So, Where is Veruzia?

That is a question with two answers.

The first, and simplest, is that Veruzia is a fictional nation which exists in the computer. The second, and more fun, is to try and work out where Veruzia would be, were that it existed. There are three ways I used to figure this out. I looked at climate, then history, and lastly etymology. So let us begin.

CLIMATE:

On the server, Veruzia is split between temperate and arid regions. South Verussi, the capital of the Veruzian precursor state in antiquity, was located in an arid region between a desert and a savanna. Pallidavia, the next major settlement, was on the “Verussian continent”, an island with a similar climate to South Verussi. After the Second Verussian war the population left for two regions, the mountainous New Pallidavia and a landmass split between arid and temperately forested regions which forms the majority of modern Veruzia. Even though savannas in Minecraft are modelled after a very specific biome type we will extend our definition to include any warm-climate grasslands, such as Mediterranean scrub. Geographically then Veruzia is split between mountains, temperate forests, warm grasslands, and desert. This eliminates portions of the globe covered in jungles and cold climates. The necessity to have a reasonable size and shape in the context of other states means that Veruzia is realistically found near the Eastern Mediterranean, The West coast of South America, or New Zealand. There are a few other regions which meet these criteria, but the presence of Great Power states in those regions would stretch the credibility of Veruzia’s existence in an otherwise unchanged world. The prospect of completely reimagining borders and histories rather than gently slotting in a country is somewhat daunting after all. The classical Imagi-nation exists in a limbo-state somewhere many countries are expected to be, be that Polynesia, the Balkans, or South America.

HISTORY:

I am putting off an exhaustive attempt to rejig ten years on a Minecraft server into a sensible history until a later day. However, the patterns of Veruzian history can reveal more about where it may fall. The main thrust of Veruzian history involves getting kicked out of a previous settlement by continual warfare, migrating a small distance to a new and more temperate region, getting militarily involved in a great power conflict (and being heavily damaged in the process) and then repeating the cycle. While the history of Polynesia is fascinating, it does not generally involve urban bombardments and repeated great-power interventions. But, as Valparaiso and Adrianople can attest, these events have happened in South America and the Balkans. Trying to differentiate between the two is somewhat tricky however, as both have had to contend with the British Empire (one of Veruzia’s chief antagonists) on multiple occasions, and both have had their fair share of pirates too (Pirates being another common foe).

ETYMOLOGY:

Veruzia, spelled traditionally as Verussia, is a somewhat Slavic name for a country. The Veruzian language, which exists only in scattered signage and patriotic phrases, is unmistakably romance. For example, “Crimson Guard” translates to “Krimzi’i Guardano”. From my limited understanding of the Latin tongues I can say that this leans more towards the Italian side rather than Spanish, French, or Romanian. Veruzian cities are named things like “Pallidavia”, “Charbeyliene”, and “Elysium”. This feeds into both the Slavic and Romance angles of the country, with a Greek flair, which seems to seal Veruzia’s place as a Balkan nation. But where in the Balkans? Italian influence places it along the Adriatic, but this only matches half the climates expected from the country. Certain islands South of Crete and off the coast of Libya exhibit the expected temperatures while not being too distant, so I suspect that the original Veruzian territories were in that region. Before closing out, I should bring up that the precursor state to what would become Veruzia was known as the “Polynesian Empire”. Having already discounted the actual Polynesia as a candidate, my belief is that this name is to be taken in the literal sense, meaning “Many Islands” in Greek. With Veruzia being located near Greece it makes sense that its ancient name would be in that language.

Of course, this exercise is quite nonsensical even without tying a fictional nation into real history. But therein lies the fun. It is an excuse to research real history and geography while trying to understand it through the addition of an extra nation. Next time I discuss Veruzia it will be to unravel the confusing history of the nation. It has moved capitals twice, it is a European-inspired country with a Black monarch, and it is a Balkan nation which managed to go toe-to-toe with the British empire for years at a time before collapsing. There is also a fascinating resemblance with the real-life Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik), which held a semi-mythical colony in India that parallels Veruzia’s own Sayri settlement.

Until next time, Viva Veruzi!

Cheese Board Checkers Grid Painting

This week I am trying my hand at batch painting with a grid approach.

Typically, an approach like this has rows and columns, with row determining the colour of one portion of the miniature and colour the other. It is a handy method for doing irregular units like Afghan tribesmen. Normally if you have more than one variation of colour you would overlay row and column meanings at different stages of painting. I could have done this, but instead I stole an idea from another part of my life. When I make a cheese platter to enjoy, I vary cracker type by row, but cheese type by a diagonal pattern. By applying this philosophy to the Afghans, who only have three places of color variation (Clothing, Sash, Turban), I am able to have the whole colour scheme readied in a single planning layer in my head. It is not that impressive all things considered, but I am pleased nonetheless.

PHASE ONE: COLUMNS

PHASE TWO: ROWS

PHASE THREE: DIAGONALS

The lines on the final image should help illustrate the idea. On a square grid it is possible to wrap these diagonal lines across edges to fill out the chart, but since I am working with a three by four that is not the case. The reason I chose twelve is because I had already done four models for this unit earlier, and the command sprue that comes with the Perry Afghan kit contains a further number who I intend to split across this unit and the next. You might also notice the relative abundance of blue turbans compared against red. This is because those four already-completed miniatures have exclusively red turbans. The command sprue miniatures will be given more interesting patterns like blue clothing and striped turbans to help stand out as musicians, flagbearers, and of course as hill chiefs. 

Paymaster's Chest Campaign Idea

 Now for something shorter.

Anonymous: Payment of Salaries to the Night Watchmen in the Camera del Comune of Siena

Domain play is an aspect of tabletop games which I have found elusive. More popular systems of the current day rarely encourage it, and I am not the first to observe that collecting pets seems to have gained popularity over gathering retainers. There is nothing wrong with pets, but they do not normally betray the players or demand a raise. Lack of mechanical support is one reason for the decline of followers, player culture and experiences another, but our main cause for this is just how long it takes to afford a cadre of hirelings. At early levels my players have hired guides and translators, but never more than one or two companions. They simply lack the funds for more, though I know for a fact they enjoy outfitting and strategizing when they do have access to followers as we have had great fun planning the defense of cities and such.

Stefano Della Bella: Baggage Train

The solution seems simple then, if the players cannot afford hirelings until later levels then just give them a bigger payout to start with! This is tempting, but there is always the fear that they would rather spend their money on magic swords or bulk chickens. And therein is the great conundrum of tabletop role-playing. The appeal of TTRPGs, to myself at least, is that there is a greater freedom and immersion possibility than any other medium of entertainment, but at the same time that freedom is easily abused to damage the immersion. ("Our Dwarf has died? I'll start eating him!") However, removing that freedom is just as damaging to the immersion. Talking to the players about campaign expectations is all well and good, but it sets boundaries upon the game which are always visible thereafter. In my mind an ideal campaign is a lot like sailing in there is control over where you can go, if you have the knowledge and skills to control your ship, but the tide waits for no one. You cannot see the tide, and only roughly predict it, but it is still quite possible to escape to the wider ocean. And even there you must contend with winds and currents. Are scheduling conflicts equivalent to barnacles in this metaphor? I might have lost the plot.

What I am getting at is that I prefer a softer touch. If I want a campaign focused on hirelings, then the premise should encourage that idea. Have the players start in a mercenary company as guards and adjuncts of the paymaster. The company is hired for a war, loses a battle, and in the chaos of the retreat the paymaster and captains are slain. The players now find themselves holding a set of four to five keys, depending on player count, which together open up the nigh-impenetrable paychest. It has enough coin for a month or two more, but the surviving mercenaries are demanding some of their payment immediately. While the argument is ongoing a scouting party of the enemy force is seen, sparking panic. And then, the campaign begins. The players are stuck with mercenaries who want money, but also the opportunity to control them through the access to the chest they have. Even if they want to take the money and run, they have to contend with their fellow players, and no matter what they have to command the mercenaries for at least the first encounter or two to deal with the enemy force. Hopefully after one or two successful skirmishes, and the looting thereafter, they are convinced to stick with this mercecnary business for a time.

I think it has promise as far as premises go.

Jan Theodor de Bry after Barthel Beham: The Baggage Train with the Sergeant-Major