Okay, I have decided upon a list. This list takes into account all that Foundation mentioned in the first post. While some of the picks are out of order on what you may consider a pure military stand point, I have placed particular weight on political strife/stability (both internal and external), demonstrated military cohesion and performance, and management of available resources.
1. Aurvandil
2. Astrum
3. Morek Empire
4. Lurian Federation
5. Kabrinskia
6. Terran
7. Asylon
8. Zuma Coalition
9. Corsanctum
10. D'Hara
Discussion of picks for clarification of choice:
1. Aurvandil receives the top spot due to demonstrated ability having the highest cohesion in an army yet demonstrated on Dwilight, and the ability to maximize limited resources for broad military gains. With a stronger economy than before their war with Madina, they are well poised as the strongest military power on Dwilight.
2&3. Astrum and the Morek Empire are very close. Morek Empire could arguably be said to have a stronger influence militarily in the area around its regions, and has a larger noble count. However, Astrum's economy is better than Morek's and Astrum's political influence beats that of Morek at the current date. With Brance from Astrum as Regent of SA, additional influence and points are gained by Astrum.
4. Luria is a pickle. Having been a player of Luria since the very beginning of Alanna's reign there, I have a particular bias towards Luria. However, I do not believe that bias has caused me to incorrectly place Luria here. The reasons are quite simple, and hard to understand for anyone who has not played in a Lurian realm. From the outside, Luria appears fragmented and has large political instability. However, when faced with a foreign threat, the alliances in Luria are ironclad, and a Lurian will fight beside a Lurian they hate if Luria is threatened before they would ever fight a Lurian. Foreign diplomacy for Luria has been as a single cohesive unit, and that is why they are the only power bloc included on this list. The Moot is excluded because in their war against Kabrinskia they demonstrated inability to capitalize on superior strength and did not exercise the full force of their federation.
5&6&7. Kabrinskia, Terran, and Asylon are very close together. Based purely on numbers, the order should be Asylon, Terran, Kabrinskia. However, I have chosen the opposite based upon the following reason:
a. Kabrinskia was able to fight Terran to an essential stand still and won in military matchups which they should have lost, due to failings in the Terran military command.
b. Terran failed to capitalize on their superior military and economic advantage. Terran also has better allies than Kabrinskia but has demonstrated inability to use them effectively. Meanwhile, Kabrinskia has demonstrated a very good ability to capitalize on its political links to come to its defense.
c. Asylon should be higher on the list, but political instability both internal and external have knocked it down on the list. With a stronger militay and economy than both Kabrinskia and Terran, Asylon would have been at #5. However, their ruler has demonstrated an ineptness at politics that highly weakens his realm's strength, while indicating possible insanity. With the current course of the war in that region, it is likely that Kabrinskia will only grow stronger at Asylon's expense, which places it in a better position.
d. Kabrinskia currently (as of 7 days ago) tops the charts of CS/noble demonstrating their ability to capitalize on their strength more than any other realm in the current term.
8. The Zuma Coaltiion. Technically they are a realm, even if it is an NPC realm. They make the list primarily due to their ability to incite fear in the surrounding realms, as well as their demonstrated ability to both influence conflict in the surrounding areas, while having their enemies fight against each other instead of uniting on the Zuma. The Zuma have very strong military capabilities in the short term and have used them to maintain territorial sovereignty and continue to make progress on their goals on the island, with many of Dwilight none the wiser. However, due to weaknesses in their fighting capability they only come in at #8.
9. Corsanctum has a decent sized military capability. However, their true strength comes in their religious influence and importance to the religion of Sanguis Astroism. As the power-seat of the prophet, they are essentially safe from all military persecution by outside influences (besides the fact they are also surrounded by allies).
10. D'Hara could have received a higher spot on the list due to their economic advantages, allies, and geographical position. However, their lack of any sort of military (although this is changing) and lack of many advanced recruitment centers reduces their point on the list. But, they are also a realm likely to rise in power rapidly when they choose to do so. Unfortunately they have allies on one side while the Lurian Federation on the other. Expansion prospects are slim.
