Once you've picked your sub race, try taking a stab at creating a backstory of your country, government, origins, myths, etc

Hey guys. When I found out about this I came up with a concept: a peaceful nation. Now in order for this to work, I'd like the cooperation of pretty much everyone. :)

See, I have Dwarves and have a mountainous country and a forge underneath my main base. My idea is that I supply nations with what they need by the ways of crafting weapons and armor, and possibly things like catapults and ballistae. I would have stayed out of any past wars and just sold weapons to any country that wanted them. Having the Dwarves, my creations would pretty much be superior to anything anyone else could make. So how does everyone feel about this?

Hmm...well I'm not sure I like the idea of you having superior creations... :D jk.

But in seriousness, I don't know if I understand what exactly you mean. By peaceful nation are you saying you wouldn't be participating in the war? Because I thought that the war was, you know, sort of the whole point of the game.

Alright, let's give this a shot. The thread is backstories so I tried for a story-esque sorta narration.

The Kingdom of Shandria wasn't always the noble land it is today. No, the land where griffins take flight so freely in the skies was once divided into three countries, each run by different gangs.

The mountain griffins in the south, whose tactics are as dark as their black feathers, the brown forest griffins the west, who are strong as the trees they dwell in, and the golden plains griffins to the east who are as swift as the wind they fly on.

These three states were constantly battling for supremacy, and after hundreds of years of infighting, one great silver griffin appeared. This silver griffin was able to rally the three clans. Under him, the land of Shandria became a kingdom of great wealth and power.

There is one other race of griffins, but they are nearly extinct due to the lack of their natural habitat: The snowy griffin. These magnificent white beasts are a bit larger than the normal griffin and are capable of dealing with the coldest of temperatures. But as the magic of the mountain griffins grew, so did their taste for heat. Due to the artificial heat which the mountain griffins came to rely on: focused in a rock called a fire stone, the mountains of the realm became too hot for the snowy griffins to live in. As such, they are unrecruitable unless new territory is gained.

The point of this would be so that I enter the war as Switzerland. The backstory would be in place so that your countries know that I usually stay neutral and keep to myself. It'd be easier and work better if this was established before the game, when for whatever reason a large war broke out. Yes, something would eventually cause me to have to fight, because otherwise it's no fun. I was just thinking that it would be a nice concept to go with, and it should bring more role playing into the game. Of course if only one person (or no one) goes for this, then the idea goes out the drain. I don't want to start writing a backstory until I get an a-OK from at least one person.

Well sure I guess if you wanted to do that I don't object.

I'm fine with this, but my interaction with you, Farhad, would be minimal.

The gnomish kingdom of Gearstorm started out as a mostly human run group. The people who began the kingdom lived on or around the Tosh mountain range. One day years and years ago, a meteor storm struck the mountains. Three large meteors struck, one leaving a large burnt valley through the mountain range leading up to Mt. Toshley. The second struck the very top of the mountain, leaving a landslide going down the southeast side of the mountain. The third struck directly on the other side of the mountain. It went straight down into the earth, carving deep into the surface. It left a deep crater that very quickly began to fill and become Everdrift lake.

The Gnomes began to experiment near the crash sites, and find ways to get close and investigate. They soon found the meteors had been more than stone. Pockets of magical energy were found by the gnomes. Their mages were overjoyed by these findings. They found ways to use these energies in their machines, and even enhance their magical abilities.

The mages and inventors work together to make the greatest creations their minds can come up with. Though they are not a large war like race, they create weapons for the sake of making something new.

Ha, I've been meaning to get around to this. Well, anyway...

In the cold, harsh lands of Nathaldor, the Dwarves have ruled their land. Coexisting with humans who have grown accustom to the cold, the Dwarves partake in their role in the world. Unlike most, the Dwarves of Nathaldor have always preferred to stay out of conflicts and live a simple life of producing and trading. As such, other countries have at times used their land as neutral land, for the meetings of leaders and such. Civilians often took shelter when they did not want to participate and were allowed to leave.

Nathaldor has not gotten into many wars in the past, however their part was minimal. They always preferred to work alone in their forges, and duel amongst themselves. They are no stranger to battle, you can be sure of that. They are ruled under a king, the current bloodline being four generations in.

There are three popular myths told within the kingdom. The first is the split in the river. Legend says that it was once just one large river running through the land. At some point, it was forcefully split harshly in two. They say that it was caused by some strong force of magic.

The second is the Forbidden Forest. Legends say that there was a battle there that has long since been wiped from any book. All that is known is that no one has gone in and seen from again. Within the forest there is said to be a cave. As for what is in it, no one knows.

The last is the Lone Mountain. It is known that beasts of some nature live in and around it. Everyone stays clear from it, for they are said to be captured by the beasts and go through unbearable torture before...

The Zabrak people of the Iridonia have lived in the desert for thousands of years before the events of Landwars V. However, six hundred years before what we will perceive as "today," the Zabraks discovered that some people were born with a sort of burden upon them. These individuals appeared to be encumbered by something, and it wasn't long until philosophers discovered that they could use this burden to their advantage. It took them a good hundred years, but "burdened" Zabraks could eventually be trained to channel and control the burden they carried to bend and manipulate the energy field around themselves and every living thing, known as "The Force". The Zabrak High Council at Rim (The only city at the time) then trained many individuals to use the force and established the Jedi Order.

Peace among the Jedi Order did not last long, however. Many force-adept students did not believe in the council's teachings and left the order. After gaining some followers, these renegade Jedi, led by Lord Haidek'ur, moved northward into the badlands and started a government outside of the Jedi Order. It was not long before they built the Sith Academy in the city of Taargus, claimed the Badlands for themselves and waged war against the Jedi.

It is now 100 years before Land Wars V, and the two Zabrak clans, the Jedi Order and the Sith Empire are in the midst of a bloody war. Two human cities have appeared on the western side of Iridonia, called Jefferton and Austur, which remained unnoticed by the Zabraks. These settlers have been observing the Zabraks for some time, and after years and years of war, both Zabrak clans have grown weak in number and resources. Lord Haidek'ur has since died, and the Sith have carved him an enormous tomb for founding their empire.

The human setlers then planned many strikes on both the Jedi and Sith cities, adding a third party to the Great Jedi Wars. This then united both Zabrak Clans under a common enemy, the Humans. After a few years of war, the Humans ended it peacefully with a treaty of allegiance with the Zabraks, and were welcomed as a new clan in Iridonia. The three clans are united as one, but years of war have dwindled their numbers, but these wars have made them more than prepared for the great conflagration yet to come…

midi chlorians were such a dumb idea.

As is, you pass.

I really should change it.

How the hell could people in that day and age take blood samples?

Just say they discovered they had supernatural powers or something.

Before the Vacant Empire took power over the Valerian Peninsula, the area was populated only by the great and terrible dragons, who had reigned there for ages beyond numbering. The legendary creatures liked to keep to themselves, but they were a violent race. The smaller dragons would form into small tribes for protection from the other dragons, while the larger dragons would live alone, claiming an area and using force to make sure they were the only dragons around for miles. The several different dragon tribes were constantly at war with each other, fighting over land and resources, and rarely was there ever a meeting of two greater dragons that did not result in destructive conflict. The dragons had lived like this for as long as they could remember, and those that sought peace did so in vain.

Humans did not dare approach the peninsula, for fear of the dragons they knew lived there. Those brave souls who did enter the land of the dragons never returned, most of them killed shortly after arriving. However, legend speaks of one individual who survived, and lived a long life among the dragons. The great Quintus Valerius Scaeva Draconius, named after the dragons who he learned to tame. According to myth, Valerius was a great and powerful war leader. He was exiled from his homeland when an oppressive tyrant took control. Valerius, exiled from his own land, decided he would start a new empire all of his own, and he decided he would do it among the dragons. When he first arrived in the land of the dragons, he had to fight several times for his life, but he proved himself to be a skillful warrior, and was able to fight off many dragons. Eventually, Valerius came across a small tribe of dragons who only wanted peace, rather than mindless fighting. The tribe consisted of several young and small dragons, and three great and mighty adult dragons. Valerius joined this tribe and lead them in a war for unity.

The war lasted many years, but many more dragons joined sides with Valerius and were able to turn the tides towards peace. Once Valerius had united the dragons he named the peninsula after himself, took on the agnomen Draconius, and settled an Empire. He called his empire the Vacant Empire, because his land was empty and devoid of any humans besides himself. This, however, did not last long. Many people began to migrate to the Valerian Peninsula, escaping the oppressive rule of the tyrant that had taken control many years ago and exiled Valerius. The Vacant Emperor welcomed the new citizens, and in only a few years the Empire was well populated and soon had several cities and fortifications.

Although his empire was no longer so vacant, the Vacant Emperor has grown fond of the name and kept it. At the old age of 83, Vacant Emperor Quintus Valerius Scaeva Draconius of the Valerian Peninsula died and passed the throne on to his heir, Primus Valerius Scaeva Vacant, the current Vacant Emperor.

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Okay so I wasn't feeling especially inspired when I wrote this. It does the job I guess.