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Plus Great Britain basically being Arthurian knights and fairies.
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Jul 7, 2018 14:53
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Even Montaigne is like an aristocratic hellworld where foppish dandies are playing with Lovecraftian power for no other reason than it's kind of cool, by cutting bleeding portals in reality itself, while Castille, arguably the "most normal" nation in Theah, is a hyper-Renaissance nation that is under a brutal conspiratorial Inquisition that keeps most of the magic out while still finding a way to be plagued by an organization of Zorros wearing magical masks.
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Jul 7, 2018 14:58
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JcDent posted:Yeah, it's interesting how Montagne is just France with Portals and on the whole Wester Europe seems only a wee bit magical. Get out of it a little, and it's Vaticcine missionaries who don't really have any powers spreading the good word to the people who occasionally go to drag their dead ancestors to chill in the land of the living or go into caves hunting for the cure-all scales of the world serpent.
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Jul 7, 2018 16:23
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Tricky Dick Nixon posted:Even Montaigne is like an aristocratic hellworld where foppish dandies are playing with Lovecraftian power for no other reason than it's kind of cool, by cutting bleeding portals in reality itself, while Castille, arguably the "most normal" nation in Theah, is a hyper-Renaissance nation that is under a brutal conspiratorial Inquisition that keeps most of the magic out while still finding a way to be plagued by an organization of Zorros wearing magical masks. The magical masks made me think Dr Fate. Or maybe The Mighty Ducks cartoon.
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Jul 7, 2018 16:54
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How magical is Avalon? It seems to have a handful of Glamor knights and Sidhe that are super mysterious. Montagne is just Nobles with Portals, with middle and the lower classes getting gently caress all. Not-Italy only has fate-witchery and I don't remember anything that special about Vendel besides them still bring vikings for some reason. Germany is the most magical in that it has monsters, but their issues seem to stem mostly from having had TYW gently caress their land up. Sure, stuff gets weirder when you move east, with Deals with the Devil being somewhat prominent in Sarmatia, as well as having some Pagan poo poo going. Russia is even more hardcore, being looked over by an eldritch babushka, who seems to have a hand in everyday affairs a lot harder than whatever is generating Glamour in Avalon. But then you cross the sea and you're assaulted by giant monsters, magical pirates, even more magical pirates, and ships brimming with the dead. Go to ifri and you have a full blown Cthulhu invasion and demons taking over people on the reg, the ancestors joining you for tea, Shambala and world serpents. How often did Errol Flyn have to swashbuckle throught conspiracy of interdimensional horrors trying to drive the most prosperous nation in the world that happens to be in Africa to war? I'm saying it stretches the swashbuckling genre a little to the point where you're nearly playing Early Modern DnD.
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Jul 7, 2018 18:40
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Also, the books seem to have a strange emphasis to take out faith out of religion, from Vaticcines being commanded to know the world rather believe in Theus to non-Thean nations going "lol who needs faith when gods literally walk around." Must some sort of xenophile thing: "oh the modernized Christians don't really believe, not when compared with these Mysterious Others"
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Jul 7, 2018 18:43
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Man you are the last person to be judging how people write about The Mysterious Other.
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Jul 7, 2018 18:47
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Ok
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Jul 7, 2018 18:57
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I mean, wait for the review, but no the Sidhe have literally showed up in numbers and started reclaiming bits of Avalon. Edit: Like seriously multiple people are going "yeah no wait for the review, there's tons of magic" and you're still sitting here rambling about how not-magical it is. Either start listening to the numerous voices asking you to be patient and wait for the part that covers how loving weird everything is now, or stop asking the loving question. MollyMetroid fucked around with this message at 19:14 on Jul 7, 2018 |
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Jul 7, 2018 19:12
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Avalon is insanely magical. All of Theah is. Also man if you think this game doesn't like the Vaticines, ahahahahaha wait until we hit Castille and being Vaticine is core to literally every major hero there you want to know why errol flynn never went to Mali? hollywood was racist Mansa Musa, the real world figure that Kankan is clearly based on? Literally destroyed the economy of most of North Africa while he was on hajj, because he gave away so much gold. Mali was the richest nation that has ever existed.
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Jul 7, 2018 19:46
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7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Gods and Spirits Mbey religion is, like its people, a mix of overlapping practices and beliefs. The eldest of these beliefs is animism. Like many early Ifrians, the Mbeyan people saw spirits in all things. It wasn't about reverence - the spirits were fierce as well as beautiful, and little could be done to placate them if angered, but you could learn to coexist with them. These animist beliefs rarely gave way when new faiths came and even now, it is considered simply fact that we are surrounded by spirits and only a fool would ignore them. However, the most formal practitioners of animism were the Nder people. Others just wanted to coexist, but Nder was allied to the spirits. Legends speak of Nder shamans who could bring floods to destroy enemy armies - their lands were even called the Drowning Lands. It is said that they forged ancient pacts with the spirits of a hundred rivers. Som wonder, then, why they never conquered Mbey, and others say that it is this power that let them seal off their entire land from the world. Ancestor cults are also quite common. If all things have a spirit, then surely the spirits of the beloved dead are going to look kindly upon their descendants. These beliefs are rarely organized into worship, but rather assume that the ancestors are always near and must be treated with the same respect as anyone else. This is done primarily by sharing food and especially water. In the Mbey traidtion, death is apparently dehydrating. Assanyi came when Mbey was unified, and it in most ways resembles the practice of Assanyi in Manden. The locals depend on the thousand gods of the Ori, offering supplication to them and asking them to bring messages to the Great God on their behalf. However, this has changed since Bonsam escaped. Mbeyans are often reluctant to speak directly to the Ori now, fearing evil spirits will overhear and twist their payers. Thus, most no longer pray except in times of desperate need - or not even then. Others have sought to commune with the dead instead, though this is also desperate. Dead spirits are believed to be quite unpredictable...but hey, in war against the devil, you take what you can get. The Second People came from Maghreb and typically shared their gods, particularly the goddess Cyre. They are easily the most egalitarian of Mbeyans as a result, and also consider the beasts of the savannah, especially the lion and gazelle, as symbols of life, death and renewal. The warrior-sect called the simb, the false lions, are both warriors and religious figures. Typically, the Second People weren't very much into Dinist practice, though Maghreb can be. There were once several magical traditions in Mbey. Most have now been eradicated. The animist Nder have vanished along with their kingdom. The Gelwaar exorcists, who protected the Bonsam Stones and fought the abonsam, have been hunted down and eliminated one by one. The Kahone had little sorcery and in any case have mostly headed south, into Manden.l What fills the void of magic now is largely abonsam worship. The abonsam are that which shouldn't be. They do not play by any rules. They are spirits and also flesh, simultaneously. They exist and don't exist simultaneously. They have their own forms, yet can possess mortals, and can do so without giving up their own bodies. This possession is the backbone of abonsam magic. Mortals can try to resist, but it rarely helps. They remain, suppressed yet alive, until the possessor leaves. Often, the body of a possessed person takes on aspects of the abonsam, sometimes retaining these even after the spirit leaves. Bestial traits are not uncommon among the possessed, and rumors of them abound. Most assume that anyone who is possessed is impure and did something to allow the abonsam into their flesh. They are often driven from their village, to die in the wilds. Bitterness or even just survival make them ideal candidates for further indoctrination by Bonsam's agents as a result. The Gelwaar exorcists were the only ones who knew the secret of forcing an abonsam out of their victim, and were also skilled at fighting the abonsam. Little wonder, then, that they were the first targets of Bour Ba Ighodalo's secret police once the decision to free Bonsam was made. However, rumor persists that some exorcists survived, hidden away. In their absence, a new form of sorcerer has risen to take their place - the rooi heks, those who have the Red Touch. These sorcerers are contacted in dreams by the Jok, who temporarily possess them in the name of the greater good. In exchange, they gain the power of sorcery. The Jok are infallible, it seems...but the people they choose are not, and aren't always up to the job of using these gifts properly. When someone is contacted by the Jok, the world twists around them in unnatural ways that stress the soul. This bending and twisting is the source of both their power and their temptation. Rooi heks often see this power as a gift, but some see it as a path to corruption. The Jok always choose righteous people, but not every soul can handle the stress, and some become tempted to evil. The Red Touch removes corruption from the world by absorbing it into the rooi heks bodily, using the stress on their soul to command the world to obey them as the Jok do. They must, in a land overcome by abonsam, be willing to use anything they can to cleanse the land, after all. Most Mbeyans see the Red Touch as direct opposition to the abonsam. Some, however, feel it is a power mortals should not have, that its use is evil. It's true that overuse of the Red Touch can lead one to villainy, but most rooi heks are able to walk the fine line of cleansing the world without overusing the power. They hope to do more good than bad, and accept the consequences of their choice. Beyond this, there is only one other magical tradition that remains in Mbey: Assanyi priests using sympathetic magic to call for the spirits of the dead. This offers the people a medium to communicate with the Ori using the dead as messengers. In many villages, the people gather around fires to pray to the spirits of the dead, then release them into the night. Travelers may run into several of these spirits, which can be dangerous. Spirits are driven by their primitive instincts, after all. However, killing a spirit is an act of terrible blasphemy, and will bring down the retaliation of anyone who learns of it...especially those who sent the spirit out bearing their prayers. A generation ago, the Mbeyan government was very different than it is now. In both, the Bour Ba is the political and spiritual leader...but things have changed. When he had the Sika'Dwa stool, he had the Jok divine mandate, and none needed to question his authoirty. He ruled with grace and wisdom, and the kangam of the kingdoms selected the new Bour Ba when he stepped down. The kangam of the five tributary kingdoms could freely choose any man from the kingdom of Mbey to be Bour Ba, and regarded it as a solemn yet joyful duty, a sacred honor. This is the system that placed Ighodalo on the throne. Of course, no one could know what the ATC would do, at the time, or the stress Ighodalo would suffer with the loss of his sons. Ighodalo believed that it was wisdom, not weakness, that drove him to break the Bonsam Stones. He knew that without the Jok's gift, Mbey would fall - it could not be like the other kingdoms, nor stand against them. And so, he turned to the only other power he knew of: Bonsam. That might allow him to rival the power of the Jok-granted thrones. No one is sure how Ighodalo intends to choose his next successor, but it is assumed that he and his advisors - especially Chitendu - will be the ones to select the next bour ba, despite tradition. In the meantime, Ighodalo spends his time hunting for his sons by many agents. The lesser kingdoms each have their own bour, elected by their own kangam. In the past, these bour had much authority, near equal to the Bour Ba, and were trusted with near autonomy in all except defense and trade. Now, they rule only at the convenience of Ighodalo, who wears their hearts around his neck. Four still beat; the heart of the bour of Nder is silent. No one knows why. Beneath the bour were the kangam, who had perhaps the greatest burden of responsibility. They are the ones the people come to with troubles, and while they could seek guidance from the bour, who could seek the Bour Ba's guidance, they tended not to, seeking practical solutions instead. This is why the kangam chose the Bour Ba. In Nder, each village had its own leader, called a brak, who served as chief of the kangam and led the village as essentially an autonomous entity. Brak negotiated everything from trade to war on a village by village basis, with the bour not interfering much...which makes the sudden and unified vanishing of all Nder even more mysterious. In Kahone, the laman was the official representative to Mbey, but was considered equal to the Lingeer, the queen, as the Second People were equally patriarchal and matriarchal. They saw no need to give up their queen when they came to Mbey, and this has proved lucky for them - Ighodalo ignored the Lingeer when summoning the bour to his palace and stealing the hearts. The Laman now rules a kingdom of none, for the Lindeer as led the Second People south, away from Mbey. The women of Mbey tend to be better educated than the men. The capital has a Dinist university, allowed to operate only if it would teach Mbey's children, and to have a child attend was a great honor. Most boys could not be spared to attend, however, as they were needed to hunt. Girls also did vital tasks, but second or third daughters might be planned specifically as students and scholars. This is far less common thee days, of course. Many families grieve over the daughters trapped in Lougua, behind the barriers of the fiery forests, forced to endure who knows what. Mbey's economy, culture and politics were dominated by trade, and the key to this, in the past, was the naval power of Mboul, which let Mbey trade even as far as Khemet and Aksum easily. In exchange for generous trade of Diourbel horses and various goods, they always had allies. That is done now. Their ships are forbidden in nearly every port in Ifri, and their allies have been replaced by the Company, which has built markets and plantations across the Mbeyan coast and nearby islands. Their main interests are gold, slaves and land, in exchange for guns, ships and mercenaries. MBey has little precious metal in its borders, however, and in the past, they largely used barter over hard currency. They raid Manden more often now, however, both for slaves and gold to trade to the Company, which likes currency. For a while, they minted official MBeyan coins, but the Company found these coins rejected in every market in Ifri, so now they deal in raw ore. Castel del Elmina, a former plantation off the Mboul coast, has been turned into a foundry to extract gold from ore constantly. The Company rarely trades goods directly for slaves, instead buying with gold coin, which the Mbeyan slavers can then spend at their markets. This gold becomes tainted with Bonsam's energies, and when spent, they grant a taste of bad luck. A single coin is only a little unlucky, but an entire coffer? That could leave you in ruin. These curses are never so blatant as to be deadly, though - the coins want each other to be spent, and the dead cannot spend. Anything else is possible, however. The Company laughs at this idea, though, and certainly their employees do not seem to have suffered many arbitrary tragedies. However, those who do believe are reluctant to take Company coin originated in Mbey, and so the Company has had tyo create elaborate laundering rackets to get their coins into circulation, and Mbeyan gold can be found all over Theah as a result. Next time: The Stones
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Jul 7, 2018 20:20
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7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Dead Sons The Sons of the Ninth Dead Guard are the new military serving Bour Ba Ighodalo. They are also the secret police, and also a cult. Ighodalo has no magical power over them; he doesn't need any. They have faith, pride and near-suicidal devotion. That's all he needs. Nearly all of them are volunteers, young men and (fewer) young women, younger than the old Ninth Guard were. They believe Ighodalo is divine sovereign, that he is the only thing keeping the empire together in tough times. Yes, they say, the Bour Ba is not without sympathy for you - the hard times test us all - but if you lack faith, well, you are not to be forgiven. The average Sons patrol is around a dozen people, some of whom have Mboul mounts dating before the destruction of their herds. Most don't. They tend to be excellent fighters and killers by virtue of their amazing endurance and dedication, and their armor, studded with glittering basalt, is meant to be scary. Many of the larger settlements in Mbey have been turned into fortresses for the Sons and the Company. Places! The [bStones of Bonsam[/b] are the soruce of Mbey's troubles and its current power. They are immense stone monoliths in the Gelwaar plains. Each stone imprisons a single abonsam, the greatest of whom is Bonsam themself. The Gelwaar were the wardens of these prisons, until Ighodalo's forces caome in the night and stole the first stone. The being inside was Chitendu, and that began the excavation of the Bonsam Stones. The nature of these stones is a mystery. They are crystalline, but are neither jet nor onyx, nor any other known gem. They are darker than a black, starless sky, and reflect no light. They cool the air around them, and if you get too close, you can feel something within moving. If you stay too close, you can commune with what is inside, and the abonsam will make you an offer. The details vary, but it's always power for its freedom. A Bonsam Stone cannot be harmed by accident. However, it is as easy for a deliberate action to break one as it is to break an egg. The only exception is the prison-stone of Bonsam itself, which requires the touch of all five rulers of Ifri, though the legend doesn't say they need to be willing. Noting this, Bour Ba Ighodalo has begun a secret plan to cut off one hand from each of the others. Most believe, given his obsession, that he has opened dozens or even hundreds of the Stones for power. In truth, he has unleashed less than a dozen. One was Chitendu, then the five fiendish braks that attend his kingdoms, and a few others to go abroad. He has, however, stockpiled hundreds of Bonsam Stones, to deny them to his enemies and as a contigency in case he needs more demonic power. The Burning Jungle around Lougua was once a misty, humid one. Dangerous, yes, but not on fire. Now, it burns with an emerald flame that seems to be alive. The fires rage, but never consume the native plants and animals. Few humans, however, ever return from the green inferno. It now serves as a vital defense of Mbey, for only the will of the Bour Ba can grant safe passage through it. The city Lougua is safely protected in its darkest reaches, all but cut off from the world and forever safe from foreign siege. Lougua is actually older than Mbey itself. It was a tiny village when the Mbeyans arrived, carved from the heart of the rainforest. It remained small until the Jok came and placed the Sika'Dwa stool there. Over centuries, it grew into a mass of huts and buildings interwoven into the trees, with the Sika'Dwa always at the center. Each day, the Bour Ba sat in the stool in view of all. It thrived despite its isolation, and while it was not perhaps as cosmopolitan as the grand ports of Khemet, it was immense nad very diverse. It had over 50,000 permanent residents, and half that in visitors. It was built from many materials, in many architectural styles. The farmers livedi n huts of wood and mudbrick, while the Crescent merchants were fixtures there for at least two generations before the ATC arrived, bringing architects to make mansions of wood, marble and gold. They then built a palace for the Bour Ba, towering over the trees, and a university staffed by Crescent teachers. Now, the city is more a prison. New arrivals are few, and those who leave are fewer. Walls of fire ensure only those the Bour Ba allows can come or go. The university remains, but is staffed largely by prisoners, who seem more dead than alive. The merchants' mansions lie empty, overgrown and looted. The drumming of the tam-tam can be heard across the city, and following it will lead you to Ighodalo, either in his palace of black spires or sitting on the Bonsam Throne in the center of the city. The Bonsam Throne sits where the Sika'Dwa once did, a mound of broken black stone. No one dares touch it, for it is made of Bonsam Stone shards, though the Bour Ba treats it as in the way his predecessors did the Sika'Dwa. The Slave Fields of Bonsam were once just home to the Bonsam Stones in Gelwaar. Once, they were inviolate to all trespassers, guarded by warriors. Now, they are the worst and most hopeless place in Ifri. The Gelwaar have been replaced by taskmasters, who oversee the slave camps, many of them full of Mbeyans, who work to excavate the Bonsam Stones for transport to Lougua along a ruinous ditch called the Bonsam Road. It was carved by the passage of donkeys and elephants moving the stones to Mbey, and is the most reliable road left in the nation. The nearest town is Kabi, which serves the needs of the taskmasters and slaves. The tents cluster around a massive obelisk, 20 feet wide and buried to a depth none can guess. A dozen elephants have died trying to uproot it, but so far, it has not moved. Ighodalo's servants now study it, hoping to discover its secrets. Bellete was one of the two great Company colonies on the coast; the other, Mosina, was lost with the rest of Nder, so Bellete is now the Company capital in Ifri, and its ruler, Governor Binchet, is quite pleased. It was made from the Kahone rainforest and is now the staging ground for raids into Manden, in an effort to get to the nation's gold fields. It was not much of a settlement at first - just a waypoint for foreigners traveling. The only place of interest was the place the locals called Nandi Nundi, a fertile delta at the river mouth. Binchet established a plantation there and kept the local name because he thought it was funny. In the early days, he used it as a safe place for Company conspirators but that's about it. Only when the plot against Mbey went full bore did it become important, as Binchet used it for his own ambitions. He enslaved local villagers, all of them of the Second People, and kept many as labor slaves to expand Bellete and his plantation, selling the rest on the blocks. His plantation expanded hugely, worked by over 200 slaves, and the Great Auction House became a gigantic flesh market, the largest in Ifri. By then Bellete was so influential that despite Mosina having the larger slave market, it was the southern colony that was used as the base for the Company's major operations, including the seizing and sale of Ihodalo's twin sons. They were held at Nand Nundi, to take advantage of Buchet's evil reptution, and when the Sika'Dwa stool came to them, Binchet personally sat on it at the auctioneer's stage, in view of the two boys, then sold it off. How the place prospers, let alone stands, is a bit of a mystery. By rights, Ighodalo should have burned it down for the crimes against his family. Some believe he is just biding his time, knowing Binchet is the most able to find his sons. Most, however, believe Chitendu convinced him to spare the colony, and she is often seen among the slave markets. Castel del Elmina is the coastal foundry-fortress where the Company processes raw ore into gold for trade. It was once a plantation, but now, it is far more important. Is nominal purpose as a smelter also hides that the Company uses it to mint their own coins, more than often forgeries of various Thean currencies. Two dozen goldsmiths run the place, with the air of nearly 20 slaves, about half of whom are children. A half dozen warships and a hundred mercenaries keep the place secure. Between these two company strongholds is the island Sono. Here there is a small Vaticine church, built by the Company. It is one of the few in all Mbey, because it does one sacred job that even the Company needs: it has a graveyard. The entire hillside around the church is covered in wooden grave markers and empty graves, dug weekly to receive new Company casualties. Bother Rodrigo tends to the place along with two men, three women and a child, all slaves, plus a staff of three free people. Rodrigo is man in his 50s, just starting to go gray. He is kind and generous, but he goes to the slave markets of Beleete almost monthyl, to replace one or another of his slaves. Many speculate on why he is so far from his native Castille and why he works for the ATC. No one knows why Sono has such rapid turnover, either, and the Company doesn't especially care as long as he does his job. He is apparently a skilled practitioner of Hexenwork, which he uses to keep the dead on Sono at rest. Then we have some of the most famous monsters. The Village the Walks lies in Kahone. Most of the villages of the Second People are now empty, their people either taken as slaves or fled, or died in the process of either one. The Village That Walks refuses to let the jungle take it, however. It stalks the rainforest on strange and improbably legs, its huts pressed into a vaguely human silhouette. It is 30 feet tall, and none know how it stays animate or why it exists. It is angry, they know, and kills anyone it meets. Some claim they have seen bloody, broken people pour from its huts, like maggots from a rotting wound. It leaves no tracks or trail in the jungle, save for corpses strung up in the trees. In Diourbel, many of the horse breeders released theirh erds to the wild. It wasn't easy, and the horses were certainly no match for the wild beasts, much less the horrrors swarming from the Bonsam Fields. However, it was preferable to send the horses to die than be forced to ride them to war for the Bour Ba. However, one woman, a story says, asked the gods to pretect her herd. Her name is forgotten. The gods sent the spirits of the simb, the lions, into the bodies of her horses, creating the Pride of Diourbel. Others say these horses are possessed by devils, perhaps from drinking the brackish water in Gelwaar. Whatever the case, they are shaggy, savage beasts with none of a horse's usual fear. They strike by night, trampling huts and seizing people to drag across the savannah for unknown purpose. They don't eat them, being horses like any other, but no one has any idea what they do with those people. If they could be tamed as mounts, no cavalry could hope to stand against them. Next time: The major players of Mbey
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Jul 7, 2018 23:30
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I haven’t read the Theah nation books so I’m willing to wait; I trust the 7th Sea guys not to do the “magic and mystery abounds in the heart of Darkest Africa!” thing. It’s just kinda funny that most of Theah’s problems are political, like the aftermath of the War of the Cross and the trade wars between Vodacce and Vendel, whereas the major conflict in Ifri is “one of the kings summoned Satan.” Also magic seems to be more of a day-to-day presence in the Atabean, where every pirate ship has a magic charter and the Rahuri habitually pop into the land of the dead for help. It beats the hell out of the 1e Syrneth robots and grasshoppers, though, and I do like that Africa got the full mythic Europe treatment from people who actually seem to know poo poo about African history. It’s refreshing to see a take on Africa that’s not “proud and noble primitives in touch with The Spirits” or “hey, they’re super high tech for no reason, bet you weren’t expecting that!”
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Jul 7, 2018 23:58
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So now that Mbey is literally hell on earth what's the endgame. Like, where's the roadmap from wearing the still beating hearts of your vassals around your neck.
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Jul 8, 2018 00:17
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7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - The Last Simb?Foreign Relations, from two perspectives posted:The Kingdom of Aksum: The Aksumites act high and mighty. Perhaps they are. But they are also sneaky, gold-loving spies. They claim tradition and unbroken lineages to the past but their people neglect the spirits of their families for the spirit of a king. People! Bour Ba Ighodalo was not weak or unwise. He was a man pushed to the brink who made a wrong choice in a moment of weakness. His defenders claim he is the strongest of kings. It is only Company treachery that parted him from the Sika'Dwa, they say, and he knew his kingdom would fail if so deprived, so he took the only power he could. Shattering the Bonsam Stones freed their evil prisoners, yes, and he made their shards into a throne of power. The other Ifrian kings sit on thrones they were given - but Ighodalo made his, and does that not make him greatest? Chitendu whispers these words of poison into his ears each day. He is a gaunt man a shell of his old, fat self, with sunken eyes, who sags under the weight of the hearts around his neck. His voice retains authority, but none of his old mirth or joy. He only ever speaks to his people once each day, when he sits upon the black throne. No citizen of Lougua may refuse to attend this event. Jaineba, the Last Simb, is of the Second People. The Second People have suffered most, of all Mbeyans, since the Stones were broken. Jaineba lost their siblings in the early resistance to Ighodalo, and they led their remaining family south, to Manden, as refugees. Jaineba has a natural talent for njom, the wrestling techniques of the Second People, and as a child they yearned to practice njom with their brothers. There are provisions in the culture of the Second People for casting aside the roles of one's birth gender for a preferred one. However, Jaineba realized they could not do this, could not cast aside either gender, for they felt equally at home in all expressions. As their mother's last child alive, they have taken up the ceremonial duties of both genders, including wearing their eldest brother's njom regalia as tribute and intimidation, becoming one of the simb, the false lions. This choice to be both roles was not easy, but Jaineba has seen opportunities now not possible before the flight south. They have learned to use the mannerisms of either gender, and can easily present as male, female or a blend of the two depending on what feels most comfortable and useful for a given encounter. Chitendu is the ever-present advisor of the Bour Ba. Everyone can tell that she was once a resident of the Bonsam Fields, though few dare say it aloud. She is a pot-bellied woman with spindly limbs, oily skin and mere nubs for teeth. She smiles often, laughing at everything, including herself. If it were not for the cloud of flies and gnats that constantly swarm around her, she might even be pleasant to deal with. Some few, however, speak of another Chitendu, a braying woman with a hyena's head and elephant tusks and tail, whose tail forever swats and flies to no purpose. Bour Ba Ighodalo is never seen without Chitendu, but she often wanders Lougua on her own, gossiping with and interrogating the people. Some claim to have met her in far off places, but she could not possibly have been there, given the distances. Clearly they must lie. She is Strength 6, Influence 8. Shanga, the Eternal Captain, was one of the best sea captains of Mboul. Now, they call her a pirate though that isn't quite right. She is a woman trying to assuage her guilt the only way she can - by harrying the Company fleet wherever she can. In the days of first contact with the ATC, Shanga was their most outspoken advocate. She sailed for them and transported goods, even to Montaigne. The first night she looked into her cargo hold and saw familiar faces, however, something broke within her. Something she didn't even realize she had. She waited until land was out of sight, then seized the ship, slew her own crew and freed all the slaves. For months, she exploited her unique knowledge of ATC secrets to disrupt their trade, but no captain, no matter how good, is a match for the Company alone. She eventually was sunk off the coast of Nder, or so the Company claimed. However, while at least six Company crews testify to the sinking of the caravel St. Marie, someone continues to harass their shipping lanes. Witnesses say it is the St. Marie, its barnacle-encrusted prow covered in rotting corpses of slavers. Shanga is technically still a Villain, presumably for being possibly undead and still quite nasty and indiscriminate in her fury, with Strength 8 and Influence 3. She's trying to be better, at least. Next time: Maghreb
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Jul 8, 2018 00:19
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To be fair, Mbey's Satan problem came from an entirely political problem: the ATC caused a civil war so they could enrich themselves on the backs of Ifrian slaves.wiegieman posted:So now that Mbey is literally hell on earth what's the endgame. Like, where's the roadmap from wearing the still beating hearts of your vassals around your neck. Well, I would say the plan involves killing Chitendu and trying to get rid of the other bigger abonsam, finding Ighodalo's sons and then getting that dude out of power. Bit of a campaign though, given how bad poo poo has gotten.
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Jul 8, 2018 00:21
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Mors Rattus posted:Avalon is insanely magical. All of Theah is. Also man if you think this game doesn't like the Vaticines, ahahahahaha wait until we hit Castille and being Vaticine is core to literally every major hero there Well, I'm sorry for that, but an impression is an impression. I didn't have much to comment about Africa since I really don't know poo poo about its history.
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Jul 8, 2018 06:15
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Trust me, we all knew that already.
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Jul 8, 2018 06:19
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And your ignorance and not shutting the gently caress up never made you think about a possible solution? (It’s shutting the gently caress up, because you’re saying dumb things. Do that. )
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Jul 8, 2018 06:31
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Double post : I googled how much a human heart weighs (pretty sure I’m on a government list now) and it’s just a bit less than a can of soup. 5 hearts? On his neck at all times? Ignoring everything else that dude must have a monstrous crick in his neck. I hope that poo poo is padded.
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Jul 8, 2018 06:55
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If there's a counterweight on his back, like a chunk of bonsam stone with a hole, the cord could act more like a torc and weigh mostly on his shoulders. I'm gonna get a job as a Demonic Ergonomics Advisor to the Bour Ba. this will be an excellent career move
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Jul 8, 2018 07:03
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That's still quite a bit of extra weight on the shoulders - doubly so with the counterweight. That dude is in for some serious backaches if he doesn't get them already.
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Jul 8, 2018 07:14
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Joe Slowboat posted:If there's a counterweight on his back, like a chunk of bonsam stone with a hole, the cord could act more like a torc and weigh mostly on his shoulders. How do you feel about permanently burning forests and possibly getting your heart replaced by a frag grenade?
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Jul 8, 2018 07:18
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JcDent posted:How do you feel about permanently burning forests and possibly getting your heart replaced by a frag grenade? Suddenly this is getting into Warhammer territory. Though maybe I just find something homey about forests that are constantly on fire.
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Jul 8, 2018 08:25
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Ghost Leviathan posted:Though maybe I just find something homey about forests that are constantly on fire. Ah, you live in Northern California too?
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Jul 8, 2018 08:30
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Kavak posted:Ah, you live in Northern California too? Wrong hemisphere, mate.
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Jul 8, 2018 10:19
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7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Not Morocco, I Think? The Kingdom of Maghreb is caught between two seas - one of water, one of sand. Its ports are like jewels, cosmopolitan and wealthy. The grasslands and scrub forests are full of grazing beasts and farms, with purple indigo fields spread through. And in the south there are the wide deserts, with occasional oases. At the center is the Heart of the Desert, the great volcano that rises above all of the land and hides many secrets. The land is broadly split into three regions - the coast, full of ports that now answer to the ex-pirate Mar Veraci, the grasslands which hide the indigo fields and many goats, ruled by Hennu Noumidia, aunt of the Blue Queen, and the Ubari Desert of vast sand. Over all of it rules Blue Queen Tasa Noumidia, prophet and sorceress, who sings of what was and what will be. Recently, she has retreated to the Heart of the Desert, thanks to the strange visions and voices that trouble her. A prophecy speaks of a great war in the south, which will end only with blood flowing from the throne - but she cannot say which throne or whose blood. Around her are possible allies or dangers - the Thean Duke Francois de Toille, who offers armies in exchange for trade and mining, or the eastenr sultan, who wants trade and to help fight the Devil. The Blue Queen works towards an old vision, in which Maghreb is a shining light for trav4elers, full of magic and wealth and joy, but there is a great battle ahead, and the news she hears of evil spirits and dying oases stokes her fears of the Devil of Mbey coming for her land. Mar Veraci's pirates strike at Montaigne ships, weakening them, as intrigue brews in the courts. Naravas Narvan leads the fight in the south, facing evil spirits that encroach on Maghreb, but soon, the Blue Queen fears she will be surrounded by evil, and seeks the counsel of the spirits in the Heart of the Desert. Legend says the Golden Sea of sand was once lush pasture, with grass like emerald and fields of yellow flowers. The people of the south grew envious of the riches of this land, its fat cows and happy people, and so they attacked. The pasture people, who were not warriors, fled with their herds. One great wizard alone stayed behind, to ensure their safety. As the first soldiers came on him, they struck him down, and he cried out. As his blood spread through the soil, the grass withered and the dirt became sand. The waters rose to the sky, forming a cloud that shielded the pasture people from the warriors, and the desert stretched out. The trees turned to sand, the wind whipped up the grit. Where the wizard fell became the Heart of the Desert, and for the Maghrebi, the desert is a blessing. The full title of Mahgreb's ruler is the Keeper of the Cool Water. She must care for the people and ensure they use water and farmland wisely. The land can only give so much. There are times when the water is low and the trees bear no fruit. The ruler must ensure that there is enough for everyone, sometimes rationing or seeking foreign aid to get enough food or water. Sometimes, the Keeper of the Cool Water must also be a spiritual leader, providing the insights that the past rulers may grant them in dreams. The majority of Maghrebi people are Amazigh, who divide up into a number of clans. These clans are led by a matrilineal chieftain, who belongs to the noble caste claled Imajaghan. Most warriors are Imajaghan, as they have access to weapons and camels. Below them are the clerics and sorcerers known as Ineslemen, who deal with what is unseen and mysterious. They are considered semi-noble, but anyone can become one, provided they put in the large amounts of intellectual work to get there. Under them are the Imghad, the free vassals that support the noble castes by herding sheep, goats, oxen and camels. An Imghad must support any noble that passes through their lands. They are considered equal to the Inadan, the crafters and artisans, and the Agguta, the singers, musicians and storytellers as well as historians. The Agguta often work directly for a noble, which provides them some security. The Amazigh, who form the ethnic majority of Maghreb, consider hospitality to be vital. No one is fool enough to travel Maghreb without water, and the nomads and villagers will notice travelers and send children to ask if they have enough water or food, inviting them in. Often, the children also provide a bowl of water to wash face and hands. If the traveler does, the invitation is accepted and they should follow the children back to their village or caravan. Turning down the invitation is only slightly rude if you're pressed for time. For most Amazigh, building community is the most important thing, after all. They will care for any animals the traveler has, and not ask they remove their weapons. The desert is dangerous, and the Amazigh know that battle is where friendships are often born. Travelers will be offered food, water and salt, and they are expected to give reports of weather, road conditions and strange events. Foreigners are welcome among the Amazigh as much as other Maghrebi, but they often must live with quickly assembled tents. The Maghrebi acknowledge that everyone should be brought in from under the sun, but family bonds and those of familiarity must be respected. If a traveler has an Amazigh relative present, the group may be invited into that relative's home, but the related traveler will be considered responsible for their foreign friends and expected to translate and ensure no traditions or taboos are broken. This tradition of housing foreigners outside family tents but in the encampment avoids awkward or violent misunderstandings. The Amazigh also worry about travelers that are secretly jinn, and foreigners are often wise to learn the warning signs of an evil spirit, so they can avoid being seen as them and also avoid them while traveling. A traveler that spends the night can expect water and food in the morning as well as further animal care. Leaving before being blessed five times is considered bad manners. On the coast, Maghebi clothing varies quite a bit. However, they tend to favor long, light-colored robes that protect from the sun and sand, often of cotten, or linen for the rich. Wool cloaks are made for the rare cold evening, typically of the wool of sheep and goats. Maghrebi also wear head coverings to protect against the elements. The poor are often barefoot, while the rich favor reed or leather sandals. Indigo is the favored dye, with the deepest hues reserved for the Maghrebi rulers and the Amazigh. Leather belts of traditional and beautiful design are common, often using a motif of the number five, which is also found in Maghrebi art and charms. Gold is present, but the Maghrebi prefer silver as a decorative metal, with coin headdresses, earrings, rings and bangles being common. Smooth stones are favored over faceted jewels, and everyone wears jewelry regardless of gender. There are many dialects among the Amazigh tribes, but all can understand each other with a bit of work, even if thick accents or local idioms can confuse. Beyond the many Maghrebi dialects, the coastal Maghrebi tend to be familiar with other languages, especially those of Aksum. Thean languages tend to be rarer, but most port cities have translators, even if they're expensive. Maghrebi food is primarily millet porridge, goat and camel milk and cheese, and flat bread. Thick yogurts, beers and tea are also common, as is couscous, often with stew or vegetables. A popular tea in the region is ashahi, a green tea mixed with sugar. After steeping, it is poured over mint and sugar three separate times into a new pot. Once this is done, it is served in small glasses from a height of a foot or more, so it frothes. Ashahi tea is imported from Cathay, so it is most often seen in wealthy households. Foreign food is sometimes imported on the coast, but rarely elsewhere. Maghrebi also tend to dislike strong wines from Theah, preferring buttermilk, tea, orange juice or water. Most Amazigh art is jewelry, leather or metal saddle decorations, along with finely made weapons. Pilgrimage boxes with intricate locks are used to secure items for travel, often with keys being sent ahead by messenger. The favored instruments are tambour, monochord violins, drums and flutes, often used to accompany poetry or songs. All musicians, in past times, were women, but this has changed in recent centuries. However, many men still four the mourning chants of Amazigh women, who call out high wails and pound their feet. Amazigh women are also known to decorate themselves with henna designs in geometric patterns, both for beauty and to ward off evil. Men sometimes also wear henna in protective sigils. The Maghrebi have several faiths. The spirits have dwelled in the land forever, and some demand worship or instruct humans in how to survive, or give gifts. Some of these spirits and gods were brought from other lands as people migrated, along trade routes or through ports. The Maghrebi are quick to accept and welcome new gods as long as their worshippers are friendly. The chief and eldest of their gods is Cyre, the goddess of war. Some say she was the first queen of Maghreb, who allied with the first king because she knew he could raise a potent army. Certainly, the First Queen's tomb is empty, bearing only a crown and lion skin in her memory. Cyre is typically depicted as a tall, muscular woman who pins a lion down with a spear or holds a bow and arrow. She wears traditional Amagizh garb and a crown with five jewels, carrying a waterskin at her belt and with a crescent moon over her head. It is unclear if she was a deified warrior or a spirit, and that's a common debate among Maghrebi scholars. All agree, however, that her arm was unbreakable, that she defeated every lion she ever faced, and that hte people pray to her for bravery, safety and victory in battle. Ger greatest temple is in Cyrene, where she has a giant statue. There is a secret society of Cyre-dedicated warrior women that travels the land. They claim to predate the royal family itself, and they right wrongs, track criminals and hunt down dangerous animals. To join, a woman must track them down and vow to prove herself, taking an oath on her longest-dead direct female relative. She must then hunt a lion and kill it, returning with its hide. Only then will the Women of Cyrene accept her. Women of Cyrene never touch money - the only metal they will touch is the sword or the charm against evil. They may never marry, as Maghreb is their true love. Ancestor worship is also common among the Maghrebi. Help, the Amazigh say, comes not just from gods, but from the beloved dead, who become gods in death. They are buried in mountain tombs, rubbed in ochre and dressed in fine clothes, with the tools and food for the afterlife left for them. Those in high esteem are buried close to the Heart of the Desert, with rulers buried on the mountain itself. The living swear oaths by the dead, and speak of them often. A person seeking guidance will go to the tombs, praying and sleeping there to receive dreams from them, giving answers in the form of symbols and impressions. Dreams are trusted deeply, as the Amazigh trust the dead and rarely question their answers. They remember the dead for their great qualities, such as patience or bravery. Tales of ancestors are told often, and charms bear their names in the hopes of being more like them. The Vodacce missionaries to Ifri caught Amazigh attention with their saints rather than Theus, and Amazigh art now sometimes uses Thean iconography and refers to the ancestors as saints. However, while this has the veneer of Vaticine worship, it's pretty much the old Amazigh ancestral veneration with new names. Fun fact: the name of the continent as 'Ifri' dates back to when the Theans first arrived in Maghreb, during a festival for Ifri, goddess of fortune and fertility. When asked what the land was called, a mistranslation led to the phrase 'the land of Ifri.' As a fertility deity, the land is her domain, but the misunderstanding led to it being applied to the entire continent. DEspite this, Ifri remains a vital Maghrebi goddess. Fields are plowed in her name, and her epithets are written on seed jars. Couples that seek children pray and sacrifice to her, and all good that comes from the land is her blessing, brought forth by the sacrifice of the sweat of farmers. Her idols are typically portrayed as weeping, with garments bearing the image of indigo flowers and other lucky symbols. Maghrebi believe it is good luck to pour water over the face of her statues and their own faces when passing said statues. Beside fertility, she also controls fortune, so merchants pray to her to make the way clear for their goods. Gamblers invoke her for luck, and putting seedpods with her name carved in is said to ensure the growth of finances or safe births. Neith was originally a goddess of Khemet, and she is the goddess of war, weaving, hunting and wisdom. She has no consorts, and she alone, among all that exists, may create things without need for male energy. She is depicted as bearing two arrows, and serves as a protector, especially of fallen soldiers. Her crossed arrows are drawn on tombs, and dying soldiers pray to her for their souls to be protected. Weavers pray to her as they weave, using the prayers to keep time on the loom. Because she is one of the oldest gods, Neith is also often invoked in legal disputes, not only for her wisdom but her ability to carry out judgment. Some say she holds up the sky, so sometimes she is prayed to for strength. Next time: The Vaticine and al-Din in Maghreb
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Jul 8, 2018 13:59
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Maghreb seems to mix various North African cultures into a generalized 'bedouin' identity. The Maghreb is an area around the Sahara, so a little to the south of Morocco, but trade routes through the area have kept some cultural mix going for centuries. The references to indigo and blue indicates the Tuareg, a pastoral nomadic culture who have historically been significantly involved in the cross-Saharan trade. But again, this seems mostly an amalgram of cultures rather than being directly based on one place or group in particular. The apparent absence of Kashbahs in this version of North Africa is a bit disappointing to me. They'd make a perfect set piece for swashbuckling action.
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Jul 8, 2018 16:16
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The references to Cyrene also indicate Libya and likely the whole warrior-queen mythology draws from ancient myths about Dido, and indigo/blue was a big deal to the Carthaginians/Phoenicians as well, though I don't see much other influence from them yet.
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Jul 8, 2018 16:49
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I think an issue with 7th Sea is once you start writing a setting with this level of detail it's very hard to stop. If you write a swashbuckling/seafaring RPG and settle on "There are krakens in the deep, and ghost ships, and cursed treasure", that's one thing, but once you start trying to delve into the details, it doesn't take long before there's an entire pantheon and complicated rules for magic and suddenly everything is weird and crazy. Which isn't necessarily bad, God knows there's an audience for it- I doubt this thread would be talking as much about 7th Sea if it were mostly historical swashbuckling with optional rules for pirate ghosts.
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Jul 8, 2018 18:33
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I have a really hard time getting into the 7th Sea reviews mainly because it reads like the game and source books are halfway between novels and actual gamebooks intended for a roleplaying game. The high plots, the NPCs, the intense worldbuilding makes me think these are books intended for people who want to worldbuild and read about worldbuilding.
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Jul 8, 2018 19:13
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7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - In Which The Barbary Pirates Are Cited As An Inspiration The Vaticine missionaries of Vodacce are very eager to go convert some Ifrians, though they've noticed that the worst sinners of the coastal cities tend to be Theans rahter than native Ifrians. Missionaries are typically pressured to be on their best behavior and serve as perfect examples of the beliefs of the Church, usually feeling a need to correct the wrongs that other Theans do as part of their work in Maghreb. However, it has proven quite easy for most to convince the coastal cities to build churches, treating them as havens for the faithful. Most of these offer free room and board to any traveler that is willing to attend a service. Their metaphors, in a land of shepherds, tend to speak about the Prophets as keeping people safe from the beasts of fear and despair, wielding a rod and staff to defeat the Devil that preys on the hopeless. The Maghrebi tend to actually like these missionaries, as they offer food and charity to those in need and have adapted to the fact that saints tend to be most popular as an idea. Art of the saints and their symbols are frequently commissioned form local artists, using Vodacce iconography with a Maghrebi aesthetic. The Vaticine churches grow less frequent the further south you go, away from the coast. However, the occasional priest can be found wandering the desert roads, and there's always at least one at the Half-Sunk Library, working to translate and transcribe its works. Al-Din is significantly more established in the heart of Maghreb, having been brought to the land not by priests but by its everyday believers, who came with the trading caravans. This has led many Maghrebi people to adapt the al-Din belief system into their own local religion in a syncretic blend. It is not rare to hear Maghrebi arguing the nature of the Second Prophet over a campfire, wondering if his attempt to hold on to life spoke to his doubt, as he didn't believe his spirit could serve after death, or if he was dead when his words were written, delivered by his spirit in dreams, or if his teachings are, in fact, his spirit. These debates are generally quite friendly - the Dinists of Maghreb tend to focus on their commonalities between themselves and among the native beliefs, accomodating and finding overlap, rather than finding reasons to fight. The rulers of Maghreb have also turned to Dinism in combination with their traditional faith, if a rather eclectic version of it. The sorcery of Maghreb is tied to spirits and the need to defeat evil spirits. The land has long traditions of singing, storytelling and fencing, and these are woven together to form the magic of Maghreb: the sword which sings. The words for sword and song are the same in the Amazigh language, and this redundancy gives the magic more power. The common sword used for this is the flyssa, heavy-bladed longsword tapering to a blunted tip. The blade is inscribed with the lyric of a song, imbuing it with magic. The bearer then writes a song of battle, which is also a spell, which describes their desire to protect their home and its people from evil. The smith works the metal in the forge as the warrior sings over it, and the spell-song is worked into the metal itself. The color of the metal shifts from red to blue, as the lyrics write themselves within the blade. The blacksmith sings harmony, to bring balance, forging an edge that will match the will of its wielder. When the sword is forged, the warrior then takes it to the Blue Queen, whose kiss strengthens the magic and the metal against evil. Besides this tradition of mystically forged swords, Maghrebi culture also believes in the creation of beautiful talismans. Not all of these are magical, but some are, often inscribed with ancient Jok hymns. These talismans are always worn against the body and made of unpolished silver. Every community in Maghreb is essentially autonomous, but when there is trouble, the local rulers turn to their neighbors for help, like family. A confederation, called an Amanokal, comes together to make decisions and appoint war leaders. These are most common in the plains and grasslands, and the word also describes clans working together as a group. The coastal regions tend to have groups with more trouble agreeing, and the desert dwellers rarely have time for deliberation. However, they are still able to convene an Amanokal when necessary. Above all this is the Keeper of Cool Water, who rules the land. The young are well educated in Maghreb, by their family and their community. Most communities have small schools to teach reading, writing, math and whatever the local religious beliefs are, in most cases. This formal schooling tends to be short, though, as most children apprentice to an extended family member to learn a trade. While the Maghrebi cannot match, say, Aksum in terms of education, they value literacy, numeracy and knowledge of stories. Coastal Maghrebi tend to pick up bits and pieces of foreign tales as well as local ones, and some stories are actually designed as verbal maps, such that reciting them allows a traveler to remember routes and landmarks. You can find practically any coin in the coastal cities of Maghreb, either among merchants or gamblers. Gold, silver, porcelain, shells - the main thing is to remember the exchange rates. The Amazigh royals mint their own coins - silver coins, hued with blue - and have several variants. Cyrene uses the silphium coin and the Goddess coin, for example. With the expanding influence of al-Din, though, there is talk of the queen decreeing a new, unified coin in the future, once she decides on a value and design for it. Within the interior, currency is accepted but barter is much preferred. The military of Maghreb is the duty of the nobles, who defend their lands and vassals. Sometimes, they conscript armies from the coast, but these are generally paid mercenaries. In the grasslands and desert, the ruling families each lead bands of warriors on raids and assaults, either mounted on camels or on foot. The coast also has an irregular navy of corsairs and sometimes-pirates. The Blue Queen does not formally sanction privateers, but Mar Veraci, the governess of the coast, turns a blind eye to piracy that targets enemies of Maghreb or Vodacce merchants that try to exploit the people. These corsairs form a dangerous and useful defense against naval attacks, especially because they're quick to band together if threatened or if they spot a prime target. Stories abound of their courage and luck, and some claim that they have more tendency than most to run into supernatural events. Some even claim that Reis was once a Maghrebi corsair. The Half-Sunk Library of Theletha emerges from the earth on the outskirts of the coastal city Theletha. Children often climb on the worn marble roof, and makeshift stairs lead down into the atrium, which is lit by olive oil lamps. Within, locals work to make and sell paper, wax and ink. The library has been exposed for only 50 years, when a merchant's camel tripped over the edge and the merchant found the building beneath his feet. He thought it was a tomb, and so he ran off to get people to help excavate it for treasure. Eventually, they found and secured the entrance, but discovered only scrolls, books and ancient tools, many of them written in Old Thean and dating back to the First Empire. The merchant's friends mostly got bored, but several were fascinated. Word of the library reached the local rulers, who negotiated its ownership and care to ensure the safety of the people as they investigated its ancient mysteries. Several texts within the library serve as guides to help translate its works. Scholars and other knowledge-seekers now read, cross-reference, rewrite and translate books constantly. Care must be taken to avoid damaging them, and they can only be accessed with permission from the head librarian, Mula Arsinagh. The library is massive - while it's called Half-Sunk, the local architects believe that only a fifth of it has actually been exposed - around 9000 feet. A small town, called the City of Pages, has been established around the ruin, full of teachers and scholars. The population is always in some flux, as people do research, pass through and leave, and workers come to help the paper-makers sell their wares. No one knows how many texts lie within the library, and no one knows how it got buried under the sand. Several people have entered its depths and never returned, leading many to believe it is cursed or trapped. No weapons are allowed within, and books may be copied but not removed without special permission from the head librarian and the queen. The library sits at an angle, and the deeper you go, the worse the incline gets, as if it were snapped in half. Scorpions, snakes and other creatures live within, and a few skeletons have also been found in the deeper aisles. The murals on the walls use colors that cannot be reproduced using modern techniques, and most depict familiar local stories, though some are puzzling and leave much to speculation. One painting appears to be of the Blue Queen, but the writing around it has faded away entirely. The Painted City is the capital of Maghreb, called this due to its ornate, blue-painted walls that are covered in azurite, lapis and other semiprecious stones in elaborate geometric mosaics. Guards patrol constantly to ensure the walls remain unlooted. The gates are of ironwood, carved with images of great leaders of the Amazigh past. The first leader of the Amazigh, who married the land brought forth sweet water for his people, is on the east gate. The west gate bears the image of Queen Tula, who opened trade with the neighboring countries and negotiated the treaty to get the ironwood for the gates. She also established the wayposts on the Tariq al-dhahab caravan route. The third gate shows King Hultan, who stopped raiders from conquering the city with his military skill and his magic. The fourth gate shows the Sea Queen, who belt the Maghrebi trade fleet and navy. Some residents wish to build a fifth gate to show the current queen, Tasa Noumidia, but she warns that the wall must not be compromised, certainly not in praise of her. At the heart of the Painted City is the Palace, a great building in white and blue, with elegant, intricate mosaics of natural wonders, animals and plants. The former Queen Jayla, a great artist and ruler, designed it, using the architecture to teach her children the importance of all people, regardless of origin or rank. Each piece of stone or glass may be humble, she taught, but when put together by a skilled hand, beauty is achieved. The walls are enchanted so the mosaics shift, using an old magic, and sometimes the flowers give off a fine scent. The palace is three stories tall, with open walkways and many gardens. At its center is the Sovereign's Spring, where the first ruler buried his waterskin and called forth the sweet waters. Even in times of drought, its pool remains at the same level and always cool, so most believe it is a blessing from the gods to the royalty. The gardens are full of date palms, pistachio trees and pomegranate orchards, and the public may enter certain areas to gather fruit and nuts. Guests are given rich quarters outfitted with fine fabric and incense, while the royals themselves have quarters coated in the blue that marks their family. The grounds also include public parks and resting places for caravans and individuals. Surrounding the palace, the city is a sprawling urban maze with many places for nomads to settle temporarily. A large marketplace, always open, is set up in view of the palace, and goods from across Ifri are sold in its tents and stalls. Two days travel from the capital will reach the Tedmiat Megaliths. They are visible from a kilometer away - a huge black stone circle rising from the dirt. Five pillars, not all the same size, covered in a written language that no living person understands. Books with the writing have been found in the Half-Sunk Lbirary, but no text usable for translation has been discovered yet. There are no breaks between the pillars and ground, meaning the entire formation was carved from one stone, and there is no other place in Maghreb that this type of stone is found. Local scientists name it the Formation Stone and consider it unique. At first glance, the stones look black, but as the day moves, they reveal transparencies. Portions within the pillars turn opaque or translucent, showing mysterious shapes within. Torches moved around the pillars also reveal these shapes, and some believe the ground itself contains more of them. The more well-known images are called the Weeping Woman, the Swallowing Toad and the Waiting Snake. Many scholars from across the world hope to translate and understand the megalith's pillars. Mystics sometimes claim it is the hand of a giant, and that unlocking its secrets will control that giant. More historically minded thinkers believe it is the religious site of an ancient people. Cartographers have noted that two of the pillars directly align with the Half-Sunk Library and the Heart of the Desert; it is unclear if the other three align with anything. Tariq al-dhahab used to be a major caravan route. No longer. It is said that a message was brought along the road, but its recipient, a wise woman, didn't want it. She sent sandstorms, biting snakes and scorpions, then opened the sand to consume its travelers. No one knows now what was in the letter. Stone posts litter the ground around it - the old markers of the old trade route, which went from the Painted City into Manden. It hasn't been used in decades. Some posts have been swallowed by the dunes. Each post is carved with a greeting, and custom says that you must respond to each in kind. Stories tell of caravans lost in the desert, to bandits, ghosts or sandstorms. Treasure hunters sometimes go out in search of these abandoned caravans, though they are rarely found. It is not entirely clear why the trade route died out, but it certainly has one other danger along its route. When the first king came to Maghreb, he brought his wife from Khemet, and while these children grew up in Maghreb, some longed to return to Khemet and reclaim it as their kingdom. When Tula the Waymaker sat on her throne, her cousins tried to usurp her, and she pushed them back and banished them. After her death, a strange group of robbers began to harry the caravans, abandoning both goods and bodies. Those that survive said that their weapons did not sing like Maghrebi, and perhaps they are foreign criminals who destroyed the trade route deliberately. Or maybe they were just bandits. The legend lives on either way. The Well of Timbu lies close to the halfway point of the Tariq al-dhahab, and it shines under the sun. It is a crystal clear oasis, full of gentle birds and small olives, figs and stone fruits. It is maintained by the Weel Keepers, mysterious veiled people who never speak, but offer refreshment to all travelers. The Well is said to be older than Maghreb itself, discovered by Cyre while she was hunting. She found a pack of lions there, which attacked her with claws like swords and teeth like sunlight, but she defeated them all over five days and nights. She did not, it is said, kill them. Rather, she transformed them into the Well Keepers, taking their hides and bidding them forever watch over the Well of Timbu for others to use. Because no blood may be spilled at the Well, those accused of crime often run for them. If they arrive safely, they have protection for five days, and many disputes have been solved there, as tempers cooled. There are many stories of the falsely accused taking refuge at the Well while new evidence was found each day, until they were proved innocent. However, the Well is not a home. A traveler may stay only five days before the Well Keepers pointedly gesture at them to leave. Somehow, they always know how long you've been there and never, ever miss your departure time by even a minute. Those who do not listen awaken on the sixth day in the middle of the desert, naked and without food or water. Few have ever seen the Wel Keepers take them, however, and it is said they just stand over the banished and growl, and the person vanishes. Fortunately, the banished are not banished forever - if they survive and return, they get the same hospitality as anyone else...for five days at a time. Next time: More places.
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Jul 8, 2018 22:11
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Battle Mad Ronin posted:I have a really hard time getting into the 7th Sea reviews mainly because it reads like the game and source books are halfway between novels and actual gamebooks intended for a roleplaying game. The high plots, the NPCs, the intense worldbuilding makes me think these are books intended for people who want to worldbuild and read about worldbuilding. I've been skipping the story hooks bit - nearly every location and NPC writeup is accompanied by a set of two to three possible story hooks to get an adventure started if the GM can't come up with their own.
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Jul 8, 2018 22:12
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The warrior queen might also or instead be a reference to Tinhinan, an actual (if mythologized) Tuareg ruler from the 4th century. In general "Amazigh" (a singular endonym, plural Imazighen) and "Maghreb" (Berber North Africa as contrasted with the Arab-dominated lands of the Mashriq) are dead giveaways for Berber analogues.
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Jul 8, 2018 23:24
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Mors Rattus posted:7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - In Which The Barbary Pirates Are Cited As An Inspiration I feel this is a strong reference to Chefcaouen, an actual all-blue city in Morocco. It's super-beautiful, too:  
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Jul 8, 2018 23:37
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Battle Mad Ronin posted:The apparent absence of Kashbahs in this version of North Africa is a bit disappointing to me. They'd make a perfect set piece for swashbuckling action.
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Jul 8, 2018 23:55
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Mors Rattus posted:I've been skipping the story hooks bit - nearly every location and NPC writeup is accompanied by a set of two to three possible story hooks to get an adventure started if the GM can't come up with their own. The seeming absence of any of those was really lowering my opinion of the line. I'm glad to know they're actually in the books because in my experience, that kind of thing is way more helpful than you'd think, even for very experienced GMs.
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Jul 9, 2018 00:01
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Nessus posted:John Wick don't like it. Block the Casbah.
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Jul 9, 2018 00:11
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Nessus posted:John Wick don't like it. Midjack posted:Block the Casbah. I love you.
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Jul 9, 2018 00:26
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7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - A Volcano Whose Eruption Is Barely Mentioned As A Possibility The Heart of the Desert is a massive shield volcano in the middle of the Toubkal mountain chain. It has many caverns, and many tales about it. Some say it is where the first people's souls came from, with their bodies made from the earth and clay around it. The Heart has not erupted since anyone can remember, though its activity features in folklore. The Toubkals begin near the city of Cyrene, and the Heart lays pretty much in the middle of the chain, taller than the rest. This is the home of the tombs of Amazigh royalty, and some say that hundreds of tunnels go under the mountain. It is here that the first king was buried, and all rulers since have followed his tradition, with a funeral procession that passes through the scrub and desert for days. The longest tunnels are used to house the royal dead, and other Maghrebi bury their dead nearby, usually using family caves marked with white and blue writing. The Blue Queen often ventures into the tunnels to get counsel from the dead, using their advice to guide Maghreb. Within the tunnels, the air can quickly change between hot and cold, and often the wind smells of sulfur. Some have said they can smell strange perfume or incense, or hear running water. The Queen has explored more of the tunnels than anyone else, and even she dares not go too deep even when she sleeps in the caves in search of dreams. There is, in fact, an underground river beneath the Heart, but its water is warm and steaming. Strange, eyeless fish swim in it, and armless lizards crawl on its rocks. The cave system is extremely convoluted, and few have ever dared to explore it. Some say a great devil is trapped under the mountain, and that going too far risks finding it. Some merchants claim one tunnel leads to Khemet, others say to Mbey. The Heart has always been a holy site for the Maghrebi, and almost all have an ancestor buried in the mountain chain, so occasionally someone makes a pilgrimage to the Heart for answers in dream, regardless of their religious beliefs. There are small oases around the curves and dips of the mountain, which offer refreshment for travelers. One of these is now the court of the Blue Queen, as she stays by the mountain frequently these days, and it is full of white and indigo tents that welcome travelers seeking the mountain's secrets. Cyrene is the city where the mountains meet the sea, and it rings with bladesong and smithing sounds at all times. It is said that those who can hear the sound of blades before the mountains rise past the horizon is destined to be a great fencer. The great walls are so wide that two horses could walk atop them side by side, and they arem oade white stone rippled with red iron veins. The wall around the maingate is made of smaller blocks, replaced after the First Empire sieged the city long ago. The feet of the massive statue of Cyre still stand at the gate, one foot on each side. The head, twice as tall as a aman and finely detailed, lies in the marketplace, watching over the bazaar. A large, black sword is embedded in the top of its head. Legend says that if the sword turns red, evil comes from the south. The greatest swords are made in Cyrene from the ore that produces red steel. The ground itself is a deep red-brown, and legend has that Cyre walked among the mountains and was attacked by a wind devil taller than a palm tree, which whipped sand and wind against her eyes. She sliced at the wind, calling on the names of the gods that came before her, but the wind stole her words. Thus, she held her sword overhead and then plunged it into the earth, calling on the oldest name she knew - some say Ifri, goddess of fertility, though none are sure. Blood pooled around the blade, red and hot, and Cyre drew it forth and struck down the wind spirit in one blow. The blood seeped into the lands around it, filling them with the unusual red iron ore, which is smelted and processed in a method known only to a few dozen people at most. This special metal is then given only to the swordmakers that know how to make metal sing, making strong and unbreakable yet flexible blades. This is the Guild of the Bleeding Earth, which swears to keep the secrets of metal and fire among only themselves. An apprentice to the Guild starts when old enoguh to carry a bucket, and only the most skilled and trustworthy are allowed. The head of the guild, a former miner, has been into the deep earth, and operates the Guild from a fortress within Cyrene, which guests may enter only by invitation and which most foreigners never get to see. The smiths work on the blades at all times, often with the intended wielder beside them, praying and singing to strengthen the weapons. The blades are inscribed with lyrics, their hilts and scabbards inlaid with blessed goods and elaborately tooled leather and precious stones. There is no blade in the world that is their better, thanks to their excellent iron and the secret methods used to forge them. The redder the blade, the finer it is, with the best appearing to be made from blood itself, shining with mystic power. And yet, even rarer are the Sinifere Sarif swords, made from a mix of Cyrene ore and star metal, which is even rarer and harder to work. Only four of these blades have ever been made, and the smith who made the fourth is just barely still alive today. Their identity is kept a strict mystery by the Guild, which demands its members not forge for their own glory. The smiths are closely guarded, for their secrets are coveted. These secrets must be put before everything, even a smith's family. Even their life. They must swear before the queen herself that even should a blade be held to the neck of the sovereign, the secret will be kept. The Guild makes a new set of blades for each newly crowned ruler of Maghreb, and the sovereign never parts with these blades. This has been the tradition for over one thousand years. Cyrene's coastal location makes it an excellent port for warriors from Theah or the Crescent empire that wish to study swordplay. There are fencing festivals and tournaments frequently, along with stadiums in which disputes may be resolved either with a blade or with the "mind's dagger" - that is, the tongue, arguing before an official court of Amazigh holy elders. Before any duel (word or blade), custom requires going to the head of Cyre in the market and touching it, swearing to fight in a manner worthy of the Goddess and to accept the verdict. The largest of the fighting festivals is the annual Naming Festival in spring, where all swords made in the prior year are blessed, their names declared for the crowd. The city is surrounded within and without with the plant silphium, which is similar to fennel. The grazing beasts are fed on it, to give their meat and milk a sweeter flavor, and many use its parts, seeds and resin for medicine. It is said to be unable to be gardened and only grows wild - and then only around Cyrene. Thus, many coins minted in Cyrene show the silphium stalk on one face and its heart-shaped seed on the other. Some say it only grows where Cyre pierced the earth, as a patch to the land's wound, and so compresses of it are often used on wounds to speed healing. The Ubari Desert, called the Golden Sea of Sand, stretches from Maghreb to Mbey in the west and Khemet in the east. Its dunes are punctuated by wadi, the seasonal rivers, and small oases fed by deep-land aquifers. The wadi of Ubari are not regular as they are in other lands, and often come only once a year - sometimes once every few decades. Dust storms are common in spring, lasting for up to a week. Dune plateaus build up slowly, providing good vantages for nomads, but they shift with the wind. The Amazigh claim that deep in the Ubari is a haunted place, called Zerzura, the oasis of little birds. It is surrounded by white stone covered in tiny carvings, and is always found only by single travelers after spring storms. Some believe it is a Jok settlement, but this has never been confirmed. The Ubari is also sometimes a destination for those looking to avoid arrest or detection. Its shifting dunes and occasional ruins and oases are hospitable enough if you know how to survive them, and make it easy to avoid trackers. As long as they don't interfere with pilgrims or nomadic tribes, the Amazigh leave such people alone. Current Relations posted:The Kingdom of Aksum: Maghreb has respect for Aksum. The people of Aksum were the first to bend metal to their will and mint coins, and they seek peace and power for their own. Their adversity with Manden is troublesome, as the Manden Empire is one of Maghreb's greatest allies. Hopefully peace can be made between them. Mar Veraci is the self-appointed Governess of the coastal cities, beloved by her followers. She holds court in a restored ruin of the Numanari Empire, and has the respect of the sailors and merchants, as she was once a pirate herself. She was born to a Vodacce mother and Ifrian father in Vodacce, and she and her sister Farfan always looked south, to the land their father came from. At 16, she fled home to join the crew of the Gallant Breeze. It allowed to live as the woman she knew she was, rather than the man Vodacce had insisted she be. She lived as a corsair for several years, making a reputation before she appealed to the Blue Queen to be overseer for the coastal cities. The Blue Queen, who wanted to focus on the desert and the darkness coming from the south, gave her that sovereignty. Mar Veraci is an excellent fencer, dashing and beloved. Every child pretends to be her in play, facing pretend pirates and jinn. Veraci believes all have a role to play in Maghreb, and she listens to all, not just the rich and powerful. She wields dual foils, fencing in the Thean style, and sees herself as a helper to the Queen. She always insists, when others suggest otherwise, that the Blue Queen is the true ruler. Naravas Naryan is the Ghost of the Desert, a man who has sworn his life and that of his people to keeping back Mbey's evils. He is the beloved hero of the desert, whom children seek to emulate, yet he hopes none ever have his lot in life. His twin sister was stolen by Mbeyans when they were both children, and it has led him not only to his quest for righteous vengeance, but given him the strange ability to occasionally see into MBey, to know exactly when the raiders will strike. N aravas is the fastest camel rider in the Ubari, and he wields a blade named Song of the Heart. Like all such blades, it is imbued with sorcery sung into its metal, and it is one of the rare, legendary blades of sky metal, forged in Cyrene. Naravas sees his first duty as protecting the people of Maghreb, and he isn't sure how to feel about the Queen moving her court into the desert. On the one hand, he can protect her more easily if she is close, and having the greatest magician in all of Maghreb nearby encourages people. On the other, it puts her in danger, and that makes Naravas nervous, mostly because wherever she goes, so does the Duke De Toille. He also finds it easier to mask his love for her when she is not close. When he can see her, all he wants to sing about is her...and he can't afford that. His first love must be Maghreb and its people, and his personal desires second. He puts off both his love and his quest to find his sister to fend off the southern raiders. Duke Francois De Toille is a man that sees opportunity. He can't say for sure what he finds most intriguing - the wealth he could make or the secrets he could learn. Both would give power, so he plays politics to gain influence over both the local economy and those who have power already. He has ties to many companies and manufacturers in Theah, and hopes to make Maghreb reliant on his traded goods and foreign banking, wielding them as a weapon against Vodacce so he can start his own rival glassmaking industry and beat them at trade. However, he has become obsessed with the Blue Queen and her ties to the Heart of the Desert. The great power in the south churns in him as he reads stories of the Queen communing with spirits. He knows that learning the Heart's secrets means he must be close to the queen, and what lies there can give him more power than anything. De Toille knows he is always the smartest man in the room, and has learned many language so he need not rely on translators. Despite this, he knows he isn't manipulative - he just knows best. He wants a world in which he brings Ifri and Theah together in a way that profits him extremely, even though he knows that it'd disenfranchise many vulnerable people. His obsession with the Blue Queen has led him to believe that marrying her would bring this future about. He is Strength 9, Influence 9. Farfan Veraci is Mar Veraci's younger sister, and she is very, very jealous. She was raised in Vodacce, brought to Ifri by her sister, and she was shocked to find how her sister's ambitions have succeeded. She will never admit her rank is simply a result of her sister's efforts, and is quick to list her own talents. The only one who can get away with talking of her faults is Mar, who hopes her sister will mature past her selfishness and petty self-righteousness, learning to love a land where she can be truly free. Farfan, however, wants to control all she can see, burning with envy and greed. She wants what her sister has, yet still looks up to Mar and wants to impress her. While Farfan is not the best sailor, she is an exceptionally skilled mathemtician, and also an excellent accountant, merchant and navigator. She is Strength 4, Influence 5. Next time: Aksum
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Jul 9, 2018 00:41
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