02-17-2015, 07:46 PM
(02-16-2015, 05:21 PM)Bishop Edward Wrote:(02-16-2015, 03:19 PM)muvs Wrote: Hello to all.
First of all, Hello to you too! Welcome to Thay! Always glad to have new or returning players around.
Secondly, I've always felt that Thay was one of the most unique places in the Forgotten Realms with the least correlation to any RL society. Much of FR is indeed ripped from other sources both historical and fantasy. Yet I feel Thay in particular is exceedingly original. (Waterdeep is also very original). With its pseudo-republican form of government co-existing with traditional noble houses, etc., I could see how you could derive a comparison with Byzantium (and given its physical geographic location as an imperialistic hub between East and West), yet the actually geography itself (the Thaymount) is rather without any real RL corollary. Additionally the Red Wizards themselves stands apart from the usual fare both historical and fantasy as a highly original Magocracy.
Looking forward to hearing your further thoughts on it.
Ive allways considered Cormyr to be the most "Byzantine" civilization. but the truth is that I must agree on the note of thay being such an original work. Often you can find hints of inspiration and sometimes even outright parallels between the D&D nations and cultures in the real world but thay stands out as unique.
Also the geography of where these cultures are seems to differ totally from the real world in relation. I would comment further but finding a political world map of Toril has proven fruitless as i have been wanting to attempt to piece together a culture equivalent map for some time.