Also, not sure if this has been brought up anywhere, but I recall in one of the PF1E books a mention of a Sasquatch/Bigfoot ancestry (different from the already established Sasquatch monster. So I am hoping those are still around and might get detailed as a main ancestry.YES! The Orang-Pendak would be an awesome ancestry to have.I posted this elsewhere, but thought it might be appropriate here for those interested in seeing an Arcadian sasquatch ancestry. Most everything below comes from a 1E or 2E source.
Sasquatch/Orang-pendak/Yeti (Ancestry):
Cultural Groups that have appeared in text thus far:
Orang-pendek
Yowie
Almas
Yeren
Yeti (Yeti are referenced as a similar group to the Sasquatch and it is unclear if the Yeti would be included as part of a broader Sasquatch Ancestry.)Heritages:
Currently none provided.What’s missing?
Sasquatch
Orang-pendak
Fen Mauler
Yeti (If Included)
Sasquatches live in remote forests where they live in harmony with nature, forgoing the building structures and leaving little evidence of their existence. As a result, many scholars that have not dealt directly with Sasquatches doubt their existence. This is forgivable considering that Sasquatches are found across Golarion, but in nearly all instances they leave little trace of their communities or culture. Even in death, Sasquatches take great care to hide their deceased from discovery as they belief they are not only hiding their dead from scavengers but also from evil spirits. The largest communities of Sasquatches are most likely found in Arcadia’s Land of Northern Lakes.
Orang-pendaks are a group of Sasquatch that tend to live in warm remote mountainous jungles. They have a natural empathy with simians and tend to share habitats with apes and monkeys. Orang-pendaks are known to live in the jungles of central Arcadia and likely live in similar environments in Tian Xia and Casmaron. Orang-pendaks display a greater variation in size than...
I personally would prefer Orang-pendaks and Sasquatch be kept as completely different creatures. The cryptid lore really does differ for those. Yeti also should be completely different, although the lore we have already supports that. Yeren and Sasquatch is fine though
I've always thought Yowies, if Sarusan was ever developed, would be cool as some sort of marsupial humanoid.
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PFS #4-13 is out, featuring a Segada-sanctioned expedition into the continent's northern interior prairies - and it's pretty neat! You're working to repair and repatriate a star gun that Chelish invaders broke after stealing, which is a lovely anti-colonial narrative that still ends up feeling like a fantastical quest. Well worth picking up!
There's some fascinating new lore on both star guns and the Syrinx people, neither of which I want to spoil, and the town that receives the relic (Niishan) ends up potentially hosting a second Arcadian PFS Lodge (after Port Valen in the north).
It seems plans for the continent are absolutely in motion, and I'm very excited about it all...
Looking forward to play it.
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PFS #4-13 is out, featuring a Segada-sanctioned expedition into the continent's northern interior prairies - and it's pretty neat! You're working to repair and repatriate a star gun that Chelish invaders broke after stealing, which is a lovely anti-colonial narrative that still ends up feeling like a fantastical quest. Well worth picking up!
There's some fascinating new lore on both star guns and the Syrinx people, neither of which I want to spoil, and the town that receives the relic (Niishan) ends up potentially hosting a second Arcadian PFS Lodge (after Port Valen in the north).
It seems plans for the continent are absolutely in motion, and I'm very excited about it all...
Is there a map?
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Is there a map?PFS #4-13 is out, featuring a Segada-sanctioned expedition into the continent's northern interior prairies - and it's pretty neat! You're working to repair and repatriate a star gun that Chelish invaders broke after stealing, which is a lovely anti-colonial narrative that still ends up feeling like a fantastical quest. Well worth picking up!
There's some fascinating new lore on both star guns and the Syrinx people, neither of which I want to spoil, and the town that receives the relic (Niishan) ends up potentially hosting a second Arcadian PFS Lodge (after Port Valen in the north).
It seems plans for the continent are absolutely in motion, and I'm very excited about it all...
Yes, but there’s not much to see; it’s zoomed-in on north-central Arcadia, with Lake Starfall and Niishan both labeled, nothing else.
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Speaking of Arcadia, I'd probably wish for something exotic and quite crazy, especially if it's going to be a full campaign. Perhaps the struggle between the Aztecs and the Vikings, given that there is the Mesoamerican empire of Razatlan, and the Lands of the Linnorm Kings have Valenhall here?
You may want to read that lore a little more closely; that “struggle” has led to a mixed community (Port Valen), mixed-heritage youth (the Valenborn), and cross-cultural spiritual traditions (1e had Mahwek Mediums calling on legendary Ulfen spirits). Folks are broadly getting along up there, it’s not gonna suddenly turn into a White People’s Violent Invasion story.
I’m also not sure Razatlan is an empire anymore. My understanding is that the modern nation is a quieter rump state, kind of like Taldor.
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Speaking of Arcadia, I'd probably wish for something exotic and quite crazy, especially if it's going to be a full campaign. Perhaps the struggle between the Aztecs and the Vikings, given that there is the Mesoamerican empire of Razatlan, and the Lands of the Linnorm Kings have Valenhall here?You may want to read that lore a little more closely; that “struggle” has led to a mixed community (Port Valen), mixed-heritage youth (the Valenborn), and cross-cultural spiritual traditions (1e had Mahwek Mediums calling on legendary Ulfen spirits). Folks are broadly getting along up there, it’s not gonna suddenly turn into a White People’s Violent Invasion story.
I’m also not sure Razatlan is an empire anymore. My understanding is that the modern nation is a quieter rump state, kind of like Taldor.
Could we play the retaking of Anchor's End at least, if the Ulfen invaders are not possible to remove?
It feels like "war" is not really the story you want to tell in a game about 4-5 really talented people doing things. Since anything that those 4-5 people can cause to happen is probably not recognizable as "war".
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Speaking of Arcadia, I'd probably wish for something exotic and quite crazy, especially if it's going to be a full campaign. Perhaps the struggle between the Aztecs and the Vikings, given that there is the Mesoamerican empire of Razatlan, and the Lands of the Linnorm Kings have Valenhall here?You may want to read that lore a little more closely; that “struggle” has led to a mixed community (Port Valen), mixed-heritage youth (the Valenborn), and cross-cultural spiritual traditions (1e had Mahwek Mediums calling on legendary Ulfen spirits). Folks are broadly getting along up there, it’s not gonna suddenly turn into a White People’s Violent Invasion story.
I’m also not sure Razatlan is an empire anymore. My understanding is that the modern nation is a quieter rump state, kind of like Taldor.
No, I understand that in general the relationship is good. I just find the idea of an Aztec vs Viking war crazy and exotic enough to want to pursue. I know this is unlikely and often against canon (even with the inevitable retcons in second edition books). It's just a stupid idea that makes me laugh insanely.
Also, I was thinking more of the opposite storyline, where the warmonger is trying to create his empire in Arcadia, and the players have to stop him.
I am not sure what you mean by inevitable retcons.
Maybe the word is used in a broader sense than what I thought.
Which retcons do you see as inevitable ?
Could we play the retaking of Anchor's End at least, if the Ulfen invaders are not possible to remove?Speaking of Arcadia, I'd probably wish for something exotic and quite crazy, especially if it's going to be a full campaign. Perhaps the struggle between the Aztecs and the Vikings, given that there is the Mesoamerican empire of Razatlan, and the Lands of the Linnorm Kings have Valenhall here?You may want to read that lore a little more closely; that “struggle” has led to a mixed community (Port Valen), mixed-heritage youth (the Valenborn), and cross-cultural spiritual traditions (1e had Mahwek Mediums calling on legendary Ulfen spirits). Folks are broadly getting along up there, it’s not gonna suddenly turn into a White People’s Violent Invasion story.
I’m also not sure Razatlan is an empire anymore. My understanding is that the modern nation is a quieter rump state, kind of like Taldor.
The nations of the Segada Protocol haven't pushed them out yet, even after a number of heinous crimes from the Chelish colonists; I'd love to know why.
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The nations of the Segada Protocol haven't pushed them out yet, even after a number of heinous crimes from the Chelish colonists; I'd love to know why.
I won't pretend to be as up on Arcadia as I am about the Inner Sea, but the impression I've always had is that the Segada Protocol tolerates the Avistani colonies because they're so geographically small, militarily weak, and economically insignificant compared to its indigenous neighbours that they're simply not worth bothering with, whatever annoyances the people there are capable of causing. And if Segada deals with the Chellish colonies, Razatlan might see an opportunity on its flank.
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The nations of the Segada Protocol haven't pushed them out yet, even after a number of heinous crimes from the Chelish colonists; I'd love to know why.I won't pretend to be as up on Arcadia as I am about the Inner Sea, but the impression I've always had is that the Segada Protocol tolerates the Avistani colonies because they're so geographically small, militarily weak, and economically insignificant compared to its indigenous neighbours that they're simply not worth bothering with, whatever annoyances the people there are capable of causing. And if Segada deals with the Chellish colonies, Razatlan might see an opportunity on its flank.
I mean, this season of PFS has the Chelish looting and defacing sacred Arcadian relics (a Star Gun, specifically), so it’s not for lack of trying on the Chelish side.
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I mean, this season of PFS has the Chelish looting and defacing sacred Arcadian relics (a Star Gun, specifically), so it’s not for lack of trying on the Chelish side.The nations of the Segada Protocol haven't pushed them out yet, even after a number of heinous crimes from the Chelish colonists; I'd love to know why.I won't pretend to be as up on Arcadia as I am about the Inner Sea, but the impression I've always had is that the Segada Protocol tolerates the Avistani colonies because they're so geographically small, militarily weak, and economically insignificant compared to its indigenous neighbours that they're simply not worth bothering with, whatever annoyances the people there are capable of causing. And if Segada deals with the Chellish colonies, Razatlan might see an opportunity on its flank.
We do love having our stupid incompetent Nazi buffoons in the setting, it seems.
This might be the proverbial straw.
Before this event, I could see Segada willing to tolerate the evil colonists in the hope of allying with their mighty home nation against rivals/opponents at home.
I do not know much detail about politics in Arcadia though.
Where can I gather more info on those ?
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1e’s Distant Shores covers Segada, a port city in the Arcadian nation of Degasi that lends its name to the Segada Protocol - an international Arcadian agreement that severely limits Avistani colonization nearby. There’s two Chelish colonies (one of which is, I believe, abandoned) and one from Andoran.
The current season (Year 4) of Pathfinder Society has a pair of scenarios related to all this. The first is about gaining access from Segadan authorities to the continent’s interior; the second is about repairing and repatriating a looted Arcadian relic.
Unrelated to all this is the Ulfen-Arcadian stuff in Port Valen, further north.
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The nations of the Segada Protocol haven't pushed them out yet, even after a number of heinous crimes from the Chelish colonists; I'd love to know why.I won't pretend to be as up on Arcadia as I am about the Inner Sea, but the impression I've always had is that the Segada Protocol tolerates the Avistani colonies because they're so geographically small, militarily weak, and economically insignificant compared to its indigenous neighbours that they're simply not worth bothering with, whatever annoyances the people there are capable of causing. And if Segada deals with the Chelish colonies, Razatlan might see an opportunity on its flank.
Easy access to trade goods from across the Arcadian Ocean may be a factor as well.
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I won't pretend to be as up on Arcadia as I am about the Inner Sea, but the impression I've always had is that the Segada Protocol tolerates the Avistani colonies because they're so geographically small, militarily weak, and economically insignificant compared to its indigenous neighbours that they're simply not worth bothering with, whatever annoyances the people there are capable of causing. And if Segada deals with the Chellish colonies, Razatlan might see an opportunity on its flank.
I'm not sure I buy this - from a state's perspective, if a neighbor is insignificant enough to not be a threat, it is insignificant enough that so is the effort necessary to conquer it. Perhaps the Protocol nations are not united on the matter (for instance, the other three might not want to see any one of the four get the territory), and keep each other in check?
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There’s also clearly not a monopoly on Arcadian trade to be had, given that there’s an entire trade triangle in Travel Guide linking Senghor, some colonies in Azlant, and Arcadia.
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I mean, it's not just Cheliax and Andor who are competing for "Arcadian goods" since enterprising Arcadian Merchant Marines would probably like to find new markets for their goods as well.
Like if even if there's a blocade at the Arch of Aroden, I'd like to see some Arcadian traders making landfall in like Varisia or Ravounel or Rahadoum.
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I mean, it's not just Cheliax and Andor who are competing for "Arcadian goods" since enterprising Arcadian Merchant Marines would probably like to find new markets for their goods as well.
Like if even if there's a blocade at the Arch of Aroden, I'd like to see some Arcadian traders making landfall in like Varisia or Ravounel or Rahadoum.
So, just Rahadoum. Varisia and Ravounel are too poor to buy foreign goods.
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Well, Rarvounel's economy is in rough shape, but they do have considerable silver reserves and people do traditionally want precious metals.
I mean, it's possible the Arcadian traders would like to take advantage of the poor Avistani nations.
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I would be all over Arcadian-Rahadoumi trade like you wouldn't believe.
(It kills me how little naval strength Rahadoum seems to have in canon, either merchant or military... especially since they retook Khari!)
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I would be all over Arcadian-Rahadoumi trade like you wouldn't believe.
(It kills me how little naval strength Rahadoum seems to have in canon, either merchant or military... especially since they retook Khari!)
It makes sense. You need lumber for ships, and the ongoing desertification makes that difficult. They could trade for it, but most of their trading will be for food. Speaking of Khari, I wonder how things are there now. Life will be better in most respects, but I don't know how many of the inhabitants will have truly embraced the Laws of Mortality. The underground churches will have been a source for anti-Chelaxian activity, and they will be well accustomed to both operating in secret and working in concert. The Pure Legion is having trouble in Botosani, and the extent of the hidden faiths in Khari will both be much deeper and much more deeply entrenched than anywhere in the rest of Rahadoum. Even citizens who are otherwise content to go with the flow will be reluctant to snitch. Combine this with a sense that maybe they (the citizens) should have a say as to their destiny, and I think that maybe Rahadoum bit off more than it could chew.
But back on topic: I tend to agree with zimmerwald1915 about why the Segada Protocol hasn't moved against Anchor's End. I can easily see them thinking that putting up with AE is less of a headache than doing what it would take to take the colony and hold it. While they wouldn't be likely to give the land to other outsiders, dividing it up may prove tricky depending on how many nations are involved in the military action. That said, they could have a permanent rotating administration, or set one up to transition it into an independent pan-Arcadian community (think Republic City from The Legend of Korra) whose whole deal is handling international trade.
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Well, Rarvounel's economy is in rough shape, but they do have considerable silver reserves and people do traditionally want precious metals.
I mean, it's possible the Arcadian traders would like to take advantage of the poor Avistani nations.
The markets just aren't large enough to make cross-ocean shipping worthwhile, even if what few customers there are must pay in specie due to lacking any production beyond crude handicrafts. Ravounel has thirty to forty thousand people in it. Varisia is better off in some ways, with between eighty and ninety thousand people in it and with industrial production in Janderhoff, Magnimar, Korvosa, and Palin's Cove giving it something to trade besides specie, but it is not a unified market and the largest such within it (the Korvosan and Magnimaran states) each only regroup between twenty and thirty thousand people.
Ravounel's market in particular, despite being open to traders generally as part of an extremely ill-advised free trade policy that practically invites foreign domination and prevents the development of native industry, is dominated by Chelish merchants as a matter of proximity and by the Chelish state as a matter of treaty. Arcadian traders would not merely be moving into an unprotected and virgin market, but would have to compete hampered by these structural disadvantages (mature and state-advantaged competition, high overhead on their end preventing too great a reduction in price lest they trade at a loss).
Not necessarily disputing your point, but where are you getting these population numbers from? The urban population of Kintargo is already ~15K based on the numbers we already have, and the cities of Varisia add up to 72K. I doubt half (in the former case) or 90% (in the latter) of the population would be in cities.
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Also getting on-topic and away from the Avistani: I’m profoundly curious about the Arcane Empires, the Arcadian region that Heyopan is placed in. We know remarkably little, but it seems to be a place of high fantasy, political intrigue, and magical tech development (imitation star guns!), but it seems to be… basically in like, Arcadia’s Baja-equivalent?
Heyopan does sound intriguing, but I don't think there's any indication of where it and the Arcane Empires are beyond Arcadia,? I could've missed something though, I'm just going off of Guns & Gears.
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Heyopan does sound intriguing, but I don't think there's any indication of where it and the Arcane Empires are beyond Arcadia,? I could've missed something though, I'm just going off of Guns & Gears.
Stolen Fate has a few interesting bits of travel across its volumes :)
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Ah right, I'd forgotten the 3rd one will be returning to Arcadia. Exciting.
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Magic: the Gathering returns to Ixalan next month, their Mesoamerican Fantasy-with-dinosaurs-and-vampire-conquistadors setting, and it has me super excited! They’re running around a Hollow Earth/Darklands-y lost predecessor civilization, one with Inca visual motifs to contrast the faux-Mexica of the surface human empire, and there’s also Maya-inspired catfolk that look great.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Port Valen, the Deadshot Lands, and Segada plenty… but my eyes have always been firmly fixed on Fallen Razatlan. Pathfinder’s turn with all these elements is gonna make me jump for joy!
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Oh! With Arazni's imminent promotion, we now have an Arcadian in the Core 20 <3
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Yes, but there’s not much to see; it’s zoomed-in on north-central Arcadia, with Lake Starfall and Niishan both labeled, nothing else.Is there a map?PFS #4-13 is out, featuring a Segada-sanctioned expedition into the continent's northern interior prairies - and it's pretty neat! You're working to repair and repatriate a star gun that Chelish invaders broke after stealing, which is a lovely anti-colonial narrative that still ends up feeling like a fantastical quest. Well worth picking up!
There's some fascinating new lore on both star guns and the Syrinx people, neither of which I want to spoil, and the town that receives the relic (Niishan) ends up potentially hosting a second Arcadian PFS Lodge (after Port Valen in the north).
It seems plans for the continent are absolutely in motion, and I'm very excited about it all...
Replying to this older post because I wanted to say that I just recently discovered this scenario and a second one that both feature Niishan, but there are no wiki pages for Niishan or Lake Starfall. These are now on my radar to add both to the wiki and the interactive map.
In general, locations that only appear in society scenarios are my big weakness, so feel free to reach out to me with any similarly missing locations from the map.
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I was a little surprised to see no mention of travel and trade across the Okaiyo in the new Tian Xia World Guide. Hoping from some Tian-Arcadian crumbs in the Character Guide!
I really hope that if Lost Omens: Arcadia gets mentioned human sacrifice is never mentioned anywhere in the text.
The practice of human sacrifice in Mesoamerica was a complex history of theological based thought that continued for thosands of years.
It was not grabbing random civilians off the street and cutting their hearts up.
I never understood the idea that human sacrifice was practicality heinous but not killing people for worshipping the same G-D in the slightly different way like what happened in Europe
Arcadia is NOT pre-colonial Americas nor colonial Americas and isn't filled with savages.
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Arcadia is NOT pre-colonial Americas nor colonial Americas and isn't filled with savages.I really hope that if Lost Omens: Arcadia gets mentioned human sacrifice is never mentioned anywhere in the text.
The practice of human sacrifice in Mesoamerica was a complex history of theological based thought that continued for thosands of years.
It was not grabbing random civilians off the street and cutting their hearts up.
I never understood the idea that human sacrifice was practicality heinous but not killing people for worshipping the same G-D in the slightly different way like what happened in Europe
The emphatic denial is kind of strange - sure, it isn't exactly the Americas, but we know enough to say it's textually inspired by them the same way Garund is an Africa-equivalent.
EDIT: Not advocating for human sacrifice or labeling anyone 'savages,' to be clear.
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I really hope that if Lost Omens: Arcadia gets mentioned human sacrifice is never mentioned anywhere in the text.
The practice of human sacrifice in Mesoamerica was a complex history of theological based thought that continued for thosands of years.
It was not grabbing random civilians off the street and cutting their hearts up.
I never understood the idea that human sacrifice was practicality heinous but not killing people for worshipping the same G-D in the slightly different way like what happened in Europe
There was human sacrifice in RL Europe and it did not appear in Avistan. So I have good hope it will not appear in Arcadia either.
Arcadia is NOT pre-colonial Americas nor colonial Americas and isn't filled with savages.I really hope that if Lost Omens: Arcadia gets mentioned human sacrifice is never mentioned anywhere in the text.
The practice of human sacrifice in Mesoamerica was a complex history of theological based thought that continued for thosands of years.
It was not grabbing random civilians off the street and cutting their hearts up.
I never understood the idea that human sacrifice was practicality heinous but not killing people for worshipping the same G-D in the slightly different way like what happened in Europe
The emphatic denial is kind of strange - sure, it isn't exactly the Americas, but we know enough to say it's textually inspired by them the same way Garund is an Africa-equivalent.
EDIT: Not advocating for human sacrifice or labeling anyone 'savages,' to be clear.
Isn't Arcadia kinda more advanced than Avistan.
and someone did point out the Evil cults doing human (and others) sacrifices thing, location be damned.
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The issue is that Mesoamerican have long been smeared as Devil worshipers who did blood orgy rituals which was far from the truth.
The idea of a pure evil demon lord people worship to cause eternal darkness is also fake b$+**$*!. Mesoamericans didn’t even have concepts of platonic good or evil.
Even the early frays had a hard time trying to teach the concept of "evil" in mesoamerican society because in nahuatl there isn't a word for "bad", there is only good "cualli" and not-good "ahmo cualli". Someone explained to me this with fruits: the fruit that is still immature is not good "ahmo cualli"; the ripe fruit is good "cualli", while the rotten fruit is not good "ahmo cualli" but neither of those states or phases are inherently "bad", the same applies to anything else, everything has its own time.
After stating this... the divinity that would carry the "evil" concept can be traslated to Tezcatlipoca and even so this god is also a protector of the poor and slaves. Although in modern times the word "chamuco" referring to the devil may have its roots in the god Oxomoco from the primal couple, the ancestors of the humankind.
Word of advise, might be very useful to know when people are talking in-game/in-verse vs real life things, and when things get mixed...