DM -- Wrath of the Il-khans's page

Tsuihõ shows a face of understanding and sadness. "To lose that which you love most can put a shadow over the brightest souls. We are the same Daryun, you and I. Perhaps at least, your pain is lessened with each blood price you take."

The bold son of Jochi issues a slightly irritated grunt in recognition of the Tsuihõ,

"You again! Always pining over some mysterious grievance that drove you from your home and hearth, the details of which you have not as yet chosen to share with your hosts. It has become tiresome. I would know the truth of your journey over the sea and mountains."

"Interesting. How long did it take him to convince the elders that this would be the new way forward?"

Orda intervenes,

"I see ears upon your head, Daryun, but do they hear aught? I have just told you of the glorious yassa of Great Khan, and that he propounded this righteous law for our endless kingdom when had fulfilled the injunction of the Great God of the Blue Sky and brought all the people who dwelt in tents under one spear."

A handful of people talk to him all at once confuses Daryun, but none so more than the talking horse. He stares at it for a moment, then shakes his head and says "haven't seen a talking animal before; and no, I'm not the son of a woman. I appeared in my father's chest, from a stone that gave him pain, or so he told me. I had no mother."

Looking at Orda, Daryun says "I have never stolen nor forced a woman, and I don't intend to start now, nor would I break the guest code."

Orda only grunts in recognition of Daryun's words of contrition, and gestures again for the big man to sit by the fire with the other Mongol warriors.

"Then you need to listen better, as I am sure both of us told you who our father was." Sechen pointed out with a raised eyebrow. "However I am aware you meant no offense." She added.

Reaching out Sechen placed her hand upon Orda's hand that rested upon his weapon. "You will not fight in camp." She told him. "He has apologized, remember he knows nothing of our ways. His kind don't think much of mortals." Sechen said, pointing out to Daryun, or at least trying to, how hurtful words could be.

After a tense moment, Orda relaxes noticeably, as do his companions by the camp fire, who had likewise begun to stir to action at their master's prompting.

"Very well then, for I am sure that Daryun, son of the god Erlik Khan, master of death, knows very well the precepts of the scrolls of the Yassa proclaimed among this empire by our Great Khan Gengis and his stepbrother Shikhikhutag, and that Ghengis entrusted this Yassa to his son Chagatai, that it might be strictly observed in all nations of the earth which the high god Tengri ordered him to "bring under one spear."

"Among those precepts enshrined within the revered scrolls is that any abduction of women and sexual assault and or abuse of women is forbidden and punishable by death."

"And I am sure that this traveler, seeking refuge from the elements, does not now desire the embrace of death."

Orda resumes his seat by the blazing fire, and gestures with a wide sweep of his hand towards those assembled before him.

"Come then and take a place by the fire, and gather the warmth of it to your bones. Soon enough, we shall smother its flames, and ride again in the chill winds of the mountains."

Daryun considered Sechen's words, then said "If you could talk to a horse, and have it talk back to you, would you call it a human? My words were not meant in offense; we are just different beings." in response to Sechen's first statement. In response to the second one, however, he snorts and says "Is that an offer?"

"I'm going to let you rethink the first question you just asked. As to who you asked it to." Sechen motioned to the Mongols around her, and their horses. "Maybe use something else for your equivocal." She pointed out

"As to the second question, not the type of offer your mind is thinking of. I wanted to know if we needed to find you a place to stay."

Orda bristles noticeably at Daryun's ill-considered words towards his sister,

"Ho there, Daryun, Son of Erlik, progeny of a god you may be, or not, but what is certain is that none in the infinite heavens above, or anywhere in the far reaches of this earth, nor from the furthest depths under it, shall speak thus to my sister, the granddaughter of our Great Khan Ghengis."

As he speaks, the Mongol warrior's hand instinctively reaches for his weapon, as do his companions gathered around the campfire.

Also, just a clarification, these are elite Mongols, and the NPCs in this campaign are going to have ridiculous stats just like you. Stuff like characters with 50+ strength. This won't be a push over by any stretch of the imagination if you get in a fight. Fair warning.

Num is not particularly different from other Mongol warriors; horse-mad, as it were, and passionate about the bow. Unlike the others, however, he wears no armor, only furs; while he may be virtually immune to the dangers of winter, he clearly feels more comfortable in the felts and furs he would be wearing at home.

Having set up his own ger and hung on its edge the bag of endless hay providing food for his remounts and spirit-horse, he moves with the latter through the scores of portable 'homes' towards one of the fires around which gather others of the Mongol's 'nobility'. Arriving in time to see the appearance of the giant of a man -- or godling, perhaps, if his bragging is to be believed -- he exchanges a long glance with the dapple-grey mare at his side before the two move forward and, as is their usual habit, kick aside some snow a little outside the close ring about the fire. As Shuurga settles herself down, Num lays a blanket over the top of the remaining snow and tucks the end of it under his horse, settling himself down upon it with his back to her belly.

The two of them watch Daryun's arrival, and his 'acceptance' amongst the young warriors; as a relatively young man of a notable family (having bid farewell to his own father, Jebe, only a short time ago as the latter headed south with his contingent) and skill to equal it, he watches the newcomer with interest -- and, it should be said, wariness. The readiness with which Orda welcomes him is not shared by Num, but the armorless archer is reticent at best, and says nothing.

The arrival of the sixteen-year-old Sechen causes Num some amount of disquiet; it's been clear he feels that she's too young to be abroad and on the battlefield. But the exchange between the newcomer and the young woman causes him to cross his arms; one does not treat a Mongol woman in such a manner. Not, that is, without consequence. But she is not his kin.

The horse behind him is the one who speaks up. "Blood of the gods has both advantage...

Num's player has alerted me to the fact that I put the route through the mountains too far to the east, so I'm retconning a bit here -- Mount Khan Tengri is still visible, but we're quite a bit to the west. The same player helpfully put together a map of the region for us which I've posted in maps and images. The scenery is still the same, just that the lake we're next to isn't Lake Baikal.

I'll do the best I can, but this is going to be hard to keep all the details correct -- please help me out if you know stuff I need to tweak.

Orda grunts in the direction of the newcomer,

"I was wondering when you'd show up Num, you old rascal."

Daryun joined him in laughing and then suddenly stopped and said "Wait, it's cold?"

Orda pauses for only a moment, his face openly displaying his shock at the new warrior's apparent ignorance of the bitter weather.

Then he breaks into an even louder peal of laughter than before,

"Is it cold, warrior Daryun?" he chokes out between a whole series of phlegmatic guffaws.

He turns to the rest of his companions, who join Orda in his intense merriment,

"This one can stay, I think, brothers!"

Slapped together a first pass at the map of the camp HERE, and copied into the maps and images tab in the campaign.

"I am Daryun, first born - and only born! - son of Erlik, lord of darkness and the underworld, forever may he rot." Daryun expelled a massive wad of spit before continuing: "As you can see Orda Ichen, I lack armor, but as the son of a god no mortal forged weapon can pierce my skin."

Daryun was truly a specimen of man: he stood almost eight feet tall, and it appeared that the concept of body fat was completely unknown to him; muscle was the order of the day. His shoulders were half the width of his body, and tree trunks in the shape of Human limbs extended from his shoulders.

His unruly dark hair was tied in by a small piece of rope at the back of his skull, but like the man's personality, it appears to explode on the other side of the rope. He had shaven recently, but the stubble that threatened to sprout and take hold into a forest of facial hair was currently waging a campaign of terror across his face.Despite all of this, the thing that stood out the most was his eyes, the irises of which were the color of deepest crimson.

True to his word, Daryun had neither armor or weapons; in fact, he wore nothing more than pants that had been cut below the knees and sandals in the style of the Hindi: open toed, with a strap that wrapped around the ankle and then settled into the open space between the big toe and it's nearest neighbor, then a second strap went over the big toe itself.

Daryun carried nothing nothing save a piece of rope that a bell hung from.

Orda smiles a broad grin which crosses his whole face, from one ruddy cheek to the other.

"Well met Daryun, son of Erlik!"

He points at the distant form of the mountain known as Khan Tenri,

"Son of a god eh? Then, Daryun, you must be at home here in these mountains, near to the dwelling place of your fellows."

The warrior lets forth a hearty laugh, a deep resonant sound which reverberates through the chill night breeze,

"Maybe you should pay them a visit, while you're in their hunting grounds? As for me," Orda taps the breastplate of his lamellar with his saber, making a hollow clunking sound, "I shall be content to eat, drink, and sing with my fellows among mortal fighting men, here on the cold shores of Lake Baikal."

For Daryun, this war was not one of vengeance or justice; nor did he care who's ancestor killed someone else's ancestor in a fight over a goat: that was how mortals think, and Daryun is not a mortal.

For Daryun it was about a dog.

His dog, which he simply named Dog, was the first thing Daryun met in this world that took both a liking to and tried to take care of him; it tried to drag him to safety when he passed out on a bender; it brought him food and literally licked his wounds to heal them (such minor cuts and scratches as he received battling with armies).

Dog was truly his best and most loyal friend, a position that none had every truly wanted to fill before Dog.

While the story, if it is to be believed at all, is that the soldiers of The Khwarezmid dynasty had actually killed the beast to eat it, starving as they were.

Daryun woke up the next morning with a hangover and Dog not with him.

He blinked his eyes, confused, then looked around for his friend.

Daryun noticed a campfire in the distance, and ran like a madman towards it. The small squad of soldiers were just disposing of the dog's bones, and Daryun saw two things: the skin of the dog, which stood drying to be used as material for something like a cloak or part of a blanket, and the small bell that hung from a rope that Daryun had tied around the dog's neck, so he wouldn't accidentally strike it while drunk.

What happens next varies depending on who tells the story, but suffice it to say that the dog was those soldier's last meal. They died screaming, but not before they told Daryun whose standard they battled under.

Scratching his chin and smearing the blood of one of the soldiers on his jaw, Daryun recalled something about the Mongolians declaring war on the Khwarezmians. Shrugging, he set off towards their battle camp.

Asking questions as he went, anyone who knew anything was more than happy to share their knowledge, just to get Daryun out of their life locale as fast as possible.

Eventually, Daryun found what...

The Mongol warrior seated at Daryun's right inclines his head in an almost conspiratorial fashion as he takes his seat by the fire.

Like most of the Mongol warriors, he is outfitted in lamellar armour,, made from small rectangular plates or lamellae laced into horizontal rows. Whereas the majority of the Mongols wear rawhide leather armour, some, like the warrior greeting Daryun, have their harness completely wrought from iron, which is made in the following manner:

The Mongol armorer beats out in large numbers thin iron plates a finger broad and a full hand long. In each they bore eight small holes through which they pull three straight leather thongs. Thereupon they arrange these plates one above another, as it were, ascending by degrees, and tie the plates to the thongs mentioned by means of other small and tender thongs drawn through the holes. In the upper part they fasten a single, small thong, doubled on each side, and sewn on to another, that the plates may be well and tightly knit together.

Thus a uniform protection is effected by these plates, and such like armour is made for their horses as well as for their men.

It is so highly polished that a man may mirror his face in it

The man wears the distinctive Yuan style of helmet common to the Mongol warriors. The upper part of his helmet is of iron or steel, while that part guarding the neck and throat is of leather.

He carries the Persian and Chinese warriors which the Mongols adopted and improved in the course of their conquest of Central Asia -- a mace, a lance with a hook and snare, a saber, a full supply of three-quivered arrows and an accompanying composite bow made of wood, sinew and horn. Strapped to his left arm, the soldier carries daggers used in close-range fighting.

"Oroin mend (good evening) warrior! You are surely welcome to share our fire if you will likewise share your strong arms and armor. I am Orda Ichen, son of Jochi, son of our Great Khan Ghengis. And who might you be?"

The second highest peak of the snow-bound Tian Shan Mountains, the imposing massif known as Khan Tengri, the 'Lord of the Spirits', dominates the nighttime horizon as Daryun takes his seat at the camp fire among the other Mongol warriors.

The flickering flame of the recently-kindled blaze does little to abate the intense darkness of the oncoming winter night.

In the sky above, the constellation known as the Great Bear is visible to the resting warriors.

The Mongols are particularly attached to the Great Bear.

This constellation is limited for them to the seven Dipper stars making the bear's tail and body, and the legend concerning it is probably the most famous in Mongolia.

Once upon a time, there were eight orphan brothers gifted with outstanding capabilities living within a kingdom. The king and the queen lived within it peacefully. One day, a monster came and kidnapped the queen. The king asked the eight brothers to bring her back and said: "If one of you succeeds to rescue my beloved, I will give to him a golden arrow". The orphans went together to assist their queen. They searched the monster during two days and three nights, when in the middle of the third night, they found and killed the monster. They brought back the queen in the castle. The king did not cut the arrow in eight parts, he decided to throw it in the sky. The first to catch it could keep it. The younger brother succeeded the test and changed immediately into the North Star (Polar Star). The seven others changed into the seven gods, the seven gods visiting their younger brother every night. The name Doloon burkhan (the Seven Gods) come from this legend to appoint the Great Bear and the Golden Stick, Altan Hadaas, the Polar Star.

Jochi is a Mongolian army commander who is the eldest son of Genghis Khan, and presumably one of the four sons by his principal wife Börte, though issues concerning his paternity follow him throughout his life.

An accomplished military leader, he has participated in his father's conquest of Central Asia, along with his brothers and uncles.

The Mongols had long maintained relations with the people of the Siberian forest (taiga). They called them oin irged ("people of the forest"). Many of them, such as the Barga and Uriankhai, were little different from the Mongols. While the tribes around Lake Baikal, a rift lake located in southern Siberia, Russia, are Mongol-speaking, those to the west speak Turkic, Samoyedic, or Yeniseian languages.

By 1206, Genghis Khan had conquered all Mongol and Turkic tribes in Mongolia and southern Siberia.

In 1207, his eldest son Jochi subjugated the Siberian forest people, the Uriankhai, the Oirats, Barga, Khakas, Buryats, Tuvans, Khori-Tumed, and Kyrgyz.

Genghis Khan organized the Siberians into three tumens.He gave the Telengit and Tolos along the Irtysh River to an old companion, Qorchi. While the Barga, Tumed, Buriats, Khori, Keshmiti, and Bashkirs were organized in separate thousands, the Telengit, Tolos, Oirats and Yenisei Kirghiz were numbered as tumens, a social and military unit of 10,000 households and soldiers.

Genghis created a settlement of Chinese craftsmen and farmers at Kem-kemchik after the first phase of the Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty.

The Great Khans favored gyrfalcons, furs, women and Kyrgyz horses for tribute.

Though they technically bordered each other, the Mongol and Khwarezm Empires touched far away from the homeland of each nation.

In between them was a series of treacherous mountain ranges that the invader would have to cross.

This aspect is often overlooked in this campaign, yet it was a critical reason why the Mongols were able to create a dominating position.

The Khwarezm Shah and his advisers assumed that the Mongols would invade through the Dzungarian Gate, the natural mountain pass in between the (now conquered) Khara-Khitai and Khwarezm Empires.

One option for the Khwarezm defense was to advance beyond the towns of the Syr Darya and block the Dzungarian Gate, the one and only gateway in the mountain-wall which stretches from Manchuria to Afghanistan, over a distance of three thousand miles, with an army, since it would take Genghis many months to gather his army in Mongolia and advance through the pass after winter had passed.

The Khwarezm decision makers believed they would have time to further refine their strategy, but the Khan had struck first.

Immediately when war was declared, Genghis sent orders for a force already out to the west to immediately cross the Tien Shan mountains to the south and ravage the fertile Ferghana Valley in the eastern part of the Khwarezm Empire.

This smaller detachment, no more than 20,000–30,000 men, was led by Genghis's son Jochi and his elite general Jebe.

The Tien Shan mountain passes were much more treacherous than the Dzungarian Gate, and to make it worse, they attempted the crossing in the middle of winter with over 5 feet of snow.

The Tian Shan, also known as the Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too, meaning the Mountains of Heaven or the Heavenly Mountain, is a large system of mountain ranges located in Central Asia.

The highest peak in the Tian Shan is Jengish Chokusu, at 7,439 metres (24,406 ft) high.

Its lowest point is the Turpan Depression, which is 154 m (505 ft) below sea level.

The Chinese name for Tian Shan may have been derived from the Xiongnu, a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD, word Qilian – according to Tang Empire (618–690, 705–907) commentator Yan Shigu, Qilian is the Xiongnu word for sky or heaven.

Sima Qian, a Chinese historian of the early Han dynasty (206 BC – AD 220), in the Records of the Grand Historian, a monumental history of ancient China and the world finished around 94 BC, mentioned Qilian in relation to the homeland of the Yuezhi, an ancient people first described in Chinese histories as nomadic pastoralists living in an arid grassland area in the western part of the modern Chinese province of Gansu, during the 1st millennium BC, and the term is believed to refer to the Tian Shan rather than the Qilian Mountains 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) further east now known by this name.

Tian Shan is sacred in Tengrism, ancient and medieval Central Asian–Eurasian Steppe sky god Tengri-centered state religion, and its second-highest peak is known as Khan Tengri which may be translated as "Lord of the Spirits".

The north is dominated by the eye-shaped Issyk-Kul lake, the second largest saline lake in the world, which never freezes despite its altitude in the Tian Shan mountains, surrounded by the ridges of the Tian Shan mountain system: the Kyungey Ala-Too mountains to the north and the Terskey Alatau to the south (the 'sunny' and 'shady' Alatau, respectively).

To the south is mountains and 'jailoos' (mountain meadows used for summer grazing).

The highest peaks of the Tian Shan mountains, including Khan Tengri, are located in the easternmost part of the region.

Though the Mongols suffered losses and were exhausted from the crossing, their presence in the Ferghana Valley stunned the Khwarezm leadership and permanently stole the initiative away.

This march can be described as the Central Asian equivalent of Hannibal's crossing of the Alps, with the same devastating effects.

Because the Shah did not know if this Mongol army was a diversion or their main army, he had to protect one of his most fertile regions with force. Therefore, the Shah dispatched his elite cavalry reserve, which prevented him from effectively marching anywhere else with his main army.

Jebe and Jochi seem to have kept their army in good shape while plundering the valley, and they avoided defeat by a much superior force.

At this point the Mongols split up and again maneuvered over the mountains: Jebe marched further south deeper into Khwarezm territory, while Jochi took most of the force northwest to attack the exposed cities on the Syr Darya from the east.

In the heights of the TIAN SHAN MOUNTAINS (1219 CE), in the midst of winter...

When making their long travels either to or from the battlefield, the Mongols transport everything they need to survive -- food, rations, clothing, weapons and of course the yurts, a portable, round tent covered with skins or felt and used as a dwelling by several distinct nomadic groups in the steppes of Central Asia.

All this material needs to be managed and moved effectively, which means using the resources the Mongols have available to them.

Mongol horses are a primary source of transport, capable of not only carrying a Mongol warrior but many packs and bags.

Paraceratherium, a genus of hornless rhinoceros and one of the largest terrestrial mammals that has existed, are also popular for slower transport.

Horses however are still the primary and preferred method of transport.

After settling on a camp, the Mongols start the construction of their gers, making sure their homes would be ready for the cold of the night. Temporary corals are made for the livestock, ensuring they would still be there come morning, and the food preparation and cooking begin.

Of course the most important part of camp life is the rest and re-fueling. Travel is hard, and while the Mongols are supremely skilled at it, it still takes its toll on them. Camp therefore is used to offer respite from the riding and grind of their long travels, giving the Mongol warriors a chance to get their energy back.

The Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia, or the Mongol invasion of Iran, from 1219 to 1221 marked the beginning of the Mongol conquest of the Islamic states. The Mongol expansion would ultimately culminate in the conquest of virtually all of Asia (as well as parts of Eastern Europe) with the exception of Japan, the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt, Siberia, and most of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.

The Khwarazmian dynasty was a Persianate Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic mamluk origin. The dynasty ruled large parts of Central Asia and Iran in the approximate period of 1077 to 1231, first as vassals of the Seljuqs and the Qara-Khitan, and later as independent rulers, up until the Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia in the 13th century.

The dynasty spanned 2.3 (or 3.6) million square kilometers.

It was also known as the Khwarezmid dynasty, the Anushtegin dynasty, the dynasty of Khwarazm Shahs, and other spelling variants.

It is derived from Persian: خوارزمشاهیان‎, romanized: Khwārazmshāhiyān "Kings of Khwarazm".

The dynasty was founded by commander Anush Tigin Gharchai, a former Turkic slave of the Seljuq sultans, who was appointed as governor of Khwarezm. His son, Qutb ad-Din Muhammad I, became the first hereditary Shah of Khwarezm.

After the defeat of the Kara-Khitans, a sinicized empire in Central Asia, ruled by the Khitan Yelü clan founded by Yelü Dashi (Emperor Dezong of Liao), who led the remnants of the Liao dynasty to Central Asia after fleeing from the Jurchen conquest of their homeland in the north and northeast of modern-day China, Genghis Khan's Mongol Empire gained a border with the Khwarezmid Empire, governed by Shah Ala ad-Din Muhammad.

The Shah had only recently taken some of the territory under his control, and he was also busy with a dispute with the Al-Nasir li-Din Allah (6 August 1158 – 5 October 1225) the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 1180 until his death. The Shah had refused to make the obligatory homage to the caliph as titular leader of Islam, and demanded recognition as Shah of his empire, without any of the usual bribes or pretenses. This alone had created problems for him along his southern border.

It was at this junction the rapidly expanding Mongol Empire made contact. Mongol historians are adamant that the great khan at that time had no intention of invading the Khwarezmid Empire, and was only interested in trade and even a potential alliance.

The Shah was very suspicious of Genghis' desire for a trade agreement, and messages from the Shah's ambassador at Zhongdu, i.e., lit. "Central Capital" capital of the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty in medieval China located in the southwestern part of Beijing's Xicheng District, in China described the savagery of the Mongols when they assaulted the city during their war with the Jin dynasty, also sometimes called the "Jurchen dynasty" or the "Jurchen Jin", because its founding leader Aguda (reign 1115–1123) was of Wanyan Jurchen descent.

Of further interest is that the caliph of Baghdad had attempted to instigate a war between the Mongols and the Shah some years before the Mongol invasion actually occurred. This attempt at an alliance with Genghis was made because of a dispute between Nasir and the Shah, but the Khan had no interest in alliance with any ruler who claimed ultimate authority, titular or not, and which marked the Caliphate for an extinction which would come from Genghis' grandson, Hulegu.

At the time, this attempt by the Caliph involved the Shah's ongoing claim to be named sultan of Khwarezm, something that Nasir had no wish to grant, as the Shah refused to acknowledge his authority, however illusory such authority was. However, it is known that Genghis rejected the notion of war as he was engaged in war with the Jin dynasty and was gaining much wealth from trading with the Khwarezmid Empire.

Genghis then sent a 500-man caravan of Muslims to establish official trade ties with Khwarezmia.

However Inalchuq, the governor of the Khwarezmian city of Otrar, had the members of the caravan that came from Mongolia arrested, claiming that the caravan was a conspiracy against Khwarezmia. It seems unlikely, however, that any members of the trade delegation were spies.

Nor does it seem likely that Genghis was trying to initiate a conflict with the Khwarezmid Empire with the caravan, considering he was making steady progress against a faltering Jin empire in northern China at that very moment.

Genghis Khan then sent a second group of three ambassadors (one Muslim and two Mongols) to meet the shah himself and demand the caravan at Otrar be set free and the governor be handed over for punishment.

The shah had both of the Mongols shaved and had the Muslim beheaded before sending them back to Genghis Khan. Muhammad also ordered the personnel of the caravan to be executed. This was seen as a grave affront to the Khan himself, who considered ambassadors "as sacred and inviolable".

It was not originally the intention of the Mongol Empire to invade the Khwarezmid Empire. According to the Persian historian Juzjani, Genghis Khan had originally sent the ruler of the Khwarezmid Empire, Ala ad-Din Muhammad, a message seeking trade and greeted him as his neighbor: "I am master of the lands of the rising sun while you rule those of the setting sun. Let us conclude a firm treaty of friendship and peace." or he said "I am Khan of the lands of the rising sun while you are sultan of those of the setting sun: Let us conclude a firm agreement of friendship and peace." The Mongols' original unification of all "people in felt tents", unifying the nomadic tribes in Mongolia and then the Turcomens and other nomadic peoples, had come with relatively little bloodshed, and almost no material loss.

The Mongol wars with the Jurchens however had shown how cruel the Mongols could be. Shah Muhammad reluctantly agreed to this peace treaty, but it was not to last. The war started less than a year later, when a Mongol caravan and its envoys were massacred in the Khwarezmian city of Otrar.

This led Genghis Khan to attack the Khwarezmian dynasty. The Mongols crossed the Tian Shan mountains, coming into the Shah's empire in 1219.

In the ensuing war, lasting less than two years, the Khwarezmid Empire was destroyed.

Oh Paizo.....

Does anyone have characters done yet? How's it looking?

I'm just checking in that I'm still here and interested in running this.

I just read your back story -- that's some grade A fluff there! I can tell this is going to be a good campaign.

We're not in a particular hurry -- the forums were pretty wonky!

In terms of posting expectations -- how would everyone feel about 4 posts per week, with the idea that it would be better to have fewer and be able to put some historical details into each, rather than try to move faster and have the game end up being like any other PF game? The goal would be to have some kind of historical details -- a cultural element, a date, a bit of lingo, etc. in every post.

What do you make of Razan Al-Amin as a name for a Syrian Nestorian? I'm thinking a descendant of Syrians who fled to Persia.

That should be fine -- did they flee persecution during the Christological controversies of Late Antiquity, or from the Islamic conquests of the Umayyads?

Zoroastrian names

Avestan
Old Persian
Parsi
Irani

I meant to comment on this earlier -- I'm not sure if this was clear (and I'm going to be slightly pedantic on this point since this is something I've read a pretty good deal about and have been interested in for a long time), but the Iranians are not predonunantly Zoroastrians at this point.

The Avestan language is the language of the Zoroastrian Veda -- the Yasna, and a number of other religious documents like the Vendidad, which is a legal document something like the Manusmriti in Hinduism, or the legal parts of the Torah in the Hebrew Bible. It is the equivalent of Sankskrit in their tradition, and is a closely related language.

Old Persian is the language of the Achaemenian Empire -- who may have practiced some form of Zoroastrianism, though this is based on inscriptions.

The language in use during our campaign would be Middle Persian -- and the Iranians are mostly Sunni Muslims at this point. There are Zoroastrian communities in Fars that descend from the post-conquest non-converts, so there must have been Zoroastrians floating around at this point.

I'd have to more research, but given the other named individuals from the Khwarezmian Empire, who seem to have Arabic names, I think an Avestan name would indicate a Zoroastrian, and that would be something to explore in the character. I know a lot of really good works on Zoroastrianism if you end up going in that direction, and I'd find it interesting to incorporate some of that into the campaign.

Updated our campaign page some more with some maps of Bukhara.

I'll be working on it over the course of the next few days... Do you have a deadline for submissions? Also: how many characters do you plan to select?

At least another week. I need time to work on the campaign's beginning in Bukhara. I'm not sure how I'm going to select the party yet. Part of it will be posting history and quality of submissions. I'm not going to ball at having one more player if they have a great submission and posting history such that I think they'll stick around. I might only choose 4 if there are only that many good submissions, we'll have to see when the characters are finalized.

The fire warrior could be a bon po or Buddhist who uses a fire lance, a technology taken from the jin conquests. However I would want you to do some research like find out what tradition the character specifically had training in like kalychakra etc. and how that makes sense for a kineticist.

Give me a pitch and we can see. The important thing is that it fits the cultural milieu. Show me sources that justify whatever choice, like Mongol tradition about a specific mythological creature. One possibility is something like megafauna from the end of the last ice age that survives on the Mongolian plain.

I'm seeing pictures of mounted warriors with one hand holding a fire lance and another a rein.

The Mongol warrior class I liked in the campaign info page has some interesting abilities with fire lances. You might want to consider converting it to PF by adding some features to dead levels.

I think toughening applies to defense score and armor attunment to damage reduction. Does that seem logical to you?

Deep into the rules... If your plan is to use armour as damage reduction, how does the toughening from Automatic Bonus Progression work?

I thought I answered it. You adjust the defense score instead of armor class, or I misunderstand what you're asking.

I'd advise a slayer or unchanged version of rogue

It adds to your defense score instead of armor class.

How about everyone rolls 4d6 drop lowest until you get a set of attributes you like?

http://xoth.net/publishing/

I guess do 4d6 if everyone else is. I didn't get much input on that when I asked the group.

Here are Mongol Proverbs with which to flavor your dialogue.

I'm also looking at the honor points system -- all the Mongol characters have to abide by the yasa of Ghengis Khan, the Persian characters would have to obey Islamic jurisprudence, etc. You get points for how much you do this, so it's an incentive to research your culture.

Okay, so the Mongol characters, using the Xoth rules, should use "Khazistani" and "Nomad" or "Savage" for their race and racial archetype.

Persian characters should be "Zadjites" and have the "Civilized" or "Decadent" archetype.

Jews and other Levantine peoples should be "Susrahnites" with the "Civilized" or "Decadent" archetype.

Any Chinese characters should be "Taikangian" and have the "Civilized" or Decadent archetype.

DM -- Wrath of the Il-khans wrote:

Feat tax rules. I also generally give 1 feat a level for characters.

Just to be clear: this is 1 feat per level in addition to standard feat progression?

What I mean is 1 feat per level instead of every other level, as per the CRB. This is a rule from Monte Cook's Book of Experimental Might which I like.

Ok, I'm not much of a rules person, so whatever is decided is fine with me.

That does mean, though, that I'll need someone to check my build carefully, and then I may need a bit of coaching through the first couple encounters.

I'm good with Core, but beyond that, I'm clueless.

That shouldn't be a problem -- this is going to be a slow-moving campaign, so there will be plenty of time to explain unfamiliar rules as they come up.

Oh, and skill unlocks are available to skill monkey characters

I'm going to keep looking around a bit more -- I'll post an update in campaign info on rules:

I think this is what we've agreed upon -- please feel free to comment:

Automatic Bonus Progression (we should use the one where it's as if you're 2 levels higher, i.e., the chart designed for games with essentially no magical items).

Feat tax rules. I also generally give 1 feat a level for characters.

Background skills.

2 Traits.

Using human types from Xoth.

Wounds/Vigor

Armor as Damage Reduction.

If you are a mertial Mongol character, you get the feat for stamina/combat tricks for free.

Removing iterative attacks.

Let me take a look at the called shot rules and think about that.

What about giving all the Mongol characters with a martial class the feat for stamina/combat tricks as a free feat too?

Personally, I find called shots and criticals rather interesting! As for the other rules, all good!

How did you decide to attribute abilities? Roll or point-buy?

I was going to say 4d6, drop the lowest. However, I'm also happy to just let everyone assign reasonable stats for their characters. What do people want to do? Would everyone be okay with just determining their own reasonable array?

Auto bonus progression, feat taxes, and Xoth are OK with me. Am I correct in assuming that the Xoth cultural archetype modifiers replace the regular human stat bonus?

Should have basic crunch finished soon. How are you going to handle starting character wealth, then?

Slightly gritter combat is OK, though I'm ambivalent about called/critical shots. Say the rules, and I'm with you.

Yes, the cultural modifiers would replace the ordinary human stat bonus if I'm reading this correctly.

Let me take a look at crits and see what it would involve.

This is going to be my new avatar for this campaign.