SLNES: Fantasy Fresh Start Sign-Ups

It is the dawn of humanity. Scattered tribes are coming together, creating ordered societies and working together for the betterment of their land. Meanwhile, other tribes are further isolated, becoming nomadic and barbaric. You are one of the civilized, sedentary groups, a combination of tribes that has lived together mostly peacefully for a long time. The story behind the beginning of your realm is largely up to you. Welcome to the world - the world which is known by different peoples as different things.

Humanity is a relatively new presence in this world. Creatures of all shapes and sizes exist here. Spirits walk the forests and even the dead walk again in some corners of this Europe-sized land. Ferocious, murderous goblins roam the countryside, attacking defenseless tribes or being pushed back by the strong. Wood spirits haunt the dreams of those who step within dark, dense forests. Dog-men attempt to steal livestock from farmers. Giant eagles can be seen flying over cliffsides. Generally speaking, most fantasy creatures in standard fantasy lore exist in this world. However, the only sentient (and playable) race capable of creating lasting civilization is humanity.

Perhaps the most notable feature of this world is the presence of what is called "magick". This presence is called different things by different civilizations. It is a mysterious force that causes strange things to occur throughout all lands. It is controllable, but only with great concentration and perseverance. No single man or woman can control this force at will, with the exception of extremely rare beings who are usually branded as sorcerers or witches and outcast from society - or revered as prophets and the children of gods - or perhaps considered freaks of nature. Different societies have learned to use and understand magick in different ways. One society might be religious fanatics who worship magick as a single god or many gods and goddesses. That collective energy is useful for the control of magick. Sermons, chanting, sacrificial rituals - all of these things may unlock the mysterious energy that permeates the world. Also useful in the attempts to control magick is the careful, academic understanding of this all-encompassing energy. With many being schooled on the workings of magick, just as they are schooled in mathematics and the sun and the moon, the collective concentration and minds of many can gather to harness this seemingly infinite power. Magick to the people of this world is just like the stars. It exists to them, and always has, since the beginning of time. Different civilizations understand it in different ways, all ways being equally valid. It is interpreting this understanding and using it that is difficult.

What does magick do, though? In most fantasy universes, magick is an exceptional power that can be clearly seen. For example, lightning bolts, massive fireballs, color sprays from the hands of wizards, and so on. This is not really the case in this NES. Magick can summon a meteor or a large fireball. Magick can plague farmlands. It can flood villages. It can raise the dead. However, all of these things could only be accomplished with a very advanced understanding of magick and thus the knowledge to control it and maintain that control. No civilization will begin with such understanding, and it will be near impossible to obtain such understanding. The majority of usable magick (at least at this point) in this world has to do with subtle events: the blessing of an army before it goes into battle; the mysterious death of an advisor to your neighbor's king (or the king himself); a massive thunderstorm prior to a battle that somehow only appears on your enemy's field; and so on. And to conjure these events or even attempt them means to engage in considerable risk. Great energy is required, and that energy must be found somewhere. It can come from the cut-out hearts of several sacrifices, or it can come from a machine made by an inventor. It can come from the collective chanting of a sanctuary of followers, or perhaps from the academic reciting of a spell. If an attempt at using magick fails, it can backfire. One thing is for sure: nothing is ever created or destroyed - only changed or displaced. Magick can also very rarely be used against a pinpointed, specific target. It is usually a broad stroke. There will be no heavily militarized magical battles in this NES. No lightning bolts being fired from legions of sorcerers or anything like that. Try to imagine broad uses for this power - maybe to conjure a curse on another realm so that someone important dies - or generally curse their farmlands - or bless your ally's livestock. And so on. I will post some more in-depth magick guidelines in the near future.

The focus here is not how crazy we can make magick in this universe, but rather how you can create a believable society, culture, government, and religion in a fictional world filled with select fantasy elements, starting in the early bronze age and ending - who knows when.

Wizards or sorcerers or whatever you call them are extremely rare, and their existence within your realm is up to me, the moderator. Even if they exist in your realm, the chances of them being in collaboration with your people is very low. In addition, wizards are not the kind of wizards you might be used to in other fantasy universes, just as magick might be different from the "magic" in other universes. Think of them more as crazy hermits, prophets, or wise old men (or maybe a very wise child) - and so on.

To get this going, I need to ask you to post something in addition to signing up. First of all, you need to look at the map of our world and find a good spot for your civilization to begin its journey. Your physical location on this world is incredibly important. Think of how real-life civilizations used their surrounding land for their benefit, or how it eventually led to their downfall. Your physical location will lend a lot to your economy, culture, religion, and so on. Choosing a location is simple. Please pinpoint with a red dot or somehow describe to me where you want to be. I encourage you to read previous posts to make sure no other player has taken the same exact area.

This NES will not be swamped in micromanagement. You will not be responsible for building cities or anything of that sort, though I will need the name of your capital. Cities will pop up naturally according to events which occur in the updates. They are merely for reference and do not represent any greater economic stat.

In addition to picking a starting location, you should post in this thread details about your government and culture (including religion, which is part of culture). Once you have posted that information, we can move on.

Note
Please be sensible in where you place yourself. For example, in the northern regions we can expect very pale-skinned people to reside, whereas in the hotter regions to the south in the islands we can expect a more Mediterranean/dark-skinned look to the people! No Asians in this... sorry... it is more or less mimicking Europe.

For example:

Name of Civilization (Player Name)
Culture: Tell us about the culture of your people.
Government: How have your people begun to govern themselves? Remember this is a fresh start beginning in the early bronze age, so incredibly advanced governments would not really make sense! This is a fantasy NES, but try to be somewhat realistic and use common sense based on what real people would do within this setting. That, I think, is more interesting than creating something entirely random and insane just for the heck of it.
Description: What do your people look like? I am not wanting some insane, random fantasy description. I am wanting a reasonable description based on your climate zone and location. We aren't only considering skin color here, but also height and weight based on diet, facial here, and other such descriptors. You can also tell us what your people wear, based on their climate zone.

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Map


Biomes / Climate Regions Map


All climate zones mimic real-life European ones exactly in terms of flora and fauna. The exception is the giant desert, which would mimic the Sahara. Some mountains are obviously supposed to be taller than realistic European mountains. But think of the lower Mediterranean vegetation areas as being similar to Greece, Italy, and Spain, and so on! Do not make up animals or include fantasy wildlife in your descriptions. I will provide a somewhat comprehensive list of such creatures in the near future. But you can assume that in the forests, wood spirits/ethereal Elves exist, and in the mountains, vicious mountain-people or at the mountain's edge, some goblins and so on. Use common sense for now, please.

If you want a guide to the colors because you don't know, click here.

Once I have a suitable number of "applications", I will decide starting stats and other factors before the start of the game. Stats will be simple descriptors, and not numbers. I look forward to seeing what you all can come up with!

Gibrali (Thomas.berubeg)
Culture: Generally viewed by foreign people as a collection of merchants and traders, though, if they come across a people too weak to defend themselves, they aren't averse to "collecting" some more trade goods. Internally, the Gibrali are a relativly peaceful agricultural state
Government: A loose collection of city states, bound together by a hereditary ruler, assisted by a council of elders from each of the city states.
Description: Tall, Svelte, Dark skinned people. There is a general trend for Thin pointed noses and red hair. Men to tie it up in Knots above thier heads and grow thin pointed beards, while Women let their hair grow long. Fashion, for both Men and Women is a skirt with the waist above the navel, but a bare upper torso.


The Gibrali are generally found on the Southernmost island on the map.

Oh, and since this is a fantasy world, I would greatly appreciate fictional peoples, which means unique names and not ones taken from any real-life context.

Also my name of People / Civilization is a typo - you need only give one single name.

Did I have names taken from a real-life context? if so, it was unconsciously... aside for that, is my people ok?

Is all the light green forested? According to the color list - light green is temperate FOREST...

Will add here something soon. I can see you are using the same map

The Surrian (Lopaz) {I will change this name if needed}

Culture: The Surrian were never highly developed until recently. A number of their Great Chiefs in a great sacrifice used their own energy so that the web of energy in all things would bless their people with great guidance. The result of this event was the turning of the primitive Surrian tribes into a relatively advanced culture. In their own language they named themselves Surrian or magick touched. Today they live in full knowledge of their connection to everything through the web of energy. Their origin has made them skeptical of deities in their common form choosing instead to respect the web of energy that they believed to have blessed them by their chiefs' action of sacrifice. This idea of sacrifice being honorable has lead to a number of traditions differing based on which of the many small towns of the Surrian you enter. One town has a tradition that when a number of their elder reach a certain range of age that they sacrifice themselves into the web of energy in order for it to continue to bless the Surrian. Another town has animal sacrifice in order to accomplish the same. Some towns instead of trials of pain that require their young adults to go through in order to be considered true members of society; usually these trials involve giving some of their energy to the web in return for some small blessing for the town. The Surrian culture is rooted in their supposed origins. Many of their number however differ in how they should continue to appease or respect the web of energy and some believe they should try to understand it. It is for this reason that the Surrian remain as merely independent city states. Some quirks of their culture are the equality of men and women in both the home and the work place stemming from the events that occurred after the blessing where both sexes worked in all ways in order to advance their culture and civilization as quickly as it did.

Government: The small towns and villages of the Surrian remain mere dots in the vast energy web that their populations respect and in some cases fear. They are mostly a collection of allied city states with so far extremely friendly relations intermarriage is common and trade flourishes (mostly centering on the trade of linen and bronze), but is minimal as these population hubs have only recently developed. Their government works by the representatives meeting every year with the meeting point changing to another population hub each year. Usually, the representatives are not the elders but the de facto leaders of the lands they come from. Each population hub have different kinds of leaders whether they be like tribal chiefs, early monarchs, elected, or other. So far this has worked well for the Surrian whether this system will continue is hard to tell.

Description: Their skin is not pale but not dark either remaining a naturally tanned with hints of brownish coloring. Their eyes are usually brown or hazel in color. They are relatively tall and athletic having been primitive and nomadic up until recently. Their clothing usually consists of leather in the villages being more for protection from predators or raiders. In the towns many have begun to wear loose robes and dresses made of linen. Hair color tends to be dark or light browns with some mixed in red heads on strange occasions. women keep their hair down and those with hair going beyond their neck are considered to be true adult members of society and sometimes have even served as representatives; however, in the villages women also use linen rope to put their hair up if they join the men on the hunt or are working in any other area of heavy manual labor. Men commonly cut their hair short and grow short beards or goatees before becoming full adults in some towns and villages. Stylizing of hair is not usually practiced ever other than women putting their hair up when at work. The recent development of bronze in some of the larger and richer towns has lead to the material being used for small plain accessories such as bracelets and necklaces and bracers which both men and women commonly wear in these towns but beyond these towns these items are considered rare and highly valuable.

(That good enough?) (Sorry for my poor grammar.) (location for my people would be at the most southern river delta on the mainland in the Mediterranean climate zone.) (probably scattered all around the delta and some smaller settlements up the river towards the mountains.)

Looks good so far.

erez87 said:

Is all the light green forested? According to the color list - light green is temperate FOREST...

Will add here something soon. I can see you are using the same map

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Yes, light green is temperate forest. The green areas without tree icons, though, are more or less lightly forested grasslands. Nothing too dense, but somewhat forested nonetheless. The tree icons represent dense forests.

The same goes for Taiga areas that are not covered in tree icons - those areas are Taiga, but the trees are a bit more sparse than where the icons show up.

Where would a Greek city-states culture be most plausible? Something mountainous where there is no easy way to get from city state to city state other than the sea.

erez87 said:

Where would a Greek city-states culture be most plausible? Something mountainous where there is no easy way to get from city state to city state other than the sea.

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Up to you to look at the map to decide. Maybe the peninsula to the southeast? The little green sliver at the very bottom of that should be pink (Mediterranean vegetation)... just forgot to alter it.

Could I start here please:

Generic agricultural workers on the riverine networlk, with fishermen in the lake and hunters in the forest. Religion heavily connected to the great forest which protects us. villages deep in the forest so only villagers can find them.

I just wrote a lengthy post, but the server spat at me and I have to rewrite the whole thing. Which will come up later, but not now.

My tribe's name is the Caligori.

My tribe is inspired by Celtic and Nordic Germanic peoples and is a chiefdom union ruled by a king. Their culture is druidic and utilizes blood rituals and stone circles. They reside in the Northwesternmost part of the main continent, or more accurately the Southern central part of the forest there, neatly placed with equal parts tundra and temperate. They are fair-skinned and agricultural.

I'm sorry I'm so short with words, but you know, forum problems.

I'd join, details coming later

Joining. Probably going to host a seafaring culture divided into various "villages," in the southeastern peninsula

and then I saw Erez's post. Maybe I will go Vikings instead to thieve from some unsuspecting Greeks.

Well, mine are essentially Vikingish as well: Agriculturalist Merchants and raiders...

is there anywhere you feel you need someone, starlife?

Abaddon said:

Generic agricultural workers on the riverine networlk, with fishermen in the lake and hunters in the forest. Religion heavily connected to the great forest which protects us. villages deep in the forest so only villagers can find them.

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Sure - but can you provide a considerable amount of further information? I.e. - a profile with details of your culture and specifics of your current governing system, in addition to the more basic, broad points you have provided.

lord_joakim said:

I just wrote a lengthy post, but the server spat at me and I have to rewrite the whole thing. Which will come up later, but not now.

Click to expand...

Sorry about that. Happened to me once and I was not happy. Anyway, your location / name is noted!

justokre said:

is there anywhere you feel you need someone, starlife?

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Nope, not specifically. Anywhere you would find interesting would be fine.

@thomas: You mention how your people are red-haired, but you are in the south in what is considered a "Mediterranean" climate - very sunny and thus a fair-skinned, red-haired people might not do so well in such conditions.

Starlife said:

@thomas: You mention how your people are red-haired, but you are in the south in what is considered a "Mediterranean" climate - very sunny and thus a fair-skinned, red-haired people might not do so well in such conditions.

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I said Dark Skinned, but red hair.

Joining!

Frethnisi (General Olaf)

Culture: Legend tells of some power who lived here, in the days when the world was not of the shape it takes now. Nobody knows what its nature was, only its name, Frethnil. The Frethnisi are descendended from what are reputedly one of his works: the Lapizar, blue wraiths. Over thousands of years, through the world's changes the Lapizar interbred with other races, and thus the Frethnisi were born.
The Frethnisi live in mountainous regions near the south of the continent. They mine and trade for a living - and their culture revolves around these two activities. The gem they mine is a bright, pure blue. Nobody knows its nature, or what it can do, but it is agreed that it is very pleasing to the eye and can be bartered for large quantities of valuable goods.
For the Frethnisi do barter - and it has served them well as an economic tool. Everyone has something somebody else needs, and talents are never wasted.
Recently, news of other races has spread throughout Frethnisian territory. Nobody is sure what this will mean for the future.
The Frethnisi worship Frethnil, their creator, and also the Lapizar, some of whom still roam the area. Cairns are built to him in the mountains whenever good fortune visits a Frethnisi.

Government: Within any one individual small community of Frethnisi, there is a single leader. The method used to select these leaders vary: in one village, a dying leader will pick the next leader's name out of a box; in another, any individual may challenge for the position in a fight to either submission or death. However chosen, once every five turns of the moon, the leaders all meet at a secret location in the mountains, where they trade amongst each other for goods not found in their area. They also choose a supreme leader, through popular vote. This supreme leader wears a crown and an armband created from the blue gem. It seems to empower them to rule, but nobody knows how...

Description: The Frethnisi are, despite their mixed background, human. They are very tall - about six and a half to seven feet on average - with the males sporting long, flowing beards that reach down almost to their knees, and the females with long hair to about the same point. They have fair skin, and completely invariably, piercing blue eyes. Their hair is always white, which may be put down to an unusual, limited strain of albinism. Weight varies from about sixty to seventy-five kilograms, depending on occupation and build. They have an extremely high toleration for the cold, and as such, wear not the furs many expect of a mountain-dwelling race, but flowing blue woollen robes, which provide adequate protection from the cold.

Frethnisi homeland:

(the Frethnisi are scattered all around this part of the mountains: the red dot is approximately the centre of their territory.)

OOC: Clearly, this is a bit of a follow-on from Frethnil in SLNES II - but the blue gem does not have the power that Frethnil's Life Energy did. It, and the Lapizar, are links back to some ancient past where such things had power. The blue gem doesn't have any known power, simply great value.

Starlife said:

Sure - but can you provide a considerable amount of further information? I.e. - a profile with details of your culture and specifics of your current governing system, in addition to the more basic, broad points you have provided.

Click to expand...

Of course of course, when I get chance you will get a lot more detail

Current Player List

General Olaf (Frethnisi)
justokre (?)
Seon (?)
SouthernKing (?)
lord_joakim (Caligori)
lopaz (Surrian)
Abaddon (?)
erez87 (?)
thomas.berubeg (Gibrali)