Race to Monk Mountain

Or, A Mountain of Monks.

Mount Athos.
Credit: Wikipedia.

I can't remember how, exactly, I came across this, but I found this article on Wikipedia a few weeks ago about a place in Greece called Mount Athos, also known as the Holy Mountain. It's on a peninsula and its main distinguishing feature is that it is full of monasteries, about twenty in all. The first ones seem to have been built during the reign of Basil I, Emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Over time, more and more were built, that eventually, the mountain and the peninsula itself were more or less given over to the monks and it holds a unique political status in Greece.

Xenophontos Monastery.
Credit: Wikipedia.

Any hoot, the idea of a mountain full of monks was more than a little interesting and the potential for worldbuilding, RPGs, and wargaming were apparent. Having such an area in a fictional world would add a nice dash of flavor. For RPGs, such a place could be used as a point of origin for clerics and monks. Maybe earning admittance to one of the many monasteries is a goal that a cleric or monk character strives for. Maybe they sent out by their order with the mission of acquiring outside knowledge and bringing it back. For wargaming, it could be an area and a goal for either side: One player has the objective to raiding or capturing the mountain, while the other player has to defend it.

Zograf Monastery.
Credit: Wikipedia.

One interesting bit that would certainly make things interesting for worldbuilding and RPGers would be the fact that women are forbidden from setting foot on the mountain, unless they have prior written consent from the monks. That would certainly be a challenge for female characters.

Speaking of guns

Wargaming blog Paul's Bods has several pictures of medieval artillery and I figured maybe it might be relevant to the last post. The miniatures are pretty nice, actually and includes a pot-de-fer, bombards, and veuglaire. Definitely saving that post for future reference.

A big bang: Artillery in fantasy

Wikipedia.

You don't really see it much in fantasy, do you? Artillery. Cannons, with the big booms and the big balls turning some poor bastards into a red stain and a column of brave soldiers into a slaughter house. Wow, that was a bit morbid, wasn't it? Well, in any case, it's a bit of an anachronism that you don't, especially since cannons existed during the middle ages. The Turks famously used them to batter the walls of Constantinople, ending the Byzantine and by extension, the Roman Empire. Indeed, according to Wikipedia, Europe started making use of cannons during the late middle ages, with the earliest one being something called a pot-de-fer, which debuted during the Hundred Years' War.

Granted, I'm still a relative n00b when it comes to fantasy fiction, so I'm probably generalizing. I suppose the reason you don't see them around in fiction is because writers are probably afraid of pushing the tech level to that point because where there are cannons, guns are sure to follow. I don't think that has to be. It would be simple just to BS an excuse for firearms not to exist in a fictional world, especially since the early ones were just godawful - literally just metal tubes mounted on wood.

Ahoy there! Navies in Warcraft II

Elven Destroyer.

One of my favorite things about Warcraft II - the ships! One of the things that disappointed me about Warcraft III - the lack of ships! It was fun as hell to build up a small squadron of ships and send them out on the prowl for defenseless transports or oils tankers, or taking an enemy squadron by surprise. In the game, ships also had the ability to fire on air units, as well as shore bombardment. I always imagined how fun it would be to wage a battle while destroyers and battleships provide artillery support. Then there were the subs: Gnomish submarine for the Alliance and Giant Turtle for the Horde. Nothing quite like sneaking up on an enemy ship and let the torpedoes rip!

Horde Juggernaut.

Warcraft III did have ships, but they unfortunately, you couldn't use them like in WC2, so it was pretty disappointing, especially since the graphics were 3D.

I wouldn't mind seeing a Warcraft naval wargame or really, a Warcraft wargame period. Hint, hint, Blizzard. HINT HINT.

Building a medieval town the old fashioned way

Oh yes, it's a thing that is happening in Germany. A group of archaeologists, historians, architects, and workers are doing something beyond ambitious: Building a monastery town the 9th century way. Yup, no modern equipment or luxuries, just 52 buildings constructed with blood, sweat, and presumably a lot of cursing. The purpose of the project is to get an idea of what it was like to do that kind of large scale construction back in the middle ages.

Apparently the project will take 50 years to complete, which adds a bittersweet touch to it, as its originator, Bert Geurten, is 62 years old, meaning that he'll be long dead before its completion. Hell, I'll probably be knee deep in the grave by that point.

I think this a project that fantasy writers, GMs, wargamers, and others should keep an eye on.