Inspiration for Weyrth nations & culture

[jeffd]

Hey all,

sorry if this topic has been brought up before - I tried a search but frankly I'm piss poor for search engines, so if there are existing threads on the subject just link me to them and I'll be satisfied.

Anyway, I've been preparing to run a Riddle of Steel game when my current game wraps up early next year.  One thing I want to be able to do is relate the nationalities and cultures of Weyrth back to our own world as best I can.  

Here's a list I've come up with as best I can - I realize that these are the obvious ones and that it seems many nations have multiple "earth" equivalents:

Angharad and Picti:  Celtic type nations
Ahr:  Egyptians, perhaps?  
Cyrinthmeir:  I thought England at first, but I'm leaning toward France
Farrenshire:  This seems to fit better for England
Gelure:  This nation doesn't seem to have a real world equivalent... are they intended to be the only clear "bad guys" in Weyrth?  
Helena:  Greece?
Krym-Khanan:  Seems to be a version of Mongolia, ruled by horse-mounted hordes...
Otmarluk:  Araby
Oustenreich:  Germany?
Sarmatov & etc:  eastern European
Savaxan:  Scandinavia
Stahl:  These guys seem pretty Germanic as well
Tengoku:  Asian (did the writeup for Shiragi get lost in the shuffle or something?).  Tengoku I'm guessing is more meant to be Japanese, with Shiragi being more Chinese?
Zaporozhya:  Russia
Zhibara:  Siberia

Anyone have any further insight for me?

JD

[MonkeyWrench]

I believe you are looking for this

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=2924

There also might be some more threads on it in the Weyrth/Geography section of the Forum Directory sticky.

Hope this helps.

[StahlMeister]

Hey all,

sorry if this topic has been brought up before - I tried a search but frankly I'm piss poor for search engines, so if there are existing threads on the subject just link me to them and I'll be satisfied.

Anyway, I've been preparing to run a Riddle of Steel game when my current game wraps up early next year.  One thing I want to be able to do is relate the nationalities and cultures of Weyrth back to our own world as best I can.  

Here's a list I've come up with as best I can - I realize that these are the obvious ones and that it seems many nations have multiple "earth" equivalents:

Angharad and Picti:  Celtic type nations

Yes!

Ahr:  Egyptians, perhaps?  

Not really, I think more the Tar-Something (don't have the TROS book at work) cause of the animal headed gods.

Cyrinthmeir:  I thought England at first, but I'm leaning toward France

I don't think so, maybe England Hinbernia. Why does every nation has to have an equvalent?

Farrenshire:  This seems to fit better for England

Yes.

Gelure:  This nation doesn't seem to have a real world equivalent... are they intended to be the only clear "bad guys" in Weyrth?  

Ahh! For me it's clearly France! With a Drow black magic sorcerer as an napoleon like militaristic king, in my campain setting.

Helena:  Greece?

Yes.

Krym-Khanan:  Seems to be a version of Mongolia, ruled by horse-mounted hordes...

Exactly what I think.

Otmarluk:  Araby

Yes!

Oustenreich:  Germany?

It's a mixture between Schweiz, Österreich, Burgundy or something like that.

Sarmatov & etc:  eastern European

Yes Russia or slavic States.

Savaxan:  Scandinavia

A part of Scandinavia, maby more Island

Stahl:  These guys seem pretty Germanic as well

Well, I think so, too. But I hope that puts me not into a false light.

Tengoku:  Asian (did the writeup for Shiragi get lost in the shuffle or something?).  Tengoku I'm guessing is more meant to be Japanese, with Shiragi being more Chinese?

Tengoko definitely Japan.

Zaporozhya:  Russia

Could be!

Zhibara:  Siberia

Hmm?

Anyone have any further insight for me?

Xanarian Empire seems like Roman Empire. In my campain world I gave them the Greco Roman Pantheon.

Taveruun seems the sister state to me. That means same culture.

I'm just designing a different world for TROS with a great portion from the original TROS-world. I will post when I'm finished.

Greetings from Germany.. ähhh I mean Stahl!

JD[/quote]

[Lance D. Allen]

I've always played Farrenshire as France, myself. It seems like Launcelot's France to me, with it being the heart of chivalry.

YMMV.

[Thanaeon]

Hey all,
Angharad and Picti:  Celtic type nations
Ahr:  Egyptians, perhaps?  
Cyrinthmeir:  I thought England at first, but I'm leaning toward France
Farrenshire:  This seems to fit better for England
Gelure:  This nation doesn't seem to have a real world equivalent... are they intended to be the only clear "bad guys" in Weyrth?  
Helena:  Greece?
Krym-Khanan:  Seems to be a version of Mongolia, ruled by horse-mounted hordes...
Otmarluk:  Araby
Oustenreich:  Germany?
Sarmatov & etc:  eastern European
Savaxan:  Scandinavia
Stahl:  These guys seem pretty Germanic as well
Tengoku:  Asian (did the writeup for Shiragi get lost in the shuffle or something?).  Tengoku I'm guessing is more meant to be Japanese, with Shiragi being more Chinese?
Zaporozhya:  Russia
Zhibara:  Siberia
JD

Well, my take on them...

Angharad and Picti:  Angharad an older England, Arthurian is style. And Picti, well, duh...

Ahr: Egypt, yes.
Farrenshire:  More modern England.
Gelure:  No real equivalent, but I wanted to comment on the "bad guy" aspect... Namely, that yes, I think they'll be the bad guys in many people's games. But did you note how the book said that the country has a fairly good economy and standard of living? Just a thought...

Helena:  Greece.
Krym-Khanan:  Mongolia, of course.
Otmarluk:  Can anyone think it's anything other than the Ottoman Empire?
Savaxan:  Vikings, specifically.
Stahl:  Germany, or Switzerland.
Tengoku:  Japan, all the way.

Seriously, I think the game did a good job in making the countries very recognisable but still with usually a twist or two in the mix. However, pretty much every country is instantly recognisable, many simply from their name... Otarmarluk, Helena, Stahl, Picti, even Zaporozhya just scream out their origin in their names.

[Mike Holmes]

It's cool, I guess for people to put in their impressions. But that other thread linked above has Jake's notes for what his inspirations were. Which I think is the key to understanding these.

For example, in explaining the location and time frame for Zaporozhya, Jake clearly indicates that his influence here is the Cossaks (which I can verify because he's said so to me personally).

Mike

[toli]

France

I don't think so, maybe England Hinbernia. Why does every nation has to have an equvalent?

Farrenshire:  This seems to fit better for England

Yes.
[/quote]

I think you could place Gelure as a sort of 16th C Spain as well.  An empire on the up and up.  THe whole every freeman is a warrior has a reconquista sort of take to it.

NT

[Valamir]

Zaporozhya, Jake clearly indicates that his influence here is the Cossaks (which I can verify because he's said so to me personally).

And even more specifically the Zaporosian Cossaks (which are what most people think of as being Cossaks).  

Russia is only correct in so far that Moscovy conquered the region where the Cossaks were from (primarily the Ukraine)

[Stephen]

I always thought of Gelure as France, with Uglub as a Napoleon-figure.  (Note that the adjectival form for Gelure is Geluroise, which I always pronounced as zhel-oor-WAAHZ....)

Farrenshire is much more England.  Heck, "-shire" is a classically English place-suffix.  And Gelure has taken over it and conquered, so Uglub has William-the-Conqueror overtones as well....