Kristoffer's encouragement thread

[okiN]

Eh, I can't help but see it as an attempt to force American history into a game based on a time when American history didn't even exist yet. I do think that a Plains Indian -based nation whose troops have desert/forest survival, plenty of stealth and strong nature, death and fire magic could fit into EA quite well. National Manitou summons etc. could also be used.

[Kristoffer O]

A slavic nation is not unlikely the next one, beside fomoria that is.

I have the general ideas finished, I think, but you might get a PM or two, Borsuk, if you don't mind.

I got the Eliade Encyclopedia of Religion (15 nice volumes) this winter, but it is a bit limited regarding folklore.

Yesterday discovered that there is an encyclopedia of finno-ugric mythology translated to english 2003.

[okiN]

Kristoffer O said:Yesterday discovered that there is an encyclopedia of finno-ugric mythology translated to english 2003.

Score. Can't wait to see Väinämöinen as a national hero.

[HoneyBadger]

I'd be happy to help out with the Slavic mythology research as well. It's something I've been trying to piece together myself (as much as is possible) ever since I became interested in Russian myth, and through that (what there is left of *that* tradition) the rest of Eastern Europe.

[Velusion]

One nation that is really missing is another pure water nation for the Late Age.

In my mind I'm thinking humanoid sharks with a heavy military empire and lots of blood magic... The Red Sea Empire or something like that.

[Edi]

Kristoffer O said:
Yesterday discovered that there is an encyclopedia of finno-ugric mythology translated to english 2003.

That rocks!

Kristoffer, if you intend to pursue something along those lines, feel free to ask me stuff. I have a fairly good grasp of some parts of Finnish folklore, especially our mythology about gnomes, elves and suchlike beings. It's been almost 20 years since I read a good part of one of THE primary sources on the subject (written sometime in the 40s or 50s when there were still a lot of old folks who remember that stuff alive) for a school project and I've not forgotten all that much of it.

[B0rsuk]

Kristoffer O said:
A slavic nation is not unlikely the next one, beside fomoria that is.

I have the general ideas finished, I think, but you might get a PM or two, Borsuk, if you don't mind.

I wouldn't be offended at all. I can even do some extra research if needed. I have a lot of stuff on my head and mostly lack motivation, not time, to work on it.
I have some ideas that could make the nation a bit more unique, including national spells which probably can't be done without access to source code.
Being a native polish speaker I can understand some websites written in other slavic languages, although those using russian letters are a bit trickier (Still, I was learning Russian several years ago and I can read it somewhat slowly. Ukrainian is easier. My mother finished both ukrainistics and russicistic studies and can be great help.)


Some random thoughts:
- Some kind of huge bear would be very cool and very thematic national hero. Animal Awe, recuperation (bears were believed to heal quickly, not without reason), large standard, sacred, boosted MR to compensate for no leadership and poor slots.
- Some kind of commanders who attract or summon bears, just not as fast as wolves because that would be overpowered.

Wolves, and especially bears are one of very thematic animals for this nation. Bear is national symbol of Russia, to.

Likho (Licho), personification of misfortune I mentioned in Dom2 modding thread... I have a song here by Ukrainska Lira. It's about Bieda (poverty). Lyrics, combined with a legend from my city (Gdansk) lead me to believe that Likho is as much a spirit of misfortune as poverty. I think it is safe to say that eastern Europe and russia, and slavic tribes were often quite poor.
It would be great if it could combine stealth with instill uprising ability and #causebadevents (no such ability).

Don't forget mushroom lore, herbalism and healing. Comparing to other nations, slavic nations still have good knowledge of mushrooms. Looking for mushrooms to eat, alone or with family, is a popular pasttime.

PM me for more thoughts if you have some. If possible, I'd prefer to avoid spoiling too much in public.

Demonology (NOT blood magic, the demons were usually more neutral than evil, and often could be reasoned with or at least tricked) would certainly be one of pros of this nation. Lots of national summons. Forest/Swamp survival. Possibly even global enchantment or immobile freespawns in forest/swamp.

Finally, no one says that the 'slavic' nation has to be a carbon copy of your typical slavic nation ! You can mix any weird ideas as long as it makes the nation interesting and playable. Slavic/Tuareg mix would be crazy :-) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuareg

[okiN]

Funny, many of the charasteristics you mention could easily apply to Fenno-Ugrics as well (Mushrooms and herbalism, forest survival), and they also considered bears to be the most sacred of all animals as they represented ancestral spirits. So this could be reasonably applied to both, with the two nations then having other attributes that set them apart from each other.

[Kristoffer O]

The finno-ugric and especially sami bear cult (together with the intriguingly similar ainu bear cult) is perhaps the most bear-dedicated one. The slavic cult seem less directed towards the bear in particular, and more towards the forest in general, with bears as a symbolic representation.

Bears will probably appear in one form or another.

[okiN]

So, ah... are we feeling encouraged?