Beyond Barsaive

Discussion on game mastering Earthdawn. May contain spoilers; caution is recommended!
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Valentius
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Beyond Barsaive

Post by Valentius » Thu Dec 15, 2016 7:19 am

Hello again! I have more questions. I am curious about what is beyond Barsaive. The borders of the province seem largely arbitrary and I am curious about what is beyond the borders. What is beyond the Dragon Mountains between Death's Sea and The Aras Sea? What is beyond Parlainth and around the the other side of the Aras. How big is the Blood Wood and What's on the other side, or past Iopos? What about all the territory between Barsaive and Indrisa?

Also, what about the races? From some stuff I've read I get the feeling that some Races are global (like Humans) while others are more regional (Like Windlings possibly?). Assuming that some races are regional it's entirely reasonable that there are other races in the world but how close would they be to the known world?

I realize that the focus of the currently published game is Barsaive (And possibly Thera as it relates to Barsaive) but it's a very tiny portion of a very large world and I'm curious about else is out there.

Considering that there is nothing actually published, I'd be curious to hear what other GMs are doing in their own games.

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Marzhin
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Re: Beyond Barsaive

Post by Marzhin » Thu Dec 15, 2016 10:33 am

The upcoming book Elven Nations should at least explore the western Elven kingdoms like Shosara.

As a French ED player and fan, I'd love to have a chance to write something about Arancia, expanding upon the few hints found in The Theran Empire. I think there's a lot of room to provide an interesting setting for Earthdawn while avoiding the clichés of medieval France.
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Lys
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Re: Beyond Barsaive

Post by Lys » Thu Dec 15, 2016 10:53 am

Valentius wrote:Considering that there is nothing actually published, I'd be curious to hear what other GMs are doing in their own games.
There is actually quite a bit published, here are canonical answers to your questions, in order:
What is beyond the Dragon Mountains between Death's Sea and The Aras Sea?
The eastern reaches of the Theran province of Creana are what lies roughly south of the Dragon Mountains, but do not directly border them. It is not mentioned what lies between the two, or beyond the borders of Creana.
What is beyond Parlainth and around the the other side of the Aras.
We don't know what is beyond Parlainth save for the nations north of Blood Wood. On the other side the Aras there are the People from Across the Aras Sea, which trade with Urupa and other Barsavian coastal towns. They are a secretive bunch who sail in large sea-worthy galleys heavily armed with firecannon. They have a fortified embassy in Urupa, but allow few foreigners inside. It's unclear whether they are on the Southern, Eastern, and both shores of the Aras.
How big is the Blood Wood and what's on the other side, or past Iopos?
The map only cuts off about the upper third of the Blood Wood, so it's not much bigger than it appears. We don't know what's immediately past it, but further north on the shores of the Gywn Sea (probably the Baltic or White Sea) are the Elven Kingdom of Shosara and their allied Human City-State of Khistova. The Khistovans are great sailors, and Shosara adopting their ship designs is why it was Separated. North of Iopos are the Grand Cataracts and the mysterious source of the Serpent River. West are the Western Elven Kingdoms, including Sereatha the City of Spires, historically the most loyal subject of the Elven Court.
What about all the territory between Barsaive and Indrisa?
There's little information on what lies between Barsaive and Indrisia aside from the People Across the Aras Sea.
Also, what about the races? From some stuff I've read I get the feeling that some Races are global (like Humans) while others are more regional (Like Windlings possibly?). Assuming that some races are regional it's entirely reasonable that there are other races in the world but how close would they be to the known world?
The main races of Barsaive assumed to be fairly universal, existing in different proportions all over. However there are a number of regional races: Creana has Jackalmen (humans with jackal heads), Vasgothia has Leafers (Namegivers made of plant matter) and Ulkmen (huge misshapen brutes), and Marac the Jabruc (sterile human-spirit hybrids). Additionally in faraway Kathay there are the Gar (tribal steppe elves), Ki Mao (tiger-stripped jungle elves), Po Na (apemen), and Storm Children (humanoids born from lightning bolts).

Valentius
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Re: Beyond Barsaive

Post by Valentius » Thu Dec 15, 2016 2:43 pm

Thanks Lys! I knew some of that information, but that was helpful. Regarding Cathay though, is that still Canon? I got the impression from Panda's blog that he was less than impressed with it and wonder if it survived to the 4th edition.

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Marzhin
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Re: Beyond Barsaive

Post by Marzhin » Thu Dec 15, 2016 3:30 pm

Valentius wrote:Thanks Lys! I knew some of that information, but that was helpful. Regarding Cathay though, is that still Canon? I got the impression from Panda's blog that he was less than impressed with it and wonder if it survived to the 4th edition.
As far as I know, the only part of Earthdawn that's not canonical is the 2nd Edition so Cathay is still considered canon. I could be wrong of course.
I generally liked the Cathay books, except the stuff about Ji'poh.
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Mataxes
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Re: Beyond Barsaive

Post by Mataxes » Thu Dec 15, 2016 8:09 pm

Valentius wrote:Thanks Lys! I knew some of that information, but that was helpful. Regarding Cathay though, is that still Canon? I got the impression from Panda's blog that he was less than impressed with it and wonder if it survived to the 4th edition.
Morgan's not the final word, I am. :D

That said, I don't have especially strong feelings on Cathay one way or the other. I know some people like it, and it had always captured the attention of a certain segment of the ED fanbase... I just wasn't one of them. I don't have any plans to revisit or revise it, so... take that as you will.

As I've said elsewhere, unless and until we put out something that contradicts material from an earlier edition, it is safe to assume that previously published setting material still stands. I'm not really looking at contradicting something from an earlier edition just to contradict or invalidate it. There should be some kind of compelling (at least to me) reason to do so.

ED2 is likely to see the most material rendered 'non canon' because they had advanced the timeline and had gone a direction that... had problems (IMO) from a setting/story perspective.
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Penagain
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Re: Beyond Barsaive

Post by Penagain » Wed Dec 28, 2016 6:16 am

Valentius wrote:Hello again! I have more questions. I am curious about what is beyond Barsaive. The borders of the province seem largely arbitrary and I am curious about what is beyond the borders. What is beyond the Dragon Mountains between Death's Sea and The Aras Sea? What is beyond Parlainth and around the the other side of the Aras. How big is the Blood Wood and What's on the other side, or past Iopos? What about all the territory between Barsaive and Indrisa?
The forthcoming Elven Nations attempts to shed more light on things west and north of Barsaive!
--Penagain

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