Lands of Ash and Glory

# The Major World Powers

## The Children and Empire of Avalon and its Dominions

File:AvalonLogo.png

"Main Article:" Children of Avalon

## L'Entente Impériale de l'Europe et ses Colonies

"Main Article:" L'Entente Impériale

Dominating the European Continent from Lisbon to Sevastopol, as well as most of the Sahara and Congo, L’Entente Impériale is a Superstate that nearly rivals Avalon itself, and for most of both of their existences, they have been sworn enemies, dedicated to each other's mutual ruination and destruction. Ruled from Paris by the Holy French Emperor himself, Napoleon IX, the Entente stays its hand in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with both Avalon and the Tsardom to the far east, buying its time to develop the scientific wonders that they believe will finally see them as the dominant power on the planet.

Ever since the dust of the Napoleonic Wars settled, L'Entente has been fighting with Avalon, both under the belief that one cannot exist in the world they want to see. The original Napoleon was responsible for the creation of L'Entente, much as his invasion of the British Isles in 1803 caused Avalon to rise against him. Controlled by the Imperial French Empire, L'Entente is mainly made up of the various satellite states of Europe, such as Spain, Warsaw and the Rhineland Confederation, each ruled by a branch of the Napoleonic Family. However, there are other nations that have joined L'Entente, for various reasons. The Grand Baltic Duchy joined out of fear of Russia and a power hungry Sweden, and Wallachia and Serbia joined out of fear of Russia as well. States in Southern Europe, desperate to be free from Diadochi and Delian control, or scared that Ankara may seek to reclaim fallen Ottoman lands, fled in droves to the arms of the French, who promised them protection, especially after the violent seizing of the Ionian Islands by Avalon, and their plans to take control of Albania in 1865. As recently as the 1940's, new 'members' were being admitted to L'Entente, with the notable example being the Tsardom of Crimea, which was wrest from Russian hands, effectively ending centuries of Imperial Russian dominance on the Ukraine.

However, L'Entente's power does not cease at Continental Europe. Wars across North Africa have netted everything from Morocco to the Libyan-Egyptian Border as European ruled, and much of West Africa has suffered similarly, with only the likes of British Nigeria and American West Africa. Down into the Congo, French forces also rule, as almost all the Congo Basin have conquered and enslaved to the whim of Paris. Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in Southeast Asia have also been dominated by L'Entente, and their autonomous puppet of Siam is getting closer and closer to joining their ranks. Wherever L'Entente rules, industry flows, much like in the conquered lands of Avalon and the Enclave. And, much like with the Enclave and Avalon, scientific advances rule L'Entente's world.

Automata on a level of Avalon's are used as palace guards, and veteran Poilu march with advance assault carbines and newly developed electricity based arc lances. From the Scientific laboratories of Lyons and Rome, L'Entente's Gorille Soldats and L'Eventreur assassins are brought to the stage. Their submarine warfare is some of the most advanced in the world, only marred by recent Japanese investments into miniature submarines, and Avalon's zealous development of anti-submarine weaponry. Even in the 'lesser' states of L'Entente, the technology has spread. Serbia has seen an industrial revolution and cultural upheaval with L'Entente's science machines that has placed them miles and miles ahead of their neighbours in Diadochi Bulgaria and Greece, and a vast network of rail systems stretch from Algiers to Brazzaville, and going to Casablanca, Fort-Lamy in Chad and Napoleonville in the depths of the Congo. French styled factories have sprung up along both the Congo and Volta Rivers, with much of the local populace 'encouraged' to work within them, producing wares, military, civilian and luxury, for shipment beck to the European Heartlands. Much as Avalon has bled Egypt and Southern Africa to the bone, and the Enclave stipping American West Africa to the dirt, L'Entente does so to Africa with gleeful abandon.

L'Entente's Allies are spread thin across the world. There's the Bonapartist Republic of the Thai, the result of yet another one of the Avalon-Entente Proxy Wars of the late Cold War Period, which started in 1952, although Siam seems to be more concerned with fighting the Avalonian backed Kingdom of Siam, rather than assist L’Entente in their plans. The States of Legation in China are too weak to prove that much assistance, especially as all but one of them are surrounded by the Japanese puppet of Beyang, and the one that isn't is surrounded by the Avalonian puppet of Canton. The Mitternacht Alliance System is only a political entity to L'Entente, and besides providing a bridge between the German States, Prussia, Austria and France, does little-to-nothing to aid L'Entente. Their only viable ally is the Swedish Union of the North, although that sits unwell with several members of L’Entente, and Sweden is surrounded, with Avalon across the North Sea, Russia snapping on the Finnish Border, and both the American Enclave and Newfoundland eyeing sections of Greenland and even Iceland. No, L'Entente's strength lies not in its external allies, but on its member states. The German States are some of the most heavily industrialized regions on Earth, the Rhine being turned into a churning mass of black sludge by the numerous factories that dominate it, and the Danube is the same. Chaos and Industry go hand in hand in the domains of L'Entente. New Half-Tracks are churned out everyday and stored in case Field Marshal Rixton decides to spread Avalon's grubby mits across the channel, or if Ankara decides that the Bulgarian Tsardoms and L'Entente's warlords in the Levant will make excellent trophies to add to its Caliphate, or even if Russia wants to reclaim the cities of Minsk and Kyiv. L'Entente is ready for anything, and now, they sit and wait for their enemies to make the next move.

L'Entente and Avalon, two sides of the same coin, tyrants carved from the same cloth. Both so alike, but destined to be at each other's throat, until one of them, or both, have been ground into the dust. Already, Paris has issued movements, of increased defences built on the Channel and on the African borders betwixt the two superstates. Rifles have been stockpiled, new soldiers either trained or constructed for war, and Industry churns ever onwards.