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Sunday 18 September 2022

Backstories for my Belle Époque imagi-nations: The Khedivate of Zubia

The history of Zubia can be traced back to beyond the beginnings of recorded history. It is one of the earliest cradles of civilisation, and its people live in the shadows of many ancient monuments. However its era of importance as a major power has long gone, and it is now just a dusty, insignificant former province of the Sofaman Empire.

The flag of the Khedivate of Zubia.

Its current ruler – the Khedive of Zubia – is a middle-aged, fat, and indolent individual who lives in luxury whilst the peasants live in abject poverty. He is descended from an Stalbanian soldier who was made Khedive over one hundred years ago by a grateful Sofaman Sultan (the Stalbanian had saved the Sultan’s life). The country could be rich – it has the potential to grow far more food crops than the population can eat – but the Khedive has done little to improve the lot of the population. Instead he taxes them hard and uses the money to buy fine wines for himself, fashionable dresses for his numerous mistresses, and to build himself bigger and more lavish palaces.

The River Zub is Zubia. Without it the country would not exist. The river brings the silt that makes the land fertile. Its water is used to irrigate the fields. It also provides an easy means of movement from one end of the country to the other. Along the banks of the river everything is green; away for the river everything is desert.

The majority of Zubians are hard-working peasants who live in the villages and settlements that dot the fertile area along the edge of the River Zub. They tend their fields, grow their crops, and pay their taxes – often under duress. They are not generally a warlike people, but when roused they can be formidable opponents. Most towns are populated almost exclusively by urbanised Zubians, whereas a cosmopolitan mix of foreign traders, bankers, and civil servants, Stalbanian army officers, Levantine businessmen, and Zubian servants forms the population of the capital city – Zubairo – as well the main towns of Secundria and Port Zub.

A few Zubians still follow the old ways and live nomadic lives. They move from one oasis to another as the seasons change, and they depend upon their herds of camels and goats to supply them with almost everything the need. They rarely visit the fertile area along the River Zub except to buy essential supplies and to trade camel or goatskins.

The army of Zubia is small but reasonably well equipped. Its recruits are ‘taken’ from amongst the Zubian peasants, and the officers are mostly second or third-generation Stalbanians and Khakistanis, although a few Zubians have been promoted from the ranks.

12 comments:

  1. BOB,
    You are certainly going into a lot of detail for this Project - great work on the background information and history. I'm not going through with my Imagi-nations Project in 6mm....instead I will be doing a 15mm Sci-Fi project (Laserburn)...hopefully the figures I've ordered in 15mm won't take to long to arrive from England. I'm enjoying reading about your Project. Cheers. KEV.

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    1. Kev Robertson (Kev),

      I wrote the basic backstory for Zubia some years ago, and just tweaked it a bit so that it fitted in with the other imag-nations I’m using for my Belle Époque project.

      I’m sorry to read that you’re not going to do any further work on your 6mm imagi-nations, but your latest 15mm sci-fi project seems to fit the bill very nicely as it combines so many of your interests.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    2. BOB,
      My interest in the 6mm Project was thwarted by the fact that even after 38 days the figures have yet to arrive- most frustrating. I intend to fully go in for the 15mm Laserburn Project and it should pan out to be very enjoyable. Stay well there Friend. Cheers. KEV.

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    3. Kev Robertson (Kev),

      I can see why you would find that sort of delay frustrating. Are the Laserburn figures easier/quicker to get hold of?

      Keep safe and keep well,

      Bob

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    4. Nothing kills the enthusiasm for a project than not having the kit you need. Or, in my case, the kit I THINK I need.

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    5. Archduke Piccolo,

      Very true. It’s one of the reasons why most of my recent projects have tended to rely on what I have to hand rather than stuff I’d have to buy.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    6. BOB,
      For the 15mm Laserburn figures I've ordered from England- I'm running the gauntlet and keeping my fingers crossed that the postage will be fairly swift- here is hoping. Regards. KEV.

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    7. Kev Robertson (Kev),

      I hope that the figures you have ordered don't take too long to reach you. There have been several threats of strike action by postal workers in the UK, and I understand that the already over-stretched workforce is already unable to cope with the volume of mail in the system.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  2. I love your backgrounds. I think the ancient monuments mentioned would make for interesting terrain pieces.

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    1. Mark Cordone,

      I get a lot of enjoyment out of creating the backstories.

      I’m not sure what nature the ‘ancient monuments’ will take … but I’m thinking along the lines of a pyramid or two or some ruins. I’ve seen some suitable ruins sold in the aquarium sections of pet shops.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  3. Bob -
    An evocative background and word-sketch of the current ruler of Zubia - the Khedive. Unnamed I observe - and maybe that is as well? The Khedive as a shadowy figure - or as the Jungian Shadow...?

    Creating imaginary worlds, I am thinking, is a little bit like writing novels. You might lay out a socio-economic and political background, topography and back history in varying degrees of detail - or introduce such information as the 'story's' occasion demands. Which one chooses I think is a matter of literary or wargamery style and method.

    I prefer latter approach - mainly because I'm lazy. But that imposes upon one the difficulty in keeping things internally consistent. But I suspect that the 'lay it out ahead of time' approach imposes constraints upon where one can go with one's campaign story.

    An interesting topic to discuss. At the moment I'm about halfway through Philip Pullman's volume of past speeches, lectures and articles, 'Daemon Voices'. I'm thinking of posting something about this, and how it might relate to the types of war gaming stories you and I and many of your readers favour.

    Cheers,
    Ion

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    Replies
    1. Archduke Piccolo (Ion),

      The description of Zubia is based on the introduction to the book TROUBLE IN ZUBIA. I made a few minor changes but wanted to maintain a consistent backstory between the book and my Belle Époque project.

      I like to have a structure to the backstories of my imagi-nations that I can build on. Just enough information to justify why countries might go to war with each other, but not so much that I restrict what might happen.

      You are right about the parallels with writing a novel. One of my favourite authors is Georges Simenon, and he once stated that when he wrote his Maigret novels he started out with an event or events, not knowing how the story would develop. Once he started the writing process, the story sort of told itself.

      I’ve read some of Philip Pullman’s work, but not DAEMON VOICES, and I would appreciate knowing more about what he wrote. A blog post sounds like an excellent idea, and I think that it would be read and appreciated by many wargamers.

      All the best,

      Bob

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