Who built the road of kings and when?
- Thread starter emirikol
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Lord Jolly the Scribe
Mongoose
Is travel on the Road easier and safer and quicker or is it just as slow, dangerous, and difficult? I am getting the Road of Kings soon and I don't how much it says in there about the actual road but I am curious about adventure ideas on it. Thanks.
The Road of Kings' origin isn't clear in the originals, but it may well be very ancient: the main trade route through Acheron to Zamora must have run along a similar route, but this is speculation. It is probably only sometimes an actual single road, and often a route with a number of parallel paths, the former in civilised areas the latter in the wilds.
Is it easier and quicker? Absolutely. Not just because of the road surface, but also (perhaps mostly) because of its established nature. There will be routes through obstacles, there will be stopping places such as inns and caravanserai a day's travel apart, bridges and fords will be maintained and repaired and information about the routes ahead will be easy to get, as there will be plenty of people going the other way to ask.
On the other hand, it will be a bandit magnet of no small proportions.
Is it easier and quicker? Absolutely. Not just because of the road surface, but also (perhaps mostly) because of its established nature. There will be routes through obstacles, there will be stopping places such as inns and caravanserai a day's travel apart, bridges and fords will be maintained and repaired and information about the routes ahead will be easy to get, as there will be plenty of people going the other way to ask.
On the other hand, it will be a bandit magnet of no small proportions.
Conan-the-Librarian
Mongoose
OR... seeing as this is the somewhat "morally flexible" Conan setting... perhaps raiding the caravans as the Bandits themselves!Halfbat said:
slaughterj
Mongoose
The King said:
That information is highly suspect. See the other RoK thread I bumped.
The King
Cosmic Mongoose
Considering the massive knowledge of Dale Rippke on the subject (he also wrote several essays on the Hyborian Age which were published as a book), I wouldn't consider this "suspect" but rather highly probable.slaughterj said:
Note that he always gives his sources in each entry of his gazetteer. So you just have to check them. But as Vincent Darlage put it in the thread you bumped up, Howard himself never talked about the roads of Kings. But it seems a fact than many pastiches (as well as comics) are considered canon enough for the game.
And then as these sources are still available you can decide by yourself what to include in your world or not.
Lord Jolly the Scribe
Mongoose
The Road of Kings book is a book I am getting soon, but is it just about the Road of Kings or is it a gazeteer on all of the Conan world? I have read brief descriptions of it on some sites but never much detail.
slaughterj
Mongoose
The King said:
Dale Rippke certainly has massive knowledge on the subject, but (1) there are non-canon cites for that knowledge at that link, and (2) so does Vincent Darlage who was speaking from canon. Therefore, it seems if you want to run a Conan game closer to canon, you might not make the Road of Kings the international 4-lane paved highway presented on the Rippke site and go with something a little more abstract.
Since it is on the map, I consider it to be one frequently used trade route among many in the world, and not having the conveniences of smooth roads or daily stops along the way, but rather a route that goes from one major city to another (thus an intelligent and frequently used route to have), with the occasional town along the way, but also with extensive expanses of wilderness, e.g., where it goes through the mountains and deserts, such that "bad things can happen" (i.e., a big sandstorm could come along and cause the party/caravan to get lost).
The King
Cosmic Mongoose
As far as I am concerned I would have consider the road of Kings as a mean of communication begun from Messantia in Argos for its caravans up to Aquilonia, that is 2 of the richest kingdoms. And it would have expanded toward the East (Turan) using trade roads already in used (for instance in the several city-states.slaughterj said:
But everyone could have its own view on the game and I don't think Howard spirit will chastize you if you developp further the continent.
i see the road of kings to be more like the silkroad that led from europe to china. wasnt one continuous road but was a route you took because hundreds of others had taken it before and so was relatively well mapped and all the major pit stops. more like several major roads a couple of smaller ones and the occasional trek through wilderness.
slaughterj
Mongoose
Krushnak said:
Seems reasonable - but gotta have some chance of wilderness encounters, danger, and getting lost to make it fun!
I think it would also be interesting to see what the Kwarism road ideas are like. Anybody played anything in that area and have 'suggestions'? THAT would definately be an extension of the RoK and would then become the "Silk Road." Just imagine the volume of Turanian/Hyrkanian traffic! East and west contact of the empire!
jh
jh
I use it as a route through the various nations. Some areas are magnificantly well kept, while some fall into disrepair and are hardly more than a set of wagon tracks in the mud. You figure that around civilization as well as borders the road will be built up more, perhaps cobbled and patrolled, whereas other places there's not much of anything.
IMC the origins of the road stem from the 'logical' path from point A to point B.
Starkus
IMC the origins of the road stem from the 'logical' path from point A to point B.
Starkus
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