Coffee and the Khinasi

[Birthright-L]

It dawns on me that the Coffee house is probabaly very common in Khinasi
realms. Not only was it invented in Arab lands, but a coffee house can be
seen as a center of sobriety and reason when compared to a Brecht beer hall
or an Anuirean ale house. Its a marker of the rational character of the
Avani-worshiping Khinasi people.

Also, coffee might be of use in all night rituals in which lunar
observations are made (Ruornil given reverence for his magical gifts)
follwed by observation of the subrise.

Hieronymus Agricola
wizard, alchemist, coffee drinker

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[geeman]

At 10:59 PM 4/27/2002 -0500, Hieronymus Agricola wrote:

>It dawns on me that the Coffee house is probabaly very common in Khinasi
>realms. Not only was it invented in Arab lands, but a coffee house can be
>seen as a center of sobriety and reason when compared to a Brecht beer
>hall or an Anuirean ale house. Its a marker of the rational character of
>the Avani-worshiping Khinasi people.
>
>Also, coffee might be of use in all night rituals in which lunar
>observations are made (Ruornil given reverence for his magical gifts)
>follwed by observation of the subrise.

There is some interesting stuff in the Al Qadim setting about how someone
hosting a dinner will often serve the coffee at the end of the meal
himself, or have a favored son serve it, such is the honor and etiquette of
the beverage. (Al Qadim is, I think, a very good reference in general for
the Khinasi. There will be differences, of course, but its a fun and
useful overview of "Arabic" culture for gamers.)

Serving coffee could have much the same role as the Tea Ceremony skill in
OA. Ritualistic, gentile, highly civilized. A subset of the perform
skill, perhaps? There was an old computer game I remember called "Samurai"
(I think) in which one invited a rival or superior to a tea ceremony in
order to impress them and raise yourself in their favor. (Later you could
sneak into their castle and assassinate them....) Very amusing.

A very fine (and expensive) coffee service is probably likely too. Silver
or gold, elaborate designs. I`m thinking of the Moroccan type things,
which are very nice. That`s the kind of thing that could be considered a
family heirloom, and a coffee service might be much more valuable based
upon its history than just its artistic and material worth.

For anyone who doesn`t already know, coffee in the Near East is much
different from what most Westerners think of as coffee. It`s much thicker
and stronger, served in a demitasse cup. Its served unsweetened, medium
sweet or sweet depending on your taste--I prefer medium sweet,
myself. "Turkish coffee" (I`ve heard several people of different
ethnicities lay a claim on it) makes espresso seem like a decaf latte, and
I wouldn`t give it up for all the frappacino at Starbucks... which probably
explains why I`m responding to this post at 4:25 in the morning....

Gary

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[Lord Grave]

Oh, just don`t copy the name from real life, please. Let`s call it Kaf,
Kuf, Cofa or something like that.

-----Original Message-----
From: Birthright Roleplaying Game Discussion
[mailto:BIRTHRIGHT-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM] On Behalf Of Hieronymus
Agricola
Sent: Sunday, April 28, 2002 5:59 AM
To: BIRTHRIGHT-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM
Subject: Coffee and the Khinasi

It dawns on me that the Coffee house is probabaly very common in Khinasi
realms. Not only was it invented in Arab lands, but a coffee house can
be
seen as a center of sobriety and reason when compared to a Brecht beer
hall
or an Anuirean ale house. Its a marker of the rational character of the
Avani-worshiping Khinasi people.

Also, coffee might be of use in all night rituals in which lunar
observations are made (Ruornil given reverence for his magical gifts)
follwed by observation of the subrise.

Hieronymus Agricola
wizard, alchemist, coffee drinker

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[Birthright-L]

<< Oh, just don`t copy the name from real life, please. Let`s call it Kaf,
Kuf, Cofa or something like that.
>>

Why? Why should we refer to coffee by a different name, when we don`t do
that for, say, ale?

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[geeman]

At 01:30 PM 4/29/2002 +0200, the Falcon wrote:

><< Oh, just don`t copy the name from real life, please. Let`s call it Kaf,
>Kuf, Cofa or something like that. >>
>
>Why? Why should we refer to coffee by a different name, when we don`t
>do that for, say, ale?

Sometimes it can be interesting and show players that they are dealing with
a fantasy setting with subtle differences from the real world. Anne
McAffrey`s _Pern_ series had a coffee like beverage called "klah" IIRC. It
was pretty obvious what that was supposed to be, but it worked as an
example of how things were different in the setting. In D&D there is
sometimes "Dwarven Ale" or "Elven Wine" or something like that. Generally,
we assume that means ale/wine made by dwarves/elves, but it could mean
something quite different. Who knows what kinds of spirits would affect a
demi-human or what kinds of funky materials they might use to derive a
drink? I sometimes wonder about what madman came up with the process for
many real world beverages, for that matter... in a fantasy setting this
could be much different.

Gary

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[Birthright-L]

>>Oh, just don`t copy the name from real life, please. Let`s call it Kaf,
>>Kuf, Cofa or something like that.
>
>Why? Why should we refer to coffee by a different name, when we don`t do
>that for, say, ale?

Since I am inclined to leave the properties of coffee as they are in real
life, I would be inclined to leave the name the same as well. I have no
objection to making things up, and using my own names, but when I do that,
its because I made up some fantastic beverage. If I import a chair into
fantasy gaming, I call it a chair. If I invent a new sitting surface for
BR, then I make up a name.

Hieronymus Agricola
wizard, alchemist, bibliophile


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[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

It has a section on coffee and coffee culture.