Amen. And a logical reason why Anserak hasn't fought a major war in roughly 2,000 years for no apparent reason (the established, they were rebuilding, answer really doesn't hold water when you look at it that way)Behold, the triple post!
Ok, one last thing I want to throw in, though I think it should probably be kept on the back burner until things are settled, is the matter of Anserak.
Right now, Anserak kinda seems like a Christian version of Mordor. Can we establish some things like leadership, motivation, where other Orc tribes could be found that aren't necessarily serving Anserak's lord, etc. Basically, I just wanna know how we can make it less like Mordor, and more like its own festering pit of evil.
I agree, problem is, right now there is no crusader or philosopher (okay, maybe five all in all) I'm just trying to fit in the logical fact that for it to be realistic, we'll need to make a few historical inaccuracies. It's weird but from a writing perspective, who's going to want to play an artist in a barbarian camp?One thing I'd like to say concerning technology is that the Renaissance MOSTLY happened for nobles and middle-class workers in the cities. In the countrysides, everyone still had to perform their back-breaking duties, and their liege lords got to enjoy a little more. In the earlier years, anyway.
Eh... basically, my biggest point is that the Renaissance's focus on art and pleasure rather than warfare and Chivalry, or philosophy and worldliness over faith, takes away from our reserve of knights, wars, and devout Christians in said areas.
Another issue to consider is magic's replacement of need for technology. The Elves may not have been high-tech in the Emberian War, but they still gave Ember a run for their money. The oil hoses and ballista pods were the pinnacle of Ember's non-magical technology. The Coil Gun was simply a ramp with magi casting strong attract spells on the gunpowder shells(which, with the new Ember thread in development, could be remedied. The new power could try to ban and destroy the blueprints of Kalt-Hammer and Borkeau's old weapons). The unreleased "Feuer Drache", or Fire Dragon tank would have been a primitave, massive wooden cart, covered in wet hides, filled with archer ports, and with an oil turret, propelled by the recovered crystal from a crashed Flying Ship that Kalt-Hammer's Brute Squad failed to capture. It all either required several strong men to operate, or needed a mage on hand. Either way, its costly to operate, and Kalt-Hammer WAS brilliant in the way of constructing siege machinery, even if that's really the only way he's brilliant.
Pretty much, my point is that Ember is indeed the pinnacle of Christian technology, but most of it was KH's attempts to use his small warmage force to give power to his machines, which he hoped could stand up to the magically-imbued, magically shielded, magically BROKEN siege engines. And yes, I mean broken in the DnD sense.
Other than that, I approve. I just like our heavy armor and weapons to stay up to date, and to somehow keep the tech at a level that crusader and philosopher can coexist just as well as superbly armored knight and berserking barbarian.
Amen. And a logical reason why Anserak hasn't fought a major war in roughly 2,000 years for no apparent reason (the established, they were rebuilding, answer really doesn't hold water when you look at it that way)
Great reasoning. I like most of them, especially when you add an assumption that there are many pirates from Vareisia already using Anserak's coast as a good hiding place (obviously more than JUST Vareisa, but it is the geographically stated as the sailing and pirate capital of Christia) that would limit the creation of a navy.An idea is forming. Okay a few ideas are forming. What if the overlords/higher nobility/military leaders are tied to the land much like Bram Stoker's Dracula? The Count had to carry a bit of Transylvania with him wherever he went if he ever left its borders. What if the same were true for the leading citizens of Anserak? The dark lords in the Lone Wolf series are cursed in much the same way. It would definitely tie the natives of Anserak there, as it is wholly impractical to be carrying topsoil around.
Also please consider that it is the Holy Order of Pra Yer Warrior's primary mission to contain the evil in Anserak. They patrol the Anserak Mountains constantly. Maybe, just maybe they are actually pretty good at their job?
Anserak is a penninsula. Surrounded by ocean on three sides and blockaded by a high and forbidding mountain range which is patrolled by the Pra Yer. I'd say it would be tough to mount any sort of effective offensive, especially if they haven't any real navy to speak of. Not many orc sailors to my knowledge.
If I were evil and trapped in my own homeland by the very soil of my country, and I had the money and power to do it I'd be having research and development going constantly to find some way around that particular foible. That would be my main focus. That and watching my back versus the other evil warlords in the region.
Like Scotland, and many other countries, Anserak could have many squabbling clans that are in constant and bitter enmity with one another. That would keep folks busy. Defending one's own home while raiding other petty dictator's holdings tends to take the focus off major conquest. At the same time I'd have small personal armies out doing sorties, raids, etc. into bordering nations to probe, loot and pillage.
Just a few things to consider.