History of Venus

[TheUdjat]

At some indeterminant time in the past, Venus was terraformed. Later, when this process was complete, Earth launched seven great ships to Venus to colonize it - these ships were designed to land on the planet, and in landing become the center for the cities that would follow. They will be scattered across the surface, their original purpose lost to the ages, used as nothing more than palaces and the like nowadays.

Space travel, for one reason or another, is unremembered. High technology is also forgotten. The people of Venus beleive themselves to be alone, and their written history reflects this. They have legends about gods, creation myths, ancient legends that rival King Arthur, and so on. I won't detail most of that, and will just leave it open to individual games. What I will talk about is the Seven Citadels, and recent history.

Seven Citadels.
The Seven Ships that landed formed the center of seven cultures (Aphrodite, Ishtar, Mayahuel, whoever else we ultimately create). One of them, however, shattered, killing the colonists within. But an unexpected consequence resulted - unforeseen elements of the world reanimated their bodies (or twisted them, or whatever), turning them into monsters.

Few have ever truly seen these creatures, but legend speaks of their desire to conquer the world (and convert its inhabitants) on many occasions. A large chunk of the world is left unexplored for rumor that these creatures lurk within, and few who have ever gone there are ever seen again.

(Just some wisps of background floating through my head. Something for the horror element of the world).

Recent History
A few decades in the past, Aphrodite hit its technological and magical peak - its Golden Age, if you will. The society is at the height of power, easily dominant over the more 'primitive' cultures across Venus, as they begin exploring and colonizing in earnest. It's an exciting time to be alive. Airships are a recent discovery, while Transmutation creates more new (and sometimes frightening) developments every day. Blossoming corporations and nobility quarrel with one another, and the Empire, overall, prospers.

That's a general overview. With no calender and little known about the other people of the world, I can't do much more for now.

[TheUdjat]

Updated.

[VemuKhaham]

I can only assume that, since people no longer know about space travel or their true origins, the space ships that would form the centers of civilization are no longer recognized / recognizable as space ships. Since Aphrodite is the empire which clearly will be the main focus, we should do that empire’s history first, I guess. Now, I was thinking of when people began their reckoning of time, and thought that it would be likely that they started when the space ships got there and the empires were founded. However, since you also note that nothing is known about this, you must decide whether the counting of time has continued without people knowing why it ever started at that point (perhaps alternative stories/myths have been made to fill that gap, a bit like Roman foundation legends), or people have simply forgotten about that old reckoning and started over at some point in history, which could’ve gone hand in hand with some major development (like christian reckoning slowly replacing other reckonings as people convert to that faith). In your world, this change of reckoning would probably have less to do with religion than with some catastrophic turn in civilization’s history, since there ought to be a reason why everything else about high tech modern stuff was forgotten too. We only have got to think up of something catastrophic like that.

What do you think about something plain and simple like acid rain? Let’s say the first explorers and settlers from the spaceships had thought their terraforming practices had negated the possibility that their acid rain control program could fail at some point by one reason or another, but it did and civilization was, for nearly a hundred percent, reduced to ashes. Maybe such a disaster could even be like Pompeii with the volcanic eruption, leaving ruins and people’s bodies preserved in the same state? Or can acid rain not have that effect? I guess not. But it might be cool.

Well, civilization was nearly wiped out and acid rains would have to be coped with from now on. Since all written and writing materials were vaporized, and life was, to the few survivors, tremendously harsh, people began to rely on memory to record history. You know what happens when people do that.

The new civilizations had to crawl back on their feet, learning to walk as though they were babies again. Acid rains still occurred, but never on a catastrophic scale like back then(, yet). After a while, they succeeded in reestablishing some of the old glory, the new civilizations mostly situated around the only things which were large enough to partly survive the catastrophe and which had been used as shelter by the only survivors during the disaster itself: the space ships, or at least the unrecognizable heaps of steel foundations which were left of them. When they did, slowly, things like writing and the like were reinvented, until we reach the present day of Aphrodite’s golden age where technology once again plays a key role. The current reckoning of years will most likely have begun with the great catastrophe, an event of which there is still a collective memory, but what was before that time, who can tell? Well, the priests say they can: before the great catastrophe, there was paradise on Venus, and all the world was one lush valley where the first humans lived in peace and harmony… You know, until the gods were angered and all that.

It's up to you to decide how long ago the catastrophe was, and therefore in which year we live now and how long a period we have to write known history about.

Just some suggestions to get you thinking on the subject of history.

[TheUdjat]

This has indeed given me much to think about - so much so that my mind drifted away from Venus for a while. But ideas are starting to ripen in my mind, so here I am again.

Acid Rain is an interesting notion, and I may use it - at least in part. However, I see Acid Rain as more detrimental to people than to the land, vegetation, and structures. If anything, a terraformed Venus should be remarkably resilient to acid rain. Except for peope, since they aren't native. I'm disinclined to use that as the basis for changing their mode of keeping history, though, or their recollection of it. Natural disasters are well and good, but I'm not 100% sure I want something of that caliber.

I was thinking of tying in the sudden reversion to ancient technology and tools to be tied into magic. See, it's the one thing I haven't really bothered to explain through science in some loose fashion, and therefore a prime candidate to be something uniquely Venusian. My thinking was that terraforming Venus awoke something more, some primordial power that once existed on Earth but was lost long ago, when Reason usurped Imagination. But that anomalous 'something' thrives in Venus, and it wants to stay alive. That is the nature of the Venusian Calamity. People came, they brought things with them, but they were changed. Perhaps it's a mixture of many things. Acid Rains sweeping the land (until people figured some way to get them under control), people's memories inexplicably 'slipping' from recollection of high technology, strange creatures and entities that mankind never intended to exist on Venus... things like that. And perhaps some sort of calamity on Earth itself prevented communication with them, and the colonists had to learn to manage for themselves. And, being alone and incapable of leaving, they gradually forgot. Maybe the world helped them. Maybe it was just the trials of learning a new world. Maybe it's just been thousands of years, and the original purpose of the ships has been lost.

I guess that would make it more of a 'dark ages' sort of era, rather than a specific cataclysm. An age of wonder and the unexplainable, until mankind was able to harness the magic of Venus. I don't know, that sounds kinda cool to me, and less limiting than merely saying 'Acid Rains'. We could have any number of old, terrible things from this vague 'dark ages' reawaken to terrorize mankind. And ultimately, isn't that what history of a setting is for?

As for the ships themselves, I always envisioned it like this: The huge, titanic ships come, and they land in various parts of the planet. When they land, they are visually indistinguishable from large, towering palatial structures. They are gleaming and majestic, but they don't really look 'science-y'. They're like renaissance sky-scrapers or something. And as far as anyone knows, they've just been there for freakin' ever. There are lots of legends about how they got there, but all anybody really knows is that there are 7 of them, they're extremely similar, and people in charge have always lived there.

...To make things a touch more amusing, the 'name' of each ship can be scrawled on the side of each building. Everyone just assumes that's the name of the city. Hence Aphrodite, Ishtar, and the other naming conventions carrying over to the colonists.

I would love to get down to the nitty gritty of Aphrodite's history - and you're right, the central (both metaphorically and literally) culture seems to be a good place to start. I shall attempt to get started on some ideas for that.

[VemuKhaham]

I like your ideas, and they're definitely more uniquely Venusian, more in touch with the feel you're trying to achieve, than acid rains.

So in essence there are two major time periods: the dark ages and the age of enlightenment. The dark ages are mythical, because of Venus' very nature. The age of enlightenment is the start of humans getting to grips with these Venusian supernatural phenomena. Magic is like supernatural science. But that supernatural science hasn't been perfected by a long shot, so there are still unexplainable Venusian terrors occurring. That's how I understand and summarize your ideas.

This way, there could be various schools of thought concerning magic and science. Some may think that science in magic is the only way to truly 'tame' Venus and its mysteries. Others could think 'Venus' does not want to be tamed, and the more people will discover about its secrets and the more people will use it to perform magic, the more terrible 'the spirit of Venus' could become. Hell, I could see a religion develop there, with conflict and everything along with it.

I don't know how much of religion you want in this setting, and in particular in the Aphrodisian Empire, since you're talking about an age of science and the like. However, this could still develop into a cult, the Venus-cult. Those dissaproving of magic and science, thinking it will disturb Venus, may even become social outcasts and rebels against modern science and magic. They may try to destroy magical or scientific laboratories, magical airships, or anything like that.

Of course, the authorities would be against this, since obviously the Empire benefits from the achievements in and use of magic and science. The Venus-cult will be outlawed. Perhaps you could even consider them environmentalists, druidic peoples. There may even be more radical people among them who want humanity to be removed from Venus, and who want to free Venus from the terraforming practices humans need to exist there. They say terraforming has been the most terrible offense against the great spirit of Venus, and hence the terrors have struck humanity ever since it has existed on Venus.

[TheUdjat]

Oooh, that's a fantastic idea! I could see a lot of good things from this idea of an underground Venus-cult throughout the world. Definitely not acceptable in most of society, but very much a power in the world. (Note, though, that people won't point out how horrible terraforming Venus was, because they don't know what terraforming is. The explanation of life on Venus is more of a creation myth than actual historical fact).

Regarding religion in general, my thinking was that most of the civilized people are 'Rationalists' - or more accurately, atheists. Aphrodite, by and large, focuses their energies on arcane magic and scientific exploration, and believe that man must master his universe, etc. But the other cultures of the world should very much have religions. No monotheism as we know it (except the Venus-cult, perhaps), but lots of polytheistic beliefs - many of them tribal. Some would be more advanced, like Ishtar and the asian-styled culture. I'm all about keeping with themes here. This just makes these cultures seem even more 'barbaric' or 'quaint' to the Aphrodisians/Rationals.

Oh man. This will be cool.

I will try to post some more concrete information on Venus this weekend, though my second novel has been kind of consuming my time lately.m

[TheUdjat]

I finally got around to doing some of this. This is part history and part mythology, but completely necessary.

---

The Seven Sisters:
1. Aphrodite [Greek] (also called Cytherea). Goddess of thought, philosophy, language, formulaic magic, mathematics, and other sciences. Symbols: Myrtle, dove, sparrow, swan. Associated with the element of air.
2. Astarte [Semitic Near-East, Mesopotamian] (also Ashtoreth and Ashtart). A war goddess analogous to Ares, Thor, Sekhmet, and others. She symbolizes violence and punishment more than ‘noble courage’, and so can sometimes be associated with a dark side, such as natural disasters and righteous punishment. Associated with fire. Generally good, however. Symbols: Lion, horse, sphinx, red star.
3. Ishtar [Assyrian, Babylonian] (also Esther, Inanna). Dark, fallen goddess – and underworld ruler. Not so much evil as repentant and misguided. Sometimes associated with the night.
4. Xochiquetzal [Aztec] (also known as Ichpuchtli). Goddess of art, music, ritual magic, weaving, and other arts/crafts. Associated with the moon.
5. Freyja [Norse]. Another battle-goddess, but also one of wisdom and leadership, and of courage and nobility. Symbols: Falcons, cats, boar, gold/amber. Associated with the earth.
6. Oshun [Yoruba/African] (also Osun). Goddess of harmony, nature, peace, and water, and also animals. Symbols: peacock feathers, mirrors, trees, waves. Also connected to Maria Lionza (a lesser, saint-like figure that is rapidly threatening to become a new deity in the pantheon)
7. Hathor [Egyptian]. Goddess of fertility, light, and general goodness. Symbols: Oxen/cows, Eye of Hathor, the sun, lotus, scarab.

The solar system / lunes of the week (a ‘day’ on Venus lasts 120 Earth days, so time is often measured by revolutions of the moon, which occur in 24-hour cycles):
Venus (doesn’t count, often just called ‘earth’)
Sun – Hathor (Hathor’s Lune / Hathorlune)
Moon – Xochiquetzal (Xochiquetzal’s Lune / Quetzalune)
Mercury – Aphrodite (Aphrodite’s Lune / Aphrolune)
Ceres (no longer called Earth) – Oshun (Oshun’s Lune / Osulune)
Mars – Astarte (Astarte’s Lune / Astarlune)
Jupiter – Freyja (Freyja’s Lune / Freylune)
Saturn – Ishtar (Ishtar’s Lune / Ishtalune)
Uranus – Under debate (Kamadeva, Maria Lionza, The All-Mother, etc.). No associated day, though ‘Lionzalune’ has been suggested by some as a replacement to Ishtalune.

Pluto simply isn’t known about.

---

A Creation Myth:
In the beginning, there was no Venus, no moon, no burning sun – there was only the endless void, and the gods wheeling and stirring among them. Greatest of these were the seven sisters, a family of powerful and benevolent goddesses. After a time, longing for more love and meaning in the universe, these seven sisters agreed to create a world out of their desire and longing – thus was Venus created. They created the vast oceans, the towering mountains, and the air itself, and then populated it with beasts great and small. Each sister took a turn at creation, one in each day (this will parallel the Christian creation myth). In the end, the goddesses smiled on their creation, and received worship and love from the people there. In return, the sisters showered the people in gifts – knowledge, magic, health, intelligence. Each sister chose a group of people for their own, and gave to each a shining silver tower, a symbol of their unceasing love for the people.

But a lesser god was watching, and he looked on in envy and jealousy. He was called by many names, for he craved many titles and much recognition, but he was most often called Kamadeva. Kamadeva went to Ishtar and whispered lies into her ear, about how her sisters would betray her. At first mighty Ishtar refused to believe these lies, but Kamadeva tricked her into seeing evidence of them, and she soon began to eye her sisters suspiciously. Seeing his work done, Kamadeva waited until the sisters began to quarrel, and then slipped into their new world, to bestow his ‘gifts’ on its inhabitants: the sins of wrath, gluttony, avarice, pride, lust, sloth, and envy.

Meanwhile the sisters fought, arguing at first until Ishtar raised a hand to her twin Astarte. The other six cast their sister out of their midst, sundering her mighty tower and cursing her creations. Ishtar made herself a place in the underworld, growing envious and hateful of her sisters, and the six returned their attention to the world’s inhabitants – and realized the horrors unleashed upon them by Kamadeva.

A war ensued, wherein the goddesses sought to crush the foul influence of the trickster, though they could never eliminate his filth entirely, so closely ingrained into their young world. The goddesses had to content themselves with teaching and strengthening their creations – particularly greatest of them, man. But knowing that man must learn these ways himself, they withdrew from the world, contenting themselves to whisper and speak into the ears of mankind, giving encouragement and advice to their precious creations, and loving them from afar.

And mankind grew and learned and blossomed. Great centers of learning were established, magic was mastered – but the influence of Kamadeva lingered on. Wars, pestilence, neglect, hate, and other corruptions continued to plague mankind. But the sisters trusted their precious creations and they waited patiently for the day they would reach enlightenment.

While they waited, they built massive kingdoms in the stars to watch and guide their children from. Hathor built her home in the burning sun she had constructed for the world, while Xochiquetzal took to the swiftly circling moon, that she might regularly see those down below. Aphrodite took to the near, small Mercury, swiftly circling closeby. Oshun created the blue pearl, Ceres, full of the oceans and waters she created for Venus, and vowed to veer close to her children every so often, knowing that they needed substantial time. Astarte took to the red star, distant but vigilant, watching for signs of corruption in her sisters or other threats from beyond. Freyja built mighty Jupiter, and gathered to her slain heroes and noble beasts to share her province. Last of them all was Ishtar, dwelling both near and far in Saturn’s depths, the underworld and the outer reaches.

And there the sisters live and they watch. But Kamadeva watches, too, in his many forms – in shooting stars and comets, and in the dark of night, when Hathor and Xochiquetzal are far away.

---

The above is a mythological, symbolic representation of Venusian early-history. It actually has some basis on fact, though the people on the planet have no way of understanding this.

In truth, the planet was terraformed and colonized by people from Earth, descending to Venus in massive colony-ships the size of skyscrapers. These ships landed and also became buildings when they did so, indistinguishable on the surface from a grandiose tower – seven of these towers are scattered across Venus, typically the capitals of powerful nations (Aphrodite’s tower, for instance, is in the imperial city of the Aphrodite Empire).

One ship landed improperly – this was Ishtar. Everyone was killed. More on that later.

At first, everything was fine, but it soon became apparent that something unexpected happened during the terraforming. For though they tried to make a close double of earth, the planet could not be completely changed, and something ancient within it reacted to the new life and climate – something Venusian. That mysterious ‘something’ is the root of magic, strange creatures, etc. that exist on the planet.

This same ‘something’ reacted with the disaster at Ishtar, resulting in an abominable race being created. This is a fairly all-encompassing ‘origin’ for undead and other monsters, and a good cesspool for evil in the world. The Sundered Tower still exists somewhere in the wilderness, ripe for exploration.

In any event, these strange, unexpected occurrences almost obliterated the colonists. They were driven from their precious colony ships, forced to adapt to the strange new world and its ways, and after centuries, all memory of space travel, advanced technology, and Earth were lost – it didn’t help that trouble on the homeworld also cut the colonists off from intervention (but that’s another story). This ‘dark age’ is the corruption of Kamadeva and the war with him that ensued, essentially.

In time, mankind recovered and managed to reclaim their sacred towers, and an age of relative growth and prosperity followed. And a few centuries later, this is where we are.

Thus, there are essentially 6 ‘accepted’ deities. Each culture has a patron deity, but the others are recognized and, sometimes, even revered. There is also the ‘fallen goddess’, Ishtar, who isn’t precisely evil, but serves as a sort of Hell/underworld deity. Kamadeva is essentially the root of evil in this world – a sort of Satan-figure. Also, not mentioned in the above myth, is the recent cult-worship of Mother Venus: literally worship of the planet itself, and repudiation of any other deities (including Kamadeva). Lastly, there is a small following dedicated to Maria Lionza, a historical hero and saintly figure in some cultures, and often seen as a champion opposed to the Aphrodite Empire.

So there are 10 possible religions, one of them monotheistic. Venus also has a fair number of atheists, particularly in the Aphrodite Empire and its encompassed provinces. Many of these are men of science, technology, and the arcane arts, who believe more in formulae and math than ancient beliefs. Many of them pay token tribute to Aphrodite, since she is seen as a goddess of thought, intellect, language, and magic (sort of like Hermes/Mercury/Thoth).

Plenty of opportunities within all of that.

[VemuKhaham]

Nice outline, with a focus on religion and mythology, it looks very good. I guess that written history sort of like begins with the reclaiming of the towers for most of the civilizations, and that before that everything is just an age clouded in myths? At any rate, if you want to go into further detail about the begins of all the peoples, I would start there. And of course, I'd start with the Aphrodite Empire since it'll be most influential.

The reclaiming of the towers seems to me to be something of a monumental event, which will be colored with proud historical tails and legends, to be the roots of the nation. It would be a favored theme for painters, and there would of course be many heroes featuring in the legends and as models for statues etc. All of that really belongs with the Victoreanesque theme of at least the Aphrodite Empire that you're going for.

But from who did they have to reclaim their tower? The monsters? Sounds very good. You could of course create specific monsters that were defeated during the battles for the tower. Such monsters would also be depicted in great statues and all.

And also: people will be curious about that deserted seventh tower. Surely, expeditions, both by scientists and adventurers, will be undertaken to investigate it, I'd say. Perhaps there could be rumors about it, something like El Dorado, a legendary, hidden city where there are great treasures, somewhere in the jungle.

Since I have to wait here at university now for two hours without having anything but a pc to occupy myself, I'll give it a go and write something up. Feel free to reject it or use anything you will, since it was just written to pass time, and it served at that.

---

An Account of the Expedition of Lord Tristan Faraday, undertaken to root out the evil Presence in the Tower of Aphrodite, on the far side of the Twilight Mountains, twenty-three years before the Beginning of our Reckoning of Time, by Sir William King.

Emboldened by the High Priests with the blessings of Aphrodite, our company, comprising of twohundred and sixteen capable fighters, ninety-eight carriers, sixteen carts pulled by thirty-two oxen, and finally Lord Tristan himself and his trusted dog compagnion Rex, left the settlement of Lakeside, the last outpost of our people, to head south, into the vast wilderness, in search of the Tower of Aphrodite, and to reclaim it should they find it. The wilderness which lay ahead of them were the Twilight Mountains, a wide range of barren heights crossed only by a wide canyon which no mortal man has ever dared to cross. Behind these mountains allegedly lay Aphrodite’s Garden, a fertile valley blessed by regular rainfall due to the sea to the west and the mountains to the north and east. Once they would reach that place, they should beware not to go further south, as there lay the infamous rainforests of Saguine, source of all evil that drove our people into the barren north.

[…]

During the twentieth day of the expedition, Lord Tristan’s company reached the Twilight Canyon. There was no bridge and no safe way to guide the wagons across. For three days, Lord Tristan led the company south, along the cliff’s northern edge, in hopes of finding a safer crossing place. During the third day, when many of the men started losing their confidence and hopes, the company was approached by two men, whom Lord Tristan later described in his journal as “one being an ugly, old man with a ravaged beard and a bald head, the other young and gay as a child, and helpful, but both were terribly small, even for their age, almost inhumanly so.” They knew the area very well, and guided the company to a hidden cave which led deep into the rocky earth and was very dark. The cave was described by the Lord as to be “quite unnatural, as if carved by men, and despite its steepness, the tunnel was wide and high enough for all to travel comfortably, even the oxen with our wagons, and the guides carried a torch.” The description than tells of a large underground cave where many of these same small people lived, in poor but, given their inhospitable surroundings, reasonable conditions. The ceiling of the cave was, amazingly, open to the air and to the sun, like a narrow natural shaft, so that light shone inside. These people were very curious and friendly, though they spoke in an alien tongue and after exchanging valuable goods, the company went on, as directed through another tunnel which went ever deeper below, yet this tunnel was open to the air by the same narrow shaft, which ran along its entire length, as if they were traveling underneath a great gorge in the cliff. Finally, the company exited the tunnel and to their amazement entered the depths of the canyon. Here, the guides left them, but not before pointing to a manmade stonecarved stairway into the southern cliff. It being impossible for the oxen with their wagons to climb these narrow and dangerous stairs, Lord Tristan to his dismay abandoned them.

[…]

When the company, on the thirty-eight day of their journey, had crossed the southern part of the Twilight Mountains, their numbers had been terribly reduced. Especially the carriers, whose burdens had been doubled after the wagons were left behind, had lost many, yet there is no certainty about the numbers.
On that same day, the company left the mountains, but before they did, they came upon a splendid viewpoint from where they could witness for the first time ever the magnificent view on Aphrodite’s Garden: the western sea broke upon the rocky shores of this fertile green valley. The entire region was covered in long, lush grasses, and small pools and lakes dotted the landscape. The the east the landscape was elevated, the southern bend of the Twilight Mountains producing many small rivers which carved their way through the hills and the lush valley to the sea. To the south lay a dark, endless patch of dense forests, stretching from the western sea to the eastern mountains and to the south as far as the eye could reach.
Yet they were all even more amazed to see the great Tower of Aphrodite, situated upon a great rock outcropping there where the Twilight Mountains touched the sea some thirty miles to the west. It was visible from every corner of Aphrodite’s Garden, and from its highest tower surely one could overlook every shadowy reach of that lush valley and all the ocean to the west. Behind it lay several small islands, all dancing upon the waves, and upon some were visible strange ruins.

[…]

The company’s morale was once again perfect when Lord Tristan ordered his men to march straight for the tower. If only he had been more prudent, perhaps the life of his most loyal companion would not have been wasted. As the company descended from the foothills, they entered an area of boggy swamps with treacherous paths. It was when they least expected it, that from every direction – behind the trees, from the pools, out of the grass and behind the rocks – darted forth strange, primitive people who had but one eye and teethed mouths as wide as their faces. They carried dangerous, poisoned spears and the ambush claimed many worthy men’s lives. Among these was the life of Rex, Lord Tristan’s dog companion, who died shielding the Lord himself from the edge of one of the spears. Ever since, this northern pass into Aphrodite’s Garden has been called Deadman’s Pass, and a monument today still stands proud there, serving as a warning to all who pass as heedless as did the company that day.

[…]

As such, only a little more than a hundred men reached the Tower of Aphrodite on the fourtyfifth day of the expedition. This time more warily, Lord Tristan led his men up the slopes of the outcropping to the gates of the magnificant tower. The gates were open, and they detected tracks of footsteps walking in and out; one pair was as large as a grown man’s chest. Hearts pounding, weapons at the ready, the company entered, Lord Tristan ahead of the others. When they went through the second gate, and Lord Tristan stood inside the great courtyard, a steel gate suddenly closed behind him, cutting him off from his men.
The Lord was now alone, but he went on unfearing. He came upon the grand entry hall, and there was faced, all of a sudden, by the self-proclaimed Lord of the Tower: a great, fifteen feet tall giant insect, much like an enormous grasshopper, who jumped down from the heights of the tower to loom dangerously over Lord Tristan. In his journal, the Lord wrote about this fiendish beast: “If this was my foe, destined for me to fight, to make true my set goal and to save Aphrodite’s Tower from this wretched beasts claws, then I would not go out of its way. I poised myself in a defensive stance, even as the self-proclaimed Lord of the Tower walked in circles along the vaulted ceiling of the room, preying upon me from a high, safe position. I was sure it spoke to me, in its own, insectoid tongue, yet I know nothing of that foul speech and did not listen. Then, when my destined enemy finished its speech, realizing his words would not taint my hearth, it readied itself for its fatal spring attack. It sprang upon my sword, which bore the Blessing of Aphrodite, and I could see in its face, despite its inability to express human emotion with its chitinous face, the workings of the Divine Blessing, and the damage it inflicted. The beast fell at my feet, shaking, dying.”
With these words, Lord Tristan Faraday reclaimed the Tower of Aphrodite. Later, the Lord learned from his fellow soldiers, who had been waiting at the gate, how they had seen a great cloud of grasshoppers leave through the windows of the tower, heading back south, into the Sanguine Jungle.

[TheUdjat]

I like this, Vemu! Very cool little piece of folklore/legend. I have no idea how the exact event will pan out, but I'm using this as a basis for now. In fact, I think 'Saint Tristan' will be part of Aphrodite's little pantheon, sort of like a Charlemagne figure or something (starting the Kingdom of Cytherea or some such, which eventually develops into the Aphrodite Empire).

I don't plan to flesh out the history in a very detailed manner for a while, but for the time being, we can look at it in a kind of rough progression of eras:

1. Age of Genesis: When mankind was 'created' (according to popular legend) and the war in heaven with Kamadeva took place (including Ishtar's sort of banishment). In reality, this is when Venus was colonized and the ships landed. But so much from this age has been lost that it's essentially mythic and fantastic, like an age of legends.

2. The Dark Ages: This is what we were talking about earlier, where 'something happened' and the enlightenment from the colonists was lost. I'm still keen on a sudden unexpected surge of magic and 'natural' Venus coming into play, and basically driving the colonists from their precious ships (the towers). This turns into a dark age where mankind loses much of its science in an effort to adapt to the magic of Venus and its strange creatures. People are set back to a medieval-equivalent era, and history fades from carefully-kept records to word-of-mouth recollection. In this age, the widely-known pantheon comes into prominence.

3. Age of Redemption: During this age, mankind begins to master magic and the other ways of the world, and in time reclaims the towers from strange creatures and species. This happens all across the world in various ways, but Aphrodite is widely accepted as the first peoples to reclaim their tower (this is incorrect - they are actually the third, behind Frejya and Xochiquetzal, though those people made a kind of peace and harmony with the previous inhabitants rather than 'conquering' it).

4. Age of Imperialism: The Aphrodesians actually call this the 'Age of Discovery'. This is the current age, where Aphrodite soars into prominence. Airships are invented, the rail system is perfected, and colonies spring up all across the planet. Aphrodite makes contact with Astarte (whose tower they help liberate), Hathor, and Oshun. Much more recently, they have made slight contact with Frejya and Xochiquetzal, though these peoples are still very foreign and 'savage' by comparison. This is Aphrodite's Golden Era, and it remains to be seen how it will end. This is the time period the game starts in.

And for the time being, this is probably good enough to start working on other things, like the 'People of Venus' section. I also have a little tidbit for the 'Magic/Technology of Venus' section, outlining Aphrodite's basic system of scholarship. I will later branch into the other cultures, but the people of Aphrodite are still the present focus.

[VemuKhaham]

Alright, I see. Focusing on the people of Venus etc sounds good to me. As for the people of Aphrodite, you may or may not be able to use the description of Aphrodite's Garden, which may give you a start from where you can determine how the empire might've developed into what it is now. Of course, that is, if you like the description.

The forest and the mountains may be difficult borders for the empire to cross, and since there's little of real value at least behind the mountains (only barren lands), these might be good natural borders. The Sanguine jungle may even still pose a permanent threat to the empire, making it necessary for the Aphrodites to be constantly watchful.

But the valley itself would by now be totally cultivated, densely populated and entirely covered by the Aphrodite metropolis and many cities, villages and settlements in the hinterland. The swampy terrains will have been drained for farmlands etc. The many rivers will be imperial highways. A great bridge may well span over the enormous canyon to the north to reach those places of interest that are still there.

But most of all, the sea to the west is at the moment the focal point for Aphrodite's imperial expansion ambitions. Of course, those islands close to Aphrodite have long been colonized and settled, but the other continents with their unknown civilizations can only be brought under Aphrodite rule or influence by crossing those seas.

Indeed, the tower, situated on that rocky coast, might have been expanded to house the Aphrodite fleet and harbor, with the city mostly reaching along the coast. Perhaps, if the tower is atop an elevated rock outcropping, the harbor may even be carved into the rock itself, like a cavern, simply because there is no good flat coastline near the tower. Just some ideas.

[TheUdjat]

I'm still not sure how exactly the Empire will look - I need to study some more Venusian maps. But my tentative idea is that, yes, island expansion will be the primary way Aphrodite grew. I see them as having settled most of the islands near them, and much of the northern range of their continent (except towards the far east, where Hathor begins). They'll also have numerous holdings on the northern continent, where Astarte is - but nobody will live on the high-altitude plateau near the top of the world. That's where Ishtar was, and it's all wilderness.

I place Oshun in the southern reaches of Aphrodite's continent, nearby but across the steep mountain range there, making it tricky to reach (and thus somewhat isolated). They will be in the thrall of Aphrodite, too, but left much to their own devices.

Xochiquetzal isn't far, as it is located on the southern continent, and island hopping could get travellers there. But the jungles there are notoriously thick and deadly, and so many do not venture there. Only in the northern reaches of that archipelega, where Aphrodite loggers and settlers have tamed the countryside, do large populations flourish.

The western continent is for Freyja, and is far removed from Aphrodite. I've been thinking that perhaps some oceanic abnormality (or monster) made early passage to Freyja impossible; only the recent invention of the airship has allowed colonization of that continent. Think of it as a kind of 'new world', more alien to Aphrodite's explorers than even the other areas.

Aphrodite will be spread pretty far, but I tentatively plan for them to take up at least a third of the main continent with 'core' provinces: highly urbanized, cultured, and basically 'civilized'. Cytherea, the original homeland of most Aphrodesians, should be that area immediately around the Tower.

That, as I said, is sort of my general thought about things.