Sino-Nordic Pact

= Seres Consilium =

Matters of Contention: Native Russians/Eastern Europeans are humans? Minsk, Kyiv? Another city in the North (eg instead of Stockholm?). Shanghai or Beijing?

Need to come up with: rulers for Scandinavia, New China and Eastern Europe.

Scandiae? Sounds cool...

The other nation sometimes set upon by the Huns is Sinae. Little is known about this civilisation outside of its borders, but it is known that they occupied Ruthenia (Western Russia and North Eastern-Europe) soon after the Mongol Horde swept through Europa – killing the vast majority of Russians. Some say they came for revenge, some say their lands were destroyed by the Mongols so they had to settle in the harsh Northern lands – but it is known for certain that they came from far away. Those few who have visited say the lands of Sinae contain spectacles unlike anywhere else, and the regeneration of these lands after being so ravished by the Horde has been impressive. The Sinaese are rumoured to be similar in appearance to the Huns, they are said to be so fast and skilled in combat that they do not need weapons to defeat their enemies.

It would be remiss to mention Sinae without speaking of their steadfast ally and friend, Scandinavia. The famed Dwarves of Scandinavia gave a great amount of assistance to their Sinaese allies upon their arrival in that decimated land. The Dwarves are famed for their endurance, their craftmanship and their underground cities. Their weather is famously brutal but their mead halls are legendary, many an adventurer has considered a few digits lost to frostbite well worth the warm memories. Inspiring tales of the unlikely cooperation between the Sinaese and the Nords have spread around Europa, for instance the Nords are rumoured to have helped reinforce the Great Wall separating Sinaese territories from Germania of Sinae with metal, leading to its nickname, the Iron Curtain. Meanwhile the Sinaese spectacles of sky fire have spread to Dwarvern territories as have their weaponless arts. These two Kingdoms have become a force to be reckoned with, it is rumoured they are considering full unification – a prospect which causes anxiety in other nations. Viking raiders are rumoured to operate with permission from the King, which causes great anger amongst the neighbours affected, chiefly Britain but also the Netherlands.

Dwarves help build wall.

For Eastern Europe just steal from the Witcher.

China-Norse: Vikings with Kung-Fu (monks will be great at acrobatting around ships). These massive Vikings sit down for Tea ceremonies and have Chinese temples on rocky outcrops. They’re all big people, some Asian-looking some Norse and some mixed. Maybe they ride dragons (Chinese) like in How To Train Your Dragon. Maybe Kraken as well. Pantheon is mix of the two with meditation thrown in.

Politics
Clan Moot to decide who rules and what’s going on. Some rulers rule with a near-total iron fist (these are extremely rare) and clans will be disinclined to disagree with them, some pay careful heed and tolerate disagreement. Players can go around finding Clans to persuade over this and that. Scandinavia and New China will have different systems but both will be essentially similar in the Clan/House regard, look into old Chinese forms of Government.

Geography
All Nordic countries are Scandinavian territory. They form the Kingdom of Scandinavia. Also perhaps a chunk of Northern Germany, including Hamburg - a testament to their strength that they were able to conquer territory from the orcs.

Slavia: Make some of the territories temperate. Doesn’t have to be freezing. Russia and Scandinavia can be freezing https://www.reddit.com/r/Art/comments/a89umn/truth_lies_just_beneath_the_surface_kamil_jadczak/

Ukraine similar temperature to UK. Estonia and Belarus are pretty cold. Latvia and Lithuania are similar to Poland, with a slight bit of chill in the air.

Location of Shanghai is somewhere along eastern river or South (possibly on Crimea). Check 'Europa Rulers' word doc for the map. Lively Mead Halls in Scandinavia. Dwarvern Vikings practiced in the Sinaese martial arts.

Main settlements
Cities: Oslo, Trondheim (Old seat of the houses, the city under the mountain), Copenhagen (seat of Government), Stockholm. Helsinki, Minsk, Kyiv. Moscow, St Petersburg, New Shanghai (see below image for location).

Roskilde for Denmark used to be the main hub, at one point I made it the capital of Scandinavia.

Demographics and Borders
Races: Dwarves, High Elves, Eastern Europeans are humans.

Western Russia (West of Kazakhstan, roughly), Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are Sinaese. They form New Sinae, which is governed by the Sinaese Federation(?).

Norse: Dwarves.

China: Elves (meditation and families). Chinese Dragonborn.

Eastern Europeans: Humans and gnomes! But also healthy doses of Nympths, and some frogmen and whatever else.

= Plothooks =

Plothooks for Scandinavia
Gods shenanigans. Also conflict with China. Sailing. Sea monsters. Unique creatures/societies from Mythology and doors to other worlds (like in Thor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_cosmology#Nine_Worlds). Lots of trolls/frost giants (Jötunn). A portal to China (Álfheimr (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lfheimr)) due to that being one of the Nine worlds could be how the Chinese originally got there? Certainly the Norse have always been aware of the Elves and China, some explorers have been there. Also the road to the Underdark! Norse mythology has Dark Elves!!! Witch trials(?).

Plothooks for New China
Tension between the Chinese and the local Russian population. Undead hordes. Buddhist missions. Missions to China as a big thing. Plenty of wilderness is also common there, combined with the zombies it makes for very bleak missions. Chinatown, fireworks and some cultural flavour will help. The Arc of Life is also a thing (see below). Also monsters from China are emigrating as well (Chinese Dragons, etc) and maybe other Asian nations attack from the East/South eventually?

The Chinese have an Arc of Life! It looks like an ornate wooden chest (like the Japanese one from the Museum) and it contains all the plants and animals from China (for Bhuddist reasons). Some also spread into other nearby nations. The arc is either stolen after the players arrive (in which case it’s incredibly secret, the players have no idea about it until it’s revealed) or was stolen before and is still lost (in which case it’s public knowledge, and a great source of loss for the community, but there is debate over whether it exists or not). The players get to decide whether to release the plants and animals into New China, or keep it unopened until the return to the Homeland.

Plothooks for Slavia
Witch trials. Particularly bleak work missions. Bureaucratic ‘glory to the republic comrade’ types. Revolutionaries. The Witcher-type stuff (girls in the pond and that sort of thing), make it bleak! Monsters like griffins and stuff. Remember it’s a more temperate climate than Britain.