That's pretty sweet. I especially love the river. very nice.
Kaputera_WIP2.jpg
So, after a bit of fiddling ... here is the terrain at the time of the arrival of the first true men*, sturdy Urrish farmer folk who chased off the forest monkeys**, took their wives and settled above the Roars of the Water God. They named their settlement Um, which means "Home" in Urrish***.
*according to the Urrish
**the forest monkeys disagreed on this point and called themselves the Kanrkip; but the Urrish were bigger, more numerous and had pigs. The pigs carried a contagious virus that caused mild flu like symptoms among Urrish children but a virulent dysentery-like infection among the Kanrkip.
***it also means "fat from the head of a pig", but that's in another context.
That's pretty sweet. I especially love the river. very nice.
Looks like a great start! I'm looking forward to how it develops.The backstory is awesome! I have to agree with the previous posters that the river system is very authentic, it looks great.
Anything with pigs causing dysentery has my attention! Not necessarily in a good way... but looking forward to the next stages anyhow, LOL.
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If there are pigs I imagine the climate is temperate so the villagers can produce sufficient feed for the pigs or the pigs have plenty of space to forage. Also pigs are used for truffle hunting so that could be a good plot point in your world. I have never been truffle hunting myself though (although I do go mushroom hunting but only for chanterelles).
On a side note, one theory for the basis for Jewish and Islamic strictures against pigs is that they are net consumers of grain in a climate where you don't produce as much (and goats and such are better animals to raise in such climates).
The other is that people don't cook meat so well in Mediterranean climates and undercooked pork carries more parasites and disease so people got sick. So these points got enshrined in a religious way because it was a good way of getting people not to do things which were bad for them at the time.
Kaputera_WIP3_Age of the Boulder.jpg
The first age as recounted by the Urrish of Um was the Age of the Boulder, for it was said that a crafty leader by the name of Urriah made a bargain with the devil* that blessed him with many wives and many strong sons. When the devil finally came for Urriah's soul, Urriah fed him a great meal of seven times seven hogs that had before cooking supped heavily on the Stone Mushroom, also called the Kuprriht. The devil ate so much that he could not move and in the end he gave Urriah back his soul in exchange for a magic laxative cooked up by Urriah's grand daughter mixing the traditional sand fermented oil fish and the beans of the cuckoo tree. After taking the laxative the devil excreted a massive boulder and ran off, which for ever after was called Urriah's Lucky Pig Stone – or Umurrhkup.
After Urriah died, his lesser sons and grandsons cut down more forest and built new holms close to Um. In Um itself a humble burial pit was made for Urriah beneath the Umurrhkup, which became a centre of spring fertility rites**.
*some said there was no devil, just a merchant from the western tribes of the Shakr' that taught Urrish to wash his hands in boiled water before the ritual of child delivering, which accounted for all his sons. One can always found skeptical fools who disbelieve the truth of the devil's immanence in the world.
**and every few years some devil-possessed outsider would be sacrificed for suggesting it was somewhat silly to bury a founding ancestor under a pile of petrified devil poo.
Larb - true, truffle hunting would do ... besides, considering this area is a decidious forest region with lots and lots of water, I think high yields are pretty much a given. To me the whole project offers a fun way to build a city bit by bit from initial settlement to subsequent development. I'm interested in how the roads and things are going to turn out too ... and the whole dysentery and pigs angle was just too rich for me to drop ...
I like the map, but I'm even more entertained by the story behind it.
Cheers,
-Arsheesh
Kaputera_WIP3_year-500.jpg
Anno Ummano 500, or thereabouts ... the numerous descendants of Urriah have multiplied, spread, warred, traded, and so forth. Increasing contacts with traders as well as with bands of horse-men they call the Sixfoots, has led the Uubish Urrishmen to build walls and pallisades to protect their women, their livestock and their lives. The divine house of Urr has begun to claim the protection of the rain and sun Gods, as well as the service of one and one-half of the slaves of any settlement to aid in the ministration of the holies and the building of fortified abodes for their disciples.
The intranecine squabbles among the descendants of Urriah have also led to the flight of at least three groups of Urrishmen, the first flight under Ashop the Flighty, the second flight under Horatz of Kanzuuz and the tactical relocation of Möraym the Genuine Ärtzug. They left the map ...