Angst, I think TMG already claimed that area in the NES development thread.
Jehoshua, those are all very cogent and intelligent ideas and for my part, I like them.
Some convoluted thoughts on Thlayli's epic
I am completely behind Thlayli on what he is doing, thematically and stylistically and all that, with the dragon kings and slaves and human v. elf with orcs sometimes involved great myth, but I would like to think it is understood that these conflicts and the "empire" involved in them are largely myths attributed to the reigns of great kings or leaders whose accomplishments cannot be adequately verified historically. Essentially, that these events have a mythic and religious significance that is more concretely established than any political or archaeological one. The capital of the empire being sunk underneath a sea works well for this. So far I'm fairly satisfied that this "works" with the idea that, for all intents and purposes, the NES begins pretty close to the very beginning of recorded history. I like to think of Thlayli's background as being equivalent more to a Gilgamesh or King Arthur epic than an accurate, verifiable account of historical events.
What is more concerning is the attribution of fixed geopolitical borders to the empire which feel out of place with the general setting of "the beginning of recorded history." I definitely do not want every culture on the southern continent having some variant of Thlayli's founding myth. Perhaps relation to, or knowledge of, but if there's going to be a great, culture and politics-defining hegemony it should definitely exist within the scope of the NES, not prior to it.
I don't know. It is very well written and is at its core good material, but there are some aspects to it that feel awkward given the setting. Does this make any sense? So far I have no complaints that are serious or concrete enough to warrant any kind of restructuring.
Dear sir, while I am no great scholar of history, I have taken
great pains on multiple occasions to assert that by no means is my lore an objective account. Furthermore, I have not expressed defined geopolitical boundaries, as much as a sphere of influence, belonging to the Empire, which used client kings and other such relationships, a veritable patchwork of smaller human (and later, orcish) kingdoms. And I've asked players to reference my backstory, not copy it. You're expressing alarm in response to things I've already said I don't want.
Please cease your expressions of alarm, for even if my account were an objective and true account of events (which I have explicitly presented it as not necessarily being,) there is absolutely no way of verifying it as such. We're actually in complete agreement on all the major points you've made.
Furthermore, for someone who wants a Tolkienesque NES, you're really seeming to shy away from the grand, sweeping, epic nature of early Arda's history. You have to remember that although this is a NES that aims to recreate realistic geopolitical structures, it's also a NES with elves and orcs and magic, and as such we can stretch the boundaries of the plausible slightly. Or, at least, to create a *new* plausibility that makes sense within the confines of the world.
And further furthermore, the rise, and fall, of the Empire, is honestly an event which I can *only* carry out in the Update 0/Update 1 of the NES, as its accomplishments were so grandiose and obviously magical as to not be replicated in a later era of history.
As to your vague feeling of awkward elements unique to my backstory, tell me what exactly these are and I'll do my best to address them.
One of the ways to make a game interesting (as I always like to do) is to set up great ideological and political conflicts, reasons to hate and sacrifice and reach out from one's own little world. To truly connect players with common goals, even if players are diametrically opposed and trying to accomplish them at the expense of one another. Even if this steps on some people's toes, I think it's better to have people forced out of their own little comfort zones and into a world where great legacies have already been made, lost, and call out to be *re*made, on the backs of the other players if necessary.
That is the philosophy I've always tried to apply in helping EoE to be as good as it can be, and that's what I want to offer here.