I’m a natural collector. A lot of the time though it’s not the actual acquisition but the hunting down of it. Rooting through endless records to find a particular gem, searching out if there’s a model shop in a town I’m visiting or perhaps even finding something especially juicy on eBay. I find delight in finding interesting things, it’s a bit of fun!
It occurred to me the other day that I also found that I have that delight for words and names. I would say that I’m educated in this, having an ‘A’-level in English Language but I won’t pretend for a second that I actually paid much attention.
But names in fantasy…. That’s a different proposition. Naming things in fantasy and science fiction is a dangerous business. In the early days of science fiction and fantasy people didn’t really care. In fact, anything to sound ‘outer space’ worked. General Zod, Supermans nemesis sounds utterly embarrassing by todays standards. We’ve been so bombarded with so many fantasy worlds, franchises, movies and books over the years that we’ve just become a little jaded. In fact we’ve become so over stimulated with new and exciting fantasy worlds that people quite often retreat to the older fantasy and science fiction for a sense of stability, a nostalgic need for simpler times. Indeed with the success of Games of Thrones becoming the most popular series on TV, there has been an overwhelming need for more. Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series sets to mirror this success, if not exceed it. DC and Marvel continue to drive forward like juggernauts and there are even He-Man and Dungeons and Dragons movies being planned!
I think the trick these days is to find the balance between finding new exciting ways of stimulating our imaginations while still having strong roots in the traditional fantasy that we grew up with. I think Dungeon Saga is a perfect example of this. It’s so traditional fantasy that it’s hideously cliché. A dwarf, a barbarian, a wizard and an elf explore a dungeon for treasure and to fight an evil necromancer. We’ve seen it a thousand times. It’s Dungeons and Dragons, it’s Heroquest, its Warhammer Quest, It’s Lord of the Rings, it’s Conan…. The list goes on. But we love it. It’s Fanstay that is etched into our souls. So how do you balance this for the modern age? We get League of Infamy. It’s the same thing but with bad guys instead. Very modern and anti-hero. It’s Suicide Squad
In our little corner of this we have our own world of Pannithor. Breaking the name down, the root of ‘Pan’ has several meanings but in this case it’s fairly easy to assume it means ‘including or relating to all the places or people in a particular group (eg, Pan-American). Thats a pretty definitive start for a world full of different races and helps define how encompassing the background is. ‘Thor’ is obviously the Norse God of Thunder (and comedic superhero of outer space) but also suggests how Norse mythology features heavily. Thor is still used in plenty of names and places across Scandinavia and as much of Pannithor borrows heavily from Norse legend, it is also a pretty good choice for a world name. Mantica, on the other hand, sounds like it was a rushed choice and is a bit too cheesy by modern standards.
The Kings of War world is rife with subject matter drawn from Norse mythology. Elven ‘holme’, Iceblood ‘fjord’, Fiskard, Urskhold, Kjellstad are all based on Nordic place names. Names like Hrimm and Orlaf are classic Nordic names. Not to mention the races themselves. Elves, Dwarves (weirdly in mythology are synonymous with Dark Elves), Frost and Fire giants, wyrms, draugr, Berserkers are all lifted wholesale.
The one thing that binds this mythology to modern fantasy as we know it is obviously the Middle Earth created by Tolkein. Tolkein borrowed much from the Nordic stories but rather than tell them in his own style created an entire modern Mythology of his own, even going as far to write an actual language and history to go with the books. It laid the foundation for modern fantasy as we know it and Warhammer, World of Warcraft, the Elder Scrolls, Game of Thrones, Star Wars are all heavily rooted in its stories and themes.
Pannithor borrows heavily from it too. Elven city names like Sorrilondell share similarities with Rivendell. Mhorgoth the faceless shares the same name with Saurons big boss.
But as much as Kings of War borrows from Middle Earth, it borrows as much, if not more from the other worlds that were influenced by Tolkein. Obviously Warhammer was the main one. For years Kings of War has been considered by many to be a cheap Warhammer knock-off. That image wasn’t helped by the 2nd Edition release of Uncharted Empires which brought en masse new races from Warhammer to be added to the world of Mantica. It didn’t do much for the image but it did wonders for the game! With the collapse of Warhammer a huge influx of new players came over with it, not wanting to quit rank and flank games yet. I was one of them and I’m glad I did. I wanted to play nothing but Warhammer at the time and lustily dived in with my Brettonians.
Over time the rest of the game and background wore away my expectations and it was rewarding to find all the differences with Warhammer as well as similarities. Sure there was still all the Orcs and Goblins and Undead, the ‘Ratkin’ and “Empire of Dust’ but there was more to be enjoyed too which borrowed from other mythologies.
Forces of Nature and Herd borrowed a lot from Greek mythology, with Naiads, Centaurs, Minotaurs, Hydras, Pegasus and Sylphs. The Trident realms did too with leviathans, Kraken, but with extra exploring of marine creatures/language which I’ve always loved. I even wanted to be a marine biologist for a short while when I was little and they became my first Mantic army.
The Basileans (however you think it should be said…..) also draw from Mediterranean influences, geographically and linguistically from Italy and its Christian heritage. The Legion is reminiscent of the trained soldiers of the Roman Empire while the religious focus is undeniable. Elohi, Angels in anyones eyes are named from the Hebrew ‘Elohim’ meaning a collection of deities. Nuns, Dictator, Arbalest, all lifted wholesale from Italian/Roman history. And of course, Jullius Caeser, Dragon of Heavens.
Other cultural references are evident across Pannithor. The Celtic language is well represented in Dwarven hold names like Cwl Gen, Tylmwyn and Dyncwrdd. Also in the Garddrws of the Sylvan kin. Celtic mythology has many influences on early English mythology which is also represented, the Druids, dragons, Orders of Knights, Paladins and of course Galahir, possibly reminiscent of Galahad, one of the famous knights of Grail legend. The Brotherhood, knights and villeins carry on this medieval theme.
The Abyssal dwarf language carries many middle Eastern influences. The Empire of Dust is a veritable goldmine of ancient Egypt references which has fascinated people for thousands of years.
The Nightstalkers are almost classic horror, Pumpkin head, Jeepers Creepers, H. P. Lovecraft, Stranger Things, Alien…. The similarities are endless.
The Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, wraiths et al of the Undead likewise.
I could go on, even strip down and reference everything but ultimately I need to make a point. Is it plagiarism? Undoubtedly to a degree. But these mythologies whether modern or ancient are in our cultures, in our souls. In order to find love in a subject we must find something in ourselves that we can relate it to, a human element that lets us in. But we also need it new and different enough to excite us. I think with 3rd Edition we’ve got that balance pretty good. Plus with rumours about halflings and Ophidians in the future (though could be years) it shows that balance of new and old is set to continue.
So what do you want? Cliché and nostalgia or fresh, exciting fantasy? Let’s have both!
Get older. Don't grow up. 