Prog

Prog (pronounced with a long 'O') is an island nation devoted to military and combat. The main island of Prog is a large valley, for it is surrounded by mountains in all but a few harbors. Its soldiers are very well trained and extremely patriotic. However, they have no god or diety of which they worship. If a Progan were to run from a battle they would be disgraced in death. Valor is an important thing to them, so losing what honor they had is one of the worst things that can be done to them. Though they are all well trained, only about 10,000 of the 30,000 citizens fight. They have one legion on duty for each season. (One legion would be 2,000 men) The Grand Marshal Ziegfried has his own personal half Legion called the Arch Angels, and the remaining 1,000 are reserves. Each Progan soldier is also nearly immune to magic, for they themselves cannot use it.
==Appearance and Equipment==
The average citizen is about 5'11, medium build, with short black hair. The dominant eye color is blue.The standard soldier is equipped with a chestplate, helmet, gauntlets and boots. They wear a chainmail shirt underneath this. As weapons they are equipped with a longsword, light crossbow, and buckler shield. Progs most favored troops, other then its honor guard, are their shock troopers. They are outfitted with full dark steel plate mail, along with hand and a half swords and kite shields. If it were not for the magical runes they have, they would move extremely slowly. The Progans are very achieved militaristically. They have conquered multiple smaller island countries around them and recruited loyalists. Their standing army is now about 30,000 strong, only a third of which are actually Progan. The loyalists are equipped with a thick cotton shirt, a hardened and studded leather vest, a shortsword and a buckler. Though they are not Progans and do not go through the same intense training they are still formidable foes in battle.
== Personality ==
The average Progan shows absolutely no emotion. In fact, it is said that though destroying a Progan army is not the greatest victory you can win over them. The greatest victory is getting them to run. Behind the mask of nothing a Progan feels little except for the need to fight for the Fatherland. Every Progan's dream is to die for their country, so they do not fear death either. As for what they think...during a battle Progans only think of the most efficient and fast way to kill a man and move onto the next. They do not take time to enjoy killing him, for they do not find 'Joy' in it. But they also do not mind doing it. They are all heartless bastards, but they do not get their kicks out of watching people in pain. Once again, all they want is the most efficient way to win.
==Council==
Prog's emperor has a high council which consists of himself, grand martial and three of his highest generals. Together they plan and manouver armies of men from island to island on continous conquest. As of recently however they have slowed down, seeing as how all neighboring countries have been captured. They are still in no condition to take on any other country so have actually become a bit more like pirates as of recent. They have set to looting merchant ships and the occasional privateer. They hope to draw out the smaller trading countries and conquer them while they are weak.
==Ranks==
In the Progan military, there are many ranks. They go from Private, to Grand Marshal. Between there are Corporals, Seargants, Lieutenants, Captains, Commandants, Generals and Marshals. An Admiral is the equivilent of a Marshal. Prog's 10,000 men are split up into groups, a squad, which consists of five men, is led by a corporal, and is the smallest group. The next highest is a regiment, or ten men. This is commanded by a seargant. After that comes a Platoon, fifty men. A Platoon is commanded by a Liuetenant. Each Platoon is mixed with another Platoon to make a company, which has 100 men, led by a captain. The rank Commandant leads a Division, or 500 men. After that comes a Half Legion and the highest rank, which is a Legion. A Legion consists of 2,000 men. There are two legions for each season with half a legion as reserves and half a legion as the Grand Marshal's personal army. Prog does not believe horses are valuable, seeing as how they are used to mountains and the ocean, but they do use griffons, and have a small fleet of dragons. The highest ranking men in all of Prog are: Carstein(The admiral of the navy), Zigfried(The grand marshal), and Luft(The airforce admiral). Next is titles. Each Progan has a certain title. A swordsman's title would be "Sword" and so on. In the name Grand Marshal Sigfried Master Strategist, Master Strategist is his title. He is a master, so is better than all else in Prog. A few examples of Masters are Sigfried, Carstein (Master Navigator), Luft (Siegemaster), Heinrich (Master Engineer), and the Weaponmaster was once Rex. All Progans of high title or statis is granted a weapon or set of armor made from mithril, the magic resistant, strong and light weapon only found in Prog's mountains. They are also granted one Hellfire weapon.
==Crime and Punishment==
The Progan military often came across rogue mages. The council decided to donate a large amount of money in aiding research in discovering a method of eliminating mages effectively, reducing possible casualties as well. The magic inhibitor was developed and have been proven highly effective at incapacitating mages. They are still used to this day.
The Progan have a strict set of laws. This is to be expected from a militaristic nation demanding utmost respect and duty from each and every soldier. Any solder caught breaking them will be severely punished, but this is not a problem as the crimes are rarely committed by any progan.
==Types of soldiers==
Each Progan soldier is split up into a group of others that are trained like him. Such as a sword, or swordsman, will go into a squad of other swords. Or a quarreler, or crossbowman, will go with a squad of quarrelers. The most basic of Progan soldiers is a Loyalist. Though they are not Progan purebloods, they are still well trained.
Every one of them is equipped with a light crossbow, a studded leather vest, a longsword and a buckler. After Loyalsts come Swords. a Sword is what they call a swordsman, and is equiped with the normal weaponry and armor. Next is a Pike, or Pikeman. They are also equiped with the normal armor, though their weapons are different. They have a 6 feet long pike and a shortsword. After Pikes comes Quarrelers. They are crossbowman, and also use different weapons. An average Quarreler wears a studded leather vest above a thick cotton shirt. They use a heavy crossbow, which can punch through most types of armor, and a shortsword. Next down the line is a Shock, or Storm. That is short for Shock Trooper, or Storm Trooper. They are in full darksteel plate armor with chainmail in the grooves to protect their weakpoints, and carry either a bastard sword, morning star, or axe. They also have a kite shield and a handcrossbow. Dreads or Juggers come after Shocks. Those are short for 
Dreadnought and Juggernaut. These soldiers are not the kind you start a fight with. They march into battle wearing thick, darksteel plate mail, with a full set of chainmail underneath. They use tower shields in one hand and massive swords, maces or axes in the other. These men are the biggest Progans in the army, chosen specifically so they can carry the massive kit they use. Finally comes the most feared men of all, Archs. Archs stands for Archangels, which are the only cavalry units in all of Prog. They are Sigfried's personal army, half a legion of heavy calvary decked out in full darksteel plate, equiped with lances, bastard swords and kite shields. They also have light crossbows which they use to pepper the enemy just before they charge in, impaling and trampling. If you ever piss off Prog enough to have the Archangels after you it would be best to run. And also, though they are not used in warfare unless the Emporer himself attends the battle, there are the honor guard. These men are hand picked and are all considered experts in weapons and fighting. They wear full darksteel armor, but each wears a shirt of mithril chainmail underneath. Each honor guard is also granted a Hellfire Devastator and carries a clamore made from darksteel. If the Emperorer is there so are the honor guard. And also, the newest addition to the Progan army, the Stalker units. These men are special-ops, and are rarely seen, for Prog believes they are more dishonorable. Although they use the best of their technology to become assasins and spies for the Progan cause. They wear a skin-tight black leather combat suit. As well as a hood, which is nearly skin-tight. They use a wide array of daggers, and have two shortswords. As long range weapons they have throwing knives, a repeating crossbow, and a Hellfire Descimator. Their combat suit can also adjust and blend into their surroundings when the command is given. On the knuckles of their gloves are studds, and spikes can be added for a more deadly attack. The fingertips and palms of these gloves can become sticky, to help with wall climbing. Also, for both climbing and fighting, spikes can protract from the toes of their boots. The Stalkers also have their own classes. Stalker is the lowest on the skill level, which is what they call new fighters. Also is Death Stalker, which are specifically assassins. On the opposite side of the tree are Shadow Stalkers, who are specifically spies and rogues. Then, on the top of the tree, is Night Stalker. Who can do both. The leader of the stalkers is Night Lord Konrad. These are all of the land units, as for the sea, they are all considered navy-men, just split up into different groups for opperating different parts of the ship. A brand new, just inducted group to the Progan military is the Hunter units. They are a prototype, and there are only about five of them. They move around wearing mithril chestplates, with two darksteel longswords. They wear steel helmets which cover everything except their eyes and a few holes around their mouth. They also wear long capes, under which are new magical machines like that of jetpacks. When activated they send constant blasts of magical energy from the openning in the cone-like object. Propelling them up. They also have two Descimator pistols.
== Hellfire Weapons ==
The Hellfire weapons are a lot like flintlock guns, except they do not use powder. They use special runes that when activated send a small explosion in the direction the rune indicates. The man using it has to load in a steel cone, point the barrel at the target and pull the trigger. The trigger activates the rune and causes the explosion which propels the cone outwards. Heinrich, the most renowned inventor and scientist in all of Prog invented the weapons recently, and they are very rare. The smallest form, which can be wielded in one hand. It is called the Descimator. Next comes the Devastator, which has a longer barrel for increased range and accuracy. It must be held in two hands for it would take off your arm. After the Devastator is the Obliterator. This is like a cannon, for lack of a better word. It shoots out a cone with a diameter of a foot and that's about three feet long. This is made to punch holes in ships, walls, and large groups of units. If this hits a person in the chest...the chest will most likely disintegrate. These last two are so few and rare that they arent even used in warfare. The Annihilator comes next. This weapon is closest to a shotgun. It takes three men to use, and is hard to move. It has five barrels which are all connected to the same trigger so that, when pulled, all five shoot out at once. Finally comes the Shredder. This weapon is like a gatling gun. It has ten barrels in a close circe that one man spins while the other holds down the trigger. After all ten shots have been spend a third man runs up and loads in the next ten cones, and the gunner opens fire again. The Hellfires are extremely rare and hardly used, but when they are used they cause Hell along the enemy lines. Hence the name.
== Council Members ==
The Grand Council only has a few members. The members are the highest ranking and most respected men in the entire empire of Prog. The top member is the Emperor. His rank is Emperor and his title is Father. His name is Hafenrichter. The Emperor holds the sword of Prog and also leads Prog in its religious studies, though he is more of a dictator than a pastor. Hafenrichter is a giant of a man, as is the rest of his family bloodline. He stands 7'0, and is nearly twice as broad as an average Progan. He wears the Armor of the Father, which is an ornate set of Mithril and Darksteel armor, and a beautifully crafted winged helm. The Emperors sword, the Sword of Prog is made from Mithril mixed with the rarest metal in the entire world. One pound of Starmetal was added in to the sword. Next is Grand Marshal Sigfried. He commands the entire Military. Every man not in the Navy or Airforce is part of the Military. Most of Prog, about two thirds of it, are in the Military. This includes loyalists. After the Grand Marshal comes Admiral Carstein. He is in charge of the entire navy, which is one of the most feared in the world. The last officer is Luft. Luft is the Admiral of the Airforce. The airforce consists of dragons, griffons, manticors, etc. The last member of the Council is Master Engineer Heinrich. He has no real rank, for he is not a soldier. Heinrich is also the Master Scientist, and created the Hellfire weapons.
== New Prog ==
After a hard and bloody, yet short war, Prog is left in shambles.It's government, once a powerful dictatorship, has crumbled. Prog still has Hafenrichter as emperor. Except now Hafenrichter has little power. The lands of Prog, and it's captured neighbors, are run by the barons and counts of the empire. They each have small armies of now mercenary Progans, and most other men are freelancers. At nearly every port city you might see four or five Progan mercs ready to hire off for the right price.
== End ==
After attempting to keep the peace in Prog, and after continuing to fight their own kind, it seems their patron god became angry with them, for a horrible plague spread through the country. Nearly the entire nation was wiped out, and those that lived fled. The island was decided forsaken, as the horrible disease is still carried on through the magic of Death, and it is impossible to inhabbit such a place. Now the remaining Progans are spread far and thin throughout the world, serving as mercenaries.
Category:Races