The culture of Alkenstar?

[Feragore]

Outlaws of Alkenstar appears to set itself up as a Wild/Weird Western AP with outlaws, heists, guns, saloons and clockwork inventions.

The human ethnicities most prominent are Garundi, Keleshite, Mwangi, and Vudrani; each ethnicity has its own distinct culture loosely based on, as far as I can tell from the wiki, real-world African and West Asian cultures.

They also seem far removed and at odds from the basis of the American culture of the Wild West, to the point where it almost feels insensitive given the imperialism that was going on at the time.

Given that Paizo has probably thought about this already, what is the culture of the city, and by extension, the AP? Is it the 'Wild/Weird West' city? Is it a Garundi city? Or is it its own thing?

[keftiu]

Alkenstar began as a settlement for refugees fleeing Geb and Nex, two places where the local culture seems to supersede most others, and seems to have become a thing distinct from the peoples that comprised it. While I dearly want more of its Garundi and Casmar influences to come through, I can believe that a messy melting pot shaped further by both the extensive presence of Dongun dwarves and the context of being a sanctuary in a blighted wasteland between two superpowers created something wholly new.

But yes, I do wish that writers, authors, and fans would ease off the Wild West influences a little. I'm happy to have firearms in my fantasy, and for Alkenstar to be their homeland - indeed, I /love/ the idea that guns are the product of brilliant people located in what is roughly equivalent to East Africa. It's when the place is full of saloons (something not really seen anywhere else on the continent) that my eyes roll out of my head, while OoA depicting Trietta Ricia as a pale-skinned redhead was outright offensive.

Maybe they'll get it right in Pathfinder 3e, but I'm pretty bummed that the proudly diverse 2e hasn't really done anything to make Alkenstar feel part of its context so far. I'm skeptical LO:IL will alleviate this, but maybe November rolls around and I eat my words.

[RiverMesa]

It's tangential, but the art we saw of the Mana Wastes from LO Impossible Lands during PaizoCon certainly looked nothing like the vaguely Wild West desert wasteland from 1e or even Outlaws of Alkenstar days (though the Spellscar Desert might still well damn be that, a desert), so here's hoping a similar kind of energy and visual development was given over to Alkenstar itself.

Also: Why the hell was Taldane used as Common in that Adventure Path, as opposed to...I don't know, three other much more regionally-appropriate languages? (Kelish, Osiriani, Mwangi)
I understand that when the AP was first conceived, the companion Lost Omens book was in similarly early development and by the time both took proper shape there might not have been enough time to make them sync up on the development, but it just feels rather bizarre considering that a similar problem was largely avoided with Strength of Thousands and LO Mwangi Expanse.

[The Raven Black]

Also IIRC Taldane was not the Common of Alkenstar in PF1.

[keftiu]

The Raven Black wrote:

Also IIRC Taldane was not the Common of Alkenstar in PF1.

It was Kelish, right?

[The Raven Black]

keftiu wrote:

The Raven Black wrote:

Also IIRC Taldane was not the Common of Alkenstar in PF1.

It was Kelish, right?

Or Osiriani, I guess.

"Aside from the dwarven spoken in Dongun Hold, most citizens speak either Osiriani, Kelish or both." From Pathfinderwiki.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Little late to the party on this one, but I was rereading the World Guide and noticed how the Impossible Lands and Mwangi Expanse intersect, and it looks like the closest neighbors to Alkenstar, or at least the Gunworks, are Kibwe and the Alijae of Nagisa, just across the Shattered Range (as well as the Shory ruins of Ulduvai).

I imagine some aspects of their cultures have found their way to Alkenstar!

[keftiu]

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

Little late to the party on this one, but I was rereading the World Guide and noticed how the Impossible Lands and Mwangi Expanse intersect, and it looks like the closest neighbors to Alkenstar, or at least the Gunworks, are Kibwe and the Alijae of Nagisa, just across the Shattered Range (as well as the Shory ruins of Ulduvai).

I imagine some aspects of their cultures have found their way to Alkenstar!

Kibwe has to be one of the primary stops for trade to and from Alkenstar; I imagine they interact a lot.