Era 1: The Tribal Era
Map:
(Darker areas are the most settled lands. Colours will appear on the map when centralised states emerge.)
Not much is known about the time from the end of the Ice-Age to the dawn of civilization. The biggest change was the appearance of a settled, farming lifestyle, which began to take hold in some key areas. This seems strange, considering that hunter-gathering was an easier and healthier way of life. But farming allowed more people to gather in smaller territories, and under the control of a hierarchical society, their combined strength could be harnessed for building monuments, or waging war...
So, there came to be four cradles of civilization, dependent on farming. In Central America, the Talikanan culture led the way. Early Talikanan peoples left behind mysterious stone monuments from this time. The Talikanan sometimes fought with the Oltaxl tribes of the Yucatan coast. Although far less 'civilized', the Oltaxl were already keen seafares, and are believed to have had contacts with the Carribean islands and beyond.
The fertile crescent of the middle-east was home to the Ummites and Pargians. The Pargians are believed to have invaded the upper Nile from somewhere in near Asia, and soon displaced or assimilated local cultures. The Pargians embraced farming, but they were also a warlike culture. With a need for greater manpower and organisation to wage their wars, their chiefdoms were slowly coming together to form larger and larger territories. By contrast, the Ummites were far less aggressive. Like the Agrians, they focused on farming and building towns, but unlike the Agrians they were spared any serious invasions from outsiders. It is believed the Ummite script was being invented at this time, probably as a means of keeping track of the tribute that the peasants had to their rulers.
In the Indus valley, the Agrian culture prospered for a time, and would have perhaps become the most sophisticated, if not for the invasions of the Kramtoban tribes. The Agrians had a larger population, thanks to the early appearance of farming in the lower Indus, but could not defeat a culture that was solely dedicated to war. After centuries of raiding and killing, some of the Kramtob tribes came to rule over the Agrian lands themselves, starting a mixed-culture dynasty. Kramtobans now held power over all of the Indus valley, but centuries of fighting had taken a toll on their own population, which never matched that of the southern Agrians.
In East Asia, the Yueren culture had the most sophisticated of the early scripts. Unlike the Ummite script, it had nothing to do with farming, which was not yet embraced as much as it was in the west. Instead, the script was believed to have been born from the need to keep track of time and plan religious festivals on certain days. Later, the symbols developed more complex mystical meanings. The Yueren had deep religious beliefs which influenced many surrounding tribes, far beyond the Yueren's own borders. The Yueren were later threatened by the nomadic Hsin-Yuan tribes who had migrated from the north-east. Further south, the Tianshi tribes were another strong presence. The Tianshi were just as warlike as they were mystical, their culture spread both by passive influence and by force.
Across the rest of the world, countless other tribes and cultures roamed. Sometimes they made use of farming, but never came to rely upon it. They remained strong and waited for their chance to make history...
Its now around 4000 BC.
Achievements:
The Yueren can claim the first and most sophisticated script, though it is not a true written language yet.
The Pargians can claim the best organised, most centralised style of leadership at this time, though again it has not yet led to a true centralised kingdom.
In Europe, the 'barbaric' Bohemian tribes had a strange fascination with certain stones. They may have been the first to make use of copper, although this metal had little use compared to the Bronze and Iron which would come later.
The boats of the Arlitans enabled them to spread their influence across the Agean and to parts of the Eastern Mediterranean, where their designs were eventually copied by the more 'civilized' peoples, especially the Smaran islanders, with the end result of encouraging much more coastal trade.
Cultures and Factions:
Washagon tribes: Bestshot9
Pargian chiefdoms: Neverwonagame3
Agrian farming peoples: Luckymoose
Yueren tribes: kkmo
Kramtob tribes: Ninja Dude
Kramto-Agrian nobles: Ninja Dude
Oltaxl tribes: BananaLee
Tianshi tribes: LightFang
Bohemian tribes: honzas_cz
Smarans: flyingchicken
Arlitans: Fuschia
Xanto: Nick014
Hsin Yuan: Charles Li
The rest: NPC.
It can be assumed that there are tribes all over the place. They will get names on the map as and when they become relevant.
Notes:
@Luckymoose, the Agrian people have no options for military or political stuff at this time, apart from trying to overthrow their masters.
@Ninja Dude, likewise Kramto-Agrian nobles have no options for cultural/technological stuff. But the northern Kramtob tribes are separate and you can give instructions for them also.
@Charles Li, horseback riding may be a long time way, we don't even have chariots yet
@All, yes some cultures didn't get any mention, and future eras may have even less detail. This isn't working out how I imagined (not anyone else's fault) but I will continue for now if there is still any interest.
Next Era:
Era 2 will be the Birth of Civilization. It will be possible for settled peoples to gather into cities and city-states. Some cultures may remain as strong nomadic tribes and make long migrations. Other cultures could be somewhere in-between. The domestication of horses may spread from the western steppe to the middle east and beyond, while copper and bronze-working could be discovered in any of the cradles of the Old World. Of course, there could also be written language, laws, and great monuments.
Please feel free to give any kind of input you want. Names of great cities and leaders could also be useful! I will accept PM's if need be, otherwise you can just post in the thread. It would be helpful if you could take a second to
boldify the name of your tribe/chiefdom/people, so I know what you are talking about, and can easily find that post again...
Example: said:
Takalikan: in this era, will concentrate on stone carving, building great stone monuments, and a more organised system of monarchy, leading to the great kingdom of Kalikan
New Cultures:
These are still accepted (for new people only). It is possible to start in any of the light-grey areas of the map as a nomadic tribe, or the middle-grey as a more settled culture. The darkest grey is land that is occupied by another settled culture, but has no centralised states yet. Alternatively, any NPC's can be taken over.
*Template*
Culture name:
Staring point:
Description: (a few words would do)
Priorities:
I intend to post Era #2 tomorrow, around the time I posted this post today.
And I forgot to say thanks for all the contributions to this so far. So, thanks
And cultures are quite nicely spread across the world, too.
