i wish we would talk more about conan lore. i enjoyed reading this thread so far. keep going dudes and dudettes.
To prove my statement hereās the link: Funcom Press Center - "Funcom Launches People of the Dragon DLC for Conan Exiles"
Actually if you pay attention to architecture Aqualonia is based of Roman/Greek structures hence the marble tile design.
While Iād like to agree, everything I look up about them in Hyborian literature says Roman, even their names are Roman. You forget that Germanic culture in the ancient world was tribal and less modernizedā¦ IRL anyway. There may be some references to Germany, but the culture seems to be predominantly Roman. As for your statement about Aqualonians, theyāre more Greek than Roman. Historically, thereās overlaps with Greek and Roman cultures, but much of Roman culture absorbed Greek into itā¦ but Rome also absorbed many other cultures. It was the pinnacle of the ancient world by using the best of each of the neighboring civilizationsā best qualitiesā¦ hence the power they held and the length of time their empire lasted.
Say what you will, but based upon the Hyborian literature, it all points to Romans, not Germans. Going off the build set, yes, Iād agreeā¦ itās more akin to medieval regions of Germany and Francia, but the literature states Rome. I think thereās some disconnect between Funcomās designs and the source material. Remember the Nemedian helm that the spider boss drops? Itās obviously a Roman helmet. I think if the OP wants to base their names upon Germanic naming systems, thatās fine, but if they want it true Nemedian, then Roman names are the way to go. That being said, given the build set, itās obviously less Roman and more medieval. Maybe more likely the Holy ROMAN Empire.
Yeah, this is more likelyā¦ the names appear to be Roman in essence, but the culture and the builds are obviously āHoly Roman Empire,ā which as you quoted Voltaire, āneither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.ā It seems pretty strange to throw in a medieval empire into an ancient world, but hey, itās fantasy.
UPDATEā¦ Iād go with anything from the HRE periodā¦ try these names:
Theyāre also names heavily used in England during the Middle Ages, since much of the language was Germanic in origin (remember, English is, in its essence, a germanic language).
Iād think Iād have to disagree with you thrre. While itās true that FunCom have portrayed Aquilonia as very Roman in feel, and Argos as Hellenistic Greece, and Nemedia as a sort of strange Anglo-Saxon type place, and while Marvel Comics and some 3rd party writers have leaned heavily into the feeling of more ancient and dark ages cultures for many of the Hyborian nations, as written by Howard in the original stories, the Hyborian nations have much more of a mid to high medieval european feel.
I know a lot of players of the game will disagree with this, but if you read āBlack Colossusā one of Howardās original Conan stories, published in Weird Tales in 1933 and set in Khoraja, a minor Hyborian nation, Howard refers to a nobleman wearing a cote-hardie and carrying a velvet chaperon, both of which are medieval items of clothing. Later he also writes of Conanās armour: āgorget, sollerets, cuirass, pauldrons, jambes, cuisses and sallet.ā this is clearly high medieval plate harness. Now, Khoraja is a minor Hyborian nation, and can logically be assumed to be no more technologically advanced than Aquilonia, the mightiest of all the Hyborian kingdoms. In āThe Scarlet Citadelā and āThe Hour of the Dragonā the Aquilonian order of battle pretty closely resembles that of the English armies of the Hundred Years War; Longbows backed up by Pikemen from Gunderland (the latter replacing billmen) and with a core of knights and men-at-arms. The Poitainian knights generally wield 2 handed swords and wear plate harness and, again, as a vassal state to Aquilonia, there is no way that their weapons and armour would be technologically superior to that of their Aquilonian masters.
The Nemedians are the Aquilonians closest rivals and their order of battle is likewise very medieval. For the most part crossbows replace longbows and there is a greater emphasis on mounted knights, but itās fairly clearly a high medieval army
Again, in the āScarlet Citadelā there are references to the rule of Numedides, who was king of Aquilonia before Conan. These references point towards a harsh, medieval feudal system of rule.
Yep, Howard used a lot of Roman-esque names for some Aquilonians, but not all. But in terms of how he portrayed the cultures of the Hyborian cultures, that Medieval European feel comes through far more strongly than a Roman or Greek one.
Of course, these are just my opinions and Iām not dogmatic about them. Iām totally open to anyone pointing towards something that Howard wrote that clearly indicates that he meant for those nations to be more āAncient or Classicalā in feel. And there are some contradictions. In āThe God in the Bowlā there is a mention of chariots, and many of the names are very Roman-esque, but at the same time the city watch carry crossbows and bills, which are very medieval. In general, I am really happy if people can show me stuff from Howardās writing that I hadnāt discovered previously. I will openly admit though, Iām a Howard purist, and I know that the works of may other writers will lean in other directions in points of lore
And this is why I run an RP server with you Sir. You rock.
Yeah.
The Hyborian age is fantasy and completely ahistorical. Itās inspired by history, but nothing more, and itās history as REH understood it, which is probably quite far from our understanding, which in turn probably isnāt all that great, either.
A pre-ice age civilization with late medieval technology doesnāt make aaaall that much sense, but hey, itās entertainment, not a history lesson.
Also, Funcomās interpretation often varies from what REH might have envisioned. Most armor in the Conan games is a lot more ancient than what REH described. The Silent Legion armor and its derivatives are late medieval plate armor, buuuut they might be pretty futuristic for the world the game is set in. These items were created in service of the Giant Kings, i. e. weird outer space aliens who commanded strange science or magic. None of the tribes in the Exiled Lands seems to be able to craft anything similar, and at least my interpretation is that this is Science-Fiction-Space-Marine-Armor from the viewpoint of our characters.
What I want to say: Donāt stick too close to REH when playing Conan Exiles. The game is based upon his stories, but itās not identical. We can draw from the stories to learn about the world, but at least imho, we should base our gaming and understanding on Funcomās vision.
If, for example, we found out that REH believed the Holy Roman Empire to be actual āRome rebornā, with legions and Lorica Segmentata and allā¦ well, that may be how he saw Nemedia, then, but Funcomās games see Nemedia as Medieval German with a little Roman twist. So, if one wants to roleplay a Nemedian in Conan Exiles, heād probably like beer, bread, sausage and well-made cars, not pizza, wine and dressing well.
Okay, maybe no cars yet, but theyāll come around.
I absolutely agree with you, if youāre on a server based on the Exiled Lands premise, with the aesthetic and lore that Funcom delivers. Youāre absolutely right. Youāre also right that none of the cultures of the Hyborian Age should be seen as a carbon copy of any historical culture. There are some influences, but thatās all they are, and I think to try to badge any Hyborian Age culture as a copy of a historical one actually just cheapens it.
I (along with Alexandria) run a server set in the Hyborian Age world as Howard wrote it. We set our server, currently, in Argos and the Barachans with a few other areas thrown in. We donāt have the Exiled Lands in our lore at all, so we stick as closely as we can to the lore (scant though it often is) as REH wrote it. Iāll admit, we are pretty niche, but we like it.
And Iāll keep my eyes peeled for a mod that has some cool Nemedian cars in it
Sounds great, nice stuff!
Yeah, Iām merely going off what Iāve found online. The way the time periods differ so much, despite saying āancient,ā makes it pretty confusing. Though as @Oduda mentioned, itās likely based on the Holy Roman Empire, which would confirm the Germanic/Frankish origins your alluded to. Some of the information online seems to be a bit convoluted and not entirely accurate, assuming everything you stated is true. I donāt have a desire to dig through all the reading, so Iāll take everything you mentioned at face value and allow anyone with more knowledge on the subject to debate further.
Its hard to say where the Nemedians draw their inspiration from. We do have The Hyborian Age Essay that gives some hints however. The races of Hyboria predate our ancient peoples in the lore and act as predecessors in an alternate history. Hereās what it says on that subject:
This drift comes within the reach of modern history and need not be repeated. It resulted from a growing population which thronged the steppes west of the inland seaāwhich still later, much reduced in size, was known as the Caspianāto such an extent that migration became an economic necessity. The tribes moved southward, northward and westward, into those lands now known as India, Asia Minor and central and western Europe.
They came into these countries as Aryans. But there were variations among these primitive Aryans, some of which are still recognized today, others which have long been forgotten. The blond Achaians, Gauls and Britons, for instance, were descendants of pure-blooded Aesir. The Nemedians of Irish legendry were the Nemedian Aesir. The Danes were descendants of pure-blooded Vanir; the Goths ā ancestors of the other Scandinavian and Germanic tribes, including the Anglo-Saxonsāwere descendants of a mixed race whose elements contained Vanir, Aesir and Cimmerian strains. The Gaels, ancestors of the Irish and Highland Scotch, descended from pure-blooded Cimmerian clans. The Cymric tribes of Britain were a mixed Nordic-Cimmerian race which preceded the purely Nordic Britons into the isles, and thus gave rise to a legend of Gaelic priority. The Cimbri who fought Rome were of the same blood, as well as the Gimmerai of the Assyrians and Grecians, and Gomer of the Hebrews. Other clans of the Cimmerians adventured east of the drying inland sea, and a few centuries later mixed with Hyrkanian blood, returned westward as Scythians. The original ancestors of the Gaels gave their name to modern Crimea.
The ancient Sumerians had no connection with the western race. They were a mixed people, of Hyrkanian and Shemitish bloods, who were not taken with the conquerors in their retreat. Many tribes of Shem escaped that captivity, and from pure-blooded Shemites, or Shemites mixed with Hyborian or Nordic blood, were descended the Arabs, Israelites, and other straighter-featured Semites. The Canaanites, or Alpine Semites, traced their descent from Shemitish ancestors nuxed with the Kushites settled among them by their Hyrkanian masters; the Elamites were a typical race of this type. The short, thick-limbed Etruscans, base of the Roman race, were descendants of a people of mixed Stygian, Hyrkanian and Pictish strains, and originally lived in the ancient kingdom of Koth. The Hyrkanians, retreating to the eastern shores of the continent, evolved into the tribes later known as Tatars, Huns, Mongols and Turks.
The origins of other races of the modern world may be similarly traced; in almost every case, older far than they realize, their history stretches back into the mists of the forgotten Hyborian ageā¦
This one arrives late to the topic, and the answers are already present.
Just to note, the DLC set is extremely Saxon styled.
The names and social structures resemble Romeā¦ ish.
If itās convenient, imagine Nemedia and Aquilonia as the successor kingdoms to Karl Ma-, er Charlemagneās Hegemony, post treaty of Verdun. Aquilon in the west, matching to Aquitaine, and Nemedia in the east, Bavaria, Saxony, and Swabia, later yoinking Lotharingia, ectā¦ That last part would be a sore spot for awhile. Which is an an excellent reason for Aquilon vs Nemedia.
TLDR; the Hyborian Era, while by word of author is ancient pre-history, bears far more resemblance to a patiche of dramatizations of mytho-history of cultures ranging from Bronze Age Old Kingdom Egypt all the way to the Golden Age of Piracy with land locked Vikings existing shoulder to shoulder with Knights in full plate. So donāt expect anything to be a perfect fit.
This one suggests holding out for the Duesenberg '39.
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