I haven't done much with Nippon, but since someone will likely be taking over that area soon, I figured I'd put what I do have here. My notes are scattered all over, so don't expect a very consolidated presentation at this time. Take what you want, ignore the rest.
Most of these elements were developed in conjunction with my work on Baena, an ancient Oeridian kingdom in the western Sulhauts.
- Ensadia: Nipponei word meaning 'an appearing, appearance'. Most commonly translated as 'appearing', it is sometimes rendered 'appearance' or 'brightness'.
- Gamaei: A great Nipponei (actually, Sakurian) general and conqueror. His campaigns took as far north as present-day Risay.
- Histroica by Veliscous: A historical text, a portion of which refers to the ancient state of Ensaed.
- Sakurians: A Nipponei people, at least culturally. The Sakurians rose to power under their great general Gamaei. With his death, the empire splintered into various factions. However short-lived the Sakurian state was, Gamaei's campaigns served to spread Nipponei cultural influence far beyond his homeland in the south.
- Soltepius: The Nipponei name for Sotillian, tied to the chalice (a 'rhyton') found at Ensaed and her orange flying tiger.
- Stroices: The Nipponei name for Strasal, the first king of Baena.
- Thrasis: A historical text by an as-yet undetermined author.
- Urnir: A name for ancient Komal found in a Nipponei historical text, called The Chronicle.
- Veliscous: The Nipponei historian and author of Histroica, a portion of which refers to the ancient state of Ensaed.
- Voln: The Nipponei name for Velnius.
- Yawak: Central Oerik. It is the same in Baklunish, where yawak can be derived from the root sya:w, meaning "black".
Last edited by ephealy on Tue Jun 26, 2007 4:13 am; edited 1 time in total
Nipponei historian, author of an important Histroica that describes the rise of the Suel Imperium.
Veliscous was born at the moment when the Suloise had defeated RIVAL and started to focus on Nippon. His family played a role in the resistance, and after 1938 BH (-722 CY), he was brought as a political prisoner to the Suel capital, where he lived for eighteen years. There he was introduced to the cultural circle of the family of the XXX, and he accompanied XXX on his campaigns to the Amedio and beyond.
Moreover, Veliscous made some voyages himself. For example, he crossed the XXX Mountains to find out how XXX had invaded the Suel heartland, and sailed along the coast of western Hepmonaland. All this gave him an excellent knowledge of the inside dealings of Suloise politics, which make his Histroica one of the most important sources for the study of the rise of the Imperium.
Because later generations did not appreciate the Nipponei language of the age of Veliscous, he never became a "classic" author, and a great part of the Histroica is now lost.
Histroica or The Rise of the Suel Imperium
period covered: 1883-1961 BH
I'm wanting to take a crack at Nippon if no one else has dibs on it. I'd be using the founding myth from my Eye of the Kraken postfest submission and some other information I'd worked on prior to that. I'm not opposed to using some Japanese elements in describing the culture (No frikkin' ninjas!) but would best summarize my vision of Nippon as an equatorial neutral evil sea-faring militaristic feudocracy with a refined culture and exceedingly baroque architecture. Think Japanese social structure, Melnibonean ethics, and Lovecraftian + Javanese art and architecture. Plus the whole malenti/sahaugin bloodline thing.
Using the legend underpinning your eye of the kraken sounds intriguing. In essence, then , you'd be tying the ruling class of the Nipponei to a malenti bloodline, one that can be traced back to a royal sahuagin dynasty?
I'll admit to being very unfamiliar with the malenti. I don't have access to Races of War, which I'm told has some information on them. That said, I'm assuming they have the same racial traits as their sahuagin brethren, they just look like aquatic elves.
Have you given any thought as to how this would have affected the government structure and policies of the Nipponei? Or would the "malenti gene" show up occasionally in one of the nobles, accounting for many of the nobility's "black sheep?" In other words, to what extent would the malenti heritage have influenced the predominantly human ruling class?
Would you assume that most of the general populace is human? If so, would they be related to any of the nearby cultures? Would we be looking at ties to the Suloise, Zahindi, or Suhfang? A combination of the three?
Kraken worship could have some interesting implications. Is it widespread, or just the official cult of the nobility?
I guess I'm saying "Run with it and see what you come up with." Post some brainstorming ideas and let's turn up the heat. Something interesting is sure to pop out.
I'm wanting to take a crack at Nippon if no one else has dibs on it.
I think that is great as are your ideas. I also think collaboration is important with respect to development of adjacent areas, such as Zahindia, Slith, Xamaclan, etc.
Actually, I was rather thinking of developing Zahindia somewhat in isolation, just somewhat. Mostly, I just did not want too much cultural mixing between Zahindia and Nippon. Some, but not too much. Here is the idea I am going with:
The Sea of Nippon is filled with storm giants. These were origially located there as part of the war between the Wind Dukes (probably one in particular, but I haven't figured that out yet) and the Queen of Chaos. Woesinger could probably give some good ideas on this but the presense of these giants do a couple of things. They explain a variant of the Suel-Anakeri history, that is to say that the Suel tried to invade with a massive navy but were stopped by a wall of storm that exists to this day. Anakeri would be Nippon, which would make the original Kersi from there. It would also explain why Nippon has not invaded Zahindia, desert v. jungle, trade routs v. doldrums, etc.
BTW, for there to be malinti, there has to sea elves nearby, or at least near where the stock originated. What are your thoughts on that? In regards to that, my though was to take adavantage of the color codes of the olman races to include aquatic elves. I did that for an article in in line for the Olman Urakan, but they are far north. Blue=sea elves, Red=Olman, Black=touv. _________________ Plar of Poofy Pants
Since whatever is decided about the Sea of Nippon will directly effect at least two regions (Zahind and Nippon), it's important that those areas' managers come to a consensus about it before too much development goes on.
Whether it's "filled with storm giants," has sea elves, or what have you... it's one issue that the two regions should resolve early.
For my background on the Sea of Nippon and Nippon here are my major bullet points -
- I'm not a big fan of the OJ 1 timeline but I'm willing to use it in the Nippon background if others want to. While I like Wolfsire's Storm Giant background for Anakeri I don't think identifying Anakeri with Nippon is going to work for me because the idea that the Nipponei/Anakersi are "cut off from others entirely" doesn't really work with this exercise and directly conflicts with the Dragon Annual article. Also in my vision the Nipponei are a constant threat (or at least major irritation) to the coastal regions of Zahind in the form of piratical raiding.
- One solution to the above I can think of is placing Anakeri somewhere in between Oerik and Antaria, or in the Ocean of Storms. Why doesn't it appear on the maps? Because it is "cut off from others entirely" so no modern map makers have ever seen it or heard of it other than in vague legends from the Suel. All modern mariners would know is that there is a region of the Pearl Sea or Ocean of Storms that you DO NOT go into because storms will kill you.
- The Nipponei ruling class are not ethnically Kersi though a large part of the lower class are. I explain this below.
- The human element in the bloodline of the ruling class (The prince in the founding myth) are from the area now called the Geitsakura Dominion.
- The ethnicity of the folk in that region is a mix of Suhfang and a people who were possibly the ancestors of, or related to the ancestors the Suel. White skin, light hair basically.
- When the prince and his malenti wives settled/conquered the Nippon isles they brought with them many followers of the prince's folk from the Geitsakura region (Producing a major reft between the two peoples). The nobility amongst these bred with the descendants of the prince and his nine wives producing a geitsakuran/malenti noble caste. Those without noble blood became a military/bureaucratic caste, sort of a middle class. The conquered Kersi folk became a serf caste, which has been supplemented over time by captives from many other races/nations to produce a racially homogeneous serf population.
- My idea of the cultural mixing between Nippon and Zahind would pretty much consist respectively of "We raid your coast for slaves and booty" and "We kill you if we catch you raiding our coast." How's that?
- In line with what I've outlined above with the founding myth I'm thinking there should be a good number of sahuagin along the coast of Geitsakura (probably in the south) along with some sea elves. I can see this being an area of collaboration between Wolfsire and I what with all his work on the sea elves in the Azure Sea, or they could be totally unrelated.
- With all my talk about Geitsakura, and considering it was conquered by Nippon, I guess I'm volunteering to take that area on also.
- One thing we need to consider -- who/what the heck are the Dragon Kings? Maybe some ancient bronze dragons?
For my background on the Sea of Nippon and Nippon here are my major bullet points -
- I'm not a big fan of the OJ 1 timeline but I'm willing to use it in the Nippon background if others want to. While I like Wolfsire's Storm Giant background for Anakeri I don't think identifying Anakeri with Nippon is going to work for me because the idea that the Nipponei/Anakersi are "cut off from others entirely" doesn't really work with this exercise and directly conflicts with the Dragon Annual article. Also in my vision the Nipponei are a constant threat (or at least major irritation) to the coastal regions of Zahind in the form of piratical raiding.
This is consistant with my idea. "Cut off from others entirely" would be an exageration by the Suel, becuase they could not conquer. Thetr would be trading and pirating, but a large navy would get wiped out. IMO, this would encourage piracy, which for role playing is a good thing.
The lands even farther south should also be considered. _________________ Plar of Poofy Pants
Suel propaganda. That's an interesting idea. Funny, usually I'd go with that kind of thing but in this instance I really like the idea that AnaKeri was totally cut off from the world by a magic wall of wind and water. It would make a great scenario IMO, having players somehow get through to this strange land.
But back to Nippon. When the First High King (the prince of the story) died the kingdom (3 main islands and a large number of smaller ones) was split up into 9 kingdoms -- one for the eldest son of each of the 9 malenti Queens, with the eldest son of them all as High King having having at least nominal control over the whole thing. Of course the actual degree of control held by High Kings has varied throughout the kingdom's history with recent High Kings having a great deal of control and central authority, thus the Geitsakuru Dominion.
So here is my idea about Slith. It is the easternmost of the 3 islands and was once made up of 2 kingdoms. There were ruins located there of a yuan-ti civilization. At some point one of the two kings, delving into arcane knowledge acquired from yuan-ti survivors, forsakes the worship of the Grandmother of Krakens and starts worshiping Merrshaulk, rebelling against the High King and his fellow kings. He conquers the neighboring kingdom on the isle and founds the Kingdom of Slith whose inhabitants begin mixing with yuan-ti. This would probably have happened some time ago and the Slith and Nipponei have been at each others throats since then although they both find time to raid the coasts to the north. It sounds like you've done some work and thinking on the Slith too. Does this mesh at all with what you've got?
c –110 CY Fundamental Thought and Sincere Assertion, mist dragons, arrive at the seven islands later known as the Mist Kingdom, fleeing the Hydranian Isles. Torhoon-Kersi nobility drive north into Urlaash.
The date is canon for the dragons, but my though was to connect the Dragon-Kings and Torhoon in Nippon with the canon description of the tall black people of the southern Sea of Dust, which I have designated as Torhoon. I do not know if it works for what you had in mind, but I think it would be cool to have your malenti nobility drive out the Torhoon and Mist Dragons. My though was that there would be various dragons not just mist.
What I have recently discovered is that Coiled Dragons, similar to those of the Far West, also inhabits the Far South. Few captains have braved the voyage beyond the Densac Gulf, due to the regular monsoons and numerous sea monsters along the eastern Coast of the Amedio. However, it has happened more than once and been documented. There the Vohoun Ocean is dotted with many island chains inhabited by dragons, the Coiled among them. Some are even of purple hue. There is even a body of water there of interest within an empire of the so-called Nipponese people, who apparently are culturally related in some degree to the far western Bakluni. It is called the Sea of the Dragon Kings, reminiscent of Dragons Island.
I wrote a little bit on an island chain betwixt and between Nippon (Ni'hon), Zhindia, and Hepmonaland. It was boosted to Greychat piecemeal years ago, and never really went anywhere. Not sure if it'd be useful, but here's the first part, and I've got 9 islands written up (more or less).
Mhajapor Archipelago
Various claims to royal titles and leadership exist
Capitol: (largest city): Mhaja (pop. 23,000)
Population: 80,000 +
Demi-humans: Few
Humanoids: Few to none
Resources: Food, water, rare woods, spices, furs, jade, rare stones.
Geography
The Mhajapor Archipelago lies 600 miles south-west of the Olman Isles, 350 miles east of the Amedio coast, and 1,000 miles west of Hepmonaland, ideally positioned to control the trade between the northern seas of the Flanaess, the western shores of Hepmonaland, and the coral seas of Ni'hon and Zhindia in the far west. Over the centuries, it has felt the footprints of Olman refugees, Suel invaders, Zhindian merchants, and Ni'honese pirates.
The archipelago contains 3 major islands over 75 miles in length, a score between 10 and 50 miles long, and countless volcanic peaks, coral atolls, and shallow sand spits visible only at the lowest of tides. Indeed, the only unifying feature of these smaller islands is their lack of fresh water -- a fact that renders them useless, and thus uncharted and ignored -- save by the pirates who make their lairs among them.
The makeup of the various isles differs depending on the locale. The southernmost, and smallest, isles are coral atolls and sand spits. These have no mineral wealth, little or no fresh water, and only isolation to recommend them.
The central isles, in a band running from east to west, are the remnants of an ancient plateau, sinking back into the ocean from whence it once arose. These islands are of limestone, sandstone, and other sedimentary rock. Marble and precious stones are often found on these islands, and most support a flourishing ecosystem and human population. They have extensive cave systems above and below water and flourishing coral reefs and sea life, with the attendant dangers. Ni'kiowa, Quihochica, and Xeochan are of this type.
Finally, intersecting the mountain peaks at Ni'kiowa is an arc of fire, a north-south series of volcanic vents and peaks that form the backbone of Dhonai, Radamalya, and the Treasure Isle of the Dragon King. Exotic minerals and gemstones are sometimes found in these lands, though rarely in any quantity. The chief asset of these islands is their fertile soil, which supports a diversity of plant and animal species found nowhere else in Mhajapor.
People and Races
Mhajapor has always been a melting pot of peoples, languages, and cultures. The oldest recorded race still present on the islands are the Olmans, who first arrived at least twelve-hundred years ago (though the majority of their population did not arrive until a few hundred years later.) The Olman make up 40% of the archipelago's human population, and are considered the native people. The Olman pantheon is still the predominant religion of these peoples.
Just under nine-hundred years ago, the Amedi (Suel tribesmen from the Amedio jungle) arrived by outrigger, fleeing the continued eruptions of the Hellfurnaces. Most of these were immediately enslaved by the Olman, and the only trace of these peoples today is in the physical appearance of the "Olmedi" of the northern islands, and the worship of Xiarteotl / Xerbo and Osprilicue / Osprem as the god of the sea and the goddess of the waves, respectively.
Pirates, outlaws, merchants, and fishermen began arriving from Zhindia six hundred years ago, as that region recovered from the horrors inflicted upon it in the dying years of the Suel Imperium. 40% of the region is still wholly or part Zhindian, and worship of the Nine-Hundred Guardians is the dominant religion of the "civilized" (a.k.a. non-Olman) Mhajaporians.
Finally, Ni'honese began appearing in the islands three hundred years ago, largely fishermen and pearlers seeking better grounds than their traditional homes. This influx strengthened two hundred years ago with the arrival of the daimyo Shuutogo. Since then the flow of immigrants has been low but steady, mostly dissidents and outlaws driven out of the Sea of Ni'hon by the authoritarian rulers there.
Demi-humans are not common in the islands. Olves, dwarves, and halflings are not native to Mhajapor, but gnomes control a few eastern islands and the northern arc of Dhonai, where few harbors exist for the pirate captains. The islands of Dhonai and Ni'Kiowa are also home to river spirit folk, and the oceans shelter small enclaves of ocean spirit folk.
History
The earliest known mention of the Mhajapor Archipelago comes from a fifteen-hundred year old reference in an accounting book kept by the Undersecretary of the Secretary of Trade, Wealth, Prophecy, and Omens in the court of the Dragon King in the Year of the Dancing Fox, in which he(?) makes note of a gift of jade from "the isles of the first light". Additional notation places these "dawn islands" near the location of the Mhajapors, and indicates that the jade was to be the first of several gifts from an unnamed personage of the isles to the Dragon King Emporer of Ni'hon. These later gifts went unrecorded, however, and may never have arrived as rebellion seized the Ni'honese lands a year later, plunging the region into anarchy for nearly a decade.
The next written records mentioning the archipelago were kept by the priests and servants of the Olman, and are largely records of business dealings within the growing Olman population and lurid accounts of celestial omens and battles between the Olman pantheon and the deities of a cannabalistic race of fiends (the few surviving pictorial representations of these fiends portray them as dark-skinned humans with gigantic claws and teeth, and usually in the process of eating captured Olman warriors.)
These accounts fade in later centuries, only to be replaced by similar tales of feuds between the traditional Olman priests and a reptile cult. These records, are, if anything, even more illegible and broken than the earlier ones, due partially to deliberate defacement and partially to the apparent decline of literacy and education among the populace in general. At this point in time, the snake-cultist begin keeping detailed records of their progress in abolishing the ancient Olman pantheon from the archipelago, and they seem to be on the very brink of doing so -- when all records cease. Oral tradition maintains that the last High Priest of the Olmans cast out the snake-cult, and conspiciously, there are no poisonous snakes or large constrictors on the northern islands even today.
Do you have anything more on the 900 Guardians? I had been working on the Zahindian gods some, but it is a dreadful project.
Are the islands you detailed on this draft map? I did my best to include all isles referenced in canon. AFAIK, it is the only map that include both Slith and the Isle of Dread. I was surprised to find them so close.
It it worth pointing out again that the big isle between the Amedio and Hepmonaland really needs to be developed. See http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=2596&sid=fb3aff345aabd959585aec78d261d86d Those two regions (A&H) have been and that isle is so close to the Flanaess! Scuttle Cove (STAP) is just miles to the west of it on one of the small isles. Because of the lack of reference to it in anything but the old maps, IMO it should be a low impact culture. These isles as your describe might fit the bill for some of the isles surrounding it.
Based on your numbers, it looks to me like your isles would be between the big isle and Tamoachan, closer to the later, and small enough that they would not be much more than dots. What do you think about moving them south east some, south or west of the the big isle?
BTW, in case anyone is interested, I am not stuck on any of the geography on the Vanian Peninsula, if that is what it is called. I just needed a place filler. _________________ Plar of Poofy Pants
I don't think identifying Anakeri with Nippon is going to work for me because the idea that the Nipponei/Anakersi are "cut off from others entirely" doesn't really work with this exercise and directly conflicts with the Dragon Annual article. Also in my vision the Nipponei are a constant threat (or at least major irritation) to the coastal regions of Zahind in the form of piratical raiding.
Another point in relation to this. I have always assumed that Anakeri was that big continent Australia-like island far to the south that on Rick's map where he includes the area of Antaria. While I have no problem with the Kersi possibly coming from there (although there are good reasons to reject that notion), I have a major problem with the Suel trying to invade it. It is just too big and too far away. Nippon is much more realistic in those regards, and for the practical reason that it and/or nations on the Vanian Penensual would be the sea power in the region. _________________ Plar of Poofy Pants
Do you have anything more on the 900 Guardians? I had been working on the Zahindian gods some, but it is a dreadful project.
The Nine-Hundred Guardians are a nod to an idea Roger Moore posted on the Greyhawk/AOL board centuries ago. In essence, the RoCF weakened the planar barries in the Zhindia region, allowing easy travel to and from the ethereal plane. The nine-hundred guardians are 900 (or so) powerful mortals who have taken up the role of defending the region from these intrusions. I imagine the 900 are essentially (very)advanced petitioners on the ethereal plane that guard planar portals from the fiendish planes to the ethereal plane, and watch for ghosts and other ethereal threats. They are worshipped as a collective rather than individually.
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Based on your numbers, it looks to me like your isles would be between the big isle and Tamoachan, closer to the later, and small enough that they would not be much more than dots. What do you think about moving them south east some, south or west of the the big isle?
They should be around or near that big central isle, actually. I don't have the map I worked off of handy, but that's essentially where I envisioned it.
The Nine-Hundred Guardians are a nod to an idea Roger Moore posted on the Greyhawk/AOL board centuries ago
Any shortcuts on how to find that info direct?
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They should be around or near that big central isle, actually. I don't have the map I worked off of handy, but that's essentially where I envisioned it.
Very cool! The info you provided rocks and if you can add to it by working it into new regional analysis with the STAP and anything that might come about for the big and other isles, that would be way cool. BTW, check out Summer Breeze. _________________ Plar of Poofy Pants
Nope. It's probably in one of the old folder logs, but I don't know which one. I'll try and remember to check around for it sometime. I don't think it was very developed, and 9/10ths of what I wrote above is probably my spin on his idea, not his actual idea.
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Very cool! The info you provided rocks and if you can add to it by working it into new regional analysis with the STAP and anything that might come about for the big and other isles, that would be way cool. BTW, check out Summer Breeze.
STAP=Savage Tide Adventure Path, I have not finished reading it but apparantly there is a good sized pirate city in the nearby pirate isle, just west of the big isle.
Suel propaganda. That's an interesting idea. Funny, usually I'd go with that kind of thing but in this instance I really like the idea that AnaKeri was totally cut off from the world by a magic wall of wind and water. It would make a great scenario IMO, having players somehow get through to this strange land.
I beat ya to Anakeri by about I dunno 10 years+. I developed the area YEARS ago. I called it Antaria and the continent was held in stasis for nearly a century and only recently appeared back on Oerth. It never left really but time there was stopped, meaning all natural disasters never occurred! The continent was held in place by a lich named Hazeroth (imc this guy was the equivalent of Zagig in his mortal years in spellcasting).
The files can be downloaded at my old geocities site till I port them over to my greyhawkonline site. They can be found at the following link: http://www.geocities.com/duicarthan.geo/antaria.html
I'll post more on this later as I have that project on the backburner for a bit, till I catch up with everything else. =P _________________ Cheerz,
-Rick "Duicarthan" Miller
Editor-in-Chief, Oerth Journal
http://www.oerthjournal.comhttp://www.greyhawkonline.com/duicarthan
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