Board Thread:Suggestions forum/@comment-5601442-20151231172926/@comment-25842841-20160102002645

Carter938 wrote: High King Ithilion wrote: Carter938 wrote: High King Ithilion wrote: We don't specifically know they were a horse nation, but we do know they supplied Mordor with horses, hinting at a love of horses.

I have had that rant prepared for a long time :) But we dont. There is no text example that says they supplied Mordor with horses. If there is, source it. I know I've heard it somewere... let me see what I can find. Anyway, Tolkien left Middle-Earth open to interpretation. Since many people believe that Khand is a Mongol-like nation, and how we have almost no info about them, it is likely that the mod will go with Mongol influences, plus their own ideas. However, I do agree that a Turkish-like faction is a good idea. The Khandish faction could be part Turk-based, or there could be an Easterling faction taking that role.  I'm just saying. I beleived the mods first duty was to be true to the books. If thats being done, then logically the Wainriders would be the candidate for Mongol/Hun influence along with their own ideas, and the Variags would be more open to the modders ideas. My point in this post is soley to point out that in actual canon the Variags are NOT inspired by nomads or steppe peoples, and that the Wainriders have far more in common, and that I hope the modders take that into consideration as its more faithful to Tolkien than otherwise. And thats the mods main point. What's the evidence for the Variags not being based on nomdic cultures. The few things given in the texts point to them being nomadic, and theres nothing in the texts to contradict this. Wainriders as a nomad like faction is perfectly fine, but that doesn't mean the Variags can't also be based on the mongols. The reason I don't agree with the idea of the Wainriders being the faction based on the mongols is because of their use of chariots, which the mongols did not use.