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Quickleaf
Seeker
99 Posts |
 Posted - 07 Jul 2016 : 11:08:21
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quote:
Originally posted by Artemas Entreri
Not at all. Zakhara is mostly isolationist, so they would never just decide to reach out and attack entire continents. It would be more likely for them to strike back with force after first being attacked.
Supply lines aren't nearly as much of an issue when magic is thrown into the mix.
Well, there was a Scouring of the Utter East, documented in the Grand History of the Realms, wherein a Grand Calipha totally launched a crusade. There's also several bits in Al-Qadim: Land of Fate about mamluks (slave-warriors) being boys and girls taken in raids against neighboring lands. Plus several references to trade with foreigners in the Cities of the North.
So "isolationist" doesn't seem accurate (though it's hard to state definitively one way or the other since Zakhara was insulated from the rest of the Realms by the designers for marketing reasons...not for any in-story reasons I can see, however).
One thing you'll notice going through the Al-Qadim books is the CRAZY population numbers.
Here are the population sizes given for the Cities of the North (the ones closest to the Shining South):
Hafayah, City of Secrets 120,000
Hawa, City of Chaos 50,000 (maybe? they're mostly corsairs, so unreliable figure)
Liham, City of Soldiers 120,000
Muluk, City of Kings 90,000
Qadib, City of Wands 50,000
Qudra, City of Power 500,000
Umara, City of Knights 100,000
Utaqa, City of Free Men 70,000
By way of comparison...
Cathtyr, capital of Dambrath 42,374
Heldapan, capital of Durpar 50,000 (largest city in the Shining Lands)
Orvyltar, capital of Ulgarth ~21,000
Halarahh, capital of Halruaa (before Spellplague decimated it) ~8,000
Suzail, capital of Cormyr 55,000
If these numbers are right, Zakhara has a much larger population to muster new soldiers from.
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Quickleaf
Seeker
99 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jul 2016 : 11:11:28
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quote:
Originally posted by Barastir
That's why I used "sort of". And yet, they successfully pushed back the invasion, a feat not accomplished by huge Shou Lung. We could think then that Faerūn is stronger than Kara-Tur, but then again Shou Lung is not the whole Kara-Tur, and it was caught unprepared (because of their arrogance and excessive trust in the Dragon Wall). In a way, Azoun and his Eastern Heartlands army were prepared for this war.
So the Tuigan expanded east into Shou Lung and west into Rashemen/Thesk...but why not south?
Was it that the Dustwall Mountains really do cut off the Endless Wastes from the Shining South / Ulgarth, even at the eastern end? Presumably due to a combination of extreme altitude (~15,000 ft), lots of orcs (hordes 5,000 strong), and the magically impassable Gate of Iron? |
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The Masked Mage
Great Reader
USA
2420 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jul 2016 : 20:16:33
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As for populations, I'd say they are pretty much the same - just more concentrated in the cities because of the general unpleasantness outside city walls.
In general, the magic of Faerun tends to be much more powerful, and more importantly, more plentiful than that of Kara Tur of Zhakhara.
When the Tuigan Horde tried to invade, they did it with help from Thay and still lost. Imagine what would have happened if Thay didn't like horses as much as they didn't like witches.
This is probably the biggest problem with this question. Each of the settings is made up of multiple countries that would never align with each other.
Also, a lot of the strength of certain places/people is derived from that place. Most of the spirits who's powers are called on have been there for 1000s of years. |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
12219 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jul 2016 : 01:46:52
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Even with skirmishes, you're talking about armies that are starting off thousands of miles away from each other.
On this I just have to make the remark.... or one portal away.... distance in the real world versus distance in the realms are not as big a deal. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
12219 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jul 2016 : 01:49:04
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quote:
Originally posted by Quickleaf
quote:
Originally posted by Artemas Entreri
Not at all. Zakhara is mostly isolationist, so they would never just decide to reach out and attack entire continents. It would be more likely for them to strike back with force after first being attacked.
Supply lines aren't nearly as much of an issue when magic is thrown into the mix.
Well, there was a Scouring of the Utter East, documented in the Grand History of the Realms, wherein a Grand Calipha totally launched a crusade. There's also several bits in Al-Qadim: Land of Fate about mamluks (slave-warriors) being boys and girls taken in raids against neighboring lands. Plus several references to trade with foreigners in the Cities of the North.
So "isolationist" doesn't seem accurate (though it's hard to state definitively one way or the other since Zakhara was insulated from the rest of the Realms by the designers for marketing reasons...not for any in-story reasons I can see, however).
One thing you'll notice going through the Al-Qadim books is the CRAZY population numbers.
Here are the population sizes given for the Cities of the North (the ones closest to the Shining South):
Hafayah, City of Secrets 120,000
Hawa, City of Chaos 50,000 (maybe? they're mostly corsairs, so unreliable figure)
Liham, City of Soldiers 120,000
Muluk, City of Kings 90,000
Qadib, City of Wands 50,000
Qudra, City of Power 500,000
Umara, City of Knights 100,000
Utaqa, City of Free Men 70,000
By way of comparison...
Cathtyr, capital of Dambrath 42,374
Heldapan, capital of Durpar 50,000 (largest city in the Shining Lands)
Orvyltar, capital of Ulgarth ~21,000
Halarahh, capital of Halruaa (before Spellplague decimated it) ~8,000
Suzail, capital of Cormyr 55,000
If these numbers are right, Zakhara has a much larger population to muster new soldiers from.
When stating population numbers in the realms, its particularly important to note the version (2e had notedly higher population numbers in all their products compared to 3e). |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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War between Faerun vs. Kara Tur vs. Zakahara
