know-o-princess

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Currently pondering whether or not Erud has giant arthropods, and if so how big they get.

I like the idea of people-sized mantises.

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Tonight at work I had an idea: what if, instead of just being populated by violent terrifying apemen, some of those islands were also inhabited by Neanderthals.

Those islands wouldn't be the only place they live, since I picture them being pretty widespread and just as culturally varied as their modern human neighbors, but I think making those islands at least a little more welcoming to visitors would really open up more opportunities for stories set on them.

Also I like the idea of Neanderthals that are just as culturally and technologically advanced as Bronze/Iron Age humans and I need to flesh them out more.

So, in the world of Know, O Princess, since the geography is partly inspired by that of Late Cretaceous Earth, its version of western Europe consists of a bunch of large islands separated by a shallow sea.

Now, if you're wondering what kind of human cultures might arise on those islands, I've got bad news for you, because no humans live there! Instead, they're inhabited by that beloved staple of any sword and sorcery setting: apemen.

Again, this Age of Conan concept art by Ville Valtteri Kinnunen isn't necessarily exactly what they look like, but a good indicator of their overall vibe and level of sophistication, beyond a bunch of naked Frazetta Man knockoffs.

There are several different species of apeman throughout the world and not all of them are dangerous, but the ones inhabiting fantasy-island-Europe are a famously nasty and territorial bunch combining the size, upright posture, and intelligence of a human with the physical strength and capacity for terrifying violence of a chimpanzee. Presumably they're not aggressive and violent all the time, but people foolish enough to visit their islands generally don't live long enough to see their softer side.

Since they would necessarily have to be able to use boats in order to have spread throughout all those islands, I'm currently debating whether or not they also would be aggressive enough for the occasional raid on coastal human settlements on the mainland. They definitely wouldn't take too kindly to any boats coming too close to their shores, at any rate.

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Moorish woman on a vintage postcard

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Berber escort from Morocco

French vintage postcard

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Woman from the Ouled Naïl tribe, Algeria

French vintage postcard

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Idea that I had a few weeks ago and keep coming back to: what if...the Sarmani tribes were Denisovans.

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Terracotta vase in the form of a lobster claw, Greece, circa 460 BC

from The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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A Scythian goddess on Apulian vases

These are five vases likely showing the elusive Scythian ancestral goddess. 

I love the floral imagery, but I’m also frustrated that I can’t find much information about the tendril-limbed female figures. I’m fairly certain that these images, aside from the siren, depict the Scythian ancestral goddess, but I can’t find any art historians who specifically discuss the figures. I’ve found several articles that talk about the vases in general, but they only focus on the flowing vines and the main scenes, not on the likely Scythian deity herself.

Apulian red-figure oinoche, about 350-320 BCE. Photo by courtesy of Dr. Matthias Recke, University of Giessen, Antikensammlung Museum. Photo via Peter on Flickr.

This vase could also be a siren, the lovely singers of Homeric fame. While the other Scythian goddesses only have wings, this woman has bird feet. Sirens were bird-bodied women to ancient Greek artists. However, this siren is unusual as her tail feathers curl out on either side of her, like the Scythian ancestral goddess’s tails do.

Apulian Red-Figure Loutrophoros about 330 B.C. Attributed to the Painter of Louvre MNB 1148 (Greek (Apulian), active 350 - 330 B.C.) Info from Getty Museum.

This woman has wings, a basket on her head like the Vergina mosaics of the Scythian goddess, and a dress like the Carytids in the Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari, Bulgaria, except her upper body is topless. The lower part of the vase shows the mourning of Niobe.

The figure is described but not identified in: Occasional Papers on Antiquities, Greek Vases In The J Paul Getty Museum. An Apulian Loutrophoros Representing the Tantalidae. By A.D. Trendall. 1985. Pages 140-41, fig, 14.

Winged woman with tendrils, likely the Scythian goddess. Apulian red-figure vase, about 340 BCE, Varrese Painter; Antikensammlung Kiel, inventory number B 724. Picture taken by Marcus Cyron via Wikipedia.

This woman also has wings, a basket on her head, and the distinctive curling chiton dress like other Scythian goddess figures wear. She’s mentioned in the article “Half-Human Half-Vegetal Hybrids in Eastern Mosaics” which does talk about Scythian goddess imagery, but the author doesn’t specify that this is an image of the Scythian goddess.

Likely Scythian goddess, Baltimore painter, loutrophoros with wedding scenes, about 325-320 BCE. Matera, Museo Archeologico Nazionale. Photos via Saiko on Wikipedia.

Our next goddess has a different style dress, and much more elaborate tendrils— but she also has wings and perhaps a basket on her head. It’s interesting that most of these goddesses have bare toros, as she Scythian goddess is usually shown with a full dress.

We also have a confirmation that this imagery is related to the Scythia goddess, in an article on her imagery:

“The female winged deity with lower part of the body resembling a palmette or acanthus leaves is a widespread image on Apulian vases. Two characteristic examples are the “Niobe” amphora (4th century BCE) from Naples, featuring an aedicula stepping on a base decorated with several such figures (20) Fig 7 and a case which was sold at Christie’s in 1979, dated to the last decades of the 4th century BC.” (Valeva 1995.)

This article could be referring to the Getty vase, as they're both showing scenes with Niobe. Image from Baggio 2013.

The figures are also described in a chapter about Scythian goddess imagery, by Ustinova, on page 103:

“In Italy, the chthonic symbolism of this goddess was conspicuous: on an amphora from Neapolis, featuring a Niobids-scene, Niobe is portrayed in a naiskos, its foundation decorated with a group of tendril-limbed winged figures, calathi on their heads (Curtius 1958: fig. 33).

Update: I found one more example of this motif on a vase here.

Sources.

Valeva, Julia. “Valeva-1995 The Sveshtari Figures (An Attempt to Specify Several Hypotheses).” Thracia 11, Studia in honorem Alexandri Fol, Sofia. (1995): n. pag. Print.

DERWAEL, Stéphanie. “Half-Human Half-Vegetal Hybrids in Eastern Mosaics.” Journal of Mosaic Research, no. 16, 2023, pp. 89–110, https://doi.org/10.26658/jmr.1376718.

Heuer, Keely. “Tenacious Tendrils: Replicating Nature in South Italian Vase Painting.” Arts, vol. 8, no. 2, 2019, p. 71, https://doi.org/10.3390/arts8020071

Baggio, Monica. “Sistemi Di Immagini, Sistemi Di Oggetti Le Loutrophoroi Del Pittore Di Baltimora.” Cahiers « Mondes Anciens », no. 4, 2013, https://doi.org/10.4000/mondesanciens.1072.

Ustinova, Yulia. The Supreme Gods of the Bosporan Kingdom: Celestial Aphrodite and the Most High God. Boston: Leiden, 1999. 

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I know North African peoples wouldn't have dressed like this in the time period that Erud is roughly analogous to, but I love the style so much that I'm willing to get a bit anachronistic when fleshing out the native peoples of Kem.

...Also it's fantasy and Erud also has Cretaceous and Pleistocene fauna and shit running around so I think a bit of anachronistic fashion is pretty minor all things considered.

Wife of a Qaid from North Africa

French vintage postcard

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Bronze statue of Princess & Priestess Ta-Kush-Yt (with Silver, Electrum inlay, and Ivory insets), c. 670 B.C. From Kom-Toruga, near Lake Mariut, south of Alexandria, Lower Egypt Now in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, Greece.

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Omo Valley, Ethiopia — The many tribes living along the Omo River are renowned for their unique, ecstatic ritual decoration. Their customs and awe inspiring appearance have been the subject of decades of research.

Children of the Kwegu people, known for their intricate flower headdresses and face paint.

Photographer: Hans Sylvester

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One aspect I've come up with for Erud's Neanderthals and Denisovans that I like is that they're not like the usual caveman depictions. Since they've had thousands of years to develop alongside their modern human neighbors they're just as technologically and culturally advanced as they are, so if someone from our world got isekai'd into Erud and encountered some they probably wouldn't even recognize them as such and would just assume they were some fantasy human ethnic group.

Also I would like to go on record that I will not be writing an Erud isekai.

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Moorish woman from North Africa

French vintage postcard

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Moorish woman from North Africa

French vintage postcard

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One nice thing about a fantasy setting is that I can just roll with anachronisms like basing an early Iron Age-equivalent time period ethnic group's aesthetic on a real group that didn't exist back then 'cause fuck y'all, the whole world is fake.

Woman from the Ouled Naïl tribe, Algeria

French vintage postcard

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And this is what would play over the trailer for the big budget limited series streaming adaptation of Know, O Princess:

Chapters: 10/10 Fandom: Original Work Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Original Female Character(s)/Original Female Character(s), Original Female Character(s) & Original Female Character(s), Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s), Original Female Character(s) & Original Male Character(s) Characters: Gina Herodias, Justin Case, Shaiyo Oka, Martin Herodias - Character, Peter Murray (Gondolend), Maggie Ovo, Jasper Mickel, Nasutoceratops, Tyrannosaurus - Character, Spencer Dubile, Gregory Ovo, Nwadiki, maiasaura - Character, Allosaurus - Character, Hypacrosaurus Additional Tags: Dinosaurs, Gondolend, dinopunk, Fantasy, Female Protagonist, Novella, Ranching, Socialism, Pterosaurs, Alligators & Crocodiles, Helicopters, Marijuana, Loss of Limbs, Injury, Major Character Injury, Bad Decisions, Blood and Injury, Blood and Gore, Car Accidents Series: Part 7 of Gondolend Summary:

Three years after the events of Eleven Days in the Valley and several weeks after The Isani District, Gina Herodias makes an intriguing discovery out on the prairie.