aphlos application
PLAYER
Name: Eskimo
Age: Eighteen
Personal Journal: ”chrnophobic”
E-mail: vulpez5@aol.com
AIM/Yahoo!/MSN: vulpez5 [aim], pyromaniaceskimo@hotmail.com [msn]
CHARACTER
Country Name [Human Name]: Feliks Łukasiewicz
Apparent Age/Actual Age: Nineteen //1043 at the least
Appearance: To cover the most basic of physical traits, Feliks has the appearance of a young man in his teens. He has blonde hair that falls to just above his shoulders and bright green eyes. His appearances are deceptively effeminate and fragile but one needs only to spend a short time in his company to know that it belies a strong and determined spirit. Having had been pushed too close to death on more than one occasion, Feliks takes care of his well being-it is apparent that he is a healthy person. Having recovered well from the past, he is still unable to completely erase the physical memories from his body.
Personality: Initially, he is incredibly shy and unsure of himself around strangers. He is a conservative nation and enjoys being in his comfort zone and while he does not like changes in environments or associates, his pride refuses to let him flee. He will hold his ground and stubbornly make his point but latch onto and hide behind the first, familiar object or person he can find-he is a nation that requires security.
Once one gets to know him, he becomes loud, stubborn, confident, and blunt. He comes out of hiding, lets go of his security blanket, and immediately latches onto you like the plague. He is the type that can easily overpower and control one with a weaker and more submissive personality and often bosses them around. In the event that he should meet the opposite-one with a strong and aggressive personality, Poland will stubbornly butt heads with him or her. Despite his off-putting personality, he is a good person at heart and often only acts in such a way because he believes that he is doing good for others (and himself, of course).
Due to past experiences, he is untrusting of strangers and skeptical at times but his personality is one that allows him to give everyone a try. It should be noted that should anyone betray his trust, he can hold grudges but offers everyone and anyone a chance to redeem themselves (eventually) and ultimately, forgive (but never forget) them with time.
Weapons: Historically speaking, Poland would be skilled in several weapons, most noticeably the lance which was standard-issue for Polish hussars and the Karabela-- the most popular of Polish sabers that came into use in the 1670s. It is believed that they were modeled after swords carried by Turkish Janissarries. The popularity of the weapon came from it’s effectiveness as a weapon for cavalry and foot soldiers. The hilt is open and traditionally fashioned in the shape of an eagle’s head.
I’m sure Poland knows how to use a gun like any other nation that fought in WWII but otherwise, there is no canon weapon as far as I can tell.
Your Favorite place to hide: Under the bed because there's no more room in the closet.
History:
[Legend]
According to legend, Poland was founded when three brothers by the name of Lech, Czech, and Rus were exploring the wilderness for a place to live. Suddenly, they say a hill with an old oak and a white eagle on top. The red light from the setting sn struck the eagle, tingeing the tips of it’s wings gold. Lech said, “This white and gold eagle, I shall adopt as the emblem of my people and around this oak, I shall build my strong hold.” Czech and Rus would later head east and south respectively to found the Czech Lands and Russia/Ukraine. A city formed around Lech’s oak and Lech called it “Gniezdno” which meant nest. The white and gold eagle is still used as Poland’s coat of arms today. Mun personally interprets this as Poland being discovered by the founders after he falls out of a tree.
[Founding]
Originally called Civitas Schinesghe by Prince Mieszko I, the Central European state was converted to Christianity around the years 921 and 922. Mieszko is considered to be the first ruler of Poland. Originally, he had been a pagan but converted to Christianity upon his marriage to the Christian Princess of Bohemia. Roman Catholicism became the leading religion in Poland and as a result, Poland found support within the Roman Catholic church.
Bolesław I Bolesław I took over when Mieskzko died. He was an ambitious man with a strong personality who would lead Poland towards expansion. Leading a series of crusades and conquests on the surrounding lands, Bolesław strained the economic resources of the young nation. Most of his campaigns, however, were successful though he lost the economically crucial Father Pomerania which had been claimed by his late father. Bolesław’s son would continue the legacy and pursue an alliance with the Holy Roman Empire. In the year 1000, Holy Roman Emperor Otto III went on a pilgrimage to Poland and established his support with the nation. During this time, Poland and the Holy Roman Empire were like BFF4LIFE or something.
The Piast dynasty came to an end under Mieszko II who also tried to conquer surrounding lands. This incurred the wrath of their neighbor, Rus, who quickly disposed of Mieszko following an invasion with some of the German states. Poland suffered territorial losses. The turmoil that followed, naturally, didn't go so well for the young nation but it began to cause problems for his neighbors to so in the end, Kievan Rus helped stabilize the Polish state once more. So basically, Feliks got into a few fights, lost the fight, lost a lot of stuff, began to complain, and the neighbors were like, "Oh, God, all right, we'll help you." But Feliks totally could have taken care of himself.
In 1228, the Acts of Cienia were passed and signed into law by Władysław III Laskonogi. The Duke of Poland promised to provide a "just and noble law according to the council of bishops and barons." Such legal guarantees and privileges included also the lower level land owners - knights, who were evolving into the lower and middle nobility class known later as "szlachta". The fragmentation period weakened the rulers and established a permanent trend in Polish history, whereby the rights and role of the nobility were being expanded at the monarch's expense. Hey, it seemed like a good idea.
In the following decades the Teutonic Knights conquered large areas along the Baltic Sea coast and established their monastic state. When virtually all of the Western Baltic pagans became converted or exterminated in 1283, the Knights turned their attention to Poland. The two sides instantly disliked one another because Poland was protecting Lithuania, the last pagan state. Poland and the Teutonic Knights had a bizarre relationship with the Teutonic Knights fighting Poland and Poland helping the Knights when it served their interests-- Poland even managed the Teutonic Knights to recognize and serve the Polish crown in the latter half of the 1400s before relations turned sour again.
The Polish nobility decided that eleven year old Princess Jadwiga would become the King of Poland in the 14th century. Jadwiga married Jogaila, the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Beginning with the Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila, the Jagiellon dynasty formed the Polish-Lithuanian Union. The partnership proved beneficial for the Poles and Lithuanians, who played a dominant role in one of the most powerful empires in Europe for the next three centuries. Together, the two sides conspired against the Teutonic Knights. Together, Poland and Lithuania completely defeated the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg). Other battles would soon follow. However, all came to an end in 1515 when Poland entered a marriage-alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor, successfully cockblocking the Order.
Sweden attacked all of Poland in the 17th century in an event that critically hurt Poland’s power. Many wars against the Ottoman Empire, Russia, Cossacks, Transylvania and Brandenburg-Prussia began and ended within the same century. Yeah, they were all pretty lame guys. Assholes. During the following 80 years, the government and nationed were weaker, making Poland dependent on Russia. Russian tsars took advantage of this by offering bribes and manipulating Commonwealth politics. Russia, Prussia, and Austria later broke Poland into three pieces in 1772, 1793 and 1795, which dissolved the country. The Poles and Lithuanians had tried to prevent the partitions by adopting a constitution in 1791 but the efforts failed. Then a pretty cool French guy named Napoleon made another Polish state, “the Duchy of Warsaw”, but after the Napoleonic wars, Poland was split again by the countries at the Congress of Vienna. Yeah, sometimes Europe could be pretty lame.
During World War I, Poland did not exist because it was still in a partitioned state, split between Prussia, Austria, and Russia. Poles were forced to fight one another and take sides. Soon after the surrender of Germany in November 1918, Poland became the Second Polish Republic. It got its freedom after several military conflicts; the largest was in 1919-1921 Polish-Soviet War.
On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany attacked Poland, and the Soviet Union attacked on September 17. Warsaw was defeated on September 28, and was split up into two pieces and the Polish state was dissolved once again. Out of all the countries that were in the war, Poland lost the highest amount of its people with almost 6 million dead. Poland also gave the most troops, after the US, the British and the Soviets, to ultimately defeat Axis cause. At the war's end, Poland's borders were moved west. The territorial shift caused many Poles to be moved. Poland for the first time in history became an ethnically homogeneous nation state as a result of the Holocaust, the expulsion of Germans in the west, resettlement of Ukrainians in the east and the repatriation of Poles from Kresy. But still, Poland was reestablished as a nation once again.
Near the end of World War II, the advancing Soviet Red Army had pushed out the Nazi German forces from occupied Poland. At the insistence of Joseph Stalin, the Yalta Conference sanctioned the formation of a new Polish provisional and pro-Communist coalition government in Moscow, which ignored the Polish government-in-exile based in London. This has been described as a Western betrayal of Poland because the Allied powers did nothing in an attempt to appease the Soviets. Well, who needs those guys anyways? The new communist government in Warsaw increased its political power and over the next two years the Communist Polish United Workers' Party.
This vicious cycle of riots that occurred during Poland’s communist rule was finally interrupted by the 1978 election of Karol Wojtyła as Pope John Paul II, strengthening the opposition to Communism in Poland. In early August 1980, the wave of strikes led to the founding of the independent trade union "Solidarity" by Lech Wałęsa. The growing strength of the opposition led the government of Wojciech Jaruzelski to declare martial law in December 1981. However, with the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union, increasing pressure from the West, and continuing unrest, the Communists were forced to negotiate with their opponents. The 1989 Round Table Talks led to Solidarity's participation in the elections of 1989. The striking victory sparked off a succession of peaceful transitions from Communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe.
In 1999, Poland joined the United Nations. On August 14, 2008, the United States and Poland agreed to have 10, two-stage missile interceptors. The Americans had pledged to protect Poland and that the missiles would make their response time faster. Poland agreed initially but as soon as Russia found out, Russia declared Poland a threat, bitter ties became further embittered, and the idea was dropped. Russia has threatened nuclear attack against "new US assets in Europe." The threat, many feel, is being directed at Poland. Russia has also accused Poland of starting World War II which has further enraged Poles.
Poland's views on many affairs are unique given the fact it holds both Western and Eastern influences. In 2004, Poland joined the European Union and has since, advocated for change within the EU, often criticizing the Union for being "too exclusive." Poland hopes that Ukraine and Turkey will be accepted into the union. Today, Poland enjoys good ties with it's neighbors, especially Ukraine and even Germany.
SAMPLES
First Person:
A-achoo! Like, what's up with this? Can you say so totally not cool? Oh my gosh, I swear to God this is like, almost as lame as Russia's fashion sense. But the collar totally sounds like something Prussia would do. Tch, dupek. Someone better get this thing off or someone's capital's totally gonna be Warsaw!
'Kay, but like, serious, what's up? This isn't my house!
. . . I'm cold. This backpack is heavy. It doesn't match my clothes. My flashlight's broken. This collar itches. My feet hurt.
I'm hungry.
Third Person: It was beginning to get dark. Sitting down on a fallen tree, Feliks dropped the pack down beside him and began to rummage through it. His hands stopped for a moment on the water bottle and the food rations in the bag. He was hungry, Feliks thought, and he tapped the bottle cap with a finger nail. One, small snack wouldn't hurt, would it? No, he was hungry but he wasn't that hungry, he told himself, besides, the food probably tasted like sawdust or something anyways. Digging deeper, Feliks took out the flashlight and the PDA that he had found when he woke up in this strange new place.
Turning the PDA on, Feliks frowned. Still, no new messages? "Like, is anyone even out there?" He asked. Seconds pass, still no new messages. "Like, hello, I said is anyone out there?! Omigosh, why aren't you guys answering me?!" The Pole yelled, throwing the organizer back into the bag.
He didn't understand what was going on but the one thing Feliks knew for sure? This wasn't cool, this wasn't cool, this so totally wasn't cool! Scratching under the collar (augh, this thing was going to leave a mark, for sure) he tried to understand what was going on. He had been home just the other day, out in Kraków, talking to his people, having a good time and now? This wasn't Kraków.
Feliks' stomach growled and he frowned in discomfort, "I'm hungry." He complained, turning the flashlight on and off, on and off. . .
Name: Eskimo
Age: Eighteen
Personal Journal: ”chrnophobic”
E-mail: vulpez5@aol.com
AIM/Yahoo!/MSN: vulpez5 [aim], pyromaniaceskimo@hotmail.com [msn]
CHARACTER
Country Name [Human Name]: Feliks Łukasiewicz
Apparent Age/Actual Age: Nineteen //1043 at the least
Appearance: To cover the most basic of physical traits, Feliks has the appearance of a young man in his teens. He has blonde hair that falls to just above his shoulders and bright green eyes. His appearances are deceptively effeminate and fragile but one needs only to spend a short time in his company to know that it belies a strong and determined spirit. Having had been pushed too close to death on more than one occasion, Feliks takes care of his well being-it is apparent that he is a healthy person. Having recovered well from the past, he is still unable to completely erase the physical memories from his body.
Personality: Initially, he is incredibly shy and unsure of himself around strangers. He is a conservative nation and enjoys being in his comfort zone and while he does not like changes in environments or associates, his pride refuses to let him flee. He will hold his ground and stubbornly make his point but latch onto and hide behind the first, familiar object or person he can find-he is a nation that requires security.
Once one gets to know him, he becomes loud, stubborn, confident, and blunt. He comes out of hiding, lets go of his security blanket, and immediately latches onto you like the plague. He is the type that can easily overpower and control one with a weaker and more submissive personality and often bosses them around. In the event that he should meet the opposite-one with a strong and aggressive personality, Poland will stubbornly butt heads with him or her. Despite his off-putting personality, he is a good person at heart and often only acts in such a way because he believes that he is doing good for others (and himself, of course).
Due to past experiences, he is untrusting of strangers and skeptical at times but his personality is one that allows him to give everyone a try. It should be noted that should anyone betray his trust, he can hold grudges but offers everyone and anyone a chance to redeem themselves (eventually) and ultimately, forgive (but never forget) them with time.
Weapons: Historically speaking, Poland would be skilled in several weapons, most noticeably the lance which was standard-issue for Polish hussars and the Karabela-- the most popular of Polish sabers that came into use in the 1670s. It is believed that they were modeled after swords carried by Turkish Janissarries. The popularity of the weapon came from it’s effectiveness as a weapon for cavalry and foot soldiers. The hilt is open and traditionally fashioned in the shape of an eagle’s head.
I’m sure Poland knows how to use a gun like any other nation that fought in WWII but otherwise, there is no canon weapon as far as I can tell.
Your Favorite place to hide: Under the bed because there's no more room in the closet.
History:
[Legend]
According to legend, Poland was founded when three brothers by the name of Lech, Czech, and Rus were exploring the wilderness for a place to live. Suddenly, they say a hill with an old oak and a white eagle on top. The red light from the setting sn struck the eagle, tingeing the tips of it’s wings gold. Lech said, “This white and gold eagle, I shall adopt as the emblem of my people and around this oak, I shall build my strong hold.” Czech and Rus would later head east and south respectively to found the Czech Lands and Russia/Ukraine. A city formed around Lech’s oak and Lech called it “Gniezdno” which meant nest. The white and gold eagle is still used as Poland’s coat of arms today. Mun personally interprets this as Poland being discovered by the founders after he falls out of a tree.
[Founding]
Originally called Civitas Schinesghe by Prince Mieszko I, the Central European state was converted to Christianity around the years 921 and 922. Mieszko is considered to be the first ruler of Poland. Originally, he had been a pagan but converted to Christianity upon his marriage to the Christian Princess of Bohemia. Roman Catholicism became the leading religion in Poland and as a result, Poland found support within the Roman Catholic church.
Bolesław I Bolesław I took over when Mieskzko died. He was an ambitious man with a strong personality who would lead Poland towards expansion. Leading a series of crusades and conquests on the surrounding lands, Bolesław strained the economic resources of the young nation. Most of his campaigns, however, were successful though he lost the economically crucial Father Pomerania which had been claimed by his late father. Bolesław’s son would continue the legacy and pursue an alliance with the Holy Roman Empire. In the year 1000, Holy Roman Emperor Otto III went on a pilgrimage to Poland and established his support with the nation. During this time, Poland and the Holy Roman Empire were like BFF4LIFE or something.
The Piast dynasty came to an end under Mieszko II who also tried to conquer surrounding lands. This incurred the wrath of their neighbor, Rus, who quickly disposed of Mieszko following an invasion with some of the German states. Poland suffered territorial losses. The turmoil that followed, naturally, didn't go so well for the young nation but it began to cause problems for his neighbors to so in the end, Kievan Rus helped stabilize the Polish state once more. So basically, Feliks got into a few fights, lost the fight, lost a lot of stuff, began to complain, and the neighbors were like, "Oh, God, all right, we'll help you." But Feliks totally could have taken care of himself.
In 1228, the Acts of Cienia were passed and signed into law by Władysław III Laskonogi. The Duke of Poland promised to provide a "just and noble law according to the council of bishops and barons." Such legal guarantees and privileges included also the lower level land owners - knights, who were evolving into the lower and middle nobility class known later as "szlachta". The fragmentation period weakened the rulers and established a permanent trend in Polish history, whereby the rights and role of the nobility were being expanded at the monarch's expense. Hey, it seemed like a good idea.
In the following decades the Teutonic Knights conquered large areas along the Baltic Sea coast and established their monastic state. When virtually all of the Western Baltic pagans became converted or exterminated in 1283, the Knights turned their attention to Poland. The two sides instantly disliked one another because Poland was protecting Lithuania, the last pagan state. Poland and the Teutonic Knights had a bizarre relationship with the Teutonic Knights fighting Poland and Poland helping the Knights when it served their interests-- Poland even managed the Teutonic Knights to recognize and serve the Polish crown in the latter half of the 1400s before relations turned sour again.
The Polish nobility decided that eleven year old Princess Jadwiga would become the King of Poland in the 14th century. Jadwiga married Jogaila, the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Beginning with the Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila, the Jagiellon dynasty formed the Polish-Lithuanian Union. The partnership proved beneficial for the Poles and Lithuanians, who played a dominant role in one of the most powerful empires in Europe for the next three centuries. Together, the two sides conspired against the Teutonic Knights. Together, Poland and Lithuania completely defeated the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg). Other battles would soon follow. However, all came to an end in 1515 when Poland entered a marriage-alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor, successfully cockblocking the Order.
Sweden attacked all of Poland in the 17th century in an event that critically hurt Poland’s power. Many wars against the Ottoman Empire, Russia, Cossacks, Transylvania and Brandenburg-Prussia began and ended within the same century. Yeah, they were all pretty lame guys. Assholes. During the following 80 years, the government and nationed were weaker, making Poland dependent on Russia. Russian tsars took advantage of this by offering bribes and manipulating Commonwealth politics. Russia, Prussia, and Austria later broke Poland into three pieces in 1772, 1793 and 1795, which dissolved the country. The Poles and Lithuanians had tried to prevent the partitions by adopting a constitution in 1791 but the efforts failed. Then a pretty cool French guy named Napoleon made another Polish state, “the Duchy of Warsaw”, but after the Napoleonic wars, Poland was split again by the countries at the Congress of Vienna. Yeah, sometimes Europe could be pretty lame.
During World War I, Poland did not exist because it was still in a partitioned state, split between Prussia, Austria, and Russia. Poles were forced to fight one another and take sides. Soon after the surrender of Germany in November 1918, Poland became the Second Polish Republic. It got its freedom after several military conflicts; the largest was in 1919-1921 Polish-Soviet War.
On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany attacked Poland, and the Soviet Union attacked on September 17. Warsaw was defeated on September 28, and was split up into two pieces and the Polish state was dissolved once again. Out of all the countries that were in the war, Poland lost the highest amount of its people with almost 6 million dead. Poland also gave the most troops, after the US, the British and the Soviets, to ultimately defeat Axis cause. At the war's end, Poland's borders were moved west. The territorial shift caused many Poles to be moved. Poland for the first time in history became an ethnically homogeneous nation state as a result of the Holocaust, the expulsion of Germans in the west, resettlement of Ukrainians in the east and the repatriation of Poles from Kresy. But still, Poland was reestablished as a nation once again.
Near the end of World War II, the advancing Soviet Red Army had pushed out the Nazi German forces from occupied Poland. At the insistence of Joseph Stalin, the Yalta Conference sanctioned the formation of a new Polish provisional and pro-Communist coalition government in Moscow, which ignored the Polish government-in-exile based in London. This has been described as a Western betrayal of Poland because the Allied powers did nothing in an attempt to appease the Soviets. Well, who needs those guys anyways? The new communist government in Warsaw increased its political power and over the next two years the Communist Polish United Workers' Party.
This vicious cycle of riots that occurred during Poland’s communist rule was finally interrupted by the 1978 election of Karol Wojtyła as Pope John Paul II, strengthening the opposition to Communism in Poland. In early August 1980, the wave of strikes led to the founding of the independent trade union "Solidarity" by Lech Wałęsa. The growing strength of the opposition led the government of Wojciech Jaruzelski to declare martial law in December 1981. However, with the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union, increasing pressure from the West, and continuing unrest, the Communists were forced to negotiate with their opponents. The 1989 Round Table Talks led to Solidarity's participation in the elections of 1989. The striking victory sparked off a succession of peaceful transitions from Communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe.
In 1999, Poland joined the United Nations. On August 14, 2008, the United States and Poland agreed to have 10, two-stage missile interceptors. The Americans had pledged to protect Poland and that the missiles would make their response time faster. Poland agreed initially but as soon as Russia found out, Russia declared Poland a threat, bitter ties became further embittered, and the idea was dropped. Russia has threatened nuclear attack against "new US assets in Europe." The threat, many feel, is being directed at Poland. Russia has also accused Poland of starting World War II which has further enraged Poles.
Poland's views on many affairs are unique given the fact it holds both Western and Eastern influences. In 2004, Poland joined the European Union and has since, advocated for change within the EU, often criticizing the Union for being "too exclusive." Poland hopes that Ukraine and Turkey will be accepted into the union. Today, Poland enjoys good ties with it's neighbors, especially Ukraine and even Germany.
SAMPLES
First Person:
A-achoo! Like, what's up with this? Can you say so totally not cool? Oh my gosh, I swear to God this is like, almost as lame as Russia's fashion sense. But the collar totally sounds like something Prussia would do. Tch, dupek. Someone better get this thing off or someone's capital's totally gonna be Warsaw!
'Kay, but like, serious, what's up? This isn't my house!
. . . I'm cold. This backpack is heavy. It doesn't match my clothes. My flashlight's broken. This collar itches. My feet hurt.
I'm hungry.
Third Person: It was beginning to get dark. Sitting down on a fallen tree, Feliks dropped the pack down beside him and began to rummage through it. His hands stopped for a moment on the water bottle and the food rations in the bag. He was hungry, Feliks thought, and he tapped the bottle cap with a finger nail. One, small snack wouldn't hurt, would it? No, he was hungry but he wasn't that hungry, he told himself, besides, the food probably tasted like sawdust or something anyways. Digging deeper, Feliks took out the flashlight and the PDA that he had found when he woke up in this strange new place.
Turning the PDA on, Feliks frowned. Still, no new messages? "Like, is anyone even out there?" He asked. Seconds pass, still no new messages. "Like, hello, I said is anyone out there?! Omigosh, why aren't you guys answering me?!" The Pole yelled, throwing the organizer back into the bag.
He didn't understand what was going on but the one thing Feliks knew for sure? This wasn't cool, this wasn't cool, this so totally wasn't cool! Scratching under the collar (augh, this thing was going to leave a mark, for sure) he tried to understand what was going on. He had been home just the other day, out in Kraków, talking to his people, having a good time and now? This wasn't Kraków.
Feliks' stomach growled and he frowned in discomfort, "I'm hungry." He complained, turning the flashlight on and off, on and off. . .