Greetings folks,
I'm kinda new to GH, I know very little about the actual setting beside what was written in the 3E core books. I'm currently running TAGDQ for a group of players and would like to know a bit more about Oerth.
My first question is the one in the title: are there "rough equivalents" to GH's cultures and languages in our world? _________________ <p><em>"I am become Death, destroyer of worlds!"</em></p>
<p>—Xzar</p>
This is somewhat subjective, but there are hints based on the titles used in the various countries.
Almor: This nation is ruled by a prelate, and most historical territorial prelatures are in Italy.
Bissel: Margrave was a title in the Holy Roman Empire, and Bissel corresponds to the eastern border provinces in the Carolingian Empire; I'm not sure if it corresponds to anything specific, but this region of the Flanaess is close to the border with the Baklunish (which are sort of Muslim) lands, so something like the Spanish March might apply.
Blackmoor: [Arch]Baron is a French/English title, but some sources give Oerth's Blackmoor Finnish inspiration.
Bone March: The word marquis originally applied to the marcher lords of France.
Celene: Queen is an English title; "Rhalta" is a made-up fantasy title, I think. This is an Elven land.
Dyvers: Magister is Latin; here it just represents an archaic Old Oeridian title, I think.
Ekbir: Caliph is an Arabic title meaning the successors of Muhammad; here it's given to successors of the ancient priest Al-Akbar.
Frost Barbarians: The Thillonrian Peninsula is based on Scandinavia. The Frost Barbarians are probably most like Denmark.
Furyondy: I always thought the Kingdom of Furyondy was probably named after the French region of Burgundy.
Geoff: Its ruler, Owen, has a Welsh name and there's a broad concensus that Geoff is something like a landlocked version of Wales.
Gran March: The "military-religions order of knights" that established the Gran March is probably based on the real-world Teutonic Order, and the Gran March parallels the State of the Teutonic Order in Prussia.
Great Kingdom: This is something like a decadent Holy Roman or Eastern Roman Empire.
Greyhawk: Chicago, to some degree. The Free Imperial City of Augsburg might be a good parallel.
Highfolk: This is mostly elves and so forth.
Horned Society: I'd compare them to Tolkien's Easterlings.
Ice Barbarians: Norway.
Idee: I don't know, Sicily maybe.
Iuz: Tolkien's Mordor.
Keoland: Tolkien's Gondor.
Ket: Turkiye. "Beygraf" is a combination of the Turkic "Bey" and the German "Graf".
Lordship of the Isles: Pirate states in the Caribbean, I think.
Medegia: The See of Medegia is inspired somewhat by the Holy See of the Vatican, but Stuff Happened and evil took over.
North Province: Herzog is a German title.
Nyrond: I would compare it to the region of Alsase separating from the Holy Roman Empire.
Onnwal: Based solely on the name, I compare it to Cornwall, and also Kirkwall from Dragon Age II.
Pale: The English Pale was part of Ireland, but that's not really a very good comparison to the strict theocracy of Oerth's Pale. Something like the state of Deseret in what is now Utah might be closer; I don't know if there's a good European analogy.
Perrenland: Switzerland.
Plains of the Paynims: "Paynims" is a medieval slur for Muslims. Think Arabs/Berbers.
Pomarj: Orcs and such.
Ratik: Probably Saxony.
Rovers of the Barrens: "Ataman" is a Cossack title, but more recent sources base them on Plains tribes like the Arapaho.
Scarlet Brotherhood: There may be some pulp fiction inspiration for a secret Nazi empire in the southern jungles, but I tend to compare them to Spain's colonial empire.
Sea Barons: I don't know; maybe the Falklands.
Sea Princes: I think more like the Bahamas.
Snow Barbarians: Sweden
Tenh: "Ehyeh" is a Hebrew word, but I think this land is meant to have more of a, like, Ethiopian vibe inspired by Haile Selassie.
Tiger Nomads: Ruled by an Ilkhan. Mongols.
Tusmit: Pasha is a title from the Ottoman Empire and North Africa. We're talking Muslim Egypt here.
County of Ulek: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_Palatinate. More recent sources have it ruled by druids.
Ull: Another khanate. Mongols.
Zeif: I think this is more the Ottoman Empire.
I tried to use the search function, but it kept giving me some server error. Thanks for the reply! _________________ <p><em>"I am become Death, destroyer of worlds!"</em></p>
<p>—Xzar</p>
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