Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Pulpwood!'s Setting Pt. 2: Africa and the Middle East

Another installment, and another quick summary

Egypt: Pharaohs, mummies and dead cities!
Morocco: Revolutionaries armed with stolen technology and sorcery!
Heart of Africa: Warlords riding on dinosaurs in the Congo!
South Africa: Racial divides, and the headquarters for Pulpwood!'s mesermist organization!
The Middle East: Dark sorcery!


Egypt
Egypt was once the head of a vast desert kingdom that spanned thousands of miles. Ruled by the god-king called the Pharoah, Egypt became reknown for it's architecture, religion and culture.
Now, Egypt is smaller and a shadow of its former self. It is under the hold of the UK, and now serves mostly as a tourist location and a large trading port for most of Africa. Irregardless, the ruins of the Sphinx, the Pyramids and the various necropolises scattered across the country are both impressive and terrifying. Egypt also holds the mighty Nile River, which is the longest river in the world. It provides necessary water to the crops around the capital of Cairo.
Most people go to Egypt to see the various tombs of ancient regals, diplomats, and priests. However, not even a fraction of these tombs have been discovered. These tombs can be huge in size, and they are often filled with great treasures and dangerous traps. The most recent one is the discovery of the boy king Tutankahmen.
Egypt is also full of supernatural creature sightings: mummys who have come back to life, skeletons of slaves, giant animated statues, and even phyiscal manifestations of the old Egyptian gods, such as Sobek and Anubis. Some say these old gods still exist beneath the pyramids and dead cities of the lands. Others also say that some of these tombs hold entrances to the Hollow Earth.

Morocco
Morocco is a strange country, as it combines cultural memes from both Islamic states and European states such as Spain, Portugal and France. Morocco used to be part of the Byzantine Empire.
Morocco is positioned firmly under the thumb of France, even though they are only deemed a 'protecterate'. The French Government restricts their rights to free speech, the right to gather in public places, and other basic human rights. They are also supressing the native Islamic religion, along with forbidding natives to visit French-exclusive areas of the country. Some militant groups have begun to rise up to attempt to overthrow the opressive French, and though their goal is noble, their methods are not. The main resistance force, named Nekor after the first Moroccan kingdom, uses stolen weapons and blasphemous sorcery from ancient Assyria. Morocco is quickly becoming a battle grounds for independence, but Nekor is getting nowhere fast.

Heart of Africa
As your journey south in Africa, after you pass the great deserts and savannahs, you will eventually come upon the dark and sinister core of Africa. Often deemed the Heart of Africa, this place is rise to the alternate term for Africa, the Dark Continent.
The Heart of Africa is actually very similar to Brazil and the Amazon rainforest; it is full of unknown cities, uncontacted tribes, twisting rivers and dense forests. It is a dangerous place to journey into. However, there have been no sightings of giant primitive animals.
Instead, there have been numerous reports of dinosaurs. Though hard to believe, the proof exists: massive reptilian tracks are found in the mud, giant forests are made into clearings by some strange force, and even some lost tribes have been hunting more 'unexplainable' game.
Along with the dinosaurs, another potential threat is the various warlords scattered through the jungle. Most African nations are still under British influence, but their hold is weak at best. Militant leaders, either native Africans or corrupt foreign rulers/buisnessmen, can quickly grab a hold in the region. They terrorize and plunder villages, they illegally mine for precious diamonds, peat and coal with slave labor, and often crush anyone under their iron fist.
The largest militant group, simply known as Zulu, is ruled by a native Britain named Archibald Calendar. Archibald holds thousands of natives under his sway, has a massive compound full of slaves and consorts, and runs a nice racket on resource mining. He jacks up the price on these goods dramatically, but no one dares oppose him. Many claim the Archibald 'lost himself' in the Heart of Africa, and this 'person' is a shadow of his former self.
Archibald has recently been bragging that he has captured and tamed a few dinosaurs of his own. If the dinosaurs are in fact real, this could give the Zulu enough sway to possibly take over the whole of the Heart of Africa.

South Africa
South Africa probably has both one of the smallest and largest problems in Africa. South Africa has long been under the control of the UK, but it has recently been given its independence. It is a country with varied peoples, as a large percentage of a population is white. The democracy and culture is strongly European, and it also serves as a major trade hub to southern Africa.
However, the tensions between white immigrants and black natives is slowly escalating. Race wars are common, and hate crimes are committed against both ethnicities.
Aside from this racial tension, a place of note is the headquarters of the world-wide mesmerists organization, known as His Majesty's Society for Gifted Minds. Located in Johannesburg, the Society delves into matters of controlling one's mind, the depths of the human psyche and matters of philosophy. However, many mesmerists dig too deep, unlocking a part of their mind that is better left alone.

The Middle East
The Middle East is home to three major things: giant deserts, oil reserves and religion. Different areas in the Middle East are all holy to the world's three largest religions: Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Currently, most of the countries are Islamic.
Many Middle Eastern states have been held under the colonial grip of the British Empire, and many are starting to shake off the shackles. Many are very angry at their former masters, and thus many are siding with Hitler's ever growing regime. The only country that is still friendly to the west is Turkey, though it has had independence for many years.
In addition to the various holy ruins and relics scattered through the deserts, the Middle East used to be the home of the ancient and strange Assyrian Empire. Their ruins are also prevalant, but few venture into them. Assyria coincides with dark magics; awful alchemy, worship of strange gods, blood magic and more. Some 'sorcerers' still exist in the Middle East, and Nazi Germany has an intense interest in them. The largest sorcerer organization is known as the Disciples of Pazuzu, who keep a front as a Islamist rights group in order to distract people from their devilish doings.

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