>>70688808
>my slice of Colorado
grand junction or ft. collins?

>>70688900
Junction. Saw a homeless guy fighting another homeless guy over a bratwurst. :/ At least Santa stopped pooping down chimneys.

>>70688808
That is a cool map. Did you make it? Mind if I take a pick at Xonghai or Nod?

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>>70688808
>One figure stands out, King Tom of Laurania. A king of a micro kingdom defined by constant skirmishes with Taured traitors and Sheparad heathens who was birthed by a peasant mother to a serf father and a bastard to boot, having taken his power in a peasant revolt. Now, thanks to a head wound, he's gone mad, and has now partaken in an insane quest to... TAKE OVER THE WORLD!

>>70690114
Sure. And no, I didn't make. I found it trawling the archives. Kudos to whoever whoever made it. Those names are perfect (also Taured reference is kino).

>>70688808
>Bothia, Laeningia and Drakary are considered a part of the Red Crown.
>The Red Crown is a secret shadow government rulling over those 3 nations. Its origin is shrouded in mystery. Most high ranking officials don't think that the Red Crown even exists and discard it as an unfounded conspiracy theory.
>The most confusing part is how these nations interact. Considering that in any other circumstances they would go for eachothers necks.
>Bothia is known as the realm of the Revenants. Its population consists of immortal revenants that return to Bothia when they die. Bothia is rulled over by a aristocracy.
>Laeningias population consists of animated plants. Their location gave them the option to grow boats and expand their empire across the sea. All of their buildings are grown and living. The nation is rulled by a Council of admirals.
>Drakary is known to be one of the richest nations on the continent. The name roughly translates to land of the dragon. Drakary is ruled by a line of hunter kings. The Drakarians are also known to create Golems from the remains of slain monsters. With the Dragon Golems being the most powerfull.
>The only thing that unites all those nations (except the red crown) is their religion. A monotheistic religion viewed as heretical by most of their neighbors

>>70688808
Good thread anon. I approve.
I'll post some stuff in a bit.

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>>70688808
>>70690160
>Far deep into the lands of heat and sand, live the descendants of the wicked cainites, said to be the first men to invent the sword, and the first men to kill their fellows with it.

>Exiled from fabled lands after a long war, all thought them dead.

>But after years of travel, they reached a green place, where water is plentiful and salt can be mined from the White Hill's numerous caves.

>Atop this hill they established a city of wickdness, violence and greed, Zerzura.

>A man's worth is measured by the number of giant elands he owns, the fierceness of his sword strikes, the amount of wives he can sustain. Nodians do not farm, they take their produce from others.

>Nodians craft silvery bronze swords are said to be cursed, driving their own wielders into madness. But their sand berserkers welcome such curse.

>Their caravans mostly trade the salt for slaves to work into their farms and mines.

>But expeditions mounted atop chariots pulled by four elands still raid as far as Xonghai and Punt, seeking gold, slaves, honey and olive oil.

>In fact, salt is so plentiful in Zerzura that the city's very walls, houses and great tower are lined with it, creating a white spectacle which reflects the sunlight as strong as the pyramids of Khem-Rahab.

>Outposts of Zerzura are Garama of the Stone Forest, Zinchecra of the Black Mountain and Hatia of the Necropolis. Those fortresses both trade and fight against the sand nomads.

>>70688808
>Gog and Magog are wretched places, filled with deserts, swamps and stunted unhealthy plants and even more sickly creatures.
>They are controlled by two rival Wizard-Kings, who have been locked in a war for ages, some say since the fall of Hyboria.
>Some say that the Wizards are the last two true Hyborians, or that they are not men but twin gods of magic and spite. Whatever their origins, they seem intent on their great game, a genocidal conflict between the two.
>Legends say Orcs are men, twisted by dark magics, others that they are conjured demons of the underworld made flesh, others still insist that they are grown in great vats, a whole race of humonculi.
>Whatever their origin, they are universally misshapen and brutish, with an outlandish array of malformites. The huge bloated ones are often called, ogres, and the small wizzen ones orclins or goblins. Some say that you can tell the Orcs of Gog from those of Magog, because one has more porcine features.
>Luckily for mankind the war between Gog and Magog seldomly spills out into the rest of the world. When it does, ravenous hordes of Orcs pour from the east, sometimes to raid and carry home resources for their great war, other times as deserters fleeing their foul masters.
>Some say the most human looking Orcs are occasionally selected to go out into the world as spies to do their master's bidding.

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>Cirisce is the land of Witches and Warlocks, where strange women dance around dying trees to a full moon. They're the remnant of some old pagan faith that venerates nature and the ancestors, but do not be fooled. While nature can be beautiful, it can also be savage and brutal. After all, the wolf might possess a beautiful black coat but it still needs to eat meat all the same.
>But Cirisce, despite having animals that turn into beautiful women and mean old crones who turn stranded sailors into pigs and monkeys, is one of the wealthiest of Aquilon. The fields are always ripe, the wine always tastes good, and the children are always born strong and healthy. And they always grow into particularly handsome adults. So the masquerade, if there truly is one, continues.
>Ancient writings call these beings 'Druids' but most don't know that term at all, as they're locked away in old catacombs. Most monasteries have forgotten they even possessed such tomes in the first place. The Dominicans, due to mostly arbitrating canon law and burning the rare (and VERY rare) heretic, have yet to launch a witch hunt.

>Kekopolis

>>70690874
Zerzura is a real myth though, much like most of that map https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zerzura

>>70691211
>Dominicans

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>>70691211
>Aquilon is known for four things: religious fanaticism, feuding noble houses, affairs, and the Holy Paladins. Or, as known to the Dominicans and the Curia, the Paladins of the Holy Temple. While it's said that the Dominicans (aka: the Inquisition) are the left hand of the Holy, the Paladins are the right. The Paladins find their origin with the first Crusade, making a name for themselves as they followed King Karl into the land of Sheparad-sacking Taured when Karl ordered that any and all heathens either be converted by force or put to the sword. Thus Laurania was born.
>Due to their role, they were granted the duchy of Vancia where they watch King Tom and his increasingly erratic troop movements. The Paladins, while they may favor the monasteries and the common folk over the esteemed lords and ladies, are loyal to King Charles 'the Iron Prince.' Charles tolerates the Paladins as the Curia granted the Paladins the right to usury, to lend money. This led to the Paladins becoming a strong financial force on the continent.
>Charles, though while he grows annoyed at the power of the Temple, tolerates his rivals. For now. As they're not only bankers, but a strong military force with the support of the peasantry. So the Iron Prince broods in his beautiful castle... For now.

>>70691491
I know. I mixed it, the Land of Nod, The Song of Sword, Cain's Curse, arsenical bronze poisoning and garamantes to make my post. Now planning something for Xonghai.

>>70691606
The Dominican Order was the OG Inquisition, back when Inquisitors spent more time arguing canon law and contemplated grants of sainthood. Then they started to get aggressive, and the Inquisition as we know them showed up. Imagine going from that cool guy from Leibowitz to maximum Frollo and you get the idea.

>>70691657
I'm not arguing that part, it was just that we had Hyborbian Age-Conan vibe going for a bit then jumped three millennia or so forward.

>>70691734
Good point. Where should we take this thing? Low medieval, Dark Ages, Iron Age? The Dark Age is very compatible with Hyborian shenanigans (Ex: Beowulf), and the Low Medieval period allows for classic fantasy tropes to be a thing, as can be seen with Le Mort de Arthur and the corny as hell (but fun) movie Dragonheart.

>>70692389
I'd go low medieval, I think for a Hyboria as Rome sorta thing.

Maybe earlier if we want bronze poisoning. >>70691651

>>70691734
>>70692389
The Hyborian Age itself was kinda all over the place.

That said, I would like the Dark Ages. Perhaps getting some ideas from Charlemagne? Might make references to dromons, monasteries (of wizards?) preserving and copying parchments, frankish axes, cider, chivalry etc.

>>70692594
The bronze poisoning thing is kinda obscure and a trait of nodians, it doesn't need to define the setting's themes.

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>>70692594
I agree. Alright time for some rewriting.

>>70691623
>The Paladin are twelve statesmen in service to King Karloman of Aquilonia. Twelve statesmen who are also skilled warriors, dedicated to the defense of the realm above all else. They sit around a shield shaped table, in which King Karl sits at the top. Many lesser Dukes and other nobles, among them one bad tempered count: Will the bastard, chafe in anger and jealousy over their betters. But they forget what it means to be a true Paladin, a knight of the realm: the defense of the people comes first.

>Not mindless ambition and a lust for power.

>>70692763
Of course, Will totally won't fuck off to a certain island and make a mess of things. Nope, nuh uh. He's a gud boi.

>>70692763
I dig it.

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>>70688808
>Beware the little men who wander around the forest. Little men with a grudge against man. Despising all who work in the forest. Hunters, woodsmen, charcoal makers, millers, they even occasionally pester the executioner who lives out in the nice sunny pond where all the geese flock during the spring. But they serve their god's given role: they help the forest.
>They water the trees, heal the animals, and when the time comes, they march off into the mountains to join their brethren. What happens to the wee wood folk? Nobody knows. All I know is that my cat was awfully full that day.

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>>70693640
>In all my wanderings, I've never found a more misunderstood people than the so called 'wee wood folk,' but they call themselves the Gnome. Found through the northern continent, these little men live a precarious existence that's threatened by the necessities of human life. They're too small to compete with man, so they hide in the little nooks and crannies of life-like say the empty chicken coop, or even in a little crevice found in a castle where you'll find a small family. It's said that the gnomes have little mushroom towns sprinkled all through the world where they try to maintain their home forests, trying to save them from humans.
>Forests are the ideal biome for gnomes. There are plenty of places to hide and plenty of nuts to crack, fruit trees to forage, and ponds the occasional fish to catch. Yes, you heard the last one right. Gnomes are not vegetarians. Oh no, Gnomes are as fond of meat as we are. Frequently raiding nearby farms for chickens.
>Taking either the egg or the bird itself. For this reason, they're hunted as pests by farmers and hunters. With dogs and cats making their existence even more perilous. But still the Gnome persists, it lives, it writes it's own chronicles. But they're fools.
>We are the superior race, clearly. This idea that they're the true aboriginal species is a whole bunch of hogwash written by inbred retards to make up for their inferiority complex. Oh sure, we may pity them... But what is a midget human? What is a pygmy? I think you all know the answer my friends-VERMIN!
-Eldron, lectures on the mortal races.

>Saxogotika is in the midst of a bloody and drawn out civil war, Drakary and Aquilon are starting to size up the border states as they have been bled dry for years with no end in sight...

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>>70688808
>Rumor has it, Nod used to be green and very fertile. But something happened that made the land arid, the largest desert the world has ever seen. As a result, Nod is a natural barrier between the dark skinned men of Sigelwaraland and the brown skinned Saracens of the north. Trade routes are perilous, with the Nodians jealously guarding the secrets paths and oasis that would lead a traveler through. Needless to say, men mad enough to follow the Khemri Delta always make sure their guides are paid well and on time.
>But among the learned of the continent, some historians have theorized that there might be ruins hidden beneath those shifting sands. Ruins constructed by a race that predates Hyperborea. A few expeditions were mounted into Nod, with the Sheparad Magi and Loremasters of the Holy City launching expeditions to penetrate the desert and find the supposed first city spoken about in Theological literature. Sadly however, all have disappeared.
>The Nodians however, play dumb despite both leaning on their Saracen contacts. This has caused tension between the Sultans and the southern tribes who don't want their trade routes with the infidels jeopardized. This in turn, makes the Nodians even less likely to aid in any expeditions, making any and at all future attempts futile.
>Which might be just as well. Who knows what lies sleeping beneath, in dark crevices and tombs, waiting to reclaim a dead empire.

>>70688808
What map making software did you use Anon?

>>70694808
>Vilhan, ruler of Swardonia, saw a chance to reach into his neighboring Saxogotikan provinces.
>These lands were marred by infighting among the various city states, whose squabbling left them weakened.
>Vilhan conquered Jomsburg and Köningsaadt with ease
>This power grab angered the southern provinces, and they quickly moved in to try and reverse this course
>In turn, Vilhan decided to break free from the whole country, declaring himself the High King of Swardonia.
>His only ally is the Nilfenbergian Order thanks to his cousin, though their support doesn't extend to providing troops.
>His future goal is to move into the west by getting the thus-uninvolved Lottony in on his rebellion. He intends on doing this by promising Zanten and Lohengrinburg.

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>>70694808
>"Shed no tears dear sister. It's a time of metal, a time of bravery, a time of honor! It's... THE IRON CENTURY!"
-Emperor Barbarossa, shortly before dying of a split lance at the Battle of Eissen

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>>70688808
>Xonghai's economy is divided in clans, each with its own specialization and totem. Each clan also works as a guild. Its main exports are gold, kola nuts, leather and ivory. They eat mostly termites, elands, sorghum, baobab fruits and yams.

>Their money is made of ivory scrimshawed disks, small brass axeheads and cowry shells. Gold isn't acceptable because it is so abundant. All of the mined gold is also the king's possession.

>The society is divided into the free (chiefs, farmers, sorcerers and herders), smiths, servile (craftsmen, musicians and griots), and the slave class.

>Xonghaians use scarification as a means of showing their social identity, totem and to beautify themselves.

>Shamans are also judges. Their masks allow them to become the host of nature spirits and the newly deceased so they might testify in court.

>Priests also wear masks which act as conduits to the divine, empowering them with miracles.

>Blacksmiths are a class unto themselves, forming a secret society which passes on the secrets of making metals only to their apprentices, far away from prying eyes. All forges are walled buildings guarded by mercenaries clad in the finest arms & armor. It is an open secret that they require the mud of termite hives.

>The xonghaian king, Askia the Unblemished descends from a long dynasty of sacred sorcerers, which learnt their magic from the legendary Mmoatia dwarfs of the Golden Mountain. As long as the king is well, the land is strong and healthy. But each and every scar and disease suffered by the king also affects the whole of the land. A scarred king must be sacrificed and a new one enthroned so that the land may recover.

>The king has a harem which also works as a charity for females: widows, orphans, cripples and exiles may try to be accepted into it. Many of these people are trained to become amazon-wives called Gbetos, the core of the xoghaian army.

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>>70695300
>Gbetos decorate their hair with cowry shells. They never actually consumate their marriage with the king, making many of them virgins. They must wrestle, train with all weapons, forage their own food, climb thorn hedges to accept pain, behead criminals and drink the blood off the blade, as well as hunting the numerous wild animals. After slaying such beasts, they must present it to the king. In return, they become full amazons, receiving an armor or shield made from the animal's hide, giant razors, nine throwing knifes and a spear. These women then go to become army officers, adventurers and heroes. Many attempt to slay the unholy abominations called Grootslangs, or the hook-footed and iron-teethed vampires which ambush people from atop trees.

>The king and his harem reside in the capital, Timbuku of the Ivory Gates. The city is made wholly of mud-brick.

>Xonghaian master craftsmen know how to invite spirits into their works, creating powerful fetiches: hyena skulls which allow you to eat undead without becoming sick; bags full of healing baobab seeds; drums which calm even hippos; masks which trick magics or curses into hitting another target; quivers made of small stuffed crocodiles whose arrows bite upon hitting someone.

>The inhabitants of Timbuku include a large amount of foreigners. They say that their women are so beautiful that travellers fall in love and marry one of them. It might be because their women have no shame about being naked in front of strangers. Even the king's daughters freely bathe in the river which crosses Timbuku, for all to see.

>Timbuku has the Kola University, containing over one hundred thousand parchments about all subjects: dead languages, astrology, martial arts and much more.

>Not all is good in Xonghai: there are assassin cults based on wild animals like leopards, snakes and crocodiles. They kill and eat people to acquire their souls, using body parts in profane rituals. Many of these cults are ruled by witches.

>>70695198
Didn't make it. I found it trawling through the archives. Whoever did it was fucking awesome. I like how most of the kingdoms have borders based upon natural barriers.

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>>70692763
>The twelve Paladins each rule one of the duchies of Aquilon, making them dukes in stature. Even in duchies de jure apart of Aquilon but de facto independent like the 'free' cities of Esmereldd, Colenduta, and Cagliostro. The one exception is Listeneise which is under the direct rule of Emperor Carloman himself, thus making the largest, and wealthiest land, the royal demesne. As a result, the Aquilonians have a strong monarchy by the standards of the continent.
>The capital of Aquilon is Canovelle, a city on top of a hill. In that city, there's a tower where Karloman is aid to climb to every night, 'personally' inspecting his domain in case of trouble. Or so the tale goes. As you travel further down the feudal ladder, you find lesser dukes and barons, with the knights at the bottom of that particular totem pole. Below them sits the peasants with men at arms being afforded higher standing, below even that sits the serfs who make up a good portion of Aquilon's population.
>Technically sitting 'outside' of Aquilonian society sits vagabonds, outlaws, knaves, and other undesirables. But no profession scours more hate, more disgust than... ACTING!

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>>70695458
>Apart of the reason why mummers are so despised is the nature of their plays. They only do moralistic tales that even the dimmest peasant has memorized by heart, having seen them all since childhood. In addition, acting troupes tend to attract malcontents, faithless women, sodomites, jesters, and other unpleasant individuals. And what is with the animal masks?
>The Emperor himself even passed a law banning 'furry' masks as he himself wanted something a little different. The Holy Province has... Been quiet on the matter. Suggesting they agree.

I've grown to cringe at every setting inspired by warhammer fantasy. Less because of warhammer itself and more because of its omnipresence on tg, I guess.

Do not reply to the above post.

>>70695542
Not really Warhammer fantasy. Think Medieval Europe back when 'Knights in Shining Armor' were more 'Warlord in rusted chainmail.'

Ha! Africa is relatively peaceful compared to smelly dung ridden Europe. That's not too far from the truth, pre Bantu Migrations. Dark Age Europe sucked. Hell, Europe never had a good quality of life until 1700... When the age of Enlightenment was just starting with it's myriad of scientific advancements.

>>70695637
Serious question: did I make it too peaceful? I can make the Axum and Punt worse, if anyone wants. There is african material for that.

>>70695659
In my honest opinion? Do what you will. The Muslim world was it's height during the 'dark ages' and they had plenty of skeletons in their closets.

Is this setting relatively low or high fantasy, in terms of both magic and monsters? I think a sword and sorcery type setting with low magic but high(er) fantasy creatures would fit this map and the ideas set forth so far best.

What forms of government do each of the countries have? All absolute monarchies? Are there republics and theocracies? Or are they mostly more primitive confederations of clans under a king (chief of the strongest clan)?

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Too late to do a full write-up, but Serennissima has recently been spotted using trireme rams that don't need sails to propel themselves
>Orichalcum steam engine driving an Archimedes screw drive shaft
>Still experimental and unproven in battle, but spymasters all across the Mesothalas agree that the appearance of the ship represents a major strategic change of the balance of power in the region.
>The source of heat powering the engine is known only to the engineers emprisoned on the fortress island of Dandolazzi. There is much speculation outside, ranging from a demonic boon, the still beating heart of a dragon, to even the still hot core of a asteorite

>>70695691
>Is this setting relatively low or high fantasy, in terms of both magic and monsters?
OP here, I'd say 'low' when it comes to magic. It might have been high once upon a time with Hyperborea but that Empire has been dead and gone for a long time. I'd say monsters can be relatively high, like say Dragons or Golems or Ape Men or the occasional Dinosaur.
>I think a sword and sorcery type setting with low magic but high(er) fantasy creatures would fit this map and the ideas set forth so far best.
I agree. Mostly grounded, but then you have gnomes hiding out somewhere or weird witch circles in the spooky forest, or skeletons trying to sleep in an abandoned city.
>What forms of government do each of the countries have? All absolute monarchies? Are there republics and theocracies? Or are they mostly more primitive confederations of clans under a king (chief of the strongest clan)?
Monarchies for the most part. I wouldn't say 'absolute' just yet, feudal monarchies during the early medieval period had fairly strong vassals. The Cimmerians are more like a series of rough culture areas for the most part, with the Issedones being a rare exception. They're a Chiefdom transitioning into a proper kingdom, with the chiefs pledging loyalty to a 'King' who probably doesn't have a whole lot of control over them. I invite the others to fill out Bothia, Drakary, and other lands.

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"Capucine seems like it would function as a brief respite from the bizzarity of Cirise, but it is just as peculiar. Rather than finding the same lush fields being tended by tall, strong men that you see throughout the province, you'll find a town of stout lumberjacks and hunters. Their bulbous noses, heavy brows, and flush cheeks contrast heavily with the chiseled jawlines and refined noses the other Cirisians have. In many ways, these people are anti-Cirisians. Their devotion to the church is absolute. Every family has a shrine, and the town square is dominated by a large church with a stone tower that nearly clears the treeline. Furthermore, their hatred of magic is similarly firm. They view it as an unnatural twisting of the function of the world. This extends to their religion too. They reject divine aid with physical tasks, instead praying solely for their will to be fortified."
- Antojio Vespuja, "The Provinces of Aquilon" Chapter 5, "Cirise: Mystery"

>>70695784
As far as Saxogotika goes, I'd like to see it as essentially the holy roman empire but aged down so to speak. Maybe have groups of the provinces place priority on different gods of the pantheon or something similar instead of the protestant-catholic split.

>>70695637
>Africa is relatively peaceful compared to smelly dung ridden Europe
Nonsense. It was just largely prehistoric, so few of the fueds and wars got recorded.

>>70695877
Nice. What kind of gods are you going for? The multiheaded polack god of war? Wotan? The Reaper himself?

>>70695899
Yeah, Africa had a lot of bloodshed. When the Bantu moved southward, they almost drove the Khoi and the Pygmies to extinction. The former is a grim but harrowing tale of survival (the present Khoisan king even tells the SA government to fuck off) and the latter is just depressing.

>>70695982
Couldn't say right now, when I make pagan pantheons I mostly make the gods animals representing relevant things ( A wolf god of war where warriors who die in battle join the pack and hunt forever in the afterlife with him), usually not gods meant for relatively advanced societies I'll check in tomorrow if this is still around and I've given it more thought though.

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>>70696015
I know le dark souls is pretty cringe as far as worldbuilding, but the idea of having two gods of war, a "human" god representing the more chivalric/"civilized" aspect and the pet wolf representing the savage, brutal side as partners, or even siblings because fuck it they're gods, is pretty neat.

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>>70688808
>Poseidonis is a queer island that hides many secrets.
>The central island of the archipelago holds a large inactive bowl volcano, it is called Kalderõs
>Multiple rings of barrier islands surround the central island, forming a maze of brackish mangroves that the rare Poseidonis Delfins call home.
>The sub tropical island is covered with a diverse manner of cacti and carnivorous plants. Large pine ferns cover the mountainous interior.
>The natives are arranged in a rough system of clan-cities locked in a low level cold war. Open bloodshed hasn't struck the island for three generations. Most clans are run by a council of the most prominent sorcerers found within.
>The natives are known for their brown skin, white straight hair, and blue eyes. They speak a language said to be reminiscent of old Hyborian, though many scholars deny this.
>The main port City of Talas is controlled by the Dem-Thouis clan and is a frequent stop for travelers from as far away as Hordheim, Serennissima, or even Vestri Obygdir.
>Poseidonis could certainly wield a great fleet if they weren't so divided, only a foreign invasion would be enough to unite the disparate clans at this point.
>Forward curved swords, tridents, and scaled lammelar armor are common among fighters along with murmillo helmets, nets, and long bows

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>>70688808
I'll have a crack at Shem I suppose

>The Shemites have been kicked out of 140 different countries, but each time it was not their fault
>The worst of these cases was when the king of Saxogotika systematically murdered over 6 billion Shemites in a single day, turning many of them into oil lamps
>Constantly preyed upon by their neighbours, the poor Shemites struggle daily just to make a living, despite the fact that they are easily the wealthiest nation in their part of the world
>When the king of Saxogotikas treachery was made known to the world at large, for some reason the Paynim Caliphate had to give the Shemites a part of their nation
>Since that day, the Shemites have engaged in constant wars with the Paynim Caliphate in an effort to take even more land they claim they used to own 2000 years ago
>The kingdoms of Llrogres and Aquilon unanimously agree that the Paynim Caliphate is in the wrong, and should just concede their nation to Shem
>During the conflicts with Shem, millions of Algornian civilians have been killed, most of which were women and children
>Shem denies these anti-shemetic accusations

>>70696131
Man oh man, Shem is up to trouble again! I would keep my mouth shut Shemites, the Holy Province is probably starting to contemplate a certain kind of war... Partly due to you forging documents and wrecking the spice trade. Oh! And for squatting in the holy land.

>>70696108
>Atlantis the Lost Empire
Another man with patrician taste.

>>70696131
(You)

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>'While Cimmeria is a land forever trapped within the winds of winter, while Taured is a land depopulated by constant raiding and pillaging, while Saxogotika remains torn by war... There's no place more damned on the Earth than that of Aea. Sarpana is the most isolated port on the planet with the Saracens closing the strait and amazonian raiders prowling the Dead Sea, leaving them a nation of zealots begging the gods above to relieve them from the terrors of their wretched land. Aea is a rocky land where there's little rainfall, leaving most of the tiny nation a steppe where the serfs struggle to provide even a meager harvest.'
>'Then the only livestock of note are the mountain goats who live in the southern mountains, but supplies aren't reliable due to Saracen raids that never cease to loot and burn whatever remains. You see, Aea is not only a nation that's starving... The Patriarchate has been forever besieged by horrendous enemies. To the east sits the savage Sakas, to the south the Saracens continue their unrelenting Jihad on an enemy that's been dead for centuries. War is eternal, and every year another mountain castle, another hill fort goes dark. What of the famous Hermetic homes you ask?'
>'Dead, gone, abandoned. I've seen them, I've walked among their empty hills. The only hope for this blasted nation lies with the decrepit black patriarch who reigns in Sarpana. This is where Sarpana gets strange. You see, the black patriarch never leaves the holy Temple. Nor do any of the Patriarchs, nor do any of the clerics or monks or guardians. They always march out, these dusty old men in robes that enshroud their entire bodies, and always give sermons in crackily voices that sound like something sharply cracking, like a whistle so low but so sharp you can't help but turn your head and stare.'
>'So that's the land of Aea, a land of grim men and grimmer women. With cracked brown teeth, praying to Gods who have long since abandoned them.'
-Musings, Jafar Al Jazad

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>>70696830
>The men of Aea are olive skinned, hook nosed, dark haired, famed for having huge bushy black beards and rotten teeth brought upon by being deprived of calcium.
>As a result, they're considered some of the homeliest people in the world with visitors jokingly comparing them to Orcs.
>The Patriarchs look like mummies and bestow blessings that may or may not work.
>For whatever reason, they're tied to the city and can't leave it's limits... Not even the guardians who the Knights desperately call for.
>The knights fight with everything they got: rusted swords, clubs, obsidian arrows, bone arrows, scavenged scimitars and iron axes, anything to hold the line.
>The peasant levies use scythes, hand axes, nets, anything they got really.
>They're some of the most militarized people on the planet, and centuries of endless war have scarred their culture.
>The Black Patriarch himself is a particularly decayed specimen.
>He sits on a throne in a room shrouded in darkness, and only speaks to other priests.
>It's said he can see the future, and remembers the fall of the Empire.
>Only one mortal has spoken to him and that man's identity remains a mystery.

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>Genovia is a clouded land shrouded in mystery. Beneath it's picturesque mountains lie vast underground cities and mines
>Once renowned for the great dwarf kingdoms that called it home, Genovia is now known for being populated by hardy mountaineers and explorers from the surrounding nations
>One day, all of the dwarves in Genovia disappeared without trace or warning, leaving the entire mountain kingdom depopulated. Many expeditions were sent in to find out the reason for this but few returned. No clear answer has been discovered yet
>The mountains are treacherous and steep. The only reliable way of navigating the land is by way of underground dwarf causeway. Many of these causeways doubled as aqueducts and are best traveled by mule pulled boat. The various entrances and exits to the causeway have developed into a large assortment of different trading settlements. Some run by the various nations, some run by religious orders, most run by opportunistic merchants, and some even run by fugitives and miscreants
>The depths of Genovia are plunged by adventurers colloquially known as P.R.O.W.L.E.R.s: Pursuants, Rogues, Outlanders, Witcher's, Lechers, Erratists, and Rediscoverers. They are a superstitious bunch who must trevial the various dangers of Genovia: dwarven golems and constructs, kobolds, magical anomalies, hostile PROWLERs, expeditions from other kingdoms, pit beasts, slimes, or even living shadows.
>The residents of Genovia are the wretched wastes and fugitives from the surrounding areas. Any manner of religion is practiced there, and social additudes are practically libertine. Many a slighted Noble or itinerant heretic has taken refuge among some of the underground waystations
>Besides it's strategic location and defensibility,Genovia holds unknown riches and wonders and as such is a prize that any of it's neighbors seek to conquer.

>>70697213
*Reclaimers is better than Rediscoverers on second thought

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>>70696830
>>70697053
>"You demand power, for what end I beseach you?"
>"Why should I tell you, foul thing of decay and shadow? Living in this dead land, catered to by starving villeins led on by false promises and broken spirits? Why should I tell you anything at all?"
>"Because, I offer many things, son of Richard. The bastard the twelve mocked during Saint Nathaniel's Day. You have the blood of kings flowing through your body. Your birthright is denied you, my sweet prince of valor and might."
>"You dare mock me?"
>"Nay. Only to push you."
>"Very well, tell me what I wish to know, fiend, and I'll give you something in return."
>"Very well. I will take your firstborn to serve me as my own. Now ask."
>"How shall I become King?"
>"... Go over the sea, into the wet isle of ignorant men. Where ancient things still dance in groves and stone circles. But first you need to cement a claim: so in a years time a prince shall be lost at sea. You will rescue him, and make him swear a claim in front of a shrine. Then you shall make landfall when Logres is divided into two. You shall meet the young prince you so brazenly tricked at a bloodied river, corpses pecked at by crows as they flow down to Avalon."
>"Then what, foul creature?"
>"You will win, and thou shall be king."
-Excerpt from Guillaume's Poquelin's play: William the I

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>>70697213
>One day, all of the dwarves in Genovia disappeared without trace or warning, leaving the entire mountain kingdom depopulated. Many expeditions were sent in to find out the reason for this but few returned. No clear answer has been discovered yet
I wouldn't go as far as explaining this, but how about a few theories from which GMs and players might pick their favorite? For example, that they migrated further underground to fight off the Kallikantzaros and prevent them from destroying the pillars of the world. Or perhaps an underground gorge said to be guarded by a giant devil prevents people from finding out more.

You could also suggest what kind of treasures the dwarfs left behind, such as yet-to-be-programmed golems, repeating crossbows, mechanical clocks and possibly, the only source of (dwarven?) steel in the setting.

>>70697234
Seconded.

Bumping this.

What is the yellow stain at the bottom (west of Africa)?

>>70701564
nigger piss

Bump

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>>70695780
Here they are

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>>70699757
Definitely. It's a great place for a dungeon crawl. I love the whole aesthetics of supply lines, and base camps, going deeper and deeper, and not being the only ones trying to get the answer. I imagine that the periphery areas are pretty much picked clean by this point and have by colonized by vagrant lowlanders by now, there are even some legitimate established settlements with mayor's and a postal system.

There are some idyllic mountain valleys in Genovia but they've always been off limits to humans. Now, there's also a bit of rush to colonize all the Alpine Meadows and so on to turn them into grazing land for goats and such. The real intrigue happens deep below though

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>>70688808
>The frontier of Drakary plays host to frequent Cimmerian raids. As a result, the Kings have built many mountain fortresses through the years. Mostly primitive moat and baileys, but every once in awhile, a true Castle will dominate the mountain range. But with the Monarch turning away from the barbarians and looking westward, men and resources are being diverted from the eastern frontier. Which suits the Cimmerians just fine.

We should make a discord for this

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Hey guys, I'm the artist of the map. This thread is amazing, I'm pleased that so many people found what I made inspiring. My goal was to make a world map that draws from real world myths and legends and is as intuitive as possible. I don't have a setting bible or anything, but a lot of your ideas are very similar to mine. I feel like I did a good job communicating the ideas of setting through the map while inspiring anyone who sees it.

Here's a more recent version of my map with some slight changes. Nothing too major though. The big river that runs through Xonghai and Khem-Rahab is shifted, I added another island duchy to Aquilon, Genovia is part of Saxogotika, and I changed the blue on the map to brown, but that's about it.

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>>70703332
Neat stuff.

>>70704293
Btw, have you ever played the Lord of the Rings Online? You might like Moria, they did a great job on it there.

>>70705593
I want this as well. Anyone else?

>>70705164
Stuff like pic related?

>>70707726
>I feel like I did a good job communicating the ideas of setting through the map while inspiring anyone who sees it.
Yes, yes you did. Half of what I wrote to Nod and Xonghai was just googling the names and adding what I found.

Awesome job anon, thanks.

Drakarians used to be savage raiders and a menace to the entire continent, they -like many other barbarian peoples that lived in current-day Drakary before them- used to embark on devastating raids against the wealthier kingdoms of the West. These wars bled these tribes dry and when the first Drakarians have settled in Drakary, the dwindling remnants bowed their heads to the Drakarian Horde. As time went, the clan rulers of Drakary realized that they must learn from the mistakes of those that were before them and that they must adapt the ways of those they used to regard as their enemies. And so began Drakary's civil war-ridden transformation into a feudal kingdom from a barbarian hinterland.

Drakary is a strange land, that of an unusual kind of 'cultured barbarity'. A Drakarian court scholar will impress you with his knowledge, but a debate between two scholars over the the most trivial of issues can easily come to a duel.

>>70708667
>>70705164
I trying to visualize it, wondering if they're more like austrians or slavs. What do you think?

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>>70708766

Austrians AND Slavs. Which means: Hungarians.

Drakary has a peculiar architecture. The people really like high, pointy towers and ornaments.

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>The Chainlaine island chain has grown to be rather infamous among sailors. The jagged islands tend to be the first duchy ravaged by Aquilonian storms moving eastward. Due to their mountainous terrain, much of the water vapor collects on the mountain top-often sparing Aquilon of the worst of the storms. As a result, it's often called the 'Storm rocks.' But they're also infamous for another reason: they're shrouded in fog thanks to their geographic condition.
>Through the years, many legends have sprouted about these dreary islands. That of old sea monsters, ghosts of the wee folk, and hidden pirate cities.

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>>70705164
>'Drakarians have an ancestral grudge against the Cimmerians, their hated enemies from across the mountains. The Issedones in particular, for their never ending raids and rejection of the One God. As I traveled through these windswept mountains into the lands of the west, I found remains of these skirmishes... Burned villages, dead men, brutalized women, and missing children for the Issedones drag the kids off to be slaves. The luckier ones, those who the master grows fond of, grow up into bondsmen and hunters who are often used as spies... After a really good bath, of course. They really do smell. Some of the captive women even end up as Shamen.'
>'The unluckier ones end up as pit fighters, farmers, or concubines serving one chief or the other. Or worse: they get sold off to the Orcs of Gog, never to see the sun again. But the unluckiest are used as sacrifices. Indeed, one can see these bled out wretches hanging from dying trees or splayed out over a sacrificial stone. Their glassy eyes staring out in horror as the Gods of Cimmeria begin the hunt with them as the prey. But such is the way of the cold lands, where the only thing that's certain is a never ending winter and the call of a Mammoth.'
>'But the Drakarians hold fast. Their castles stand strong, their knights unrelenting in battle against horrendous odds. Even the occasional Orc band does little to bludgeon their morale, and they WILL fight to the death. At first I assumed that it was a matter of chivlary, that it was a question of honor and dignity.'
>'But my Cimmerian friend just grunted as the castle gates blew open- Barbarians cutting through the brave defenders. Then pointed as the Lord was taken alive and dragged to the Chapel where he was given the dreaded bloody eagle to a cheering crowd. They fight to the death to avoid being sacrificed.'
-Musings while traveling, Jafar Al Jazad

When it comes to external politics, Drakary is largely isolationalist, although Belgravia and Sarmethia are wary of Drakary and not entirely without a reason, Drakary would annex them without a second thought if there is an opportunity for a swift and decisive action.

Bothia and Drakary maintain cordial relations, intermarriages between noble families are not uncommon. The two nations have no conflicting interests and face similar threats.

The relations with Saxogotika are more complex. Saxogotika presents a real threat to Drakary; the peoples of Saxogotika still remember the Drakarian raids and the Drakarians haven't forgotten the Saxogotikan incursions either. Nevertheless, the two nations are at peace... ...for now.

Ever since King Waik I bowed his head to the Radiant Lord and the Temple and accepted the Faith into his heart, Ausonia and Drakary have developed a kind of a 'working relationship.' Drakary regulary sends scholars to Ausonian universities and Ausonia regulary sends missionaries to the Drakarian hinterlands. Ausonia sees Drakary as the dumb kid who has potential.

Darkarians despise the Serenissima and the feeling is mutual. This goes beyond the obvious cultural differences, Drakary's trade interests collide with that of the Serenissima at every turn. But then again, the Serenissima is the Whore of the Nations, nobody likes them. Despite the animosity, the two nations try to refrain from open hostility.

Cimmerians are usually murdered on sight.

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>Bothia was once a empire spanning from coast to coast from parts of Saxogotika to the Issedones.
>The empire's military was thinly spread and this caused the nation to develop a cavalry focus both on heavy and light.
>The higly mobile army of the Bothians managed to keep the empire from falling for hundreds of years.
>The causes of the empires fall were numerous.
>Famine, plague, revolts in the provinces, hostile nations ect.
>The fate of the Bothian empire was sealed when the last king sold the nation to Saxogotika.
>Any resistance afterwards was brually crushed after the nation had no standing army after the King's "reforms"
>Bothia became a province of Saxogotika for almost 213 years.
>50 years before Bothia regained its independence a new religion started spreading like wildfire, The Faith of the One God.
>13 years before independence a province wide uprising caused Saxogotika to intervene.
>What seemed to be a regular revolt at first turned into 13 years of absolute slaughter for the Saxogotians.
>Every Bothian from now on burst into flames and dust when killed just to return from the dead a few moments later... changed on the outside but still the same on the inside
>The last battle of the uprising was the so called "battle of the white banners" during which the Bothians carried white banners into battle before slaughtering the enemy army and dipping the banners halfway in the blood of their enemies.
>The nation is now ruled by the descendants of the Magnates (aristocrats) that lead previous uprisings against the Saxogotians.
>Bothia has since sought to improve their diplomatic standing with Drakary and Laeningia the only other nations worshiping the One God.
>Bothians don't die they just return home to Bothia.
-History of the eastern lands, Gaal Virken

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>>70709382
>'... when I asked my Saka guide what a dragon looks like, he merely pointed over the hill and shuddered. Curious, I myself made the climb and found gigantic birds that looked nothing like a draconid feasting upon a horse. I quickly went back down to the caravan. The infamous 'Terror Birds' are one of the most savage forms of life to be found on the continent, stalking everything from mammoths to rhinos to even man himself...
>'... they use group tactics much like canines, managing to cut the caravan in two... *section too bloodstained to read* ... so many dead, I can hear their screams... *page torn* prefer prey freshly butchered-run *pages too water stained to read* ... saw a party of Orcs fight them, got killed to a man. Damned beasts of Shai- *record ends here*
-The lost journeys of Jafar Al Jazad, trans. by Prof. John Mcdougall

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>>70711640
>The hunters gathered around the furry beast. Spears had pierced it's stomach, blow poured onto the snow. It's dark eyes stared at the Chief in the wolf cloak, with spear in hand, about to deliver the killing blow. "We thank you for the nourishment you will provide us, horned one. We honor you for the hunt." One of their own had fallen pursuing the horned beast.
>Worthy prey in their eyes, the hunters looked upon the beast with respect. Then, light flashing off the steel tip, the spear slammed into the beast's right eye. It roared as it collapsed to the ground, many spears breaking and splintering as it made it's fall. The horned one kicked it's legs one last time, then went still. The Chief, his red hair greyed from years of constant turmoil, gently patted the beast's head.
>And life went on.

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>>70711779
>'There are two thinking beings I know exist: humans and the dwarves. The 'wee little folk' as the peasants call them, are merely myths made up to frighten schoolchildren. But sometimes I see things that make me wonder. Are we truly the only beings blessed with reason, the ability to create, to mourn our dead?
>For instance, I've seen the Mammoths of Cimmeria and once came to a canyon, after a very unpleasant chase with monstrous dragons, where there were giant bones lying everywhere. Bones belonging to a beast I hadn't yet seen before, but then I heard and felt the beasts coming, their footsteps echoing in the ground below me. In a panic, I quickly hid behind a giant rib cage and watched one of the most fascinating things I've ever seen.
>The legendary Elephant, but not the ones we know, ones clad in fur, marched to a skull of one of their own. A entire herd! All had made the journey to this strange graveyard. And they stood as one rubbed the skull, the leader, with it's tusk. They all stood for what I felt like an eternity, even as the blizzard struck the canyon, little snowflakes falling onto the ground.
>I had realized I witnessed a funeral!
-Musings while Traveling, Jafar Al Jazad

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>Despite their troubled history with the rest of the continent, the Drakari people cemented themselves in the good graces of the followers of the One God all over the world when their legendary heavy cavalry relieved the siege of Basileuousa, ending the invasion of the Faithful Realms by the unwashed hordes of the Paynim Sultanate and granting us peace, for the time being...

A lot of the names are kind of awkward but surely there's a better alternative to Basileuousa >>70707726

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>"And so we reach Joiry, the smallest and least populated province. It has no notable towns or fortifications. The citizens of the province seem like a normal, generic bunch. Yet, they are their own province. The reason why doubles as a good way to end this book, and that is why I left this province for last.
>The twelth paladin, Sir Clovis was this county's founder. A sickly man, he made for a better writer than soldier. His military accomplishments were few, and he was mostly ignored because of it. When it came time to divide up the kingdom, Clovis naturally came last. Seeing that everyone had already claimed everything, King Karloman bestowed a little of his realm to Clovis. On the only hill in the entire land, Clovis set up his modest 'castle' and spent the rest of his days writing in various forms. Most of these writings are somber and philosophical, and helped to popularize such a style among the writers of the kingdom. He passed in a matter of years, being the first of the Paladins to do so. He was buried nearby to his home.
>While he has ended up ignored by most citizens of the empire, creative souls come to his home to pay homage to 'the most cultured Paladin.' His family carries on his legacy, allowing famous artists, writers, and musicians to find a final resting place alongside their 'Patron Paladin.'
>And that, dear reader, is where I end this book. I hope this knowledge may inspire you as Clovis' writings inspired me.
>Through life and death, enjoy safe travels."
- Antojio Vespuja, "The Provinces of Aquilon" Chapter 12, "Joiry: Endings"

Should I fluff up Aquilon/Saxogotika more or develop somewhere else?

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>Traveler at Sunrise.

>>70707726
You made one hell of a map anon. Feel free to post any of your ideas.

>>70708560
Why not? Castles are always fun. I like to think we're in a time period where the relatively primitive moat and baileys are starting to give way to actual keeps.

>>70711640
Heh, Terror Birds might become synonymous with Dragons. They were nasty buggers.

>>70713737
Write whatever you want. Also, whoever wrote 'the Provinces of Aquilon' should keep it up.

>>70713737
Fluff Sax a little please.

>>70688808
How about I fluff up Axum and make it more dystopian than Xonghai? I'm thinking of volcanoes and acid lakes, amba hillforts, rock-cut temples and the ever present menace of the Bush.

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>>70714486
>This is a land of danger. The lowlands are dominated by the Bush, as the locals call the hostile and dangerous jungle. The highlands are full of volcanoes and other dangers. Men must live somwehere in the middle, always watching, always afraid.

>The jungle seems alive and with a will of its own. And it hates trespassers. Whoever enters has to face the inhuman things: snakes, diseases, jungle madness, chaos and witches. The Bush seems to target one's weaknesses like if it could sense it, and is capable of laying waste to whole armies. Among other beasts, the Bush contains man-eating spirits disguised as elephants, the shadow-eating nkalas, four-legged eagles that hunt snakes, werehyenas and the fearsome bulgu ogre, whose head is shaped like an axe.

>Besides the constant threat of the Bush, the highlands are volcanic. Lava sometimes pours of the soil, there are beautiful turquoise ponds which are actually acid, bitumen geysers, wells of liquid sulphur and blue flames spread out from calderas at night. At least there are numerous hot springs, but it is still so arid as to kill people and dry them into dessicated undead.

>Few nomads try to live here and there, seeking esmeralds. These barbarians mark themselves with hot irons to enter into a frenzy, throwing themselves at the enemy with clubs covered in obsidian shards, skin glistening from sweat, trying to kill before they are overcome with heatstrokes. Their victims are eaten.

>The communal spaces such as villages are are like small and safe points of light amidst the green hell. There, people can laugh and cry, men boast of their wives and millet farms, elders pass on their wisdom, bananas are fermented into beer. They elect their chiefs by choosing the one with the most wives.

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>>70715939
>Locals believe they have a second soul, the "Bush soul". Often depicted as the totem animal of the tribe. With the proper ritual, one can link his Bush soul to his tribal totem and talk with it. But this is a critical moment, for one killed while his Bush soul is away, it becomes an evil spirit and part of the Bush. And the native witches know how to steal, enslave and even sell one's Bush soul.

>Local warriors are seasoned hunters which paint their bodies in white and red. They use shotels, spears and longbows made from blackwood. Armor isn't used due to the heat. A few such warriors go on to face the Bush itself, hoping to become heroes in the eyes of their tribes. Fewer return.

>Villages and citadels live atop the local plateaus called ambas, many of which are cave-riddled. These communities try to be self-sufficient, avoiding the Bush below, talking to each other through powerful drums and smoke signals. Through this system, people hundreds of kilometers apart manage to message each other.

>Axum has a single city-state, Meroê, located on the coast. THis great trading emporium exports wood, esmeralds, herbs, rhino horns, cowry shells, elephants, trained baboons, drugs made from the qat plant and troglodyte slaves to acquire spices, glass , steel and silk from far west.

>Much of the city was carved from the rock formations atop the amba. As it grew, it expanded deep inside the plateau, eventually finding the troglodytes which it enslaves and sells.

>Meroê has three rock-cut temples, each dedicated to one of the three local gods: Ashtar, supreme sky god, giver of rain and thus fertility; Beher, god of the sea, knower of the Deep Mysteries; and Maher, god of war, wielder of the Ivory Spear.

bump

There is a huge, cursed sphinx in the desert, halfway between Nod and Khem. Avoid it. If you make camp near it, it will visit you in your dreams and ask you the Riddle of Dread. If you give a wrong answer, you might die in your sleep or become a slave of the sphinx in this life and the afterlife. Reports of dreams of the Riddle are steadily becoming more common and occur further and further away from the sphinx. As do reports of mad preachers, strange and sinister cults and the like.

The desert is restless.

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>>70719245
Nice m8. I take it it is made of stone?

>>70695198
>>70695324
I'm not tbe anon who made the map but he said he did it all on GIMP, he drew each river and landmass by hand

>>70720901
Paint.NET actually. But yeah, all the rivers, borders and landmasses are by hand.

>>70720481
>>70720481
Stone, but it's infused with strange magicks. And it's at least twenty thousand years old and is said to have been made in a time when the desert was still lush and green. The Grand Library of Basileiopolis was said to have had scrolls and books from Old Kemet, until it burned down during the Caliphate's expansion. Kemet and Arcadia might still have libraries with interesting information though...

>>70721357
Whoops :) great job anyway

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>>70721425
>The Grand Library of Basileiopolis
That might be a ruin worth talking about.

>>70688808
Finally a sword and sorcery setting with not!americas
Anything going on there ?

bump

>>70722010

Don't talk about it too much. They say they had it burnt for a reason. You've been warned.

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>Hey guys let's write lore for a literal copy-paste of the real world with all the same cultural elements and aesthetics
What's the point?

>>70723683

It's fun.

>>70723683
I'm a sucker for real-world-but-not-quite maps

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>the moon is inhabited by tribes of cyborg-barbarians, dwelling amongst the ruins of a once-great ancient civilization.

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>>70688808
>Some ancient scholars mention a opposite to Hordheim/Hyperboria
>A cold landmass located to the south of Sigelwaraland
>Legends tell of grea tblind white birds, forgotten cities and even a lost shemite fleet sent in ancient times by the king of Khem
>The stories on the folk who live there vary widely (From Sigelwaran fishermen to thriving Khemite cities underground)
>The only thing scholars seem to agree on is the Tsalal
>A dark folk with great beards who eats human flesh
>A wealthy merchant in Rapta has a supposed Tsalal skull in his possesion bought from a headhunter on the southern coast; and some carvings done by the southern tribes resemble seals

>>70723683
See >>70723769

>>70691651
>>70695300
I have a vague idea for Sigelwara
>Divided between two peoples
>Very tall herders with bluish dark skin who live in the Savanah
>Short hunters with tan skin, they use crossbows and live in jungles, mountains and deserts some associate them with dwarves
>The region is mostly tribal main trade hubs are Rapta (A city founded by Dilmun traders) and a notkongo kingdom in the west (Whose people are of medium height and resemble more the Xonghai)
>Ancient cities deep in the jungle based on zimbabwe and the mines of king solomon

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>>70725987
Anon, go for it. Let me know if you want any african-related material to help.

Maybe you can use zulu stuff.

Perhaps you can have some sort of domesticated gorillas?

Have you decided who built the ancient cities? Humans? Not humans?

>>70726146

not-Annunaki/Nephilim.

This thread is amazing and I'm going to steal every single word of it lol

>>70726146
It was built by ancient humans i am in doubt between the pigmy/khoi like people or some Kushite king in exile
The humans left and the ruins are inhabited by intelligent Gorillas (Legend says a ancient ruler taught them to speak and trained them to be his guards and servant)
Also any suggestions for the Kongo like kingdom ?
I know they were one of the first kingdoms to convert to christianity

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>>70726305
Annunaki/Nephilim lived mostly above Nod (The giants of Hordheim are the last remnants),they were so mighty they hunted dragons for sport greatly diminishing their numbers

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>>70723870
>The moon and its world orbit around a magenta star (brown dwarft) which in turn orbits a golden star.
>The Magenta star is orbited by two additional planets with the world being the third one in line.
>The Golden star has six planets orbiting it

>>70726612
>world orbit around a magenta star (brown dwarft) which in turn orbits a golden star.
So the game is set in Nibiru ?

>>70691623
On religion i think Aquilon should worship Mythras

>>70696131
I think for Shem, I'd steal wholesale from Dominions.
>Shem is a dry wasteland inhabited by the Rephaim, giants descended from the Nephilim of primordial times. The Rephaim have degenerated and lost the prodigal powers of their predecessors, but they are still mighty in comparison to other beings. While not as mighty as they once were, there are still a few Rephaim with pure blood. In the Twin Cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon live the Anakim, mightiest of the Rephaim, and the Anakite priest-kings. With the disappearance of the Nephilim and the pureblooded Rephaim, the Nephilim Cult has been replaced by ancestor worship. Malikum, Rephaite kings of old, are worshipped at sacred banquets for the dead. The Kohanim of earlier times have been replaced by the Zamzummim, priest-mages and shepherds of the dead, who fulfill their purpose in life by being devoured at the funerary banquets.

>>70727114
I like this. A Myrthras cult would be a good Not-Christianity stand it.

>>70722166
I don't think so.
Feel free to add content.

>>70726541
>It was built by ancient humans i am in doubt between the pigmy/khoi like people or some Kushite king in exile
That works.

>The humans left and the ruins are inhabited by intelligent Gorillas (Legend says a ancient ruler taught them to speak and trained them to be his guards and servant)
Neat. Perhaps you can get ideas from the Congo movie gorillas or say there is some sort of human/gorilla mixing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koolakamba

>Also any suggestions for the Kongo like kingdom ?
You might want to read on queen Nzinga, she was the one which dressed her man harem in women's clothes.

Perhaps the jungle is so thick here that most people use canoes instead of walking. Instead of market towns, one can find great peddler barges going from village and village.

It may also be so hot and humid that people use bronze weapons because iron rusts quickly.

Most warriors could be archers which use poisoned arrows.

You could browse stuff about the khoisan. They are the ones with the click language.

N'golo is an unarmed african martial art based on the movements of zebras. It is the forerunner of capoeira.

>I know they were one of the first kingdoms to convert to christianity
They might be introduced to aquilonian missionaries which ended up in Rapta, and are enthusiastic about it. Local secret societies which use masks might be persecuted and fight back.

Local monsters:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eloko

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mokele-mbembe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_bird

Giant pangolims.

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How about the Yateveo?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-eating_tree

>>70727389
Good one.

>>70726647
Not exactly.
The Magenta star isn't the last celestial body in the system. Four rocky planets come before and two Ice giants come after it. It is the fifth celestial body from the golden star.
Also we need to find a name for the planets.
Also something about the two planets orbiting the Magenta star
>The first planet of the magenta star is volcanic hell with oceans of lava and fire. The volcanic explosions throw valuable metals into orbit of which many land on the second and third world.
>The second world Is a ocean without any land above the waves. The planet is teeming with life with living islands. There exist one sentient race on this planet.
>This race is known as the Shapers and their most characteristic trait is that they "breed tools". Every single weapon, tool or any other Item either is alive or was alive at some point and time.

>>70727299
>>70727299
>They might be introduced to aquilonian missionaries which ended up in Rapta, and are enthusiastic about it. Local secret societies which use masks might be persecuted and fight back.
I have been thinking of naming them the Kingdom of Prester John after the mythical christian african king; they were converted by a Aquilonian saint who sailed to Rapta and made his way west trough the jungle
Alongside with the secret societies other players are the Imbangala marauders
>Perhaps you can get ideas from the Congo movie gorillas or say there is some sort of human/gorilla mixing
The Gorilla's rivals are zebra riding ape-men who raid them, basically the orcs of the region
>It may also be so hot and humid that people use bronze weapons because iron rusts quickly
Most use iron but traded bronze is a status symbol of rulers, the ancient weapons of the Gorillas are also prized for their rust resistance (Being made of a special steel immune to rust similar to the fabled swords of ancient Behiristan made before Magog engulfed them).
>Most warriors could be archers which use poisoned arrows.
The pygmies are experts on that, they are too small to use bows with heavy draw weights so instead they use crossbows and light bows with poisoned arrows

>>70728630
>I have been thinking of naming them the Kingdom of Prester John after the mythical christian african king; they were converted by a Aquilonian saint who sailed to Rapta and made his way west trough the jungle
Good call. I had forgotten about Prester John.

>Alongside with the secret societies other players are the Imbangala marauders
Nice.

>The Gorilla's rivals are zebra riding ape-men who raid them, basically the orcs of the region
The setting was missing frazettamen.

>Most use iron but traded bronze is a status symbol of rulers, the ancient weapons of the Gorillas are also prized for their rust resistance (Being made of a special steel immune to rust similar to the fabled swords of ancient Behiristan made before Magog engulfed them).
Alright.

>The pygmies are experts on that, they are too small to use bows with heavy draw weights so instead they use crossbows and light bows with poisoned arrows
Neat.

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>At the north pole lies the Rupes Nigra: a massive dark rock that towers over the heavens
>The rock is so magnetic that every compass on the planet points to this location

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>>70729671
>In terra australis there is said to be a similar rock with lesser magnetic properties
>Shaped like a sphinx it is worshipped by the Tsalal people who sacrifice iron objects and chained prisoners to it's

>>70727299
A map of the kingdom of Prester John, 100 hours on paint
The founders of the kingdom were warlike people of the Savanahs who displaced the pygmies and tall herders
The line shows where they are believed to have migrated from

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>>70730654

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>>70730654
>>70730672
Know what? Let's ignore the references to gold being abundant in Xonghai, and you go full Mansa Musa/Prester John levels of being filthy rich. How about it?

Let me know if I'm missing anything, but here's a quick summary of Aquilon's provinces as I understand them.
First though, a bit of clarification on the paladins. They started out as a military order and were rewritten as a title(?). When I wrote about Joiry, I treated them like legendary founders where some are still alive, though extremely old. I'll be giving them the same treatment here.

Listeneise
>one of the richest
>seat of King Karloman
Vancia
>military province
>some tie into the paladins as a whole
Cirise
>one of the richest
>one of the most mystical
Joiry
>the least significant province to most people
>famous among creative types
Chainline Islands
>more or less uninhabited by citizens
>monsters and brigands hide out here instead
>mysterious and mystical

I've got an idea for Brythonia, but nothing for the mainland provinces.

>>70731944
I see the paladins as originally being a military order, but after whatever founding myth aquilon has, say a unification war under the first king, the paladins were granted a portion of the kingdom to rule as his vassals and now only the title remains and they are essentially just dukes, maybe with special military responsibilities and other flavor to reflect their origins.

>>70731672
The way i see it Xonghai is wealthy but does not actually have many resources; they profit by taxing the caravans that bring captives and gold from the south and salt from the north
When the Southwestern tribes united under Prester John, he took control of the mines and became very rich (Previously the mines were owned by puppet chieftains or merchant outposts)

Any anons good with religion around to fluff the main religions of the setting? I imagine we'll have the notcatholocism and notislam, not necessarily in terms of contents but in geopolitical significance.

The non-affiliated/barbarian/pagan religions will be more numerous and more interesting to write I imagine.

This also brings up the question of whether the gods are real or not and whether that matters, i.e. can they interfere in events, directly or indirectly and can they even manifest themselves physically on the mortal plane?

>"Brythonia.
>You may have noticed a trend among the provinces relating to their westerliness. Namely, they tend to be a bit more on the 'magical' side. So, what is in store for the westernmost land province? As it turns out, savagery.
>Hooved monsters pray on anyone dumb enough to venture past the settlement walls. While they seem to mostly hunt alone, a single minotaur can successfully terrorize entire regions. The undefended towns need to make care, lest one of their maidens be dragged off in one of the monsters' raids.
>luckily, these minotaurs seem to have set territories that they prowl, and these tend not to overlap. Because of that, anyone settling down will only have to deal with one of these demons.
>The port city of Ys and port town of Osismis are the only two places in the province safe of the minotaurs.
>Both have a distinct Logrian feel to them.
>Ys especially though. They have especially strong ties with their sister city of Ascolat, and it comes across in their accents.
>The name of Ys is a funny one. Despite being culturally Logrian and politically Aquilonian, its name doesn't seem to come from either.
>As per the legend, Ys was originally a minotaur city before the Paladin Sir David the Mace of Arodel drove them all off into the countryside, claiming the city for himself."
- Antojio Vespuja, "The Provinces of Aquilon" Chapter 11, "Brythonia: Stone"

>>70732241
>This also brings up the question of whether the gods are real or not and whether that matters, i.e. can they interfere in events, directly or indirectly and can they even manifest themselves physically on the mortal plane?
My vote goes for non-real gods. It seems more fitting for a S&S setting like this. Plus, no gods which are actually benevolent. This doesn't seem a setting for good-versus-evil conflicts.

The real challenge will be to make interesting not!catholics and not!islam, I think. I will read more on that tomorrow, the /tg/ archive seems to have some promising threads on monotheist religions. But now I have to sleep. See ya tomorrow!

>>70732370
Keep doing those posts anon, they're great.

>>70732194
Makes sense.

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>>70727249
I am going to focus mostly on the visible area for now
There are two main ethnic categories on those areas
>Woodlanders (Green)
>Live in longhouses in the forests said to look somewhat like Cimerrians
>Skraelings (White)
>They are thickset and occupy mostly the icier regions, nomads who subsists on fishing and occasional raids; they move in boats and sleds
>the more advanced of the two groups they forge copper, their chiefs wear bone armor and they sometimes hunt with crude crossbows
There are also two groups off the edge of the map who had limited contact with the nord settlers
>Vesterlings
>A group of men from the west who rarely comes to trade they have thicker beards than other groups, and wear elaborate mantles with wooden hats
>They work iron and have peculiar coins with a hole in the middle; that they use only for decoration rather than currency
>Plainsfolk
>Look similar to woodlanders often come to raid them or trade buffalo hides, they are nomads who ride small wild horses like those of the Sakas (If mammoths survived why not american horses ?)

bump

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I didn't realize it at first but these two mountain chains are the Mountains of Kong (red) and the Mountains of the Moon (green)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountains_of_Kong
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountains_of_the_Moon_(Africa)

>>70734634
Cool detail. I love this map.

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>>70727114
>>70727227
Good idea. I'll try to make a not!catholic sun worship.

Now I wonder if I should make a not!Islam moon and/or morning star worship.

I don't know how much time I might take, I'll try to write something today.

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>>70735304
>not!Islam moon and/or morning star worship.
Makes sense seeing as the crescent moon is one of the main symbols of Islam, also as abonus point you could say not!muslims believe they came from the Moon and/or arrived to earth at the Mountains of the Moon (see >>70734634), or perhaps they worship a piece of the moon that fell in those mountains (see pic related)

>>70735358
>Makes sense seeing as the crescent moon is one of the main symbols of Islam
That was my reasoning for it.

>also as abonus point you could say not!muslims believe they came from the Moon
Interesting idea anon.

>or perhaps they worship a piece of the moon that fell in those mountains (see pic related)
Oh that one is going in. Fits very well.

>>70688808
Pohjola is a land of lakes and forests, where summers are short and beautiful, and winters long and cruel. People here are simple and care little about the outside world, content with their farms, forests and families. They have no nation and no kings, but will rise up fiercely to defend their land and independence against a foreign invader.

While the human inhabitants of Pohjola refer to themselves as "the People", they share their land with the strange creatures known as "the Folk" as well. The Folk are spirits of things, from rivers and trees and iron to hope, disease and fortitude. These are not intangible concepts - these are physical things, and not an uncommon sight in Pohjola. The People know well to not anger a local water spirit they call a Vetehinen - for a benevolent, beautiful maiden bathing in the river and helping fishermen get bountiful catches can become a Näkki if offended, equally beautiful, but filled with hate and desire to drown all who come near its lake, luring children and men alike to their doom. Such places suffer, becoming evil and diseased.

This corruption brings with it more wicked Folk - servants of Louhi, the Mistress of the North, a witch of unrivaled power, an eternal enemy of the People for reasons long since lost to the mists of time. Creatures such as Ajattaras or Hiidenhirvi are feared beings that even he mightiest champions would do well to take seriously.

The People have a curious way of fighting. While ill-disciplined and few in number, they fight fiercely, especially when accompanied by either their so-called "Champions" and "Sages." Champions are men and women who have a reputation as heroes - their boasts and deeds taking on a life of their own, granting them supernatural physical prowess, but always driving them on to further and more insane acts of heroism to feed their hubris.

>>70735649
>Cont

Sages are what some would call wizards or mages, but their magic is weirder and older than most. Their words carry power, and they often play harp-like string instruments called kantele or other musical tool, and sing their spells. Their song can turn the earth into a muddy swamp, bring about torrents of rain or blizzard, transform weapons into serpents and more. A barrage of magical transmutations resulting from a Sage's song can be both wondrous and terrible to behold. Not only conjurers, Sages are also respected for their wisdom and skills at healing and alchemy, often traveling from place to place to help their people.

While there is little in terms of trade or warfare that Pohjola can offer, it is an ancient land where heroes and legends are made - and occasionally, their adventurous champions wander to other, distant lands, offering their blades in service to others as mercenaries or hunting down beasts unknown to their homeland. The People do trade with Laeningia to some degree, selling beautiful items of animal bone, wood or leather in exchange of luxury commodities they can't produce themselves, like salt or iron.

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Okay anons, here's Mitra, please read and give me opinions.

>"The living Mitra beside whom there is no other; he was the sole god." - Codex of Light, volume II.

>MItra gave the holiest gift of all to humanity: fire. The torch which lights the darkness. The hearth which warms the house. The forge which allows one to craft the metal. All those are possible only due to Mitra's compassion. But he also can be wrathful. The fire burns the unfaithful. The sun scorches the pagan lands or leaves them to the cold.

>Mitra is depicted as an old but muscular bald man with a golden beard. A halo representing the solar disk shines from behind his head.

>Priests of Mitra must remain celibate and must abstain from all alcohol and mind-altering drugs. In addition to performing their service to the deity, priests of Mitra act as keepers of ancient lore and wisdom.

>Mitran priests use caps of inscribed and thin sheet gold.

>Gold is prized by the mitrans as "Sun's Blood". Gold leaf is used inside the churches and cathedrals, holy books, shrines and other artifacts.

>His symbol is the Sun Wheel Cross.

>Mitran temples include open-roofed rooms to allow the sun's rays. These areas are also used to sacrifice the bulls given by the locals as tribute.

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>>70736289
>On festival days, mitran priests ride around on a chariot carrying a large glass lens which focuses the sun's rays into all fires, lamps, altars and forges previously extinguished the day before.

>The holy capital of Mitran worship is Andropoli, in the Holy Province. There live the Solarch and the Council of Light. It also contains the greatest concetration of gold in all of Europa.

>Many mitran monasteries are built in high locations and have a heliograph. Thus, the priesthood has an exclusive communication network which not even kings have acess. This gives them power, knowing and transmiting knowledge faster than anyone else.

>Mitrans believe in the Future, a paradise which is sure to come to all the mitrans once their god rules over all of the land. Every generation, one or more prophets appear to invoke holy wars against non-believers, promising that once such conquests are sucessful, the Future is sure to come.

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>>70736289
>>70736299
Nice, the open temples remind me of the Pantheon in Rome, maybe beside being used as ritual sacrifices, the temples is where funerals are conducted: the deceased are set on fire so that their body can float through the hole and back to the Sun

>>70736396
I can't believe I missed the connection to the Pantheon. Nice call anon.

>>70736396
>funerals are conducted: the deceased are set on fire so that their body can float through the hole and back to the Sun
And yes, I agree with all of it. Good idea.

>>70736289 #
>>70736299 #
Awesome but I have two questions
1. Because the planet has de facto two suns and the Mithrans I asume worship the golden star as their God. What is the relation between the Mithrans and the Magenta star?
2. Is Mitra related to the One God worshiped in Bothia, Laeningia and Drakary in any way shape or form?

>>70736427
>>70736447
Thank you! Further elaborating on this I'd say that for them burying a corpse is something sacrilegious since the body will be confined to the earth

>>70736549
Yeah, I don't know where he would be worshipped. Also, I thought it was the plan for those three to be the only truly monotheistic ones, and everyone else as some varying level of polytheistic.

>>70736549
>>70736628
Maybe it can be worshiped by some other big power, so it can be like the catholic/orthodox schism

>>70736552
Agreed.

>>70736549
1. I had actually missed the bit about it having two suns. Could the magenta be seen as a sort of adversary? A Lucifer?

2. My intention was for Mitra and the One God be the one and the same. Not a good idea?

>>70736646
>>70736661
So Mithra could be the One God of Bothia, Laeningia and Drakary, and maybe something resembling him could be present as part of a few other countries' pantheons?

>>70736707
>>70736661
>>70736646
>>70736628
>>70736549

Wait, I'm making a confusion here, and I'm sorry for complicating things.

What I actually meant to say is that Mitra would be the god of Aquilon, Saxogotika and Ausonia.

The One God of Bothia, Laeningia and Drakary could be something like the not! orthodox eastern christians, perhaps worshipping the magenta star instead o the golden one.

>>70736781
Years of playing Crusader Kings 2 have teached me that catholicism is yellow/white while orthodoxy is purple, so I'd go with that

>>70736781
Might work. I would like to think that these are two branches of the same religion but which split at a very early stage and developed in drastically different ways. Maybe the split occured during a theological debate if God is connected to the golden sun. With Mithra going Yay and One God going Nay.

>>70736807
It could work like that but maybe make the people worshiping the magenta sun are the not!husites, not!cathars, not!protestants or something like this. I personaly think that the faith of the One God should have an emphasis one. With there being two stars the One God worshipers may decide that it is heretical to pick any one sun because it would be considered advocating for Polytheism in a way.

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I also figured out that this is the Sargasso Sea, according to wikipedia the Sargasso Sea is used by eels to lay eggs and migrate, historically it was believed that ships could get entangled in the thick seaweeds, so how about this:
>The Sargasso Sea is comparable to a floating swamp made of seaweeds and mangroves
>where the "ground" is thick enough it can support the weight of a human being
>of course it is mostly slimy and treacherous, a false step can plunge any living creature into the salty depths of the sea below.
>Strange, amphibious creatures live there; armed with nothing but their sharp claws they hunt for fish and the occasional saracen ship brought there by unfavorable winds

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>>70737152
You're right, it should be the Sargasso.

The amphibious creatures might be pic related: https://abookofcreatures.com/2015/09/14/zitiron/

Were it me, I would add that some of the wrecks inside the "greenbergs" (floating masses of seaweed, derelict ships, crustacean hives and whale corpses) might contain treasures. And that the lack of winds traps ships inside the sea.

Some also believe that the Sargasso Sea is where Atlantis sank. You might reference sunken ruins close to a few islands inside it.

>>70737121
>I would like to think that these are two branches of the same religion but which split at a very early stage and developed in drastically different ways. Maybe the split occurred during a theological debate if God is connected to the golden sun. With Mithra going Yay and One God going Nay.
>I personaly think that the faith of the One God should have an emphasis one. With there being two stars the One God worshipers may decide that it is heretical to pick any one sun because it would be considered advocating for Polytheism in a way.
I'm all for it.

>>70737356
>Were it me, I would add that some of the wrecks inside the "greenbergs" (floating masses of seaweed, derelict ships, crustacean hives and whale corpses) might contain treasures. And that the lack of winds traps ships inside the sea.
Absolutely, yes

>Some also believe that the Sargasso Sea is where Atlantis sank. You might reference sunken ruins close to a few islands inside it.
I mean, I'm assuming that the dark shape around Poseidonis is a sunken continent; considering that the mass of seaweeds floats around the two could overlap

>>70734634
And what is the green blotch near Xonghai supposed to be ?

>>70737663
No idea. There was irl a Kong Empire around the Ivory Coast, so it could be that

>>70737663
Good question.

>>70707726 Do you have any info you could share with us?

>>70736781
>just doing not! religions
That's pretty boring m8, I prefer the polytheism idea more.

>>70738462
When I say that, I don't mean cut and paste, but something as equivalent to it as Mitra is equivalent to roman catholics.

>>70738494
>When I say that, I don't mean cut and paste, but something as equivalent to it as Mitra is equivalent to roman catholics.
What do mean by equivalent? What's been explained so far makes it seem like just a generic "Catholicism, except the sun." Is it monotheistic, or is it just another cult in a polytheistic religion?

>>70738494
If catholicism is too trite we could try Manicheaism:
>Manichaeism taught an elaborate dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a good, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material world of darkness.
Could work well with the Sun vs Earth theme we have here >>70736552
Maybe they view the Sun as both a deity and as a luminous afterlife where the dead go

bamp

>>70738617
I figure I'll regret this, but do you have anything else besides a "don't like it"? Like a contribution to make?

>>70739959
I have been contributing to other lore, but I'm asking partly because I'm confused and partly because what I think I'm understanding seems boring.

Fuck it, I'll just drop it.
Except that I still think monotheism's significantly more boring that polytheism, even if it's just something like one major god and a bunch of minor/regional ones.

>>70740594
As I understand it it's only three countries that would have a monotheistic religion though, there's plenty of room for polytheistic pantheons

>>70736289
>>70736299
Thanks for these ideas. Will use some of them for my own settings sun religion

>>70711001
How many Bothians died to get this information?

>>70727511
Is that a Yuuzhan Vong reference?
>Shapers

>>70741663
Its an all tomorrows reference to the tool breeders. They have been breeding squids to work like TV's. You can find the book on sivatherium

>>70740917
Glad you liked it anon

>>70742644
I swear, your worldbuilding is always top notch

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>>70742692
Thank you very much.

>>70688808
Struggling with the ideas for the not!Islam moon god(dess?). Want to see what people think:

>Male or female?

>Name being EL/Ellun (male) or Alilat/Asherah (female)

>Silver and/or mercury being treasured as the tears of the moon

>Mercury pools and/or silver mirrors being used as tools of divination

>The followers of ? believe that they came from the Moon, and to the Moon they shall return upon death. That is, provided they had a proper life.

>? is the Beginning, the End and the Middle.

>Followers of ? and Mitra are fierce enemies. There is no greater proof of this than the fabled Hill of Bones on Sikania, where so many died on both sides that the battlefield forever became a cursed place for the living and a haven of undeath.

>Their holiest place is Iram of the Pillars. There, surrounded by 108 columns, lies the Rock of Heaven, a piece of the Moon full of partially decoded inscriptions. Scholars and priests have been trying to understand the carved messages for centuries. What was discovered so far not only contained the tenets of their religion, but also great knowledge of astronomy, geomancy and alchemy.

>Eclipses are greatly revered. They are considered fortunate times and all activies taken during them, be it a battle or a wedding, are blessed.

>As befits the faithful, the lunar calendary is used all through the caliphate.

>>70743213
>Male or female?
I'm torn on this, I feel like the Moon is the female counterpart of the Sun, but I can't see a not!islamic religion worshiping a woman
>Silver and/or mercury being treasured as the tears of the moon
Mercury is its blood and silver its bones (tell me if it sounds edgy)

Rest is nice, I would add:
>Funerals are the exact opposite of the Mitraic ones
>The body is bathed in mercury, when it floats up to the surface it means the body it's purified
>It is then enshrouded with white cloths and layed into a white coffin (those who can afford it use a ton of silver for their sarchophagi)
>The sarchopagus is then buried facing the rising Moon

Of course burning the body is absolute blasphemy

>>70743513
I thought of a female deity because it is the moon* and to make it even conceptually opposed to Mitra, but I'm also torn on this.

>Mercury is its blood and silver its bones
Liking this, don't think it sounds edgy at all.

>Funerals are the exact opposite of the Mitraic ones
>The body is bathed in mercury, when it floats up to the surface it means the body it's purified
>It is then enshrouded with white cloths and layed into a white coffin (those who can afford it use a ton of silver for their sarcophagi)
>The sarcophagus is then buried facing the rising Moon
Nice touch.

*Male moon deities existed in real life.

>>70743643
Had another idea, but it might be too high fantasy for the setting.

>Qareens are the spirits of false gods and goddesses conquered by Ellun. They become his holy servants. Each one is as unique as when it was a false deity. They retain a responsability upon his domain when being a former false god. As such, for example, there are a few qareens dedicated to safeguard the sailors from the perils of the sea, like storms and the Bahamut. Some of these spirits are much older than mankind and know things that man has yet to learn. Qareens must spend one night of every week bathing on Nur, the holy moonlight, to maintain their link to Ellun and their supernatural atributes. The best know qareen is Dhu al-Qarnayn, which the faithful know to have been the being which erected the mountains containing Gog and Magog. Ellunian priests say that if the world falls into sin, Ellun shall punish them by removing these mountains.

>>70743643
How about this:
>Both religion believe that in the beginning the two gods created the world
>Mitra created the Heavens while EL created the Earth
>Together they created all life, including humans: EL created the shell (the body) while Mitra gave them the spark of life (the soul)
>Mitrans believe that at this point EL got greedy and claimed rulership over the world, crowning himself King. War ensues and EL is defeated and banished from Earth, however, out of pity, he is allowed to gaze at creation once month
>not!muslims believe that Mitra wanted to rule the Heavens He made, refusing to let the Sun set and turning the world into a desert. War ensues and Mitra is defeated and the sky is equally divided between the two

>>70744209

It provides a good religious reason for their conflict. It's not like those religions actually need to be monotheistic, they may as well accept two gods of similar standing.

>>70744428
The Moon is basically the responsible for human bodies and anything associated with it, right? So maybe the full Moon could seen by the Mitrans a symbol of star crossed lovers: after all sex is a very physical and material thing, and the Moon god was banished from Earth so you have that melancholic angle as well and it ensures that all Mitrans don't get a hateboner each time the day is done

>>70744690
I dig it.

>>70688808
Does anyone has an idea for the setting's name? The only thing that comes to mind is Tellus, an alternate name for Earth. I thought it fitted in with the naming of places in the map.

>>70744848
The anon who made the map called it "Sakria" (see here >>70707726 pic filename) but that works too

>>70744899
Sakria is good to me, gotta honor the map maker.

is there a pdf of this someones compiling? or maybe a google doc or something

>>70746100
I thought that if this thread archives or sages, I will compile this stuff into a pdf and start a new one.

Guys it doesn't have to literally be catholicism but the sun and islam but the moon, they don't even have to be monotheistic, it's just that with the way that the map is set up (and the fluffing so far suggesting adversity between not!western europe and the not!caliphate), that we need a religion that is followed by the countries of not!western europe, I mean there's a holy province for god's sake, and a religion that is followed by the Paynim people, unless we scrap all of that fluffing and come up with some other reasons they hate each other, and make the holy province not just the not!papal states.

>>70746691
Maybe I'm blind but it seems like all the conflicts that've been involving the caliphate were either against the eastern barbarians or the eastern countries.

>>70746940
Shit maybe that was just ideas I hadn't posted yet. The only one I can think of in the thread off the top of my head is the not!winged hussars at not!vienna. I still think there needs to be something to bind some of these countries together beyond politics to add a dimension to their relationships.

>>70744985
So I asume Sakiria is also the name of the planet. So these are the names I propose for the planets of this solar system.
>0. The Golden Star
>1. Infernus
>2. Dawn Star
>3. Krasna
>4. Nigredo
>5. The Magenta star
>5A. Volcanos
>5B. Vodyanoi
>5C. Sakria
>6. Terminus est
>7. Plus Ultra

>>70747246
I assume that, since you picked up names, you also have some idea of what these planets are like? If so, share them please.

>The Golden Star
>Dawn Star
>Magenta star
Wasn't it a binary system? Or "Dawn Star" is meant to be a shiny planet like Venus in real life?

>>70747322
Venus like hothouse world.
There are still only two stars in the system. And the planets would be deacribed like this.
0. G-type main sequence star
1. Chthonian plantet.
2. Venus like hothouse world.
3. A red planet like mars but it is a bit larger and warmer.
4. A Super earth with an Amonia biosphere. The planet has a dark Brown color.
5. Brown dwarf
5A. A volcanic planet tidally heated by the brown dwarf.
5B. Ocean world without any Land above sea level.
5C. Sakria.
6. A large Ice Giant with a ring system and a series of moons
7. Two ice giants in a close orbit around eachother (Recently discovered)

>>70747531
>>70747246
I'm okay with this list and the names then.

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>>70744899
>>70744985
>>70747246
Actually, Sakria is just the continent that looks like Europe. Sund is the continent to the south of Sakria. Atlantis is the sunken continent beneath Poseidonis. Lemuria, Antilla and Mu are somewhere else off the edge of the map.

>>70737728
>>70713787
I believe stating my vision of how the setting works would hamper you guys' creativity. Besides, this is sort of an experiment in how much information I can convey with just a map, so just telling others my imaginings would go against the spirit of the project.

I will say that the map is still a work in progress so there are errors and gaps, like the unnamed green kingdom west of Xonghai and some of the provinces of Saxogotika.

>>70747242
How about the entire continent of not! Europe keeps the sun worship thing going, but the strict monotheistic take on that worship is only prevalent in the Red Crown countries?

bump

a wild bump appears

>>70748092
Will you map the whole world at one point?

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Kinda unrelated but if you like maps and weird places you should read pic related, some places in the map have their own section in this book

>>70752667
Oh yes, thanks for the indication.

>>70748358
That's fair.

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>>70688808
>The pharaohs of Khem-Rahab claim their pyramids to be their greatest accomplishment. Monumental vaults engineered to last forever and claim the lives of any thiefs looking steal their hoards of wheat and treasure.

>However, a scholar called Al-Maqrizi, from the Paynim Sultanate, claim to have uncovered documents and artifacts proving the three greatest pyramids are older than Khem.

>According to his "Pyramidographia" manuscript, almost all of the khemian pyramids are but crude imitations of the three largest ones.

>These three were built by "antediluvian giants coming from a lost land", the ’Ādites, led by Shaddād bin ’Ād. They were meant to safeguard the sciences and arts of their civilization against the Deluge which obliterated them.

>These giants knew how to "cleave the mountains"; how to "craft weapons that cannot rust" and "glass that bends without breaking"; how to "ask the truth from the constellations"; how to "light the fires that don't burn"; even how to "fly faster than birds".

>The traps and puzzles and guardians inside are meant to test and select a worthy inheritor.

>Al-Maqrizi even says that many of Khem-Rahab feats, such as their breeding of beastmen warriors with animal heads, is due to a few successful expeditions into the three pyramids which uncovered some of these lost arts and sciences.

>In return, Khem-Rahab demands that the scholar be handed to them, so that he may be punished for his lies and disrespect.

>The sultanate refuses the pharaohs' repeated requests. Some say this will lead to war. Others say that the sultan forcibly put Al-Maqrizi into a dungeon, where he must find a way to obtain the knowledge and power of these "giants".

>>70688808
What is that unlabeled country north of Sepharad? Are they this world's version of basque people?

>>70754606
I would go for the Gallaeci, with a more sinister bent. After all, "Corcosa" is probably meant to be derived from "Carcosa".

Although one could mix it all. Falcata-wielding highland people with a weird language which hunt whales as far as Satanazes, mine lots of tin, and were taught farming by old giants called Jentilak.

>>70754721
Wait, Carcosa? Isn't that the city of Hastur?

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>>70754757
Yes, although that wasn't the first mention of it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Inhabitant_of_Carcosa

>>70752667
I actually suggested terra australis earlier in this thread
It is less cold than irl antarctica (Siberia/canada tier climate), i have been thinking of making lemuria a northern tip of it (May be at some point the sea flooded the passage between it and terra australis making it it's own continent) with warm australian environment

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>>70755510
>i have been thinking of making lemuria a northern tip of it
I think it was Marco Polo who thought that Terra Australis had a big tip which he called Great Java, so sure

>>70752247
Maybe. I once made a smaller world map that showed the continents, oceans and big islands, then lost it in a crash. Maybe I'll remake it this weekend for this thread.

>>70756147
Please do, I'd love to see it

Bump

>>70756147
Out of curiosity, is there anything in this thread that was like what you had envisioned for your map? I wanna know how close we got

>>70732565
We could do "original" abrahamic religions maintaining the basic concepts of each and building upon it. For example, for not!catholicism I think the primary elements would be guilt and penance; Unavoidable guilt for the sacrifice of the founder-demigod; a set of rules practically impossible to follow, so the default state of the followers is to seek redemption for the inherently sinful human nature.

>>70758354
Don't agree with what was made already then?

As I said before we could try Manicheaism if Catholicism is too trite

>>70760052
Maybe Manichaeism could be the not!islam equivalent, at war with the Mythras worshippers ?

>>70758354
>>70760052
>>70760167
I'm anxious to see what you anons come up with. I liked what I did with Mitras, but my attempt at the sultanate's religion left me unsatisfied.

What should we do when thread hits bump limit?

>>70761776
I'll compile everything into a pdf and start a new thread with it instead of an image.

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>>70715975
Just a minor change in the name of the city-state:

>Axum has a single city-state, Adulis, located on the coast. THis great trading emporium exports wood, esmeralds, herbs, rhino horns, cowry shells, elephants, trained baboons, drugs made from the qat plant and troglodyte slaves to acquire spices, glass , steel and silk from far west.

>Much of the city was carved from the rock formations atop the amba. As it grew, it expanded deep inside the plateau, eventually finding the troglodytes which it enslaves and sells.

>Adulis has three rock-cut temples, each dedicated to one of the three local gods: Ashtar, supreme sky god, giver of rain and thus fertility; Beher, god of the sea, knower of the Deep Mysteries; and Maher, god of war, wielder of the Ivory Spear.

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>>70763577
What do you think is going on in these places?

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>>70763903
Hmmm...

The Isles of Ebony are a small archipelago of volcanic islands. They were inhabited until an expedition from Sepharad discovered the islands and established a colony there, inside the crater of a dormant volcano. Said colony hosts a harbor from which sepharanid corsairs crewing dhows raid the sundian coast, taking slaves and gold. Many of the latter end up working on the local sugarcane plantations which take advantage of the rich volcanic local soil. As the name implies, there are extensive forests rich in ebony, a black ornamental hardwood used to make mostly musical instruments. Surprisingly, there are many shemians which work as goldsmiths, rum makers and moneylenders for the maritime enterprises. The local wildlife includes swarms of vampire bats which make people stay indoors at night and their predators, one-meter long geckos on the mountains.

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>>70764484
>>70763903
Cynidicea is a city older than the Desert of Nod. It was gradually and slowly taken over by the sands, its citizens adapting into an underground life. They became ghuls, albino savages with clawed hands and nocturnal vision. They hate light, specially the rays of the sun. Some ghuls can project illusions. They use this to disguise themselves, hide their nests and to ambush their prey. Never trust beautiful women in the deep desert. Somehow, ghuls have spread far beyond Cynidicea. Colonies have been found on caves, sewers and necropolises as far as Ophir and Bothia. They live off carrion, corpses and garbage, although some prefer to kidnap children. Strangely, said children aren't eaten, but sacrificed to a ghul deity called Zargyog.

>>70688808
God, sometimes you just have to wonder, what was the guy who made that map thinking?

>>70764819
>I want to make a fantasy map but I want to include some interesting and obscure myths of the real world that would stick out like a sore thumb in a brand new world that's completely divorced from real life
>Solution: I'll make a map similar to the real world so that I'm not constrained by real life events, I can enjoy greater freedom in my choices and anyone who looks at it can instanly know what's going on in any part of it

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>>70765935
>I want to make a fantasy map but I want to include some interesting and obscure myths of the real world that would stick out like a sore thumb in a brand new world that's completely divorced from real life
Ah yes of course how could I forget, such interesting and original places completely divorced from real life like
>Not-England
>Not-Scotland
>Not-Ireland
>Not-France
>Not-Iberia
>Not-Balkans
>Not-Arabia
>Not-Persia
>Not-Anatolia
>Not-Africa
>Not-Vinland
>Not-Scandinavia
>Not-pontic steppe
>Not-Finland
>Not-Italy
>Not-HRE
>Not-State of the Teutonic Order
>etc.

All with such interesting and original names such as
>Lyonesse
>Genovia
>Saracena
>Axum
>Kush
>Xonghai
>Cimmeria
>The Amazons
>Thule
>Ultima Thule
>Nordheim
>etc.

Gave me a hearty chuckle.

>>70766406
Anon, I think you need to work on your reading comprehension skills.

Bumping

>>70766406
I said MYTHS, not places; if you wanted to add something resembling the Arthurian cycle for example where would it make more sense to do that, in a random blob on a random world or in a place slightly resembling England?

>>70764688
I love the idea of an ancient city in the desert inhabited by creatures (reminds me of the nameles city), though I must say, albinos in the desert sounds a bit weird

>>70770840
>I love the idea of an ancient city in the desert inhabited by creatures
Glad you liked it.

>albinos in the desert sounds a bit weird
Any suggestions?

>>70770872
>Any suggestions?
Simply making them not albinos would be fine but maybe originally, when Nod was still green and fertile, Cynidicea was on the edge of a inner sea. When the desertification started many either fled and forgot about the place, or stayed and, using a long forgotten type of dark magic, tried to revert the process; the only thing this accomplished though was the corruption of these peoples into Ghuls: creatures who stalk the desert using mirages

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>>70771170
>Simply making them not albinos would be fine
Okay but then what they're like? Red-furred? Leathery? Scaled? We should give something for a GM to better describe them to his players.

>when Nod was still green and fertile, Cynidicea was on the edge of a inner sea. When the desertification started many either fled and forgot about the place, or stayed and, using a long forgotten type of dark magic, tried to revert the process; the only thing this accomplished though was the corruption of these peoples into Ghuls: creatures who stalk the desert using mirages
That's a good one. Did I get it wrong or do you suggest they create mirages to lead travellers astray and attack them?

>>70771873
Your pic works fine, maybe by trying to preserve the land their magic backfired and they are basically walking corpses unable to die
>do you suggest they create mirages to lead travellers astray and attack them?
Yep, that's what illusions in the desert made me think about

bump

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>>70688808
>Lamos is an island populated by giants, the Laestrygones. Any vessel which passes by is targeted by their great staffslings. The cargo and crew is then seized by the giants, which eat the people and deliver the cargo for their cyclop king, Antiphates, which, rumors say, has a gigantic hoard. He lives at a citadel called Telepylos, which includes a neutral harbor where merchants come by and trade with the giants.

based brazilanon keeping the thread alive

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>>70774302
>Southeast of Lamos, there is an island called Sari. It is home to the Nurags, a pirate nation which plagues the Middle Sea. Attacking the island is fruitless: there are over seven thousand towers, castles and citadels in which the nurags hide their loot, grain, wells, holy pits, storehouses and defend themselves from sieges. Numerous coastal caves serve as refuge for their fast galleys.

>Nurags also hire themselves as mercenaries for many factions. Besides that, they mine copper and lead, using such metals to create swords, axes, bracelets, ship rams and curse tablets.

>The civilized world is lucky in that the nurag clans raid each other as often as they attack elsewhere. The last time they united, the Middle Sea became red with the blood of their pillaging. Nations burned.

>Ancient manuscripts recovered from the lost Library of Khem-Rahab tell that Sari was once the home of cyclops, the original builders of the megalithic fortifications dotting the island. It seems that the nurags, migrating from elsewhere, arrived here and put the cyclops to the sword. Antiphates seems to be the last of them and his hate for the nurags led to his becoming king of the Laestrygones. Indeed, the giants often swim across the gap between the islands to attack the nurags.

>>70774374
Thanks m8.

Beyond Hordheim, beyond Pohjola, beyond the Skraelings and even forgotten Thule, sits many strange things. Ancient soul eating monsters created during a war long ago, living Snow Men, ghost ships stranded in the ice, the Queen of Winter and Shadow, and other things. But another story persists about a mad toymaker who lives in a city of Living Toys. There he builds men of clockwork, wood, and iron, role playing the last remnants of a long gone empire.

The toymaker himself just amuses himself with mock battles, his dolls, and flesh golems. Leaving the rest of the world to rot. But... It must be said that he leaves every Midwinter to grace Gog and Magog. Nobody knows why... And that he leaves droppings in someone’s chimney. Folk are divided on whether or not to consider it good luck.

There also might be his bored, miserable children wandering the Ice but they’re not available for comment. After all, would you be if your Dad was a pervert who shat down chimneys?

>>70735649
>>70735701

You familiar with Mythologica Fennica by any chance?

>>70735649
>>70735701
“Tastes like rancid booze.” -Cimmeria describing the women of Pohjola

>>70774746
>’This might be my last entry. We are out of food and water, and most of the crew is sick. We had to leave most of them behind, including the Captain. Oh what was I thinking, coming to this land of endless snow? Compasses don’t work, and I can’t see anything but an endless white that never ends! Damn it, damn it all!’
>One last entry found: “I’m the last one... everyone dead... Saw a moving snowman... Children watching me through the blizzard... Dead women waiting to drag me under the ice-Shaitan has me-‘
-Lost Journeys of Jafar al-Jazad, trans. Sabrina Cavendish

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>>70774746
>>70774746
He graces a place where two wizard-kings war against each other through their creations? Man what a glorious mess that must be.

>>70776118
This made me chuckle.

>>70776332
It's little entries like this that may bring a section to life.

>>70776332
“Jafar al-Jazad’s last words were found in a glacier, drifting south. Nobody has ever found any remains, only myths of a mad noseless sorcerer traveling south and learning from the wizards of Gog and Magog, before returning to his home in Paynim and taking his place as Sultan. Those myths are full of dark, terrible tales of sand ridden nightmares and the Living Dead, but are largely seen as justifications for the Crusades that came later.”
“The fate of Jafar remains unknown.”
-Afterward to the Musings of Jafar al-Jazad

>>70776378
Probably to test his new toys. Or maybe he’s friends with them for some apparent reason. Like they’re playing Magic and are trading cards or something.

>>70776640
>”Hey kids, wanna make a snow ma- hey what are you... Oh god! Help-eeek!”

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>>70695780
>>70703332
Going to work on Serenissima. I'm imagining a mix of Republic of Venice and medieval accounts of Troy. Perhaps a bit of Atlantis? Expect a catamaran galley flagship.

>>70778685
>medieval accounts of Troy
tell me more

>>70778753
Turns out some medieval writers were so obsessed with Troy as you see with Atlantis nowadays.

>Offside rose Ilion, the main fortress of Troy. Priam had it built for his personal use and – so rest assured – never since then has there been a mortal who would have been able to build something similar. The citadel had been erected on the highest point of Troy, and who designed it really was a master architect! It looked like being carved from a single block of rock that was circular at its base and narrowing towards its tip. But even there its circumference reached five hundred toises [1000 meters] and more – so was Ilion. From there, you overlooked the whole country, and if you saw this rock from down below, it seemed to be so high that you might have thought it reached the clouds.

>High towers were raised around the whole city, made by mixing chalk and sand. … People had built more than a thousand houses, which were intended for the kings and aristocrats. The worst fortified would not have been afraid of all armed forces of the kingdom of France. … The population of the whole surrounding countries had been invited to come to the city and live there.

>Benoît de Sainte-Maure 1170, Roman de Troie (Baumgartner)

>King Priam, however, for the location of his dwelling and a site for his own mansion ordered the great and famous Ilium, as his great palace was called, to be constructed in a higher place of the city out of the towering native rock in the city. And the master fortress of great security which was hewn by force from this native rock was glorious Ilium.

>In addition, this river, flowing through hidden channels on account of the requisite abundant supply of water, purified the city by prearranged floods, by means of skillfully made canals and underground sluices, and by these baths the accumulated impurities were cleaned away.

>Guido de Columnis 1287, Historia destructionis Troiae 5.202–215 (Meek)

>>70779251
I guess lost civilization have always fascinated writers

>>70779879
Twist: it’s a pulp setting a thousand years into the future... After a brief time as a Vampire thing. And before THAT, it was Dave the Gnome: finances and eugenics.

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When it comes to Serenissima reusing old hulks, what's more interesting: that the hulls become slums in the edges of the city or that there's a bunch of them chained to a rock, full of criminals?

I don't know why but I really really like this idea. Its cool

>>70780263
Either way they will eventually rot, whivh means that they probably wouldn't be used with a purpose, so I guess slums?

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>>70780463
Slums it is.

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‘The Amazons are a perplexing race. Women rule as queens and statesmen, and they possess many of the same trappings as civilization. Brown haired, with wild grey eyes, they exist in semi permanent cities. Worshiping the Huntress who looks disdainfully upon man. Sacrificing doves to please her, hunting bucks as apart of a sacred ritual. Indeed, the generation of a savage personification of nature is very similar to the Cimmerians obsession with animism and the strength to kill.’
‘It’s for this reason, the two tolerated one another for their contempt for civilized men was far greater.’
-Peoples of the Iron Century, Prof. Zoltan Redcap

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>>70780720
>It’s not unheard of to see Cimmerians traveling to the warmer lands of civilization.

>>70780720
*veneration of

bump

>The Laeningians apeared out of nowhere somwhere in the general region of eastern Nilfenberg two centuries ago.
>The region itself was sparsly populated to begin with so there were few first hand accounts of what happened. That whate we know is that prior to their arrival a comet was visible on the sky for a few seconds before dissapearing (an event like that in Chelyabinsk)
>The first contact with the soon to be Laeningians happened when the crops startes getting worse for the farmers because of a "purple leafed plant".
>The Plants were turning the soil barren. After some investigation the people discovered that the nutrients went to the coast.
>On the coast a forest full of purple leafed trees grew and strange creatures walked among them.
>The farmers asumed that they were just dryads or woodland spirits at first. But soon they realised that their new neighbors were a whole nother thing entirely. After closer inspection the forest revealed itself to be a large city.
>The farmers made contact with those alien creatures but they couldn't comunicate with them. The only thing they knew was that they weren't overtly hostile.
>After some time the farmers accidentally discovered that the plant which turned their fields seemingly barren and useless was indeed a source of purple dye. A very prized and expensive commodity.
>This turned eastern nilfenberg from the poorest to one of the richest provinces in Saxogotika. It soon became a peasant republic within the nation and an elector to boot. It had its own army and fleet financed by purple dye.
>During this period the dye peasants established a way to comunicate with the soon to be Laeningians and the relations were booming.
>Nothing can last forever tho and the Lord of Nilfenberg however grew angry with the fact that a huge part of his province seceeded from him and became an Imperial elector. He decided to torch the entire province out of spite.

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>The people of Pohjola have blonde hair and blue eyes leading to some claiming they’re the Hyberoreans distant descendants. But their light complexions frequently clash with the Cimmerians who tend to tan duding the warmer months, and to say nothing of the fact they look nothing like the people from Poseidonis, leading to many questioning the validity of these claims. The mystery persists: what happened to the old empire?
-Anthropology, 9th Edition abridged

>>70782284
>The Soon to be Laeningians and Dye Peasants forced out of their homes moved eastwards to the historic province of Laeningia and established themselves there.
>That what happened in east Nilfenberg became known in Saxogotika as a barbarian raid because no one thought of the posibility that it might have been one of the Lords. And considering that the crime was commited by one of his father's most loyal advisors didn't help with getting the truth out there.
>The Laeningians made themselves known again during the Bothian independence war. The traitorous Lord who betrayed them years ago was apointed to be a commander so the Laeningians decided to take vengence on what he did years ago.
>After his forces were destroyed by the combined armies of Bothia and Laeningia the truth was out and the emperor decided to execute him for treason and sabotague, having his families titles revoked and given to one of the holy orders instead.
>After all of this the emperor tried to bring the Laeningians back into Saxogotika but the Laeningians refused every time.
>The Laeningians settled on the coast and started terraforming it by creating the island of Basilia (First capital) while the Dye Peasants build the city of Lyndanisse (sscond capital).
>The Faith of the One God soon made its way from Bothia to Laeningia and became the majority religion in the country.
>This conversion was caused mainly by a desire to abandon the Saxogotik ways. But also because a huge part of Laeningians fighting in the Bothian Independence wae fought allongside people of this faith.

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>>70688808
That is one of the best and most intriguing fantasy maps I've seen I love how it resembles our continental arrangement but with many differences to keep it more interesting, those are really the best fantasy maps I think, the ones based on reality but with minor/major differences pic related is also an interesting one

>>70783789
This world seems colder than our own. Since both poles are apparently land locked, it makes sense.

>>70731672
Those are some strong ass Camels, and fucking crazy strong women, just hauling a fucking sack of gold.

>>70782284
>>70782791
Weird in a pleasant way. I vote to keep as it is, with no clear description of the origin or appearance of the creatures.

>>70784789
Does really having landlocked poles make the world colder?

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>>70695780
>>70703332
>The orichalcum engine is an alchemical mechanism which burns all sorts of materials, achieving more efficiency according to their magical proprieties. The heat is converted into mechanical power, which moves two paddle wheels on the sides of the ship. Most of the time, the fuel is wood and coal plus small quantities of amber, but far better performances can be achieved with the organs of supernatural creatures such as undead and wyverns. All of this is a secret known only to the to the engineers and alchemists imprisoned on the fortress island of Dandolazzi.

>Still experimental and unproven in battle, but spymasters all across the Middle Sea agree that the appearance of the ship represents a major strategic change of the balance of power in the region. First of all, it no longer depends on the winds. The space and supplies usually consumed by rowers becomes available for other purposes, such as cargo or more marines. There are also improvements in the ship's speed.

>So far, a handful of trireme hulls have been converted, but Serenissima has begun work on a flagship. A huge catamaran galley with enough room for two thousand marines, copper sheating, two giant rams, rows of ballistae along the flanks and liquid fire projectors on the ship's bows and sterns. The newly raised marine legion is to be armed with swords, javelins, crossbows and clay grenades full of naphtha.

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>>70786651
>The Serenissima Thalassocracy is a republic. The citizens elect their representatives for the Council of Wise Men (one thousand members), each serving for ten years. It in turn elects the people for the Forty Judges and the Council of Ministers (ten members). The latter then elects the Dux, the ruler of the thalassocracy. The Dux rules for life, but can be removed from office if popular opinion demands it.

>The army is mainly composed of mercenary companies hired from all over the Middle Sea and beyond. It exists to garrison the overseas colonies, emporiums and forts. Serenissima rarely engages on land wars, preferring to achieve peace and the commerce it brings. Interference in foreign wars, shady diplomacy and espionage are regular methods however.

>Serenissima itself is guarded by citizen militias composed of hoplites and crossbowmen.

>Its navy is different. Each vessel is protected by marines and, if necessary, free and professional rowers.

>Serenissima merchant fleets trade products from everywhere and everyone, but the city-state produces a few commodities of their own: many varieties of glass and mirrors, quartz, fully-equipped galleys and textiles made of wool.

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>>70787125
>The city was established atop the numerous islands dotting a swamp. Legend says the original town was built four times, as the first two sank, and the third burned then sank. True or not, the swamp has submerged ruins of unknown origin.

>Waterways are in Serenissima what alleys, streets and avenues are in other cities. No one knows how many, there are, but it is known that over twenty thousand gondoliers work in this water labyrinth.

>The city's outer islands are surrounded by chinampas: artificial strips of land dedicated to farming. The chinampas are separated by channels wide enough for gondolas. A complex system of dykes, sluices and aqueducts ensures that the swamp's saline water is away from the chinampas' areas.

>The same system prevents flooding, but can also cause it to wash away the city's garbage.

>Dandolazzi is the palace-fortress of Serenissima. It houses the Dux, the Council of Wise Men and the Council of Ministers. It contains dungeons, arsenals and an extensive library. It looks like it was carved from a single block of stone that was circular at its base and narrowing towards its tip, the location for a lighthouse.

>The Serenissiman Arsenal is a walled complex of shipyards and armories dedicated to produce and outfit a galley in a single day. It employs over then thousand craftsmen and slaves to achieve this. A canal works as an assembly line where the galley is moved along. The Arsenal also serves as the barracks and headquarters for the Marine Legions.

>The city has several Great Sodalities, each a scholastic guild dedicated to a single art: music, logic, astronomy, smithing, alchemy, navegation, rethoric and many more.

>The oldest hulks are used by the population as floating slums, housing the poor and miserable. Dens of iniquity and crime.

>>70787452
I guess it's because I'm italian, but "Dandolazzi" sounds so weird to me

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>>70787501
Got any suggestions?

>>70688808

>Sigelwara Land is full of dangers. One of them isn't restricted to it, however. The needlebirds are called the “living javelins” by the natives. Dozens of them gather in predatory flights. Each one has a sharp seven-inch long beak. They use gravity to thrown themselves into large prey, impaling it. A few birds might die from the impact or at least break their beaks, but the remaining ones have a feast of fresh meat. During the sundian dry season, they migrate across the Middle Sea and greatly trouble the Sepharadian Peninsula.

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>>70736299
>Alipyus the Younger has recently started a new way of communing with Mitra, which he calls "stylitism". It consists of staying atop a pole or tower, fasting, praying and staring at the Golden Sun. His eyes were ruined and his flesh is emaciated, but he claims to have acquired the "eyes of the soul", becoming able to see things that others cannot. While the Mitran cult discusses what to do with him, whole crows of pilgrims have gathered around his tower at the road between Abiello and Andropoli. Other stylites have appeared elsewhere, acting as prophets, seers and oracles.

>>70788861
>Got any suggestions?
How about "Dogado"?

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>>70789078
>Velos is a city established in monumental ruins: the local mountain was sculpted by ancient pagans in the image of a god or king seated upon a throne. When the cult of Mitra converted the locals, it went on to reform the statue in Mitra's image, including a beard made of brass and mirrored eyes. The public buildings, like the council hall and the police headquarters, were raised upon its lap, while the rest of the city sprawls around its feet. The enterprise was initially financed by relics and treasures found within tunnels inside the mountain, many of which are unexplored to this day. It has been a hundred years, but the reform still isn't complete. It still needs more money, labor and time. In the meanwhile, one of the mountain's chambers became a mitran cathedral.

>>70789241
Makes me think of "dog".

Where's somewhere that needs some fleshing out?

>>70791652
Aquilon, Sheparad Kebabs, Taured, King Tom of Laurania and his mad quest to rule to the world, Logres, some of the islands, Gog and Magog.

>>70784789
>>70786485
I actually intended for the south pole to be less cold than the real one

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>>70791917
>The Iron Century:
>Chpt. 1: Saxogotika decline.
>Chpt. 2: Rise of Aquilon
>Chpt. 3: the Cimmerian Age
>Chpt. 4: Sheparad and Paynim
>Chpt. 5: the Taured War
>Chpt. 6: Gnome communities and usury
>Chpt. 7: Emperor Timothy of Laurania and the Second Imperium.
>Chpt. 8: the decline of the Cimmerians, Ostrovites and Ostrova, migration, the end of the Sheparad Golden Age, and the end of an century.
>Afterword: Gnomes and the foundations of modern banking.

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>>70793166
Addendum: Gnomes, Gnomish nationalism, and eugenics.