Post by Spain on Sept 26, 2010 2:40:20 GMT
As fans, a lot of us have different anthropomorphic interpretations of historical events. Though we do not want to tell you how to portray a certain character's history, we are providing a guide to some very basic and perhaps foundational concepts in regards to character origins/interactions/relations/ends to avoid clashing head canons and interpretations! It is important that you take a look at this because it could cause confusion if you do not read this and then do something that does not go with what we have established here.
♔ Birth of Countries. A country is formed as a proto-nation when culture is first introduced to them. This does not mean when people first arrived, and nor does it strictly mean when they first started farming. By culture we mean when people first started acting in a fashion that would indicate some form of cultural distinction, such as building monuments etc. This topic itself is hazy though, and thus down to player interpretation.
It is only once they become internationally recognized that they become a nation. This means that other countries will have to acknowledge them, that or they fall under the control of an empire.
♔ Communication. Being a world of many languages, sometimes it can be hard for people to communicate with each other. However, due to their long lifespans, it is presumed that countries are able to invest the time to master languages and are born as proto-nations with the ability to understand the universal language of the time and the language of their people. As for other languages, they pick it up in the same manner as their people, but are a lot quicker at mastering it, generally taking 3-4 years to become comfortable with it.
♔ Holy Roman Empire and Germany. As we all know, the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) had a very miserable existence, plagued by challenges from France and constant warfare. Since the actual canon leaves the fate of HRE to our own interpretation, for the purpose of this forum, we will just say that HRE does in fact die, however is revived to become the North German Confederation and Germany. However, how it happens exactly will be left to the Germany role-player and other involved parties.
♔ Households. More often than not, when a country is conquered, they are immediately put into the household of their conqueror or the country that discovers them. Examples of households would be the Habsburg Empire, the Spanish Empire (after Charles V split the Habsburg Empire into a Spanish line and an Austrian line), and the British Empire. However, just because the country is part of the household does not necessarily mean that they are going to be physically living in the house (like Brazil may be allowed to live in his house in South America because Portugal’s house is too far away).
In addition to conquered nations, countries whose crown is inherited by a ruler of another country through a dynastic union or a personal union would be considered joining the household. This is due to the fact that despite the fact that they do fall under the same dynastic rule or under the rule of the same monarch, their laws and interests remain separate and distinct as oppose to the creation of a shared government (See Marriage). Therefore, the dynastic and personal unions of the Iberian Union would not be considered a marriage but could be interpreted as living together and having a very close relationship (left up to the interpretation of the players).
♔ Marriage. The complexity of relationships between countries makes it very hard to determine when there is a union between countries and when there are none. In general, marriage between nations would occur when there is a meeting or an agreement that results in a shared government between the two countries.
As an example of what would not be considered marriage, the marriage of Juana de Aragón and Philip of Burgundy results in an alliance between Spain and the Habsburg monarchy, but the incorporation of the Kingdom of Spain into the Habsburg Empire does not take place until Carlos V happened to inherit the two crowns after King Fernándo II’s death. However, the Austro-Hungarian Compromise would be considered enough basis for the marriage of Austrian and Hungary because a new government is constructed to govern the new empire. Often things look like it could be a marriage, but is usually simply considered cohabitation (See Households for more information). However, that does not mean that two countries cannot have an exclusive and intimate relationship with each other.
Though with consensus of both parties, an alliance can be considered a marriage.
♔ Prussia's Existence after Dissolution. Oh, what do we do with Prussia. Some people believe that he should just die, while others believe that he goes on to become East Germany after World War II. In the case of this forum, we will follow canon and treat it as Prussia exists as Germany’s brother and fights in the war, but instead of dying in 1947 after the dissolution of the Free Republic of Prussia, his identity morphs into the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). We will leave the rest of the details up to the Prussia role-player and other involved parties.
♔ Blood Relationships. As they all say, blood runs thicker than water, though there may be some circumstances where a country may still refer to another as a "sibling." The level of relation to another will primarily rest upon the players, however, it is important to keep in mind that the closeness of a relationship depends on factors such as the tribes of people who have lived on the land and the culture of the land.
Siblings tend to be ones who have a common ancestor tribe and a history and culture that are closely tied to each other. Examples of siblings would include Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, and Portugal and Spain. Ones that are not connected by blood, but by culture and language should be considered more as cousins, such as Switzerland is to Austria, Prussia and Germany. Then finally, countries carved out of another primarily for purposes of creating buffer zones, amongst some others should be considered more like adopted relatives, like Switzerland and Lichtenstein, and Andorra and Spain (though Andorra could be considered something like a sister to France for various reasons).
♔ Acts of Violence. This is a board created for mature players, thus it is presumed that the players are able to determine what is considered tasteful. To keep consistency with canon, wars can result in serious injury to the country because their bodies are tied to the health of the land and of its people. However, though some events are so awful, so degrading that it deserves to be played out in a brutal manner, it does not have to be used for every lopsided fight.
♔ Land damage. Land damage does indeed physically affect the character. For example, in the burning of Washington in 1815 the fires of that would be directly reflected upon Alfred's body in the area upon him that represents DC (his heart). Added to this, the wound itself will persist until the damage to the land has been restored. This means they often take longer to heal than something like a cut caused by a knife would.
As a secondary note, a wound inflicted upon the character by other characters (not through land damage) is not reflected upon the land. This means that stabbing England through the heart will alas not destroy London, nor will it do any damage at all to London.
♔ Birth of Countries. A country is formed as a proto-nation when culture is first introduced to them. This does not mean when people first arrived, and nor does it strictly mean when they first started farming. By culture we mean when people first started acting in a fashion that would indicate some form of cultural distinction, such as building monuments etc. This topic itself is hazy though, and thus down to player interpretation.
It is only once they become internationally recognized that they become a nation. This means that other countries will have to acknowledge them, that or they fall under the control of an empire.
♔ Communication. Being a world of many languages, sometimes it can be hard for people to communicate with each other. However, due to their long lifespans, it is presumed that countries are able to invest the time to master languages and are born as proto-nations with the ability to understand the universal language of the time and the language of their people. As for other languages, they pick it up in the same manner as their people, but are a lot quicker at mastering it, generally taking 3-4 years to become comfortable with it.
♔ Holy Roman Empire and Germany. As we all know, the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) had a very miserable existence, plagued by challenges from France and constant warfare. Since the actual canon leaves the fate of HRE to our own interpretation, for the purpose of this forum, we will just say that HRE does in fact die, however is revived to become the North German Confederation and Germany. However, how it happens exactly will be left to the Germany role-player and other involved parties.
♔ Households. More often than not, when a country is conquered, they are immediately put into the household of their conqueror or the country that discovers them. Examples of households would be the Habsburg Empire, the Spanish Empire (after Charles V split the Habsburg Empire into a Spanish line and an Austrian line), and the British Empire. However, just because the country is part of the household does not necessarily mean that they are going to be physically living in the house (like Brazil may be allowed to live in his house in South America because Portugal’s house is too far away).
In addition to conquered nations, countries whose crown is inherited by a ruler of another country through a dynastic union or a personal union would be considered joining the household. This is due to the fact that despite the fact that they do fall under the same dynastic rule or under the rule of the same monarch, their laws and interests remain separate and distinct as oppose to the creation of a shared government (See Marriage). Therefore, the dynastic and personal unions of the Iberian Union would not be considered a marriage but could be interpreted as living together and having a very close relationship (left up to the interpretation of the players).
♔ Marriage. The complexity of relationships between countries makes it very hard to determine when there is a union between countries and when there are none. In general, marriage between nations would occur when there is a meeting or an agreement that results in a shared government between the two countries.
As an example of what would not be considered marriage, the marriage of Juana de Aragón and Philip of Burgundy results in an alliance between Spain and the Habsburg monarchy, but the incorporation of the Kingdom of Spain into the Habsburg Empire does not take place until Carlos V happened to inherit the two crowns after King Fernándo II’s death. However, the Austro-Hungarian Compromise would be considered enough basis for the marriage of Austrian and Hungary because a new government is constructed to govern the new empire. Often things look like it could be a marriage, but is usually simply considered cohabitation (See Households for more information). However, that does not mean that two countries cannot have an exclusive and intimate relationship with each other.
Though with consensus of both parties, an alliance can be considered a marriage.
♔ Prussia's Existence after Dissolution. Oh, what do we do with Prussia. Some people believe that he should just die, while others believe that he goes on to become East Germany after World War II. In the case of this forum, we will follow canon and treat it as Prussia exists as Germany’s brother and fights in the war, but instead of dying in 1947 after the dissolution of the Free Republic of Prussia, his identity morphs into the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). We will leave the rest of the details up to the Prussia role-player and other involved parties.
♔ Blood Relationships. As they all say, blood runs thicker than water, though there may be some circumstances where a country may still refer to another as a "sibling." The level of relation to another will primarily rest upon the players, however, it is important to keep in mind that the closeness of a relationship depends on factors such as the tribes of people who have lived on the land and the culture of the land.
Siblings tend to be ones who have a common ancestor tribe and a history and culture that are closely tied to each other. Examples of siblings would include Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, and Portugal and Spain. Ones that are not connected by blood, but by culture and language should be considered more as cousins, such as Switzerland is to Austria, Prussia and Germany. Then finally, countries carved out of another primarily for purposes of creating buffer zones, amongst some others should be considered more like adopted relatives, like Switzerland and Lichtenstein, and Andorra and Spain (though Andorra could be considered something like a sister to France for various reasons).
♔ Acts of Violence. This is a board created for mature players, thus it is presumed that the players are able to determine what is considered tasteful. To keep consistency with canon, wars can result in serious injury to the country because their bodies are tied to the health of the land and of its people. However, though some events are so awful, so degrading that it deserves to be played out in a brutal manner, it does not have to be used for every lopsided fight.
♔ Land damage. Land damage does indeed physically affect the character. For example, in the burning of Washington in 1815 the fires of that would be directly reflected upon Alfred's body in the area upon him that represents DC (his heart). Added to this, the wound itself will persist until the damage to the land has been restored. This means they often take longer to heal than something like a cut caused by a knife would.
As a secondary note, a wound inflicted upon the character by other characters (not through land damage) is not reflected upon the land. This means that stabbing England through the heart will alas not destroy London, nor will it do any damage at all to London.
