Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 unundindur Jul 15, 2008 1:35:22	Hello. Ambigious as I am, I found that the real world would fit nicely as sort of a basis for my world of Eiir. I have now created new countries to "fantasise" the real one, and then there is one big issue: What makes country X special? In this I ask you for help. Do you know some interesting legends, traits etc of countries in the world, I am very grateful. I will try to look for all countries golden age, and mash it up and see what comes up. So far, i have a good grip on western europe and asia, but need help with eastern europe and africa in particular. I hope this cna prove interresting.
#2 erleni Jul 15, 2008 3:10:59	Hello, Not that I know much about Africa but my mother was born in northern Ethiopia, where the Kingdom of Aksum was located. Legends relate it to the Queen of Sheba and to the Ark of the Covenant. You can find some interesting info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aksumite_Empire
#3 unundindur Jul 15, 2008 3:20:42	Funny though, I have actually studied a bit in Ethiopia so that is the only african country I do know :P Thanks anyway, help is always appreciated, and I will try to put in the whole shebang with the mines of Salomon etc.
#4 erleni Jul 15, 2008 3:39:18	It's a little world... Following the "gold route" you can look at the Ashanti people. The history of the Golden Stool can be a good start for creating an artifact.
#5 4venger Jul 15, 2008 7:29:26	It's a little world... Following the "gold route" you can look at the Ashanti people. The history of the Golden Stool can be a good start for creating an artifact. Because a Golden Stool sample is always desireable :D
#6 drbeard Jul 15, 2008 9:07:41	Check out 'midevil Africa' or 'historic Africa' on Wikipedia, man. It takes a little surfing, but you can find a ton of information on the West African kingdoms, their cultures, and how they interacted. You've got a martial empire famous for its band of elite knights, a psuedo-republic of farmers and tribes tired of being attacked, a pirate nation that made itself rich selling captives and war prisoners to the Europeans...there's even heraldry! If you're going for an African feel to your adventures, good themes usually focus on memory; the idea of being remembered by your family or people was something many African cultures strove for, seeing it as a form of immortality to have their names continued to be honored by the generations after them. Heck, there's a dozen solid ghost stories in that concept alone. Also of interest might be some of the information on the Voudoun-or voodoo-spirituality and traditions, as voodoo is a mixture of West African and Christian spiritualism created so that the transplanted Africans could retain their culture even in their oppressive condition in the Americas. Besides being interesting in and of itself, it can help an outside reader in understanding West African religious traditions, which often varied in subtle but significant ways from region to region in a manner that made trying to just digest the material raw difficult for someone new to the subject. It helps you get at the heart of the matter, in other words, and to see the similarities between the various types of spirituality instead of the differences.
#7 sarutobi02 Jul 15, 2008 9:12:58	hi There are so many countries, no many eras that it becomes kind of difficult to answer in one short post. You can find a lot of inspiration in fantasy novels. I'm thinking books by Tad Williams, Guy Gavriel Kay or George RR Martin. Obviously, their books are mostly medieval Europe. I'm a history buff and I would like to discuss such a question with you but doing so on a forum would be lengthy and difficult. Oh, and the idea of a golden age is kind of difficult because of the various technology levels. England's was during the 19th century, while Egypt's was in 2000 BC. You Constantinopolis that stayed very powerful until the 15th century, which confirmed the long-time rising power of the Ottoman. Or you have the golden age of the Hittites, 400 BC. Asian countries with a long history have had several golden ages. Iran had several golden ages too, with the persian and the saffavides (ok, they were more Iraq, but still) See my point? Even with golden ages at the same period of time, it's difficult. The incas had their golden age with slings, arrows and spears at the same time as Spain was moving out to sea to conquer the world in its own golden age.
#8 natanax Jul 15, 2008 12:42:22	Alright well... Egypt - Cult of the Dead, Monolithic Structures, God-Kings, Necromancy. India - Deeply Ancient Culture, Elephant Cavalry, Many Gods, Caste Oriented Society. China - Massive Cosmopolitan/Culturally Advance Empire, Alchemy, Ghosts, Immortality, Bueracracy. Russia - Highly Religious, Deep Moralistic Mythology, Tyranical/Barbaric Rulers based on Mongols (Golden Horde etc.) or later Imperialistic and Driven. Byzantium (Turkey)- Old, Rotting remnants of a once great empire, Religious Oppression.
#9 martel732 Jul 15, 2008 14:29:44	For Eastern Europe I would look at the Principality of Moscow or the Novgorod Republic, and Alexander's Empire was technically based in southeastern Europe. For Africa I would look into the Mali Empire. Middle-East: Sassinid Empire, Salah ad-Din's (Saladin) Empire, Ottoman Turks. I know you said your already had Western Europe and Asia but I guess I will mention: Western Europe: Rome, Frankish Empire, British Empire. Asia: Han China or Three Kingdoms (my favorite), Mongolian Empire, Edo Period Japan. I'm kinda in rush so I didn't have time to go in depth, I will try to type up some more later if any of those interest you.
#10 junta0 Jul 16, 2008 11:26:10	Here's a real life lore that was passed down to me from my father. One day my great great great grand father was outside in the mountains looking for his lost dog. While traveling through the forest he saw some ghost kids playing in the mountains. One of the ghost kids fell off a cliff and broken his arm. The other ghost kids came down and said some magic words and healed the broken arm. My great great great grand father left the area because he didn't want to disturb the spirits. Along the way he heard some whimpering. It was his dog, and she was injured. He remembered the magic words, and repeated the ritual. He was able to heal his dog. So those magic words have been passed down for a few generations. It's a family secret so I can't tell you the words ;) Apparently my dad used it on my grandma when she broke her arm in a car accident. While he wasn't able to fix the bone, he was able to numb the pain with the magic words (and maybe made it heal faster). Maybe we aren't pronouncing it right anymore. Anyway, my Cambodian family has a bunch of superstitious stuff. Like my cousin has sanskit tattooed on the back of his neck. He claims that it makes him bullet proof.
#11 seyon Dec 24, 2008 21:01:45	Im Egyptian and Eritrean. Pirates!
#12 Neutronium_Dragon Dec 25, 2008 0:45:52	For someone else's fantasy take on Africa that you might use as inspiration, see if you can track down a copy of the computer adventure game, "Quest for Glory 3: The Wages of War," by Sierra. Though it was released around 1990 and therefore may be hard to get your hands on, it was set in a fantasy-ized version of ancient Africa, including mythological elements of the same.
#13 Vatras Dec 25, 2008 13:11:20	In case you also want to use fantastic legends, remember that the tales of Conan (the 13 original ones by Howard) are set in europe, asia and africa, after the fall of Atlantis.
#14 Rhineglade_ Dec 26, 2008 13:44:31	Sometimes it really does help to get yourself a sheet of paper and a pencil and just start jotting down a list. You'd be amazed at how doing something so simple can then lead to endless ideas. Let's start with some of the major real world cultures and look at some of the folklore and myths that are special to that culture (of course this list is not to be all-encompassing but rather a starting point): Chinese- pantheon of gods that reflect the social hierarchy of the Emperor with a VAST celestrial bureaucracy; role of "Chi" or "Qi", Fung Shei or geomancy, belief in "good luck" and "good fortune"; Forbidden City; dragons who control weather, storms and seas Indian- the huge and adaptable stories of the Hindu faith; the idea of reincarnation and divine avatars; the battles between the gods and the demons; monsters such as the rakasha; "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom"; monkey people; the adaption of the ancient Vedic gods into the myths of today; Karma; life energy African- various myths localized around basic ethnic populations; use of animal totems and spirits; culture close to nature and the power of the land and environment; danger of abusing environment (grasslands deforested to become the Sahara desert); "King Solomon's Mines," "DC Comics Gorilla City" Egyptian- life centered around the enormous importance of the Nile bringing life to the land and the people; strong belief in the afterlife; concepts such as Maat and keeping a balance in life; mummies, undead, pyramids, scorpians; hiroglyphics Middle East- value of the city-state and civilzation; Tiamat as the embodiment of "chaos"; religious differences between various faiths, Arabic cultures; genies and demons European- Celtic centered ideas; fairy faiths; goblins, etc; King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table; Charlemagne; barbarian tribes; feudalism; Holy Roman Empire; role of the Church; religious schisms Ancient Greek- "human-like" gods with feelings and emotions and human appearances; use of myths and stories to explain the "unexplainable"; legendary mosters like Medusa, Pegasus, Minotaur, Centaur, Titans, Chimera, Cyclops, "Clash of the Titans" "The Odyssey" Eastern European- fear of the natural world; evil spirits, dark forests, vampires, bats and wolves, Baba Yaga; spirits of ice and snow; threats from the nomadic horse warriors to the East; Khans, bulgars, etc Scandanavian/Viking- heroic sagas and myths with an imporance on battle and bravery and dying with a sword; TWO races of the divine; concept of the Nine Worlds (Asgard, Midgard, Nilfheim, Jotunheim, Alfheim, Svartalfheim, Vanaheim, etc); distrust in magic; warrior-gods; Ragnorak; threats of the giants and trolls; sea raiders Native American- close affinity to nature; all things have a spirit; animal and nature totems; simplicity of life; nomadic existance Central American- treatening deities and the spilling of blood to appease them; step pyramids; warfare between city states; use of obsidian weapons as well as decorations of colorful bird feathers and animal skins; pictograph writing Inuit/Eskimo- influence of the colder climates on culture and beliefs; closeness to the land; value of the sea for survival