Fantasy Indus Valley Civilization

Refer to Asura's Wrath for aesthetics and some godly dynamics, and you should be okay.

>>52525804
Take influence from southern indian cultures

>Lots of flowers
>Importance of women, particularly mothers
>Stone sculptures and buildings

File: crete plumbing.jpg (55KB, 367x354px) Image search: [Google]

55KB, 367x354px

>>52525804
But all the things you listed fit within bronze age fantasy. How is this one civilization different again?

>>52526052

At the time the Indus Valley civ was the only one that had any of those.

>>52526097
Which time are you referring to? Note that bronze and iron age differs by region.

Ok, maybe the Indus valley civilization had them first.

But when the rest of the setting is put in bronze or iron age development, they quite possibly have those technologies too. Because they emerged in that time frame.

It is like saying:
>Rest of the setting is in the age of industrialization
>This one civ randomly has railroads and steampunk magic

Yes somebody will have stuff first, but when you have put everyone in roughly in the same ballpark already, the question of how can this be done isn't of great difficulty.

>>52525804
So literally just atlantis?

Any setting where the predominant religion isn't violently backwards and anti-progress is bound to have most of the inventions way earlier than real worlds did.

Elves

>>52526506

IIRC about 3000 BC.

>>52525804
They need a keystone resource.
Something that they and only they have easy access to that has allowed them to have the leisure time required to make all those advancements and push them out of the usual hunter/gather or sustenance farming model, without the benefit of outside trade or influence.

They need a motive force.
An internal force that promotes conflict on a low enough level that the civilization is constantly progressing forward while not tearing itself apart from internal strife. As simple as a fiery spirit of fair competition or as convoluted as the main religion declaring that any who do not have their works passed down will be forgotten by the gods, it just needs something to provide the drive.

They need to be safe, and contained.
They need a natural or otherwise incredibly early way to be isolated and defended from neighbors so that all of the above can take place without them becoming the ripe low hanging fruit for the more numerous barbarian hordes, or the start of a conquering empire sweeping out of their glorious homeland.

>>52526524

Sort of. It may have actually been atlantis irl. The Greeks got most of their shit from the Indus.

>>52526609

But it's archetypal elves. The Tolkien played straight.

>>52526744

>keystone resource

I can do that. Might make it a metal to fit with bronze themes.

>motive force

Ideology can be designed.

>safe and contained

I was thinking mountain highlands, maybe even dwarven style, or perhaps even in the vein of Mordor with fertile ash around a volcano.