Ordensstaat Hellquill



Stalwart defenders of the eastern frontier, the knights of Hellquill have stood long as the Griffonian Empire protectors against the Riverpony incursions. But these oaths were abandoned after the Empire's collapse 30 years ago, and now the Hellquillians stand independent, closely tied to their allies in County of Longsword. The current Grand Master of the Order is old and set to retire soon, and with it, change might come to Hellquill, for the better or worse.

Grover II's Crusades
Emperor Grover I founded the Griffonian Empire, uniting all Griffon nations through military might and the blessing of The Idol of Boreas. His successor Grover II, had a problem. The Idol of Boreas did not bless him, and he controlled a vast Empire, with most countries only nominally under his rule, eager to challenge his rule.

Seeking an external enemy to keep the Empire from collapsing, he led military campaigns with the Knightly Orders against the ponies of the Riverlands, blessed by the Archons of the griffon Gods. He would lead multiple campaigns over his life.

The "crusades" as some call them were a partial success. They preserved the unity of the Empire and annexed some pony territories, especially in Southern Griffonia. However, their most ambitious goal - shattering the Riverlands, failed. Grover II met his end at the end of a Nimbusia spear in 854 ALB. In addition, his Crusades led to the Riverlands to sign the Treaty of Coltstream, a common defense pact amongst pony lands.

His more peaceful successor Grover III showed no interest in continuing the Crusades against the ponies.

The Rule of the Knights
The Knightly Order of Hellquill, previously an independent chapter of Knights, was granted some of the conquered territory, and incorporated into the Empire as a March around 810 ALB. Their honourable ancestors swore an oath to Grover II that they and their successors would do everything in their might to fight the Pony menace, and that the Empire would never have reason to fear their loyalty.

Many years of honourable service to the Empire passed. They fought alongside Grover II in his crusades, expanding their territory. After his death, Hellquill ruled over a sizeable population of ponies, and both sides raided back and forth.

A military order led by a Grandmaster, Hellquill's policies changed significantly from leader to leader. Originally, capture of land was followed by mass griffon settlement and displacement of conquered ponies, however as Hellquill's territory grew ponies tended to be left in peace, provided they disarmed, kept to their own self-run communities and providing taxes to their Griffon overlords.

Changing Times
Recently, the perpetual stalemate was broken, as the Knights of Hellquill managed to even advance all the way towards Diamond Mountain and seized their treasury.

However, trouble soon loomed over the Empire, which was increasingly shaken by greed and internal conflict. Sure enough, it had soon been utterly shattered, with even Griffonstone, the home of the imperial dynasty having broken away. After all these years, years during which they fought off pony raiders time and time again, the Empire has failed them, and is at the brink of complete collapse. As such, when Grover V was crowned in 979, they refused to renew their oaths of loyalty to the dying Empire.

The current leader, Grandmaster Siegfried Trappenfeld has served Hellquill well for many years, standing valiantly against both the East and the West to keep the order safe. His will to lead has slowly faded over these past couple of trying years, however. Much has changed within the world and the Griffonian continent, and Siegfried feels that he is no longer willing to lead the Order into the new world. He plans to retire soon and in his absence a new Grandmaster must be chosen.

Their are currently 3 promising candidates. August von Ortelsberg, Urlach ap Cyrod, and Wingfried von Katerinburg.

August von Ortelsberg brings promises of peace and prosperity. War and rivalry, he says, have only weakened Hellquill in the past, and cost us many thousands of lives. August is also said to believe in the equality of Ponies and Griffons, and he aims to establish a free and peaceful nation, which Griffons and Ponies share as equals.

Urlach ap Cyrod is a veteran knight and a big believer in the values of honour and tradition. He believes the main focus of the Order should be defending against the ponies from the east, just as they had done so for hundreds of years. Urlach also wishes to reestablish ties with the Griffonian Empire.

Wingfried von Katerinburg is the founder and leader of the Reformisten movement which seeks to reform the Knightly Order into a proper state with Wingfried at its helm, while at the same time seeking to create more "living space" for the Griffon race at the expense of the ponies of the East. Wingfried and his violent ideology are renown for their views on Griffon supremacy and the concept that Ponies are an evil that must be eliminated for the good of griffonkind. Even amongst the poor treatment of ponies in Hellquill, Wingfried and members of his movement are considered radicals.

The Knightly Order is at a turning point and the new Grandmaster will likely define the Order for centuries. Will they continue their eternal quest against ponykind nonetheless, to make both their ancestors and gods proud? Or do they seek a new path? The future is very much uncertain to us all.

Starting Situation
The Knightly Order of Hellquill starts with a small military of 40K deployed griffons (including 2 veteran knights), a meagre 7 factories and mixed terrain types. While it can gain some industry and ponypower by uniting with Longsword, Hellquill will find itself be outmatched by the combined forces of the River Coalition.

Threats and Opportunities

 * County of Longsword - Another Knightly Order and historical ally of Longsword. All political paths will give a focus to deal with Longsword. They will have a civil war early in the game and depending on the ruling parties of them and Hellquill, the unification can either be peaceful or via war.
 * River Coalition -  The ancient enemy of the Knights of Hellquill and unless Hellquill is harmonic they will be the main enemy of Hellquill. Several of their member nations will gain war goals against Hellquill which will bring the whole of the River Coalition into a war with Hellquill. Their combined strength vastly outmatches Hellquill and any conflict will be difficult. The key members to watch out for are Diamond Mountain,  Lake City, and the  River Republic. If you complete The Grand Crusade focus, you will end up at war with the entire river coalition.
 * Diamond Mountain - Your northeastern neighbor. A Supremacy Diamond Mountain can get a war goal against Hellquill from the Revenge focus. They are more likely to take the focus after 1011. Sometimes they can leave the River Coalition which can allow Hellquill to go to war with them without involving the rest of the River Coalition. However, be aware of their special Ironpaw divisions which have high defense and excel in fighting in hills and mountains of which Diamond Mountains have no shortage of.
 * Lake City - Most of their political paths will lead them to war with Hellquill. The exceptions are if they take Placate the Military and Bulwark Against Griffons or Curtail the Military paths.
 * River Republic - They are likely to get involved with Hellquill unless they go down the Prepare For The Storm Path.
 * Firtree Villages - Despite being neighbors they have no interaction with Hellquill. However, they can sometimes join the River Coalition which can open up a new front when facing the River Coalition. Though weak, they start guaranteed by the River Republic so attacking them is generally not a good idea.
 * Farbrook - While they have focuses to go to war with Hellquill, it is unlikely they will take these focuses.

Gameplay Mechanics

 * At the start Hellquill will get an event to decide how to spend their treasure from the Diamond Mountains. The treasure can be spent on the industry, population, or army. The choice will affect the rewards from certain focuses.
 * A decision to attract griffon colonists is available for all 3 political paths. The decisions is unlocked by doing The Imperials, The Shield of Griffonkind, or The Neuland Act focus. The decision will increase the core population and can be done multiple times.
 * If Hellquill finds itself losing a war against the River Coalition then they unlock a decision to call the Griffonian Empire for help. If accepted, this will put Hellquill back to being a vassal of the Empire but will gain a powerful ally. However, if Hellquill is Supremacist then the call for help will not be accepted. Higher relations will increase the chance of the call being accepted.
 * A Harmonic Hellquill will unlock decisions to seek a guarantee from the River Coalition or the Griffonian Empire. Getting guaranteed unlocks further decisions to request more aid and integrate Hellquill into the guaranteeing faction. The requests are more likely to be accepted if Hellquill has high relations with the nation receiving the request.
 * For the Imperials, Hellquill can invite Imperial bankers which will reduce consumer goods and increase trade deal opinion.
 * For the River Coalition, Hellquill can create embassies with with members of the River Coalition (improving relations) and join the River Coalition as a honorary member. As an honorary member Hellquill will get a non-aggression pact with all nations of the River Coalition and can adopt the Rivbit and sign the River Convention on Beings Rights.
 * Once a Supremacist Hellquill launches their Grand Crusade and defeats all the River Nations by holding all their capitals, it will unlock a decision to proclaim the Ost-Griffonian Empire. This will move the capital to Jezeragrad and give cores on all of Lake City.

Political Tree
Siegfried's Retirement is the political tree and will unlock once Siegfried retires which will happen a month into the game. Once he retires there are 3 political paths to go down.

Springtime in Hellquill (Harmony)
The Council chooses August von Ortelsberg as the new Grandmaster. August will focus on mending the divide between the ponies and griffons, and eventually reform Hellquill into a democratic republic.


 * It is recommended to arrest Wingfried before supporting Pony Towns. As otherwise there will be attacks against the pony towns and you will get a negative event.
 * The same goes for opening dialogue with the ponies before inviting griffon settlers. As otherwise the ponies will be worried about the griffon settlements and voice their concerns, causing a small political penalty.
 * Two Species Under One Flag will begin a series of events where Hellquill is reformed into a Republic, and the first Presidential elections are held. There are four possible elected leaders:
 * August von Ortelsberg (Harmony), unlocks The Konservative Volkspartei Mandate. The re-elected August will continue reinforcing his reforms and ensure the equality of races within Hellquill.
 * River Breeze (Harmony), unlocks The Zmānenawinan Peraīninsnas Wīrija Mandate. Posniak lawyer River Breeze will seek to build a welfare state.
 * Reiner Guttenfried (Non-Aligned), unlocks The Sozialliberale Mandate. Businessgriffon Guttenfried will seek to liberalize Hellquill's economy and make the country wealthy.
 * Carl von Soldau (Non-Aligned), unlocks The Ost-Griffonische Bund Mandate. General von Soldau will seek to preserve frontier agrarian culture and institute regional democracy.


 * Invite Our Friends will give an event to deal with Longsword. You will get the option to first ask them to join Hellquill peacefully or go to war immediately. Longsword is likely to accept if the communists or non-aligned won the civil war. If the fascists won the civil war then it's likely they will reject the offer for unification.


 * The von Katerinburg Trial unlocks an event where Wingfried von Katerinburg is trialled. There are 3 options on dealing with Wingfried:
 * Imprison: PP,  Supremacy popularity
 * Exile: PP,  stability,  Supremacy popularity
 * Execute: PP,  stability,  Supremacy popularity

A School Debate event will eventually appear in Harmonic Hellquill, asking about whether or not should schools be separated by species. There are 2 options:
 * No separate schools: PP,  stability,  harmony popularity
 * Separate schools: PP

The Last True Knight (Non-Aligned)
The Council chooses Urlach ap Cyrod as the new Grandmaster. Urlach is a believer in traditional chivalrous values, and will work to preserve Hellquill's traditions while making peace with the Posniaks.


 * The Longswordian Mistake will demand Longsword's submission to Hellquill. If Longsword refuses, Hellquill will receive a war goal against them.

A New Hellquill (Supremacy)
The Council chooses Wingfried von Katerinburg as the new Grandmaster. Wingfried will focus on removing the pony minority in Hellquill. However, he does not wish to stop there. Rather than remaining as a defence against the ponies, he will actively prepare Hellquill for a Grand Crusade against the ponies in the east, and to do that he will modernize the nation and remove the archaic Knightly Order.


 * Before putting the Reformisten in power you should remove the Old Guard. As otherwise they will complain about the new leadership and cause minor political penalties.
 * Longsword Must Submit!: If the Reformisten won the Longsword Civil War (ideology of Longsword is Supremacist), an event will be sent to Longsword demanding unification, which will often be accepted. Otherwise, Hellquill will receive an Annex war goal on Longsword and receive cores on Longsword.
 * The Role of the Sturmgreifen which gives an event to decide what type of role the Sturmgreifen, either elite frontline units or supportive roles behind the frontline.
 * Frontline: Recruitable population,  division attack,  division recovery rate,  division defence.
 * Support: Recruitable population,  reconnaissance,  max entrenchment,  division organisation.


 * The Grand Crusade will unlock a decision to build more forts if at war and unleash the Purple Plague on the River Nations. The Purple Plague will cause several negative malus on the Riverlands nations which will last for a year. However, this will take several months to prepare and will cause all Riverland nations to declare war on Hellquill if not already at war.


 * The Purple Plague
 * Monthly Population
 * Recruitable Population Factor
 * Construction Speed
 * Division Attack
 * Division Defence

Alternate Path - The Rise of the Groverists
In the Supremacy path, taking the focus Disband The Order will launch an event where radical traditonalist knight Wilhelm Stackelberg will attempt a coup against Wingfried, the results of which are decided in a binary choice event.

If Stackelberg's coup succeeds, he will depose Wingfried and impose his own traditionalist Groverist rule, unlocking a new focus tree. He will restore the traditional society that Wingfried tried to eradicate, and continue with the plans for the Grand Crusade as Grover II envisioned it (and not as what Wingfried envisioned it).

Note that Stackelberg's focus tree also removes the military and the economy focus trees.

Alternate Path - Junta of National Salvation
In the Supremacy path, taking the focus Might Makes Right (unlocked by siding with the Sturmgreife in the Beakstadt Conference event, itself unlocked after completing the Disband The Order focus) will launch an event where general Demetrius Kamphaus, deciding that Edler and his insanity is too much for Hellquill, makes plans to purge both Wingfried and the SG. He plans to assassinate Wingfried, blame the assassination on the SG, and purge the SG. The event has two choices; either his plot is discovered and he gets purged, or his plot goes through and he deposes Wingfried.

If Kamphaus succeeds, he will institute his Junta of National Salvation, and a new focus tree is unlocked. The old political and economic trees are replaced with new ones.

Kamphaus's rise to power causes a crisis in Hellquill; the Sturmgreife go into open rebellion, while the economy crashes. These conditions are represented by two new negative national spirits added on Hellquill during the coup: The Sturmgreife Rebellion (Recruitable Population Factor -20%, Division Recovery Rate -5%, Stability -10%, War Support -10%) and A Shattered Economy (Consumer Goods Factories 20%, Construction Speed -50%, Production Efficiency Cap -50%, Factory Output -50%).

Kamphaus plans to invite the prince of the Principality of Lushi to lead Hellquill and restore legitimacy and stability. If Lushi is not Communist, then Kamphaus will send an invite to the Prince of Lushi.


 * A Crown For A Prince

Kamphaus has successfully invited the Prince of Lushi to lead Hellquill, uniting Lushi and Hellquill as a Dual Principality. Depending on the political events in Lushi, the Prince of Lushi will either be Prince Elias Whitecrest or Prince Gerar Whitecrest, who lead into different paths.

Both paths will grant a war goal on Griffon Liberation Army or  Kingdom of Brodfeld through the shared focus Strike At Brodfeld. Both paths also implement additional reforms that grant bonuses and an edict that protects ponies as equals to griffons.


 * Prince Elias (Harmony): Prince Elias desires the creation of a constitutional Federal Kingdom. After conquering Brodfeld, he will declare the creation of the Triune Kingdom.
 * Finish Off The Sturmgreife will remove the Sturmgreife Rebellion national spirit.
 * Prince Gerar (Supremacy): Prince Gerar desires to bring Hellquill-Lushi into a new age of glory. His path grants additional war goals on the Gryphian Host (Subjugate The Cossacks), the  Free Towns of Gryphus (Bring The Trade Cities To Heel), and the River Coalition (Lord Of The East). Gerar can also declare the creation of the Ost-Griffonian Empire after conquering all of the Riverlands, though he does not receive cores on  Lake City.
 * A Few Discreet Pardons will remove the Sturmgreife Rebellion national spirit, and give a new Group 225 national spirit, which gives -5% PP gain and +5% Research Speed.


 * The Revolution Comes For All!

Kamphaus's plans fail, either because the Prince of Lushi rejected his invite, or because Lushi had became communist and their Prince had been deposed. Hellquill falls into chaos, and a communist revolution led by the Hellquillian Communist Party (KPH) under Ernst Fischer seizes the opportunity and rises up to depose Kamphaus.

The communists will purge the remnant Reformisten from the country and link up with the County of Longsword partisans under Starry Night. Kamphaus will be trialled and executed. After the Communists stabilize the country, they will begin the First KPH Party Congress, where they decide on a leader, the two options are Chairgriffon Ernst Fischer, who emphasizes socialist patriotism and self-defense, or Chairmare Starry Night, who emphasizes workers' self-management and de-militarization.

The path eventually grants either a war goal on a non-Communist Lushi, or an invite to Communist Lushi for the two nations to join together. In either case, after Hellquill annexes Lushi, the Communists will declare the creation of Volksbundesrepublik that joins together Hellquill, Longsword, and Lushi.


 * Rebuilding The Economy

The new economy tree gradually removes the A Shattered Economy national spirit.

Alternate Path - Might Makes Right
In the Supremacy path, taking the focus Might Makes Right will launch an event where general Demetrius Kamphaus makes plans to purge both Wingfried and the Sturmgreife. If his plot fails, then Edler von Wingenberg, the radical head of the SG, will kill Wingfried due to Wingfried's failures to keep his generals in check, and institute his own radical genocidal rule.

Effectively a sub-path for Wingfried, Edler's path only replaces the final section of the Supremacist Hellquill focus tree following Disband The Order.

Industrial Tree
The Industry of Hellquill is small and unfit for a modern nation, especially one seeking to wage war. Hellquill will have two options on how to deal with this: either through the classic market capitalism, supported by the Harmonist/Non-aligned, or through the mass nationalization of the Reformisten.

Military Tree
The military trees are fairly self explanatory. Most of the focuses will provide Hellquill with research bonuses.

Staff and Designers
Political Advisors

Tank Designer

Ship Designer

Aircraft Designer

Materiel Designer

Industrial Concern

Theorist Chief of Army

Chief of Navy

Chief of Airforce

Military High Command