Category: Infinite Adventures

The Marsh

This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series The Shamash

Introduction

In the DJ group on FaceBook member Ed Anderson is providing us with information on his Ægyptian campaign. A lot of information as a matter of fact. At the same time we’re also talking about the Shamash of Ærth, a people who are sort of an equivalent to our Jews, though they really are not.

So I’ve decided to provide a history of the Shamash and how events in their past made them different from the people that we know.

The Ljil Mörön

The oldest name for the river that I can find would appear to be “Ljil Mörön”, where it came from I do not know.

The river ends at the Volga Delta, which gives out at the Northwest corner of the Caspian sea. On Ærth the Caspian is a body of water some unknown area in size, unknown because I can’t find the information on the Internet.

The People

In any case it would appear that on Earth and Ærth there were people living in the Volga Delta, among whom were a people who for some reason decided that they could find a better life somewhere else. So sometime around 11,000>, and with the urging of their immediate neighbors, they migrated to the lands west of the delta, a region I can find no information of on the Web. In any case it would appear that they found the life didn’t suit them here so they moved on. As near as I can tell they kept migrating, moving south into and through the Caucasus until they reach the Halys River in what we know of as Central Anatolia. By then they were part of a people we know of as the Hatti, a Circassian speaking people as far as I know, who settled in the northern part of the Halys establishing the city of Hattusha around year 10,000>. The coming of the ancient Hittites and their conquest of Hattusha, which lead to certain Hatti clans fleeing south, will be in the next in this series.

The Duchy d’Falcondonia

Foundation

The Duchy of Falcondonia in Vargaaard on Ærth was established in 125> (Before Atlantl’s Fall, our 875AD) by the court of Charlemagne at the site of a Basque fishing village at the mouth of the Riviere d’Lenape (our Delaware River). For the most part the colonists were from what is now Provence in modern France, with the Atlantl Lenape providing the bulk of the native population. Relations with the natives was good to begin with, and soon the two populations had largely integrated, with Lenape notables providing additional aristocracy and nobility to supplement what the Franks provided. In a few generations contact was made with towns and villages further inland, and it was not long before what is now Eastern Falcondonia had been organized under Frankish rule.

The Lenape and other nations had long ago adopted what was then Frankish culture, and had even gone so far as to integrate Greco-Roman deities into their beliefs. It wasn’t long until the Frankish colonists had embraced the various native spirits and minor deities into their worship and incorporated local rituals and rites. Indeed, stories and myths of Jupiter’s involvement of the creation of the Lenape and Massachusets quickly appeared, and Mercury and Raven were soon gallivanting about pulling tricks, delivering messages, and riling up the weather with their athletic fornication.

Enter the Mohawk

At this time the Mohawk were an independent nation not yet part of the Haunosanee. An aggressive bunch, the Skraeling greatly resent the presence of the Franks in what they considered their territory, and soon the tribe and the new Frankish county were at odds, with both sides taking part in atrocities and crimes. Lenape/Mohawk relations before the founding of Falcondonia didn’t help matters any either. At one point there was talking of Charlemagne himself coming to Vargaard to lead an expedition to crush and extirpate the Mohawk, but dealing with a Saxon rebellion in the eastern part of the Frankish empire made that impossible.

The Æropan Lenape

About a generation after the Franks arrived to establish Falcondonia (c95>) the Atlantl Lenape and allied tribes and clans had decided to join other Lenape ex-patriots already living in the Frankish Empire, most especially in the Loire Valley and the Vosges, where they have pretty much integrated into the local population. In fact their appearance is now large that of the western White, though they are noted for distinctive “Skraeling” traits. In fact they are renown for the quality of their cattle and horses, while the Falcondonian Kentuck are famed for their zebromegas, raised on Kentuck bluegrass.

So There You Have it

That is a brief look at the Falcondonia of Ærth’s Vargaard. Soon, I hope, I’ll be presenting a look at the early relations between Falcondonia and the early Haunosanee.

I Could Afford This

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Source: Shop – Apple Desktops – iMac – 20-inch – Mac of All Trades

But I just thought I’d ask for sponsors. You can make donations through the link to the right.

Aerth is not Earth

That is one thing you do need to be aware of, the world of Ærth is not our Earth. It has a different history, it has a different structure. Heck, to some extent it has a different physics which allows for things we can’t have. And one important difference lies in just how long the New and Old Worlds have been in contact.

In our case contact between the two worlds goes back some 1,000 years, to the arrival of the Norse in what is now Canada. On Ærth it happened about 5,000 BAF (Before Atlantl’s Fall), our 4,000 BC. People have just had a longer time to get used to the idea, and to move around from world to world more often and with greater facility.

Falcondonia in Vargaard for example started off as a Frankish colony around  125 BAF (our 875 AD), around the time of Charlemagne. At present she is a French duchy, though she amounts to a grand duchy and is in negotiations for independence and the status of monarchy. Which means that Pequot and Massachusetts nobility are part of the Parisian court, with the royal family having Wyandot relatives.

As a result the various populations are more mixed than they are here, and that the Skraelings (as they’ve chosen to call themselves) actually have a greater population and greater power. 

Recently Iroukia took in British and Tuatha immigrants with the decision of the French government to expel those populations then living in Falcondonia. In fact, the Tuatha are now one of the nine lodges of the Haudosanee, and the British are petitioning to become the 10th. As you can see, it’s not your Earth.

So keep this in mind as I write more on Ærth.

Iroukia

Haudenosaunee

Source: Iroquois – Wikipedia

The people we call the Iroquis are known on Aerth as here on Earth as the Haudenosaunee. On Aerth they are made up of some 9 nations, incorporating the Shawnee, The Tobaccoo, and the Tuatha of Eire (recent migrants from Hibernia). “Iroquis” is a French word of dubious origin. With “Iroukia” being adopted as a name for the federation as a way for the Haudenosanee to poke fun at the French. Much the same rationale as the adoption of the Norse “skraeling” as the Vargaardians name for themselves as a whole.

Government is by council, starting with village councils and working on up to tribe, nation, and federation. The chief nation among them are the Seneca (Onondaga as near as I can tell) who were among the first members of the federation. Corrections are welcome.)

Iroukia is a strong state, on good terms with Cherokia to the south-east, and hostile relations with Falcondonia to the east. There are reports of skirmishes with the Dakota to the west and the Cree to the north, but those have yet to be confirmed.

Iroukia also has a sizable Eire and Brython minority, owing to the French expulsion of those peoples from Falcondonia some centuries before. In particular the Tuatha de Danaan of Vargaard are now a member nation of the Haudenosaunee. The Mohawk, another lodge, take great glee in referring to the Tuatha as their “Token Whites”.

Next up a post on Falcondonia, after a bit of research.

On the Egypt

I think that the word “Egypt” comes from the Classical Greek for “Black Land”. The people themselves called themselves the Qm, from which we get the Hebrew “Khem”, as in the “Khemites” or the people of Khem. What the Qm called themselves I don’t know.

Note that “Black Land” refers to the color of the soil, a rich black or dark brown from the sediments left after the floods. The Qm themselves were a white people by and large, with the important ones given a reddish hue in their art. In Mythus Gary decided to make them a red skinned people, though of a different shade from the Atlanteans and the Vargaardians/Amazonians. Just though I’d mention it.

Confusions

Over in the DJ group on FB we’re currently having a look at Ægyptian mythology. Well, Egyptian mythology actually, but it amounts to the same thing. At present Ed Anderson and Alex Nuta are talking about their sources, and about the sources Gary Gygax used. I think Ed has mentioned something like 5 different mythologies, of which two are his own. Which reminded me of Hindic Mythology, where all those gods are found in different pantheons and are involved in different myths. If you think Star Trek continuity is a pain, try Egyptian.

Now picture a bevy of hawk headed figures looking down on an Egyptian, with one asking, “We’re all named “Horus”, could you specify?”

So Ed and Alex are working on source books on Ægyptian myth, would you be interested?

Just keep in mind that we’re talking about life here, and life is going to be confusing.

Some People

A former business manager for late Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee was arrested Saturday in Arizona on charges including elder abuse, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Source: Stan Lee’s former manager arrested on elder abuse charges

Some people just have to control the lives of others. Most especially the lives of those they have been put in charge of. Said abuser was just a common bigot and convinced that he was better than Stanley. Though I suspect that it was fear of growing old and dependent on others himself that shaped his behavior. Just remember that one day you may well be old yourself and in need of assistance. And that the old are still worth your consideration.

Have You Considered?

That yes, they are games, but they have damn all to do with role playing. You can role play in one, but that’s not really what they’re for. What they are for is achieving goals, the role playing is just something you can do but don’t really have to. Your play can be entirely mechanistic, emoting is entirely something else.

My experience in this matter goes back to 1976, when my prestidigitator (now a word) character found himself faced with a dragon. Knowing I was out matched I backed off. The greatly amused dragon let him go, knowing full well that a 1st level MU was just no challenge. (Then there was the fact the DM playing the dragon was greatly amused.) A bit later I talked a balrog into almost killing the dragon for me (I lied outrageously), which lead to my PC getting tons of loot and 8 7th level dwarven henchmen (different mechanics concerning henchmen back in those days).

My experience was, it matters more how you handle a situation than what you can handle. And that your goal is really to amuse the guide.

Years later I read about an encounter in the adventure Necropolis for Mythus. (Spoiler) The encounter involved a demon driven insane by long incarceration by the big bad in a room in a crypt. Said demon really had no trouble taking care of the party, but he was more interested in using them to stymie his foe. So he told them how they could escape, and what they needed to do to defeat the villain Rahotep. Note that they could escape his room, he just couldn’t.

From these two incidents I learned that you can handle matters differently, and that how you handle things can profit you. You have more tools than just your weapons, and more alternatives than just mindless violence. And I first learned this when I was 20, an age when boys are nitwits by and large. To put this simply, this is why I much prefer to treat them as guides to adventure, because that’s really what they are. Adventure Guides is what I’d rather call them, for in my experience treating them as such works a lot better than insisting on them as games.

So use your initiative and be flexible. You’re there to have fun, not to slavishly follow some thoughtless regulations.

Unrelated

I’m getting close to 3,000 subscribers to this blog. But seeing as they are excessively shy they haven’t told me why. What the heck am I doing right?

Back in the Office Chair Again

The fellow’s name is Ed Anderson. I know him through Facebook, but he doesn’t appear to have a web site of his own. Ed is the guy who has encouraged me to get back to work on the Dangerous Journeys SRD. At the moment I’m making progress on the Persona chapter, having gotten up to the start of the section on determining statistics. There is tons more to do, and it will get done. If you feel like helping you can make a donation using the button just below.

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They would help with my getting an iMac, which is designed for artistic types like me. Expect the Persona chapter to get posted here soon.

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