Gilda
2016-05-15, 06:32 PM
Hi everyone, I'm Gilda. One of my players, LeightheDwarf, created an account here, so I have too. :)
I thought I'd introduce the campaign I run. It's set in the early days of Greek mythology, when Cadmus came from Asia to found Thebes and the acropolis of Athens was a castle ruled by snake-men (eg the Cecropidae, Erichthonius). I'm using primary sources (Homer, Diodorus Siculus) for chronology and the fantasy elements and modern, archaeology-based sources to fill in the details. For example, King Egyptus from Greek mythology (brother of the culture hero Danaus) is Ahmose who reunified Egypt, which makes this about 65 years after the Hittites sacked Babylon.
It's a sandbox campaign and I'm treating the plains of Mesopotamia, the majority of the Levant, Egypt and Crete as civilized hexes. Greece itself, where the PCs have been active, has more of a Wild West feel with supernatural elements (so think Conan). Here's a big picture overview of places that PCs can access from the Mediterranean coast:
Peoples of the Great Green Sea
Kemetic
The land of the Nile, from the first cataract to the sea, is believed by its people to be the oldest civilization. They point to 1500-year-old tombs housing the mummies of kings who ruled a unified kingdom, while to this day there are places near the Great Green's coast where barbaric villages coexist with monsters. They are a pious people and their king is high priest of all their gods save Horus, whose avatar he is seen as. Long a peaceful people who relied on border fortresses for security, they have become more militant in the decades that King Kamose and his successor Ahmose have warred to expel the foreign rulers from the delta.
Libu
The people of the western desert are generally nomadic shepherds, moving in family groups where every adult male is a bowman. Living in harsh conditions, these bands have raided Kemet's western border from time immemorial, and are seen in Kemet as minions of the evil god Seth. In actuality, their shamans worship supernatural beings unknown to civilization. The fishing villages of the desert coast are peopled by the same group, but are sometimes less warlike.
Libu are fair-skinned, and both men and women wear cloaks of dyed wool or hide with only a male groin guard underneath. Hair is kept long and confined by a leather band, in which feathers are worn as status symbols.
Lotus Eaters
Crossing the desert coast, you eventually reach the port of the Lotus Eaters. This is the edge of a fertile district where the lotuses used in magic grow abundantly. This tribe is dependent on the lotus trade for all their luxuries, yet many have become addicted and only use lotuses themselves rather than trading. They have no warrior class and are only known to fight for jealousy of the lotuses.
Kananite
Kanana, from which the foreign rulers invaded the Nile delta, stretches northeast from the border of Kemet. The Semitic natives are organized into city-states that dot the coast, each supported by a fishing industry and section of rich agricultural plain that transitions to more arid inland hills. Semitic shepherds, called Amurru or Murtu, annually bring wool and animal sacrifices from the hill country to urban temples. Their clerics mediate between farmers and shepherds and between people in general and the gods. Several Kananite cults have spread to Avaris and the Nile delta with the foreign rulers, with their usual human sacrifice repressed. The clergy facilitate stability and trade even when kings are killed by adventurers.
The greatest city-state in Kanana is Gubal, which maintains a fleet and has traded with Kemet for 1500 years.
Men wear striped kilts with or without a short one-shoulder tunic, or only a long tunic, and are always bearded. Women wear the long tunic, or short with a tiered skirt.
Amurru Coast
Kanana's northern border can be defined as the kilometer-high mountain Labu in the hill country, whose springs are the source of the north-flowing river Arantu. The river is unnavigable, and north-south traffic goes on foot through the fertile valley. Fords serve as strategic routes between the coast and civilizations of the east, and city-states have grown up around them. Most Amurru settlements are controlled by the coastal city of Ugarit. Ugarit has been a maritime power for 400 years and its royal dynasty boasts of being the first civilized Amurru, a claim disputed in Assur far to the east.
Kizzuwatnan
North of Amurru, the coastline forms a cape and turns sharply west. The well-watered coastal plain extends deep inland, mixed with rolling hills before giving way to mountains. What land isn't farmed serves as pasture for the country's many horses. Generations ago, Kizzuwatna was conquered by the inland kingdom of Nesa. Nesa's control collapsed 40 years ago, and the aging first king of independent Kizzuwatna is anxious to secure a dynasty.
Luwi & Luka
Beyond Kizzuwatna, as far as the coast runs east-west, is a narrow fertile district separated from the interior by a mountain range. The people, called variously Luwi or Luka, live in tribal villages that eke out an existence among chimerae and other monsters. Sometimes a hero will slay a monster menacing many villages and weld them into a chiefdom. These tribes say they emigrated over many generations from the interior, where other Luwi and the kindred Nesalu have cities.
Men wear short sleeved tunics with separate kilts, women full length wrap skirts. Wool mantles are worn as needed, and unlike other peoples, their footwear consists of boots with upturned toes.
Alash
Alashiya is a large island south of Luwi land with a finger-shaped peninsula pointing northeast. Most of its towns are either ports or copper mines.
Both sexes wear only a loincloth and jewelry, with heavy travelling sandals if needed. Wives and daughters of the elite wear bracelets and anklets all the way up to their elbows and knees. All the ports share the goddess of love as their patron. At her annual festival, couples from inland come to renew their vows and exchange tools and jewelry made from copper mined during the year for trade goods.
Keftiu
Keftiu, called Kaptara in Semitic languages, is a long narrow island controlled by three cities, Gnossos, Faistos and Mallia. Each city-state is administered from a labyrinthine palace whose prince is as much merchant prince as governor and the princess is high priestess of a chthonic goddess cult. The three princes's ship captains are the most respected traders on the Great Green, but the mysteries celebrated in the palaces are rumored to involve human sacrifice.
Men wear a tightly-belted loincloth and sandals and keep their curly hair long. Women dress their hair like men and wear an open-breasted, tight-waisted bodice with either a long wrap skirt for the lower orders or a structured hoop skirt for the elite.
Assuwan
West of the Luka land and east of Keftiu, the coast turns north. This stretch of land, from the headwaters of its small rivers to the sea, is called Assuwa. South of the deep, unnavigable Mira River, cities are limited to the coast, with the interior part of Luka land. The coastal city of Apasa controls most of the Mira valley, while each of the more northerly rivers is divided between several states. All are peopled by a group called the Ludi. Near the north end of the sea, there are narrow straits leading to the unknown Black Sea. Both sides of the straits and their hinterlands are controlled by the city of Wilusa, a strategic site founded 150 years ago on the ruins of five more ancient cities to control the flow of exotic goods from the far north.
Bryges
Just north of the straits, the coast turns west before a peninsula juts south. The north shore is home to the Bryges, who are pastoralists with wagons and chariots.
Amphictyons
Part of the peninsula belongs to the followers of Amphictyon son of Deucalion and his nephews, the warlords Aeolos, Xuthos and Doros. Their people are red-haired pastoralists who travel with their families in wagons and fight in chariots, raiding cattle from natives and claiming native settlements by their spear arm. These form the two topics of their bards.
Pelasgi
Barbaric natives whose economic condition has been raised by centuries of trade with Keftiu. They have three cities, Tiryns in the south, Kekropia in the north, and Sikyon between and to the west, but their priests know not writing.
The northern Pelasgi, from Mount Parnassa down the Kiphissa valley and around Lake Kopais to the north Euboean gulf, are called Minyans and their chief town is Orchomenos north of Lake Kopais. The Pelasgi of the far southeast are called Lulahi and are closely related to a tribe of the same name in Assuwa.
Pelesgi are related to the Luka, and their appearance is a mix of Luka and Keftic styles.
Shekelesh
Near the island of Korkyra west of the mainland, there is a strait rendered impassable by the monster Otranto. West of the strait are two mountainous, forested peninsulas separated by a gulf. This land is populated by the Shekelesh, a warlike people divided into independent villages. They have few exports besides timber, and to acquire bronze tools, some young men go as far as serving as mercenaries abroad and coming home around 30 to marry and beat their swords into plowshares.
The people say that west beyond this peninsula is a wealthy island where the villages are dominated by magicians dwelling in stone towers.
Laestrygones
Separated from Shekelesh land by a narrow strait, rendered impassable by the monsters Scylla and Charybdis, is an island larger than Alashiya. Here dwell cyclopes and other monsters, and the human inhabitants are unusually tall. They are divided into many chiefdoms, each with a chief's town of 1-3 thousand and many tributary villages. The Laestrygones are known to eat strangers.
Beyond the western end of this island, southeasterly winds blow perpetually, which along with sea monsters drive travelers back to the Libu desert.
I thought I'd introduce the campaign I run. It's set in the early days of Greek mythology, when Cadmus came from Asia to found Thebes and the acropolis of Athens was a castle ruled by snake-men (eg the Cecropidae, Erichthonius). I'm using primary sources (Homer, Diodorus Siculus) for chronology and the fantasy elements and modern, archaeology-based sources to fill in the details. For example, King Egyptus from Greek mythology (brother of the culture hero Danaus) is Ahmose who reunified Egypt, which makes this about 65 years after the Hittites sacked Babylon.
It's a sandbox campaign and I'm treating the plains of Mesopotamia, the majority of the Levant, Egypt and Crete as civilized hexes. Greece itself, where the PCs have been active, has more of a Wild West feel with supernatural elements (so think Conan). Here's a big picture overview of places that PCs can access from the Mediterranean coast:
Peoples of the Great Green Sea
Kemetic
The land of the Nile, from the first cataract to the sea, is believed by its people to be the oldest civilization. They point to 1500-year-old tombs housing the mummies of kings who ruled a unified kingdom, while to this day there are places near the Great Green's coast where barbaric villages coexist with monsters. They are a pious people and their king is high priest of all their gods save Horus, whose avatar he is seen as. Long a peaceful people who relied on border fortresses for security, they have become more militant in the decades that King Kamose and his successor Ahmose have warred to expel the foreign rulers from the delta.
Libu
The people of the western desert are generally nomadic shepherds, moving in family groups where every adult male is a bowman. Living in harsh conditions, these bands have raided Kemet's western border from time immemorial, and are seen in Kemet as minions of the evil god Seth. In actuality, their shamans worship supernatural beings unknown to civilization. The fishing villages of the desert coast are peopled by the same group, but are sometimes less warlike.
Libu are fair-skinned, and both men and women wear cloaks of dyed wool or hide with only a male groin guard underneath. Hair is kept long and confined by a leather band, in which feathers are worn as status symbols.
Lotus Eaters
Crossing the desert coast, you eventually reach the port of the Lotus Eaters. This is the edge of a fertile district where the lotuses used in magic grow abundantly. This tribe is dependent on the lotus trade for all their luxuries, yet many have become addicted and only use lotuses themselves rather than trading. They have no warrior class and are only known to fight for jealousy of the lotuses.
Kananite
Kanana, from which the foreign rulers invaded the Nile delta, stretches northeast from the border of Kemet. The Semitic natives are organized into city-states that dot the coast, each supported by a fishing industry and section of rich agricultural plain that transitions to more arid inland hills. Semitic shepherds, called Amurru or Murtu, annually bring wool and animal sacrifices from the hill country to urban temples. Their clerics mediate between farmers and shepherds and between people in general and the gods. Several Kananite cults have spread to Avaris and the Nile delta with the foreign rulers, with their usual human sacrifice repressed. The clergy facilitate stability and trade even when kings are killed by adventurers.
The greatest city-state in Kanana is Gubal, which maintains a fleet and has traded with Kemet for 1500 years.
Men wear striped kilts with or without a short one-shoulder tunic, or only a long tunic, and are always bearded. Women wear the long tunic, or short with a tiered skirt.
Amurru Coast
Kanana's northern border can be defined as the kilometer-high mountain Labu in the hill country, whose springs are the source of the north-flowing river Arantu. The river is unnavigable, and north-south traffic goes on foot through the fertile valley. Fords serve as strategic routes between the coast and civilizations of the east, and city-states have grown up around them. Most Amurru settlements are controlled by the coastal city of Ugarit. Ugarit has been a maritime power for 400 years and its royal dynasty boasts of being the first civilized Amurru, a claim disputed in Assur far to the east.
Kizzuwatnan
North of Amurru, the coastline forms a cape and turns sharply west. The well-watered coastal plain extends deep inland, mixed with rolling hills before giving way to mountains. What land isn't farmed serves as pasture for the country's many horses. Generations ago, Kizzuwatna was conquered by the inland kingdom of Nesa. Nesa's control collapsed 40 years ago, and the aging first king of independent Kizzuwatna is anxious to secure a dynasty.
Luwi & Luka
Beyond Kizzuwatna, as far as the coast runs east-west, is a narrow fertile district separated from the interior by a mountain range. The people, called variously Luwi or Luka, live in tribal villages that eke out an existence among chimerae and other monsters. Sometimes a hero will slay a monster menacing many villages and weld them into a chiefdom. These tribes say they emigrated over many generations from the interior, where other Luwi and the kindred Nesalu have cities.
Men wear short sleeved tunics with separate kilts, women full length wrap skirts. Wool mantles are worn as needed, and unlike other peoples, their footwear consists of boots with upturned toes.
Alash
Alashiya is a large island south of Luwi land with a finger-shaped peninsula pointing northeast. Most of its towns are either ports or copper mines.
Both sexes wear only a loincloth and jewelry, with heavy travelling sandals if needed. Wives and daughters of the elite wear bracelets and anklets all the way up to their elbows and knees. All the ports share the goddess of love as their patron. At her annual festival, couples from inland come to renew their vows and exchange tools and jewelry made from copper mined during the year for trade goods.
Keftiu
Keftiu, called Kaptara in Semitic languages, is a long narrow island controlled by three cities, Gnossos, Faistos and Mallia. Each city-state is administered from a labyrinthine palace whose prince is as much merchant prince as governor and the princess is high priestess of a chthonic goddess cult. The three princes's ship captains are the most respected traders on the Great Green, but the mysteries celebrated in the palaces are rumored to involve human sacrifice.
Men wear a tightly-belted loincloth and sandals and keep their curly hair long. Women dress their hair like men and wear an open-breasted, tight-waisted bodice with either a long wrap skirt for the lower orders or a structured hoop skirt for the elite.
Assuwan
West of the Luka land and east of Keftiu, the coast turns north. This stretch of land, from the headwaters of its small rivers to the sea, is called Assuwa. South of the deep, unnavigable Mira River, cities are limited to the coast, with the interior part of Luka land. The coastal city of Apasa controls most of the Mira valley, while each of the more northerly rivers is divided between several states. All are peopled by a group called the Ludi. Near the north end of the sea, there are narrow straits leading to the unknown Black Sea. Both sides of the straits and their hinterlands are controlled by the city of Wilusa, a strategic site founded 150 years ago on the ruins of five more ancient cities to control the flow of exotic goods from the far north.
Bryges
Just north of the straits, the coast turns west before a peninsula juts south. The north shore is home to the Bryges, who are pastoralists with wagons and chariots.
Amphictyons
Part of the peninsula belongs to the followers of Amphictyon son of Deucalion and his nephews, the warlords Aeolos, Xuthos and Doros. Their people are red-haired pastoralists who travel with their families in wagons and fight in chariots, raiding cattle from natives and claiming native settlements by their spear arm. These form the two topics of their bards.
Pelasgi
Barbaric natives whose economic condition has been raised by centuries of trade with Keftiu. They have three cities, Tiryns in the south, Kekropia in the north, and Sikyon between and to the west, but their priests know not writing.
The northern Pelasgi, from Mount Parnassa down the Kiphissa valley and around Lake Kopais to the north Euboean gulf, are called Minyans and their chief town is Orchomenos north of Lake Kopais. The Pelasgi of the far southeast are called Lulahi and are closely related to a tribe of the same name in Assuwa.
Pelesgi are related to the Luka, and their appearance is a mix of Luka and Keftic styles.
Shekelesh
Near the island of Korkyra west of the mainland, there is a strait rendered impassable by the monster Otranto. West of the strait are two mountainous, forested peninsulas separated by a gulf. This land is populated by the Shekelesh, a warlike people divided into independent villages. They have few exports besides timber, and to acquire bronze tools, some young men go as far as serving as mercenaries abroad and coming home around 30 to marry and beat their swords into plowshares.
The people say that west beyond this peninsula is a wealthy island where the villages are dominated by magicians dwelling in stone towers.
Laestrygones
Separated from Shekelesh land by a narrow strait, rendered impassable by the monsters Scylla and Charybdis, is an island larger than Alashiya. Here dwell cyclopes and other monsters, and the human inhabitants are unusually tall. They are divided into many chiefdoms, each with a chief's town of 1-3 thousand and many tributary villages. The Laestrygones are known to eat strangers.
Beyond the western end of this island, southeasterly winds blow perpetually, which along with sea monsters drive travelers back to the Libu desert.