The Middle East

The territories beyond Europa are considered by civilised opinion to be exceedingly dangerous places. From the vast expanses of Africa to the fractious Holy Lands, to darkest Sinae and Seres - which were abandoned by their native populations, to disastrous effect on the continent of Europa.

Except for Carthage and Aegyptus, not much is known about these nations. What is known is that the Scaleson Caliphate occupies Jerusalem – to the great anger of the Riteguarders and Revelationaries across Europa – and Constantinople – to the rage of the Roman Empire, in particular Graecia. It is also known that the Caliphate has ambitions for Aegyptus, and the wider Middle East.

Less still is known about the Persian Empire beyond the Caliphate, except for the epic tales told about their past battles of these Lizardmen with Greek city states.

The Persian Scalesons have a pantheon! Incorporate the Persian Gods. The Dragon is just the head of the pantheon.

The Arabian Scalesons have just the Dragon, but the Persians have a pantheon. This is the reason for the heat rising and a schism approaching... which could ignite a war.

Muhammad was a Red Lizardman. Exceedingly rare. Most believe he left his kingdom to SOME DUDE, a Green Lizardman, but many to SOME DUDE, a Black Lizardmen. The supporters of the Green became Arabia, the supporters the Black became the Persian Empire (greens are common everywhere, there are still plenty of greens in Persian Empire (though they’re a slight minority to the black majority) but there aren’t many Blacks in Arabia). The primary difference in practice comes in that Sunni Muslims mainly rely on the Sunnah, a record of the teachings and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad to guide their actions while the Shiites more heavily on their ayatollahs, whom they see as a sign of God on earth.

Persians more commonly rely on charismatic war clerics to guide them ahead (reflecting Shiite reliance on Ayatollahs) while Arabians follow the creed laid down by Muhammad (reflecting the Sunni following of the Sunnah).

STEAL FROM ARABIAN NIGHTS. A RULER WHO USES A DJINN. THAT COULD BE THE MAGICAL EXPLANATION FOR SULEMAN'S WISDOM?

Israel - Acre is an important city.

Borders
Iraq is Shia. Jordan is Sunni. The Jordan-Iraq border dissects Syria into Western (Arabian) and Eastern (Persian) sides.

Then draw the line from Gaziantep (Persian) to Instanbul (Arabian) and you have the division of Turkey. Ankara is Persian. Sakarya (next to Istanbul) marks the edge of Persian territory and the Persians will absolutely not give it up, it represents their best chance of claiming Istanbul and, from there, Graecia (and from there, eventually, Europa). Also allows players to visit both empires easily from Graecia should they so wish!! Rome/Graecia are not particularly interested in Sakarya so they don’t really have beef with the Persians, the Arabians are the ones occupying Constantinople and threatening Aegyptus.

The Scaleson Caliphate
Ruled by the Caliph, Saladin or Sulemain the Magnificent or someone else (Ibn Saud is just too cool as a challenger and makes too much sense, he can't be its leader - see Arabia below), it is the most stable state in the Middle East. Its heartland is West Arabia, Western Syria and South West Turkey, including Anatolia, with its capital in... Damascus, Constantinople/Istanbul, or Jerusalem. I think perhaps Damascus makes the most sense.

It also enjoys a clean sweep of the Holy territories - Israel, Mecca and Medina. And the Northern half of Cyprus.

Could just refer to the ruler as 'the Caliph' until I figure out who it is.

Suleiman lives in Constantinople much of the time, but can often be found in Damascus. Or vice versa! North east Turkey on the Black Sea is his family's homeland, which he's keen to have back.

Northern Turkey was part of the Scaleson homeland but was taken over a fair while ago by the Persians.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatolia Anatolia was Graeca until relatively recently (it still contains mostly Graeca people, and they speak the Graeca language/worship Graeca Gods).

The Persian Empire
The Persian Empire originates from the unknown land of Persia. It is thought to be vast, extending far beyond the land of Persia itself, but the lands it comprises are almost unknown.

in the Middle East, the Persian Empire has Iraq (including Muscat and Babylon), East Syria (not much of interest but the Caliphate wants it to complete the set) and lands in Eastern Arabia - Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Oman (the Eastern Third, including Muscat - unless Hispania have it). These lands are small but very wealthy and culturally significant - it is thought that the Empire has its eye on other parts of Arabia as well.

Direct war exists between The Persian Empire and The Scaleson Caliphate, they share a border between Turkey and Persia which experiences active conflict.

The Persian Empire has Armenia (which the Caliphate wants), Georgia and Azerbaijan. This gives them a border with New Sinae. So far this has not led to conflict.

Turkey
Split down the North-west to South-east. A province beset by warring states, the Scaleson Caliphate pushes its ambitions in this region but faces fierce resistance. Many mercenaries in the Middle East and North Africa are attracted to fight in this region.

Arabia
The Scaleson Caliphate has the largest part of Arabia. , which stretches down to the Gulf of Aden.

However outside of these borders, warring tribes constantly vie for the upper hand. The religious schism which may be coming... some of the tribes see the Caliphate as traitorous compromisers - Ibn Saud thinks there should be no negotiation with the haram Persians. He cultivates an image of being sceptical of magic, his warriors fight with spear and blade. Though one or two of his best advisors/bodyguards is skilled in 'righteous سحر (Sahar) from the old holy scrolls.' Mostly the Sahar/divine power that is practiced comes from the clerics.

Yemen includes the Western and Middle Thirds of Oman. But the most interesting development has been the rise of Ibn Saud. They are gathering strength fast around the foothills of Riyadh - their use of tactics and shunning of magic is causing waves and flocking followers to their cause. It is thought that if nothing is done they will soon overtake Riyadh, and storm across the Middle East.

The Persian Empire also has modest but highly significant interests in the region - Bahrain and Qatar are directly owned by Persia, and most of the UAE and Eastern Oman (the Eastern Third, including Muscat) are operated by a client state of Persia - Ormus. The Saudi-UAE-Oman diagonal border bisects the two countries to show the area owned by the Persians' client state, Ormus. OR MAYBE IT'S ACTUALLY THIS MAP?? https://www.jpmaps.co.uk/map/id.43752

Dubai is a party city, free from many of the laws of surrounding nations. It is despised by the House of Saud, who want to bring it to heel. It is a cosmopolitan hub, and has all sorts of interesting characters. The client state which owns the city has given it a high degree of autonomy, the state is known as Oman.

Inner Arabia is a warzone occupied by the tribes. There are proxy battles/vassal tribes fighting who are backed by Perisia and the Caliphate, but Ibn Saud is quickly emerging as the most significant power.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afonso_de_Albuquerque - Muscat was owned by the Portugese for a long time! Not relevant right now but they may show up eventually.

Could also just give the Persians ...