Canadian.
I'm sorry, I really am sorry, but I don't think that's going to happen. Sorry.
Canadian.
I'm sorry, I really am sorry, but I don't think that's going to happen. Sorry.
I feel like fictional cultures are essentially footed in real-world cultures. Lantan seems like an early-Steam-age mercantile culture... the beginnings of capitalism and perhaps a touch of robber-barons (murderous kleptomaniacs, really). It has a strong touch of European and colonial history about it.How about something that isn't a real world culture at all?
There have been hints about Lantan around for a while.
I feel like fictional cultures are essentially footed in real-world cultures. Lantan seems like an early-Steam-age mercantile culture... the beginnings of capitalism and perhaps a touch of robber-barons (murderous kleptomaniacs, really). It has a strong touch of European and colonial history about it.
When I think about it - and this is absolutely not a criticism or aimed at anybody - it can be a kind of thought-provoking irony for us to think about Lantan here, and talk about preferring it; because colonial cultures played a strong role in suppressing diverse cultures. I'm thinking here about events like the early Australian state separating aboriginal children from their families, and forcing them into education in European ideas and culture.
For me, choosing more diversely among real-world cultures as our points of departure for fictional worlds sounds inspiring and a really good chance to enrich our hobby. It's important for us to have clear eyesight: to see what informs our fictional worlds. And I feel it is productive and creatively valuable to question that, and look wider.
Canadian.
Greece is one of the key foundations of Western European culture, and Steampunk celebrates a recent age of incredibly inequitable imperialism. My European side highly values the rich elements of our culture from the many sources. Another side, looks with mild despair on how thoroughly certain narratives are recited. The point we're at, I feel we could be celebrating every effort to be diverse, and avoid undermining or digressing from them from the outset. No matter how subtly.If I would compare Lantan to any culture, it would be to the Greek island of Lemnos where the main God was Hapheastus, and whose mythology is very stream punk/Magic Tech flavoured.
I hope it's al-qadim.
Native American would certainly qualify as something touched a little (1st edition Deities and Demigods, 3.5 Spirit Shaman), but not a lot, and not recently.
However, Native Americans where not known for their seafaring, and I'm pretty sure the culture touched on will tie in with the "ship book" in some way.
I hope it's al-qadim.
If you haven't yet, check out the great 2e supplements. I waited until 2014 to actually get any, but eBay was quite forthcoming with relatively cheap copies of stuff in great shape. And there isn't so much that you'll go broke buying it.
Better start brushing up on your Arabic now! First lesson: Zakhara is Arabic for "abundant"