[TSoY] World-wide Maldorian Empire: Local myth or slice of history?
dindenver:
All,
If we look at the descriptions of the various cultures, two things strike me:
1) Each of the nations have their own localized history in their description
2) None of them seem to reference this so-called World-wide Maldor Empire.
Now, I know that the intro to refers to this empire, so that confuses the matter a little.
But, is it possible that the Empire is a local myth? We know that it was not an all encompassing empire as Maldor did not know about the Zaru until just before the Year of Shadow (much to their dismay). So, how far did it stretch?
Eero Tuovinen:
An interesting question. My own answers have always been purely local and in-game (that is, it's a character in the game claiming a particular history, not me). These can range to all sorts of different directions. For instance, consider when the Sky Fire happened, how long the darkness lasted and what the implications for cultures would have to be; this influences the veracity of any proof one might garner for the existence of the Maldorian empire or the kinship of Qek and Khale, to point to a couple of claims the text makes. As you say, one of the most unlikely scenarios is that there once was an empire, but now somehow all traces have disappeared and we have all these rather different cultures.
If I was looking for something that fits the facts as presented, I'd say that Maldor used to encompass the modern Maldor, the relatively unhabited wilderness to the west and the current Ammeni, which was probably included relatively late in the empire's history. What is now known as Maldor (and Ammeni, to lesser degree), used to consist of many different cultures that all underwent Maldorization during the empire's long reign. The empire was clearly the most advanced economy of the known world, dominating the trade routes all the way to Qek and other directions. Peoples such as the forebears of Qek, Zaru and Khale never were ruled by Maldor - I find this eminently compatible with the text as I remember it right now; if there is anything interesting that contradicts, do drag it out. Any references to the "Maldorian empire" and how it was shattered may easily refer to the shattered state of the current Maldor (which would have been the old Maldor as well) as presented on maps, however. If "world-wide" is literally used somewhere, that's easily explainable as hyperbole.
For the purposes of a given game, though, I might as well make all sorts of in-fiction claims about grander empires and more comprehensive common roots to the cultures of the world. Or the opposite, as well. Individual characters can think all sorts of things, and being that the SG has the power to introduce all sorts of evidence about things, the game can easily go to all sorts of different directions in practice. If your character is from Qek and he's told that the Skyfire happened "many moons ago", that's not much of a basis for claiming anything about the state of the world.
oliof:
It's possible!
Of course, Ammeni would not want to give up it's newfound independence by acknowledging as much of a non-Ammeinte rulership now, the Khaleans have obviously gone crazy from moon metal and intra-clan strife, the Zaru are oppressed and more entangled with their own failed history than any other notion of an empire and the Qek are simply far, far away.
So, no clear answers for you!
How far it did stretch? Good question. If you take a page out of history, kingdoms and empires usually ended for two reasons: a) Landmarks not circumventable by large armies, such as mountains or big seas, b) lack of reliable and fast communication channels. It is safe to assume that the two big mountain ranges in the north and west are the maximal borders of the hypothetical maldorian empire, and that the sea of teeth that divides khale from qek, even if it was "just" a river before the time of shadows, was the real northern border, as the wild lands in the west (newly settled in maldor, scourged by monstrosities in Ammeni, undefined in Khale and Qek) might have been annexed but never cultivated.
So, Maldor proper might have been only half as big as most Maldorites might think, and their inflated egoes might even incorporate the then-underdeveloped areas of Ammeni and Khale when there were but trade relationships a couple of hundred years ago.
My counter question to you is: Why is it important to know the truth? It doesn't change a thing about what's up with Near today. In the end, I like to posit that someone with a transcendent check will find out for us in the future of the campaign. If the designated Empress of Maldor breaks her crown and sceptre because she realizes her pursuit for a reunited grand empire of Maldor was based on lies and moonstruck wishes, we know what the truth is for this part of Maldor. We still can go and continue playing, because that doesn't tell us a thing about how other maldorian Nobles will react to this …
I like your questions Dave! They give me new food to feed the secret and unknown history of Near.
dindenver:
Harold,
Well, of course, it doesn't matter. But, two things struck me. Josh is adding new content and it doesn't reference their connection to the old Maldor empire. Then I realized that none of the other cultural write ups did either. And it made me wonder why...
I noticed that the writeups included current interactions between nations, but no historical ones. And that made me think that maybe their histories were more isolated than the writeup of Maldor implied.
oliof:
I didn't say it didn't matter, mind you.
We had three hundred years since the skyfire came, which destroyed whatever civilization existed before. If we assume that Zu was the underpinnings of said civilization and was (allegedly) broken when Absolon tried to save the empire – however small or big.
As it stands, it's not just the question if the Empire ever existed, it's which pieces were true and which weren't. Suppose the thing about Zu being the grand unification method of Near – that does not make the sky fire go away, nor does it warrant the existence of an empire that was led by a maldorite noble.
There is a lot in the description of Near you get when looking in the cracks between the little we do learn. I just learnt to cherish that more. Finally, too much history will be construed as backstory which would give people a mold to shape Near against (or from) – so we're safe to assume that this lack of detail again is a feature resulting from the promise that Near is open for a group to take and shape to their liking.
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