[DF] Arabian Nights questions

[b-dog]

In DF/Arabian Nights the Bazaar/Souhk would function as many places. It would be like taverns in DF where people try to find rumors or information about adventure, it would also be where PCs buy mundane and magical items and it would be a place that has guilds for training the PCs in their respective classes (wizards, thieves etc.).

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by b-dog

In DF/Arabian Nights the Bazaar/Souhk would function as many places. It would be like taverns in DF where people try to find rumors or information about adventure, it would also be where PCs buy mundane and magical items and it would be a place that has guilds for training the PCs in their respective classes (wizards, thieves etc.).

Certainly it's splendid for that. By the way, Philip's Interactive Media Marco Polo, actually does use taverns for that. And there would have been taverns for non-muslims and even some muslims. Then there are coffeehouses, teahouses, hammams and hookah dens. Technically it is the consensus that coffee didn't arrive 'til fairly late in Near Eastern history by comparison with all those thousands of years; but know one knows exactly of course and you can always fudge. Kipling's Ballad of the Kings Jest is about a meeting at the Peshawar caravanserai, so that scene works well. So there are a number of places to meet and hang out.


By the way, while you are messing about in the bazaar you can play a recording of Marakesh Night Market.

[b-dog]

The Egyptian gods in the Mythic Middle East

According to those with mystical powers, the Egyptian gods were Divine and held power over all creation. But as time passed new gods arose and finally the God of Abraham usurped their power, and cast them from Divinity. They lost their power to grant Divine power and soon they became like the jinn, powerful spirits who cannot bestow powers directly to mortals . Thus they had no Sanctity and their followers could not have Power Investiture. Their Sanctity was not lost however, it was transformed into mana aspected to what the powers of the gods were. The items used to worship them also transformed from sanctified to magical. Thus many treasure hunters delighted in searching old temples and crypts to find the ancient artifacts of the Egyptian gods in order to findicate magic items. The prayers to them also lost,their Sanctity and instead became invocations of magic and many wizards use them to cast spells. The Egyptian gods use mana to interact with humanity now due to their loss of Divinity. Some scholars believe that Divinity can be regained if enough followers worship them. Some cults have been started in wizards guilds hoping to do just that.

The Muslims believe differently, the Egyptian gods were never gods. They were just powerful jinn who had immense power in a time when magic was strong. They point out that the holy items of the Egyptian gods are based on mana instead of Sanctity and therefore they are not Divine and never were. They were instead jinns,that were powerful magicians who tricked mortals into worshipping them.

[b-dog]

Ammit

This demon had the head of a crocodile, the forebody of a lion and the rear body of a hippopotamus. It is thought that when the Egyptian gods reigned she would devour the heart of those who were impure at judgement upon death. As the reign of the Egyptian gods faded and Islam rose to power, Ammit then served the Infernal and enters the mortal realm to devour the souls of the impure.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by b-dog

Ammit

This demon had the head of a crocodile, the forebody of a lion and the rear body of a hippopotamus. It is thought that when the Egyptian gods reigned she would devour the heart of those who were impure at judgement upon death. As the reign of the Egyptian gods faded and Islam rose to power, Ammit then served the Infernal and enters the mortal realm to devour the souls of the impure.

Problem with this, I think, is that it falls into the "old gods of death are demons" fallacy. Ammit consuming the soul was a punishment for living a wicked life, much like the Christian soul being consigned to Hell or a Greek being punished in Tartarus. The Christian/Islamic demons aren't interested in souls that are already wicked; they come to the mortal realm to corrupt the pure souls. If anything, Ammit should be more akin to a Seraphim or Malakim warrior angel, not a demon.

[b-dog]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

Problem with this, I think, is that it falls into the "old gods of death are demons" fallacy. Ammit consuming the soul was a punishment for living a wicked life, much like the Christian soul being consigned to Hell or a Greek being punished in Tartarus. The Christian/Islamic demons aren't interested in souls that are already wicked; they come to the mortal realm to corrupt the pure souls. If anything, Ammit should be more akin to a Seraphim or Malakim warrior angel, not a demon.

I was just thinking that the Egyptian gods had their entire cosmology destroyed and replaced by Islamic cosmology. So the Egyptian gods lost their Divine status and had to go to the Magic Realm to be able to influence the mortal realm. Ammit could have stayed in the Magic Realm and remained neutral or she could join the Infernal and eat hearts.

[b-dog]

There are three main realms of the supernatural in my game world, the Divine which are the ruling God/gods, the Infernal which oppose the God/gods and the Magic Realm which is any unalined supernatural energy including spirits, demoted gods, mana, faerie, and magic.

[b-dog]

Sanctity and mana

I was thinking that the difference between Sanctity and mana might be that Sanctity is magical energy directly controlled by the gods while mana was once Sanctity that the gods lost control of. For instance elves are considered magical but a long time ago they were likely part of a religion either as nature gods or as servitors of gods. The dwarves were once part of the Norse cosmology and they helped to make things for the gods but now they are considered as magical being who craft magic items.

As to how the gods lost control of their Sanctity, I imagine they sort of lost their power and another god claimed their status. Since Sanctity was magical energy controlled by the gods then maybe when the god lost his status or power then the god also lost control of his Sanctity. Without the gods control, Sanctity becomes mana and those who have magery can access it . Maybe all of the mana in the world was once Sanctity but due to earlier gods losing power it transformed into mana. The faerie are a good example. They used to be part of religions but those religions lost power to newer ones and now faerie are considered to be magical instead of Divine.

[b-dog]

Characters

Beggars: I am not sure how I would handle this character in DF. Maybe the PC would have good scrounging ability and fast talk. Could possibly become a DF character class, at least a starting point PC before he gets enough money and experience to learn other professions.

Desert Nomads: Would likely be a Scout or Barbarians with emphasis on desert survival and also have Allies.

Entertainer: Would likely be a,Bard but maybe he can enthrall people with his magic tricks or athletic ability instead of using music.

Poet: Might just a Bard that uses poetry in place of music. Might also have some Scholar ability. Maybe he can recite a poem he knew to learn clues about something in a DF adventure

Merchant: This could be a DF class in itself. He would know the value of the items in the dungeon he,is looting and also be able to sell it to others for a profit. He would like have some combat skills to protect his goods when on caravan.

[jason taylor]

Desert Nomads will likely have the stigma of barbarians in places but they will be familiar with the use of civilized technology and know where to trade for it. Naturally it has to be mobile enough to be suited to their needs. Animals they can breed already. Tents might be bought from the cities, metalwork certainly would. They would have a symbiotic relationship with cities covering trade, politics, etc. "Allies" would reflect the permutations of tribal politics-who is whose cousin, who owes a favor to who, yada, yada.

A given tribe of nomads will likely levy tolls on passing caravans(Kuwait always used to be forever negotiating with them about this back in the day).

They are also likely to take up as mercenaries. They are useful in that role but tend to be flighty having more interest in their pariochial concerns then those of their employers. If not handled right a prince can find his whole army has disappeared on him. For instance one time Ibn Saud recouped his families fortunes by making a successful attack on Riyadh in the middle of the night and getting such a reputation for luck that he got an army overnight. He also made the Rashid's army disappear simply by slipping around him and rustling the camels of all the Rashid supporters until they went home. They make up for this in specialized roles with their hardihood and wilderness savvy but it is best to have a disciplined force with you like the Mamelukes.

One curiousity is that camel raisers used to hold themselves above sheep raisers. That would count as Social Stigma.