Master file of a spoof flag created in response to Civ'ed's spoof tutorial back in August 2015. It's a general rule that the smaller the dog, the louder the yap, and Ailedhoo's Manx supremacy, tongue-in-cheek as it was, became one of several IOT memes. Star likely derived from the [Soviet flag](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svg); hammer and sickle from [this file](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hammer_and_sickle.svg). [Download submitted to DeviantArt](https://www.deviantart.com/el-thorvaldo/art/Flag-of-Communist-Mann-928932387) September 2022; [alternative download available via Patreon.](https://www.deviantart.com/el-thorvaldo/art/Flag-of-Communist-Mann-928932387)

The Socialist Union of Democratic States was the internationalist rebrand of the French Commune, Ailedhoo's inaugural player state in Imperium Offtopicum IX. While not fully appreciated at the time, SUDS offered the template for pretty much his entire play style. A heterogeneous mix of leftist movements ranging from anarchists to Stalinists, it was almost always rattling sabres with its neighbours over the 'inevitable' global revolution, including my own *Downfall* Gang. Ironically, SUDS avoided the pariah status incurred by his later countries' political pig-headedness and militant fundamentalism, thanks in large part to being drafted into international coalitions against the even more insane powergamers christos200 and Domination3000. Originally submitted to the now-defunct IOT Wiki in 2016, replacing Ailed's rough-cut raster. [Fist](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red_stylized_fist.svg) by Rafelgr. Package includes the flag of the Socialist Organisation of Democratic Societies, a spiritual successor seen in Taniciusfox's *The Universe Game*, which moves the stars to the bottom. [Download submitted to DeviantArt](https://www.deviantart.com/el-thorvaldo/art/Flag-of-SUDS-929740501) September 2022; [alternative download available via Patreon.](https://www.patreon.com/posts/72082393)

Back in December I stumbled on [Hero Forge](https://www.heroforge.com/), which seems to be the best-quality and fullest-featured custom miniature maker on the Web. How I found it is lost to memory, but I had so much fun with it that I bit the bullet and registered an account, as it lets you save mockups for free. Done on a whim as a companion to [this piece](https://inkblot.art/post/x1uU4hPPzWn2EpdN5NiI) when I saw wargs were a choice for mount. [This may be canon.](https://inkblot.art/post/vbeUmTwg618ND5kp4nIx) Thorvald © the guess who; Hero Forge © Sky Castle Studios. [Originally submitted to DeviantArt July 2022.](https://www.deviantart.com/el-thorvaldo/art/Hero-Forge-Thorvald-v2-923937936)

Military counterpart to the [2011 flag](https://inkblot.art/post/PuHnS4Dc9c1J4QNxKjoM) of CivGeneral's Republic of Coruscant, uploaded to [the DYOS Wiki](http://dyos.shoutwiki.com/wiki/File:War_Ensign_of_Coruscant_2011.svg) in 2015 and the defunct IOT Wiki one year later. This also served as the flag of the "East Republic Company", his faction in *Mobius: Total Chaos* modeled on the (British?) East India Company to provide the government plausible deniability if its colonial ventures achieved terminal cringe. Based on the [war ensign of Germany (1903-1918)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:War_Ensign_of_Germany_(1903%E2%80%931919).svg); Old Republic starbird [traced by Darth_Culator](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/File:StupidRepublicEmblem-Traced-TORkit.svg) @ Wookieepedia, released under the GNU Free Documentation License. [Download submitted to DeviantArt](https://www.deviantart.com/el-thorvaldo/art/War-Ensign-of-Coruscant-2011-930931537) September 2022; [alternative download available via Patreon.](https://www.patreon.com/posts/72509622)

Centre block of the New Zealand Parliament, Wellington. The parliament buildings were originally built from wood, and in 1907 everything burned to the ground but the library, which was built from stone and had an iron-fire door. The government took the opportunity to redevelop the legislature under a unified aesthetic; a design contest was held in 1911 and two blueprints by John Campbell were adopted. The design was to be conducted in two phases: the first stage was a neoclassical Parliament House and intended redesign of the Library. Construction began in 1914 and quickly suffered supply shortages due to the onset of the war; while it remained unfinished, politicians began moving into the building in 1918. Stage I was finally completed in 1922, but Stage II never started; consequently, even after designating both Parliament House and the Beehive Category I heritage buildings, Heritage New Zealand admits that taken together, Parliament "has little aesthetic or architectural coherence". Parliament House underwent extensive renovations during the 1990s, including earthquake-proofing the structure by splitting the foundation and mounting the structure on what amount to giant springs. Guided tours are performed daily, although access to the public gallery in the house of commons is separate and is only available when the house is in session. Original photo taken May 2014. [Submitted to DeviantArt September 2015.](https://www.deviantart.com/el-thorvaldo/art/Parliament-House-559284454)

José Rafael Puan (alternatively spelled Jose Rafael Puan and Jose-Rafael Puan) was a recurring character of Rosalind Can't, a Bolivar-expy and namesake of "Puanarianism", a vaguely defined quasi-anarchic socialist philosophy. Puan first appeared in *Tiberian Sky* as the reluctant puppet of the Brotherhood of Nod, but also governed in his own right in *Peshawar Lancers 2* and *SnipedIOT*. He also cameoed as a member of the Congo Society's board of directors in *Iron and Blood 7* and Port Hadley in IdIOT. SVG reconstruction of Rosie's original design, uploaded to the now-defunct IOT Wiki in 2019. Based on the flag of Colombia, with the green cross representing the overarching aegis of Puanarianism. [Download submitted to DeviantArt](https://www.deviantart.com/el-thorvaldo/art/Flag-of-Jose-Rafael-Puan-931400480) September 2022; [alternative download available via Patreon.](https://www.patreon.com/posts/72703785)

A sketch for the IOT spin-off, "The Multipolar World", featuring the newly-elected leaders of the Co-operative Federation of Xinjiang. From the strictest reading, China *did* have a democratic government circa 2160... but christos was not a player known for adaptable roleplay. The Scarlet Lancers fought incessantly for a régime that was democratic in spirit as much as function, and finally achieved it Turn 8, 2165, after christos started a war he couldn't win and abandoned the country to be blown into nuclear oblivion, draining the treasury to bankroll his retirement to ~~Argentina~~Ethiopia. His "last" will and testament was to give everything to Australia, who partitioned the lands into independent successor states, one of which was "gifted" to the Lancers. Somehow, this sketch took me half a day, amidst a pretty bad state of health documented in [this journal](https://el-thorvaldo.deviantart.com/journal/Alright-I-ve-been-thinking-291990494). It's still a *little* on the rough side and the background was an almost total cop-out, but given how many times I had to revise this before and *after* scanning, I think I'm posting it partly to attest to myself that my work wasn't for naught. If I do any more edits, it'll probably be when my skill's so improved I'd redo the whole thing. I **hate** shoes. [Originally uploaded to DeviantArt March 2012.](https://www.deviantart.com/el-thorvaldo/art/The-New-Face-of-China-292100842) See original post for full description.

Emblem of the Star League in the IOT spin-off Imperium Universalis. Certainly not one of my more inspired designs, although I do like the aesthetic. The Star League is an autonomous military order that functions as a sort-of space-based UN, comprising a vast multitude of races and species from across the galaxy. It derives from an unfinished space opera I started God-knows-how-long-ago, and is one of two major factions competing for universal supremacy. While apolitical and authoritarian in structure, it is nonetheless the "good" counterpart to the similarly-organized, but dictatorial and human-centric Third Hierarchy of United Systems. Both factions trace their origins to a war on Earth in the late 1990s, and their contemporary leaders hold a personal vendetta. Very little of this history was elaborated in-game on account of even though the thread ran for three months, it was ridiculously slow to develop. As with the Bundesleet in Mobius: Total Chaos, this emblem was created for the purpose of the game and no symbolism existed prior. [Originally submitted to DeviantArt February 2012.](https://www.deviantart.com/el-thorvaldo/art/Star-League-Emblem-287392432) UPDATE 3-9-22: [Downloadable vector available in the SVG Legacy Flag Pack!](https://inkblot.art/post/JWxVNSGHI8qCKvuIxXfO)

Statue of Richard John Seddon (1845–1906), 15th Prime Minister of New Zealand, at the entrance to the Parliament Buildings in Wellington. Seddon was the longest-serving PM at 13 years, during which time he promoted aggressive economic and social reforms in favour of the middle- and working-class, although he opposed women's suffrage and Maori rights, and his populist image as 'champion of the common man' led to charges of anti-intellectualism. Nicknamed "King Dick" for his authoritarian rule, he is nonetheless widely lauded as New Zealand's greatest prime minister. Original photo taken May 2014. [Submitted to DeviantArt September 2015.](https://www.deviantart.com/el-thorvaldo/art/Seddon-Welcomes-You-559281994)

Character concept portrait created in [HeroMachine 3](http://www.heromachine.com/heromachine-3-lab/) for KaiserElectric's superhero IOT. The supers are actually NPCs and the players participate as regular nations. **Real name:** *Unknown* **Sex:** Male **Nationality:** Chinese **Location:** Asia **Abilities:** Expert martial artist, trained to physical perfection. Abstains from any and all external weapons; appears, helps, then vanishes just as quickly. I quite like how this turned out but the pose is extremely delicate, and I couldn't quite get the hands right no matter what I tried. Given how much he loves wuxia, to think this was the one time christos *didn't* start in Asia... HeroMachine © Jeff Hebert & AFD Studios LLC; Original character concept © KaiserElectic @ CivFanatics [Originally submitted to DeviantArt October 2014.](https://www.deviantart.com/el-thorvaldo/art/Tiger-Claw-490534348)

Northeast view from Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill toward Rangitoto Island, Auckland, New Zealand. [<== Left](https://inkblot.art/post/cHId71V3sGSUp2QTbwLm) | [Right ==>](https://inkblot.art/post/m5tMFhqa8fpBoVvxirxA) Original photo taken May 2014. [Submitted to Buzzly.art](https://www.deviantart.com/users/outgoing?https://buzzly.art/~Thorvald/art/auckland-panorama-4) December 2021; [reuploaded to DeviantArt](https://www.deviantart.com/el-thorvaldo/art/Auckland-Panorama-4-907758727) February 2022.

View toward the Pohutu Geyser, Whakarewarewa, New Zealand. This was taken just a little way in from the main entrance. In truth, most of that area is desolate sinter flats. Original photo taken May 2014. [Submitted to DeviantArt August 2015.](https://www.deviantart.com/el-thorvaldo/art/It-s-a-jungle-out-there-552949016)