Musings of a Canadian Nierite. . .

My general view of Cancerese military tactics would be the Nierites forming the core of any given armie–they hold the line against any attacking force–while supported by Sarishan and Nerothian specialist troops like archers and slingers. Meanwhile, both those other groups would use their magics to create waves of canon fodder to smash the enemy and drive them into the pikes/swords/javalins of the Nierites, and the Nerothian Knights would battle their Milandesian equivalent, raising the dead wherever they can to sow chaos ‘behind the lines’.

This is a good point, the only issue being that the factions within Canceri are far from harmonious. For large, existential threats (i.e. invasion by Milandir) the church would certainly push for the Nierites, Nerothians and Sarishans to play nice with each other, but there are many skirmishes in which the Nierites at least would be without support from the other groups. I don’t think there is much evidence of the Nerothians or Sarishans engaging in military operations by themselves.

The example that immediately comes to mind is Leonydis val’Virdan, and the eventual creation of Erduk. While he was said to have been granted power from Nier himself (true or not), the fact is that the Nierites did conquer huge swaths of Onara before eventually being overthrown.

So, I’ve been listening to a lot of history podcasts lately owing to my lack of actual ‘sit down and do stuff’ time of late, and it got me thinking: How did the world we have present in Arcanis and its cultural practices evolve? How are these different from the real life equivalents of them of which Henry (likely) based some of these practices on? These are the questions which vex me as I write this article in 5 minute segments over the last two days, and I thought I’d bring up a few thoughts I had on these.

First of all, we all know that the current Arcanis setting takes place in the “World of Shattered Empires,” and the general understanding about this is that that Empire refers to the Coryani Empire. As we continue in this universe, I’ve come to the conclusion that—while not necessarily incorrect—that this may not be what the true meaning of this sentence. While the Coryani Empire has shattered somewhat into Altheria, Canceri, Milandir, etc. it still exists. To me, this suggests that the term Fallen Empires would be more appropriate. Where the term “Shattered Empires” is more appropriate, however, is reference to the ‘big three’ of the Empire of Yahssremore, the Eloran Empire, and the First Imperium of Man. For simplicity’s sake, I’m only going to talk about the First Imperium and the successor states of that when I discuss how some of these cultural practices have evolved. After all, I do not feel entirely qualified (nor have enough data) to ponder the thinking of immortal creatures with vampire teeth or human-sized velociraptors.

When the First Imperium of Man fell, we know that ruled an area that encompassed all the areas we basically know about on the map. From the Sea of Yarris in the east to the Dalish Islands in the west (likely), from the lands that are now Khitan (and possibly the former Auxunite lands of the Fiendish Expanse) to the north to at least Dar Zhan Vor in the south (possibly as far as the Western Lands and beyond). When this empire fell, humanity suffered a dark age that lasted for a full 1770 years (at least, as far as the Coryani are concerned). During this time a number of successor states hacked off chunks of this former landmass, with it seems that the Valinor known as the Sleeping Emperor hacking off the largest chunk for itself and its followers in the north-west of the continent. For almost 3000 years to follow, the empires form and fall, all while the languages of man split from Altharen and the cultures of humanity move away from one another.

One of these cultures is that which took hold in Milandesia sometime in the 1300 years or so between the fall of the Imperium and the rise of the Milandesian League (a league of city states which occupy most of modern Milandir and Almeric). During this time the Milandesians developed their culture which to our eyes looks like a more idealized version of the medieval European feudalism which took hold in our world in the thousand or so years following the fall of Rome. As that Empire (at least its western half) also could be said to have shattered, this seems like an interesting point to begin comparing.

I’ve discussed the Milandesian Pact of Oaths before in a previous article, so I won’t go too much into it. Effectively, it is a complex network of oaths made between a lord and their vassals for protection, taxation, and service where both have responsibilities to the other. This is not altogether different than our own world and what sprang up following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. In the case of Rome, when it split into its Western and Eastern halves, for a number of reasons the Western Empire started to lose its ability to defend itself. In order to help protect its territory—mostly from German ‘barbarian’ tribes—the Roman leaders made deals with foreign groups of mostly German tribes for protection. Basically, the Romans would sign a contract where a German tribe (like the Vandals, the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Franks, etc) would take over the administration and protection of a section of the Western Empire and rule in the name of the Roman Emperor. Alas, while many of these Germans did idolize many aspects of Roman culture, they were not Roman themselves and this dividing of the Empire effectively killed it by vivisection as the various German groups started looking out for their own interests rather than remain vassals to the Romans. While this form of vassalage didn’t work out for the Romans, it did set the stage for other ‘contracts’ to be set among the Germans for the protection and governorship of areas, leading to landed nobles who rule their own lands in the name of a higher king, all the way down to the serfs who served them.

Milandesia has many similarities to the above, and many glaring omissions and differences. First and most obvious, in the world of Arcanis most Milandesians are represented by Germanic peoples with a notable inclusion of some Uralic in the form of the people of Eastmarch which is a direct connection between that world and our own. We also know that in Milandir their Pact of Oaths formed to ward off warlords and threats to their lands from an increasingly dangerous world (the fall of the Roman army and the stability it created in our world, and the lack of a unified Imperium in Arcanis). However, there are many differences between the Milandesians of Arcanis and the Germans of our world. Historically, dating back to the 100 BC period or so, the Germans have been known as a warlike people. This is not meant to be a knock against them, but the Germans until even the last century have been characterized by various clans of their people fighting with their neighbours, sometimes as allies of other powers and sometimes not. The Germans—even as late as the modern times—have also been known to be a particularly brutal people when they need to be, with a pronounced flair for coming down harder than they need to on a problem to provide example to those so others won’t do it again. This doesn’t mean they cannot be a philosophical people, but their cultural brutality coloured everything about how Europe navigated their Dark Ages, including being a major influence on the militarization of Christianity leading up to the Crusades.

The Milandesians, on the other hand, are almost disgustingly saccharine in how they deal with their neighbours. While they can be utter demons to their enemies and have a notable martial tradition, there are almost no examples I can think of in Arcanis canon linking them to the Germans of our world in terms of fundamental psychology. They are a defensive people rather than an offensive, with even their invasions being brought about in response to some provocation from their neighbours. While there may have once been fighting between their nobles (similar to what is happening in Almeric in the current storyline), the various ruling families of Milandir are oddly united unlike the Germans in our world (such as the Franks), with very little battle between, say, the Sylvanian ‘clan’ against the Trailian ‘clan’ of Milandesians. Also, while the Germans formed an almost mercenary ‘ruling class’ over former Roman people (eventually merging into our current European peoples of Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France), we have no evidence to suggest that a foreign power came in to rule parts of Milandir as mercenary vassal-lords, but instead that the mutual sets of alliances and feudal responsibilities seemed to materialize out of a rather homogeneous population.

By the same token, we also see a similar trend in the formation of the Coryani Empire some 1770 years after the fall of the First Imperium. As is obvious to I think everyone, Coryan is modelled heavily on the Roman Empire of our world, but as I have said in a previous article, its origin and modus operandi seem to be very different from the Empire, and for much the same reason the Milandesians differ from the Germans of our world. In our world, Rome started as a city state with a king, who eventually overthrew their kings and created an elabourate oligarchy to fill their place. They made war with their neighbours, creating a network of alliances and tributaries in Italy until they found themselves in a (series of) war(s) with another city-state named Carthage. The three generations of conflict with this other power shot Rome into the ‘world stage,’ as they eventually grew in power to become the dominant power in the entire Mediterranean world. As they became more powerful, they made tributaries (and eventually provinces) of all their neighbouring kingdoms in the region in pursuit of more power and wealth, eventually leading them away from their Republican heritage to what is known as the Roman Empire. During this time, Rome’s formation of the empire was characterized by the increased greed of its people for the wealth brought to them from their campaigns and conquests, which many attribute to the erosion of their unity, leading to civil wars which paved the way for Ocativan/Augustus to be proclaimed Emperor.

This genesis (while criminally circumscript) is vastly different to what lead to the formation of the Coryani Empire. Like Rome, the Coryani Empire began it’s life as a small city state in an almost pastoral area of the world. Originally the First Imperium town of Midea Tridueae, following the fall of the Imperium it became home to the last members of the val’Assante’ family who were, next to the Emman, the most hated of the val’Virdans of the Theocracy of the Cleansing Flame. Over almost 2000 years before the foundation of their Empire, they were but one of a number of city states eking out an existence among the ruins of their more fabulous forebearers. There are references of conflicts between these city states, but unlike Rome there is no textual evidence to support that the Coryani created any elabourate network of alliances to suggest they were a ‘power on the rise’, which was the case of Rome before the Punic Wars. However, like Rome, it was a conflict which catapulted them to stardom on the world stage, but instead of Phoenicians on the other side, it was demons.

When the Time of Terror begun, it appears that Coryan was the only city state in their region to actually withstand the onslaught of the Infernals, thanks to the timely arrival of the person history refers to as the First Emperor of Coryan. With their city saved and secured, they begun to cleanse the world around them of the Infernal invaders, in doing so bringing in their neighbours as allies through liberation. While it has been said that Rome became an empire in its own defence (suggesting that the wars it fought were out of necessity rather than blunt conquest), this phrase is perfect for how Coryan came to power. During this time they brought the lands of Illonia, Balantica, and Milandesia into their sphere of influence as allies and friends, the Altherans were brought in through negotiation, and the Cancerese were brought in through somewhat grudging liberation (note: I am not clear how the southern provinces, as well as Cafela, were brought in, though likely through similar means). While Rome warred with its neighbours, making tributaries first of these people before absorbing them into their Empire, there are only two cases that I can think of where Coryan displayed naked force to bring people into their empire. The first was the ‘Deliverance of Abessios’– which Coryani historians put blame on the Myrantians for starting much as the Romans blame Carthage for the Punic Wars—while the second is the expansion into the Western Lands and the conquest of lands such as Eppion. The Empire also expanded into the Hinterlands and the Western Marches against the wishes of the people who lived there, but there is not much information to detail these conflicts.

Like the Milandesians, the Coryani seem far more pacifistic than their Roman equivalents in our world, which massively colours their world views. While all these groups have martial traditions, the Germans and the Romans both favoured the offense in their wars with their neighbours, while both the Milandesians and Coryani seem to be almost defensive through much of their history. While the Germans and the Romans forced themselves (to one extent or another) on their culture before eventually merging their own cultures with those of their conquests, the Milandesians and Coryani created confederations with their neighbours and (seemingly) actively sought out compromise with their component bits as co-equals.

Looking at history from the Assyrians to the Chinese Dynasties to Rome to British Empire, I can think of almost no cultures in which the formation of their own nations is done with such peacefulness. The few I could rationalize had one thing in common by my view: they all originate from a known cultural source within written and sometimes living memory. The best example of this is the United States of America, which was formed of 13 English colonies with almost identical cultures and identities despite being spread over such a large area. Even the culturally similar Canadians had troubles forming their nation, due in a large part to the differences between the English and French components of what became that country. This, of course, leads me back to the First Imperium.

While people in our world are known to have originated from a common people, our singular origins are lost even to our modern archaeology. Back in the days before widespread writing and histories, this common origin would have been even less well known or believed by the peoples of our world. While all Indo-Europeans in the distant past, the Celts, Italics, Germanics, and Greeks didn’t view themselves as a common people. In all theses cases, these groups developed in near isolation for centuries (if not millennia) before they came back in contact with their sibling cultures, with all common history lost. To a Roman, the Germans were an alien culture. To the Europeans, the Mongols were an alien culture. To the Native Americans, the people of Eurasia and Africa were an alien culture. They shared none of the same gods, they appeared to be different physically, and their ways of life had developed in far different ways.

This wasn’t so for the people of Onara. While the common folk likely didn’t know details, they all grew up in the shadow of the grandness of First Imperium (or the Myrantian Empire, in the case of the Abessian Myrantians). The people—or at least enough of the people—knew that all mankind was once one people, which meant that when the Milandesians came across the Coryani they were more alike than not. Because of the commonalities in heritage, there was less of a fight for dominance between these groups, which meant that their integration was able to happen more easily. After all, they all shared the Pantheon of Man, they all shared languages which were recognizably based on Altharen (with some even still speaking that ancient unifying tongue of man in all cultures), and for the most part they all came from a common genetic stock. While some (like the Cancerese) may have diverged culturally due to the influence of alien powers (like Infernals), the integration of these peoples was done between those who may have had grudges, but all recognized as being scions of the Imperium! Hell, from my reason the only reason the Cancerese were viewed as being such pariah’s during the foundation of the Coryani Empire was because so many of their people actively sided with the Infernals during the Time of Terror, though the history of conflict between the Milandesian League and the Nerothians of Canceri in particular did also leave a fair amount of bad-blood to be sure.

In fact, the few instances of actual aggressive combat between these nations and other humans all seem to occur when the commonalities became less clear. For example, for most of its history the only part of Coryan which truly felt like a conquered people (as opposed to an oppressed people like the Cancerese) were the Myrantians, a group of people who claim heritage (if not genetic lineage) from the ancient Myrantian Empire which fought the First Imperium during those halcyon days. They grew up in a culture with fewer commonalities than the scions of the First Imperium, and when the Coryani Empire clashed with these ‘alien’ people (though they had to have been well known to the people of Onara) they were the ones who were conquered and subjugated. The same is true when the Coryani expanded into the Western Lands and came across the Undir and the Kio, where the cultures of those distinct people were subjugated in comparison to those of Milandir and Canceri. You even saw more prominent antagonism between those of the Known Lands of Onara and those scions of the First Imperium who had developed far away from the Known Lands, such as the Khitani Empire, which lead to two large-scale wars between those two powers. Even the Altherans—who apparently came from a far-away land by flying city before crashing in modern Altheria—had to negotiate their entrance into the Empire rather than risk being conquered like the Abessians were (their knowledge of Blast Powder giving them a valuable bargaining chip for peaceful entrance into the empire as a co-equal, like the Milandesians).

Another possible source of continuity is the existence of the Vals. Throughout the rise and fall of the First Imperium, the Vals were the perpetual noble-class. During the Shadowed Age that followed the fall, they continued to be the perpetual noble-class, with few (known) major empires not having Vals of one family or another among its most prominent leadership. These people were as much relics of the First Imperium (and the Gods) as the ruins which dotted their landscape (especially in the Blessed Lands), and I do not believe these Val families ever let their heritage or the existence of the other families out of their collective knowledge. This means that when the val’Assante’ came across a val’Tensen of what is now Almeric, they were not an alien tribe, but recognizably like them and both scions of the gods. They may vie for power between themselves, but they both recognize each other as kin.

Anyway, I think I’ll wrap up my musings here for now. There are many other avenues of the origin of cultural values that I can go into, but most of them rely far more heavily on the mystical and magical nature of the world than the Coryani and the Milandesians do (the Infernals of Canceri, the steampunk-ness of Altheria, etc), or simply are not known within canon to any great extent (like the Khitani). If we learn more about the Khitani, I can go into how their culture differs from their real world equivalent of China, but it looks like it will be many years before we get a definitive enough history of that land to even begin to see how it is formed.

Addendum to my previous post: I just noticed in the PGTA that we DO know where the current Altherian people were prior to the ‘journey’ of Khafre’: More-or-less modern Salantis and Annonica. In the PGTA it states that the Tenecian Empire was an Altherian Empire that rose and fell due to the coming of the 1st Gift of Althares. According to the Codex Arcanis, the Tenecians were found in the South of Coryan, and the excavation of their ruins is forbidden by the MCoC. The Codex, however, questions this slightly as it says that the Tenecians fell in -120 IC, which is the date of the 1st Gift, implying that it was this gift which led to their fall, not their RISE and fall. As such, the Tenecians may not be the modern Altharians, but one of their conquests as part of the 1st Gift?

I’ve known about the probable Tenecian/Altherian connection for some time. But I hadn’t considered that the ban on digging in Tenecian ruins was because they might threaten the Mother Church. I always thought that they had the potential to alter the balance of power to which ever factions exploited them…your theory is worth consideration.

Henry has stated in multiple places that only the modern timeline is reliably accurate (say since the founding of the Coryani Empire)…that the Tenecian and Altherian timelines don’t perfectly synch up doesn’t mean much. They are roughly congruent which, with what we know as players, is about as close as we confidently get.

As always interesting speculation.

I would not use the val’Hammen as a “typical” data set to extrapolate from. Shadows of the Forsaken Past was an awesome and sometime bizarre adventure that led to the recovery and wide dissemination of Tempered Sarishian Steel. But after time to think it over, I’m not sure that the val’Hammen are still cannon. There are elements from the Sealed Land that changed with editions such as Xabal changing from the Patience of Sarish to the Patience of Illiir…and the bloodline powers of the val’Vasik changing as well. (I believe Henry will tell you Xabal was always the Patience of Illiir but the “objective” and “subjective” information streams got crossed somewhere).

But otherwise much of your speculation is interesting. I personally believe that more than one “founder” was chosen because that makes sense to me … I think the name attached itself after the fact to whoever united the family under “their” name. Since we know that there were more than one family per god (perhaps on a basis of different valinor bestowing blesings) I think we can dismiss the traditional story of “one chosen follower” ie. Tensen (or Virdan or Emman in the case of Nier…).

I also think/agree that initially (while the Gods and Valinor still hanging around) that the Val bred true. We don’t know when that stopped, but if I was running a home campaign I think I would set that time around the point where the gods left.

My guess would be that “Tensen” or “Virdan” or whoever united their faction had the privelledge of naming their “dynasty.”

How about a brief aside about law enforcement in the Coryani Empire?
LOL. Brief?

I agree with you that the Coryani system of law enforcement does not really resemble the system in place during the Roman Republic/transition to Empire. But I don’t think its all that far from the golden age of the Empire. The Republic was a time of great upheaval. On my list* of the 11 major figures of the End of the Republic all but one died of violence (or committed suicide rather than face their captivity/punishment at the hands of their enemies). By comparison, even with the Civil War, Coryan is a beacon of stability.

Also like you I am not wild about the term “Civic Guards” and wish we instead had the Vigiles (mostly concerned with fires at night and riffraff that aren’t bright enough to stay out of their way during their patrols), the Urban Cohort (for dealing with public unrest or apprehending powerful figures) and the Legions (for riot control and quashing other assorted cluster- – – – -). Nobles all have slaves, guards, and clients that act on their behalf. Gangs rule as much of the rest. If I had unlimited scope and was running a home game that’s how I would set it up. Its not my home campaign, and City/Civic Guards are a common trope. Not all writers in the past are interested in deep research of Roman Society (though I am gratified that many good ones are).

We have city guards as an additional “provider” of order in this campaign. I have no doubt they are over-worked, under-paid and superseded by the rich and powerful on a regular basis. Of course there are also ecclesiastical authorities and the boundaries between secular and religious laws aren’t always clear. This can make some situations even murkier…

But what of the Holy Judges? Well, this is still a Holy Champion Order that I grapple with even when playing the game. My personal Character is one of these holy vigilantes…
Here i differ with you. Later you also refer to the Holy Judges as “Batman” or “Daredevil” type figures. I don’t think this is true. (I think that better describes the Twilight Warriors of Cadic who really are vigilantes). Although a Holy Judge no doubt deals with active cultists on the spot, I don’t think they generally assert themselves when there are “proper” secular or religious authorities in place. Instead I believe the role of the Holy Judge is essentially to fight corruption (in religious matters and in civic procedure).

The Path in A:RPG states that they “ensure that divine law is obeyed and that those that follow false or lesser gods do not contaminate the faithful.” That’s important because I think that means an adventuring elorii priest of Belisarda is probably left alone. (Or an Ehtzarta in the wastelands of the Hinterlands). But if one or the other starts trying to recruit converts among the faithful then a Holy Judge should act. That’s the religious side of their role.

The Path also says that “Holy Judges are also highly sought after in passing judgment on more mundane matters in areas and communities where magistrates or other officials are few and far between.” This agrees with the old campaign write ups that say that they are respected by the common people. I think this is because they don’t go in pronouncing summary judgment and enacting flaming decapitation, but actually hold hearings where all sides are heard before judgement. This was seen in one of the modules of the old campaign where a Holy Judge sets up a court to deal with a touchy issue no one wants to deal with and assembles the PCs to be advocates for or against the defendant.

The Path in A:RPG doesn’t explicitly say so, but I believe that Holy Judges should also be concerned with serious cases of Magisterial Corruption.

We have one canon example of a Holy Judge fighting in the Arena of Grand Coryan, ‘judging’ the slaves and criminals who are thrown into that Arena for their crimes. If they survive, than the Holy Judge deems than innocent, and is known to actually set them free of their enslavement and incarceration.
I don’t remember this. There was Father Mayhem in Freeport who operated this way. But he wasn’t working out of the Grand Arena. (And frankly wasn’t on all four corners with MC teachings…not surprising since he was created by Green Ronin not PCI). Can you cite the module where this happens?

On punishment:

Coryan, on the other hand, seems to follow a much more modern sense when it comes to punishment. While we know the Coryani use slaves and execute criminals, these rarely are shown ‘on screen’ in mods. The main reason for this, I’m sure, is that these mods are written to those with modern sensibilities,
Probably true. And I’m okay with this.

* Julius Caesar, Milo, Clodius, Cicero, Pompey, and Crassus were all killed in battle, ambush or assassination. Cato the Younger, Marc Antony, Cleopatra, and Brutus all committed suicide rather than face captivity, humiliation and possible torture. Octavian/Augustus is the *only* major figure who died of old age…though plenty of historians also think he was poisoned in the end by his wife. Put another way, the odd of you dying prematurely and horribly as a leader/major figure in the period is over 90%. Great period to write about. Terrible period to live through.

Why isn’t there more contact?

It has come up in various conversations (both on these forums and off) as to why the people of the Known Lands do not know more about the world around them than they do. For example, despite there being a stable polity in the Coryani Empire for almost 1100 years dominating the area we know as the Known Lands, we still do not know what lies beyond the borders of regions such as Dar Zhan Vor, the City of Golems, and Uggur. Additionally, despite nations such as Coryan and Altheria maintaining strong (or, at least, reasonable) navies throughout these periods, we have no evidence of maritime trade or exploration past the Ssethric territories on the south coast of the Lauriol Sea. If these nations have existed for so long, why haven’t they explored more? Why aren’t there any First Imperium Maps remaining of these additional lands? Why haven’t the populations of these others lands contacted the people of the Known Lands themselves?

As I have explained in a previous essay, one of the main limitations on knowledge in the ancient world are the various barriers which make travel difficult. In that essay I mostly focused on geographic barriers such as lack of methods of travel and inferred physical barriers such as mountains and rivers (specifically to contrast land travel vs. sea travel), but these really only tell half the tale. In fact, looking at our own world, political boundaries often are far more devastating to the passage of knowledge, trade, and exploration than even the most stout of mountain ranges. There have been many times in our own world where knowledge of what lies beyond becomes lost over the eons of isolation. China, for example, was isolated from the rest of the world for thousands of years by four great barriers: The Pacific to the east, the mountains and deserts to the west, the jungles and mountains to the south, and the steppe nomads like the Xiongnu and Mongols to the north. While some of their population managed to travel out of and trade beyond these barriers, China was essentially an island for at least 2000 years until the Han Dynasty braved the Xiongnu steppe empire and helped create what we now know as the Silk Road about the same time as the Civil Wars which ended the Roman Republic.

Moving away from our own world, let us look at the Known Lands which surround the modern Coryani Empire. During the time of the First Imperium, these lands represented only the most eastern (known) provinces of that mighty empire. During this period, it is known that there were mighty forests in what is today Illonia which hampered the travel and exploration of the lands what are now Coryan and beyond, and were even used by the val’Assante’ line later to help protect their scions from death at the hands of Leonydas val’Virdan when they were hidden away in Midea Tridueae (modern Old Coryan). However, in the 1770 years following the fall of the First Imperium and the foundation of the Coryani Empire, the various communication networks which serviced the First Imperium fell into disuse, and ultimately after so long knowledge of anything over the next hill became lost and forgotten. While it is entirely possible that a person born in Cafela may have travelled to the First City during this period, such travels were extremely rare. Even more rare would be officially sponsored trade or exploration missions during this period, as most of the states of the Known Lands were little more than city states at the time, and likely did not have the resources to stage such grand foreign missions when they had purely local concerns to deal with (political infighting, warlords, raiding bands of Yhing Hir horsemen, etc).

Let us now travel to the Known Lands in 33 B.I.C., the just before the Time of Terror which lead to the formation of the Coryani Empire. As of this time, the region which we know as the Known Lands (or the Southern Lands, as the Khitani seem to think of them) contains a number of city states and small nations with the largest known state being that of the Myrantian Hegemony. In the south we have the Ssethregoran Empire, including its colonies on the southern shore of the Lauriol Sea. These lands, together with the equally hostile to human life area of Uggar to the west and south of the Kio-dominated Western Lands, formed a major political barrier to any human occupied nation in this region. Near as we can tell there was no trade existing with either region or nation, and both nations seemed hostile to their human neighbours. While the Ssethrics seem to not directly hamper sea traffic between the Sea of Coryan and the Sea of Yarris, the lack of information of the lands beyond their colonies to the south does suggest that they (or someone else) do hamper exploration beyond that point. This means that the knowledge of what lies beyond has been lost to Known Lands scholars in the previous 2000 years, with the maps likely literally saying “Here, there be dragons.” Uggur seems just as mysterious as the lands beyond Ssethregore, implying that the war bands of Gar, Hyenamen, pixies, or whatever lives in those lands form a miltaristic barrier against any but the most cursory of penetrations into their lands as well.

Moving along the coast of Onara, you find another major barrier to the knowledge of the people of the Known Lands: The eastern Ocean. At this time the ocean is only known to consist of the Gulf of Yarris, the Pale Sea, and the Blasted Sea (also the Lauriol Sea, but that is more of a southern barrier). Any knowledge of the waters or lands beyond that appears to either be lost or was completely unknown even to the scholars of the First Imperium (possibly due to a lack of continents beyond the seas). Further compounding the problem are the presence of hostile naval powers in the form of the pirates which have long haunted the islands of the Blasted Sea and the Pale Sea, and the (Y)Mandrake Black Ships which stalk the waters of the Gulf of Yarris. Without any known lands beyond these waters to trade with or to act as resupply points, there was probably little desire to fund exploratory missions except in coastal waters, even into the more rich and powerful Coryani-era.

Moving to the west, we have even more physical barriers baring exploration and knowledge. Starting in the south you have the lands of Dar Zhan Vor, the former lands held by the powerful val’Emman clan which have since fallen into the hands of ostensibly dark powers. For all the history we have access to following the fall of the First Imperium, no expedition to these lands has survived, with only a few written accounts (such as those presented in the 3.5 Arcanis supplement “Psionics Unbound”) surviving to reach anyone’s eyes and ears. It is known that there are powerful entropic and psionic powers there, with the possibility of the Servants of the Silence even having large and established cities and forces there baring the passage of all but the Chauni people, who seem oddly immune to the predations of the region. Alas, as the Chauni are a secretive people without much love of the common Mandai humans of the Known Lands, not much else can be said of the region. Moving further north, you come across the physical boundry of the Corelathian Mountain range. While not an impenetrable mountain range by all accounts, it is still a major natural barrier that none but he most brave or foolhardy would dare attempt.

Continuing north, you come across the lands which are now Almeric and a small gap of non-hostile terrain which leads into the lands now known as the Blessed Lands. While this pass between the forest of the Elorii and the mountains may seem an easy path of exploration, remember that the Blessed Lands of the era were likely even more harsh and devastated than they currently are. By this point they had suffered almost 2000 years of inattention, which means that bandits, Kurenthe’-derived magical storms, and other threats bared the passage of almost all who wished to travel beyond its borders. This pass is similar to the Gobi desert and the lands of the Gansu in China: An ostensibly easy passage made impassable by the harsh terrain. North of that comes yet another massive barrier, that of the Vastwood and the Eloran nation of Elonbe’. As far as we can tell not even the First Imperium was able to penetrate the guarded woods of the Elorii nations after they followed the words of the Prophetess Ardelia and sought refuge in the blessed woods of Belisarda, and the time after the fall of that empire were no different. While we do have some information about expeditions entering the woods, especially in Sylvania and along Nier’s Spine, there are no known expeditions which have survived more than a few miles into that dark forest.

The final major barrier to the spread of knowledge in the Known Lands was also likely its major source of new knowledge of what lies beyond its borders: That of the wide steppes of the northern lands now called the Hinterlands and the Fiendish Expanse. While it seems confusing to say that it was both a barrier and a conduit, you have to understand the nature of steppe nomads in our history to see how this could work. During the 3,000 years of recorded history between the appearance of groups like the Scythians and the Mongols in our world, the steppes of central Asia (which run from Hungary in the west to Manchuria in the east) was arguably the greatest melting pot in all of human history. These open lands allowed for many different branches of humanity to commingle and allowed for fairly rapid movement of trade goods. However, it was also harsh, which meant that many of the people who lived there were more concerned with survival than with intellectualism and trade. From what we hear, the same is true in Arcanis as it was in our world. The horse tribes which lead to the creation of the Yhing Hir, the Auxunites, the Himmatah Riders, and the ancestors of the Tomal Khan of the First City lived in these lands before the raising of the God’s Wall mountains, trading, raiding, and generally surviving for as long as we have historical records. Every now and again they would form tribal confederacies and empires—such as the mighty Auxunite Empire—but at all other times they seemed content to simply follow their traditions of raiding and trading with their neighbours.

The period before the coming of the Infernals probably was the most successful time for the reconnection of the Known Lands of the east and south and the lands of the Khitani to the west and north. We know that the plains of the north stretched all the way from the northern Khitani province of Haina all the way to the city states of Milandisia, and that for some 400 years they were united by the Auxunite hoards. In fact, following the separation of the west (and north) from the east (and south) in the fall of the First Imperium, this was the first recorded empire in both the known annals of the Khitani and those who would become the Coryani, and likely was the genesis of the trade routes to the city of Censure which are operated by the Zhuan as something of a mirror of our own Silk Road. However, the Auxunites were not known to be a peaceful trading people like the Kushans or even the Persians were in our world, which means that while they bridged the gulf between the east and west of Onara, they did not exactly support the peaceful exploration of their territories. This was further exacerbated by the raising of the God’s Wall in 0 I.C., adding the most formidable of physical barriers to lock off even this one avenue of trade and contact.

Other barriers, of course, exist to further isolate the peoples of Onara from one another. The Fervidus Hills and Aqtau Mountains form a barrier between the Khitani and the Blessed Lands, acting to protect them from the intrusion of outsiders into their mighty realm. This barrier was even strong enough that it dissuaded the armies of Leonydas val’Virdan, though his apparent meeting with the presumed Valinor known as the Sleeping Emperor appears to be what further cemented his withdraw from that former portion of the Imperium. Khitan also seems to have a number of cultural objections to mixing with those of the Coryani-dominated east, such as the political separation of the Val race into the Vals and Uls. Finally, the hostile Sea of Lanterns (and the larger sea beyond it) and the high Khitau Mountains further block the spread of knowledge around the lands guarded by the Khitani. Only now, as the campaign shifts into the ‘middle lands’ (the equivalent of Transoxiana in the Silk Road of our days) of the Blessed Lands do we here of what lies beyond: The Andaii with their strange monotheistic religion, the Hunai tribes and their worship of Belisarda and two other unknown goddesses, the Godless Hoards which may be related to the horsetribes like the Yhing Hir but far more hostile, the Dalish Isles with their traders and strange cultural practices, the ancient Ossarions which may have threatened the First Imperium thousands of years past, and the various city states which now dot the lands far to the west which were once Ossarion or Khitani territories. However, like in the ancient times of our own world, little is known about these places, and their existence is considered to be little more than myths to even the learned of the Known Lands.

While Arcanis does have the Portal of Anshar to help explore, unless you are attuned to a specific portal you typically cannot travel through them. This means that at least modern Ansharans need to explore the lands by foot or ship to locate these far-off portals to add the knowledge of their existence to the greater people. With the fall of the First Imperium, the core of Ansharans who knew the most about these portals either were killed in the purges of the Theocracy of the Cleansing Flame, or likely simply disappeared into their portals to escape the fires of the val’Virdan. This may, indeed, be the genesis of the mysterious Legion of Grim Lamentations, as a matter of fact. Even if the location of these portals were known and there were Ansharans attuned to these portals, it is extremely costly to travel via portal, meaning that their use as avenues of trade and exploration are functionally zero, at least in our modern days. Even the various forms of teleportation magic beyond the portals are significantly limited.

But what about the desire to know? Why don’t the Coryani send emissaries to Khitan and spread that knowledge to all the peoples of the world? I once again ask you to look to our own world to see the answer to that question. For one, knowledge is power. If you have secrets from competing religions or nations, you can use that to your advantage. The entire Silk Road out of China was built upon their monopoly of Silk production which no other nation could reproduce due to the strict control over silkworms. The Persians denied access to Greek explorers for generations because of a hatred between the Persians and the Greeks, especially after the Battle of Marathon. The Muslim Ottomans banned trade along the Silk Road to Christian Europeans due to the differences in religion. Furthermore, to have potential rivals become familiar with your lands invites invasion. There are many MANY reasons why nations would not want to invite casual trade and travel.

Not so much of an essay today, but closer to a true ‘musing’. The reason for this is quite simple, in that there currently is no answer to this question.

What happened to Yig?

For those of you not aware, Yig is one of the two primordial Ssethric deities, said to be second only to Kassagore in both age and power. She is the patron of deceit, but also the bringer of life. What we also know is that She is one and the same with the modern, more familiar goddess of the Human Pantheon, Anshar. I would have added spoiler tags to this, but it has been an open secret for years among players and staff alike, and the ARPG flat-out tells players of it now so I feel no objection to stating it here. 99.9% of people in the universe (meaning almost all the players short of ‘reborn’ Heroes from the Kickstarter) would be aghast at such an association, with even the mention of such a theory likely to get you burned by any number of races and religions.

However, looking at the power-set of the two Goddesses, there doesn’t appear to be much overlap in their portfolios. Yig is associated with being the Lifebringer, as well as a number of less-savory aspects such as lying, stealth, and even (to an extent) quickness (as related through her story of avoiding Kassagore’s pursuit). Anshar, on the other hand, is the goddess of charity, travel, and pain. These seem different enough to suggest two different gods, which may, in fact, be what is happening here.

Some of this could be rationalized, I guess. The pain and suffering of Anshar could be related to Yig’s desire for duplicity as deceit can often lead to pain, but this seems a bit of a stretch to me. I should note, however, that Larissa’s descent into debauchery also seems out of character for the Oracular Goddess, so stranger things have happened. The role of traveler is easier to explain, owing to Yig’s afore mentioned pursuit of Kassagore, but even then it seems generally unrelated to the Yig we all ‘know’ from books like Ssethregore. Additionally, the Ssethric accounts all list Yig’s primary influence on their races as that of lifebringer, and this is an aspect very much not touched upon by the Humans with Anshar. Aside from imbuing the val’Inares directly, as far as I’m aware Anshar has not been credited with the granting of life to anything after she took on that guise.

So what happened? Well, one theory is that Anshar is Yig-rebranded, with a series of Her powers much more emphasized to separate her new followers from her old ones. We know that the Ssethrics co-existed with the First Imperium, so if Yig was too close to Anshar her ‘gig’ would be up fairly quickly. Another theory is that somehow during the God’s War Yig was somehow ‘changed’, possibly similar to how Larissa was changed after she saw too far into the future.

However, rereading the Ssethregore book, I thought of another theory: What if Yig was wounded, and somehow split into to beings? Or, more bluntly, what if Anshar is but one half of Yig, and Belisarda is another? Thus far, Yig and Belisarda are the only two gods that I can think of directly called “life bringers.” None of the Pantheon of Man are credited with that power, and neither is Kassagore (beyond the soul, anyway). However, it has been stated (fairly clearly, as I recall) that Yig and Belisarda are NOT the same being, but perhaps this is only half of a truth. If something happened to Yig and her essence was split in twain, then neither Anshar or Yig (or Belisarda) would be direct equivalents any longer, but distinct forces which have since forged their own identities.

Of course, this musing falls apart somewhat when we look at the official timeline of the world. According to Ssethregore, Belisarda was found some 7700 years ago, contact was lost with Yig about 6500 years ago, contact with Yig was reestablished 6000 years ago, and Anshar first appeared some 4800 years ago. For Belisarda to be a separated ‘life-giving force of Yig’, the having that life-force being separated while Yig was still around, and existing as contemporaries for some 1200 years seems farfetched.

Anyway, random theory. . .