Full Name of Country/Region: The Commonwealth of Eskdale
Representative Signing: Royal Overseer Stanley Keyes
First Language: English
Second Language:
Additional Languages:

Full Name of Country/Region: The Commonwealth of Eskdale
Representative Signing: Royal Overseer Stanley Keyes
First Language: English
Second Language:
Additional Languages:

Cornwall Class Missile Sub

1. Halton
2. Kellet
3. Carnforth
4. Borwick

Norfolk Class Fleet Sub

1. Tenitfield
2. Kendal
3. Holme
4. Farleton

Somerset Class Attack Sub

1. Milton
2. Hincaster
3. Sizergh
4. Skelsmergh

Assault Ship

1. Watchgate - Set up to carry V/STOL fighter aircraft
2. Wickersgill - Set up as a helicopter carrier
3. Oddendale - Set up as a helicopter carrier

Grafton Class Destroyer

1. Shap
2. Keld
3. Hardendale
4. Towcett
5. Hackthorpe

Beaufort Class Frigate

1. Lowther
2. Clifton
3. Yanwath
4. Redhills
5. Carleton
6. Sowerby
7. Coupland
8. Warcop
9. Hellbeck
10. Brough
11. Stainmore
12. Bowes

Albans Class Patrol Ship

1. Startforth
2. Broomeilaw
3. Cleatlam
4. Staindrop
5. Wackerfield
6. Auckland
7. Etherley
8. Butsfield

Bedford Class LCS

1. Rowley
2. Allensford
3. Mosswood
4. Barleyhill
5. Throckley
6. Walbottle

Devonshire Class Mine Warfare Ship

1. Swalwell
2. Lamesley
3. Washington
4. Hesledon

Marlbrough Class Fast Patrol Ship

1. Easington
2. Sheraton
3. Elwick
4. Wolviston
5. Norton
6. Acklam
7. Ellenbeck
8. Landmoth

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230 x Badger Main Battle Tank
600 x Beaver Infantry Fighting Vehicle
650 x Vole Infantry Fighting Vehicle
380 x Mouse Armored Personnel Carrier
350 x Rat Armored Personnel Carrier
400 x Dormouse Mine Protection Vehicle
400 x Squirrel Mobility Vehicle
380 x Hare Mobility Vehicle
300 x Rabbit Combat Vehicle
60 x Mole Rocket Artillery
90 x Shrew Self Propelled Howitzer
110 x Hedgehog Towed Howitzer
30 x Wolf SAM System
50 x Bat Attack Helicopter
35 x Noctule Helicopter
40 x Pipistrelle UAV
25 x Alcathoe Helicopter

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THE COMMONWEALTH AIR FORCE (CAF)
34,200 Full Time Airmen
4,200 Reservists[/center]

4 x E-20 Swan AEWACS Aircraft
5x P-1 Goose Maritime Patrol Aircraft
130 x F-17 Osprey Multi-Role Fighter
90 x F-18 Kestrel Multi-Role Fighter
4 x E-135 Falcon SIGINT Aircraft
18 x E-18 MerlinElectronic Warfare Fighter
10 x K-330 Hobby Tanker
58 x T-9 Rail Trainer / Light Ground Attack
58 x T-10 Crake Trainer / Light Fighter
30 x C-17 Sora Transport
60 x H-1 Gallinule Helicopter
10 x C-5 Coot Transport
25 x C-22 Crane Transport
10 x U-9 Bustard UAV
10 x U-10 Avocet UAV
15 x B-2 Curlew Bomber
30 x F-12 Shelduck Multi-role VSTOL Fighter

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Sacred teachings of the Lorsch faith tells the story of how the final of Gods Emissaries, a young priestess called Sionann sacrificed herself by writing the religious texts non-step when the only original copies were disintegrating before her. Sadly the only remaining text she had to copy from contained a section known as the "dangerous verses" and without thought in her desperate desire to complete the task before her death he included them. In her final breaths before dying of exhaustion she tasked her younger brother with removing the pages and ensuring they did not fall into the hands of evil. There are many tales of what Connla did with the pages. Some believe that he burnt them while others say the power they contained ensured they survived the flames. Others believe that the text was entombed with Sionann at a unknown location which mankind was never meant to find. There are some who believe that the texts contains information that at some point humanity would need and so Connla separated the pages and had them taken by trusted followers to different parts of Mundus.

While the figure of Connla is a largely mythological one there are historic pointers to him having been at least partly a real person at some point in history. Most historians today believe that Connla was in part a creation of the 2nd Legate of the Faith, a man called Jereal. He is thought to have codified the various texts of the faith in approx. 350 B.C from a variety of different faiths that shared similar stories and ideas. Historians now believe he created the idea of Connla being a bridge between the Emissaries and mankind in order to legitimise his position as Legate. This would naturally cast doubts over the existence of the "Dangerous Verses" however they have become a key part of the faith and many rumours and prophecies about them have been born over the centuries.

In 75 A.D the then Legate of the Faith was a man called Toban and he founded the Order of Connla. The aim of the order was to "Protect the Safety of Mankind". The manner by which they work and their membership has always been kept rather secretive and this  added to their mystique. In 1914 the Legate of the Faith was Robert Askenville and he gave an insight into the Order by allowing for the first time some of its members to wear a uniform and emblem having been granted special duties within the faith. Those who are publicly part of the Order are still very secretive about exactly what they do however the fact so many of these people have been respected scholars or military figures have lead many to consider them "Warrior Scholars" and it is thought they are studying ways to either counter-act the "Dangerous Verses" should they be unleashed on mankind or in some cases it is believed that they are guarding the texts.

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Not public knowledge so not known IC

The Order is currently made up of about 500 individuals organised into two uneven parts. Members are either "Quills" or "Blades" depending upon their primary role. A "Quill" is generally tasked with seeking out information on behalf of the faith. In the past this has included digging up dirt on political figures who speak unfavourably of the faith or try and otherwise lessen the faiths influence. This has even seen them act as lawyers in prosecutions against people deemed to be heretics or more recently damaging the reputation of the faith. They also work to influence the spread of the faith in foreign communities or work to expand the faiths access to information. "Quills" are therefore part lawyer, part scholar, part spy, part propagandarist.

"Blades" meanwhile provide a combination of close protection for key figures, intimidation of people seen as problems, they guard instillations if needed and have through history carried out assassinations and even attempted to foster coups. They are generally military trained either having been recruited to the Order and then sent into the military to be skilled up or having been recruited while in the military.

In terms of recruitment members personally recommend a new member who is approved by the Orders leader who is known as the Cleric of Connla. The Cleric reports directly to the Legate.

Those who are permitted to be public members of the Order may formally wear the faith's symbol flanked by a bow on one side and a quill on the other as a silver badge. One of the most prominent public members is Prince William of Papcastle who is an experienced lawyer and served in the military as a Military Police officer for ten years. He was recruited in 2017 and is often used as a kind of spokesman for the faith and the Order when required.

The Grand Council of the Kingdom of Eskdale is to meet for its first of its minimum two meetings this year. The agenda for this meeting is to be set by Her Majesty Queen Diane IV of Thornhill and has as its agenda the following items.

*The Commonwealths status regarding key documents such as the MCUR and Uppsala Convention
*The Commonwealths status regarding membership of the organisations MICA and COIN.
*The Commonwealths need to conduct regional visits.

The meeting is to be attended in person by Her Majesty QUeen Diane IV along with His Majesty King Henry III of Papcastle however His Majesty King Robert II of Blackbeck has sent his apologies and will not attend the meeting in person and will instead send his Chief Minister Rufus Brook. The meeting shall also see four members of each Kingdom's Freeman's Council attend along with an equal number from the King's Council meaning a total of 24 Councillors will take part in the debate along with the Deacon of the Faith.

Any decisions shall require a majority vote of Councillors. 

Nation Name:- Eskdale
Type of government:- Commonwealth Monarchy
GDP per capita:- Approx 30k
Population:- 45.5million
National Service: No

What if any military threats does your nation face? Historically any that impacted independent nations in the Mhorish/Illumic

What is your nations landscape like? Lake District UK

How technologically advanced is your nation? I'd like it to be similar in standard to something like the UK.

Historically how has your military been used? Largely armed neutrality. During the war woild have been heavil focused on preventing invasions.

What is your nations current foreign policy stance? E.g emerging from isolation / Building trade connections/ worried about the monster coming over the hill etc.   Wanting to maintain the idea of armed neutrality however exploring opportunities to work with other nations

The vast majority of people in Eskdale practice the faith of Lorschism. According to this faith the God Lorsch created the world by splitting himself in three to form the land, sea and sky. Next to bring life into the world he further split himself into three to form the mind, body and spirit of the first human, a woman called Arwen. Lorsch eventually gave Arwen three children, Eoghan, Morcant and Aoife. It is from these four creations of Lorsch that all human life has descended.

After some time the descendants of the first four humans began to lose their connection to Lorsch and so he sent over time six Emissaries to help guide man-kind and these have shaped our knowledge of man-kind.

The Emissaries

1. Áed the Originator

Áed was sent to help guide the people back to matters of showing their faith to Lorsch. He was a famed warrior in his day and upon having been injured and left for dead in battle the god Lorsch revealed himself to Áed and in return for returning him to Mundus set before him the task of spreading the rules of the faith. This saw him impose a regime of prayers twice a day, fasting for a day a month, making sacrifices at the solstices and many other small rituals. Áed began training others to continue the teachings of Lorsch but was killed by an evil spirit called Branwen murdered him.

2. Seisyll the Builder

Seisyll was a Blacksmith who was saved from a smithy fire by Lorsch. He had been an extremely pious man and sensing that he had a role to play for the faithful Seisyll was saved. He was tasked with constructing a home for the spirit of Lorsch to reside and is famed as building the first Temple in the faith. He also encoded the rules given to Áed onto the walls ensuring that a permanent record of them was made. He is also considered not just a physical builder for the faith but also a spiritual builder as he traveled extensively to help spread the words of Lorsch. Seisyll died when the evil spirit Branwen had transformed herself into a replica of his horse and while fording a river disappeared making Seisyll drown.

3. Nechtan The Teacher

Nechtan was an orphan boy who was lost wandering the woods when an old man took him in and raised him for the next ten years. By the time he had reached adulthood Nechtan was more knowledgeable in the ways of Lorsch than any human who had come before him. It was only at this point that the old man was revealed to be Lorsch himself as he had been concerned that man-kind was losing its way. Lorsch tasked his adoptive son with preparing others to help spread his teachings and as a result Nechtan recruited 18 individuals who became the first formally trained Priests of Lorsch. Nechtan was eventually accused by non-believers of spreading false ideals and executed by being thrown from a cliff. It is told however that as he fell spirits sent by Lorsch took hold of him and carried him off to paradise.

4. Nynniaw the Writer

Nynniaw was a young Prince who left his family so that he could worship Lorsch. He dedicated himself to learning everything he could from the Priests and determined that for the faith to continue to grow the words of Lorsch would need to be written down in places other than the Temple walls. He is credited with writing the Library of Lorsch, which despite its name is in fact only three books. In these he codified the rituals, the teachings and the rules of the God. He was able to record rituals of great power and importance some of which had been performed directly by Lorsch. In an attempt to learn Lorsch's power Branwen tried to steal the three books and Nynniaw died fending off this evil and preserved the safety of them.

5. Eigyr the Redeemed.

Eigyr was the first and only female Emissary. Lorsch was becoming angry at the way man-kind was allowing certain groups to be subjegated and believed this marked a moment when man-kind could have begun to stray away from him. Eigyr was given a redefined list of rules about the faith. It included how it should act towards other faiths and covered some ground that had not been done so by earlier rules. Lorsch was pleased with the work that Eigyr had done in making the faith stronger. Branwen sensing the Eigyr was becoming too prideful corrupted her and had her reveal many secrets of Lorsch to her including some of the rituals only Lorsch could perform that allowed him to have control over all creation. Branwen convinced Eigyr to write a new version of sacred texts for her including these rituals and having once handed them over destroy all other sacred texts. At the last moment Eigyr saw through Branwen's deception and sacrificed herself to destroy Branwen. The same action that saw the spirit of evil, Branwen destroyed, also condemed the text containing all the teachings and Lorsch begin to disintegrate. Thankfully Eigyr had a young Priest called Sionann by her side.

6. Sionann the Scribe

Seeing her mentor Eigyr dead and the only copy of the sacred texts beginning to disintegrate it is said that Sionann began to copy them down in a new book thus preserving them for the future of mankind. Without thought she copied down all the texts including those that Branwen had wished to discover that contained the secret rituals Lorsch used to control creation. Having finished writing hundreds and hundreds of pages of text without pausing, without sleep, food or water she began to die of exhaustion having saved the faith. Lorsch was so proud of her that he made her writings unable to be destroyed. She in her final moments of life understood that she had without thinking copied down 12 pages of text that contained the "dangerous verses" and removed them tasking her brother Connla to ensure these pages did not fall into the hands of Branwen should the evil spirit return to Mundus somehow. Connla therefore upon his sister's death became the first Legate of Lorsch.

The faith is today guided by the Legate of Lorsch who is to lead the faith in a similar way as to the Pope does the Catholic Church and their primary duty is to ensure the 12 pages do not get discovered.



Today the faith is governed by a hierarchy of Priests. The head of this hierarchy is the Deacon of the Faith and he is very similar to the Catholic Pope. The Deacon is responsible for helping guide the work of the faith and promoting it as and when necessary. He also has the casting vote in any Grand Council votes. The Deacon serves from appointment until death or resignation. They however can be replaced should a delegation of 16 "Guides" present a petition in the annual Council of Lorsch which takes place every April to discuss the future of the faith.

The hierarchy of the faith has five steps.

Deacon - Like the Catholic Pope they set out policy and leadership of the faith and manage the faiths affairs.

Guides - There are 31 of them and they are selected by the Deacon, they serve until death or retirement. They are primarily concerned with the day to day running of the faiths affairs.

Ovate - They are responsible for a geographic area that may contain up to a million people. There are currently around 67 ovates in Eskdale.

Bard - Responsible for a small geographic area such as a town or city.

Priest - Responsible for an individual temple.

Custodian - Responsible for supporting the work of a priest. There are three types of Custodian. The Custodian Scholars are responsible for helping teach the faith and prepare for rituals and are seen as junior priests. Custodian Builders are responsible for the physical upkeep of the faiths property and Custodian Guards are responsible for the physical care of the faithful and in the past were a military individual but now their work focuses more on providing charitable and physical help for those in need in the community such as running homeless shelters.


The faith has a set of over arching rules that are followed having been given to Áed they are known as the Values of Lorsch and are as follows.

1. In all things, strive to cause no harm.
2. When in another's home, show them respect or else do not go there.
3. Do not take that which does not belong to you unless it is a burden to the other person and they cry out to be relieved.
4. Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself.
5. Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food.
6. Behave fairly to your neighbour
7. Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater good
8. There is only one God and his name is Lorsch.
9. Do not speak ill of Lorsch for all things happen according to his plan.
10. Do not speak falsely of others.
11. Honor the ancestors, teachers, elders, and leaders.

These eleven rules have formed the basis of the Lorschism faith and its modern day teachings. Many laws of the Kingdom of Eskdale originate from these.



 

In 1687 the King of Eskdale was blessed with triplets. While tradition dictated that the monarch would hand-pick which of his children would take the throne upon their death he was unsure which to name as his heir. As such he issued a decree that should he die his Kingdom would be split three ways under conditions to be established by his wife after consultation with the Priest of Esk. In 1688 the King died of a disease modern historians believe was cholera and this triggered the transition of the nation into three Kingdoms each though united under a single banner thus meaning the Kingdom of Eskdale stayed harmonious. Today the three smaller Kingdoms are still ruled by the descendants of those triplets under a system of government known as the Pactum Regina Anne which governs the relationships between them.

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Population: 18,500,000
Capital: Egremont
Ruling Dynasty: The Courtney Family
Current Monarch: King Robert II

King Robert was born in 1979 and inherited the throne in 2013. He married the now Queen Sophie in 2015 and they have two children, Prince Stephen (b.2016) and Prince Charles (b.2018).