ONESI: Upon the Fallen

ONESI: Upon the Fallen​

Welcome.

What is ONESI?

ONESI is a Never Ending Story (NES), made by me (ork), and is the first I have made. Hence the name.

From the oldest veterans to people stumbling across this page, all are welcome to join. Should you be in the latter category, a bit of explanation might be in order.

A NES is a type of forum game where, at its simplest, players control parts of a world by periodically sending orders to a central moderator, or mod. The mod takes the orders of all players into account and synthesizes them into updates, which are then posted in the forum thread. The floor is then open for the next round of orders, and so on ad infinitum. Feedback is given to players through updates and stats. Players may also interact with each other through diplomacy and deals outside of orders; these may be public or private.

Stories are a major component of NESing, perhaps the most major. Stories can be about anything or anyone, but often players will focus them on their own controlled elements. They add a great deal to the characterization and worldbuilding of their subjects, and lend life to the world of the NES. Stories are great, they make mods happy. Write, you fools.

ONESI is a specific genre, a “cradle NES,” with civilization beginning in a central cradle and spreading outwards from there as a result of player action and events within the world. Players control cultures or city states at the beginning, which will form the bases of culture groups and ethnicities that may remain present for the duration of the NES.

A stellar example of this genre, and arguably of NESing as a form of art or entertainment, is North King’s epic End of Empires. I recommend you page through that if you haven’t had the chance to previously. ONESI aims to be a spiritual successor to this.

Maps:

Spoiler :

Cities:

Spoiler :

Climates:

Spoiler :

Cultures:

Spoiler :

Economic:

Spoiler :

Geographic:

Spoiler :

Polities:

Spoiler :

 

STRUCTURE:

ONESI will be fairly standard in terms of player input and mod output. Again, it is based on EoE, and expectations for orders will be pretty similar. There are a few differences, though, so please read through the section below.

RULES:

Spoiler :

STATS:

Spoiler :

ex:

Spoiler :

Gora Mir - ork75
Government: Theocratic Council
Leader: Elder Bela
Culture Description: Gora Miri, almost completely homogenous
Religion: Ancestor worship
Treasury: 700
Annual Income: 500
Annual Expenses: 150
Military:
Army: 0/150/0 Infantry, 0/0/0 Cavalry
Army Levy: 1500
Navy: 0/0 Ships
Naval Levy: 0
Maintenance: 150
Description: Scouts and archers trained for defensive operations. Levies have some martial training.

For sake of ease, whatever a player controls is hereby referred to as a country.

Descriptive Information:

The name of the player faction is at the top. It’s a name, not much more to say.

The Government Type is a brief description of the political structure of the nation. The leader, if there is a head of state or government, is named. If there are both, the head of state is named.

The Cultural Description briefly describes ethnic groups or religious minorities in the country. If there are major conflicts among them this may be mentioned.

The Religion entry describes the state religion. Religious minorities, should they exist, will be mentioned under the Cultural Description entry.

Economic Information:

Treasury is how much money the country has saved to use on a whim. You don’t need to keep any reserve, but you can if you wish.

Annual Income is, well, income per annum. Note that our turns are going to be many years at the small end and more than centuries at the higher end. This stat is for every year within a turn. For the longer ones I’ll ask you to ignore it. Things change too much for the stat to remain useful.

Similarly, Annual Expenses refers to expenses per year within a turn. These are never automatic, even for things like maintenance. Orders must delineate how expenses are spent, and if this is not done they will not be paid. Note that, for the beginning at least, centralized banking doesn’t really exist. Therefore, there will be no loans. Money can’t grow on trees (unless it can?), but you might be able to find creative or brutal ways to expand your budget if absolutely necessary. For the record, not paying costs like military upkeep is REALLY BAD. Mutinies, disastrous drops in quality, and desertions are generally not good things.

Military Information:

Militaries in this era are composed essentially entirely of Infantry and Cavalry, though quality may vary. This is reflected in ONESI by the division of troop counts into three types: levy, regulars, and elites.

Spoiler :

The number of raised Levy Infantry, Cavalry, or Ships is displayed in the first number of any of those series.
Levy troops are civilians called to arms by the state. These are what armies were made of for much of history. They are paid in the food they need to live, and not much else. Therefore, they are very cheap and you can get a TON of them, depending on your population. However, there are a few things to note.
First, since these are professionals who otherwise would be occupying a vital place in society or the economy, their absence means that their role goes unfulfilled. Raising levies *will* hurt your economy, depending on the size of the levy you raise and the time of year at which you raise them.
Second, a Levy may cost less or nothing at all in terms of economic damage to its country of origin if it is correctly timed. For example, if troops are raised, used, and returned for a summer campaign they will be present for the fall harvest, and therefore no crops will rot in fields untended by their farmers.
Third, not all levies are equal. In a decentralized system, for example, local lords will generally foot the bill for and furnish their levy. A king of such a land may be able to raise and fund a levy army for a longer time than his centralized counterpart. Some nations, on the other hand, may mandate military training for civilians and keep arms for them, forming a sort of national guard. This approach, while significantly more expensive, could mean that the reserves are a far more capable force when raised.

Raised levy troops cost 1 Gold for every 10 yearly for Infantry and 3 Gold for every 10 yearly for Cavalry, but this ignores the economic fallout from keeping a levy raised.

The number of Regular Infantry and Cavalry is the second number in the respective sets.
Regulars are professional troops provided for by the state. They are expensive, but extremely effective in comparison to their untrained brethren. They tend to have better equipment. Also, since their careers are in war for the state, they do not negatively impact the economy and do not need to be raised.
The quality of regulars may vary, as may the costs. This depends on the state programs undertaken, equipment, etc.

Regular Infantry normally cost 1 Gold for every 1 yearly and Regular Cavalry normally cost 3 Gold for every 1 yearly.

The third number in the Infantry and Cavalry sets shows the number of Elite troops.
Elites are units like the Aztec Jaguar Warriors or Alexander’s Companions. They are the ones who have legends written about them. They are the best. Cutting through inferior troops like a hot sword through a block of butter, they make or break battles and sometimes even wars. They are often unique and reflective of the culture from which they originate. Like all other troops, their exact quality and cost vary by country.

Elite Infantry cost 5 Gold per soldier annually. Elite Cavalry cost 15 Gold per soldier annually.

“But what about siege engines?!” you ask, “Or pontoon bridges, or fortified camps?” These are all projects undertaken by troops in the field. Across the ancient world they were generally constructed onsite. The way these will be reflected in ONESI is through orders. If you give some amount of Gold (to represent additional supplies) towards a campaign and describe what the troops there are to do, they’ll do it as best they can. If you have questions on what a given amount will actually accomplish, or the manpower needed to complete such a project, asking me is generally the best bet.

Navies are divided as well.

Spoiler :

The first number in the Navy set is the number of Levy Ships currently pressed into service.
Levy Ships are merchant or fishing vessels pressed into military service. Similar to army levies, they are normally employed in commerce and military use will directly impact the economy as ships stop fishing or trading to report for service. They are best used as transports, as they have no armor or weapons. They come in all shapes and sizes, though for consideration in this category they are sizeable enough to carry a good number of troops or supplies. Levy ships must be kept supplied by the state, and therefore cost a little to keep raised.

Each Levy Ship costs 5 Gold to furnish, annually.

The second number in the Navy set is the number of Warships a country maintains.
Warships come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They may be commerce escorts, transports, or battleships. They often differ by culture, but as a rule are expensive. Crew must be trained, food supplies… supplied, and kept in a state of good repair. Before all this, there is the immense cost of commissioning and building one. However, they are undeniably effective at what they do. Warships can shred an impressed trade fleet in a single battle, or provide protection to strategic sea lanes against hordes of pirates. For the sake of simplicity, Warships are treated as one class, but you might characterize them as something else.

Each Warship costs 50 Gold annually in upkeep.

For sake of simplicity, the cost to raise new troops is simply the yearly upkeep cost of the same. This is considered the upkeep of those units for the year as well, so you don’t have to pay double.

The Military Description includes a brief summary of the quality and characteristics of each troop type, as well as the levy and fleet.

Maintenance describes how much your military costs to maintain annually.

ORDERS:

Spoiler :

Orders are the main way in which you, the players, inform me, the mod, what you want to have happen.

They should be submitted to me on or before the deadline via CFC PM.

Delineate spending before anything else.

After that, anything goes.

Speaking of campaigns, if you want to mount one you should tell me a few things. Tell me your objective, the troops and armies you are massing and utilizing, and how much you’re willing to give the campaign towards expenses in the field. You can go as detail heavy or light as you wish, so long as those basic parts are there. I’d advise against going into too many details, though, as you could run into contingencies you didn’t plan on.

You are also free to expand on your culture as much as you want or can after spending. It makes my heart skip a beat if people outline cultural shifts or what have you as a result of world events, or even as a result of the changes cultures undergo in and of themselves as time goes on.

Great example orders can be found here (not from ONESI, but along the same lines)

 

NEW PLAYERS:

If you wish to join, I request that you fill out the below application.

I also request that you only submit new applications in between an update and the next orders deadline, just to ensure that nothing in the update conflicts with your ideas.

Update 0 will take place in a period similar to 2000BC levels of development.

Spoiler :

[Culture Name]
Starting Location: [Choose from the cradle map; preferably giving me your own map pinpointing the location for me and other players]
Society: [Add a description of the structure and function of your culture’s society. How are families structured? What are the strata that matter? Is there social mobility?]
Values: [What do your people believe to be the most important human qualities?]
Religion(s): [Add a description of your people’s religious ideas. What’s a holiday they celebrate? What are their origins?]
Language(s): [Add a description of your people’s language, including, if applicable, their writing system. Is it an isolate, or is it part of a language group that is present in other parts of the cradle as well?]
Economic Base: [How do your people make a living? Are there cleavages between different strata?]
Country Names: [Make a list of nation names for me to use]
Characters: [Make a list of names for me to use of people]
Place Names: [Make a list of place for me to use for notable places, cities, temples, landmarks, etc.]
[Add anything else you want to say]

In case you didn't see it above, this is the most current cultural map of the cradle:

Spoiler :

If you have questions on anything at all, feel free to ask me about it. The best way to reach me is talking to me on the #nes IRC channel, but I will also try to respond to PMs on here.

Enjoy! Let’s make something AWESOME together!

 

STATS:

Spoiler :

Némori (Thlayli):
Population: Higher than Bob Marley
Economy: Yuuuuuuuuuuuge. The largest agricultural and manufacturing hub in the world, specializing in metals, lacquerware, and ceramics. Also serves as a trade hub, moving goods from the Lié and Mirrepon down the Sisters and the eastern littoral, and takes goods from the highlands. Controls several multinational populations, e.g. Kadet’st, Hebut’st, and !-tséluhi, which serve as markets and as mercenaries.
Military: Unrivaled. Farming unions contribute relatively untrained levies, for mass. Elite groups of rizu are armored in full bronze and act as shock infantry. Forces are supplemented by large companies of contracted Kadet’st and !-tséluhi cavalry. No oceangoing fleet, but complete naval domination of the riverways.

Bezebek (Spryllino):
Population: Enormous. Significant Kit minority in northern urban centers.
Economy: Enormous. The largest trading link between the northwestern littoral and the eastern. Controls all commerce in the northern sea. Trade is supplemented by a robust agricultural base along the Lié, as well as fishing in the northern sea.
Military: Powerful. Significant infantry levies, some cavalry levies. Supplemented by mercenary !-tséluhi cavalry. Navy has improved with Kit influence, and is now seaworthy if not particularly combat oriented: ships are mostly transports, large canoes with sails.

Hâidzòêla (North King):
Population: Enormous.
Economy: Enormous. Large domestic production capacity, massive pastoralist range and significant agricultural production. Minerals in wide availability, particularly salt, silver, and copper. Somewhat hindered by dearth of trading partners: the collapse of Atsu’sen civilization has greatly hindered trade with the eastern littoral. Most trade domestic.
Military: Dominant. Agricultural populations muster skilled and advanced light infantry militias and even some professional units, honed by several recent civil wars. Pastoralist cavalry are perhaps the best riders in the known world, if lacking in good warhorses, and are fantastic skirmishers and light troops. Superior siege engineers: they are alone among cradle civilizations in their use of catapults.

Càndaî:
Population: Moderate.
Economy: Large. Some agriculture, mining, and pastoralism. Main driver is trade: linking Marugae goods to Hâidzòêla markets, and vice versa.
Military: Minor, with reservations. Infantry militias and pastoralist cavalry levies on Hâidzòêla models. However, has a strong alliance with northern Hâidzòêla pastoral populations, and would likely be able to call upon immense cavalry hordes if attacked.

Oíchi Dírcha (Masada):
Population: Below average. Significant slave population, of Aarugae and Némori captured on raids, but most people of mixed heritage.
Economy: Minor. Mostly subsistence herding and agriculture, supplemented by raiding of Némori settlements.
Military: Minor. Decaying light cavalry tradition brought from the Xẁda. Farmer levies.

Ilyandaren (Jehoshua):
Population: Minor
Economy: Minor. Some trade over mountains, and with Némori. Mostly subsistence agriculture, but even this is difficult in the harsh terrain.
Military: Insignificant. Tiny numbers of old-school Aaruist temple guards. Farmer levies, usually effective through their mass and numbers, have neither. No cavalry.

Marugae (Terrance888):
Population: Minor
Economy: Moderate. Operate main trade routes over the Tarshuaren and Zuréna. Mine silver, lead, and the tin that feeds the bronze industry in both the highlands and the littoral.
Military: Minor. Some shapers are still puttering around, doing things. Mostly defensive farmer levies, aided by terrain but greatly hindered by low population.

Kontur (Lord_Iggy):
Population: Moderate
Economy: Moderate. Close relations, even synthesis, between the Juakeh and the Kittu’st mean that they benefit greatly from the trade the southerners bring through the Oddukhet. Large fishing base. In the Kadettar, the last lords unbound by atjinu rule over farms on the Ararata and raid Shando and Némori settlements.
Military: Noteworthy. Kadet’st horsemen are synonymous with “cavalry” throughout the eastern littoral, even if they aren’t amazing in comparison to Kelrang or Hâidzòêla riders. Synthesis and connections to the Juakeh bring the Kittu’st bronze arms and armor and connections to one of the great naval powers of the cradle.

Gezd:
Population: Minor, but growing. Ethnic subgroup within the southern Xẁda pastoralists
Economy: Minor. Pastoralists and miners on the southern Xẁda. Some commercial activity, bringing goods north to Hâidzòêla markets.
Military: Minor. Basically the same thing as the Hâidzòêla pastoralists, with different appearance, more reliance on the lance, and fewer numbers.

Kelrang:
Population: Minor, but unknown numbers living across western deserts
Economy: Significant. Agricultural base along the Rawn, as well as herding. Massive involvement in trade: supply rare spices, metals, and the best horses in the cradle to the northern littoral and by extension the known world.
Military: Noteworthy. Skilled riders on large, fast, powerful horses. The closest thing to shock cavalry in the world. Capable of going toe to toe with more numerous !-tséluhi riders and chariots and coming out on top. Limited by small population.

Grinwe (The Meanest Guest):
Population: Average.
Economy: Major. Entry point for Kelrang goods into northern markets. Sole source of strong blue dye, most commonly in form of dyed woolens, in the cradle. Major supplier of metals. Significant agricultural base along the Rawn.
Military: Noteworthy. Mostly levied farmers, but limited numbers of armored and trained gan warrior elites. Frequent utilization of !-tséluhi and, and far more rarely, Kelrang mercenary cavalry.

!-tséluhi:
Population: Average.
Economy: Significant. Few products that are not found elsewhere, but responsible for the transportation of the goods of the west to the markets of Mirrepon due to the lack of major ports in the west. What the Kadet’st horsemen are to the eastern littoral, the !-tséluhi are to the north, and many polities and peoples employ their cavalry in mercenary roles. Noteworthy agricultural base along eastern rivers, and massive pastoralist base across their territory.
Military: Powerful. Literally hordes of dependable cavalry, as well as some chariots. Some archer companies from ethnic Kit communities in the east. Serve as mercenaries across cradle.

Kanadim (Maiagaia):
Population: Above average.
Economy: Moderate. Heavy integration with Juakeh, and associated trade networks. Significant agricultural and pastoralist base (sheep, goats, horses), often traded to Juakeh settlements.
Military: Noteworthy. Tribal levies include light cavalry and archers.

Juakeh:
Population: Average.
Economy: Remarkable. Juakeh ships bring goods all over the Oddukhet, and markets are permanently stocked in settlements ringing the coastlines. Integration and mutual acceptance with Kontu’st and Kanadim means outposts are kept safe and food supplies are largely assured. Vital supplier of tin to bronze forges of the eastern littoral and the seas.
Military: Powerful. Well armed and armored foot troops, similar to rizu. Powerful navy, one only two true naval powers on the Oddukhet.

Ju (Azale):
Population: Above average.
Economy: Remarkable. Timber and metal suppliers to the eastern coasts. Less of a permanent market foothold, compared to the Juakeh, and fierce competition exists between the two. Robust agricultural base on Yanga.
Military: Powerful. Navy is only rivaled by Juakeh. Ground troops are comparatively weaker. Occasional use of Ottre Padeen mercenaries.

Ottre Padeen (Overthrown):
Population: Meagre
Economy: Miniscule. Island is ravaged by constant warfare. Resources, mostly wood to begin with, are almost nonexistant. Subsistence agriculture is the rule, not the exception, and any surpluses go towards feeding career soldiers. It’s almost a wonder how the island hasn’t killed itself off yet.
Military: Minor. Divided between a dozen minor factions, soldiers are poorly equipped and barely fed. Constant warfare means those that survive are fairly experienced, but also means that no faction is ever able to build up respectable strength.

Kit (bombshoo):
Population: Meagre. Significant expatriate communities in the !-tséluhi and the Bezebek.
Economy: Minor. Salt production and fishing supplemented by some raiding and trade around the northern sea.
Military: Noteworthy. Capable coastal raiders, and could probably perform respectably in a theoretical naval conflict with the Bezebek.

Elka (inthesomeday):
Population: Minor.
Economy: Moderate. Trading and raiding with the Shando (textiles and pottery) and trade with the Ju (textiles, pottery, timber). Some mercenary activity.
Military: Levies of archers and spearmen. Some raider bands. Some mercenaries serve with the Shando, Bezebek, or Ju.

Shando (thomas_berubeg):
Population: Large.
Economy: Large. Intense agriculture along the Ararata aided by construction of megalithic dams. Trade with Kontu’st, Némori, and especially Bezebek. Mining and agriculture in hills west of Ararata.
Military: Noteworthy. Numerous farmer and tribal levies. Occasional employment of Elka and Kadet’st mercenaries.

Argai:
Population: Miniscule.
Economy: Miniscule. Based on raiding and what subsistence pastoralism and farming angry neighbors will allow.
Military: Weak. Enough to sneak in and raid some neighboring settlements, but cavalry forces are unskilled and frequently hounded and defeated by neighboring forces. At this point they survive mostly because they are no more than a minor nuisance, rather than a threat, and the effort it would take to wipe them isn’t justified by the potential reward from doing so.

UPDATES:

Spoiler :

Update 0: Civil Dawn
Update 1: Sunrise

 

You may now post.

Orders are due September 4th, 12:00AM EST.

 

Posting interest and reserving my little chunk of map.

 

Taking the eastern island's southern tail, template up soon.

 

OOC

Going to keep my eye on this.

Subscription post.

No culture yet, depends on whether I have time. The IOTs I'm part of aren't as active as I expected so I may be able to join. (Without doing much storywork I'm afraid.)

 

Posting interest and linking vaguely to a sort of half-complete culture template that I whipped up earlier. Location is on that template, pretty tired so I'll format it for CFC later...

 

I'm putting up what I have now, and will continue to flesh it out over the weekend.

---

Némori
(Trans. Némo ri - golden land) (Proun. nay-moh-di)

“And thou shalt be bound to this wheel, and turn upon it.”



Society:

Three discrete waves of colonization contributed to the genetic ancestry of the current day Némorian people: iluki, !-aki, and jyaké. An ancestral ur-culture (referred to by later chronicles as former people, iluki) once dwelled in the river valleys, speaking a language isolate. These cultures were pressed out by a major wave of migration from the south, the !-aki, or center people. This second wave formed the major genetic bedrock of the current population, though iluki populations continue to dwell in inland pockets and in the mountains. After that time, an invader race of jyaké 'bright men' came from the east, perhaps (although this is unclear) from the sea. Their brightness may have referred to their early mastery of bronze armor which shines in the sun, or a lighter skin tone. Regardless, the linguistic impact and genetic contribution of the jyaké was minimal, however they seem to have supplied many of the traditions that, post-assimilation with the bulk of the !-aki, contributed to the formation of the rizu class.

There are several important moieties in present-day Némorian society. The upper stratum of society is a semi-migratory elite that monopolizes the riverine trading rights between the cities, and parlays this monopoly over economic activity into a monopoly over military power. The romantic ideal of the rizu, the trader-warrior-adventurer-poet-boatman, is an iconic and enduring aspect of early Némorian art and literature. Like their western neighbors with whom they share a common, if long distant ancestry, the main form of government is municipal republican assemblies. However, the rizu interact with them in unorthodox ways.

Some rizu families dominate the politics of individual cities, though the ideal rizu family is independent of petty republican politics and maintains holdings in multiple cities and regions, boating between them to monitor their interests. This makes Némorian politics often more about rivalries between decentralized family networks rather than conflicts between individual city-states, though geographic and dynastic feuds can play out independently or in parallel, as city-state alliances are wielded by rival factions against one another. The rizu, in particular, see themselves as threads in a grand tapestry of trade, conquest (economic and military) and honor, and are most interested in prestige and legend-building. The cities both enable them and play them off on one another, while being manipulated by them.

The middle class is made up of priests, artisans, and other skilled and/or literate professions, who are born and bound into castes at birth and are typically encouraged to remain in them (though caste-trades and other forms of social mobility do occur in some scenarios [see, Defier]). The republican assemblies of the individual city-states are filled and dominated by the middle castes, though they lack the regional power of the rizu. The lowest classes are farmers, free laborers and slaves, although some specialized slave castes can be quite comfortable and even influential in their own way.

Although the rizu are the most common suppliers of the regional hegemons, or Defiers, since they have the wealth and power to entertain political intrigue, the stable power bases of the city-states sometimes supply them from the middle castes, or even from slaves. Although labor is abundant, the ability to bargain separately with the rizu and the city castes gives the farmers a slightly better position than they might have in an imperial despotism, except in periods of turmoil.

Values:

There are hundreds if not thousands of gods, cults, supernatural beings and ascended heroes venerated in Némori, reflecting its status as an entrepot for trade and waves of migration to the most fertile land in the world. Outsiders claim this means that Némori has no religion at all, or that they have many religions. But the truth is found in a seven thousand year old stele fragment dredged out of the silted mud of the Némo River. A figure stands before a vast wheel. The figure is not identifiably male or female, and its face is not seen. In one hand it holds a lily, and in the other hand it holds a blade. The wheel has countless faces, each of them different. Men, women, some bearing diadems and headdresses, others with the faces of animals.

When a woman is married, she blesses the Wheel. When a man lies dying of an ulcer or famine, he curses it. When the armies of the Némorians go to war, they bear the Wheel on their banners, with the promise: We shall be bound to this together. This is our fate. But the Wheel is not truly to be worshipped, or opposed. It simply is. The Wheel is simply a recognition of the helplessness of man, and even the gods themselves, before the inevitability of fate.

And yet, there are those who oppose it. The Wheel of Fate turns, and for most, it turns until you die. But there are some, some few, who choose the path of the Defier. Some say the true Defier is a god-before-gods, imprisoned by his children, perpetually reincarnating into new avatars to break the Wheel. Others say the first Defier was the first man, and his descendants forgot his tenets and fell to the Wheel of the Gods, except for some few who remember.

To choose the Defier, or rather, to BE a Defier, implies a complete rejection of the Wheel and the turning of fate. Bandits choose the Defier, but so do lovers who marry outside their families. Again, this is neither good, nor evil. Defiers, like the Wheel, can represent fortune or misfortune, cruelty or kindness. The archetypes of Wheel and Defier also manifest in the political system of Némori, with the city-state republics and mercantile rivalries of the region being periodically swept away by charismatic, caste-transcending figures who seize personal imperial power.

Fallen Defiers (and there are many) who fail to achieve their aims are often said to have been ‘bound to the wheel’.

Religion:

Some important early cults that defined the period include:

Rizuké - Tragic out-caste hero figure, one of the archetypical Defiers. Later ascends to godhood after many adventures. Epitomizes rizu ideals to such an extent that the social class is named after him.
Tsenu-|| (or, Tsenuki) - Wife of tragic out-caste hero figure. Born a slave. Has important adventures of her own trying to reunite with her love. Worshiped by many lower castes.
[ ] - Hermaphroditic fish god, who regulates the flood. Also a god of time, life, and death, order and regularity. Leader of some pantheons.
Jikeji - Trickster god, an anthropomorphic red weasel. Also a god of luck, chance, and commerce. Has many popular and hilarious legends, typically involving seduction and violence.
[ ] - A fertility and love goddess who wears a crown of grain. A big fan of bread parties and orgies.
[ ] - Five sisters representing the five great rivers of the world. Patrons of art, science, and journeys.

Language:

Némorian tongues share a common linguistic origin with Hâidzòêla and other clades that originally stemmed from the great southern migration.

Most Némorian languages possess a consonant-vowel syllabic system with 2 clicks, a dental (tongue against the palate, cork-popping sound) and a lateral (tooth sucking, ki-sounding) click. The dental and lateral clicks will be written as [ ! ] and [ || ]. These are exceptions to the rule and do not need to be followed by vowels. Typically, the dental clicks are used as word-initiators, and the lateral clicks follow, though this is not a hard and fast rule.

Simple pictograms are rapidly moving towards a phonetic ‘alphabet’ with several hundred letters representing all the possible syllabic combinations. (This should be in place by the high Bronze Age, so it might not be a turn 1 development.)

Vowels: a (ah), e (eh), i (ee), o (oh), u (oo), and é (ay)

Sounds that do not exist in Némorian: d, c (though ch does), q

Tsenu-|| (Tsenu-*side click*)
Se-||-tsé (or Se-*side click*-tsé)
Zhri-ilu
!-kiasuzo (*top click*-kiasuzo)
Tsa-!-tsa.
!-patzi
Zatsu-||-tsé

The trading sign language originally imported from the far west is also in common usage, especially among the mercantile elite as a private tongue.

Economic Base:

Mass production of food leveraging the hugely fertile breadbasket of the Némo River and her sisters constitutes the bulk economic activity. A major amount of surplus labor allows for intensive aquaculture activities such as dams, draining and flooding fields, and even canals. In highland areas, experiments have begun with terrace farming, though most people simply farm the alluvial plains of the massive, wide rivers since it is so easy.

Refined goods include jewelry, arms and armor, lacquerware and highly sophisticated pottery, and production of large items like boats. The demand for wood is extreme in Némorian society, since the elite live aboard their boats, and are a critical infrastructural component as well as being a status symbol. The demand for high-quality wood is so high that it forms an impetus for imperial expeditions outside of Némori itself.

Due to the extreme interest of the rizu in long distance trade, multiple currency systems have already been put into place, with the most popular currently being stamped clay tokens issued by city-states and individual rizu families, with value largely determined by negotiation and prestige. The impetus for writing largely stemmed from the explosive growth of commerce, and the complex, multi-generational alliance contracts made between rizu castes and city-states, city-states and farmers in the hinterland, and all sorts of other groups.

 

I'm in. Put me either along the river at the northern hot summer portion of the map or on the landmass across the sea to the East.

 

Thlayli that's like third of the cradle

How much land should we lay claim to? Could people's claims overlap?

 

And that's the way it should be. I don't think anyone likes the ahistorical tendency that often crops up in cradle NESes of cramming 25 independent and unrelated cultures into the same square mile of space. But I ran everything by ork before claiming anything.

The light blue region denotes areas that should be under my economic or cultural influence, rather than direct control, so if you'd like to work with me in that region, then we can talk.

 

--That ancient land was great and green until the dust consumed it. There were many mouths there, and the grain would no longer grow. There was not food enough for each. The amber-eyed Grinwe knew that hunger would take them if they stayed in that place. They left upon their legs, long strides carrying them to the edge of the sandy sea that bakes beneath the sun. The Grinwe despaired that they should ever cross it. But for the fineness of his mind and features Gram had earned the favour of the Goddess Roes, and so in sleep and dream she sent a whisper to him from sen. He awoke in the morning and led the people on, for she had shown him the way.

- Bone Saga, I.II

The Grinwe of Kedring

Society -

We are the grinwe. We are the men who grow the wheat, and we are the men who eat it. It is said that our people came to this land long ago from the sunset west, a place dried up to dust. We were the first men here in Kedring save for the fidwe - the gristle-men. They were short, stupid and wicked, and so we hunted them until they were no more.

In the great river's vale we grow the summer wheat. Each house there sends a portion of this golden bounty to the gan, who lives upon a rise behind a wall of stone, earth and timber. This is his due for the protection his spears afford the people. In the hills we graze sheep and goats. Each house there sends a portion of meat, milk and shorn wool to the gan, who lives atop a tower of wooden beams and well-placed stones – here the people sow rye grass in the ground, but no gan would take a portion of such.

And so a portion of each portion is taken to Kedring, the city and the sacred hill that gives our country its name. Here the ketrie rule as is their right – the priests and priestesses of the many groves and holy places, who stand together beneath the eaves to consider the whispers of the spirits and the gods. The ketrie have decreed peace among the grinwe, as this is the word that comes to them from sen. The gans are pious and faithful, and in accordance with this command they have made their own council and raised up a judge to settle dispute between them.

Values -

The spirits wish to live among us, for we are the most pious people in all the world. We keep the groves and we keep them well, for a tree's heart is a spirit's best home. We raise the bounding stones in holy places where the veil between the earth and sen grows thin. There is peace among the people, and this pleases the gods and the spirits both. The peace of a good marriage between husband and wife. The peace of strong and healthy children grown to work the plow. The peace of a son's obedience to his father. These are the things which keep a house in order.

Religion -

In sen the gods play their inscrutable games, and the fortunes of these gamblers are reflected in the passage of the seasons. The lords and ladies of sen belong to four ancient families - four houses and a sun to pass between them, as agreed to long ago. But days and even months are won and wagered; none among the gods are content with the time they are allotted.

Economic Base -

The river Rawn runs through golden fields, the wheaten bounty of the fertile vale. With so much bread our families prosper and our children live better lives than their mothers and fathers; the numbers of the Grinwe grow year by year. In the fallow fields and in the hills shepherds tend herds of sheep, wool soft and downy white. The weaving of woolen cloth and garments provides good work to many houses, and in the towns and in the city Cedring they dye it a deep and lasting blue. Grinwe blue is prized in many foreign places. To the summer market at Kedring these foreigners come in search of handsome clothes - this the Grinwe understand, for the rags foreigners wear upon their backs are hardly fit for men.

Place & Country Names - Arting, Rine, Etterat, Ghotter, Korrem, Inedaïn, Gever, Nenkitan

Given Names - Male: Laugan, Keln, Lotho, Kegain, Gram, Rigan, Estan // Female: Esrie, Alsen, Rann, Araste, Ilaï, Emwe

 

Also how big an area is this cradle covering?

 

Glad to hear it, you're more than welcome!

So far:

Spoiler :

As much as makes sense given the culture. Nomads might need a little more room. Small, settled peoples like TMG's might be pretty compact.

People's claims can most definitely overlap, as borders (especially in this time) aren't exactly.... rigid. Also, if people are from a similar or the same culture group there may be overlapping populations.

If you drew an imaginary rectangle with corners at the southwest corner of modern Egypt and Tehran, that would be more or less accurate.


I'm really enjoying everything that's been posted so far. Keep 'em coming!

 

If anybody else is planning on joining in on my region lemme know cuz I'mma start working on the language group for the region and if you have preferences for how the language looks/sounds I can incorporate them.

Right now I don't have a whole lot of thoughts beyond heavily inflected, phonologically meaningful use of unvoiced nasals, geminates, and a fairly robust tonal system.

So PIE basically . Given the time frame we should see some diversification from the mother-language (given the ~2000ish date ork has given me we'd historically be in the temporal region around the early development of Proto-Italic/transition from PIE to a recognizable Ancient Greek/Proto-Germanic/Sanskrit/a couple centuries prior to the first attested Hittite texts/ etc. etc.

 

If anyone is contemplating joining in my area, I'd be happy to collaborate on shared history and whatnot.

You can usually find me on #nes or IOTchat

 

OOC

Territory claims post!

I think I'll be starting just north of you, I'll use some variant of your language - But you go ahead and decide what it sounds/looks like, I'll try to work within your framework. Is that OK for you?

And do you mind if I do some music? What do you think of that?

Claims:



(yes they're fugly. I'll be doing a better post later.)

 

You have my reserved area, and I expect it to remain as such.