You've heard it all before...

[ParanoidObsessive]

Yes, it's YET ANOTHER ethnicity topic!

Okay, so we've all heard the question before. What real-life ethnic-group/race do the races of Magnamund correspond to? In another topic, August outright stated that we pretty much have to wait for a regional gazetteer to get in-depth descriptions of the races... even if SOME are fairly obvious ( ~cough~Sommlending~cough~ ).

But my question is, what is the general consensus among the masses? The ones I'm most interested in are also the ones that seem to overlap the most - the Nael, Vaderish, and Aluvian peoples. What group do YOU think that each of those races resembles in the real world?

Feel free to share opinions on the Nael, Vaderish, and Aluvian, as well as any others you care to suggest. That way, budding GMs can get an idea what sort of facial features/build/hair/eye color their various NPCs should have...[/i]

 

[Confused Wolf]

Frankly, I have no idea.

Concerning the differences especially between Nael, Vaderish and Aluvian I'd suggest to treat them more as "cultural" distinctions and allow for a wide variety of "racial features" in all those groups (and others, too). But of course that leads to the question what distinguishes the different cultures from each other - and once again I have no answer.

It is really annoying that the Gazetteer mentions all these peoples without really describing their differences...

 

[ParanoidObsessive]

It is really annoying that the Gazetteer mentions all these peoples without really describing their differences...

Well, it's not like the Magnamund Companion really went into their differences either... we get migration drift charts for all the races, then MAYBE, if we're lucky, a picture of your average citizen of a specific country, without any real description of the average features of said racial stock.

I'm half-tempted to set up a list of all Nael/Vaderish/Aluvian nations, then use their individual properties as mentioned in the Gazetteer to sort of reverse-build the original stock. But I'm lazy.

 

[Anonymous]

Dever consistently refers to the "obvious Ilionian features" or some such of a character but it's hard.

For instance, the Anarians are Vassa but seem a touch less "arabic" than Vassagonians.

Baron Maquin from Ilion, described as obviously so, seems almost Spanish.

Sadly, other than the non-Western European looking races, it's hard to pin down

Ethnically, Slovia seems very Slavic. Durenor is more like the Gondor of magnamund, a reverse of Middle-earth, where the Rohirrim are the main defenders of man. Durenese seem to have dark hair and gray eyes(in many cases.)

 

[columbob]

Durenor is more like the Gondor of magnamund, a reverse of Middle-earth, where the Rohirrim are the main defenders of man. Durenese seem to have dark hair and gray eyes(in many cases.)

The Rohirrim are from Rohan, not Gondor.

 

[Walks with the Snails]

Some were pretty obvious. The Sommlending were English, the Vassa were Arabic. I guess the Ulnarians could be German. I imagined the Vaderish as French. What we saw of Anarians and their culture made me think of Turkish and/or Greek. The Shadaki also seemed vaguely Italian.

 

[Ra]

Durenor is more like the Gondor of magnamund, a reverse of Middle-earth, where the Rohirrim are the main defenders of man. Durenese seem to have dark hair and gray eyes(in many cases.)

The Rohirrim are from Rohan, not Gondor.

I think he means that Sommerlund = Rohan and Durenor = Gondor. A sort of reverse of the LotR since in LW the Sommlending/Rohirrim are the defenders against the dark powers.

 

[Anonymous]

In the Magnamund Companion there is a tiny picture of a Herbwarden of Bautur. It is difficult to make out details but he looks vaguely oriental, perhaps Mandarin Chinese.
Paido the Vaakaros knight is described as being ebon skinned, with flaxen hair and cat like eyes. In book 10 these are referred to as typical features for a Vaakaros.

 

[Anonymous]

Durenor is more like the Gondor of magnamund, a reverse of Middle-earth, where the Rohirrim are the main defenders of man. Durenese seem to have dark hair and gray eyes(in many cases.)

The Rohirrim are from Rohan, not Gondor.

I think he means that Sommerlund = Rohan and Durenor = Gondor. A sort of reverse of the LotR since in LW the Sommlending/Rohirrim are the defenders against the dark powers.

Thanks Ra, that's what I meant. It's why I chose the word "reverse of middle-earth."

As for our subject, it's hard. I mean, we know Vakeros are very dark-skinned but if you see the comets in Curse of Naar, Paido has braided flaxen hair and very interesting features. It might be fair to say the Vakeros do not QUITE resemble any race that's well-known. Though now that i think on it, there are some ethnicities in Africa (The Tutsi) who would be something of a parallel.

Vaderish and Nael are too broad. Ilionians seem to be Spanish or something like that while Lencians are French or Italian(can't quite figure out which.) The Suhnese(Tianese being the main group) seem more "Chinese" while the Bhanarians are like a Japanese/Mongol mix.

Telchoi are dark-skinned as well and look African as do the Lissanese, but the Lissanese are, like the Vakeros, more original than mere correspondents.

The Shadaki, like the Vassagonians, are Vassa. You are called an infidel in both Vassagonia and in Ghol-Tabras in the New Order series. Most are friendly to you, but both times involved Vassa calling a Northlander an infidel.

 

[KevinM]

None. Did Dever use aspects of some cultures(dress for example) in creating his various cultures? Sure. Are the cultures really the same thing? NO.

 

[ParanoidObsessive]

None. Did Dever use aspects of some cultures(dress for example) in creating his various cultures? Sure. Are the cultures really the same thing? NO.

Yes, but that's more or less the point. If Dever used certain ethnic stereotypes to develop the look/culture of a specific nationality on Magnamund, knowing that allows us to "reverse engineer" what people look like.

It's fairly blatant that if I'm making a Sommlending character, they're going to be blond with somewhat pale skin. But what if I want to make a Talestrian - what's the most common look there?

I know many people will just say, "well, make it up and just assume it fits", and that's certainly effective from a pure RPG perspective. That doesn't mean people aren't curious as to what Dever/Mongoose would consider "canon" on the issue, though.

Some were pretty obvious. The Sommlending were English, the Vassa were Arabic. I guess the Ulnarians could be German.

Heh. Not ENTIRELY obvious, then, since I always saw the Sommlending as being vaguely Norse, with the Durenese as Germanic. Related, but not the same.

 

[DuskFox]

For instance, the Anarians are Vassa but seem a touch less "arabic" than Vassagonians.

In which case you're probably looking at a race that somewhat resembles the Turks.