Vsevolod Ivanov's Mythic Russia

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>>51484622

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>>51484629

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>>51484647

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>>51484662

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>>51484681

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>>51484691

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>>51484708

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>>51484734

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>>51484752

I've seen many of these paintings before, but I didn't know the artist. Good thread idea OP.

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>>51484759

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>>51484765
>>51484760

Thanks man.

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>>51484777

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>>51484787

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monitoring, enjoying, not contributing.

prolly gonna turn that jungle ship into an encounter someday.

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>>51484803

Anyway, I guess that's enough for now. I think Russian and Slavic mythology and fairy tale often gets overlooked, despite how unique and weird it is. The best setting for a genuine Russian fantasy I know of is Mythic Russia, which is pretty good, but it stays more in the realm of low fantasy than epic or high fantasy.

>>51484818
I'll come back and post more pictures tomorrow if the thread is still here.

>>51484787
>>51484708
Whats the deal with the animal trees? Like, the scorpion tree, and those purple arms, and the snake head? Is this some Russian mythology thing or is the artist just a loony?

>>51484835
Well the only thing I can remember is about Slavic shamans doing backflips after stabbing oak trees to shapeshift.

This is excellent. I desperately want to play a game in this setting now, but where is this guy getting his slavic mythology from cause this is outta this world

>>51484691
Gyeh, gyeh! I bet they still think I'm in Scotland.
Just step in the water.

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>>51484681
Fantasy MGS campaign when?

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>>51484870
pic related

>>51484622
For a split second I thought you were my DM who had his own pantheon of stuff like Uruk. But then I saw the need for advice, so I feel fine.
(still gonna check the thread for a bit *advantage*-I just wanna roleplay better)

>>51484622
I can say without a trace of sarcasm that if I don't get to run a campaign in a setting like this soon, I'll be making a character from this setting.

>>51484752
Alright, that look cozy as balls

>>51484830
bump for this.

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>>51484622
I kinda want to believe that this world exists alongside a Trudvang inspired Scandinavia.

>>51484835
The tree dude looks like a poorly disguised leshy which is a thing in Slavic mythology. No idea about the others.

Awfuck I had completely forgotten about this guy
His stuff is great

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It's glorious

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Just going to leave it out there that reverse image searching can get you some higher res versions of these.

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monitoring.

>>51484822
>it stays more in the realm of low fantasy than epic or high fantasy
How is that? Looks quite high fantasy.

>>51484835
There are no animal trees in the myhology.

>>51485032
By the way, the Baba Yaga's mortar being jet powered was in some Soviet kids' movie parodying/deconstructing fairy tales.

>>51484708
>I swear to god if that fucking tree waves his arms around and goes ooga booga one more time I'll bury him in horse apples

>>51484622
I'm running a campaign set in Vsevolod's fantasy world, or rather a version of it I made up based on the pictures. It's glorious.

The overarching conflict is that of human space farers who crashed on a magical world. Now ages have passed, empires risen and fallen, and humanity lives in a state of medieval technology. Beset on all sides by mythical creatures who try and keep humanity down so they can easily feed of their souls, the humans have to rediscover the miraculous technology of their past as space farers to fight back. Kind of Numenera with a slavic vibe.

>>51488759
I don't know if it's high or low fantasy but I know the ancient greeks would have written a billion plays and poems in that setting if they had been shown those pictures, as it's quite in line with their sensibilities.

>>51488776
Got a link, source, anything? I'm very interested in adding stuff like this to my campaign.

>>51484835
I think it's Vsevolod's own invention. His ideas mix ancient aliens, myth and his own inventions. That's why it's so awesome!

>>51488759
I'm referring to the actual rpg Mythic Russia, not these pictures themselves. You ought to check it out, it's pretty amazing.

>>51488817

That sounds pretty amazing.

>>51488841
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fdiJlPex8s

>>51484622
So he's basically a mixture of a Mormon and an ANCIENT ALYUMS GUISE?

>>51488930
Yes. Yes he is.

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>>51484822

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>>51488902
Thank you! It really is. There's so much weird slavic stuff to draw on!

See pic related. That's a Todorac. Balkan monster that's like a centaur, expect it's a horrible demon that will rip you apart if you go out on the wrong night of the year, motherfucker. Probably some ancient memory of the mounted hordes that would regularly swing by and fuck up civilization.

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>>51488989

>>51488925
Thank you!

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>>51488991
>Todorac

That's pretty metal, I had never heard of that before. Reminds me a little bit of the nuckelavee but less disgusting.
>>51489002

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>>51489023

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>>51489032

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>>51489037

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>>51488991
>>51489023
>>51489056

Would you care to share more?

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>>51489069

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>>51489086

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>>51489119

>>51489037
>ye ancient Heybotte

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>>51489141

>>51489141
The face on that cliff is how bigfoot feels, I guess? Dude's just trying to hand that guy some wood an shit and he's like WOAAAAH IMMA GETTIN TFOTTA HERE

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>>51489166

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>>51489181

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>>51489192

>>51489192
The leap from fantasy to ancient aliens was really fast.

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>>51489216

Alright, that's it for now. I have to go and get ready for work, hopefully this is enough to get some discussion going.

>>51484622
>I am not sure whether he is pitching this all unironically
Is all fiction divided into ironic and serious for you? This is, plain and simple, fantasy.

>>51489243
Is it? Because some of it seems like genuine ancient aliens stuff, which some people believe whole heartedly.

>>51489217
I don't know if he has written up commentary for each piece, but from what I have pieced together, it seems to start with ancient aliens creating the first civilizations, followed by the rise of Hyperborea and Atlantis, the fall of both, and the retreat of Hyperborea into what is now ancient Russia and the creation of an age of myths, gods, and magic, which eventually fades away into the modern world.

I don't know if there is some rationalization in his mythos of the coexistence of super-advanced aliens and supernatural forces like gods, but I would guess he does not really care about details like that.

>>51489243
No, I mean that I don't know if he actually seriously believes this stuff or not. From what I've read, it seems like that might be the case. Either way it is cool shit.

>>51489269
That's what I'm talking about.

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There's a wealth of artists illustrating Slavic legends, many of them superior to Ivanov. You owe it to yourself to check them out if you like this topic.

For instance, Igor Ojiganov

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>>51489302
Alexander Uglanov

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>>51489313
Konstantin Vasiliev - a legitimately great and influential artist

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>>51489330
Victor Kryjanovsky

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>>51489351
Victor Korolkov

>>51489302
Thanks man, these are great. I think the main appeal of Ivanov is the added Tolkien-esque, Ancient Aliens elements and other weird stuff on top of the mythic Russian imagery.

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This looks a lot like a f2p MMO named Allods Online I used to play. Made by russian devs ofc, kinda had the same vibe - russian culture... in SPACE FANTASY!!! Two factions - one was Tsarist Rus, the other was space Commies. Also drew quite a bit from 40k, undeads that were necron lookalikes, commies were basically Imperium, elves were decadent nerds famous for being either vampiric warlocks or strippers. Or both.

Shame the russian devs went full retard with pay 2 win stuff, krokodil addiction is expensive. Would love to convert some 40k stuff into this.

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>>51489069
Psoglav: Freaky Serbian version of ghouls. They have dog heads, human bodies, horse legs and iron teeth and like to sneak about eating corpses, but are not above ambushing and eating people. Their name literally means 'dog head', and they have only one eye. They live in deep caves protected from the sun but with plenty of gemstones.

Now if that's not a great alternative to regular ghouls I don't know what is.

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>>51489389
The story is more complicated than that. It was originally developed by the team that made HoMM V because they didn't want to be bought by Ubisoft. It's based on their old series called Rage of Mages (known as Allods in its home country). It was really a labour of love, you could tell that they poured themselves into the game. But in the end, they still needed a publisher, and they were dumb enough to sign a deal with Mail.ru, a Russian corporation known for ripping people off and providing terrible service. Basically, Activision, but without all the high quality and good games. Due to corporate shenanigans, they ended up in debt to the publisher and had to sell the unfinished game to them. And the publisher turned it into the most shameless pay to win shit ever known to the history of mankind. The game fucking failed in the global market, which you got to be an idiot not to have foreseen, but it's still alive in Russia, because the Russians are morons who can't comprehend the concept of fighting for their rights. The original developers haven't made a proper game ever since, by the way.

>>51488925
I meant another one if I recall correctly.

>>51489389
>one was Tsarist Rus, the other was space Commies
The correct term is Muscovy. Tsarist Russia usually refers to Russian Empire.

>>51484622
Just got done watching the video, have to say the music is as inspiring as the artwork. Thank you OP, for sharing this, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night.

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>>51489501
I kinda knew all that, just didn't want to sperg even more. Truth be told, I'd play the shit out of that game because the scenery is amazing and the rule of cool just strikes a chord with me. I love sci-fi/fantasy mixes like that, I love the 40k shit they nicked, I love the white guard vs red army shit going on and the 40k stuff they nicked. Don't even get me started on the concept of shards and 'Treasure Planet' style starships. Basically I love every single thing about it apart from the abhorrent pay2win.

Interestingly enough, a friend of mine roped our gaming circle into trying their newest MMO, skyforge and it's more of the same p2win faggotry but with even less flavor in order to pander to the westerner whales. Man, just talking about that shit hurts. I wish all that cash goes into a sequel that keeps the aesthetic. If only all the soccer moms that forgot Blizzard are billing them monthly instead donated their disposable income towards funding my dream of being a space Commissar on a dreadnaught propelled by magic and enslaved elves instead of Vivendi's greedy little mitts.

TL;DR even the best of intentions and genius level creativity can't compensate for a shitty marketing strategy.

>>51484734
I fucking LOVE Russian Firebirds, one of the most powerful magic wielding shapeshifters in any lore, and no one ever takes them seriously.

>>51484835
Doesn't the word "shaman" originate from Russian folklore? And didn't they have the ability to force other people/creatures to change shape/species? Like turning people into animals, and animals into trees?

I know that they at least had the ability to talk to animals/grant other people the ability to talk to animals.

>>51489640
Thanks for introducing me to this. Lots of good lore ideas to steal from.

It's a shame pay2win ruins everything.

>>51489269
>some people
Shit used to be almost a religious movement in Europe.

>>51489739
>Doesn't the word "shaman" originate from Russian folklore?
No, it's some siberian stuff. They are essentially letting spirits posess them and act through them, or something like that.

I don't know, so much of this imagery feels like a gaudy knockoff of germanic/nordic/scandinavian stuff.

>>51489389
Yeah, it was awesome when it started, so many cool ideas they had. Ancient Egyptian undead cyborgs, funny little furry vikings, goblin football, Soviet fantasy, astral ships.

>>51487777
I've seen paintings from this artist before, that girl looks exactly like my ex, to the point of it being absolutely eerie when I pointed it out to someone else.

>>51489767
to be fair these cultures share common ancestors (tho they date far back) and have shared territories, especialy in russia, so thats probably the reason, Yugoslavs are way different of course.

This thread is giving me a really strong Viking vibe, and I'm not sure why. As far as I know, the Vikings never had any contact with people living in Russia in that time period.

Did they?

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I'll post some older paintings featuring Russian/Slavic mythology and fairy tales.

The legend of the city of Kitezh tells about a city that was miraculously saved from the Mongols by becoming an invisible city under the waters of the lake Kitezh. The legend doesn't say anything about the ship like in this painting though.

>>51489351
>Great Spirit of Earth and Sky!!!
>It is time of four twenties!!!
>Bless me with the dankest of your herbs!!!

>>51489895
Um... Yeah. They essentially founded the state of Rus, when Slavs invited Rurik to rule them. The very word "rus" actually refers to Vikings. The Vikings living on the territory of modern Russia were called Varangians, they were traders and mercenaries.

>>51489895
The Vikings WERE the people living in Russia.

>>51489895
Your knowledge is shit then. Varangians, read about them.
There is theory according to which protorussian elites were either full viking or heavily blanda upped with vikings. Whole baltic sea was a place of extensive cultural and political exchange between slavs and scandis

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>>51489906
Vasilissa the Beautiful by Bilibin.

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>>51489952
The frog Princess by Vasnetsov.

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>>51489973
And the flying carpet. There are some Iranian influences in the Russian folklore.

>>51489928
>>51489940
>>51489946
Wait what? Vikings originated in Europe, more or less in the same region as France and England. How the fuck could they have survived the trip through India and China to settle in Russia?

>>51489832
I mean yes the Slavic and Germanic language/ethnic groups share a common ancestor by virtue of both being indo european but that's not saying much.

And as far as territory goes, Russia always had the Finno-ugrics between them an Scandinavia acting as a cultural buffer.

The way this imagery is being used feels like a more modern appropriation of older Nordic imagery. And it also just feels fake.

I am of course very specifically speaking of Ivanov's paintings here.

>>51489998
They rented the canoes from Polynesians.

>>51489675
They're basically Phoenixes. Phoenixes are generally not too popular for some reason.

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>>51490001
>apropriation

Wew

the architecutre is based on these russian wood churches so thats very much slavic.
The dresses are bsaed on the ukrainian national dress i think, you can easily look that one up, the whole "Heads everywhere" is based on a Monument on Arkona depicting a Slavic god, i think it was Svarog or Stribog.

It might feel fake because it has a very weird repetetive style but i wouldnt say its ripping off nordics, i mean realy there are only so many ways to build a house from wood and only so many ways to depict bearded tribal europeans.

Might aswell say celts are ripoffs of germanics because they wore stripped trousers and had moustaches.

Also note that Germanics didnt come from scandinavia but many germanic tribes originated from around the area of the black sea, given, the slavs interacted mostly with the steppe tribes around them rather than the germanics but id say they werent without interaction with germanic tribes.

>PIc related

reconstruction of a slavic Temple, add a bunch of bright paint and youre there

>>51489998
Have you ever even seen a map of the world or a globe?

>>51490016
No, phoenixes are just giant birds. Basically Rocks that set themselves on fire but magically reincarnate so they never learn to not be retarded and stop setting themselves on fucking fire.

Russian Firebirds are powerful but shy spirits, who have a SHIT TON of magical abilities, not just a shit ton of magic. They can cast a sleep enchantment, shapeshift into human forms, grant people permanent abilities such as communicating with animals, or even curse people, such as eternal bad luck.

>>51490051
Yes I have, now please explain this.

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>>51489998
>>51490051
>>51490073

Amerifats shouldnt be posting in threads about europe, anon is obviously refering to the great Viking journey to russia, you learn about it in school in europe you know?

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>>51489986
A rusalka by Bilibin.

There is a famous Pushkin's poem "Ruslan and Ludmila" (you can read it by the way, it's cool) and there is a "rusalka in a tree" in the beginning scene, and all illustrations to the poem make her a mermaid. A rusalka is not a mermaid, but the word rusalka has become the standard translation for mermaid and nowadays people think of a mermaid when they hear rusalka. How can a mermaid climb trees was always a mystery to me as a kid, until I found out that all illustrations do it wrong, and she should be something like this.

>>51490073
Assuming this is not a 'hey guys look at how retarded I am' kind of troll, Russia actually lies BETWEEN Europe and China/India. Those vikings settled in Kiev, modern day Ukraine which is situated even more to the West.

>>51490133
I already told you, they sailed on Polynesian canoes. How can you be so dense?

>>51490001
Did you mean "modern appropriation of Richard Wagner's imagery"? Because it sounds like it.

Just read the sagas if you doubt that Scandinavia and pre-Mongolian Russia were culturally continuous.

>>51489389
Its still being played, can be found at my.com

It's not really pay to play like it was in the past. It's still pay to win if you are solely in it for pvp but the pve is nice and has a good story for the most part. Some nice locations and nice art.

>>51490133
Holy crap, I wonder if they also sailed to america from Russia to Alaska. I mean shit, if that one woman near the end of the cold war could SWIM from Alaska to Russia then why wouldn't they be able to sail there?

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>>51490048
>i think it was Svarog or Stribog
It was Svantevit, the four headed god. Christian missionaries reinvented him as Saint Vitus, and the main cathedral of Prague is still named after him.

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>>51490051

>>51490201
God damn maps drawn like this used to fuck with my head. They would ALWAYS put Alaska and Hawaii right next to each other. Always left me wondering how the fuck Alaska could have thirty solid days of night/day but Hawaii didn't.

Thank you Discovery Channel and Animal Planet for giving me a proper education.

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>>51490001
>appropriation

>>51489745
>>51489640
I don't mind pay2win too much in mmo's but that's because pvp in mmo's is a fucking retarded button mash while jumping around like a faggot. I can appreciate camping noob areas to pk the fuckers into oblivion and killing a player base but I'm mostly in mmo's to solo quest, level up and loot gather.

Yiou see Ivan, we Wiaz atlantjeans and shiet!

>>51490001
>appropriation

Anon, these cultures are as dead as the Anglos claim the Americans always have been.

>>51490073
Since the world is round, you can go from South Africa to Siberia by trekking over the south polar cap. You can use the same trick to go from South America to Alaska, which is how the indians did it before we built bridges over Panama Canal.

>>51490426
Man, the trolling is thick ITT.

Everybody knows that ancient astronauts (or cosmonauts, in the case of slavs and Mongols and Chinese) gave humans a lift. Nobody actually walked all the way to wherever.

>>51490535
Keep your brutish colonial terms to yourself. They're called spacemen.

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>>51490554
>>51490535
>all those perfidious Anglos making up ridiculous names for the Raumfahrer

>>51489141

HEY

GIMME MAH STICKS

>>51490601
Prä-astronauten pls.

>>51489501
>The original developers haven't made a proper game ever since, by the way.
Didn't they make Skyforge? Or are those different guys?

>>51490747
Different guys.

>>51490136
Rusalkas might also be a form of undead, what with them being either drowned girls or daughters/consorts of a vodyanoi

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>>51489389
I'm gonna post some concept art if nobody minds.

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>>51490835
Medieval Soviet Union? Me gusta.

Идитe нaхyй пиндocы eбaныe

fuck you amerifats just go play myfarog or fuck off and get cancer

>>51490871
Угoмoниcь, eбaнaшкa

>>51490871
I wouldn't hate on Myfarog if I lived in the country that gave us VTNL...

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>>51490854

>>51490048
FYI, "appropriation" doesn't just mean "the person using this word is from tumblr, better bust out the dank memes".

>>51491047
yeah i know i just dont think it applies here.

>>51489946
I was reading Ibn Fadlan just the other day and he quite clearly describes a bunch of scandinavian dudes while calling them Rus.

Then again, he calls Volga Bulgars slavs, so he's prolly not that reliable.

>>51490048
>Also note that Germanics didnt come from scandinavia but many germanic tribes originated from around the area of the black sea
That's not right. What we know about the history of their culture and language implies that they both formed in northern Germany and Southern Scandinavia and then moved from there. Obviously the people that became the Germanic tribes would have had to come from the Black Sea area or Anatolia as they were Indo-Europeans; they just hadn't developed anything that would have been recognizable as Germanic by then.

>>51491206
>Rus
>Scandinavians

yeah because the Rus were scandinavians.
The Russians took the name from the settling scandinavians.

>>51491343
Still many germanics settled in what were then slavic lands and eventually got displaced and assimilated into the slavs, before the slavs came germanics and samoyedics were pretty much the only people inhabiting those places, the slavs filled the gap after the huns displaced everyone.

>>51491438
>yeah because the Rus were scandinavians.
Well, yes, that's the point.

>The Russians took the name from the settling scandinavians.
Yup, 'rowers'. The same reason Finns call Swedes 'Ryotsi'

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>>51491469
It's Ruotsi, and it refers not just to rowers, but to a specific tribe that inhabited the Swedish coast north of Stockholm. The descendants of these people still live there.

>>51491557
>but to a specific tribe that inhabited the Swedish coast north of Stockholm
It actually refers to Roslagen, which is thought to have been the home of the Rus tribe in ancient times. Rus would have been pronounced more or less the same as Ros is today in Swedish, while lagen would mean more or less "the rule of" or "ruled by".

The practice of naming foreign lands after the closest point to ones own homeland is common, and is also the reason Finland is called as such, because the actual place Finland is only a small patch of land in the southwestern corner of the land the Finn's call Suomi, close to Sweden.

>>51484681
Is that supposed to be baba yaga?

What the hell is Gardariki? I don't really get who actually built all the forts? Were it Rus or local Slavs?

>>51491704
Garðariki was a kingdom founded by Scandinavians in modern Ukraine.

>>51491754
>Old Ladoga
>Novgorod
>Murom
>modern Ukraine

>>51491661
I don't think you realise I'm Swedish.

>>51488991
>There's so much weird slavic stuff to draw on!
>A centaur that kills you

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>>51491704
Google is your friend.

>>51491811
>Canada
>"Land of the Weak"
Accurate.

>>51484622

Didn't initially read the post just looked at the the picture which looked like a Melenbonian ship from Moorcock's Elric.

>>51490190
>Svantevit, the four headed god. Christian missionaries reinvented him as Saint Vitus
Świętowit - Święty Wit, how the fuck did I not catch this
chalk one up to the Catholic propaganda I guess

>>51491701
She uses Baba Yaga's method of locomotion, but we can't be sure with this artist.

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>>51490854

>>51491206
>Volga Bulgars
volga bulgars mixed with slavs a lot, so.

>>51491811
>blakkumenland
Oh yeah, remember that.
Also some norse curse on some guy that got betrayed by vlachs, which was funny.
What's that thing in moldova and ukraine, btw?

>>51492448
Harvaða fjöllum? The Carpathians.

>>51490001
>appropriation

Are you retarded?

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>>51490833
Yes, they are undead, spirits of drowned girls. I don't know who started using it as a translation for mermaid, traditionally it was translated as мopcкaя дeвa - "sea maiden", i.e. literally mermaid. Proper mermaids even exist in russian folklore, like in the tale of Sadko.

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If you want more weird Russian illustrators, there are Alexandr and Elena Gazhur. Or Gajour, or Гaжyp.

Here's a cosmic sacrificial horse.

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>>51492933
They have online galleries at gajour.ru and gazhur.ru respectively.

>>51488991
Looks nicer or at least equal to original centaurs who were barbaric raiders, abducters and rapists.

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>>51492953
These are from a peculiar tome by one Viktor Kalashnikov, "Atlas of mysteries and enigmas", part 3. The leading message of the book is basically "we wuz Aryans and shit", but it goes into even more outlandish territory, with chapters on dell'arte comedy, Tolkien, Cimmerians, the Age of Aquarius and pterodactyl sightings in Texas.

>>51493050
Also more than likely to use the same inspiration, since both legends come from the Balkans.

>>51492533

>noun: appropriation; plural noun: appropriations
>1. the action of taking something for one's own use, typically without the owner's permission.

>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appropriation_(art)
>Appropriation in art is the use of pre-existing objects or images with little or no transformation applied to them.[1] The use of appropriation has played a significant role in the history of the arts (literary, visual, musical and performing arts). In the visual arts, to appropriate means to properly adopt, borrow, recycle or sample aspects (or the entire form) of human-made visual culture.

Feel free to stop being triggered by things you immediately identify as tumblr buzzwords at any time.

>>51493500
Arrgh you shit cunt you said "triggered" I'm gonna fuck you up

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>>51493097
I can try to look up some things if there is interest.

>>51489402
I like this a lot, the iron teeth could even signify that they eat fey as well as humans.

>>51489273
Badass timeline

>>51489824
>girl looks exactly like my ex
It's a classical European face...soon to be enslaved by Mohammedans again.

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Oh shit, russian folklore thread and nobody told me?
>The immortal warrior wizard, Koschie the Deathless

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>>51494927
>Russians, Mongols 1v1 no items final destination

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>>51494938
Does anybody know what characteristics slavic heroes take after? For instance, Greek Heroes are usually supermen. Same with Germanic, up until Christianity said the Beouwulfs had to be humble men instead of a MAN'S MAN. Maybe slavic heroes prize cunning over fighting prowess

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>>51494979
>Wolf Riders are too powerful ingame. They get a monstrous mount and ranged bows? Nerf that shit.

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>>51494993
>TFW the queen doesn't give a fuck

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>>51495021
>A man had seven sons and seven daughters. Also there was a prince and a magic talking axe. Together they all marched to some castle you could only find on Tuesday and killed an evil wizard. Then the fire-bird appeared and blessed everyone with their own kingdom

>>51492630
There's an old soviet movie about Sadko, good inspiration for Russian campaigns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8RAKma4PXo

>>51484622
Holy shit, i have seen those pictures in a shitty pseudo-historical book «10000 years of Russian history»
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq4ovr5bk40

>>51494979
There is a special word for them.
Bogatyr (Бoгaтыpь)
Brave warriors with a huge constitution score

>>51493817
>I can try to look up some things if there is interest.

Colour me interested. I tried searching for the book mentioned, 'Atlas of mysteries and enigmas', but couldn't find anything on Russia. Only book I found with that title was by a British (?) guy.

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Reminder that the Baba Yaga might be nice to you, might be the great evil, might be three identical sisters, might like licking a maid tits'.

>>51494979
Well, St. George is the paradigmatic hero in a lot of Eastern European folklore, and a patron saint of old Muscovy to boot. You can find a lot of authentic art since he's the subject of a fair bit of religious iconography found in Novgorod, Suzdal, etc.

St. George is typically attributed the characteristics of bravery (duh), humility, loyalty, and perseverance. Not especially unique traits for a heroic personality, but there you have it.

Mercy and compassion can also be a big part of it, though. St. George is of course notable for his devotion to the weak and defenseless like any good Christian martyr, but one should remember that he also spared and domesticated the dragon after defeating it.

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>>51495229
There were three somewhat neat cartoons about them.
Dobrynya Nikitich and Zmey Gorynych
Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber
Don't remember the third one
You can draw inspiration from there

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>>51495021
Show me YFW she starts giving a fuck

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Gonna dump some cubistic depiction of slavonic gods by Zofia Stryjeńska, polish modernist, art-deco artist of the 1920

First one is Perkun, or properly Perun who is god of thunder

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>>51495379
Hey, I know those guys!

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>>51495728
Next one is called Boh, I'm not entirely sure what she (asrist) ment by that name, some slavonic languages use word bog as god, in general sense

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>>51495762
Here is Wołos, or Veles, chthonic deity of underworld and wealth, but also magic

>>51494979
There are two kinds of heroes.

Bogatyri are mystic warriors, often with connection to their homeland. Some of them rules lawyered said "connection" by carrying a bit of soil in the pouch.

Less powered folk heroes win either by cunning (such as very liberal interpretation of rules, laws and prophecies) or by the power of friendship and not being a dick.

Also many supernatural creatures can be malicious or helpful, depending on whether you are a dick to them or not. Baba Yaga, for example - sure, she might be a child-eating witch, but that's not the reason to disrespect your elders (though to be fair accounts of child-eating vary from tale to tale.)

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>>51495784
Światowit(d), also known as Svantevith, four-headed god of war, this depiction sadly lacks policephaly

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>>51495836
Marzanna - polish godess of death and winter

>>51495728
>>51495762
>>51495784
Neat.
These wouldn't be out of place in SMT game.

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>>51495855
Lelum - twin brother of the god Polelum, whom represents the Gemini constellation in polish mythology

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>>51495901
Last one I have, Dziedzilia - polish godess of spring and vegetation

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>>51494979
There are cunning heroes in fairy tales, just like in other European fairy tales, but the primary heroes of bylinas are "bogatyrs", that is brave warriors/knights, Sadko being a merchant and bard is an exception. Here's bogatyr (by the way, the word bogatyr is of a Turkic origin) Ilya of Murom facing Nightingale the Robber.

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>>51495973
Ok, I found yet another one by Stryjeńska, it's called: Elements - Fire and Water, it depicts fiery sun god Swaróg (Svarog) battling the water deities

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Fuck, now I want to play entire campaign of wfrp in Kislev

>>51495901
As far as I know, this god didn't actually exist, it was a misenterpretation of some songs based on Greek analogies.

>>51495242
Pls explain or link sauce. Cause I'm interested in tit lickin witches

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>>51496172
Well, half of those deities are wrong anyway, just wanted to share trippy gods

I always was fascinated by the ancient aliens settings. Watche dNadia this year for the first time and was amazed.

So some anon above said he played in such a setting. Does any slavic ancient aliens setting exist? Wanna build one based on the Vsevolod drawings?


Let's start.
Aliens came to Earth built great civis and after centuries it all felt apart. Now human live in a medieval setting with bits of old tech here and there.

We have humans. Their lifestyle is pretty hippie. Live in contact with nature extreemly good at using wood. Domesticated lots of aniamls like Mammoth and bears.

We have immortals, human that discovered ancient tech to prolong their lives in one way or another, Baba Yaga, Koshej, Vasilisa. If we want we can add to that category Vodjanoj and Leshij (water and wood lords) not sure if it is a good idea.

We have generic monsters: old lab experiemnts gone wrong or some tech got activated and turned a snake into a 3 headed dragon.

Lot of tales have speaking animals but personally I hate that part of medieval fairy tales so I would leave them out.

Magic: we want magic for PCs in this setting. I love the idea of shapeshifers. You are a human wizard (koldun) if you kill an animal and take its skin you can use the skin in a ritual to turn into said animal. Killing stronger monsters allows your party koldun to turn into stronger stuff. Beware when you turn your human skin is left behind, you better hope nothing happens to it.

We had a lot of wish granting stuff in slavic folklpre. They could be disguised STC systems.

No idea how to add Firebirds into this, ideas?

>>51484681
What the actual living breathing fuck? I haz no evens.

>>51497154
>namefag
>talking like a retard
git out

>>51495728
This is too cool, thanks for the pictures.

>>51496188
The Legless and the Blind Bogatyrs,

https://books.google.com.br/books?id=PkuXCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT115&lpg=PT115&dq=baba+yaga+white+breasts&source=bl&ots=BwDfEVO-sq&sig=8OzIlMV-HMFLUWgWYGp6mi7VC2c&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjqpa64zO3RAhVJ54MKHTCeAncQ6AEIJDAC#v=onepage&q=baba%20yaga%20white%20breasts&f=false

https://archive.org/stream/russianfolktales00afanuoft/russianfolktales00afanuoft_djvu.txt

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>>51495241
The original Russian release of the "Aтлac тaйн и зaгaдoк" looks like this. I have the Polish translation; I was unable to find out whether any others exist or not. Publisher is Belyy Gorod.

There is an 8 chapter long section on "Old Rus". I should be going to bed now, but if the thread is still in the morning I'll elaborate on what's inside. Some Chaadayev is cited several times, he's apparently a bitter philosopher with an inferiority complex. Also Etruscans = Picts = Rus.

>>51492513
>Harvaða fjöllum
Thanks.

>>51489389
>krokodil addiction is expensive
No it is not. Krokodil addiction is literally the last resort after you don't have any way to get any drugs that don't turn your body and life into an unrelenting horror, but you still want to get high.

That's why it was invented by Russians.

>>51494892
is your ex an idealized circassian woman? perhaps she was pontic-greek?

>>51494979
a slavic hero is always witty and clever, even if this eventually gets them killed it is the one trait every slavic hero has.

>>51491879

My first thought as well.

>saved all OP's pics

>>51498847
>Some Chaadayev
The one Pushkin wrote to?

>>51491767
Go eat your rotten fish and your red candy fish and shut the hell up.

There is no archaeological evidence for any of this.

>>51500161
Well no shit.
(Who even does archaeological digs in Siberia)

>>51500201
I'm just confused is all.

>>51489756
I thought the term was a Lapplander thing.

>>51500279
It's based on MYTHIC Russia, as in all the ancient folklore of Russia, not archaeology.

>>51500666
WITNESSED

>>51500666
This is what bugs me. There is no archaeological evidence so he just makes it all up. Why does it have to masquerade as historical? Why Russia? He should have just made up his own setting.

>>51500733
Because the folklore he's portraying is that of the peoples of Russia

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>>51500733
>why do native american legends talk about Coyote?
>there is no archaelogical evidence Coyote ever existed
>why does it have to masquerade as historical?
>why North America?
>he should have just made up his own setting

>>51489302
>superior to Ivanov
>drawing in a Western European style
JUST

>>51500884
That one wasn't even hand drawn, was it? It looks like it's entirely digital art. At least the guy OP posted looks like he hand painted all of his work on an honest to goodness CANVAS with OIL PAINTS.

>>51500861
>>51500812

All i'm saying is that shit like this subtracts from our understanding of the past and makes a mockery of historical fact. So yes, he should have made his own setting instead of insulting us who want to understand the past properly.

>>51501958
Are you by chance autistic?

>>51501958
kek

>>51496565
>Firebirds
>Artifically created Alien superbeings. Alien transhumanism gone wrong explaining their suddenly fleeing earth or dying.

>>51502367
It wouldn't matter if I was. What matters is that people shouldn't just impose things that can't be substantiated onto an ACTUAL time or place. Tolkien understood this. He didn't impose his stuff into the real world, he invented his setting. This 'artist' should have done the same. Before his brush even touched the canvas he should have had a map at least. A list of major figures, what races exist, the very basic stuff. But no he just splats his stuff out there with no regard for reality.

>>51502561
Tolkien borrowed from lots of different myths and folklores to make his setting dipshit

>>51502561
Anon.

Hate to break it to you, but there, in fact, ARE people in this world who can separate fantasy and reality.

>>51502591
>>51502645
How do you not get what I'm saying here? It has NO historical value and therefore should not be in a historical setting. There is no evidence of giant ships or mammoth harnessess in ancient Russia therefore they should not be depicted in ancient Russia. FULL STOP. Stuff like that belongs in its own setting.

>>51502561
>He didn't impose his stuff into the real world
Tolkien placed Middle-Earth in a mythical past here on Earth.

>>51502683
Oh, we do get what you're saying there, it's just too silly to be taken seriously.

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>>51489998
>Trying this hard to be the new "cant sail to Corsica"

Weren't there a Belarusian prince supposed to be a sorceror and a werewolf and shit? I think his name was vseslavs

>>51502729
>>51502752
I can't believe this. You people are the reason culture is in the toilet. You're as bad as Hollywood who think its okay to cast someone like someone like Gerard Butler as Leonidas when there is NO PROOF that he looked like that.

I have a thing for tragic folk heroes, and my understanding is that all Slavic folklore reads like a series of tragedies. So who is the most tragic hero in all of Slavic mythology? Who is the one whom nothing ever goes right for, who when he tries to do right only creates misery, who dies having accomplished none of the things he set out to do or if he did with very unfortunate consequences?

>>51502787
Are you pulling our legs m8

Because it sounds like you're having a good laugh there.

>>51489824
Your ex was fat.

>>51502802
>I have a thing for tragic folk heroes, and my understanding is that all Slavic folklore reads like a series of tragedies.
Actually, no. Slavic mythology is mainly tales of success through persevering, overcoming hardships and stupidity of people in charge. Even when hero DOES die/suffer through insurmountable hardships, it's usually somewhere in the center of a story, just before he gets help from people/animals/concepts/even landmarks he helped through his journey.

>>51502683
We understand perfectly, you're having a full autistic chimp out because your primitive reptile brain can't grasp fiction. I do not envy your state appointed tard wrangler.

>>51502878
So is there any hero whom nothing turns out well for?

Finnish mythology is also mostly a positive stories about heroes that succeed, but they still had the story of Kullervo which was a fantastic read.

>>51487007
that stuff is good, glad I was able to afford the PDF, but still sad I wasn't able to afford a physical copy

>>51488930
there is a sect in Russia called Ynglism that believes Slavs are descendants of ancient astronauts

>>51489273
One of his paintings has a map of Ancient world, inclunding Poseidon island in Atlantic and land mass above Russia in Arctic. It's in chamber of one of Czarnbogs former ministers. There are also paintings of Slavs visiting some civilization similiar to Aztecs(but not the same)

>>51490001
We share common Indo-European ancestors. Plenty of myths like Zeus or Perun, Thor are from the same source.

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>>51503337
the map

>>51503549
>We share common Indo-European ancestors
While true that doesn't actually mean all that much. Persians and Hindus are also Indo-Europeans, but you don't look at pictures of mythical India and think "I definetly get a Norse vibe from this".

The similarities that do exist between Germanic, Slavic and Celtic cultures have more to do with similar habitats and a cultural exchange that has undergone for a long period of time due to the close proxomity of the areas where they settled.

>>51502811
It feels more like he realised that he was an idiot, but rather than admitting it or just stop talking he decided to crank it up to 11 and pretend like he was trolling the entire time.

>>51496565
honestly I'd just have actual full blown magic lying around alongside the ancient super-tech, like maybe that's why the aliens came to Earth in the first place, cause our planet is uniquely vibrant with the stuff, although their technology and science did make it easier to harness

also keep the talking animals around, it's more interesting than leaving them out

>>51503723
Hey, at least it's funnier than the tired "I was pretenting the whole time now whose the retard???"

>>51503835
But that's exactly what I said it was.

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>>51494979
I don't know about russian folk heroes, but polish ones are definitely more cunning type. The legend of Smok Wawelski (Dragon of Wawel mound) is good example, the dragon is not defeated by brute strenght but by trickery.

You see, this fat reptilian bydło demanded tribute in sheep (his favorite meal) or else .
Many knights and warriors battled with beast, but all failed to slay it.

Then Krak, the legendary founder of city of Kraków, stuffed dead sheep with sulfur, tar and other poisons. When tribute time came Dragon unaware of trap has eaten the toxic meal, and reptile dropped dead.

In more kiddy version of the story some weird ignition reaction has occured inside dragons stomach, which made dragon VERY thirsty, so much infact that he drank half of Wisła river and exploaded

>>51502776
Vseslav the Sorcerer (also the Prophet), also known as Volkh

>>51502802
>I have a thing for tragic folk heroes, and my understanding is that all Slavic folklore reads like a series of tragedies
No, that's Greek myth. And Russian history

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>>51504192
>>51504192
Anyone for more legends? Here's story of the Basilisk.

part 1

In the city of Warsaw lived an armourer named Melchior - his metallic shields were famous in whole country. Shilds were so polished that you could see clear reflection of yourself in it, and you could blind your enemy in battle using reflected sunrays.

One day children of Melchior have heard that troupe of joungleurs came to town and (kids) wanted to see the show in the city square.

Armourer agreed to let kids to go see the show, he gave them warning however. He warned them not to get near the house near the Crooked Wheel street, townfolk say that the basement is haunted and people who go there went missing. (pic related)

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>>51504343
part 2

Children went to the show, it was very colourful and full of merry jests. After it was finished the artists went to the inn, while one of them separeted from the group.

Intrigued kids went after him and to their surprise, he went straight to the basement of the House on the Crooked Street, of which their father warned them.

The curiosity was stronger and kids went step by step into the dark and damp cellar.
There was no light, but all of sudden a weird and terrifying animal screeching was heard and mans scream came after.

Kids finnaly saw what happend, in the middle of it - a creature; large rooster-serpent hybrid with terrible, fiery eyes, and the artist - petrifed!
They quickly hide behind the large barrels.

Melchior the armourer worried about why his kids didn't return to home, came looking for them, and asked people if they saw them.
He quickly realised what terrible mistake they made.

He took one of his famous shilds and went running straight to the basement of the Basilisks house.

Children thought they met their end when the monster drew near, but in the last moment Melchior burst in and hid behind the shild, basilisk killed itself by looking in its own eyes deadly gaze.

Here you have another example of folk hero who use his skill and wits rather then strenght to overcome the adversaries. Interestingly, polish basilisk is actually cockatrice

>>51503586
>>51503337
I always assumed it was Koshej due to egg in his hand.

>>51501958
You sound like a genuine autist to me.

>>51503726
I love talking animals, they give genuine mythic feel to any story they are in. Apparently most writers think they're too childish. Well, to me they're less childish than the ubiquitous furries.

>>51504459
>polish basilisk is actually cockatrice
Historical basilisk IS cockatrice. Six legged crocodiles are a modern invention.

>>51504192
>kiddy version
Am I the only one thinking the kiddy version is much more gory?

>>51504766
>Six legged crocodiles
where did it came from? I rememember first seeing them on HoMM III.

Was it the same in old D&D monster Manuals?

>>51504780
No, and I'm also not sure if that's the kiddey version, because it makes less sense, just like a genuine folklore story would.

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>>51504803
In kiddy version I ommited the part that the posion-stuffed sheep carcass was actually made not by Krak, but by crafty shoe-maker named Dratewka, who in turn was given kings Kraks daughter as a wife.

The original story was much more straightforward. The method of killing dragon is propably inspired by the biblical story from deuterocannonical (catholic) book of Daniel, it's called "The Story of bel and Dragon"
Here you can read it:
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=4210813

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>>51504786
I believe that original basilisk was just serpent, it evolved over time giving it some chicken characteristics. The d&d (and modern fantasy in general) version of multi-legged reptile was propably inspired by some obscure 16th-century italian natural history book, pic related.

You can still see it has roosters head and legs, the d&d version is fully lizard

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>>51504943
It was supposed to be born from a snake egg hatched by a rooster, hence the rooster features. Pic related, a basilisk statue in Munich - as you can see, it's really a cockatrice.

Reminder that if Russia wouldn't have Muscovy in charge, it would just have been historical Sweden + Mongols.

Any respectable Not-Europe puts Sweden and Russia together.

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If anyone's interested in polish legends and folktales I have many, many more, including some wierd and obscure ones.
I know it's a bit of derail, original thread topic is about Mythic Russia, not Poland, however both share slavic roots, so you can always
find some interesting stories inspiring your campaign

>>51505320
What the fuck am I reading?

>>51484822
Dunno about Russian, but Czech legends are very low fantasy. Nothing supernatural aside form one duchess supposedly having prophetic powers, strongest hero is a guy who picks a figh with large boar bare handed and somehow wins etc.

>>51505347
They both stem from the Vikings, and, if going back far enough, they were relatively similar untill the whole Mongol business. Russia is just Sweden with Horses. Same enviroment, same heritage, not as different culture as one might think. That said, I get what you're thinking, but basically, add horses to western Russia, and you have a Nordic nation.

>>51505402
Russian legends are very diverse. You have everything from clever peasants outsmarting greedy merchants to epic heroes fighting liches and dragons.

>>51505483
>They both stem from the Vikings
No they don't. Rus was a state ruled by Varangian princes, but at its core the culture was Slavic with some influence. And even then there was more Finno-Ugric, Byzantine and steppe peoples influence than Scandinavian. Just think about it, Sweden ended up Catholic.

>they were relatively similar untill the whole Mongol business
This might be true to some degree, but not like you describe it.

>Russia is just Sweden with Horses
No it isn't, just like Normandy isn't just Denmark with Horses, and no respectable person puts Sweden and Russia together.

>>51505483
You're simplifying things a lot. Russia had a lot of different influences apart from the Norse. North Russia was the place with the most Norse, and it was still very distinct from any Nordic nation, being most similar to the Icelandic Commonwealth. It was ruled by a large merchant republic, a bit like culturally primitive Venice. Also it was divided into several domains, each one of which was ruled by a district of the city of Novgorod - very interesting stuff. It also had universal education and prototype colonies.

The farther south you go, the less Nordic it becomes. The duchies of Rostov, Vladimir and Suzdal are your traditional Old Russia, with lots of huge unexplored woods everywhere. That's also where also where all the Finno-Ugric tribes lived that were assimilated into the Russian nation.

The southern duchies were influenced by external factors to an extreme degree because they always had a powerful neighbour, be that Byzantine Empire or Khazar Khaganate. They also suffered a lot from assorted Turkic raiders - Cumans, Kipchaks, Pechenegs, etc, and many of these raiders were actually assimilated as well.

All it all, it was extremely diverse, much more so than medieval Scandinavia. But it all ended when Muscovy and Lithuania divided ancient Rus between each other and destroyed all the other cultures that existed there.

>>51505667
>Normandy isn't just Denmark with Horses
Of course it isn't, that would be preposterous. It's Norway with Horses.

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>>51499735
Most likely.

>>51498847
Acording to the book, Etruscans were the first Europeans. After the Celts took over, some went north to and became the Picts, some to Asia Minor and then Italy - they're the Etruscans. How did they end up in Slav lands isn't clearly explained, but Rasena is basically Russian, right?

Slavs themselves came from now sunken Arctic islands and went south. Tripolye and more unusually Dilmun in Arabia are mentioned here.

One name which shows up is Vladimir Shcherbakov, who among other things claims that old Nisa near Ashkhabad was literally Valhalla.

>>51503686
>>51503686
There are similar myths ans deities in Hindu and Slavic mythology, also Slavic languages have connections to sanscrit

>>51504550
In description of the painting it says Koshej was a minister in Czarnobog's rule on Poseidon, but later fled to Siberia.

>>51505675
>destroyed all the other cultures that existed there
As you described it yourself above, it's more like absorbed than destroyed. Russia is different from all of its source nations (Kievan Rus included) and as bloody-minded as all of them put together

>>51506103
>also Slavic languages have connections to sanscrit
to about the same degree Germanic languages do

>>51506058
Moving on.
"Russian Faith": harsh climate, even harsher rule and threats from external enemies made Russians not value their earthly lives a whole lot. Power and wealth are not to be sought after.

"Star Maidens": Russian spirituality is infinite and eternal, the myths are archaic and predate all the pantheon stuff, dualistic opposites are important. Perun was actually a chthonic god, was lame and that's why the Kievian statue had iron legs. Rozhanitse are star maidens related to fate and divination.

Then there are house spirits, magical significance of tying and embroidery, a chapter on bohatyrs, the story of Volkh, ibn Fadhlan's tale of a burial.

Keep in mind elsewhere there's a chapter on how the Scottish poet Thomas Learmont eloped with the elf queen Titania, so take it all with a grain of salt.

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>>51506184
acctually anon...
Pic extremely related
take this for example comparison of polish and sanskrit:
Dom → Dam eng. house
Doić → Dhajati eng. milking
Matka → Mati eng. mother
Brat → Bratr eng. brother
Mąż → Manusya eng. man/husband
Jebać → Jebhati eng. fucking
Bóg → Bhaga eng. God/Lord
Święty → Śivata eng. Saint
Niebo → Nabhas eng heaven/sky
Mgła → Megha eng. fog → cloud
Swaróg → Svarga eng. heavenly sun god → higher heaven
Sława → Śravas eng. fame/glory
Ogień → Agni eng. fire
Owca → Avis eng. Sheep
Wilk → Vrka eng. wolf
Budzić → Buddha eng. to wake up → aweken one
Majaki → Maya eng. to have delusions → illusion
Mara → Mara eng. bad dream → demon

And MANY, many more.
Lithuanian is even more close to pre-indoeuropean then any slavonic language, but sill you can see what I mean

https://get.google.com/albumarchive/103163726271878749746/album/AF1QipMVTb1fdyssA0Se-15Vq-69hFqYxU_ymuR4rj3O?source=pwa

>>51506184
This is wrong.
Germanic languages are more distantly related to Sanskrit than Balto-Slavic languages. There are sentences that sound the same in Lithuanian and Sanskrit.

>>51506458
If you really want to fire up your neurons you should all read infamous rants by notorious polish schizophrenic Francis E. Dec. His text "ASTROCISM: THE TRUE RELIGION
OF THE SLOVENE PEOPLE!" should be good place to start: http://www.bentoandstarchky.com/dec/astrocism.htm

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More Slavic fantasy art

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>>51506519

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>>51506540

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>>51506560

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>>51506571

>>51506401

The spirituality thing makes it feel like like the 1800's russian slavophile movement mixed with fantasy history.

>>51505335
Please anon, give me fodder and lore for my campaign

So, should the next thread be other assorted Mythic Slavs? I'd love to learn about Czech folk tales/fantasy art, for one.

>>51489389
>went full retard with pay 2 win stuff
This and game designers were fucking retards. Everyone tend to point out p2w shit, but it had way to much problems outside of that.

>>51507551
>I'd love to learn about Czech folk tales
Once upon a time, there lived ancient Czechs and they had folk tales.
Then, Christian missionaries came and destroyed all their traditions with fire and sword until nothing remained.
The End.

>>51508341
'tib' 'tib' :DDD

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Leshy is an underappreciated creature. He's basically like a trickster god living in a wood. Will fuck you up for entertainment, but may reward you greatly if you manage to make him laugh.

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Princess Wanda, daughter or granddaughter of King Krak.
There are two versions of this legend:
In older one, she defeated germanic warlord, who sings song of praise of her and then commits a suicide. Wanda then rules for many years as a virgin-queen.
In more popular one, Wanda is famed for her beauty, and refuses the advances of German prince, who invades in response.
Princess defeats the attackers, but to protect her people, she commits suicide, by throwing herself into the Vistula river, because she knows that as long as she is alive, there will be future suitors who will use her refusal to marry as a pretext for an invasion.

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>>51494927
Bilibin was apparently high when he drew this. Koschei is shown as a skeletal man in a crown in pretty much all other depictions.

>>51508320
Like what?

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Ok, the Wawel Dragon and Basilisk are the most known around here, I will now go with the possibly the most obscure piece of polish folklore, albeit funny one. This legend can be easily used for low-level begginer side quest.

Before I begin with the story some historical background before some /pol/tard begin their
autistic screeching. This legend is from city of Olsztyn in Warmia region of northern Poland. Historicly the region was known as Ermland, and the city as Allenstein in the Eastern Prussia. How is this polish legend you may ask? Well, in the 14th century when the Teutonic Order conquered whole Old Prussia and baisicly genosited native people they begun to colonize the land, mostly with Saxons and Dutch settlers (even some Scots went there), however the southern region of Warmia was colonised by polish people and it had polish majority up to 20th century (despite being part of German state). The culture of Warmia was interesting blend of polish catholic, german protestant, dutch with distant echo of long lost and forgotten old prussian pagan past.

Warmia and bordering Mazury is also known as The Land of Thousand Lakes, the city of Olsztyn in its administrative border has 15 lakes (some of them are very small ones), and this story is concered with one of the smallest of them.

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>>51510648
It's called Lake Mummel. As I said earlier, it is propably the smallest lake in the region, or the biggest pond if you like. Despite its laughable size, actually it has its charm, being near the park, lovely place for walk.

However, it wasn't always like that. At least to local peasants. In the past the Mummel was outside the city but nearby the road and the Inn. Many people from local villages went for many miles to the city to sell their fruits of labour, tired after whole day they often stayed for ale and some game of chess. One peseant named Arnold. Arnold had one problem. All the money he got from the marketplace selling his crops he liked drown in beer and gambling. His wife was furious when he was returing home, wtih almost nothing.

One night, he said, he won't go to the tavern.
The light and merry laughter of the tavern was alluring, he resited the remptation however.
But he got tired. It was hot summer day, so he sat near the water of Mummel.

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>>51510841
Suddenly something emarged from water.
Creatures native to this lake, and this lake only, named Mumle (Mumla - singular; Mumle - plural). They looked very weird - like a large, human child size balck tadpole, but with frog legs and arms, they were walking upright.

Arnold was frightened. 'What do you want you monsters?!' - He yelled. -'Calm down, we mean no harm. Listen: we can give huge basket full of fish, but under one condition. You will strip donw naked and submerge underwater for the duration of one Pater Noster.' Arnold thought he can do that easily. He undressed himself and left everything including his purse on land. He went underwater and prayed as fast as he could. When he emarged there was no basket full of fish, on Mumle. And his belongigns nowhere in sight. He was furious he got tricked so easily.

He got home wet, tired, sick and naked.
'WHERE IS MONEY? WHERE ARE YOUR PANTS?!' His wife yelled at him. 'The mumle tricked me!' he said. 'Mumle? You drunken liar!
You lost evering gambling!', she surely was mad.

Nobody ever catched a mumla...

>>51510648
>even some Scots went there
Little info: Scots were mainly known in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as travelling, door-to-door merchants, but their number was actually really big, as high as 100,000 in XVII-XVIIIc.

>>51506458
Cognates exist among all the Indo-European languages. The point was that the common ancestry does not account for all of the similarities between Northern European cultures, and we know for a fact that they must have had some form of contact with each other in prehistoric times but after they had already settled Europe and become distinct people who spoke, to each other, unintelligible languages because we can trace Slavic and Celtic loans in the Germanic languages that would have had to have entered those languages at around that time and vice versa.

I have no idea what this is but it's very cool to look at and make me want to run...something. I dunno.

>>51511578
A marathon maybe?

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Here's a Slavic emissary in some Aztec-like city with I guess magic crystals.

I think it is some version of Atlantis.

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>>51511973
Here's another take on the city. It seems to be an Island of sorts, what you see is a statute, not a person.

>>51511973
>>51512010
His ideas are cool, but man, do I wish this guy could draw well. Because I can't look at DEM FACES and not crack up.

>>51512010
It is clearly the Atlantis, look at the globe he is holding.

>>51512773
So the giant statue from Atlantis would destroy Atlantis with eye deathrays? Brilliant idea!