A LONE CONAN QUESTION:

[AURIKALKO]

HI!

Without further ado:

(What do you guys think of this?)
How do people get track of who gets in & out of the "civilised" nations in the Conan RPG? Is there a concept of visa, for instance? Is it a lot of palm greasing? Let's say my PC wants to travell thru several (civilised) nations incognito... Do they have to forge "papers", bribe people, both? What's the standard procedure when traversing let's say, from Aquilonia to Nemedia & viceversa? One of my PCs is an Aquilonian noble who travels a lot... I was wondering this because I don't know how advanced in "countries' borders & stuff" is the Hyborian Age (do they have embassies, for instance?)... (Since REH mostly never bothered with this "lil" things... only the meaty stuff!)


Aurik
Thanks for the time+feedback, btw

 

[Evil_Trevor]

Hi,

As I do it People are free to go where they will in the Hyborian age. Like some ancient greek city states it is passing through the gates of the city that is awkward. In Shem or Argos you are likly to be asked to pay 'Gate Tax' in some citys you might be checked for contraband (black lotus, Magic related stuff) Others might not bother at all.

In some places the P.C.'s stand out as foriegners (three picts trying to sneak into Luxor) and might be stopped and questioned by the gate guard "who are you, where are you going, Do you need seven swords to buy food in the market? "

Nothing is set in stone sometimes you and your band of heavily armed followers can stroll through the city gates with noone taking notice and given the whims of drunken or insane rulers the next day noone with so much as a knife is allowed to pass. Then there is the gate guards benevolent fund.

I doubt there are 'embassies' in the modern sense, most hyborian 'embassadors' are there to represent the king/queen and could give two hoots about some peasent with a problem. Of course if you are a minor noble and in luck perhaps the local embassador is really your uncle on your mothers side......I know just how much trouble my players would be in calling on that kind of favour though.

 

[Raven Blackwell]

According to the Messanita boxed set, there are embassies for foriegn countries in the city- but Messanita is the more 'enlightened' of all Hyborian cities.

 

[Mythos]

I think that Evil Trevor hit it on the head. Going from nation to nation is easy. Getting into a city is hard.

The only exception I can think of is two nations that are either going to war, or have just completed a war. In that case I would not be surprised if both nations have incressed their boarder patrols. These patrols, I belive, would be wary of anyone crossing boarders carrying any form of heavy weapons or armour.

 

[René]

Regarding embassies: in the ancient Greek city states there were some sort of embassies - just honourable men, e.g. of Athens, who had family ties to another city state, e.g. to Corinth, and were thus honored of representing Corinth in Athens. This didn't include diplomacy and foreign affairs, but iuridicial support if Corinthians were involved in crimes.

Regarding borders: since the lands outside the cities were even in civilised countries relativley unsecure, I don't think armed men would have been prohibited from crossing borders (which weren't by the way not that exactly defined in pre-modern times). On the other hand governments were very watchful, if these men were transporting wares, i.e. if there was some toll to collect.

 

[Sherimander]

In fact, the "papers" or visa, as we know it, has been developped since the 19th century, with the rise of the concept of nations.
During ancient times, you sometimes need an official seal to access a city or a part of a city. People were also often recognize by their clothes or their language.