Hello,
Are there any places in Golarion that don't belong to any nation? (or no setting perhaps)
If, yes, where ?
Thanks for your future answer.
The Mana Wastes comes to mind immediately.
This is the appeal of the Stolen Lands in Kingmaker!
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Technically there may be regions of Sarusan that are unoccupied, only because they have not been detailed much at all. Perhaps some of the shattered island pieces of Azlant haven't developed any living cultures since its ruin.
But Terra Nullius is a problematic concept that usually involves absolutely negating the personhood of indigenous populations.
This is the appeal of the Stolen Lands in Kingmaker!It's also something of a polite fiction, as the Sootscales and Hargulka might protest.
In a word, OP, "no." There are many lands of non-state peoples, but there is no such thing as unoccupied land.
The few "unoccupied" ones are that for a reason or two.
Also depends if one want a place for a full nation or something like a city state.
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Hello,
Are there any places in Golarion that don't belong to any nation? (or no setting perhaps)
If, yes, where ?
Thanks for your future answer.
huge swaths of Avistan and Garund are within a political border on a map, but there isn't a central authority there.
most of Varisia is basically ungoverned, for instance.
Enormous mammals inhabit the continent, some of which have gone extinct elsewhere in Golarion and some of which are utterly unknown.
What is enormous mammals ?
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huge swaths of Avistan and Garund are within a political border on a map, but there isn't a central authority there.
most of Varisia is basically ungoverned, for instance.
So what? Surely the question of whether land is inhabited is more germane than the question of whether those inhabitants are governed by a state.
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So what? Surely the question of whether land is inhabited is more germane than the question of whether those inhabitants are governed by a state.huge swaths of Avistan and Garund are within a political border on a map, but there isn't a central authority there.
most of Varisia is basically ungoverned, for instance.
the question was if there are areas of the Inner Sea which don't belong to any nation.
The answer is: yes.
Enormous mammals inhabit the continent, some of which have gone extinct elsewhere in Golarion and some of which are utterly unknown.What is enormous mammals ?
I don't know if you've since found your answer, but in short:
- Enormous means 'really big'- Mammals are a type of animal that don't lay eggs (mostly) including humans, elk, and cats for random examples.
In any case, as the others have covered, there are several places not claimed by a nation, although it is important to note that places that do not belong to a nation (i.e. state) are not necessarily unsettled or lacking in governance, and that even places that have not been settled are not necessarily uninhabited by a people who lay claim to the territory.
Hope this helped!
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Enormous mammals inhabit the continent, some of which have gone extinct elsewhere in Golarion and some of which are utterly unknown.What is enormous mammals ?I don't know if you've since found your answer, but in short:
- Enormous means 'really big'
- Mammals are a type of animal that don't lay eggs (mostly) including humans, elk, and cats for random examples.In any case, as the others have covered, there are several places not claimed by a nation, although it is important to note that places that do not belong to a nation (i.e. state) are not necessarily unsettled or lacking in governance, and that even places that have not been settled are not necessarily uninhabited by a people who lay claim to the territory.
Hope this helped!
The gist is correct, but it would really help to stick to precise terms. "Nation" refers to a people-group with common cultural attributes (language, foodways, religion, ethnicity, etc.) and it is nations in that sense which occupy all of the land in Golarion. Ergo, there is no such thing as terra nullius.
The geographies outlined in red on the map are not "nations" inasmuch as they largely fail to correspond to nations and especially in Avistan tend to split nations. The Ulfens are split across at least two countries, the northern Kellids across at least three, the Taldans at least five (they moreover form a minority ruling caste in several more countries), and the Varisians in sundry. About the only human nations that aren't split up in some way are the Nidalese, the Shoanti, and the Jadwiga (another minority ruling caste). And that's just humans! Point is, these geographies really ought to be called "countries."
A country may be administered entirely by one state (as in, say, Andoran or Taldor), divided between multiple states (as in New Thassilon or Ravounel), divided between petty states and non-state peoples (as in Varisia or the River Kingdoms), or be entirely non-state (as in the Realm of the Mammoth Lords). States being, here, sovereign hierarchical monopolizers of legitimate violence in a definite territory. What terra nullius has meant in practice for a good five hundred years is "lands of non-state peoples which may be annexed by states that have the capacity to administer them without normative objections by other states." And there is plenty of that. Perhaps the most legitimate such annexation one might feel comfortable playing through in the Lost Omens Campaign Setting is the Sarkorian reconquista, but even the most legitimate and comfortable aspect of that would be the liberation of Mendev (i.e. the destruction and reconstruction of a state) rather than the risorgimiento of Worldwould irredenta.
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The gist is correct, but it would really help to stick to precise terms. "Nation" refers to a people-group with common cultural attributes (language, foodways, religion, ethnicity, etc.) and it is nations in that sense which occupy all of the land in Golarion. Ergo, there is no such thing as terra nullius.
Ach, knew fudging that line would come to bite me in this kind of thread! Your precision in this matter is appreciated.
... Now the linguist in me wonders how old the division between nation as in sovereign state and nation as in people group with shared cultural heritage is... but that way lies the off-topic gutters.
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The gist is correct, but it would really help to stick to precise terms. "Nation" refers to a people-group with common cultural attributes (language, foodways, religion, ethnicity, etc.) and it is nations in that sense which occupy all of the land in Golarion. Ergo, there is no such thing as terra nullius.
ah, but even this is not true.
are the howling demons prowling the hinterlands of Sarkoris Scar a nation? doubtful. Is Treerazer and his cruel ilk, who possess a huge territory in Kyonin a nation? I'd argue not.
You might say that the giant tribes of say, the Mindspin Mountains constitute a 'nation' but they are a series of fractious clans constantly warring with one another and bound only by their colossal size and common tongue, and are certainly not a state on their own. Similarly, the Eye of Abendego *had* nations, but now? Cannibals, marsh giants, centipedes the size of school buses.
Ultimately, it's a fantasy world. Probably not worth getting worked up about.
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are the howling demons prowling the hinterlands of Sarkoris Scar a nation? doubtful. Is Treerazer and his cruel ilk, who possess a huge territory in Kyonin a nation? I'd argue not.
On what basis? They fit the criteria of nationhood.
Whether their occupation of the land is legitimate and can be tolerated by their neighbors is another question. They both conquered the land from its former inhabitants, excluded them from it, changed the land so it was no longer fit for their habitation, and repurposed it to be a military base for further conquest. Aggressive powers with revisionist policies like that invite containment by their neighbors and reprisal by their conquered foes, up to and including destruction.
But none of that calls or ought to call into question their nationhood and make reclaiming their conquered territory an exercise in occupying virgin land for the first time. Neither does your not liking their cultural practices. This is important because our fantasy stories are really stories about ourselves—and the international system for five hundred years has been one where states could without normative objection from other states treat the lands of non-state peoples as unoccupied, and conquer them, exclude or subordinate their inhabitants, replace indigenous with foreign land-managemenr practices, and launch further military conquests. Perhaps our fantasies could imagine something else?
Why does it need to be Golarion?
The inner and outer spheres are vast beyond imagination, and some realms like those among the Inner are just mortal enough for lower-mid tiered adventurers.
What’s to stop you from building a sultanate among the primordial beings of the Planes of Earth or Metal, Air, Water, Wood, or Fire?
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(Also, whilst they're still a long way from fully retaking it, I imagine the Sarkorins would have a thing or two about anyone calling Sarkoris Scar unclaimed land)
Enormous mammals inhabit the continent, some of which have gone extinct elsewhere in Golarion and some of which are utterly unknown.What is enormous mammals ?I don't know if you've since found your answer, but in short:
- Enormous means 'really big'
- Mammals are a type of animal that don't lay eggs (mostly) including humans, elk, and cats for random examples.In any case, as the others have covered, there are several places not claimed by a nation, although it is important to note that places that do not belong to a nation (i.e. state) are not necessarily unsettled or lacking in governance, and that even places that have not been settled are not necessarily uninhabited by a people who lay claim to the territory.
Hope this helped!
Daedon for example ? Hyaenodon ? Smilodon ?
Daedon for example ? Hyaenodon ? Smilodon ?Enormous mammals inhabit the continent, some of which have gone extinct elsewhere in Golarion and some of which are utterly unknown.What is enormous mammals ?I don't know if you've since found your answer, but in short:
- Enormous means 'really big'
- Mammals are a type of animal that don't lay eggs (mostly) including humans, elk, and cats for random examples.In any case, as the others have covered, there are several places not claimed by a nation, although it is important to note that places that do not belong to a nation (i.e. state) are not necessarily unsettled or lacking in governance, and that even places that have not been settled are not necessarily uninhabited by a people who lay claim to the territory.
Hope this helped!
In Pathfinder, these examples ate presented as "giant prehistoric versions" of modern animals (boars, hyenas) so in my opinion would absolutely be appropriate. For other examples, you might consider any megafauna that might show up in the realm of the Mammoth Lords (with potentially less emphasis on cold-weather adapted species).
Sarusan is not exclusively giant mammals (for example the thylacine, native to real-world Australia, is listed) but it does seem like the description is painting a very Lost World picture, albeit without the emphasis on dinosaurs specifically.