Matriarchy of Jane

> *"Don't be fooled, children. The Jorogumo of the west don't live under lakes or in caves. They live in ivory towers, with webs woven from intoxicating ambrosia and the most expensive of fabrics."*
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> - NeGasan elder's warning to a scavenger team
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The **Matriarchy of Jane** is a totalitarian autocracy based in the Alps. While technically a fief of the Ancillian empire, its leader (Jane) only pays this title lip service, exploiting loopholes in the empire's laws to evade taxes or the draft, etc. The Matriarchy itself is run like a business with Jane as chairwoman and her "citizens" as the employees. Jane controls her despondent population by giving them the ability to advance in society through raw skill and wits. The end goal for most citizens is to purchase their freedom (seeing as many are actually slaves), but advancing one's status in the Matriarchy of Jane is nearly impossible. Many of the citizens of the Matriarchy are also demons.

In order to win the loyalty of her people and even others outside the Matriarchy, Jane uses a low-potency love potion called the Empathy Potion; combined with Jane's never-ending supply of slaves for sale, willingness to trade even the most illegal of vices for cheap, and other vile services, this tactic has made her a deep thorn in the side of Ancillia.

The Matriarchy utilizes its own currency: the creatively named "Jane", which is worth 1/5th a gold piece. The residents of Jane have no problem taking advantage of foreign ignorance of the exchange rate.

## Geography, Climate, and the Environment

The Matriarchy is based in the alps and is therefore cold, another reason for Jane to provide her soldiers with heavy clothes. In the before times, human civilization started to clear out large swathes of mountain. Building cities near, alongside, and inside the mountains allowing Jane to base her capital in a half built ancient city. With a natural defense for those invading from the north. Jane still controls the ancient life support systems of this city allowing for it to always be a warm temperature perfect for tourists. With the bodies to land ratio, Jane has had most of her territories urbanized with half of the land being given over to providing entertainment, luxuries and all manner of things that an outsider would want to spend money on and the other half given way to industry with most employees living where they work.

## Demographics

notes/writing points: a large portion of the population of Jane is made of lesser succubi while the second largest is evenly between 'normal' succubi and human slaves, the least most populous races in Jane are free humans and demons of other types. Being in name an Ancillian Fief the official language of Jane is Ancillian Though most in Felix's college of mages know R'mali as it is integral for the type of magic they use. Despite being an Ancillian fief Jane has no official religion and while you are free to worship whom you please Jane provides no accommodations for those beliefs

## Government and Politics

notes/writing points:Despite in name being called a Matriarchy in truth it is a totalitarian autocracy with Jane at the reins and she runs her country like a ruthless, cynical, profit focused business.

## Economy

notes/writing points:Janetian economy is made up of mainly three things, the manufacturing/acquiring/cultivating of everything from ubiquitous ammo to rare, esoteric (and most of the time illegal) pleasantries, tourism and slave trade. A common saying given to those planning on visiting is "Their are no graveyards in Jane" This is a warning that reflects the countries disregard for morals and willingness to use anything, even your corpse.

## Culture

: Janetian culture promotes a very cutthroat kill or be killed lifestyle, those lower in society will constantly try to outperform or climb off the work of others to become "skilled labor" and either secure an easier position in the military a job in the city if they're lucky or a higher rank in the military for those who are willing to face almost certain death to quickly rise through the ranks. For those of higher up in society, Jane is the sole arbiter of whether you're promoted to a position of prestige and glory or demoted to linewoman therefore the most common way to advance from then on is to curry favor with Jane or make sure your competitors fall out of favor.

But even still due to the extroverted nature of succubi and their sudden shift from contemptuous pests to world power many have found their own silver linings. While individuals fight to survive in Jane most will tell you they feel an overwhelming sense of community and belonging with each other as members of one of the only nations made for them and not humans. Being part of the Jane machine also gives succubi a sense of freedom they never felt hiding from the inquisitions of the past. This has much to it's leader's delight made Jane a flourishing center for art as the species tries to build an identity for itself after centuries of barely surving in small tribes.

## Science and Technology

notes/writing points: In the science department Jane is weak as most of those under her would rather attempt snagging old technology then innovate, the main exceptions to this have been The Hawk who's development in battlefield technology has mostly been done on the battlefield and out of sheer necessity rather than a conscious effort and the insane warmachines of Bassnote as she sleeplessly tries to create the perfect body for her 'husband'. The main thing money is dumped into is mind altering substances and magic which Jane has outsourced to Alchemists from outside, particularly Cyndra, paying for their research as well as bribes to keep them from selling the concoctions to anyone else. In the field of magic Jane is quickly approaching the levels of all most other factions and is predicted to surpass Russ, and R'malth soon due to her right hand Vanessa's college of mages.

## Military Doctrine and Equipment

Years ago, life was nearly unbearable for demons in Ancillia due to social prejudice and discriminatory laws against them. While most of those laws have been reversed and a policy of tolerance has been put forward in a desperate attempt to slow the Matriarchy's momentum, the damage has already been done. Hundreds of thousands of lesser succubi in the capital alone stand ready to fight for Jane, and many more surge forth from Felix Tower monthly.

Unlike most faction leaders, Jane is a businesswoman, not a leader; thus, her empire has no official combat doctrine and is enforced on a per regiment basis instead. Due to the incompetence of Jane's generals, the strategy is usually the same regardless of the regiment's leaders. In a typical battle, thousands of lesser succubi are gathered to fight; they are given only the basic musket and clothing that Janetian soldiers receive upon joining and are then thrown en masse at the enemy. Because of the low cost of the equipment and the almost limitless supply of soldiers, this strategy is perfectly acceptable on a small scale. However, it throws a wrench into any of the more ambitious campaigns attempted by the state.

This strategy has had many adverse affects on Jane's soldiers, most of whom are not of sound mind and have found many disturbing, cruel, destructive and self destructive ways to cope with the situation.

### Squad Composition

A single squad of Janetian linewomen is made up of exactly one hundred and fifty six soldiers and usually follows this pattern:

**Commander:** A single commander leads the squad. This is usually a mage, a high ranking succubus, a petty noble who unwittingly bought into the position, *("Your own harem of devoted succubi, ready to fight to the death to protect you! What's not to love? Oh just ignore those silly casualty reports, that could never happen to you!")* or, the least likely of all, a lesser who actually earned the position. Each squad's commander is wildly different, and this shows on the battlefield, for better or for worse.

**Advisers:** The five advisers to the commander are usually composed of either skilled laborers or mages who have either been promoted due to their diligence or trained for the position out of need for professional soldiers. A particularly influential commander will have a Cinderella as an adviser to act as either a bodyguard, shock trooper, or heavy weapon platform. On rare occasion's all five advisers will be Cinderellas; this is usually true for artillery teams.

**Serjents:** (purposely spelled like that as to not confuse them with the inferior human rank) Serjents are lessers who went above and beyond in the line of duty by being brave, showing unflinching loyalty to Jane, and surviving their first experience on the front line. They are the bread and butter of Jane's armies; equipped with a light set of protective leather armor that they can maneuver freely in and their choice of a long rifle or sword and pistol, serjents put their race's dexterity to use. There are twenty five serjents in a squad, each one having her own team of five lessers to sadistically command.

**Linewomen:** These are the common Janetian soldiers. Typically, one will find one hundred twenty five of them in a squad. In truth, succubi were never made for war, but Jane cares little about their nature. In her eyes, lessers are cheap, good platforms used to carry her weapons into war; their inherent magic is another bonus. Other than being a cheap source of mana to bottle and sell to mages (or to super-charge her own), their natural empathy field is strong enough to make most human soldiers take a second or two before attacking in melee. While lessers are usually said to have low morale, be individually weak, and naturally horrible at combat, there have been exceptions. For example, in Fifth Horde, a measly five hundred lessers defeated an army composed of thousands of humans at the battle of Selene.

### Equipment

#### Weapons

> *"They only sent a few hundred humans to retake the city; they think we're nothing."*
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> *"Fine by me. Let's see how they handle twenty five hundred tons of 'nothing'."*
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> - Janetian soldiers
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**Janetian Musket**: The Janetian musket (lovingly referred to as the Janegun) is not as elegant as its equivalent in other factions, sacrificing range and reload time for the stopping power needed to damage the heavily armored knights of Ancillia. An added bonus of the weapon’s design is its ability to use anything melt-able for ammo. Though it is one of the slowest rifles available, it is guaranteed to do at least something against thick armor; with an army of thousands, that adds up to a lot of armor penetration. Each gun also comes equipped with a plug bayonet, which effectively turns the musket into a spear.

Standard Form

Melee Form

 **Base** | 10%
 **DMG** | 1d6+2+db

**Longrifle**: This modified version of the basic musket exchanges any melee ability for faster reload speeds, longer range, and more accuracy. The Longrifle is typically given to Serjents and 'skilled labor' in Janetian armies to harass and provoke important looking soldiers in the enemy line.

#### Shields

> *"I don't think these boards count as shields."*
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> *"I don't think their sticks count as bullets."*
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> - Janetian soldiers
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**Pavisen Shield:** This equipment is based on the human shield. Entire squads of succubi are taken to holding these shields, as once the lines of battle have been drawn, they are a quick way to put a wall between the enemy and you. The Pavisen shield is a massive, back mounted shield with a stand that is meant to be deployed before combat for archers and gunners to hide behind. The shield itself is rather thin. Its only purposes are to stop low-velocity ranged attacks and to conceal the movements of the user. It can be adorned with spikes to improve its ability to hold back those who wish to close into melee.

Standard Form

 **Base** | 15%
 **DMG** | 1d4+db
 **Special** | Knockback

Spiked Form

 **Base** | 15%
 **DMG** | 1d4+2+db
 **Special** | Impale

#### Armour:

> *"Leather's just animal skin, right, ma'am? If that's true, how do we get so much of it?"*
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> *"Obviously there's a farm underground. That's where it comes from."*
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> *"Isn't that where the prison is?"*
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**Gambeson:** The standard 'uniform' of Janetian soldiers, commonly called the lesser's jacket. It is cheaply made and offers virtually no protection, its only upsides are that it's thick enough to keep the user warm in the coldest weathers (usually why it acts as the lessers sleeping bag) and is probably one of the lightest and least burdensome armors, it's incredibly cheap as well. leading most lessers to buy a second one so as to double their protection.

 **Burden** | light
 **Enc** | 2
 **debuffs** | none

## People of Interest

Jannet Aranae

Bass

Vanessa Lyons

Hawk

Kumiho