The Iron Chancellor

by Radical Centrist

Maps (Thank god for Equestria at War mod)

Author's Note:

READ ME

The borders aren't concrete like modern day ones, which means they're volatile and changes rapidly without being recorded. The maps below are a rough idea of where the borders lie, (except for the borders between the German Empire, Equestria and the Crystal Empires) as tribes, raiders and instability tend to blur the borders between nations

The map was made by a Hearts of Iron IV mod called Equestria at War.

I'm too lazy to draw.

Also too lazy to edit terrain so just imagine there's a huge F***-off mountain surrounding the German Empire.

Most nations on the map haven't 'civilised' or 'feudalised' yet, so I reckoned putting down 'capitals' for them was futile.

Ignore all the dots or anchors (ports) on the map, as they aren't important nor real. Just a figment of your imagination.

The 'Capitals' and other details will be on the descriptions for the map.

None of the countries except the Crystal Empire, Equestria and German Empire are centralised and united. This means the tribes, chiefdoms, hives and kingdoms are all fractured and are not one singular entity.

HUGE REMINDER: THE EQUIS CONTINENT IS MASSIVE. FOR EXAMPLE, THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE IS AS BIG AS RUSSIA.

Complete Map of Equis:

The mountains and rivers on the map are accurate, except for the borders of the German Empire which has the highest and longest stretch of mountains that separates it from the rest of Equis.

The continent (region) of Equis is divided into 9 parts: North, Northeast, East, Southeast, South, Southwest, West, Northwest and centre.

The respective regions are named accordingly:
North: Windgonia - Named after the windigos and the strong winds. The north-most regions consist mainly of inhospitable mountains with little to no organic life, however, some stubborn creatures still live in these cold, desolate lands. The lowlands of the north are far more habitable; some parts of them being fertile and suitable for plant growth. This means most of the population is situated in the lowlands, where the ruling class and their subjects reside most densely.

Northeast: Gustalem - Named after Gusty the Great; the banisher of Grogar and hero of the three tribes. It shares Windgonia's climate, however, its southeastern regions are milder than Windgonia's lowlands. Most of the region is covered in mountains, and its lowlands were the past homes of the three pony tribes; now all covered in dirt and snow from the windigo storms.

East: Alpine - Named by a unicorn explorer before the windigos who travelled south and reached the highlands of the region, and described it as "All pines" which was later simplified to Alpine to represent the number of pine trees in the area. After the migration, they would realise that the lowland of Alpine was a humongous stretch of mountains that separated the Centre to the East. Many would try to climb or traverse around the mountains, however, they would fail due to the sheer height, need for oxygen, feral griffon ambushes and primitive tools.

Southeast: Wastelands - Named after the endless desert terrain, with pools of lava and bands of dragons which makes any attempt on settling impossible. (The region does not extend to the buffalo tribes and instead is the small patch of land in the most-southeast corner.)

South: Sahara - Named after the ancient buffalo's interpretation of the land; 'sa' meaning sand, 'ha' referring the hardships of surviving on the lands, and 'ra' describing the roughness of the terrain, as some parts are dry and rocky. Sahara is dry and arid, with little to no rainfall preventing any natural vegetation to form without a water source nearby. The region does not stretch entirely to the coast, as the southwest wraps beneath it.

Southwest: Arabia - Named after a pegasus explorer named Saddle Arabia; he discovered that beyond the Saharan deserts, there existed a wet and fertile land that was settled and ruled by numerous Centaur kingdoms. At first, nopony believed him, but after travelling for a second time and returning with gold which he 'burrowed' from King Vorak, everypony believed him and allowed him to name the region after his name. He would travel numerous more times, and discover another griffon tribe in the west after travelling around the Southwestern mountains. His luck would end in his sixth trip, however, as Tirek (King Vorak's son) and Scorpan managed to intercept his path and execute him for thievery.

West: - Doloria - Named after the ancient ponish word 'dolor', meaning sorrow, pain and grief. This was due to Saddle Arabia's description of the lands as, "A bunch of griffons murdering each other." Doloria is separated from the centre regions by a stretch of mountains, however, it's not as tall and consistent as the Alpine mountains, which allows bands of griffons to traverse them and raid their new pony neighbours. Doloria's interior terrain and climate is identical to the Centre regions, as it has a nearly endless amount of fertile land. Doloria's highlands are also home to deers, who use the rivers that flow into the central regions to raid.

Northwest: Placidus - Named by a Crystal pony scholar and an explorer, it was given the name 'Placidus' for its unnatural properties; the word being an old ponish word for calm and gentleness. Placidus is a vast swamp, despite its northern geography. The climate is humid and hot, completely contrasting the neighbouring Windgonia. The Crystal ponies attempted to settle the land to convert the swamps into farms, however, would mysteriously disappear after several weeks. They would later investigate and discover bug-like equines, and Amore IV would enact an exclusion zone to seclude themselves away from Placidus to ensure stability. (Placidus is exclusive to the Changeling hives.)

Centre: Equestria - Equestria. (Equestria)

Politics of the German Empire and its Colonies:

The colony of Alsace and Lorraine has been created. The capital of the German Empire (Berlin) is on the most northeastern corner, adjacent to the four islands.

Politics of the SouthWestern Lands of Equis:

The western griffon 'tribes' are a collection of minor kingdoms, tribes and independent villages that are all killing each other for power over the other. The kingdoms are trying to subjugate the tribes and absorb their break-away villages, whilst the tribes and villages are working together to curb the power of the kingdoms. As all the factions n the western griffon 'tribes' also all hate each other, nothing gets done, and the cycle of bloodshed simply continues.

The only 'cooperative' griffon factions are the ones in the south, as they must defend against the combined forces of the centaurs, buffalos and minotaurs on their borders. Occasionally, the southern griffons invade the south to expand or regain their lost territories, as the minotaur tribes are a weak and loose collection of warring tribes who are easy to beat, however, the Centaur kingdoms are far harder to invade despite their fractured status, as they at least have an organised army. So whilst the griffons get pushed northwards by the Centaurs, they also expand eastwards by defeating the minotaurs.

The minotaur tribes and buffalo tribes have a comprehensive alliance, as the buffalos know that if the minotaurs were to fall, the griffons who attack them next. Their 'alliance,' means that their raiding parties will not attack each other, and sometimes even work together.

Politics of the NorthEastern Lands of Equis:

The Crystal Empire was formed by the Amore dynasty. Amore I the Great formed the capital city of 'Crystal City' north of the rivers closest to the now-Equestrian borders. He would also expand further south, which was barren as the windigo migrations had not happened yet.

Amore II the Conqueror would expand massively northwards, making contact with the yaks, however dying for it in the first minor engagement embarrassingly; tripping over several rocks whilst climbing down the mountains.

Amore III the Restorer would maintain the Crystal Empire's holdings, as Amore II had overextended, and as a result, their empire was being plagued by raids and lawlessness.

Amore IV the Impatient would attempt to relive the glory days of his grandfather; Amore II and conquer as he did. However, it only ended in disaster as they would quickly make enemies with the eastern ponies (before the windigos), fail in colonising the western jungles of Placidus and lose countless soldiers in finishing off the remote crystal and pony communities in the north-most mountains. He would also 'subjugate' the yak chiefdoms through bribes and nearly bankrupt the entire nation doing so. His 'greatest triumph' would come through the windigo storms, as the ponies no longer became a threat. But he would push it too far and die trying to route a pegasus army by a rearguard battalion.

Amore V the Peaceful is the most controversial figure in Amore's dynasty, as he allowed the ponies to resettle in their southern borders and consolidate their forces. However, it would also prove to be a golden age for the Crystal ponies, as they would grow exponentially, and their culture and art would develop so much to the point of creating a strong sense of identity; a stepping stone for nationalism. He would die in a war against the Equestrians. (The details of how he died will be elaborated on in further chapters.)

Amore VI the Vengeful is the current ruler of the Crustal Empire. Amore V's death and the staggering loss of territory and expulsion of crystal ponies from said lands triggered a massive revanchist movement within the Crystal Empire which demanded their lands back and their emperor avenged. Amore VI would lead this movement and stalk the Equestrians; waiting for them to slip up for the perfect opportunity.

The Yaks are a tributary chiefdom held up by the Crystal Empire. They do not pay in gold nor natural resources and instead pay in soldiers. The Yaks and the Crystal Empire is also plagued by constant diamond dog raids and theft, as the diamond dogs dig extensive tunnel networks to steal from Crystal mines and farms.

There are also many 'unrecognised' yak chiefs who hate the Crystal Empire, and so unleash 'uncontrollable' or 'escaped criminals' into the remote villages in the mountains to loot and pillage. Due to the negligence, the north-most mountains suffer, not a lot is done by the Crystal Empire to defend their remote subjects.

The Crystal Empire and diamond dogs occupy the old lands of the three tribes; the diamond dogs digging up many old pre-windigo artefacts and tools to use against the crystal ponies. The crystal empire would attempt futilely to invade the diamond dog chiefdoms and subjugate them like the yaks, however, their extensive tunnel networks and their decentralised command would make them impossible to weed out nor negotiate with.

Occasionally, the Zebrican tribes would assist the diamond dog chieftains in exchange for books and artefacts dug up from the buried unicorn libraries that contain the knowledge for potion-making.

Politics of the NorthWestern Lands of Equis:

The deer and hippogriff tribes raid via the river, plundering any unguarded villages or mines along their way downstream. They're the only 'tribes' that aren't plagued by infighting, however, their lands are fractured by different leaders and lords, which also means they have no organised army.

The two 'tribes' raid Equestria daily, occasionally raiding each other when they come back with nothing from the ponies. The deers border the griffons to the south, who occasionally send raiding parties to pillage the pillagers, who in turn pillages the pillagers who pillaged the pillagers who pillaged the Equestrians.

The changeling hives are too busy eradicating each other to take notice of their southern borders, and the two 'tribes' follow the crystal empire's example in avoiding their lands.

Politics of Equestria and its surroundings:

THE BUFFALOS ARE RAIDING!
OH SHIT! REPEL THEM!
THE DIAMOND DOGS ARE USING THE OPPORTUNITY TO RAID US!
FUCK! TURN BACK!
GRIFFONS TO THE WEST!
TURN BACK AGAIN!
MINOTAURS AND ZEBRAS AND COMING FROM DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS!
AHHHHHHHHH
THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE IS INVADING US! AND THERE ARE REPORTS OF ANOTHER GRIFFON CIVILISATION TO THE EAST!
*Ded*

(That's the simplified situation in Equestria, and they're at risk of becoming Poland and be wiped off the map.)

Comments

[Radical Centrist]

Mah brein hurts

[Bronycommander]

interesting

[Davenfjeld]

There were like three typos in this that I'll come back to another time.

Always nice to see some good maps though, you're only using HOI4 because you're waiting for Vicky 3 right? Right?

[kaiser0kolovos]

And here I thought that this would be similar to the geopolitical situation of Europe, only with the different ethnicities replaced with different species, that would have been too easy.

I like that the Crystal Ponies are occupying the land the Equestrian Ponies used to inhabit before the Wendigos came, giving an explanation on why the Crystal Empire is frozen over.

Does Bismark and Mauser (though mostly Bismark) have any plans regarding the Western Griffon Tribes?

Conquering that land would more than double the German Empire's coastline and landmass, with all of the resources that entails.

Controlling that land would allow Germany to control a major river route from the Western Ocean into Minotaur Lands. Given Germany's proximity to the river outlet from the Eastern Ocean into Buffalo Lands, Germany could effectively block ocean access to both the Minotaurs and the Buffalo if they are ever threatened.

The German Empire could appropriate some of the same propaganda they used during the war against the warlords, the conquest can be sold as an attempt to unify all Griffon tribes into a singular nation and that German governance and modernization would put an end to the suffering of the western Griffons.

You can also have the unified empire be administered separately as West Germany and East Germany. No one would get it, not even Mauser and Bismark, but it would be funny and confuse the hell out of any reincarnated human that was born after 1940.

[fechlin]

As someone very use to EaW, these maps hurt my brain

[yammering2]

10848592
Do you mean 1945 and is there going to be a another landmass like eaw

[kaiser0kolovos]

10849064

No not WW2. The Germans here are Imperial Germany (Kaiser, stahlhelm, iron cross) rather than Nazi Germany (Führer, totenkopf, swastika) and look to be around 1890-1910. The Jacobins are Revolutionary France. The rest of the world seems to be somewhere in a pre-Renaissance Medieval period.

Recent changes to Chapter 19 of this story added a map of the landmass of this planet (still don't have a name for the planet).

I originally thought that the landmass would be more similar to Earth in that the Griffons would be in central Europe, the Jacobins would be in Eastern France, the rest of western Europe being Equestria, Scandinavia would be the Crystal Empire, the Zebras would be in Africa, the Minotaurs would be in Greece, etc.

But instead this is more like discworld where the planet is mostly flat and there's a single Pangea-like supercontinent.

[reeboiiiii]

im just imagining the narrator of "WW2 in Color" reading this

[Ackkenan234]

Complete Map of Equis:

How do you make this map?