Wonders of the world?

[Nemt]

What are some of the impressive or well known structures in the nae world, that would be known to most zekresh player characters?

[Gamemaster]

You always come up with interesting questions.

The known world doesn't have any famous list of "seven wonders of the world" like ancient Earth did.

There are various structures that are notable, but there is no specific number or order of importance that is commonly accepted.

In no particular order, I would list these as noteworthy and famous:

(1) The main Temple of the Viper God at Yishil. It is ancient beyond memory and contains hundreds of statues. It is also the focal point of one of the Zekresh Empire's major religions today. While public practice of any religion other than the official Zekresh religion has been banned for centuries in the Zekresh Empire, this was reformed last year by an initiative supported by Lord Chancellor Rubanya. In Slythia Province, this led to the legalization of the traditional worship of the Viper God. Previously, closed-door ceremonies in the ancient temple skirted the law by claiming to not be "public". All that changed last year when the Ulor of Slythia issued a decree allowing the open revival of the worship of the Viper God. The decree did not legalize any other religion.

(2) The palace of the old princes of Ilania at Nysarinda. It is over 3,000 years old and yet its architectual splendor is said to exceed anything built since.

(3) The Starmet Vyloresh (Imperial Palace) at Zekran. Though relatively new compared to others on this list, the building is enormous and combines the strength of an actual military fortification with the grandeur fitting for the Zekresh Emperor's residence.

(4) The Verronia Bridge, an impressive stone bridge which crosses the Shasa Kajak (Bear River). It is located at the city of Verronia. Fittingly for a Verronese landmark, the bridge is functional, impressive and serves primarily commercial purposes. Built entirely by Verronese craft and expertise, the bridge is a superlative engineering achievement.

(5) The ruins of the Imperial Palace of the ancient Frayeth Emperors in Logoria. Though now only a ruin, this site offers a glimpse of what came before the Zekresh Empire. Walking through the ruins, it is easy to slip into wondering if it offers a glimpse of the Zekresh Empire's future as well.

(6) Corinweld Castle, the second most ancient large fortification still standing. Originally only a wooden palisade fortress some 3,500 years ago, Corinweld Castle was improved upon by successive princes of Corinweld until it became one of the most impressive structures in the world. It is the site of the main Imperial Army garrison in Corinweld Province because if anyone else held it, Imperial rule over the province might be jeopardized.

(7) Kast Yvar, the second strongest fortress in the known world. It is older than the Zekresh Empire, but not by much. It is estimated to be approximately 1,500 years old. Originally the stronghold of independent warlords such as the legendary Yormuk (after whom Yormukan Province is named), it is now the single most important fortress in the Empire due to the combination of its strength and its strategic location near Zekran.

(8) The Temple of Gilhalnan at Zekran. This is by far the largest temple to any diety in the known world. Its dome is the largest dome in the known world. It is the center of the Zekresh Religion, the official religion of the Empire and the one with the largest following. The Temple of Gilhalnan is part of a complex of four temples. The others are the Temple of Salganit, wife of Gilhalnan, and the temples to their two children, the God Noddan and the Goddess Arganit.

(9) The Nysarinda seawall. This is an immense structure designed to protect the ancient city of Nysarinda from flooding due to fierce storms that sometimes strike the Western Sea. (The ones on the Eastern Sea are even worse.) It is also part of the city wall that was constructed to defend the city from attack.

(10) Kast Ravelon, the great fortress of Ravelonia. By far the largest fortress of any kind in the known world and undoubtedly the oldest. Its exact age is not known. It is thought to be at least 4,000 years old and possibly much older. There are many stories about the origin of Kast Ravelon. It is named after Ravelon, the God of Magic in the official Zekresh religion. It is the position of the priesthood of Ravelon that the God Ravelon himself built Kast Ravelon and that it is therefore not even a man made structure. According to the priests, Ravelon, the God of Magic, built Kast Ravelon at the beginning of the world as his residence and stronghold. It is said that no mason today could duplicate the technique used in its construction, much less the enormous size. The fortress is not made from any discernable blocks of stone. Instead, the entire structure appears to be one continuous stone as if the whole fortress was carved out of a single enormous rock. The type of rock used has never been found anywhere else except in the fortress and related structures in Ravelonia. There are tool marks on the stone in only a few places. The priests of Ravelon say these are later defacements and that the original fortress had not a single tool mark on it. In Warnan Province there is a story about its creation that says the fortress grew out of the ground magically in a single day when Ravelon himself commanded it. The Ilanians say it has always been there since the beginning of the world. These two legends have both been adopted by the priesthood. The priests reconcile these two stories by saying that the fortress was built in a day by the command of Ravelon and that this occurred at the beginning of the world.

[Nemt]

Thanks for such detailed information, very useful. I kind of misspoke when I used the term Wonders of the World, as that specifically refers to sites the Greeks found important - which means nothing the Romans built (Pantheon, Colosseum, etc) would've been included. I didn't mean to imply I had assumed there was some master list floating around, just wanted to know about famous sites in general.

I'm surprised there hasn't been more advanced masonry and carpentry developed in the nae world, I didn't realize civilization had been around for so long in the game world.

I had a few other questions too, I guess asking them here is better than starting a new topic:

1. How prevelant is slavery in the empire? I can't remember any mention of it in the game, but I can't imagine any ancient civilization existing without it, especially a somewhat technologically inept one.

2. Are the world maps available accurate projections, or estimations based on in-game mapmakers' work?

[Gamemaster]

Slavery is common in the empire, but the percentage of slaves is not all that high.

If you read on the forum about what was going on in Clabbuk's province on the southeast frontier, slaves were mentioned as one of the main exports of that province.

I'm pretty sure slavery was mentioned briefly in the debate over how to deal with the rebellion in Zurian Province. As I recall, one of the moderates on the Imperial Council proposed that the rebellious tribe be enslaved rather than wiped out.

Also you will recall, early in the game, nothing much was happening except for various political issues that Ulors would respond to. The gamemasters have a list of issues that were going to come up. That got sidetracked when the members of the Imperial Council started fighting each other instead of debating the issues of the day. But one of the issues on that list was the declining number of slaves in the empire and a proposal for the Imperial government to subsidize slave traders who went into the wilderness and enslaved barbarians and brought them back into the Empire.

Even if this issue has not reached the Imperial Council, it is being discussed in Zekran and elsewhere and the player characters will have heard of it. the subsidy proposal is supported by slave traders and large landowners whose agricultural operations often employ slaves.

For anyone reading this who is unfamiliar with ancient history and too caught up in images of 19th century slavery on Earth, I should point out that the slaves in the Zekresh Empire are not primarily "black" people. I'm not saying the Zekresh Empire isn't racist. It is racist. But slavery in the Zekresh Empire is similar to slavery in ancient Rome or Greece. Slaves can be of any nationality, but in practice are almost never Zekresh or Frayeth people and nowadays are rarely members of the other prominent nationalities in the core of the Empire. There is a core population of slaves of mixed nationality who have been slaves for many generations. Some of their ancestors undoubtedly are from major nationalities in the empire, but they have largely been stripped of national identity.

The slave population receives new additions from three main sources. One is children of existing slaves. Another is criminals sentenced to slavery. The third is people captured by slave-takers and sold into slavery. Usually these are barbarians from the edges of the Empire, but rumor has it that sometimes other people are also kidnapped and sold into slavery.

On the subject of racism, there is no generally accepted classification of races, but the Zekresh tend to consider themselves superior to all other groups, even the Frayeth. The more different a tribe is from the Zekresh, the more likely the Zekresh are to look down on them and discriminate against them. Skin color is not considered as important as nationality in the Zekresh Empire, but the Zekresh tend to look down on people with different skin color as well as people with different hair, stature, language, clothes and especially religion.

Notably, the Zekresh are not the lightest-skinned people in the known world. If they somehow were transported to 19th century Earth, they might not even be considered "white people" by Earth's racists of that era. It would be a debatable point. A century later, the Nazi racists would definitely have considered them to not be "Aryan".

But Earth's racism is of no relevance in the Zekresh Empire. The Zekresh are prejudiced against people with noticeably lighter skin than their own as well as people with noticeably darker skin than their own. If a few of Earth's Nazis were somehow transported to the Zekresh Empire and deprived of 20th century technology, the Zekresh would consider them inferior and might even enslave them.

I have been working on an update to the nationalities list that will mention physical appearance of the different nationalities along with other information about them.

In the meantime, let me just say that the lightest skinned tribes are usually those of the far north, especially Tronds, Foerfen and Baaniferians, and the darkest skinned tribes are those of the southwest. The Frangees tribe are the darkest colored of all with the Kopixers and Sligifterians next.

The Zekresh are by no means the only nationality that is prejudiced against other nations. Most nations in the known world are also prejudiced. The prejudice is just more damaging when it is held by people in power and the Zekresh rule the Empire.

Of course, the gamemasters are not prejudiced or racist. We have simply tried to make the Zekresh Empire realistic. Since the ancient empire builders we know of on Earth tended to be very ethnocentric, we made the Zekresh that way as well. When you think about it, ethnocentrist prejudice and imperialism go hand in hand. It is precisely those people who believe their tribe or nation is superior to others who are most likely to ruthlessly conquer and rule others, thereby creating an empire.

We do not intend to excuse such things or minimize them. On the contrary, players should feel free to denounce racism, prejudice, imperialism, tyranny and any or all of the other evils that are to be found in the known world of Nations and Empires. Feel free to fight to free the slaves, liberate the nations ruled by the Empire and overthrow Zekresh hegemony. You will find that others are already fighting this fight and will welcome allies.

While it is realistic for the game world to include all the evils of the real world, it is also realistic that many people will oppose these things, especially those who are victimized.

If the Empire seems too evil to accept, but too powerful to fight, another option is to flee into the unknown and see what is there.

[Gamemaster]

The maps in the game are approximations of in-game maps. Do not count on them to be accurate.