Masetian Culture

[geeman]

At 01:52 PM 3/26/2008, The Swordgaunt wrote:

>>The Brechtur are inspired by the Hanseatic League, the Dutch, and
>>the mercantile city-states of the Italian peninsula.
>
>That is exactly how I have portrayed the Brecht in my campaigns.
>Living in a Hanseatic city, I must say they have been more
>Dutch/German than Italian.

Italian in the mercantile sense, perhaps, but not culturally in
particular. I could see 13th century Venice as an inspiration.

>I have always imagined them as a Persian culture with strong
>Mediterranean connotations. However, as they have never been visited
>by any of my players, I have not given them a lot of thought.

"Persian" is one of those things that`s hard to nail down since that
region of the world has been a crossroads for so long. In one
aspect, though, I think that works in our favor since Masetian can
and should be a sort of mythological construct in the "modern" world
of Cerilia, particularly given their role as a vanished culture. I
like most of the Mediterranean emphasis, and would even suggest
Carthage as a good example for the theme of the culture. At least,
in the same way that Venice relates to the Brecht, Carthage relates
to the Masetians....

Gary

[kgauck]

Italian in the mercantile sense, perhaps, but not culturally in
particular. I could see 13th century Venice as an inspiration.

I think politically as well. Looking at Florentine, Venetian, or Genoese politics, government, the influence of merchants on government structure and policy, and intrigues are good as well. That may be what you meant, but I wanted to be clear that we're not just talking guilds, but how to organize a society lead by merchants in a model in addition to the Hanseatic model.

I also like to use Italians as an inspiration for Anuire's south coast.

[The Swordgaunt]

At least, in the same way that Venice relates to the Brecht, Carthage relates to the Masetians....

That I'll buy. But, and I must admit that Brechtur has always been a fringe-territory for me, to what extent do they rely on mercenaries? Both the Italians and the Hanseatic employed hired armies for most of their wet-work. Perhaps a separate thread should be put up for this topic, as the heading here says "Maesetian"...

As for the Persian background, I was thinking along the lines that the pre-Deismar Maesetian culture was Persian-inspired, whereas the centuries that has passed since has mixed this with Anuirean ideals. This would go hand in hand with a Cartage-theme, I believe.

The thing that makes this kind of cultural definition both difficult and rewarding is that the RL-references has to blend with the IG-facts as we know them. It is a bit like laying a rather complex mosaic at times - if successful, it is amazing, if not, it becomes a clutter of colours that distort the intended picture.

[lt_murgen]

You are welcome to critique my strawman for Khinasi culture. It is rather involved.

http://www.birthright.net/brwiki/ind...hinasi_culture

in the D&D 3.5 section, there is a comments thread