Real World Analogues in the Inner Sea

[Stephen Trone]

So I have been looking at the Inner Sea World Guide and figuring out real world analogues for a lot of the nations listed. Examples include

Galt: Revolutionary France
Varisia: Romania
Osiria: Egypt
Lands of the Linnorm Kings: Scandinavia
etc etc.

Try as I might though I have not found an analogue for Mexico or Central/South America in general. I am attempting to build a Zorro style defender of freedom and can't decide on a country for him. Thoughts?

[Bart Vervaet]

Cheliax springs to mind.

It's not exactly cetral america, but it would be an excellent place for a masked hero fighting an evil government

[Bart Vervaet]

also, in the Curse of the crimson throne there is a very similar NPC

CotCT spoiler:

Blackjack pops up in part 1 of the AP, and eventually he tries to get one of the PC to become Blackjack

[Alex Mack]

How do you come to the conclusion that Varisia=Romania. Due to traveling Gypsies? They have been around all of Western Europe almost since the middle ages.

I'd say Ustlava=Romania as it is clearly modeled after Transilvania which is a region of Northern Romania.

[Imbicatus]

There is no Mexico, as the analog would be Arcadia and there is no colonies on Arcadia. Cheliax is the "Spanish Inquisition" analog though, and Cheliax would work as a homeland. A good alternative would be Sargava, as it is a former Cheliax colony, and it's culture is a mix of old pre-Asmodeus Cheliax and the native Mwangi.

[Stephen Trone]

I am liking the Sargava route. Thank you for your help, this is exactly what I was looking for.

[leo1925]

How do you get the Spain from Chaliax? i get a very strong british empire vibe.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

leo1925 wrote:

How do you get the Spain from Chaliax? i get a very strong british empire vibe.

Probably the naming conventions. For me those create an image not unlike Renaissance Italy. Hell, Westcrown's almost basically Fantasy Venice.

[Nitro-13]

ive always got a spain/britain vibe from chelliax myself. But its leanig heavily towards spain as of recently.

[Redfire]

Cheliax has always seemed a bit Nazi-ish for me, mainly because their symbol is similar to a swastika or a sun circle, and both of those are Nazi symbols. Andoran is Revolutionary War-era America, Taldor is medieval Britain, and Irrisen is Russia.

[Jeven]

Cheliax - Spanish Empire, Spanish inquisition, renaissance Italy, etc. Its old capital Westcrown is similar to Venice and the titles of its office-holders are Italian.

Sargava - a Spanish/British/Portuguese type imperial colony in Africa or the Americas.

Andoran - revolutionary America, with light touches of Italy.

Molthune and Galt - militant C19th Prussia and late C18th revolutionary France

Taldor - a mixed bag. The oldest bits resemble ancient Rome and the Byzantine empire, but then it has medieval knights and castles, and the C18th and C19th image of a debased European aristocracy living in plush manors with uniformed servants. I think it got muddled by the theme of aristocrats, and every image of aristocracy from ancient to medieval to recent centuries tossed into the mix.

Qadira - Arabia
Osirion - Egypt
Katapesh - Arabic East Africa (coastal Sudan, Somalia, Zanzibar, etc.), with mix of African/Arabic influences and creatures like giraffes, hyenas and savanna landscape.
Thuvia - the Sahara desert
Mwangi - Central and West African jungles