Quote from: Teodrik on June 21, 2023, 11:38:20 PM
Since I am a southern swede from Götaland subject has had an allure for me.

And yes, the goths origanally were götar/geats of Götaland in southern modern day Sweden, the people of Beowulf. And I won't back down on that 

Tjodrik/Theodrik/Teodoric is one of my favorite persons of antiquity. Hence my username. Arminius/Hermann also.

It's also interesting that Theodoric had a considerable influence on Charlemagne and also appears as a major figure in medieval German epics under the name of Dietrich of Bern.

Quote from: SHARK on June 21, 2023, 11:00:54 AM

Quote from: estar on June 20, 2023, 02:09:37 PM
My Wildland setting is directly inspired by the migration period at the end of the Western Roman Empire.

Background

The Bright Empire once dominated Darish De'Cour or "Land of the Great River." When the Empire expanded into Darish De'Cour, two provinces were created — Darish, east of the river, and Tharvengia, west of the river. For centuries the Bright Empire prospered, standing as a pinnacle of learning, commerce, and religion. However, in the last century, two rival factions arose that would eventually tear the Empire asunder. The earthly followers of Delaquain, the Goddess of Honor and Justice, and Sarrath, the God of War and Order, long at odds with one another, eventually forced the Bright Empire into a ruinous civil war. Weakened by the internal struggle, the Empire could no longer defend its sprawling provinces from the predations of marauding barbarian tribes. This was especially true in the Tharvengian Province, and it was quickly lost.

The final downfall of the Bright Empire came when humanoid tribes (orcs, goblins, gnolls, etc.) attacked the barbarians living in the defeated province of Tharvengia, routed them, and drove them en masse across the Great River into Darish. After devastating the Darish, the Barbarians moved into the Empire's heartland to the east. In the battle known as The Shattering, the barbarians destroyed the last organized forces of the Bright Empire, ending the civil war not with a final victory but with a final collapse.

Ten years after the civil war, barbarians and humanoids dominate this region, and only a single town and a few villages remain as beacons of civilization. Shortly after the fall of the Bright Empire, the remaining forces of Delaquain helped the survivors, but their efforts were stymied when the followers of Sarrath seized control of Yellzurthi, the last town in Darish. The followers of Sarrath now use Yellzurthi as a base to launch attacks against what remains of Delaquain's followers, striving for complete control of war torn Darish De'Cour.

Greetings!

Very interesting, Estar! Are you players big fans of the Migration Period History and the Late Roman Empire?

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Maybe a bit oddly, I have a special fondness for the "stay at homes" of the Migration Period: peoples such as the Thuringians and the Chatti (Hessians).

Concerning the Battle of Adrianople in 378, this was the culmination of a very interesting episode in Roman politics and in fact the Romans on the day had a stronger army, just that they blew it by internal division, poor leadership, and adverse circumstance.

A group of Gothic tribes under pressure from rivals and Hunnic raids and appealed to settle in Roman territory. Valens already knew Fritigern from a previous conflict and allowed him across the Danube. However, other tribes saw this and followed across the river illegally.

Lupercinus and Maximus, the two governors of the territory that the Goths wee settling in, did not want the expense of supporting large scale immigration and shamefully forced the Goths into poverty with poor quality supplies at great expense, hoping to push the whole problem aside. The Goths rebelled. They had  Alans and Roman deserters among them.

The two governors then tried to settle things and invited the Gothic leaders to a formal dinner which was actually a mass assassination attempt. Fritigern realised something was going on and fought his way out.

Valens had sacked Trajanus, his military chief, and invited up and coming new boy Sebastianus to take over. Trajanus was still among the courtiers and an intense rivalry took place. The Trajanic faction favoured a confrontation with the Goths, Sebastianus had already seen the eastern Roman army was, as Zosimus later put it, full of poofs and cowards. He instead asked for a hard core of two thousand men and used them as raiders to harass the rebel Goths.

It was a very successful strategy. Heads were being returned to Constantinople every day and the Goths were foraging en masse on horseback to avoid being ambushed. But Sebastianus was being such a flattering toady that Valens was losing patience with him. So Sebastianus switched strategy and told Valens to confront the Goths, taking the wind out of Trajanus' sails.

A western army under Gratian was taking too long to arrive due to fighting with the Alans and Gratian himself being ill. Also, Valens had to beg his army to march at all, it took a couple of weeks of repeated speeches to persuade them to move at all.

The army of Valens eventually marched to the Gothic camp on a sweltering hot day. They were badly organised and arrived chaotically. The Goths played for time. The Roman spies had underestimated how many Goths were there because the Gothic cavalry was away foraging, and Fritigern needed them back desperately. Goths set crop fields alight and smoke drifted toward the Roman lines. Valens tried to get Fritigern before him for a last minute negotiation but Fritigern sent lowly representatives and the haughty Valens refused to discuss anything with them. An exchange of prisoners was suggested to delay battle but this was not completed when the battle started.

What happened was a farce. A Roman cavalry unit arrived so late that the Goths thought the Romans had started the battle and responded with some archery. The Romans thought the battle had started and launched an attack on the Gothic camp which was repulsed. Then the Goths revealed their hand - they launched a cavalry ambush from woodland - the foragers had returned without the Romans knowing.

The Roman army collapsed and became disordered, fighting defensively into the evening before nightfall allowed the escape of two thirds of their men, with a lot of confusion and self inflicted casualties. Valens was already wounded and sought refuge in a barn which the Goths burned to the ground without knowing who was in there.

Then you might see the barbarian towering in his fierceness, hissing or shouting, fall with his legs pierced through, or his right hand cut off, sword and all, or his side transfixed, and still, in the last gasp of life, casting round him defiant glances. The plain was covered with carcases, strewing the mutual ruin of the combatants; while the groans of the dying, or of men fearfully wounded, were intense, and caused great dismay all around.
5. Amidst all this great tumult and confusion, our infantry were exhausted by toil and danger, till at last they had neither strength left to fight, nor spirits to plan anything; their spears were broken by the frequent collisions, so that they were forced to content themselves with their drawn swords, which they thrust into the dense battalions of the enemy, disregarding their own safety, and seeing that every possibility of escape was cut off from them.
6. The ground, covered with streams of blood, made their feet slip, so that all that they endeavoured to do was to sell their lives as dearly as possible; and with such vehemence did they resist their enemies who pressed on them, that some were even killed by their own weapons. At last one black pool of blood disfigured everything, and wherever the eye turned, it could see nothing but piled-up heaps of dead, and lifeless corpses trampled on without mercy.- Ammianus Marcellinus.