[Bauchelain the Evil]

Fereydoon, on 12 March 2011 - 10:27 PM, said:

snake0026, on 03 March 2011 - 06:22 AM, said:

And just because I was discussing it with MTS, here's a quote about Napan skin colouration, describing Blues I believe, from Orzu's perspective as he watches the four Crimson Guardsmen approach:

Quote

The shortest was distinctly foreign-looking, with his dark, almost bluish hue.

Stonewielder, TPB, pg 267

Not that any of us actually imagined that there was a bright blue smurf ruling the empire (Laseen), as awesome as that may have been (Surly, the assassin smurfette!), but I suppose it is worth making note of the fact that while their skin is indeed blue-tinged, it is nonetheless very dark in colouration, so as to appear more or less black.

House of Chains Urko description, ripped from the wiki:

Quote

The man standing at the bend in the path ten paces ahead was huge by lowlander standards, his skin so dark as to seem black. He wore no shirt, only a sleeveless vest of heavy mail stiffened by rust. His muscles were vast, devoid of fat, making his arms, shoulders and torso look like they had been fashioned of taut ropes. He wore a belted loincloth of some colourless material. A hat that seemed made of the torn remnant of a hood covered his head, but Karsa could see thick, grey-shot beard covering the lower half of the man's face. (HoC UK mmpb, p.155)

Interesting - here's another description of Napan, this time Korbolo Dom (HoC): "...on which Korbolo Domwas seated. His blue skin was a ghastly grey..."

I think that the colour of Dom's skin is due to the fact that Dom is half-Napan and so is skin is lighter.

[Fereydoon]

Sinisdar Toste, on 13 March 2011 - 01:15 AM, said:

Fereydoon, on 12 March 2011 - 10:33 PM, said:

What about Li Heng? If Itko Kan sounds Japanese then Li Heng sounds very Chinese.

miriya, on 09 March 2011 - 09:37 PM, said:

As for the Daru, I think middle-eastern probably because of the -jistan thing. Kind of hard not to, really. >.>

Astute - more specifically Persian as "stan" roughly equates to the suffixation of land in English (i.e. England, etc.). There is also Cap-ustan

i`m not sure that that`s the case. all the people who are descrived as having daru blood sound pretty aryan to me. challice, gorlas, murillio, the orrs. light skin and hair, and light eyes.

Well, it seems almost all human cities so far have had a mix of people. The term "stan", potentially denotes cultural correlation (if we're right about Itko Kan and Li heng), in addition, there is also reference to caravanserai (rather than inn or tavern) on the trade route in MoI which from Darujistan to Capustan, with possible correlation to the silk and spice routes of ancient and medieval times... Reading the parts of GotM set in Darujistan certainly felt a lot like reading a story from 1001 Nights with Crokus' escapades at the beginning.

Regarding appearance... You are stating that some characters have light features so you're not sure about Darujistan being ME inspired. you will be surely then be surprised to hear that there are many people in the Middle East and surrounding areas with light features.

[Sinisdar Toste]

i'm talking blonde hair blue eyes, but i suppose that the instances of such could be the exception rather than the rule

[Fereydoon]

Of course, but Darujistan seems to be a bit of a melting pot in any case.

[snake0026]

That's a good catch with the Middle Eastern bit.

Unfortunately I don't have my books accessible to go quote hunting, but, using the wiki (which lacks descriptions of many important Daru figures, such as Murillio and Challice), it seems that the Daru people possess quite a bit of variation, with black-haired and blue eyed Crokus and Coll, Rallick and Torvald possessing at least black hair, with Rallick also being, relatively, "dark-skinned," Sulty (though the wiki doesn't clarify whether she is Daru) has blonde hair, while Delish has light brown hair, pale skin, and brown eyes.

So it does not seem like the Daru can be classified as either uniformly Aryan or Middle Eastern (interestingly, according to wikipedia, blue eye colouration is not uncommon thoughout the Mid East all the way to Central Asia and India, even, being most prevalent in the Levant countries, Iran, and Pakistan/Kashmir), but rather are more likely to be, as you say, the result of the relative "melting pot" that is Darujhistan, where the original Daru (descended from the Kindaru and their relatives) settled and most likely intermixed with the native Gadrobi as well as other peoples (the Rhivi and Nathii perhaps).

Perhaps thinking of Darujhistan more along the lines of a Genabackan Istanbul might thus make sense?

[Fereydoon]

Quote

Perhaps thinking of Darujhistan more along the lines of a Genabackan Istanbul might thus make sense?

Absolutely. Or a medieval Baghdad, Cairo or Samarkand. The resonance of alchemy in the area also chimes with this line of thought.

[jonny_anonymous]

Sinisdar Toste, on 13 March 2011 - 01:15 AM, said:

Fereydoon, on 12 March 2011 - 10:33 PM, said:

What about Li Heng? If Itko Kan sounds Japanese then Li Heng sounds very Chinese.

miriya, on 09 March 2011 - 09:37 PM, said:

As for the Daru, I think middle-eastern probably because of the -jistan thing. Kind of hard not to, really. >.>

Astute - more specifically Persian as "stan" roughly equates to the suffixation of land in English (i.e. England, etc.). There is also Cap-ustan

i`m not sure that that`s the case. all the people who are descrived as having daru blood sound pretty aryan to me. challice, gorlas, murillio, the orrs. light skin and hair, and light eyes.

Persians were light skinned aryans

[jonny_anonymous]

Here is how I see some of the races/people:

Napan - I always seen them as Indian and I'm not entirely sure why. I think the blue skin instantly makes me think of the god Shiva and so I just presumed that's what they looked like.

Malaz - I always equate Malaz as a mix of Hong Kong and Taiwan so that's how I view the natives since pretty much all of Quan Tali is asian.

Wickan/Seti - definitely Mongolian with some parts cherry picked from Native Americans.

Itko-Kanese - Japan.

Li Heng - Chinese

Daru - I always viewed them as being north African like Moroccan.

[worry]

Lately I've been thinking of pronouncing the Parans' names with Italian inflections, just for kicks. Like Ganoes Paran is Jan-o-eez Pa-ran; then Fel-i-seen; and Ta-vor-ay. Could the Parans be secret Italians? I suppose we'll never know.