Dominions 3 lore and nation backgrounds !

[thejeff]

I've understood it as the original catastrophe took place after Ermor conquered much of the world, (Ulm, Sauromatia, Marveni, etc.) The empire collapsed but the Thaumaturgs were able to reign in complete destruction, using Death magic to hold Death at bay. All the nations (Ulm, Marignon, Pythium, etc) affected by Ermor's fall form in the middle age, while Ermor is still holding on by a thread.
Then the Thaumaturgs lose control, everybody dies and we have Ashen Empire.


I don't think they got switched. It wouldn't make sense for MA Ermor to follow LA. Everyone is dead.

Back in Dom2, before the concept of Eras, Broken Empire was the default and Ashen Empire a optional theme. The concept then was that either the Thaumaturgs had managed to keep control or they hadn't.

[Edi]

Originally Posted by thejeff

I've understood it as the original catastrophe took place after Ermor conquered much of the world, (Ulm, Sauromatia, Marveni, etc.) The empire collapsed but the Thaumaturgs were able to reign in complete destruction, using Death magic to hold Death at bay. All the nations (Ulm, Marignon, Pythium, etc) affected by Ermor's fall form in the middle age, while Ermor is still holding on by a thread.
Then the Thaumaturgs lose control, everybody dies and we have Ashen Empire.


I don't think they got switched. It wouldn't make sense for MA Ermor to follow LA. Everyone is dead.

Back in Dom2, before the concept of Eras, Broken Empire was the default and Ashen Empire a optional theme. The concept then was that either the Thaumaturgs had managed to keep control or they hadn't.

Correct. Broken Empire and Ashen Empire/Soul Gate were alternate timelines. The Dom3 type progression was not in the cards the way it's now there.

The only way Broken Empire could work as LA Ermor would be hundreds of years later as a nation that is trying to rebuild and repopulate the ruins of Ermor.

The history discussion links I posted earlier link to posts where the progression of eras and their relation to the original themes is discussed and Kristoffer himself has some comments on the issue.

Thematically Ashen Empire belongs in the Middle Era.

[Squirrelloid]

the name Agartha (probably Agartta actually, its the more common spelling) may be indian, but the concept is very much western European/American at the point it becomes mythologically significant, at least as far as I'm aware.

So, going back to ~17th century, this idea that the world was hollow, and there was something inside you can visit, started to become popular among certain alchemists and other occult thinkers - and these were often men of science and learning as well. The idea may preceed Hailey's description of the earth's magnetic field as being plausibly caused by the earth being a series of shells one inside the other that rotate somewhat independently, but certainly when misinterpreted that statement creates the idea of independent worlds nested within one another. (Its actually a pretty accurate description when not misinterpreted).

Fast forward to the 19th century and there were a large number of pseudo-intellectuals in the US (and probably Europe) who believed in a Hollow World. To some of them, Agartta was the civilization who lived on the inside (and was generally endowed with mystical powers or advanced science - any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic after all). Now, how you *got* to the inner world is where the association with teh Himalayas comes in. I don't know if Agartta was specifically used by those people who believed an entrance existed in the Himalayas or not, but certainly the Himalayas and a few choice other locations (both poles) were given by various adherents as the entrance to the inner world. Basically, anywhere sufficiently inaccessible that it couldn't be disproven (at that point).

So that's where Agartha comes from.

[Wrana]

Yes, maybe Broken Empire could be just an alternate nation in MA. But it would be too similar to both Ashen Empire Ermor & Emerald Empire Pythium to make it a separate faction like Vanheim/Helheim.
And LA Pythium, Marignon, Ulm descriptions said about a victory over Ermor as thing of the past...