Nod is the home of Jericho and Michael. It is closer to Amber then other powers. Nod is the main planet of the shadow as it contains an unknown but large number of other planets.
Economics:
The economy is the result free market with minimal government planning. The only planning is to make sure the people have protection against needless risk. Nod is the center inter-shadow trade and has close ties with several other shadows of other princes of Amber.
Education:
Education is highly emphasized and free until university which is inexpensive and highly prized. Every city has several universities and colleges with very easy admissions requirements. Magical Universities are the only exception with magical ability required to attend. The most prestigious of the magical universities have much higher admission requirements.
Nod also has a vast, broad, well regarded library system that reaches all parts of the empire. It is possible for someone living very far away from a city to receive any book, magazine, or newspaper that is in the system. Copies of the card catalog are available by mail and the closest library will mail the requested item to the person which is sent with a return envelope to be sent back free of charge. The library system also leads efforts to refurbish older books and sends archeological teams to digs throughout the empire.
History:
The first known High Blood to arrive in Nod was Njord, son of Odin (Oberon), when he arrived he found many great projects already on the world already. Despite this he began building what would become the Warped Power of Nod. He also created a more technologically advanced Asgard, it would be called Neo-Asgard. He created different versions of the nine realms that he knew of from Asgard. The planet of Nod was renamed Midgard and other planets were created with the different themes of the realms in mind. While drawing the actual power Njord was killed by Crossed Sabers and the project of Njord was forgotten. Only a largely uninhabited continent retains the name Midgard.
Thousands of years later Flora arrived with many of her supporters from Amber to begin a great project. Many of those people became the leaders of many nations of Nod and began their great project. In order to help the great project the newcomers emphasized education and created many of the universities in the nations Nod. Jericho and Michael arrived a few hundred years later, local time, when Jericho was very young. Very shortly after they arrived Nod was invaded by a never ending army of powerful orcs. Even to this day no one knows why or how they invaded the shadow and crossed the shadow barriers. It was a very difficult and drawn out war that cost Nod many of the best and brightest and nearly saw Nod over run by orcs. Many of the cities south of the Barrier Mountains were completely destroyed and the people forced to the north or hiding in magically protected areas. Even the great city of Angel, home to the most prestigious magic academy and university, was destroyed throwing the entire rest of the continent into chaos as Angel is where the children of the leaders of the kingdoms of Nod learn magic. Jericho, Michael, and a group of their friends sought revenge for the destruction their school and started the events that led to the destruction of the orcs and the freedom of Nod. Eventually, Jericho became the leader of Nod, its Kaiser, finished the Warped Power of Nod, discovered many mysteries and allies in Nod shadow and the Realms Eternal. Nod has grown powerful and wealthy with Jericho as the Kaiser.
Military:
Service in one of the seven empire wide military services or intelligence services is a high honor and greatly sot after. Service is voluntary, with every able body person over sixteen registering in the selective service incase of national emergency, Most people join a militia and are only activated for natural disasters. Only the most elite of the militia enter the other services. Another way to enter a military service is to be accepted by one of the six academies. The military services are Water Navy, Army, Air Force, Sky Navy, Cosmic Patrol, Militia, and SHIELD. The Militias act as a sounding board and give prospective military members a taste of military life without wasting resources training people unsure if they want to commit to military life. Water Navy uses ships that only float on the water to get around. The army are the main ground forces of the empire. Sky Navy uses sky ships that float with Liquid Electricity. Cosmic Portal are the space forces of the empire. SHIELD is the main intelligence agency and has the most elite forces. SHIELD also coordinates the other services and the military of the kingdoms. Each kingdom has their own military. They can be called up to assist the empire in defense. With offensive campaigns each nation can loan part of the military to the campaign if they wish.
Politics:
Jericho and Michael reestablished an empire that was and is based in Stormguard. In the past, the humans had an empire based in Stormguard. A series of weak emperors allowed the Human Empire of Stormguard to fragment and be reduced to just the city and surrounding area. Once the last emperor was killed the city was able to remain independent with a series of strong chancellors playing the new human kingdoms off of each other and convincing those same kingdoms to allow the city to serve as a banking and trade center. The Nod Empire was created after the various kingdoms threatened wars with each other after the Orc War was finished. With little progress in negotiations to prevent the wars and a massive buildup of war materials, Jericho and Michael were able to replace most of the leadership of the kingdoms with younger, more reasonable leaders, and friends of Jericho and Michael convincing the new leaders of the value of empire. For the first time in Nod history the Snow Elves and Dwarves of the Barrier Mountains were involved with the Empire. The government is built over the kingdoms which retain most of the governmental powers. The empire maintains foreign relations, military, and keeps the peace between the kingdoms. Each kingdom has a representative on the high consul that maintains the empire. With the kingdoms having elected representatives to help run the kingdoms. Many political parties are in the various kingdoms.
Technology and Magic:
Technology level is close to 1940s of Ancient Earth with some interesting additions of higher technology. With the discovery of Liquid Electricity and its antigravity properties technology has diverted into unique directions. Ships can fly and hover in the sky. Cities can use Liquid Electricity to have parts of the city float in the sky. Before this discovery and Kaiser Jericho’s reign the technology was at dark ages level. Jericho encouraged technology to expand. It took some time and a great deal of money but the infrastructure was updated to the current technology level. Thorium power plants are becoming widespread after testing by the military with rumors of fusion plants being worked on. Alchemy was used to discover Liquid Electricity and is used to help all of the people of the Nod Empire. Magic is common in Nod, is used to help make life easier for the people of Nod, and is explored to try and improve the understanding of it. Many universities explore the depths of magic and are on the bleeding edge of magical research. A great deal of time, effort, resources, and money is put into magical and technological research.
Under Kaiser Jericho exploration has been dramatically increased and with that as a priority many discoveries have been made. The largest and most important being the Dragongates. Large gateways that link planets together throughout the galaxy. With the gates the empire has discovered many new allies and trading partners. The exploration hasn’t been limited to just the shadow of Nod, the many shadows of the Power of Nod have also been explored and are being explored. Many of the Royal children and many people working for the Kaiser also explore the shadow in the power’s reach. Many of the explorers carve out kingdoms of their own and they join the Nod Empire. With each new shadow comes different technology and magic along with different trade goods to sell and buy. The most exciting stories becoming movies, serials, and radio shows for the masses which encourage more exploration.
One technology that is slowly gaining popularity is a network of computer networks that link the universities and libraries together with some government offices. While popular in more advanced shadows, Nod is slowly developing it adapting it to the uniqueness of Nod. It is in the early stages and does not include graphics and is done with commands from command line.
Religion:
Religion is important in Nod, the main faith is The Light of the Allfather. The religion is a blending of The Light and worship of the Allfather Jericho. Fairly new, it started when the warped pattern was completed. The first doctrines were written by ministers in the southern desert. It quickly spread throughout the orc ravaged areas as it was Jericho and Michael who helped with the rebuilding of the southern part of the continent. The blending was approved by Jericho, a devout member of the Church of the Light, after it was discovered that The Light was coming from the warped power. When the power was finished a greater understanding of The Light was reached by most people.
Recreation:
There are no professional sports on Nod. The only semiprofessional sport is a game called Splat, that was developed to help with magical training. It has been played in Magic schools and universities for several hundred years before it went public after Jericho became Kaiser. It is a game like dodgeball except that magic is used to try and push people out of the playing field. The teams also try to magically push a small ball into the other teams goal. It is generally played by two teams of five people, but has been played by three teams at the same time. It is gaining in popularity and could become a professional sport in the near future. Theater is popular with the more sophisticated set. Most people go to the movies at least once a week. The Emperor is known to go to the movies every week. Radio is broadcast all over the empire and is very popular with radio shows drawing millions of listeners. Reading is also very popular and encouraged. Many popular books are turned into radio shows, movies, and serials. Television attempted to gain a foothold but hardly anyone watched the shows preferring to imagine what the actors, sets, and action looked like. The last television show was broadcast to almost no one. The government bought the television sets from the people and is using them for a research project.
Major Cities:
Stormguard
The city is the capital of the Empire of Nod. With the Council building being the center of the power of the empire surrounded on three sides by the buildings holding the bureaucracy, a streamlined bureaucracy. The city was the capital of the human empire before its fall a thousand years ago. After the fall, it became a trade hub and the ancient banking capital with some heavy political machinations made by the chancellor of Stormguard. These actions, the following line of strong chancellors, and an elite military and intelligence service guaranteed the independence of the city. Leading the city to expand into the financial center of the nations of the former empire and after the creation of the new empire the financial center of the Nod Empire. The city is located on five hills at the mouth of the strategically important Storm River, that connects to most of the northern part of the continent with its watershed. It has a deep, excellent, and large natural harbor. The city is the center of stage plays, music, radio, and is the third most important motion picture industry location. The largest, oldest, and most prestigious universities are located in the city. In the center of the city is the oldest, largest and most prestigious university in all of Nod, Stormguard University. The city also boasts the oldest and largest public library and the large and famous park, Storm Park featured in a great deal of movies and serials.
City of Stormguard
The City of Stormguard was created as a way to go around a treaty that was forced on the old royal family of the old human kingdom limiting the military they could control. It has remained separate and is the location of the Royal Castle, the Royal Library, Royal Citadel, and Royal Armory. It also holds the royal treasury and the royal bank. The city is surrounded by a very strong wall that has been never breached. It also has fifteen thousand troops within the walls of the city. The Kaiser rules over the City of Stormguard directly. Several corporations also call the city home and the city is expected to expand soon.
New Drakesberg
New Drakesberg is the youngest city in Nod. It is also the third largest in Nod. The city is only thirty years old and located on a pair of peninsulas pointing towards each other. Slightly behind and between the city is the island fortress of Drakesberg, one of the strongest fortresses in all of Nod. The city also contains, an island close to the northern part of the city, a three hundred foot statue of Jericho’s birth mother Queen Flora of Chaos, and several smaller islands open to the public as park land. The city can attribute its rapid growth to the resettlement of people after the Orc War, the booming trade with greater shadow (the city is the first city seen when entering the shadow), being the only city where gambling is legal, and the movie and radio industry settling down there. The surrounding countryside can look like anywhere in Nod and has a very pleasant climate year round. Along with all of that the city has excellent higher education faculties, many excellent port faculties and five military bases. The city is also near a popular place where whales and dolphins like to come close to boats.
Archangel
Archangel was rebuilt from the destroyed Magical school of Angel. The size was substantially increased and defenses were improved. Like its predecessor, it floats one thousand feet above the ground and contains the leading magic school and university of all of Nod, Archangel Academy and University. The city also has several magic manufacturing districts and a large magical population that runs the city, the university, and the academy. Recently the city has been expanding on the ground around the city, greatly increasing population and capabilities of the city.
Gotham
Gotham is another newer city. It is on the largest, largely uninhabited continent of Midgard. It was settled by a close friend of Jericho and Michael away from the main continent of Avalon to be away from any conflicts happening in the old world. It was created by magic to be an efficient city using the newest proven theories in city management and building. The movie industry’s smaller studios came to Gotham with incentives and have helped the city grow. Major mining and manufacturing companies also came to Gotham for access to the rest of the continent. Gotham has an excellent natural harbor that was expanded magically that also has a large military base for the Imperial military that explores the continent and the rest of the world and the Dragongates. The city has excellent universities and colleges.
Notes on Nod from the Tiereth Envoy’s Guide
Nod is the home of Prince Jericho. Read more on Prince Jericho in his entry of the Guide, but here’s the important bit: Jericho is the earliest and closest of our lord’s allies. ALWAYS remember that If you behave badly in his home, it will embarrass our lord, and he will be disappointed in you. The rest of us will be only be pissed off, but that’s nothing compared to our lord’s disappointment. So behave. We have been invited to Nod and granted diplomatic status there. Since it’s where Michael and Jericho hang, it’s probably a good place to party. We recommend that you go there for that reason alone. Also, going there after getting the invitation is polite, and politeness to those that are important to our lord earns you favor in his eyes.