Project:Realpolitik: Difference between revisions

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[[Project:Index|Return to the project index]]

[[Project:Realpolitik/CR|For a more pointed discussion]]

== Realpolitik ==

;Scattered ideas to be formalized alongside the DLU, soon. (4-25-25)

;All forms of the DLU work internally -- its qualities and capabilities effectively creating an embedded pushdown automaton. (5-27-25)

;June will be the "wiki wrap-up" month, connecting the map & wiki as intended and rolling out the first informal changelist.

;Once the website reaches a point where it can host the WebFCS I'll do that database magic to handle parity.

*The overhaul your mother warned you about. Bigger, better and more ambitious than it rightfully should be, yet it is.

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;*What is canon is unchangeable. The First Civilization fell and so too did the Second Empire.

;*Skeletons were created (in the Floodlands?) and have no replacement for doing so. Tech has been lost, given up on or restricted in such a way that it does not re-enter broader society. Technological regression is a primary pillar to how Kenshi operates. The greatest advancements can be attributed as root cause for their collapse. Creating something which cannot be effectively controlled underlies this regressive pattern. It's not a question of why is the trend leading to primitivism... this much is obvious, the foundational elements which contributed to that technological height have been swept away causing a freefall effect. Adaptation itself has warped around the inversion of expected technological progression. You may say "Why are there no boats?" The appropriate question is "Why is the Skeleton mentioning lost tech?"

;*The concept plays in a purposeful paradoxical fashion. The history of Kenshi colors the culture and modus operandi of interactions amongst the races. Skeletons have sight beyond sight, engaging in ways incomprehensible to anyone outside of those "in the know". This knowledge was once more widely shared and the ~~tapestry~~ of these relationships much clearer and easier to parse. No longer the case, for better or worse(?), that is both the question and answer.

;*The concept plays in a purposeful paradoxical fashion. The history of Kenshi colors the culture and modus operandi of interactions amongst the races. Skeletons have sight beyond sight, engaging in ways incomprehensible to anyone outside of those "in the know". This knowledge was once more widely shared and the web of these relationships much clearer and easier to parse. No longer the case, for better or worse(?), that is both the question and answer.

=====Storylines=====

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#A Man, A Wife and their "Leviathan"

#A Classy Cacti

#Tears of Myr

#[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO-eAldJmA8 Tears of Myr]

#Farmer Follies

#Mishap at Mirage

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#Distant Sisters (and their squabbles)

#I'm In No Mood!

#It's Bulls$%@!

#Able Stranger

#Dad's Bad Deal

#Managed Expectations

#Suspicious Business Strategies

#Who asked HER?

#Ghosts Around Every Corner

#Ranch Runners

#Canine Captivation

#Can't Save em' All

#Go No Further! (Not Without This!)

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;The NEWS network is an implementation of the concepts which led to the "development" and refinement of the DLU core.

;Eight main containers are used with tagged elements to dictate for spawn behavior throughout... (in this case the Holy Nation territories).

;Built in response to the ~~tapestry~~ of factors affecting for the control of the river valley. It manages regional activity with an added layer of nuance unachievable with the standard state combinations. In essence purposed to provide a recursive reclamation effort by the HN as their interior lines are (endlessly) besieged.

;Built in response to the constellation of factors affecting for the control of the river valley. It manages regional activity with an added layer of nuance unachievable with the standard state combinations. In essence purposed to provide a recursive reclamation effort by the HN as their interior lines are (endlessly) besieged.

:#North

:#South

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:*The above topic is one of the foundational reasons for the mod's existence. The world is entirely encapsulated within the Realpolitik time-domain which is designed to meticulously iterate the world with respect to any action throughout the mapspace.

:*In other words we know there are SEPARATE TABLES involved in the ongoing Shek Civil War taking place at the game start distant to but running concurrently with the War in Bast. While a wholly different conflict in form it acts as one of the critical conditions affecting the course of the War in Bast. Its own conclusion can drastically alter the behaviors of the many involved factions in the northern conflict...

----

=====[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EGTD7azzWk The Northern Plague]=====

:''Why? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRwijpJqLUw Why is this happening to us?] What have we done...''

:''Judgement comes for the wicked...and for the innocent. IT IS WRITTEN!''

:''Another drink, please. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EGTD7azzWk The silence is starting to get to me...]''

----

;The emergence of sleeping sickness, the lost frontier and end of northern exploration.

:Something's...wrong.

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:And it got me wondering.

:What makes a man rise with the sun?

----

:<big>'''Sleeping Sickness'''</big> is a dialogue-activated, state-controlled, town & spawn area level event which follows the Cannibal Invasion, specifically due to continued minor faction presence throughout the northern sphere.

:It takes advantage of two main systems to create the effect

:#Heavily altered AI-packages intensifying in their "effect" over the course of the event

:#Dialogue-induced behaviors reminiscent of fainting, narcolepsy and various delirious or confused states of being

----

Fully tested and shown working as of '''5-1-25'''. Operation thereof to be woven into the eventual DLU update.

----

=====[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voQwdbrsgpo The Guild]=====

:*''I was born into a world at war. Never has the nation found peace. The home I was raised in is a charred ruin. The sister I loved lost to starvation. My parents... All for what?''

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:*''Set aside your worries. When we win, and we will, such concerns will be a thing of the past. We do not intend to return to the way things were.''

:*''It's not us or them. Empire is inevitable. Its embrace cannot be denied. The heart and soul of mankind yearns for its arrival.''

----

:The nail that wouldn't be hammered down. The faction that caused the calamity and set the stage for the modern world. Both protagonist and antagonist, their agency and effect upon the world is the suppressed element absent since the fall. The Guild threatens to overturn not just the status quo. Everything set in stone in the absence of the Second has been challenged by the rise of the merchants. The major powers spin wildly along the path towards their self-destruction as the old edifice is torn apart by the eccentric sun demon spirit made manifest. All power gravitates into the driving force of focused chaos. Change...is good. Change... is necessary. It's not enough. It's never enough. Why settle? Why accept less? Not for us. Not this time. This time...we decide.

----

=====[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R5y-IkNYhs War by way of Deception]=====

----

The Imperial grand strategy is intentionally obtuse and difficult to parse. By many accounts (and especially external assessment) they appear to be operating from a position of weakness, increasingly so. Through conversation with the embedded influence network does a different reality come into view...

:This perceived weakness is manufactured (to some extent). The conflicts engaged with are sought or measured for their merit.

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:United they stand, divided they fall. You only need glance at a map to identify the nature of the dilemma.

:As the 62nd has shown - there is no time or place to parley with the unreasonable. No better to have boneheads on your doorstep. It's all or nothing.

----

;The imperials are not trying to take over the island, per se. <big>They are trying to survive... even if it means at the cost of their neighbors.</big>

----

:Controlled pressure is the name of the game! A singular war front results in a stalemate... this much is known.

:Top down. Bottom up. Sustained. Sporadic. Expected and unexpected. Flag-bearing and freelancing. Anything goes!

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:#Northwest is where the light leaves us entirely. Beyond the mountains is nothing to be found for the faithful. Desolation.

:#The core holds steady though the cracks can be seen if one scrutinizes ever so slightly. The Okranite strength is in their centralizing nature.

----

=====[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW8YlNsMzno The Sin of Pride]=====

:''He who controls the heartland shall only know peace!''

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====[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4bXqYU88lE Trouble Abroad]====

:'''<big>A Letter from the Front</big>'''

::'''The page is frayed...contents can be made out from what remains...'''

::''The sands stretch to the horizon and beyond. Everywhere we tread the heat follows hungrily.''

::''I dare not describe the horrors I've encountered in this dispatch. The men...must be relieved of this task.''

::''Unsound. Their minds fray as the sun's glare whittles away at their fragile sanity. We've asked too much.''

::''I pray this reaches you with all due haste. Order is slipping, morale is wavering and our resolve reaching its limits.''

::''Send for the Shield. Valtena must know. Pass this along...please.''

----

::''INSANE! THAT DOG HAS GONE MAD!''

::''HOLY??? HAVEN'T YOU HEARD???''

::'''Her eyes dart from point to point, racing in search of something not there.'''

::''Y-Y-YOU'RE NOT SAFE HERE!''

::'''Her body comes to a freeze'''

::''And...and...neither am I...''

::''...''

----

::''Drink from the cup. The light is right here before you. Open up to the truth...''

::''Freedom is found in acceptance...''

::''We were made to do more than toil...to trudge...to obey...''

----

====[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxepL6rzvW4 The Great Equalizer]====

*The Holy Nation, if treated to the glory of victory, will be presented with the pleasure of discovering just how right they are about the outside world...and how little they know about themselves. An overextension of the worst kind - one that was never going to pan out in the Holy Nation's favor. Regardless of the militaristic success the Okranites achieve the found factors to their success will methodically dismantle their misguided attempts of lashing out at their rivals.

*The feckless bickering induced by the Guild and the vulnerable Phoenix opens the gates to an unwelcome ocean of cultural-psychological pressures upon the populace. What they will find in the desert is exactly what they're looking for, so to speak. Being right isn't necessarily a good thing in all cases. So, now what?

*If given the opportunity the first of many matches will be struck:

;The Fort Mirage Massacre

:Without going into too much detail. The Okranites are less than pleased with their so-called brothers they find mingling amongst the imperial populace. Ultimatums occur, realities set in, decisions are made and a chain of events unfolds leading to the moral corruption of the military power structure overseeing the desert garrison for the Holy Nation. Little by little Okranite behavior causes widespread disillusionment for all parties involved. The breakdown of the desert occupation is subject to displacement by the looming threat of the Cannibal Invasion, providing it an early exit route if possible. The Holy Nation has no business trying to tend to the vast desert. Nobody invited them and the troops aren't looking to stay.

----

=====[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev2iEY2hY-0 River Valley Treaty]=====

:There is a net greater chance in terms of overall available possibilities that the Holy Nation may be destroyed than it remain standing. The mod embraces this concept by creating a large set of events which whittle away at and attempts to "allow entry" of other factions into the Okranite lands. The layout of the map and factions compels action to occur throughout the central portion of the map. While it is entirely possible a player aligns with the HN and no (serious) degradation of the HN takes place at the hands of the rolling events and other factions.

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:#Protection of the River-Valley and specifically denying access to it. Okran's Pride is '''the most valuable real estate on the island'''.

:#Protection of the Central Corridor for the sake of maintaining the above two. Creating a frontier in flux - it arises out of found want, not inherent need.

:The base game posits Holy Nation ini

:The base game posits Holy Nation ini--

----

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpx9JStb1ko To the Temples]

===[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpx9JStb1ko To the Temples]===

:''You may keep your gods and do with them whatever you please. The need to cling to your failed blanket of security is a whim we're willing to entertain.''

:''To us shall go the providence. Make of the fate what you will. Our aims are greater than the musings of angry men in robes.''

:''Blasphemy? Hersey? Hah! Jealousy. Woe to the vanquished and to the victor goes the spoils.''

:''Thank the one you worship for our arrival. Better alive than torn asunder by something far more malevolent.''

;How did we get here?

:The Phoenix is a sheltered individual.

:Raised from before memories could form to be the man he is...and has become.

:One of the highest asks of the player is to find a way to understand this character for that process of becoming.

:A manufactured personality imposed on a person, of whom, quietly grapples with the reality they are playing the position of a puppet.

:Academic Okranism has passed down to him the role he inhabits, the hows and whys of what has lead to it and shines a light upon the flawed results in can create.

:The Phoenix is not a bad person per se. Okranism itself is decaying. This is embodied through the social malaise spreading throughout the heartland territories.

----

:'''The question...'''.

:The question...must be asked. What's causing this? If not the Phoenix, from where does the rot originate?

;What came first:

:#The decline of the moral framework by way of succession and the march of time.

:#The introduction of destructive paradigms unbounded by the Okranite controls.

:We're compelled to look to the factors which traction against the Okranite social fabric. The Phoenix helps us with this through his varied priorities, perspectives & reactions. What we find is a man chasing very real ghosts. The framing the Okranites elect (or by instruction) to ascribe to their varied concerns colors some of the key reasons as to why there is credence to the notion of outside imposition.

----

===[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFyzhyBA7To Compulsion to Commerce]===

----

===[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJvcN41H3Is Rebels Seldom Befriend Success]===

;Partisans, guerillas, insurgents -- different types of entities which compose the locally assembled resistance to an invading force or otherwise oppressive state apparatus through an unconventional often militaristic means and methods.

:Partisans, professionally-minded, foreign-funded & sponsored, irregular in tactical application.

:Guerillas, unconventional yet professional, aligned but operate autonomously, irregular in strategic alignment.

:Insurgents, unprofessional and aware of it, strategically avoidant, tactically a mess, subject to realignment.

;

----

=====[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1OYg0GSjo8 Third Empire]=====

*''Ideas cannot be killed. Try as we might they resurface with a persistence which bends the limits of patience. This time it's too late. Perhaps it always has been. They'll have to decide for themselves.... Whether or not they want to...''

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:''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USom8PhOXgs Please...stop apologizing for the things you can't control...]''

:''Let go...for our sake. This is the little we can offer you. Peace... or something reminiscent of it.''

----

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAiVmy66GBk Split Nature & The Fall of Man]

:''The eternal return... That's our fate. Look into their eyes and see it for yourself.''

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:''Search your soul. It's the only way to become whole...again.''

:Patterned across the tapestry. Littered with stains, a patchwork of frivolities and trivial pursuits. The wicked wind weakens the whole.

:Decrepit, swaying listlessly, all eyes drawn downwards before its tattered visage. So shall it be unto me?

----

=====The Coming Flood=====

;The mod culminates in an overwhelming siege of the island realms beginning quietly along the southern shoreline.

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::#Once initiated there is no (clear) means by which to halt it. The event must either be endured or meaningful solutions found. It cannot be "stopped".

::#It will not activate merely because of some activities in the south. It's contingent upon a set of those events resolving. That is to say it's not a '''natural''' follow-up to any given event - it is a combinatorial response to overall progress.

----

:*Much like the Cannibal Invasion it has milestone phases which can and do re-shape the future of the world. Factions can be destroyed, towns can be lost, entire races can be driven out of their "homeland".

:*Some key moments being...

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::#Anti-Slaver Isolation

::#Arrival of second and third waves

----

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:''...''

:''The thought never crossed your mind. Not even for a moment.''

----

;Notes from the bi-annual Harvest Planning & Preparation meeting...

:''My friends in the council, hear these words...''

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:*''I predict the imperial citizenry will pay to rebuild Bast and the acquired territories...in addition to coastal mess. The people paid with their lives to capture these areas and of course will be expected to rebuild them.''

:*''Peace of sorts will come to the river valley but will be short lived. There will be big promises of more imperial weapons flowing into the region and beyond to further this endeavor. Imperial troops will be used to monitor the peace. In time...''

:*

----

:*

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:''Not funny or helpful.''

:''W...what if...''

----

:''Ain't seen anything like it before.''

:''Can it...''

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:''How can you be sure?''

:''The same way we got here...with a test...!''

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=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvADa4TJEPY Return to Forever]=

;Some are fated to played a greater role.

;Not because you have been chosen.

;For you are the last to remain.

;Such weight shouldn't fall upon the shoulders of the young.

;And yet we too do not choose the burdens we must endure.

;I'm sorry it has to be this way.

;Put a smile on your face.

;I wouldn't lead you astray.

;No time to waste...

----

=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aCLOFj2Pxo It Is Written]=

;The course laid before us is fraught with obstacles. The rocky road becomes the beaten path as the foreign treads towards the familiar. We must hold on to truth passed down to us. The gift given weighs heavy...I know. Clutch it closely and fight with the life you've been given. It may be the end of an era. I cannot deny the pain of people. A little further...

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;Hidden within! Open the gates...

;Feed the ground, remake the world anew. The wheel keeps turning.

----

:Destroy yourself.

:In order to usher in the new dawn the old edifice must be wiped clean.

----

:The path is clear to those who keep the faith. Mercy for the fallen...a river of tears to quench our worst fears.

:You have to forgive them. They were only doing what they thought best.

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:None of without flaw.

:Certainly not.

----

;A note from the Old Control Tower

:...Keep an eye on the sky....

----

====PhasesTemp====

The mod operates through the following epochs...

*Preliminary Stasis

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::*Echoes of the Bast Civil War are found here though are even more weighty in their finality. The control of this region has entirely been handed to the agency separate to the direct faction actions. they are subject to, aside from player actions, the enduring potential of outside elements tampering with and causing a divergence in expected outcomes. However, these controlling factors can also be affected for and eliminated by proxy if so desired.

::*The interconnectivity of the world provides a narrative in motion hindered by a quagmire of arrested developments. The unwinding of these knots or forceful cutting thereof allows their consequences to flow into other regions and their impact determining the course of events found there.

----

=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAoLJ8GbA4Y The Real Monster]=

:''And what has your endless striving revealed? Ascending towards the same old inevitable realization. You did this to yourselves.''

:''What were you hoping for? What more could you expect? The evidence of failure is everywhere the eye can see.''

:''The course of this cannot be changed. Not for us.''

----

:''No...this.''

:''Why? How could you?''

:''It...''

:''...couldn't have been necessary.''

:''We had an understanding.''

:''How.''

:''HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?''

----

=====CornerOrder=====

Briefly...

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#South (Southern Core and Tide Landing)

#Southeast (Cat-Lon and the Imperial Exile)

----

===[Information Warfare]===

#Lies

#Feints

#Ruses

#Displays

#Demonstrations

#Camouflage

#Concealment

#Disinformation

#Insight

----

;OPSEC

;Denial and Deception

:Complementary framework for disorientation. Narrative control via security, reality shaping via intentional information filtering.

;Plausible deniability

;Defense in depth

:Hedgehog defense

:See the War in Bast and the Imperial Grand Strategy

;Proxy Wars (Please see the Shek Civil War and Hivemind behavioral map)

:Specifically, hybrid warfare, active measures, asymmetric warfare, destabilization, economic compeition, psychological operations, unconventional strategies, top-down bottom-up synergies, shadow government & bureaucratic despotism.

----

;Scalar severity

#Non-Critical Applications

#Short Product Life Expectancy / Non-Critical Applications

#Product Accessible to Field Repair

#Application Critical

#Refurbished or Reclaimed Parts

#Reporting Source Alert on Items

#Field Work or Repair Impossibility (i.e., Satellites, etc.)

#Mission Critical

#Safety Critical

#Life Dependent Applications

----

;As such

#Hostile Fauna

#Biological Weapons

#Programmables

#Uniform Code of Silence

#Stopgap Frames & Proxy Limb Production

#Organic Travel Restrictions

#Disaster Prevention Strategies

#Contrived Conflicts & Narratives

#Technological Embargo

#Status Quo Enforcement

----

=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_B242bUsME Hidden Hand]=

:''Oh yes, I've longed to travel, ya know? See the world...''

:''Besides, there's something I've been itching to do.''

:''Care to escort me there? It's not so far...for someone like yourself...''

----

;All along the shoreline scattered shells dot the beach. Murky waters lap, the fizzle of foam, traces glisten from the sandy mat.

;No way in.

;No way out.

----

:''...''

:''...what...''

:''was that sound?''

:''...''

:''...why...won't you answer me?''

:''...''

:''...why?''

::''Do you know why the sky cries?''

----

=Status Quo & the Third Major=

:''Hm...?''

:''What news do you bring?''

:''Is it true what they say?''

:''Has he sent us another gift?''

:''Avalanches above...yet the calm and quiet continues...''

----

=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh_wesEZtKM The Deep South]=

:It should be outlined (before it's made otherwise abundantly apparent) the mod dedicates a tremendous amount of effort to reshaping the map space as is, adapting it further to prepare for the politicking and conflicts it presents.

:One rising reality is the balance of power, respective to state capacities, is greatly enhanced throughout the southern realm of the United Cities/Empire.

:Without overtly changing the situation and instead using the available space to reorganize the ongoing scenarios, compound them and introduce new factors affecting the empire (a focused rebellious element, more interactions with the gangs and southern populace, established or exploratory policies on their neighbors, militaristic activities and a heightened presence of Guild & slaver operations).

:The south embraces its status as the unchallenged breadbasket of the empire. Even if unwieldy, uncontrolled and dangerous to traverse across various sections of the south -- the core coalescing in the wetlands and along the south by southwestern shores create an iron hold below the swamplands proper.

:The south is faced with the challenge of enduring a long, arduous and unfavorable series of events which intend to shake the empire up until and right through the main invasion event.

:At first insulated from the turmoil plaguing the north... their headaches are but a mild inconvenience to the greater existential problems facing the desert wing... for now.

:Chief amongst these issues is the logistical divide that can't be ignored. The Deadlands & Venge expanse are a problem. Well, they each have answers and neither are ideal. Ask any merchant about the task of trekking to and from the separated wings. You can't offer enough cats to ever match the demand for the goods. And let's not forget the skill required to complete the task...repeatedly...without losing your best in the process.

:With this separation providing a found peace thanks to no tension coming from the Shek Kingdom (as of recent) and the looming threat of those purple Hivers nearby (for some reason...) the southern military stands are a massive untapped entity busily managing the whims & wills of the commercial overlords. A tenable situation given th4 practical needs and incentives borne out of them.

----

:The south is, in effect, the empire's untapped ace up their sleeve to counterbalance the logistical nightmare they (initially) face.

:Much of the empire's goals can be summarized by the following statement, which bears repeating...

::<big>The territorial enclaves and separation created by the Venge corridor is a '''terminal''' flaw in the imperial zone of control. Uncorrected, it will cause challenges plaguing the empire to spiral beyond the point of rectification. The empire must, by any means necessary, close this logistical gap and ensure food security into the future, otherwise, the power structure will be effectively unable to escape the emergency-crisis state of being.</big>

:There is an overwhelming pull for the empire to overturn the existing zones of control & spheres of influence established both by themselves and their found rivals. The HN cannot control the river valley resources. The Shek cannot be allowed to partake in warlord warfare. The Hive(s) cannot be given an inch more in the realm of commerce. An all or nothing scenario if you will. The alternative is continued decline as the decadent empire fails to solve its chronic dilemmas.

==[All About the River Valley]==

;If it hasn't been made abundantly clear yet -- the politics of the day revolve around the control of the island's prime real estate.

:The power politics dictating the flow of food to the populace is the cornerstone factor for societal stability.

:Historically, we have seen time and again what happens when the people go without. No mere whittling away, though it does occur; the tendency to provoke a reaction and disruption to the previous status quo appears to be a matter of course.

:The Okranite control of the river valley is paramount to their success... and a point of stress for their rivals.

:The carrying capacity of the island is not unlimited. Bounded by technological barriers (often self-imposed or by those who work in obscurity) and the malaise of racial/social division...productivity is woefully out of step with the needs of the many.

:This division patterns conflicts across island, causing groups to subdivide into their familiar cultural groups in hopes of survival. It's the Okranites which have set the standard in the post-Second world. Centralized, dictatorial, racially-minded, spiritually focused, communal primtivists. Something like that.

:Inherently structured to create an insider/outsider, familiar/other, accepted/outcasted, filtration system to who may access and enjoy the benefits of being a part of this group.

:Let's look at those who are not welcome...

::#United Cities

::#Scorchlanders

::#Traders Guild

::#"Slavers"

::#Shek Kingdom

::#Shek

::#Machinists

::#Tech Hunters

::#Technologists

::#Skeletech-users

::#Flotsam Ninjas

::#Dissidents

::#"Terrorists"

::#Faith-Violators

::#Western Hive

::#Hivers

::#"Dark Ones"

:Needless to say, the Holy Nation's enemies are many. Some self-created, others by way of friction and finally those diametrically opposed to their existence.

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 [[Project:Index|Return to the project index]]
+[[Project:Realpolitik/CR|For a more pointed discussion]]
 == Realpolitik ==
 ;Scattered ideas to be formalized alongside the DLU, soon. (4-25-25)
+;All forms of the DLU work internally -- its qualities and capabilities effectively creating an embedded pushdown automaton. (5-27-25)
+;June will be the "wiki wrap-up" month, connecting the map & wiki as intended and rolling out the first informal changelist.
+;Once the website reaches a point where it can host the WebFCS I'll do that database magic to handle parity.
 *The overhaul your mother warned you about. Bigger, better and more ambitious than it rightfully should be, yet it is.
 {{Center|1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlP8B0KrJxk It's]}}
@@ Line 53: / Line 58: @@
 ;*What is canon is unchangeable. The First Civilization fell and so too did the Second Empire.
 ;*Skeletons were created (in the Floodlands?) and have no replacement for doing so. Tech has been lost, given up on or restricted in such a way that it does not re-enter broader society. Technological regression is a primary pillar to how Kenshi operates. The greatest advancements can be attributed as root cause for their collapse. Creating something which cannot be effectively controlled underlies this regressive pattern. It's not a question of why is the trend leading to primitivism... this much is obvious, the foundational elements which contributed to that technological height have been swept away causing a freefall effect. Adaptation itself has warped around the inversion of expected technological progression. You may say "Why are there no boats?" The appropriate question is "Why is the Skeleton mentioning lost tech?"
-;*The concept plays in a purposeful paradoxical fashion. The history of Kenshi colors the culture and modus operandi of interactions amongst the races. Skeletons have sight beyond sight, engaging in ways incomprehensible to anyone outside of those "in the know". This knowledge was once more widely shared and the tapestry of these relationships much clearer and easier to parse. No longer the case, for better or worse(?), that is both the question and answer.
+;*The concept plays in a purposeful paradoxical fashion. The history of Kenshi colors the culture and modus operandi of interactions amongst the races. Skeletons have sight beyond sight, engaging in ways incomprehensible to anyone outside of those "in the know". This knowledge was once more widely shared and the web of these relationships much clearer and easier to parse. No longer the case, for better or worse(?), that is both the question and answer.
 =====Storylines=====
@@ Line 62: / Line 67: @@
 #A Man, A Wife and their "Leviathan"
 #A Classy Cacti
-#Tears of Myr
+#[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO-eAldJmA8 Tears of Myr]
 #Farmer Follies
 #Mishap at Mirage
@@ Line 103: / Line 108: @@
 #Distant Sisters (and their squabbles)
 #I'm In No Mood!
+#It's Bulls$%@!
+#Able Stranger
+#Dad's Bad Deal
+#Managed Expectations
+#Suspicious Business Strategies
+#Who asked HER?
+#Ghosts Around Every Corner
+#Ranch Runners
+#Canine Captivation
+#Can't Save em' All
+#Go No Further! (Not Without This!)
@@ Line 207: / Line 223: @@
 ;The NEWS network is an implementation of the concepts which led to the "development" and refinement of the DLU core.
 ;Eight main containers are used with tagged elements to dictate for spawn behavior throughout... (in this case the Holy Nation territories).
-;Built in response to the tapestry of factors affecting for the control of the river valley. It manages regional activity with an added layer of nuance unachievable with the standard state combinations. In essence purposed to provide a recursive reclamation effort by the HN as their interior lines are (endlessly) besieged.
+;Built in response to the constellation of factors affecting for the control of the river valley. It manages regional activity with an added layer of nuance unachievable with the standard state combinations. In essence purposed to provide a recursive reclamation effort by the HN as their interior lines are (endlessly) besieged.
 :#North
 :#South
@@ Line 242: / Line 258: @@
 :*The above topic is one of the foundational reasons for the mod's existence. The world is entirely encapsulated within the Realpolitik time-domain which is designed to meticulously iterate the world with respect to any action throughout the mapspace.
 :*In other words we know there are SEPARATE TABLES involved in the ongoing Shek Civil War taking place at the game start distant to but running concurrently with the War in Bast. While a wholly different conflict in form it acts as one of the critical conditions affecting the course of the War in Bast. Its own conclusion can drastically alter the behaviors of the many involved factions in the northern conflict...
+----
 =====[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EGTD7azzWk The Northern Plague]=====
 :''Why? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRwijpJqLUw Why is this happening to us?] What have we done...''
 :''Judgement comes for the wicked...and for the innocent. IT IS WRITTEN!''
 :''Another drink, please. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EGTD7azzWk The silence is starting to get to me...]''
+----
 ;The emergence of sleeping sickness, the lost frontier and end of northern exploration.
 :Something's...wrong.
@@ Line 255: / Line 271: @@
 :And it got me wondering.
 :What makes a man rise with the sun?
+----
 :<big>'''Sleeping Sickness'''</big> is a dialogue-activated, state-controlled, town & spawn area level event which follows the Cannibal Invasion, specifically due to continued minor faction presence throughout the northern sphere.
 :It takes advantage of two main systems to create the effect
 :#Heavily altered AI-packages intensifying in their "effect" over the course of the event
 :#Dialogue-induced behaviors reminiscent of fainting, narcolepsy and various delirious or confused states of being
+----
 Fully tested and shown working as of '''5-1-25'''. Operation thereof to be woven into the eventual DLU update.
+----
 =====[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voQwdbrsgpo The Guild]=====
 :*''I was born into a world at war. Never has the nation found peace. The home I was raised in is a charred ruin. The sister I loved lost to starvation. My parents... All for what?''
@@ Line 268: / Line 284: @@
 :*''Set aside your worries. When we win, and we will, such concerns will be a thing of the past. We do not intend to return to the way things were.''
 :*''It's not us or them. Empire is inevitable. Its embrace cannot be denied. The heart and soul of mankind yearns for its arrival.''
+----
 :The nail that wouldn't be hammered down. The faction that caused the calamity and set the stage for the modern world. Both protagonist and antagonist, their agency and effect upon the world is the suppressed element absent since the fall. The Guild threatens to overturn not just the status quo. Everything set in stone in the absence of the Second has been challenged by the rise of the merchants. The major powers spin wildly along the path towards their self-destruction as the old edifice is torn apart by the eccentric sun demon spirit made manifest. All power gravitates into the driving force of focused chaos. Change...is good. Change... is necessary. It's not enough. It's never enough. Why settle? Why accept less? Not for us. Not this time. This time...we decide.
+----
 =====[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R5y-IkNYhs War by way of Deception]=====
+----
 The Imperial grand strategy is intentionally obtuse and difficult to parse. By many accounts (and especially external assessment) they appear to be operating from a position of weakness, increasingly so. Through conversation with the embedded influence network does a different reality come into view...
 :This perceived weakness is manufactured (to some extent). The conflicts engaged with are sought or measured for their merit.
@@ Line 280: / Line 296: @@
 :United they stand, divided they fall. You only need glance at a map to identify the nature of the dilemma.
 :As the 62nd has shown - there is no time or place to parley with the unreasonable. No better to have boneheads on your doorstep. It's all or nothing.
+----
 ;The imperials are not trying to take over the island, per se. <big>They are trying to survive... even if it means at the cost of their neighbors.</big>
+----
 :Controlled pressure is the name of the game! A singular war front results in a stalemate... this much is known.
 :Top down. Bottom up. Sustained. Sporadic. Expected and unexpected. Flag-bearing and freelancing. Anything goes!
@@ Line 296: / Line 312: @@
 :#Northwest is where the light leaves us entirely. Beyond the mountains is nothing to be found for the faithful. Desolation.
 :#The core holds steady though the cracks can be seen if one scrutinizes ever so slightly. The Okranite strength is in their centralizing nature.
+----
 =====[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW8YlNsMzno The Sin of Pride]=====
 :''He who controls the heartland shall only know peace!''
+----
+====[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4bXqYU88lE Trouble Abroad]====
+:'''<big>A Letter from the Front</big>'''
+::'''The page is frayed...contents can be made out from what remains...'''
+::''The sands stretch to the horizon and beyond. Everywhere we tread the heat follows hungrily.''
+::''I dare not describe the horrors I've encountered in this dispatch. The men...must be relieved of this task.''
+::''Unsound. Their minds fray as the sun's glare whittles away at their fragile sanity. We've asked too much.''
+::''I pray this reaches you with all due haste. Order is slipping, morale is wavering and our resolve reaching its limits.''
+::''Send for the Shield. Valtena must know. Pass this along...please.''
+----
+::''INSANE! THAT DOG HAS GONE MAD!''
+::''HOLY??? HAVEN'T YOU HEARD???''
+::'''Her eyes dart from point to point, racing in search of something not there.'''
+::''Y-Y-YOU'RE NOT SAFE HERE!''
+::'''Her body comes to a freeze'''
+::''And...and...neither am I...''
+::''...''
+----
+::''Drink from the cup. The light is right here before you. Open up to the truth...''
+::''Freedom is found in acceptance...''
+::''We were made to do more than toil...to trudge...to obey...''
+----
+====[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxepL6rzvW4 The Great Equalizer]====
+*The Holy Nation, if treated to the glory of victory, will be presented with the pleasure of discovering just how right they are about the outside world...and how little they know about themselves. An overextension of the worst kind - one that was never going to pan out in the Holy Nation's favor. Regardless of the militaristic success the Okranites achieve the found factors to their success will methodically dismantle their misguided attempts of lashing out at their rivals.
+*The feckless bickering induced by the Guild and the vulnerable Phoenix opens the gates to an unwelcome ocean of cultural-psychological pressures upon the populace. What they will find in the desert is exactly what they're looking for, so to speak. Being right isn't necessarily a good thing in all cases. So, now what?
+*If given the opportunity the first of many matches will be struck:
+;The Fort Mirage Massacre
+:Without going into too much detail. The Okranites are less than pleased with their so-called brothers they find mingling amongst the imperial populace. Ultimatums occur, realities set in, decisions are made and a chain of events unfolds leading to the moral corruption of the military power structure overseeing the desert garrison for the Holy Nation. Little by little Okranite behavior causes widespread disillusionment for all parties involved. The breakdown of the desert occupation is subject to displacement by the looming threat of the Cannibal Invasion, providing it an early exit route if possible. The Holy Nation has no business trying to tend to the vast desert. Nobody invited them and the troops aren't looking to stay.
+----
 =====[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev2iEY2hY-0 River Valley Treaty]=====
 :There is a net greater chance in terms of overall available possibilities that the Holy Nation may be destroyed than it remain standing. The mod embraces this concept by creating a large set of events which whittle away at and attempts to "allow entry" of other factions into the Okranite lands. The layout of the map and factions compels action to occur throughout the central portion of the map. While it is entirely possible a player aligns with the HN and no (serious) degradation of the HN takes place at the hands of the rolling events and other factions.
@@ Line 312: / Line 356: @@
 :#Protection of the River-Valley and specifically denying access to it. Okran's Pride is '''the most valuable real estate on the island'''.
 :#Protection of the Central Corridor for the sake of maintaining the above two. Creating a frontier in flux - it arises out of found want, not inherent need.
-:The base game posits Holy Nation ini
+:The base game posits Holy Nation ini--
+----
-[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpx9JStb1ko To the Temples]
+===[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpx9JStb1ko To the Temples]===
 :''You may keep your gods and do with them whatever you please. The need to cling to your failed blanket of security is a whim we're willing to entertain.''
 :''To us shall go the providence. Make of the fate what you will. Our aims are greater than the musings of angry men in robes.''
 :''Blasphemy? Hersey? Hah! Jealousy. Woe to the vanquished and to the victor goes the spoils.''
 :''Thank the one you worship for our arrival. Better alive than torn asunder by something far more malevolent.''
+;How did we get here?
+:The Phoenix is a sheltered individual.
+:Raised from before memories could form to be the man he is...and has become.
+:One of the highest asks of the player is to find a way to understand this character for that process of becoming.
+:A manufactured personality imposed on a person, of whom, quietly grapples with the reality they are playing the position of a puppet.
+:Academic Okranism has passed down to him the role he inhabits, the hows and whys of what has lead to it and shines a light upon the flawed results in can create.
+:The Phoenix is not a bad person per se. Okranism itself is decaying. This is embodied through the social malaise spreading throughout the heartland territories.
+----
+:'''The question...'''.
+:The question...must be asked. What's causing this? If not the Phoenix, from where does the rot originate?
+;What came first:
+:#The decline of the moral framework by way of succession and the march of time.
+:#The introduction of destructive paradigms unbounded by the Okranite controls.
+:We're compelled to look to the factors which traction against the Okranite social fabric. The Phoenix helps us with this through his varied priorities, perspectives & reactions. What we find is a man chasing very real ghosts. The framing the Okranites elect (or by instruction) to ascribe to their varied concerns colors some of the key reasons as to why there is credence to the notion of outside imposition.
+----
+===[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFyzhyBA7To Compulsion to Commerce]===
+----
+===[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJvcN41H3Is Rebels Seldom Befriend Success]===
+;Partisans, guerillas, insurgents -- different types of entities which compose the locally assembled resistance to an invading force or otherwise oppressive state apparatus through an unconventional often militaristic means and methods.
+:Partisans, professionally-minded, foreign-funded & sponsored, irregular in tactical application.
+:Guerillas, unconventional yet professional, aligned but operate autonomously, irregular in strategic alignment.
+:Insurgents, unprofessional and aware of it, strategically avoidant, tactically a mess, subject to realignment.
+;
+----
 =====[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1OYg0GSjo8 Third Empire]=====
 *''Ideas cannot be killed. Try as we might they resurface with a persistence which bends the limits of patience. This time it's too late. Perhaps it always has been. They'll have to decide for themselves.... Whether or not they want to...''
@@ Line 338: / Line 409: @@
 :''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USom8PhOXgs Please...stop apologizing for the things you can't control...]''
 :''Let go...for our sake. This is the little we can offer you. Peace... or something reminiscent of it.''
+----
 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAiVmy66GBk Split Nature & The Fall of Man]
 :''The eternal return... That's our fate. Look into their eyes and see it for yourself.''
@@ Line 346: / Line 417: @@
 :''Search your soul. It's the only way to become whole...again.''
+:Patterned across the tapestry. Littered with stains, a patchwork of frivolities and trivial pursuits. The wicked wind weakens the whole.
+:Decrepit, swaying listlessly, all eyes drawn downwards before its tattered visage. So shall it be unto me?
+----
 =====The Coming Flood=====
 ;The mod culminates in an overwhelming siege of the island realms beginning quietly along the southern shoreline.
@@ Line 357: / Line 431: @@
 ::#Once initiated there is no (clear) means by which to halt it. The event must either be endured or meaningful solutions found. It cannot be "stopped".
 ::#It will not activate merely because of some activities in the south. It's contingent upon a set of those events resolving. That is to say it's not a '''natural''' follow-up to any given event - it is a combinatorial response to overall progress.
+----
 :*Much like the Cannibal Invasion it has milestone phases which can and do re-shape the future of the world. Factions can be destroyed, towns can be lost, entire races can be driven out of their "homeland".
 :*Some key moments being...
@@ Line 370: / Line 444: @@
 ::#Anti-Slaver Isolation
 ::#Arrival of second and third waves
+----
@@ Line 378: / Line 453: @@
 :''...''
 :''The thought never crossed your mind. Not even for a moment.''
+----
 ;Notes from the bi-annual Harvest Planning & Preparation meeting...
 :''My friends in the council, hear these words...''
@@ Line 384: / Line 459: @@
 :*''I predict the imperial citizenry will pay to rebuild Bast and the acquired territories...in addition to coastal mess. The people paid with their lives to capture these areas and of course will be expected to rebuild them.''
 :*''Peace of sorts will come to the river valley but will be short lived. There will be big promises of more imperial weapons flowing into the region and beyond to further this endeavor. Imperial troops will be used to monitor the peace. In time...''
-:*
+----
-:*
-:*
-:*
-:*
-:*
-:*
-:*
-:*
-:*
-:*
-:*
-:*
-:*
-:*
-:*
-:*
-:*
-:*
-:*
@@ Line 413: / Line 469: @@
 :''Not funny or helpful.''
 :''W...what if...''
+----
 :''Ain't seen anything like it before.''
 :''Can it...''
@@ Line 422: / Line 478: @@
 :''How can you be sure?''
 :''The same way we got here...with a test...!''
+----
+=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvADa4TJEPY Return to Forever]=
+;Some are fated to played a greater role.
+;Not because you have been chosen.
+;For you are the last to remain.
+;Such weight shouldn't fall upon the shoulders of the young.
+;And yet we too do not choose the burdens we must endure.
+;I'm sorry it has to be this way.
+;Put a smile on your face.
+;I wouldn't lead you astray.
+;No time to waste...
+----
 =[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aCLOFj2Pxo It Is Written]=
 ;The course laid before us is fraught with obstacles. The rocky road becomes the beaten path as the foreign treads towards the familiar. We must hold on to truth passed down to us. The gift given weighs heavy...I know. Clutch it closely and fight with the life you've been given. It may be the end of an era. I cannot deny the pain of people. A little further...
@@ Line 428: / Line 495: @@
 ;Hidden within! Open the gates...
 ;Feed the ground, remake the world anew. The wheel keeps turning.
+----
 :Destroy yourself.
 :In order to usher in the new dawn the old edifice must be wiped clean.
+----
 :The path is clear to those who keep the faith. Mercy for the fallen...a river of tears to quench our worst fears.
 :You have to forgive them. They were only doing what they thought best.
@@ Line 437: / Line 504: @@
 :None of without flaw.
 :Certainly not.
+----
 ;A note from the Old Control Tower
 :...Keep an eye on the sky....
+----
 ====PhasesTemp====
 The mod operates through the following epochs...
 *Preliminary Stasis
@@ Line 473: / Line 539: @@
 ::*Echoes of the Bast Civil War are found here though are even more weighty in their finality. The control of this region has entirely been handed to the agency separate to the direct faction actions. they are subject to, aside from player actions, the enduring potential of outside elements tampering with and causing a divergence in expected outcomes. However, these controlling factors can also be affected for and eliminated by proxy if so desired.
 ::*The interconnectivity of the world provides a narrative in motion hindered by a quagmire of arrested developments. The unwinding of these knots or forceful cutting thereof allows their consequences to flow into other regions and their impact determining the course of events found there.
+----
+=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAoLJ8GbA4Y The Real Monster]=
+:''And what has your endless striving revealed? Ascending towards the same old inevitable realization. You did this to yourselves.''
+:''What were you hoping for? What more could you expect? The evidence of failure is everywhere the eye can see.''
+:''The course of this cannot be changed. Not for us.''
+----
+:''No...this.''
+:''Why? How could you?''
+:''It...''
+:''...couldn't have been necessary.''
+:''We had an understanding.''
+:''How.''
+:''HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?''
+----
 =====CornerOrder=====
 Briefly...
@@ Line 485: / Line 564: @@
 #South (Southern Core and Tide Landing)
 #Southeast (Cat-Lon and the Imperial Exile)
+----
+===[Information Warfare]===
+#Lies
+#Feints
+#Ruses
+#Displays
+#Demonstrations
+#Camouflage
+#Concealment
+#Disinformation
+#Insight
+----
+;OPSEC
+;Denial and Deception
+:Complementary framework for disorientation. Narrative control via security, reality shaping via intentional information filtering.
+;Plausible deniability
+;Defense in depth
+:Hedgehog defense
+:See the War in Bast and the Imperial Grand Strategy
+;Proxy Wars (Please see the Shek Civil War and Hivemind behavioral map)
+:Specifically, hybrid warfare, active measures, asymmetric warfare, destabilization, economic compeition, psychological operations, unconventional strategies, top-down bottom-up synergies, shadow government & bureaucratic despotism.
+----
+;Scalar severity
+#Non-Critical Applications
+#Short Product Life Expectancy / Non-Critical Applications
+#Product Accessible to Field Repair
+#Application Critical
+#Refurbished or Reclaimed Parts
+#Reporting Source Alert on Items
+#Field Work or Repair Impossibility (i.e., Satellites, etc.)
+#Mission Critical
+#Safety Critical
+#Life Dependent Applications
+----
+;As such
+#Hostile Fauna
+#Biological Weapons
+#Programmables
+#Uniform Code of Silence
+#Stopgap Frames & Proxy Limb Production
+#Organic Travel Restrictions
+#Disaster Prevention Strategies
+#Contrived Conflicts & Narratives
+#Technological Embargo
+#Status Quo Enforcement
+----
+=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_B242bUsME Hidden Hand]=
+:''Oh yes, I've longed to travel, ya know? See the world...''
+:''Besides, there's something I've been itching to do.''
+:''Care to escort me there? It's not so far...for someone like yourself...''
+----
+;All along the shoreline scattered shells dot the beach. Murky waters lap, the fizzle of foam, traces glisten from the sandy mat.
+;No way in.
+;No way out.
+----
+:''...''
+:''...what...''
+:''was that sound?''
+:''...''
+:''...why...won't you answer me?''
+:''...''
+:''...why?''
+::''Do you know why the sky cries?''
+----
+=Status Quo & the Third Major=
+:''Hm...?''
+:''What news do you bring?''
+:''Is it true what they say?''
+:''Has he sent us another gift?''
+:''Avalanches above...yet the calm and quiet continues...''
+----
+=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh_wesEZtKM The Deep South]=
+:It should be outlined (before it's made otherwise abundantly apparent) the mod dedicates a tremendous amount of effort to reshaping the map space as is, adapting it further to prepare for the politicking and conflicts it presents.
+:One rising reality is the balance of power, respective to state capacities, is greatly enhanced throughout the southern realm of the United Cities/Empire.
+:Without overtly changing the situation and instead using the available space to reorganize the ongoing scenarios, compound them and introduce new factors affecting the empire (a focused rebellious element, more interactions with the gangs and southern populace, established or exploratory policies on their neighbors, militaristic activities and a heightened presence of Guild & slaver operations).
+:The south embraces its status as the unchallenged breadbasket of the empire. Even if unwieldy, uncontrolled and dangerous to traverse across various sections of the south -- the core coalescing in the wetlands and along the south by southwestern shores create an iron hold below the swamplands proper.
+:The south is faced with the challenge of enduring a long, arduous and unfavorable series of events which intend to shake the empire up until and right through the main invasion event.
+:At first insulated from the turmoil plaguing the north... their headaches are but a mild inconvenience to the greater existential problems facing the desert wing... for now.
+:Chief amongst these issues is the logistical divide that can't be ignored. The Deadlands & Venge expanse are a problem. Well, they each have answers and neither are ideal. Ask any merchant about the task of trekking to and from the separated wings. You can't offer enough cats to ever match the demand for the goods. And let's not forget the skill required to complete the task...repeatedly...without losing your best in the process.
+:With this separation providing a found peace thanks to no tension coming from the Shek Kingdom (as of recent) and the looming threat of those purple Hivers nearby (for some reason...) the southern military stands are a massive untapped entity busily managing the whims & wills of the commercial overlords. A tenable situation given th4 practical needs and incentives borne out of them.
+----
+:The south is, in effect, the empire's untapped ace up their sleeve to counterbalance the logistical nightmare they (initially) face.
+:Much of the empire's goals can be summarized by the following statement, which bears repeating...
+::<big>The territorial enclaves and separation created by the Venge corridor is a '''terminal''' flaw in the imperial zone of control. Uncorrected, it will cause challenges plaguing the empire to spiral beyond the point of rectification. The empire must, by any means necessary, close this logistical gap and ensure food security into the future, otherwise, the power structure will be effectively unable to escape the emergency-crisis state of being.</big>
+:There is an overwhelming pull for the empire to overturn the existing zones of control & spheres of influence established both by themselves and their found rivals. The HN cannot control the river valley resources. The Shek cannot be allowed to partake in warlord warfare. The Hive(s) cannot be given an inch more in the realm of commerce. An all or nothing scenario if you will. The alternative is continued decline as the decadent empire fails to solve its chronic dilemmas.
+==[All About the River Valley]==
+;If it hasn't been made abundantly clear yet -- the politics of the day revolve around the control of the island's prime real estate.
+:The power politics dictating the flow of food to the populace is the cornerstone factor for societal stability.
+:Historically, we have seen time and again what happens when the people go without. No mere whittling away, though it does occur; the tendency to provoke a reaction and disruption to the previous status quo appears to be a matter of course.
+:The Okranite control of the river valley is paramount to their success... and a point of stress for their rivals.
+:The carrying capacity of the island is not unlimited. Bounded by technological barriers (often self-imposed or by those who work in obscurity) and the malaise of racial/social division...productivity is woefully out of step with the needs of the many.
+:This division patterns conflicts across island, causing groups to subdivide into their familiar cultural groups in hopes of survival. It's the Okranites which have set the standard in the post-Second world. Centralized, dictatorial, racially-minded, spiritually focused, communal primtivists. Something like that.
+:Inherently structured to create an insider/outsider, familiar/other, accepted/outcasted, filtration system to who may access and enjoy the benefits of being a part of this group.
+:Let's look at those who are not welcome...
+::#United Cities
+::#Scorchlanders
+::#Traders Guild
+::#"Slavers"
+::#Shek Kingdom
+::#Shek
+::#Machinists
+::#Tech Hunters
+::#Technologists
+::#Skeletech-users
+::#Flotsam Ninjas
+::#Dissidents
+::#"Terrorists"
+::#Faith-Violators
+::#Western Hive
+::#Hivers
+::#"Dark Ones"
+:Needless to say, the Holy Nation's enemies are many. Some self-created, others by way of friction and finally those diametrically opposed to their existence.