Just to follow on from preceding discussion, a couple of thoughts
about my Tarshite = Rus analogue. First of all, the usual
disclaimer: no Earthly analogue is ever a complete match, and needs
to be considered more as 'mood music' than anything else, just to
set the tone, style and atmosphere.
That said, I think the Rus to the 'viking' Orlanthi (OK, you may say
Celt, but work with me here!) is a nice parallel because you have
the impact of urbanisation, of an increasingly centralising
religious creed (first the Alakoringite strand of Orlanthi worship
which stresses the primacy of kings over priests and large tribes,
then the fusion of that with the Provincial Church, which also
stresses obedience to the King and through him Moonson) and
increasingly of real wealth being put to use creating monuments and
in expansion.
But above all, it opens up a whole series of interesting new myths,
legends and historical experiences to mine for goodies, from the
syncretic overlay of old, pagan, animist beliefs and a new faith to
the central importance of a founding myth (Arim rather than the
Rus's Rurik) and a compact with the land (= Arim becoming KoDP and
his relationship with Sorana Tor).
If anyone wants to explore this a little further for themselves, a
few of the best sources are
- 'GURPS Russia', as mentioned previously ('The Dragon and the
Bear', for Ars Magica, is not a patch on it, but still has a few
nice ideas)
- 'The Bathhouse at Midnight: An Historical Survey of Magic and
Divination in Russia' by William Ryan, a thick and scholarly but
also fascinating study of Russian magic and folk belief -- *lots* of
stealable material
- 'Armies of Medieval Russia, 750-1250' and 'Medieval Russian
Armies, 1250-1500' both by David Nicolle, Osprey Men-at-Arms studies
well worth a read (and nice colour pictures, too)
- If you want 'proper' academic texts, the best general textbook is
Janet Martin's 'Medieval Russia', while the first part of Basil
Dmytrishyn's edited collection 'Medieval Russia: A Source Book, 850-
1700' contains some interesting and atmospheric accunts to read or
use.
- Russian folklore in general is a wonderful source of ideas: try
Pyotr Simonov's 'Essential Russian Mythology' or Serge
Zenkovsky's 'Medieval Russia's Epics, Chronicles, and Tales'
- Finally, there is some great Russian-set fiction around, most
notably by Peter Morwood ('Prince Ivan, 'Firebird' and 'The Golden
Horde) and CJ Cherryh ('Rusalka', 'Chernevog' and 'Yvgenie')
Dosvidaniya!
Mark