Quick update (Updated July 28th!)

[Taranaich]

Hi i want ask how much life is still in the barbarian because i have begun a own cthulhu mod which includes also some lore of your mod.

Still life in the barbarian, but there isn't much visual/text stuff to show, most of the recent stuff has been bugfixing and coding, trying to get the blasted custom battles working again. One of these days I'll get that bally Argos preview up...

And, under the suggestion/enthusiasm of my go-to scholar, I've decided to combine two factions (which were unplayable, so very little is lost) in order to include another playable faction, simply because they're too much fun to exclude, plus the area of the map they're in was just awfully empty without them. Their identity shall remain nameless (though you chaps'll probably guess easy enough!)

Probably the most irritating thing, though, is the "Multiple Atlanteans" conundrum: a bunch of recently unearthed/noticed facts have thrown some of the history I made up into complete disarray (specifically the Negari/Malayu material). It doesn't cause things to be ruled out, it just means a lot of amendments.

I'm very intrigued by this Cthulhu mod you speak of, and appreciate the offer for material: I'd be happy to return the favour.

[Spartan198]

And, under the suggestion/enthusiasm of my go-to scholar, I've decided to combine two factions (which were unplayable, so very little is lost) in order to include another playable faction, simply because they're too much fun to exclude, plus the area of the map they're in was just awfully empty without them. Their identity shall remain nameless (though you chaps'll probably guess easy enough!)

Oh, come on, you can tell me. I won't tell anyone else, I promise.

[Taranaich]

Oh, come on, you can tell me. I won't tell anyone else, I promise.

I'll give you a clue: it's not Atlantis.

[Taranaich]

Been a bit quiet recently, so here's a little history.

"The Hyborian Age" is a fully-detailed account of the rise of the Hyborians, and has been used by scholars for decades to form a timeline of events prior to the age of Conan. The East has no such document yet discovered, and so an exploration into the history of the Blue East requires much conjecture. The result is briefly encapsulated in the following, and as it turns out, Iranistan - a nation barely mentioned in the Nemedian Chronicles - is of paramount importance to the recent history of the Blue East...

The Blue East

After the Great Cataclysm, the remnants of the mighty Thurian-era nations were scattered and depopulated to a mere percentage. There may have been as few as a thousand-score people alive on the earth, hurled into savagery and barbarism. As the centuries progressed, humanity began to recover: new cultures started to emerge around the Zaporoska, Illbars, Jhumda, Tanada and Yamuna rivers. These aboriginals continued the climb to civilization, until Empire came to their borders. Twenty thousand years before the Age of Conan (BAC), the Elder Stygian Empire conquered much of the Blue East, reaching its greatest extent at the Zaporoska River and Himelian mountains. The centre of civilization for the Blue East was Kuthchemes, and the client Shemite cities advanced rapidly into shining citadels under its watchful gaze. However, the glory of Elder Stygia would come crashing down three thousand years BAC, with the coming of the Hyborians.

Birth of Iranistan

During the reign of Thugra Khotan, a vast horde of scale armoured, wolf-skin clad Kothic barbarians rampaged from the northeast, a confederation called the Irani. Tribes were scattered, cities razed and plundered, and even the dark arts of Thugra Khotan and his acolytes were not enough to stem the blood-tide. The Irani swarmed over Kuthchemes, pillaging and looting all they could find, until the city was a red and black ruin. However, the Irani did not settle: they continued on their bloody tear through the East. Eventually they hit the Southern Ocean and could not continue their storm, and settled on the coastline.

Five hundred years later, and the Hyborian devastation yet remained. Stygia has fortified its borders on the interior shore of the Styx, and the new Hyborians have started to collect into tiny kingdoms, while the older kingdoms of Corinthia, Ophir and Koth expand their territory into former Acheronian lands. However, on the golden shores of the Southern Ocean, a grand civilization is forming: Iranistan. Formed from the city-states of the Irani horde, Iranistan is expanding rapidly, and encompasses the lands roughly analogous to its current form, but also encompassing what are know Ghulistan and the Cherkess mountains. It has strong neighbours in the fledgling Vendhya and the Himelian mountain tribes, but there is nothing to check their expansion westward, which it does with enthusiasm.

Another five hundred years, and the Hyborian Age as Conan knows it is beginning to shape. The kingdoms of Karaban, Pellia, Attalus, Torh, Thune and Goralia are welded by alliance or conquest into a greater kingdom, that of Aquilonia, joining Argos and Nemedia as the new Hyborian nations, pushing back the grasping fingers of Ophir, Koth and Corinthia. Hyrkanian tribes have appeared just outside the map's borders on the eastern shores of the Vilayet. In the five hundred years since its formation, the Irani have exploded, tripling in size. Having absorbed their Ghuli neighbours and dominating the white-clad nomads and indigenous tribes of the Cherkess mountains, the Irani empire ranges from Akbitana in the west to Secunderam in the east.

The Irani Empire



For a thousand years, Irani reigns unchallenged in the east: Stygia broods in the west, Vendhya has to contend with their Ghanara and Kosalan rivals, and the predations of bandits and barbarian tribes have been thwarted by their indomitable military machine. Many peoples bow to the knee of the Emperor: the Cherkess, the Ghuli, Timnar, as well as allied states like Bakhara. Many Irani tribes such as the Qaradis, Tokharians and Ezedons have their own lands within the empire, and treated as equals by the ruling tribal dynasty. Entire peoples have even been stationed in parts of the empire for defense: the Aphaki Shemites patrol the northern Eastern Desert, the Zaheemi Shemites watch the Kothic Escarpment, the dangerous Skalathi ride in the lands between the Zaporoska and Illbars to beat down Zaporoskan uprisings, and Eksuumite Black Kingdomers guard the southern border.

The Iranistani are constantly attempting to expand their territory, with limited success. With the backing of Stygia, the Pelishtim are unconquerable. The distant ancestors of Koth are tough fighters, with many tales of heroism and glorious sacrifice emerging from the Irani-Kothic wars. For the better part of that millennium, intermittent wars between Iranistan and Stygia, Pelishtia, Koth and various barbaric tribes meant that the swords of the Azadan were rarely allowed to rust.

However, it was not all bloodshed. While Stygia frequently warred with Iranistan, there was a great deal of cultural exchange too: Iranistani art, industry, technology, and princesses were traded between the two nations. As such, occasionally a Stygian noble would be given an Iranistani name, a relic from a short Iranistani dynastic rule from the middle period of the empire. Ctesphon, the current ruler of Stygia, is an example of the impact the Iranistan/Stygia culture exchange still has on the nation. Iranistani influence can also be found in Koth, the Eastern Shemite kingdoms, even in Turan, itself having its origins as a satrapy of the Iranistani Empire.

Yet as with all empires, the curtain must fall. It took a lot to topple Iranistan's empire: shattering schisms, betrayal, barbaric invasions, blackest sorcery, natural disaster. Iranistan held out valiantly, but eventually the odds were too much, and the greatest empire of that age faded into memory.

Fall of the Irani Empire



750 BAC, the great Irani empire collapses into fragments. The death of the Emperor, who in his folly had all his relatives executed without leaving an heir, left the empire in chaos. Its allies Ghulistan, Bakhara and Khorala, which were never truly part of the empire so much as willing confederates, broke away when various threats came to their kingdoms and they turned to their own troubles. The Eksuumite tribes have established their own kingdom, and are largely autonomous, though they will occasionally lend aid. Much of what is now Saa'bah is ruled by Iranistan save Saa'bah itself, as is Timnar. Iranistan at this time covers an area roughly the size of Stygia, most of the Eastern Desert and the Iranistan homeland: this area is known as Greater Iranistan to later historians. Cherkessia is still loyal, as are the various tribes and clans absorbed into Iranistan society. Other realms of the empire are not as loyal: in addition to the above, former Irani lands splintered into independent entities, and for generations they would fight against Greater Iranistan and each other.

The first of these powers was the Empire of Shushan. The ruler of Shushan was a charismatic and wily Shemite general, who attained great prestige in battles against Koth and the Zaporoskans. With the empire in disarray, the general united the historically Shemite cities of Shushan, Zamboula, Akbitana, Eruk, Shumir and Nippr into an empire of his own, founding the Empire of Shushan. At its greatest extent, the Empire of Shushan was almost the same size as modern Aquilonia, though never gaining more territory than Greater Iranistan. Shushan would prove a powerful rival, echoing the rivalry in the Middle Eastern kingdoms of the Dark/Middle ages, amassing tremendous wealth and power.

The second power to emerge was the Khorosun Sultanate. During Iranistan's golden age, Khorosun was recently populated with Turanian tribesmen federates, led by the appointed Sultan of Khorosun and his feared Skalathoi bodyguard. For a few centuries they were stalwart warriors, defending against their wilder kin's raids, and assisting in campaigns against Stygia. However, a decade or so before the Schism, the new Sultan was unhappy with his role, and eager for more power. The Sultan was secretly gathering his Turanian allies across the border for a revolt: when Shushan broke away, the Sultan saw his chance, and openly revolted, bringing hordes upon hordes of Turanian and allied Hyrkanian tribesmen into the lands around Khorosun, including Secunderam. The seeds of the Turanian Empire were sown in the Khorosun Sultanate.

The final major power was the Khawarizmian Shahdom. With Shushan and Khorosun breaking away, the ambitious Shah of Khawarizm seized the opportunity to make his own empire. With the Iranistan territory cut off from the rest of the empire by Shushan lands, it was relatively easy for him to simply bully the stranded and helpless outer cities into bending their knee to him, and gave Khawarizm enough strength to expand to the northern steppes, as far north as the Illbars Delta.

For a century or so Shushan and Iranistan would snarl at each other with the Khorosun sultanate harrying Iranistan, and Khawarizm cackling out of reach, until the Shemite cities rebelled - possibly a result of Western Shemite aggression or interference - and Shushan collapsed in on itself. Unfortunately for Khawarizm, Khorosun saw the western nation as a useful staging ground for the west: after Shushan fell, Khawarizm was next, and within a matter of decades Khawarizm was totally absorbed into the fledgling empire of Turan. Eventually a combination of inner strife, the invasion of the Aphaka and Zuagir tribes into the desert, Turanian conquest, Stygian retaking of territory across the Styx and other disasters would cause Greater Iranistan to fall, but without dealing the death blow to Iranistan itself. Thus is the state of the Blue East.

...

So, what does this have to do with the mod? Well, colour obviously: the western Hyborians have an Acheron to look back on, I felt it was fitting for the Blue East to have a similar history, to give the region more verisimilitude. Most of all, the Irani Empire is of considerable cultural importance to a few factions, some details of which figure into victory conditions, religion, ethnicity, buildings, technologies and even units.

A lot of it is based on some, ahem, wild extrapolation from the stories: the Empire of Shushan, for example, is spawned from a single line in "Queen of the Black Coast": "Bêlit's eyes were like a woman's in a trance. The Shemite soul finds a bright drunkenness in riches and material splendor, and the sight of this treasure might have shaken the soul of a sated emperor of Shushan." Although Shushan is a Shemite city in Conan's time as of "Black Colossus", its historical counterpart Susa was part of a great many empires. Therefore, rather than make the Shushan Empire something glib like a jumped-up Shushan king bullying a few neighbouring cities and proclaiming himself an emperor, I felt the phrase denoted something more grand than that, so I decided to make the Empire of Shushan a historical empire, albeit a former one. The Khorosun Sultanate and Khawarizmian Shahdom are borne from more speculation than with Shushan, but I think it works well with the stories and complements their historical namesakes: Khorasan and Khwarezm being powers in their own right after an empire's fall, before being absorbed by other empires.

Until the next update, see if you can guess the origin of the new Iranistan city names (Yzdagar, Takhtemit, Zhiruzi, Faraza), and those of the new cultures (Skalathi, Eksuum, Qaradistan, Ezedon, Tokharistan).

[Meneldil]

Your mod (and Age of Conan - too bad this MMO was at the end of the day a bit lacking) convinced me to read Conan's tales.

Quite a shame that you're working alone. Having started a few mods myself (none of them came near to a release), I know how much work it is. Good luck.

Gonna read that part about Iranistan now ;)

[Justiciar]

A grand read, as usual!

Until the next update, see if you can guess the origin of the new Iranistan city names (Yzdagar, Takhtemit, Zhiruzi, Faraza), and those of the new cultures (Skalathi, Eksuum, Qaradistan, Ezedon, Tokharistan).

The only ones I can place at the moment are Eksuum (Axum?), Qaradistan (Kurdistan?), and Tokharistan (Tocharians?).

[artavazd]

Until the next update, see if you can guess the origin of the new Iranistan city names (Yzdagar, Takhtemit, Zhiruzi, Faraza), and those of the new cultures (Skalathi, Eksuum, Qaradistan, Ezedon, Tokharistan).


Yzdagar- From King Yezdgert of the Sassanid era.

Zhiruzi- maybe from the Farsi word for Victory "Piroozi" ?

Skalathi- From the Sctyians, or Sarmatians?

Ezedon-Maybe from the Farsi word for Free "Azat"?

[Taranaich]

Your mod (and Age of Conan - too bad this MMO was at the end of the day a bit lacking) convinced me to read Conan's tales.

Awesome to hear that! Don't stop at Conan, though, all REH's tales are worth it. His historical tales are pretty damn impressive in their accuracy considering the few sources he had to work with.

A grand read, as usual!

The only ones I can place at the moment are Eksuum (Axum?), Qaradistan (Kurdistan?), and Tokharistan (Tocharians?).

Three silver lunas for you, good sir!

Yzdagar- From King Yezdgert of the Sassanid era.

Zhiruzi- maybe from the Farsi word for Victory "Piroozi" ?

Skalathi- From the Sctyians, or Sarmatians?

Ezedon-Maybe from the Farsi word for Free "Azat"?

First and third get you two silver lunas, two more up for grabs! For Zhiruzi, think capitals: for Ezedon, think nomads. Of course, the beauty is that Piroozi and Azat are just as viable etymology for Iranistan as anything else.

[Spartan198]

Great read, T. I'm gonna have a blast rebuilding the Irani Empire...someday. ;)

[Justiciar]

First and third get you two silver lunas, two more up for grabs! For Zhiruzi, think capitals: for Ezedon, think nomads.

Ezedon.. Ossetia, perhaps? As for Zhiruzi.. 'tis beyond me.

[Taranaich]

Great read, T. I'm gonna have a blast rebuilding the Irani Empire...someday. ;)

Ezedon.. Ossetia, perhaps? As for Zhiruzi.. 'tis beyond me.

Alright then:

Ezedon - The Issedones. I have quite a weird and dark history lined up for them.

Zhiruzi - Shiraz. The cities of Iranistan often have an epithet related to the creative arts - Zhiruzi is "The City of Poets", where many of the great epics of Iranistan culture are kept, some being passed on to Iranian legend.

[Justiciar]

Issedones?

I've heard of them. Who says I haven't?!

[christof139]

Yeah, they're like the Caledones, and Iceahcones, Dalekahdones, Creamcones, Clonedones, Fartazones, Chromedomes, and Dogbones, etc.

[Helgi]

Have to agree with Spartan once again, the history of the Blue East was a good read, looking forward to the next update

[Spartan198]

Any updates for us, T?

[Taranaich]

Good news and bad news.

Good news: some very exciting stuff underway, with some great possibilities that I've been busy preparing for, that I cannot yet divulge.

Bad news: it isn't related to CTW.

However, work hasn't faltered from its slow but heroic snail-pace. An update is taking shape though, this time with screenshots!

[christof139]

Groovey!!!

[Cadwalader]

That is good news indeed.

[Taranaich]

Sorry about the lack of updates folks: I somehow managed to break the mod, and for days upon days I was tearing my hair out... only to realise I put a single space in the ModDB file where I needed a double space. That file is a nightmare to the non-maths oriented.

Anyway, after a week on holiday to see some family friends, a proper update WILL come around. In the meantime, check out The Cimmerian blog: they got a new blogger there. Hopefully he'll be a boon to the site, and not embarass them too much.

[Meneldil]

Cool stuff. Can we expect an update of the map?

It's quite a shame this mod doesn't get more attention. Did you think about asking for your own mod section on TWC? It's much more active than the org, mod-wise. I know you're doing it for your own pleasure, but - having been member of 2 modding teams - that cheering from the crowd is always nice.

[Taranaich]

A map update: maybe, not a full map since there are still a few things to sort out. The forts dynamic of kingdoms has given me a lot of fun new things to play with.

I used to have a place on TWC, but after a month of inactivity it got moved somewhere, and I don't know how to get it back.

[Satyros]

Just stating my support , move along , nothing to see here .

Be well man .

Satyros

[Calaurin]

Hello everyone, I usually am just one of the many "silent" readers (and delighted users of the final results, of course ) of the TW forums, but this time I felt my duty to register here and give my support to Taranaich 's awesome job, and to any people who is helping him !

I've always been a huge Howard 's fan, and I'm waiting in trepidation for the release of this Conan mod... it promises many hours of pure fun (Koth forever!)

Keep up the great job !

[oz_wwjd]

Just a quick question:will the genrals in Conan:total war give speeches like in MTW2 at the beginning of the battle? I'm really looking forward to playing as The Kingdom of Aquilonia,but conan wasn't exactly known for giving speeches at the beginning of the battle,so excessive and long things like that would ruin the fun of playing as conan,at least for me

[keravnos]

Don't worry Taranaich. We're here. Take all the time you need, and if you need motivation, well, read some Conan.

[Taranaich]

I've always been a huge Howard 's fan, and I'm waiting in trepidation for the release of this Conan mod... it promises many hours of pure fun (Koth forever!)

Keep up the great job !

Thanks for the support, Calaurin!

Just a quick question:will the genrals in Conan:total war give speeches like in MTW2 at the beginning of the battle? I'm really looking forward to playing as The Kingdom of Aquilonia,but conan wasn't exactly known for giving speeches at the beginning of the battle,so excessive and long things like that would ruin the fun of playing as conan,at least for me

It depends: I know a couple of friends who've done acting who I might be able to hoodwink into doing voices. There really aren't a lot of pre-battle speeches in the stories: if, for example, Conan has anything at all, it'll be something short and sweet like a battle cry, slogan or bloodcurdling roar. "Split their skulls to the teeth!" "Hang their hides on the bramble!" "Varnish the battlefield with their brains!"

Some of the other generals might have short pep talks. Something I'm looking into is rousing songs: the Song of the Bossonian Archers, for instance, Cimmerian dirges, Nordic battle refrains and the like, as well as nastier stuff like demonic Stygian chanting and Pictish howls.

Don't worry Taranaich. We're here. Take all the time you need, and if you need motivation, well, read some Conan.

Cheers guys, you're all showing inhuman levels of patience.

[Crom]

Wow, everything you've done so far looks awesome Taranaich. This would have to be the greatest idea for a mod, controlling the kingdoms in Howard's Hyborian Age. All I can say is thank you for doing it as I also registered just so I could congratulate you on your great recreation.

By Crom it will be fun to command the Cimmerians!...

Keep up the great work!

[Taranaich]

Wow, everything you've done so far looks awesome Taranaich. This would have to be the greatest idea for a mod, controlling the kingdoms in Howard's Hyborian Age. All I can say is thank you for doing it as I also registered just so I could congratulate you on your great recreation.

Cheers Crom! I certainly thought the Hyborian Age was a great place for a wargame.

By Crom it will be fun to command the Cimmerians!...

It certainly will be: uniting the tribes alone will be a game in itself. Of course, that's if you want to make a Cimmerian nation: you might just want to get a head start on the Ice Age and pick a nice spot at the Vilayet, or just raise some hell in Aquilonia.

Keep up the great work!

Thanks!

[artavazd]

Is the mod still being worked on?

[Calaurin]

Is the mod still being worked on?

I really,really, really hope so...