Sturgians Design?

[Cale]

So the last Dev blog post kinda got sidetracked in discussion about Sturgia (partly my fault) so thought I'd start a new topic.

The main two influences people thought they might have were either Scandanavian Viking or Kievan Rus/Slavic.

Personally, I'm kind of hoping to see a little bit of the above but also a lot of just plain old fashioned Germanic barbarian influences. Goths, Vandals, Vendels, Saxons etc.

Mostly I just want some flashy helmets like this:

 

[578]

Referrences:

Nord concept art for comparison

 

[Dest45]

I'd rather them be Slavic/Eastern European and see the Nords as Raiders. Honestly I'll be happy either way but everything has strongly suggested they are NOT the Nords. I think we are going to see the German influences in Battania. From the looks of things it seems they are merging Germanic and Celtic cultures into one with that Faction, more strongly focused on Celtic but the Bear troops they have? the Ulfhednar or whatever, not very Celtic.

 

[578]

I'd rather them be Slavic/Eastern European and see the Nords as Raiders. Honestly I'll be happy either way but everything has strongly suggested they are NOT the Nords. I think we are going to see the German influences in Battania. From the looks of things it seems they are merging Germanic and Celtic cultures into one with that Faction, more strongly focused on Celtic but the Bear troops they have? the Ulfhednar or whatever, not very Celtic.

This seems to be the case, Ulfhednar makes no sense in Battanians. Also, Battanians are apparently old residents of Calradia, Nords arrived from Jumne near the empire's end. So it's either raiders, clans of sturgians or an invading force if they choose to include invading forces (see Prophecy of pendor mod to learn how invading forces work there)

The Kingdom of Nords is one of the factions within the Mount&Blade. According to Nord hero Matheld, Nord people are from a place called "Nordland", although the game's description of the custom battle character Sverre claims that Nords originally came from a land known as "Jumne". Nordland is said to be far north of Calradia, over the sea, and it is also the home of the Sea Raiders.

According to Matheld, the Nords were invited by the Calradic Empire to crew their galleys, and were given land on the coast as payment for this service. After the Empire fell however, a Nord leader named Gundig Hairy-Breeks landed in Calradia to claim a supposed Nord birthright of the whole continent. Matheld makes note that this was a fabrication by the skalds and qualifies it by noting the Nords need no excuse to go to war. Gundig Hairy-Breeks would be killed attempting to attack the Rock of Rivacheg, but Nords still come to Calradia under the idea of claiming Calradia by force.

This predisposition to war also factored into the rise of its current leader, King Ragnar, and the disinheritance of the claimant Lethwin Far-Seeker. The king before Ragnar and Lethwin's father, King Hakrim, had Lethwin sent abroad to learn academic arts believing that the Nords needed to be more than warriors. Ragnar disagreed and when Lethwin was shipwrecked on his way home to claim his throne, Ragnar took the throne for himself.

According to both Marnid and Deshavi, the Nords also grow flax in abundance to send to Sargoth. There, it is weaved into Linen which Marnid claims was not something produced in Calradia.

 

[Cale]

I'd rather them be Slavic/Eastern European and see the Nords as Raiders. Honestly I'll be happy either way but everything has strongly suggested they are NOT the Nords. I think we are going to see the German influences in Battania. From the looks of things it seems they are merging Germanic and Celtic cultures into one with that Faction, more strongly focused on Celtic but the Bear troops they have? the Ulfhednar or whatever, not very Celtic.

This seems to be the case, Ulfhednar makes no sense in Battanians. Also, Battanians are apparently old residents of Calradia, Nords arrived from Jumne near the empire's end. So it's either raiders, clans of sturgians or an invading force if they choose to include invading forces (see Prophecy of pendor mod to learn how invading forces work there)

I don't think they're Ulfhednar though, they're more based off old Irish myths I believe:

The Wolfskins are inspired by the Fianna, a fighting brotherhood who were the stars of a major Irish saga. It treats them as heroes, but they also have a dark side, extorting money from clans who are interested in mundane things like marriage and crops and don't have time to fight all the time

If they do behave like berserkers it will be more pulling from the Warp-Spasm (Like Slaine!) then norse/Germanic.

Looking at some of those reference pictures I'm pretty happy with what's been seen so far, and have to say the Germanic things I mentioned certainly seem to make an appearance (particularly the guy in the menu picture) as well as the bottom most image where they look like a mix between the Goths (who originally came from the edges of the Steppe afterall) with some Slav influence so that's a pretty strong look.

Two things have been bothering me about the battering ram image though both of which are basically in a line straight down the middle.

1) Dude on the horse in the back looks like he's wearing plate armour, or something completely different from everyone else anyway.

2) Guy in the near background with an axe, gambeson and...a jaunty beret? Until told otherwise I shall name him Francois

 

[578]

I'd rather them be Slavic/Eastern European and see the Nords as Raiders. Honestly I'll be happy either way but everything has strongly suggested they are NOT the Nords. I think we are going to see the German influences in Battania. From the looks of things it seems they are merging Germanic and Celtic cultures into one with that Faction, more strongly focused on Celtic but the Bear troops they have? the Ulfhednar or whatever, not very Celtic.

This seems to be the case, Ulfhednar makes no sense in Battanians. Also, Battanians are apparently old residents of Calradia, Nords arrived from Jumne near the empire's end. So it's either raiders, clans of sturgians or an invading force if they choose to include invading forces (see Prophecy of pendor mod to learn how invading forces work there)

I don't think they're Ulfhednar though, they're more based off old Irish myths I believe:

The Wolfskins are inspired by the Fianna, a fighting brotherhood who were the stars of a major Irish saga. It treats them as heroes, but they also have a dark side, extorting money from clans who are interested in mundane things like marriage and crops and don't have time to fight all the time

If they do behave like berserkers it will be more pulling from the Warp-Spasm (Like Slaine!) then norse/Germanic.

Looking at some of those reference pictures I'm pretty happy with what's been seen so far, and have to say the Germanic things I mentioned certainly seem to make an appearance (particularly the guy in the menu picture) as well as the bottom most image where they look like a mix between the Goths (who originally came from the edges of the Steppe afterall) with some Slav influence so that's a pretty strong look.

Two things have been bothering me about the battering ram image though both of which are basically in a line straight down the middle.

1) Dude on the horse in the back looks like he's wearing plate armour, or something completely different from everyone else anyway.

2) Guy in the near background with an axe, gambeson and...a jaunty beret? Until told otherwise I shall name him Francois

No, no, I dont talk about Wolf skins. There is an actual troop name called Ulfhednar in the multiplayer captain videos. The troop is shock infantry, fast, light armor, 2 handed axe. Its the same troop that annihilates the horsemen in that video. Wolf skins are a clan in single player. referrence: https://youtu.be/c_3el4IAevg?t=6


The guy with the beret thing shows a clear design choice after Kievan Rus, the hat is very iconic.

 

[lolbash]

Spoiler

1) Dude on the horse in the back looks like he's wearing plate armour, or something completely different from everyone else anyway.

 

[Cale]

No, no, I dont talk about Wolf skins. There is an actual troop name called Ulfhednar in the multiplayer captain videos. The troop is shock infantry, fast, light armor, 2 handed axe. Its the same troop that annihilates the horsemen in that video. Wolf skins are a clan in single player. referrence: https://youtu.be/c_3el4IAevg?t=6


The guy with the beret thing shows a clear design choice after Kievan Rus, the hat is very iconic.

Ah fair enough, I've not watched the multiplayer stuff much as I have never played M&B multiplayer (I'm sure it's great, but I pretty much don't play anything multiplayer these days). IN that case...cool, but does seem a weird choice compared to everything else they've shown of the Battanians.

This is honestly the first time I've seen the beret thing, which is odd given how much some reenactors in Britain love Rus kit. I'm not doubting that's where it's from, just chuckling that someone decided baggy trousers and kaftan = yes, beret = no and everyone has just kind of rolled with it in the meantime.

...I'm still calling that guy Francois though.

 

[Cale]

Spoiler

1) Dude on the horse in the back looks like he's wearing plate armour, or something completely different from everyone else anyway.

Seems about right, just looks odd when the distance makes the plates blur together.

 

[578]

 

[Harld V]

Wait so are the sturgians vaegirs or nords?

 

[lolbash]

Wait so are the sturgians vaegirs or nords?

The Sturgians are the ancestor to the vaegirs. The Nords are invaders from a different country so its pretty much impossible for the sturgians to be nords.

 

[Harld V]

Wait so are the sturgians vaegirs or nords?

The Sturgians are the ancestor to the vikings. The Nords are invaders from a different country so its pretty much impossible for the sturgians to be nords.

No I ask if the sturgians are nords or vaegir not if they are a viking or knight

 

[jackalj]

Wait so are the sturgians vaegirs or nords?

The Sturgians are the ancestor to the vikings. The Nords are invaders from a different country so its pretty much impossible for the sturgians to be nords.

No I ask if the sturgians are nords or vaegir not if they are a viking or knight

If they are neither Nord or Vaegir, which would mean that assumption is wrong. Then usually you will get a response with a more correct awnser, vikings.

I don’t believe we really know from which ancestor the vaegirs descended from. Nords were indeed a invading force, and until we get the sturgian blogpost with info telling us that they are invading, we just don’t know. (Or other members might know and I don’t)

 

[Harld V]

Wait so are the sturgians vaegirs or nords?

The Sturgians are the ancestor to the vikings. The Nords are invaders from a different country so its pretty much impossible for the sturgians to be nords.

No I ask if the sturgians are nords or vaegir not if they are a viking or knight

If they are neither Nord or Vaegir, which would mean that assumption is wrong. Then usually you will get a response with a more correct awnser, vikings.

I don’t believe we really know from which ancestor the vaegirs descended from. Nords were indeed a invading force, and until we get the sturgian blogpost with info telling us that they are invading, we just don’t know. (Or other members might know and I don’t)

also why are we arguing about if sturgians are scandavian or russian when we have the battania faction as vikings already? Maybe sturgia will be russian faction because we already have viking in the game.

 

[lolbash]

Sorry I meant to say Vaegirs.

Wait so are the sturgians vaegirs or nords?

The Sturgians are the ancestor to the vikings. The Nords are invaders from a different country so its pretty much impossible for the sturgians to be nords.

No I ask if the sturgians are nords or vaegir not if they are a viking or knight

If they are neither Nord or Vaegir, which would mean that assumption is wrong. Then usually you will get a response with a more correct awnser, vikings.

I don’t believe we really know from which ancestor the vaegirs descended from. Nords were indeed a invading force, and until we get the sturgian blogpost with info telling us that they are invading, we just don’t know. (Or other members might know and I don’t)

also why are we arguing about if sturgians are scandavian or russian when we have the battania faction as vikings already? Maybe sturgia will be russian faction because we already have viking in the game.

Actually the battanians are Celtics, not viking (or the correct term which is Scandavian)

 

[Kretti]

Considering the Úlfhedinn unit that Battanians have in multiplayer, I'd say Battanians draw from both continental Celtic cultures and Pictish tribes. Thinking it that way, it makes a lot of sense to implement Germanic cultural traits and units to them (because Germanic tribes had a thing for ambushing, like in the battle of Teutoborg Forest), as there was a lot of cultural mixing between continental Germanic/Celtic tribes. They already mentioned similar lines of thinking when designing Battanian towns, for example.

As I see it Nords = Scandinavian, Viking period based,
while Battanians = Celtic/Germanic, pre-Viking period based.

 

[vota dc]

Also battanian can't be vikings because they are landlocked. Both vlandian and battanians draw some aspects from norse, but your average viking will be the sturgian I guess.

 

[578]

Sturgians ARE the viking faction. The introduction to factions blog post using exactly those words. How this plays out, we shall see next month (I am pretty sure Sturgia blog is the next faction blog)

 

[Horik6697]

Sturgians ARE the viking faction. The introduction to factions blog post using exactly those words. How this plays out, we shall see next month (I am pretty sure Sturgia blog is the next faction blog)

I would like to see where you got that information, could not find it :/ .

First of all: scope. You can't say "this is viking" or "that is viking" because this goes out of the game's scope. We don't have vikings in Bannerlord, neither in Warband. Period. What we have on the native Mount & Blade are just representations, concepts.

Battanians are the original inhabitants of Calradia, they're not raiders/vikings and they're inspired in Celtic/Welsh/Irish cultures. That's a fact stated by the game developers and arguing about this is pointless. Maybe they'll have some Germanic traits, but they're not vikings. Sturgians, on the other hand, seems to represent the viking culture and represent the nords, but we can't say that they're the ancestors of nords, since nords came from abroad. What intrigues me is: will the Sturgian troop tree ressemble the Vaegirs? Because Battanians are the best archers and have cavalry, but they can't be the direct ancestors of Vaegir since the culture is very discrepant... Maybe Vaegirs are a Sturgia/Battania mix after the nord invasion...