Lore Legends of the East

[Dao Maho]

Here we go.
I think it's time we figured out the REAL legends of the Easterners.
I've seen several eastern characters, oriental theme, Samurai, Kung Fu artists, monks, Japanese, Chinese.
It's cool, it's AWESOME! we all love it!
But who are they? what are we? I mean in Chronicles, what are we really? so far it's just assumed that the easterners are a people from an advanced civilization to the east off the edge of the map.

So here's what I want to do. Let's discuss, let's brainstorm, let's put the assumptions to rest. What's their culture in this chronicles fantasy setting? Japanese, Chinese, or a combination?
What's their homeland like? what's the political structure? what's the technology level? How do they treat magic, do they even have their own form of magic? Are they Empirical? Monarchical? Democratic? What drives their wanderers and warriors to explore this land of Arethil? What are major and minor trade goods? What is the name of the language they speak? do they have several dialects? What are they?

EASTERNERS UNITE! WHAT ARE WE!?!?

 

[Nidraak]

There is a japanese inspired culture on the northernmost island in the central portion of the map. So it's not necessarily just the east we have eastern vikings for one and western middle-eastern inspired cultures.

There's also the ainu, slightly japanese-korean-russian, tungustic and turkic inspired people in sheketh-eretejva islands.

These are the two I'm mostly familiar with due the extent of discussion and rp that formed around them.
Both people are... elven centric though, with some humans stuck between.

There is some more... from an unknown land. so I can't say much for those.

I'd be happy to help develop and shape these people further. One great part about chronicles for me is setting down the pieces and seeing how they interact together. Especcialy when it comes to people that share their living space.

 

[Yamanaka Tsuru]

Was thinking more japanese for most of the cultures regarding the elves, humans, and other races. Peony has a running theme with her fae so far as being chinese in style, philosophy, and such.

 

[Sung Chei]

I had always believed that the east is basically just a jumbled around version of the far East IRL, that they have their civilizations in the far East over the ocean, and various styles are from various places. I had always assumed that the Japanese styled characters come from either a Japanese styled country over the sea, neighboring other eastern nations based off of various eastern cultures.

My character came directly from the east, and as a Chinese based character, comes from a Chinese based land, which in my belief would be largely Dynastic.l, or feudal like medieval Europe. My idea of eastern cultures is largely just ancient facts and history transferred into this world with a few altered details. As for technology, let us keep in mind the technological difference between the east and west IRL, because the great Han Dynasty of China was happening around the time of the Roman Empire in Europe, and it was also the Chinese who first used gunpowder. But in accordance to site rules, the Song Dynasty time period, or early Japanese Edo period is the best setting to have considering the superiority of western arms and armour, of course, the gunpowder should be omitted.

 

[Sannoru]

This is Nid.
Nocturnal elves / Eastern dark elves happen to be documented. They're not humans but oh well =P
Just never decided to write down fantasy Tokyo lmao.

Eastern-inspired; might be hard to identify what is inspired from what if only looking at the broad strokes, perhaps Japanese (specifically Ainu) as the leading one and Chinese on keeping a myriad of languages in check.
Mashed together to create a somewhat coherent race with a history that melds with other neighbouring races, but not too derived to not be identified as X real culture but fantasy.
I wouldn't be opposed to plot connections with other inspired races, not at all.

 

[Dao Maho]

Definitely! I had in mind for this discussion to be focused around the "Easterners" that are from an unknown land. I didn't know about the elven-centric oriental cultures, but they sound cool! They can definitely be part of a much larger scale idea I had.

Really what I want to figure out is (Among many other things) something else to call ourselves besides "Easterners". It works because all we know is that we're a culture from the "East". What if we had a real country/nation/continent as our homeland with a real name that we can base our identity on.
The people of Arethil will still refer to us as "Easterner" or "Easterling", but we will have a primary identity based off of the name of our real homeland.

I thought a dynastic oriental empire would be a cool base for an advanced culture. Naturally there won't be use of gunpowder, which won't really matter to a world where magic is present anyways, why advance technology when you can just advance magic?
If I'm being honest I'm rooting for a cultural mix of both Chinese and Japanese influence, taking the best and worst of both worlds and combining them. (Not to the exclusion of the other Asian cultures)

But if there is going to be a separation of the two cultures, perhaps it can be a cultural difference between clans and families? certain families follow Japanese culture and practices while other families follow Chinese cultures and Practices. Along with the other cultures mentioned of Turkish, Korean, Russian, Tungusic, and others of Asia minor and the orient.
And maybe they can be rationalistic cultures and yet still combined by close trade under one empire?

What we should do is come up with as many ideas for polls as we can, then I can set them all up at once and we can all vote on what we want for the different aspects of our eastern culture!

 

[Nina]

While I'm awfully new, and I haven't even described this yet in a roleplaying thread (the worst sin of the two), just wanted to note that I've toyed with ideas related to a Japan-like country.

Specifically, an island relevant for my character's plot is an equivalent of Dejima (one of the few ports of an isolationist country where trade with the outside is allowed). I guess I've imagined it as a kind of mishmash of historical eras (eg. the difficult balance of power between the warrior classes and merchants characteristic of later periods, but also a mildly relevant nobility; the nobility might wear the plain, but incredibly layered outfits characteristic of the Heian period, while powerful non-nobles, or outcast nobles, might prefer few-layered, but highly decorated robes similar to those of the later Genroku period*).

*unsure if the image refers to the Genroku period, but should be close enough

 

[Huang Tien]

Greetings! I love your ideas! I've got a couple of Asian influenced characters kicking about myself, so I want in on this too!

I have been following a similar philosophy to what Sung Chei had mentioned, having characters whom's origin comes from across the sea and basing them off their real life counterparts, albiet with a fantasy twist.

I hesitate, though, at the notion combining everything under a singular Empire. My reasoning is that every Asiatic culture, even that between Chinese and Japanese, are stylistically pretty different and as a result I think there is more opportunity to diversify characters and situation/environments. It may also create interesting conflicts and interaction between characters, with different cultural groups clashing up against each other. I think if there is anywhere to start, we oughta decide on weather or not we wanna be unified under one banner or have separate nations all vying in one area.

Another area two areas I think we oughta differentiate is in terms of fighting styles and magic. When I write fight scenes for any of my Asian-inspired characters, I often look to the different mediums based out of the countries. Is it always accurate? No, but remember we have the creative freedom of fantasy on our side. It's why I enjoy playing as Eastern-based characters; their stylistically different from traditional Western fantasy.

There's also the concepts of other Eastern based beings and creatures, which are stylistically different from their Western counter parts. Chinese dragons, for example, have a whole different flavor and mythology about them compare to Western dragons. We can even incorporate aspects of Western culture, like aformentioned elves, with a Asiatic twist.

Personally, I think it be cool to see a mix of historical and mythological armies, conflicts of different interests fighting physical war for internal control, a courts and political intruge made up of various races and backgrounds.

Lots of potential to explore, and I have my some more ideas rolling around in my head, nations if anybody is intreasted in know. Just let me know if ye all wanna collab on somthing bigger. I cannot wait to see where this goes!

 

[Dao Maho]

Yes!
Fighting styles and such can be as flexible as rubber in Chronicles and are really reliant on what the character wants. As far as NPC's go I think much of their fighting style will indeed be based on their culture and the weapons they use as reasonable.

And the idea of Easternized mythology is excellent! That region/culture would have very different influences on the races and monsters.
Eastern dragons, snake like monsters that fly without wings, insanely more magical and wise than Western dragons in lore.
Dwarves having a much different culture, and appearance, do they still have beards? That might be distinctions that can be made between different families/clans and totally based on the types of characters people want to make.
Same with elves and gnomes, etc.

I'll put several things up in a poll once we have enough ideas collected. Here's what I have so far that the polls will be deciding:

Country Name -​

Name of Language -​

Combined or Empirically Unified or Separate Culture(s)?​

Male or Female or Nonpartisan Dominated Culture(s)?​

So in your next posts of great ideas also be thinking of names for the country/continent, as well as names for the language they speak so that I can list them in the poll. Also be thinking of new questions to be put to a poll!

I'm also looking for a basis for my own character here. As an ambassador to Arethil from the Eastern Empire (Or SOME major faction).

 

[Sung Chei]

Country Name - Shangsao
Name of Language - Shang
Combined or Empirically Unified or Separate Cultures(s)?: overall empirically unified, but it's large size makes for culture differences in its extremities.
Male or Female or Nonpartisan Dominated Culture(s)?: This country is nonpartisan, allowing for male or female heirs and leaders.

 

[Szesh]

There is already a party exploring the far east, attempting to map it. Perhaps they could encounter one of these civilizations?

 

[Sung Chei]

There is already a party exploring the far east, attempting to map it. Perhaps they could encounter one of these civilizations?

So how about this, what if, once everyone here reaches a conclusive decision on the lore of the east, that perhaps we could have someone elected to Dungeon Master your exploration Geography-wise?

 

[Szesh]

Sounds good to me. Nidraak, whatcha think? You’ve been more or less guiding the exploration thus far.

 

[Dao Maho]

What should some more poll options be?
I think it's pretty much agreed that everything will be ethnically different in the eastern continent.
Would the name of the country be the same as the continent? or would the name of the country be more closely tied to a single faction? (And we would then need to decide if there are multiple factions, or one empire. Already on the poll list.)

I think the goal right now is just to set up a base lore of the eastern continent. Something that we can jump off of with our own characters. So really just coming up with basic societal questions that we can put to a poll to see what kind of land it is that we come from, and then we can throw in our own creative juices when we describe our characters place in it.
Kinda like how Arethil is set up, it has it's own lore and cities and such, but the rest is decided by the characters.

I think right now we should come up with:
Country name ideas:
Continent name ideas:
Language name ideas:
(I'll make a list of all of your ideas and put them in the poll!)

And maybe we should go over how many other factions there would be if we're dealing with an un-united land of the orient.
Would all the different Asian cultures be united in their own lands? Turks posing a united front, Russians posing a united front, Japanese, Chinese, etc?
Or will they have infighting amongst themselves?

And should there be a single powerful faction that is antagonistic to all the others, prompting disunity and war between them and the other clans?
like, a faction attempting to conquer all the others to create a unified empire?

 

[Dao Maho]

Hey everybody! We now have a channel on the Chronicles Discord to discuss things as well! go check it out and leave your ideas! Brainstorm and discuss!

 

[Dao Maho]

Polls are now up! we'll be addressing the questions collected so far one at a time due to the mechanics of the poll system.

 

[Dao Maho]

Nidraak
Szesh
Sung Chei
Huang Tien
Nina
Sannoru
Yamanaka Tsuru

I don't know which one's of you have voted yet, but incase you weren't notified, the poll is now up, if you guys want to submit your input you're more than welcome! I want as many opinions counted as possible before we move on to the next question.

 

[Smiling One]

I would say similar to real life Asia. They may hail from the same continent, but their culture, language and land are different.

 

[Szesh]

Thanks for the tag! I don’t even know where to begin. I think multiple nations or analogues would be the most interesting to RP though.

 

[Dao Maho]

Okay, saving the results for the question "What should be the main political structure of the overall continent factions? "
Seven votes in favor of "Provincially controlled culture(s)?"
Three votes in favor of "Separate/Tribal Culture(s)?"

However, as I just discovered... Once people vote on the poll the question cannot be edited, which ticks me off a bit but we can work with this. I'm going to put the next questions in posts on this thread, and we will use the like/emoji system to vote on what we think are good ideas. I'll count up the like to dislike ratio and see which one wins out on the ideas.

 

[Dao Maho]

Is this a good idea? Thumbs Up or Angry Face.
"One of the nations should subscribe under something of a central and provincial governing system. Many predominate ancient Asian states have had central governance (Emperors, etc) broken down to local provinces that govern smaller regions. I think there can be value to something like this, as much of Asiatic cultures have a focus on hierarchy. Furthermore, I think there can be more potential for conflict and political intrigue, plus more opportunity for us to be creative, with themes such as central vs state or province vs province, referring to real world conflicts such as the period of the Three Kingdoms and the Sengoku period." - Elekta Kount

 

[Dao Maho]

Male (Thumbs Up) or Female (Bless Panda) Dominated Culture(s), *Nonpartisan (Love Eyes), or **Provincially Determined (Popcorn Panda)?

(*Equal Opportunity)
(**Some factions/cultures do, some don't)

 

[Dao Maho]

Is this a good Idea? Thumbs Up or Angry Face.
"Slavic/Steppe culture lore, a bunch of disconnected nomads that do their own thing, get in tribal conflicts with one another, and overall is just this massive disunified entity of a bunch of warriors and whatever else that's more prone to infighting than anything else." - K4E

 

[Dao Maho]

*Hard (Thumbs Up) or Soft (Bless Panda) Magic system?

*In a harder magic system what is possible and impossible is more clearly defined whereas in a soft magic system this will be … well, soft, and so hard magic resembles a toolbox and soft magic is more like the miracles and wondrous workings of fairy tales.

 

[Sung Chei]

Is this a good idea? Thumbs Up or Angry Face.
"One of the nations should subscribe under something of a central and provincial governing system. Many predominate ancient Asian states have had central governance (Emperors, etc) broken down to local provinces that govern smaller regions. I think there can be value to something like this, as much of Asiatic cultures have a focus on hierarchy. Furthermore, I think there can be more potential for conflict and political intrigue, plus more opportunity for us to be creative, with themes such as central vs state or province vs province, referring to real world conflicts such as the period of the Three Kingdoms and the Sengoku period." - Elekta Kount

You mean like the Chinese warlords and the Japanese Daimyō?