be men, of which the armed groups were mainly composed; then, they started to kill each other.

In less than a day, almost all the men in the region were wiped out. It was a complete victory. The next day, every man within 500 km was infected. Then 1,000 km, and then it reached the borders of the USIG. The weapon became more powerful than its creator. Far too volatile, and extremely resistant, Agent Ext-Y spread like wildfire. The world began to teeter.

June 2085 - Over 99% of the population became a direct or indirect victim of Agent Ext-Y. Survivors tried to isolate themselves using whatever means necessary.

23 February 2086 - Date chosen for the creation of the women’s “Renaissance” movement. Women quickly understood that only men could become infected. The movement was formed in the Baltic countries, to become organized and try to save humanity from extinction.

2087 - The «Renaissance» movement took power by force in the Baltic region. Men were forced to remain in isolation. Strongholds were created, and women could travel around again safely. The Republic of Lāzāruš was declared, and women went there from all over the world.

2106 - Society had been rebuilt and scientific research had started anew. Pirmāš was born, the first human being conceived by female parthenogenesis (thelytoky).

2120 - Pirmāš would live. Theoretically, women no longer needed men to ensure the survival of humanity. Two ideological currents clashed: those who were for the “systematic exclusion” of men from society, and moderates who refused such a contingency. This was the beginning of the 1st Civil War. Appearance of the 1st enhanced human.

2131 - End of the 1st Civil War. The pro-exclusion camp won. The Republic of Lāzāruš decided on an exodus to Africa, then changed its name to the Republic of Ŝāār.

2145 to 2283 – The Golden Age of the Republic of Ŝāār. Creation of the first fully autonomous robots, which were called Viltiš.

2283 to 2334 - Unstable Period. Self-determination of robots and creation of the first Skydāš and Kāryš factions of cyborgs.

2334 to 2358 – Robot War. Short period during the authoritarian Ŝāār Empire. Founding of the Federation of Põhjā, the Kingdom Kinnine and the Republic of Korbeš.

2362 – The State of Ojā was founded by former mercenaries enriched by war.

There was no safe haven. It was up to each one to find their own place in that war-torn world. For fame, or for fortune.

Extended Scenario

2071 - India and Indonesia become one federal state under the name of the United States of India and Gowa. This new superpower dominated the Asian region, both demographically and economically.

2079 - The United States of India and Gowa (USIG) secretly began the development of a biological weapon, Agent Ext-Y.

2084 - Under demographic pressure and in the hope of capturing many of the resources essential to their economy, the USIG launched a war of expansion. They quickly invaded Pakistan and Afghanistan, potentially getting their hands on billions of tons of unmined metals. This was the beginning of the “Mad War”.

2085 - The War lingered on. Afghanistan wasn’t called “the cemetery of Empires” for nothing, and numerous rebel groups made the region far too unstable and dangerous to allow extraction of the precious resources. The USIG nevertheless excluded using nuclear weapons on insurgent strongholds; they could not afford to wait for the soil to become decontaminated after the strikes. Pressured by the urgent need for metals to use in their technological industries and not wanting to repeat history with invasions into the territory, the Army Staff activated the Ext-Y plan.

April 7, 2085 – Date referred to as “Ground Zero”. Ignoring some scientists’ reservations about the volatility of Agent Ext-Y the army bombarded the rebels with biological bombs. Only a few hours after inhalation, the results were terrible. Once in contact with Agent Ext-Y, the chemical balance in the brains of the victims changed; certain sensory receptors became inhibited, and the neural network of the lateral core became greatly stimulated. A generalized reaction of fear set in, and the victims developed acute paranoia, which quickly turned into crazed bloodthirstiness.

Everyone in their sight was perceived as a threat and they hastened to kill them. However, it was designed to only attack the neurons of those carrying a Y chromosome. Consequently, the victims could only be men, of which the armed groups were mainly composed; then, they started to kill each other.

The weapon was incredibly effective. In less than a day, almost all the men in the region were wiped out. It was a complete victory. The next day, every man within 500 km was infected. Then 1,000 km, and then it reached the borders of the USIG. The weapon became more powerful than its creator. Far too volatile, and extremely resistant, Agent Ext-Y spread like wildfire, forcing infected men to kill everyone around them, including women and children. The world began to teeter.

June 2085 - Over 99% of the population became a direct or indirect victim of Agent Ext-Y. Over the weeks that followed, unspeakable scenes of violence took place. Countries fell and humanity went into survival mode, with all the survivors trying to isolate themselves by using whatever means necessary.

2087 - The “Renaissance” movement took power by force in the Baltic region. Men were forced to remain in isolation. Strongholds were created, and women could travel around again safely. The Republic of Lāzāruš was declared, and surviving women were invited from around the world to join them.

2106 – Society had been rebuilt and scientific research had started anew. Pirmāš was born, the first human being conceived by female parthenogenesis (thelytoky).

2122 - Scouts were dispatched to the African continent, historically rich in the resources necessary for the technological development of enhanced humans.

2125 - The Republic of Lāzāruš regrouped almost all the surviving women on the planet.

2128 - Use of dirty uranium bombs in the Baltic region. The pollution they left behind was horrible.

2131 – Assassination of Pirmāš by a group of armed men. End of the 1st Civil War. The pro-exclusion camp imposed its vision of excluding men from society after this tragic event. This was the “Great Reconciliation”.

2135 - The territory remained heavily polluted by uranium bombs, while research in Africa was promising. The Republic of Lāzāruš decided on an exodus to Africa, then changed its name to the “Republic of Ŝāār”, after its founder, Eha Ŝāār.

2137 - Founding of the city Keškuš, capital of the Republic of Ŝāār upon the former territories of the DRC.

2145 - Africa was considered “neitsi mees”, virgin of Man. The continent’s name, Neišti, was derived from this phrase. Military camps were established at strategic entry points on the continent: the Sinai Peninsula, the Strait of Gibraltar, and the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, with the creation of the respective cities Bārjāār, Meri and Ŝodür. Entry and crossing were closely monitored, and the Republic closed itself off from the rest of the world. This was the beginning of the Golden Age, which lasted almost 150 years.

2151 - Death of Eha Ŝāār, founder of the eponymous Republic.

2163 - A group of men tried to force their way across the Sinai passage, which resulted in many casualties. The threat was eradicated in the end. This was the last known confrontation between men and women.

2175 - Dozens of cities were then established across the continent, all governed by the Republic of Ŝāār.

2237 - The first robots with fully autonomous AI were introduced into society to help with its development. They were called Viltis, which means “hope”. However, they were latently controlled by humans via the implantation of the Three Laws of Robotics in their algorithms.

2283 - Creation of the “Universal Movement for the Liberation of Robots” (UMLR) which aimed at giving robots the option of completely freeing themselves from human control. This was the date chosen for the end of the Golden Age of the Republic of Ŝāār, and the beginning of the unstable period.

2291 - The city of Rikāš voted to grant rights to robots.

2294 - The central government of the Republic of Ŝāār enacted a policy of strengthening its security and defense. The faction of protectors, Skydāš, was created.

2305 - A religious movement called Puhāš Veri, literally “pure blood”, was created. Its followers saw changes to the human body in a negative light and condemned any mechanical transformation. They rejected robots and cyborgs, considering them as the downfall of humankind.

2317 - The region around the city of Rikāŝ seceded and declared independence from the Republic of Ŝāār. It also created and trained its first faction of warrior cyborgs, Kāryš.

2325 - The Independent Region of Rikāš did away with the Three Laws of

Robotics within its territory – a sort of proclamation of robotic self-determination. In response, the Republic of Ŝāār drastically increased parthenogenesis to increase its population in the following years.

2334 - Robots that felt threatened by the demographic policy of the Republic of Ŝāār took control of the Rikāš region. They declared war on the Republic and used the region’s vast mineral stocks to increase their numbers very quickly. This was the beginning of the Robot War.

2341 - Faced with the violent conflict, the military cities of Bārjāār and Ŝodür refused to continue fighting and withdrew from the Republic to form a provisional alliance.

2343 - The Republic violently crushed the revolt in Ŝodür and massacred almost all its inhabitants, using its new generation of Kāryš cyborgs. Taking advantage of the general chaos and its geographical remoteness, the Meri region also rebelled. Fearing the repression of the Republic of Ŝāār, the people of Bārjāār fled and helped Meri to take the mining city of Igioš in the North. They obtained all the resources they needed for their development.

2347 - The Republic of Ŝāār was crumbling. Pro-peace groups were gaining ground and decided to break off to found a new State in the Minü region, in the South. It then closed itself from the outside world. Having lost its southern mines, and on the brink of collapse, the Republic of Ŝāār transformed itself into an authoritarian Empire to face countless threats. It turned part of its remaining population into warrior cyborgs to regain the upper hand.

2352 - The northern rebels formed a Federation and snatched the city of Lopp out of the hands of the Ŝāār Empire, which was too busy trying to survive against the armies of robots. At the same time, the oldest enhanced human celebrated its 200th birthday. Women had potentially become immortal.

2358 - The Rikāš region was taken over by the Empire from the robots, who fled into the surrounding mountains and into the vast desert in the center of the continent. This was the end of the very costly Robot War. As a result, a new political balance was established: the northern part of the continent became known as the Federation of Põhjā with the cities of Igioš, Meri and Lopp under its control; in the center, the foundations of the Republic of Korbeš were laid, with the creation of the capital of robots, Liiv; to the South, the Kingdom Kinnine remained closed off to the rest of the continent and focused on its mines in the city of Minü; the Ŝāār Empire remained central but lost a number of territories, then passed the “suppression of robots” law.

2362 - End of the authoritarian period of the Ŝāār Empire, which de-escalated tensions. Mercenaries who had become very rich during the War founded the State of Ojā in the eastern, unoccupied lands, and built upon the ruined city of Ŝodür.

2369 - The Federation of Põhjā reclaimed the territories around Bārjāār, which it had abandoned 25 years earlier.

2372 - The Kingdom Kinnine, irrevocably independent, gradually reopened its borders and began trading with the Ŝāār Empire.

2380 - Departure of the original adepts of the Puhās Veri religion toward the lands of the former Republic of Lāzāruš in the Baltic area. They completely disagreed with all the recent geopolitical entities that had appeared on the continent and believed there was no need to modify humans to make them into cyborgs.

2392 - The Robot Suppression Law was repealed within the territories of the Ŝāār Empire, which slowly reintegrated robots into its society.

2410 - The central powers of the States grew stronger. A cyborg arms race was launched, and war seemed inevitable since the parties involved were irreconcilable.

2413 to present day - The Republic of Tašütā declared itself independent. The Ŝāār Empire attacked its former territory but was in turn attacked by its neighbors. The War of the Six Kingdoms broke out, each wanting to steal resources from the others. There was no safe haven. It was up to each one to find their own place in that war-torn world. For fame, or for fortune.

Character stories

Name : Vālyrā

(Class : Auka ; Land : Republic of Tāšütā)

As far back as she can remember, Vālyrā had always supported peace and equality. She immediately migrated to the region of Rikāš when she decided to give rights to robots, deserting the Šāār Empire.

She protected a powerful merchant guild that traded with the Empire until recently. Her mission was to prevent any attack from the outside or inside, and after the outbreak of the War of the Six Kingdoms, to her dismay, there was much to be done.

Faithful war-fighting machine, she won’t hesitate to kill robots and cyborgs, if the latter threaten the survival of the locals.

Name : Küll

(Class : Gydymas ; Land : Republic of Kõrbeš)

This aggressive Gydymas is a key part of any army. Her primary function is to help her comrades on the battlefield. Her optical glasses are invaluable for her to operate and rapidly solder bodies damaged by enemy attacks.

Although her mission is to rescue others, she was traumatized by an ambush in her youth, in which saw her best friend die without being able to help her. Since then, she has thrown herself into battle brandishing two impressive swords, which allow her to face any tough situation.

While she’s an expert in repairs, her talent with weapons shouldn’t be neglected. Those who make that mistake don’t live to talk about it.

Name : Māgi

(Class : Mintys ; Land : State of Õjā)

Māgi is not very accommodating. Programmed to kill everything which is not her ally – robot and cyborg alike – this Grubus warrior isn’t one for subtleties. She sometimes hurtles headlong into the fray and her body bears many battle scars.

She was only a child when the robots slaughtered her parents during the capture of Rikāŝ in 2334, and she carried ever after a profound hatred for the Republic of Korbeŝ, for her demons there, whom she cursed with the name “Nezmon”.

The War of the Six Kingdoms delighted her to no end. This bounty hunter is eager to run into battle and let it rip!

Name : Mõrteïš

(Class : Grubus ; Land : Federation of Põhjā)

Disfigured in battle, she had no choice but to wear a mask to keep her facial structure in place. Originally from the Meri military camp, she helped capture the town of Igioŝ during the Robot War.

This betrayal forced her to desert the Republic of Ŝāār, so she settled as far away as possible from her former homeland. Because she was highly involved in the formation of the Federation of Põhjā, she became an eminent and respected member of it.

The trauma she experienced made her stronger than ever, so she fiercely and courageously prepared to defend those close to her.

Name : Jivā

(Class : Tik ; Land : Šāār Empire)

Who has never heard of Jiva from Neisti? This first-generation robot was assembled during the Golden Age of the Republic of Ŝāār in the factories of Keŝküŝ.

A dedicated soldier, she never betrayed the Empire and fought in every battle. Fighting even against those who could have been her sisters during the uprising in Rikāŝ, then the bloody Robot War.

Some saw her as ruthless, almost soulless, and her deep black eyes did nothing to reassure those who crossed her path.

She felt totally at home on the battlefield, to the great misfortune of her opponents.

Name : Jāïn

(Class : Jeya ; Land : Kingdom Kinnine)

Assembled in the factories in the city of Liiv, Jaïn does not have the Three Laws of Robotics embedded within her. Totally free in her thoughts and actions, she chose to join the Kingdom Kinnine during the ritual of sprendimas.

Having been created after the events of the Robot War, she feels no disdain for other States. Armed with an advanced military arsenal, she was assigned to the heavy units. When the war began, she had no choice but to fight for the survival of her land.

Her metallic heart is cold, but her desire to live is scorching hot.

History of lands

Sāār Empire

Founded on the remains of the Republic of Ŝāār, itself having been founded on the Republic of Lazarus, the Ŝāār Empire carefully cultivated its image as a phoenix; one may say that this image suited it very well, being that its history was one of perpetual renaissance. A central and unique Republic during the exodus to Neisti, which founded most of the cities on the continent, it was brought to its knees during the Robot War. Its only salvation was its unstoppable desire for survival.

From 2137 until the founding of its capital Keŝküŝ, the Republic intended to remain the continent’s only entity. Its founder, Eha Ŝāār, had a vision of an idyllic land, where each person would be free and equal, able to become whoever they wanted in that then-peaceful world. This vision, made possible by the Golden Age of exploration and construction that followed, survived the death of its ring leader in 2151, but found itself in a difficult position at the end of the 23rd century.

Around a century later, scientists in the thriving Republic committed what some would call “the original sin,” a seminal act that would have dire consequences. In 2237, the robots, which would be called Viltis, were conceived in the image of their creators: with a woman’s body. Endowed with self-awareness, these robots were still hampered by an Old World concept: Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics. Initially fictional, this algorithm had been implanted into their root AI and unconsciously guided their every move.

These principles are as follows: a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm; a robot must obey orders given to it by humans, except when such orders conflict with the First Law; a robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws. These would lay the foundation for what some would call the “new enslavement”.

The early years were a hugely successful, and the development of the Republic increased exponentially, reaching never-before-imagined heights. However, their dream of a terrestrial Garden of Eden was stained by the manipulation of the robots, and some made this their daily combat. The Universal Movement for the Liberation of Robots was founded in 2283, and less than a dozen years later, these beings with an artificial consciousness were given the same status as every human or cyborg in the region of Rikāŝ. This unified momentum did not change the insensitive Republic’s plans, as it continually refused to repeal the disputed laws.

Rumors of rebellion lingered, and one soon erupted: the rebel region of Rikāŝ declared itself unilaterally independent and decided to follow its own beliefs. The Republic, anxious not to start a war that would ruin its efforts of harmonization, did not immediately put down the revolt, and entered into long negotiations. When the region succeeded in demolishing the Three Laws of Robotics some years later, the central government drastically increased the cyborg numbers in its armed forces.

Faced with these contradictory messages, the robots from the break-off region became frightened and decided to take initiative. They took power by force, declared war on the Republic, and used the resources from the region’s deep mines to rapidly increase their numbers. In 2334, the great Robot War had begun.

The fighting was Danstesque and furious, because the possibility of defeat was so unimaginable on both sides. The Republic used its entire resources to throw itself into the fray, to the point of disgusting certain regions. Bārjāār and Ŝodür rebelled in 2341, refusing to participate further in the butchery. This incited the capital’s fury, so it decided to brutally suppress the revolt in Ŝodür, in order to avoid any loss of territory. The city was razed to the ground and its population exterminated. This terrible decision almost spelled the end for the Republic.

Contrary to the expected effect, the city of Meri joined the resistance, and with the help of Bārjāār, took the city of Igioŝ and its precious mines. Then, in 2347, the Minü Region also broke with the Republic, founding a new pro-peace State that withdrew upon itself.

On the edge of the abyss, hemmed in by the immense armies of robots and prey to serious internal dissension, the Republic had no choice but to abdicate and so the authoritarian Ŝāār Empire was born. The entire population was requisitioned for the war effort, and endless swarms of cyborg warriors were created. This totalitarian about-face worked, bringing about a complete reversal of the situation, despite the loss of the Lopp mines. The Rikāŝ region was reincorporated into the Empire, and the robots were aggressively chased away. The “robot suppression” law was passed and enforced in these territories.

Although victorious, the Empire was nevertheless highly weakened by the years of war and renounced trying to recover the then-independent regions. This is how the Põhjā Federation, the Kingdom Kinnine and the Republic of Korbeŝ came into being, the latter having been founded by the surviving robots.

Tensions soon subsided and the authoritarian character of the government faded, ushering in a new era of global peace. It even authorized the creation of a new State in the abandoned lands of Ŝodür by the powerful and wealthy mercenary Ojā. The rising power of the Puhas Veri sect concerned the authorities for a time, but it removed the threat by allowing its followers to migrate to the ancient Baltic territories. The Empire had no need of a fresh rebellious movement within its ranks since that sect was particularly hostile to any modification of human bodies into machines.

Sensing that the tensions of the past would soon resurface, the Empire took a major step towards conciliation by repealing the law of robot suppression, allowing them to return, if they so desired. This act of goodwill didn’t fool anyone, considering the fierce determination of the Empire to reclaim its territories, and the Rikāŝ region was once again the fuse that lit the powder keg; in the year 2413, it declared itself independent and accelerated the War of the Six Kingdoms on the continent.

The Ŝāār Empire no longer wanted coexistence with the other States and wanted to reclaim all the remnants of its territories, which implied an uneasy peace. Its choice was clear: total domination or death. And its inhabitants were prepared to honor the nickname of their territory: Phoenix.

Topography:

Once covering all of Neisti, the Ŝāār Empire’s territory was slowly whittled down over the years. Only the tropical regions remain in the control of its secular capital and keeping them is a matter of survival. It can count on the composition of its territories, which leaves little room for a massive invasion. The Empire is almost completely covered in a dense tropical forest, making rapid progress impossible.

It also had had to deal with the loss of numerous mines during the various regional independent uprisings, and hastily created new cities upon its mineral-rich soil. Metsa with its platinum, Rannik with its iron, and Marg with its copper were created in the heart of its wetland wilderness, while the towns of Korgus and Piirātā were relegated to the borders and on rocky promontories, having the dual responsibility of tending to mines and manning the watchtowers. As for Ürāniā, it continues to spread its influence along the coast, while Keŝküŝ reigns supreme from the center of the small territory.

Republic of Tāšütā

Historically the continent’s rebellious region, though not the only one, it became the most agitated after years of foot-dragging. Originally known as Rikāŝ, the region was one of the first to be a created, almost at the same time as Keŝküŝ, due to the gold mines precious for creating cyborg circuitry. At the twilight of the Golden Age of the Republic of Ŝāār, it was also the primary executioner.

In 2283, the Universal Movement for the Liberation of Robots (UMLR) was born, which aimed to bring down the Three Laws of Robotics implanted into each robot created. Its founders believed that every being that could reason must be able to define its actions as it saw fit. They demanded that Ŝāār’s central government stop playing God in its factories, but it turned a deaf ear and wouldn’t in any way change its algorithms of creation.

Protests in the Rikāŝ region were growing and soon the local government passed a law granting rights to robots. This created an uproar in the capital, but the Republic accepted it in the end to silence the revolt. Robots were then free and equal to human beings under the law, but they were always unconsciously controlled by them, something that seemed paradoxical and completely incomprehensible to a part of the population. This illusion did not last forever, and in 2317 the Rikāŝ region seceded. It became independent from the rest of the Republic, which responded by drastically increasing its population and armies, temporarily refusing a sororicidal war.

After many years of research, the Republic of Rikāŝ finally managed to crack the robots’ algorithm and liberate them from the Three Laws of Robotics, which they had felt were totally unjust. For the first time in the history of the humanity, women, cyborgs, and robots were equal in all respects in society. As for the Republic of Ŝāār, it put more and more pressure on the borders of the secessionist region, so much so that the many robots who lived there eventually felt a very human emotion: fear – the fear of being annihilated by one’s opponents and erased from existence.

This feeling can affect many things, and robots weren’t an exception: faced with inaction from local authorities, armed groups took control of the Rikāŝ region, declared war on the Republic of Ŝāār, and used the region’s vast mineral deposits to increase their numbers rapidly. In the year 2334, the Robot War broke out. It would ravage everything in its path, pushing the glorious Republic of Ŝāār to the edge of the abyss.

Despite unrelenting efforts, the resistance of the robots could do nothing before the power of the Republic of Ŝāār, which had become an authoritarian Empire. The latter took over the region in 2358 and chased the survivors up into the high mountains, stopping at the edge of the immense desert, a lifesaver for the those who had become pariahs. The region then fell back into the Empire’s hands, infrastructure was restored, and the production of minerals continued inexorably.

Nonetheless, one might say that rebellion was in the genes of the inhabitants of that region. It was by their hands that the Robot War began, and it was because of them that the War of Six Kingdoms also began. Taking on the scent of separatists, the region seceded a second time from the Ŝāār Empire and declared the formation of the Republic of Taŝütā. Nevertheless, the Empire did not allow itself to be pushed around, and its military actions led the continent into all-out war.

In response to the imminent invasion, the Republic was formed into seven territories to facilitate management: Lahing defended part of the border with the Empire and sat on an advantageous deposit of gold; Ouvro finished out the battlefront and produced cobalt; Linnus and its platinum mine dominated the region; Kandik quietly thrived on iron in the hinterlands; Suur Magi shared the high mountains with Ojā State and exploited a vein of uranium; Jarv reigned over a copper mine from its remarkable lakeside city; and finally, the splendid capital Rikāŝ completed the picture with its mountains of gold.

The other States were hereby notified: the people of the Republic of Taŝütā are proud, free, and will do anything to remain so, even if it means exterminating anyone who believes otherwise.

Topography:

Call the “Region of a Thousand Lakes”, it certainly wears its name well, even if one could be picky and argue that it comprises many more, with a number close to ten times that. In the days of flesh and blood humans, these lakes were a major advantage for satisfying one of the basic needs of ancient humans: drinking. In that era of cyborgs, that resource is much less valuable since it could be a deadly trap for any defective cyborg deprived of being waterproof. It’s no secret that water and electricity don’t make good bedfellows.

This region is nevertheless superb and is tinged with an air of nostalgia, which could explain the visceral attachment of its inhabitants to their lands. It also bless with protection from the high mountains at its center, border by a particularly dense and impenetrable tropical forest. Broad mountainous plains complete the geography of that magnificent territory, sometimes lending a secret and inaccessible character to its valleys.

Kingdom Kinnine

The largest city in this territory was founded in 2137 and almost at the same time as Keŝküŝ, the capital of the former Republic of Ŝāār. Constructed on the largest copper deposit known to this day, this city looked more like an open-air mine its early days, hence its name, Minü. Soon, it grew in importance, despite the harsh climate of that quasi-glacial region. The drop in the planet’s temperatures had a direct impact on that territory for centuries; it was crossed by arctic winds that preserved a gigantic glacier.

Like the Republic of Ŝāār, the region lived in peace for almost 150 years, until the traumatic Robot War. In the midst of the conflict, pro-peace separatists from the Republic began to resist general authority and retreated into that inhospitable region to create a new State. In 2347, it unilaterally proclaimed itself independent; the Republic didn’t respond, too busy countering the relentless attacks of the robot armies.

The territory was then organized into a kingdom, ruled by the politically powerful family of the sisters Unt. It closed itself off to the outside world, fortified its position - assisted by the great mountain chain making up its territory -, and took the name Kinnine, which means “closed”. It then maintained a highly isolationist policy, allowing it not to take part in the conflict between the robots and the Ŝāār Empire, but also to put pressure on the latter to recognize the Kingdom’s independence.

It was not until 2372 that this hoped-for independence became official, resulting in a resumption of trade relations with the Empire. The borders were definitively established, and the territory was divided into seven large regions. Faced with its isolationism, the Kingdom built all the mines needed to develop its armies of cyborgs and robots. The most notable and the largest were organized into small towns: Jaa producing uranium, Liit producing Platinum, Uut Rahu producing iron, Raske producing gold, Piir producing cobalt, and Kiire producing copper, along with the capital, Minü.

Unlike its neighbor, the Kingdom had long since decided to allow the integration of robots Jeya fleeing the war into its society, and the latter were fully integrated. Its inhabitants were in favor of lasting peace but were trained to respond in case of major conflict.

It’s therefore a well-prepared, well-organized, and well-armed Kingdom Kinnine that enter the War of the Six Kingdoms. “If you want peace, prepare for war”, so the saying goes.

Topography :

Subject to strong arctic winds, the tip of the Kingdom is covered by a thick layer of ice that complicated establishing cities there. Jaa is an exception. Most of the region is covered by mid-altitude mountains and the rarer, dizzying foothills contain its impregnable seat, Raske.

Almost all its towns are scattered throughout the mineral-rich mountains, while only sturdy Kiire enjoys a less steep terrain. Trees are few and far between within this inhospitable tetrritory.

State of Õjā

Its capital, Ŝodür, is almost 300 years old, but the rest of the territory only developed shortly after that. This bustling city was originally a fortified military camp, established there by the former Republic of Ŝāār to control access to the narrow strait, Bab-el-Mandeb. The policy of Neisti mees had then been fully implemented, and the government wanted to ensure that no one could take advantage of this crossing point to easily enter the territory. During the Golden Age of the Republic, the city and its surroundings did not develop much. However, a few high-tech military complexes aimed at creating new generations of cyborgs – Skydas and Karys – were born.

During the uprising of 2341, the city joined forces with Bārjāār and refused to continue the central government’s war against the robots. The Republic of Ŝāār’s reply was appalling: its forces descended upon the region, reducing all the rebel installations to ruin, lest they pass into the hands of the enemy. Ŝodür was buried under the rubble and the remaining populations fled toward their new ally, Bārjāār.

It was only after the end of the war that people returned to the region. This dark period had enriched many mercenaries who had worked indiscriminately for both sides. The power generated by all this wealth was such that the Empire of Ŝāār agreed, regrettably, to cede some of its territories to the most famous of these mercenaries, Ojā. She then founded an eponymous State from the ashes of the Ŝodür region. She took this city as her capital and used her wealth to rapidly develop the economy of her newly acquired territory.

Not wanting to reign as a despot, and to compensate her valiant deputies, she appointed six territorial leaders, keeping the capital rich in cobalt for herself. The desolate and abandoned ancient land of the Ŝāār Empire saw many wealthy cities bloom: Elenae and its uranium mine, Pea and its platinum, Kahe rich in copper, towering Tævas and its iron, isolated Vihje and its gold, and Kaela with its deep cobalt mines.

The inhabitants of this region worship its founder and are devoted to defending their land heart and soul. Legend has it that Ojā became immortal and that her State would survive as long as her fortune did. And this domination is sure to last, for don’t people still say: “as rich as Ojā”?

Topography :

Desolation. This is how one could describe the landscape of this rich state. Vegetation is rare in these rocky lands, and only a handful of mangroves grows in the marine deltas. Oh, but there are certainly rocks. As far as the eye could see. So many, that the inhabitants who do not live in the main cities formed a whole complex network of grottos and caves. A veritable trap for potential invaders.

Only the isolated Vihje breaks with this rule and stand proudly at the center of a narrow plain. Pebbles, rocks, more stones. If wealth is measured in stone, the State of Ojā would have no contender. Nevertheless, the mountains offer extremely good protection and allow them to see danger approaching from far away, even very far away; take Tævas, which is the highest city on the continent, over 4,500m altitude.

Republic of Kõrbeš

The largest republic on the continent was entirely populated by robots at its creation, which had been chased from the borders of the Rikāŝ region. The founders of the Republic of Korbeŝ were all veterans of the Robot War, which pitted them against the powerful (and former) Republic of Ŝāār. Their attacks were so intense and their battles so bloody that those veterans brought the government to its knees, to the brink of breaking up. However, internal conflicts and the revival of the Empire swept away their early hopes of being a free territory.

These hopes were resurrected during the famous flight of the robots toward the barren and uninhabited wastelands. Hunted by the Empire that wanted to exterminate them, the robots found their Eldorado in those remote and very inhospitable territories. There, heat was king, and water was scarce. This suited robots very well, but much less cyborgs who still had basic human needs. Left in relative peace by the Empire, the newly formed community was able to develop there as it pleased, and it quickly founded the later-powerful Republic of Korbeŝ in 2358.

With a desire for universal peace and lacking the human feeling of vengeance, the robots immediately welcomed everyone, and everyone was free to settle in their land, provided that they could endure the hellish conditions. To develop trade, and to continue to multiply, the government of Korbeŝ was the first to establish a system of division into seven regions. Enjoying the reputation of having the best AIs on the continent, it was imitated by all other States, considering that there must have been a logical reason for that strange division.

The truth, which was only known years later, is much more poetic and leaves one to wonder about the evolution of the robots’ AI: the veteran who was in charge of the geographic breakdown was very fond of the expression “in seventh heaven”, and placed much hope in the territory that was brimming with freedom. So, she wanted the region of Liiv, the capital, to be that seventh heaven. A charming hope with a bright future.

A warring nation par excellence, the Republic of Korbeŝ relied on the hefty experience of its veterans to win that all-encompassing War of the Six Kingdoms. It intended to show the entire continent the robots’ supreme intelligence, but also the formidable cohesion of its mixed population.

Topography :

The Republic of Korbeŝ was built on a veritable treasure of silicon. Unfortunately, the use of all that sand remains unused since centuries in the technology industry and its vast stretches of wasteland are just useful to avoid an invasion.

The largest cities in the territory, including the capital Liiv, are located in the middle of a desert, firmly established on seemingly inexhaustible mines. Only Sojja is an exception and enjoys a milder climate, allowing it to accommodate most of the non-robotic population of the Republic. Jarsk and Masin complete the puzzle of those nearly homogeneous territories, and gaz defiantly across the great desert from their citadels high up in the mountains.

Federation of Põhjā

Mocked by its enemies as the “Shoestring Federation”, it remained dangerous and extremely well organized. It must be said that its military past had no doubt something to do with it.

At the dawn of the Republic of Ŝāār, the latter wished to consolidate its Neisti mees policy and then set up fortified camps at the most accessible entries into the mainland. The Bārjāār camps were founded on the former Suez Canal, and the Meri camps were founded across from the Strait of Gibraltar. These fortifications were built with the desire to prevent any possible arrival of people, but they had a specific political function: to be able to say that the continent was entirely under control and thus to establish the legitimacy of centralized power.

Just like the city of Ŝodür, Meri and Bārjāār experienced limited development and were largely abandoned by the capital, being located very far away from the latter. Thus, a mindset of resourcefulness mindset took seed in the minds of the inhabitants there, who grew up feeling abandoned by the government. In the few years following camp settlement, large groups of men attempted to force their way across the border, mainly around Bārjāār. The most notable, and last, event was in the year 2163, when several hundred forced their way across, resulting in many victims. They were then hunted down, and immediately wiped out.

The foundations of the Federation were laid during the Robot War. Like Ŝodür, Bārjāār refused to send its warriors to support the war effort and rebelled. It helplessly witnessed Ŝodür’s annihilation but welcomed the few survivors, and decided to migrate to the lands of Meri, faced with the Republic’s fury. It allied itself with the fortified city which also seceded, taking advantage of its geographical remoteness, and their united populations attacked the mines of Igioŝ to seize its precious copper.

In 2352, the rebels organized themselves into a Federation and continued their expansion by snatching the city of Lopp from the hands of the Ŝāār Empire. At the end of the war, in 2358, the Federation of Põhjā was firmly established and ruled over a vast territory. About ten years later, the people returned to the abandoned Bārjāār, where a platinum mine was discovered, making that region strategically important, although quite a distance from the main city of Meri.

The Federation watched the developments of the Ŝāār Empire from afar, and for a time prevented the followers of the Puhas Veri sect from reaching the former Baltic territories. It first and foremost wanted to save itself from an evil that everyone thought was irreversible. It took advantage of those relatively uneventful years to trade with its immediate neighbor and was inspired by its system of governance through seven regions. Mining prospection was conducted here and there, and the Federation founded three new cities: Risttee with its iron deposits; Juur and its impressive gold mines; and Amon, accompanied by its unhoped-for uranium deposit.

At the outbreak of the War of Six Kingdoms, a self-confident Federation of Põhjā entered the battle. Reassured by its military heritage and by the legendary fighters within its ranks, it intended to show the other States that it shrank before no one, and that guerilla warfare was its expertise.

Topography :

The territory of the Republic of Põhjā contains almost the entire remnant of mangroves covering Neitsi. Therefore, a significant part of that territory offers any intruder straying from the beaten paths a tangled forest filled with roots. Looking at those landscapes, regrettably, becomes very monotonous, with foliage as far as the eye can see.

Only some foothills break up the monotony, and it was in those high elevations that the very strategic Amon and Meri were established. The latter is doubly protected by the cities of Igioŝ that guards the delta, and Jur, which prevents any entry across the narrow strip of land. A few desert areas are worth mentioning, but the towns stop at their edges.

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