Friday Art Attack

A Dark Sun marketplace.

An unusual take on an alt.Darth Vader.

Why not?  A new take on what it means to be a cat lady, I guess.  

An alternative take on Nyarlathotep with the pyramids in the background.

Eowyn and the Witch-king.  A great take on the old wraith, actually.  I really like it.

Two Sardaukar on the surface of Arrakis.

The end of Boromir, I think.

A Sith Lord.  Curiously, reading the Star Wars draft comic book (which I just did again; I'll talk about that in another post) all of the main characters, Jedi and Sith, had red lightsabers.  The stormtroopers had white ones.  I do think that the color-coding is kind of silly.

A Fistful of Domars is the title of this.

Another great Eberron wrap-around mural.

Although I loved them as a kid, I've kinda become a bit disenchanted with dragons, but they can still be really, really awesome when done right, of course.

Classes and Archetypes II: Advanced Class Guide part 3

I almost forgot to finish this series!  Let's get this back on track.

• Shaman
• Animist: Even among mystical practitioners, the animist has a strange perspective and even stranger magic. The animist perceives that all things have a spirit, including objects, constructs, illnesses, buildings, and the environment. — This sounds more like a philosophy than a class, but y'know, one can lead to another, I guess.
• Possessed Shaman: For a possessed shaman, merely communing with the spirit world is insufficient. Instead, she invites the spirits to share her body, granting them the chance to experience corporeal existence. In return, they grant her their skills and protect her from otherworldly influence. — This is interesting again; kind of allowing yourself to be possessed by spirits, or having a symbiotic relationship of some kind with them.
• Speaker for the Past: A speaker for the past is a shaman who serves as the voice for spirits from her people's history. A speaker for the past is often an advocate of the ancestors of a specific group, the voice of experience, and a powerful resource that enables the past to aid the present. — Sounds more like a plot device than a player character class.
• Spirit Warden: Not all spirits deserve reverence and respect. Some are twisted and despicable. It's a spirit warden's duty to end these spirits' existence. — A spiritual inquisitor! This kind of reminds me of the YA book series, The Spook's Apprentice.  I haven't read them (although I have seen the rather mediocre movie based on the series starring Jeff Bridges) but I really like the idea or high concept of it.
• Unsworn Shaman: An unsworn shaman never binds herself to one specific spirit, always making new deals as she deems necessary for the circumstances that she finds herself in. While this vacillation weakens the powers she can access from any one spirit, it gives her access to a broader overall range of abilities. — If I ever did anything with the concept of a shaman in the first place, I wouldn't ever make so fine a distinction.  This is more of a tactical split than a conceptual split.
• Visionary: The visionary is a master of divination, drawing upon her intimate relationship with the spirit world to ferret out all manner of secrets and insights about the world around her and beyond. — Another plot device or NPC rather than PC class.
• Witch Doctor: The witch doctor is a healer who specializes in afflictions of the soul. Often misunderstood, she protects her tribe with healing powers, powerful defensive magic, and her own divine "witchcraft." — I don't know what any of that means; all of these shaman concepts tend to run together for the most part.  Very little about this sounds distinctive enough to justify being a separate line item.  Minus the gratuitous dig at mainstream, traditional culture and its "intolerance" of course.
• Skald
• Fated Champion: Many cultures see fate as a limit that is both stifling and unwanted, regardless of the destiny that lurks in the days and years ahead. Among cultures where skalds are the keepers of lore and wisdom, there are those who learn to read the winds of fate and take up the mantle of the fated champion, knowing and embracing their destined paths with strength born of conviction. — I don't really know what that means, but it seems to be really reaching as a concept for a whole class.
• Herald of the Horn: Even the loudest voice can often times be drowned out by the din of battle. Whether with the polished metal trumpet of a standing army or the crude curved animal horn of savage raiders, a herald of the horn sounds his raging song with thunderous blasts, which can bolster allies or shatter castle walls. — a bard that plays a brass instrument rather than singing and using a lute.  On top of that, it's got the armies of Joshua worked in, which is... a very specific thing.
• Spell Warrior: The spell warrior uses his arcane knowledge rather than his rage to turn the tide of battle in favor of himself and his allies. With a clash of bracers and a sonorous chant, the spell warrior's song reaches out to touch the weapons of his allies, lending them arcane power. While his song does not inspire rage, he can use the power of his music to enchant the weapons of his allies and counter the spells of his foes.
• Totemic Skald: The totemic skald forms a close connection to an animal totem. Through the power of this mystical ally, the skald can change shapes, assuming its form as his own. Additionally, the totem animal grants the skald a measure of its spiritual power that he can share with his allies. — There's an awful lot of archetypes that come from a different base class, but then end up getting to the same place.  Is this the third, or fourth (or more) werewolf-style archetype we've seen in this review so far?  Anyway, clearly only one is necessary.
• Slayer
• Bounty Hunter: Whether tasked with bringing in wanted criminals or paid to drag debtors back to their loan sharks, bounty hunters are valued for their ability to capture targets alive. — Yes, well, that is the definition of a bounty hunter.  It does very little to describe what to expect from the archetype, however.
• Cleaner: A cleaner is responsible for destroying or removing incriminating evidence from a crime scene, disposing of corpses and eliminating witnesses as necessary to make a crime look like an accident or a mere disappearance. — An interesting concept, although almost certainly too highly focused to be generally useful in most RPG settings, unless it heavily focuses on urban fantasy crime of some kind.
• Cutthroat: Street-smart and extremely resourceful, cutthroats stalk city streets and alleyways, preying on those unfortunate enough to catch their eye. More opportunists than careful planners, they don't care who they victimize, and they take advantage of whatever circumstances put them near a suitable target. — Another concept that is your typical mookish NPC concept, not really a PC concept.
• Deliverer: Also known as a divine assassin, god's blade, or wrath-bringer, a deliverer is a weapon chosen by a god to punish those who have committed an affront to that deity. Evil deities are more likely to use assassins than deliverers, but some good deities use deliverers to deal with problems of a subtler nature than a cleric, inquisitor, paladin, or warpriest can typically handle. — This is another concept that's popped up several times already, coming from a different base class.  Just sticking "divine" or "holy" in front of the class, basically.  Not very interesting.
• Grave Warden: While paladins and inquisitors use their connection with the divine to fight undead hordes and other horrors of the night, a grave warden relies on knowledge, skill with weapons, and tenacity to put an end to these night-born terrors. — Another theme that's come up several times now already.
• Sniper: Whether it's with a bullet from a sling, a quarrel from a crossbow, or even an expertly thrown dagger, the sniper ensures that a single shot disables his target. — Aren't there already sniper archetypes under various fighter-type classes as well as the rogue?
• Stygian Slayer: A stygian slayer crawls out of the darkest shadows to strike fear into the hearts of civilized folk. He's a merciless killer who can control a sliver of magic, allowing him to arrive unseen, commit murder, and depart without detection. — I like this idea, although any class could provide it, to be sure.
• Vanguard: Vanguards are battlefield commanders who focus on brutally effective combat strategies and lead their allies to bloody victory. Quick to react to danger, a vanguard is a valuable scout, a capable officer, and a skilled tactician. — This is another one that's difficult to do much with as a PC.
• Sorcerer
• Eldritch Scrapper: An eldritch scrapper is usually spoiling for a fight, looking to prove that she's just as tough as a martial character. A veteran of many brawls against opponents who were suspicious of her manifesting magic, an eldritch scrapper has a thick skin and a fighting style that blends weapons with spells. — An odd concept.  A sorcerer, notorious for its lack of melee skills, who wants to fight like a fighter, except with spells?  I dunno.  I'm suspicious in general of concepts who's whole purpose is to take the class and turn it into a kinda sorta facsimile of another class.  It usually doesn't work all that well tactically, and I have to wonder what the point is from a roleplaying aspect too.
• Mongrel Mage: A mongrel mage is a sorcerer whose bloodline is so weak, or mixed with so many others, that her power isn't clearly associated with any bloodline source. A mongrel mage's bloodline powers can change on a daily basis, but always fall short of those of a full-blooded sorcerer. A mongrel mage is a dabbler in all bloodlines but a master of none, and she is looked down upon by true sorcerers. — This seems so incredibly specific to the Pathfinder/Golarion definition of a sorcerer that I think the concept has little, if any, applicability elsewhere.
• Summoner
• Naturalist: A naturalist is a summoner who is in tune with the natural world, using his magic like a lens to focus various animal aspects onto his eidolon. More akin to a hunter than to other arcane spellcasters, a naturalist instinctively masters the power of such creatures as the bear, wolf, mouse, and tiger to make his exotic eidolon the perfect living tool for battle or stealth, and he eventually discovers how to apply these transformations to himself as well. — I think all of the summoner archetypes, and for that matter, even the summoner itself, with its eidolon, is too specific to be likely to be useful to me.  I'll repeat all of the archetypes here, but unless I see one that piques my interest unexpectedly, I'll do so without comment.  This applies to other summoner archetypes from other sources when we get to that point.
• Spirit Summoner: A spirit summoner is an arcane spellcaster whose eidolon is a manifestation of a shamanic spirit. The bond connecting the summoner and this spirit might be friendly, such as a member of a tribe giving flesh to his protector spirit, or hostile, such as an outlander or a rival compelling service from an unwilling spirit. The summoner can draw upon the divine power of this spirit, but is not constrained by the spirit's morals or ethics.
• Swashbuckler
• Daring Infiltrator: Not known for their flashy entrances or for standing out in a crowd, a daring infiltrator uses stealth, disguise, and ruthless guile to pursue her goals. Some of these swashbucklers work to undermine evil organizations, while others are master thieves or mysterious assassins. — This can already be created easily enough with the Rogue, for instance.  In fact, I suspect that most of these archetypes are easily replicated with other classes when it comes to the swashbuckler.  But, on the other hand, fantasy James Bond or Jason Bourne or something?  How can you not love that?
• Flying Blade: While most swashbucklers prefer their battles up close, others prefer dealing death from a distance. — I don't even know what that means for sure.  Sounds more like a minor tactical variation than an actual concept.
• Inspired Blade: An inspired blade is both a force of personality and a sage of swordplay dedicated to the perfection of combat with the rapier. Inspired blades use the science and geometry of swordplay to beautiful and deadly effect. — Huh?  A swashbuckler who likes geometry and science?  Someone was reaching and had just watched the Robert Downey Jr Sherlock Holmes movies, I think.
• Mouser: In the hands of a trained warrior, a well-sharpened blade is deadly regardless of size. A mouser moves in close, using her size and skill to her advantage. — Another minor tactical variation.  A swashbuckler who uses a knife!  So what?
• Musketeer: A number of organizations and kingdoms search for warriors who are brave (or foolish) enough to wield firearms on the battlefield. The daring nature of swashbucklers often makes them ideal candidates for such service. — The original swashbuckler archetype, in some ways.  But I personally doubt that giving them a new weapon really makes them an all new archetype.
• Mysterious Avenger: While some swashbucklers fight for queen and country, and others for coin, glory, or just the enhancement of their own reputations, the mysterious avenger fights directly for a cause. Instead of gaining personal glory for her heroic deeds, she keeps her identity hidden in order to better fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. — Another one of the iconic, oldest archetypes within the greater swashbuckling archetype.  Not necessarily a class, but certainly a roleplaying concept.
• Picaroon: While some swashbucklers take pride in their ability to wear down an opponent with great skill at arms and clever positioning, others use firearms to get in close and hit hard. — This doesn't sound materially different from the musketeer concept.
• Warpriest
• Champion of the Faith: Champions of the faith are crusaders who use the power of their divine patron to annihilate the faith's enemies. — Stick Holy or Divine in front of your concept... which, well, it's already a divine/holy concept to begin with.
• Cult Leader: Referred to as fanatics, lunatics, or obsessives, cultists see themselves as genuine devotees of their deity. And the hierarchs of those devotees, the cult leaders, are the most fanatical of them all. Cult leaders are known for turning reasonable hearts toward corrupted teachings and striking at those that get in the way of their agenda. — Another pretty iconic concept, I suppose.
• Disenchanter: While many warpriests focus on threats to the body, the disenchanter focuses on dangers to the mind and the soul. Using the power of his patron, the disenchanter seeks to keep the powers of magic in check. — I'm reminded of all of the dispel cards in older editions of Warhammer.  This is a pretty tactical concept, really, so therefore not super interesting to me.
• Divine Commander: Some warpriests are called to lead great armies and face legions of foes. These divine commanders live for war and fight for glory. Their hearts quicken at battle cries, and they charge forth with their deity's symbol held high. They assume the mantle of leadership to promote the agenda of their faith, and gather armies of devoted followers willing to give their lives for the cause. (Several of the divine commander's abilities reference and interact with the mass combat rules in Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Campaign.) — It's just a commander who can cast some spells.
• Forgepriest: Armorers of exquisite skill, forgepriests take inspiration from their deity to produce the most perfect weapons and armor they can, the better to equip the armies of the faithful. — A plot-devicey NPC, like the dwarfs of Norse mythology, or the Cyclopses of the Greek.
• Sacred Fist: Sacred fists leave behind armor and shield and instead rely on their fists and whatever protection their deity grants. — We've already got a monk.  C'mon.
• Witch
• Hex Channeler: A hex channeler is a witch who devotes herself either to life (healing the wounded and destroying the undead) or to death (slaying the living and aiding the undead). — For neither of these witch archetypes do I see how they're different from shamans or all kinds of other similar archetypes.  The descriptions do little to separate them as something unique in concept.
• Mountain Witch: Mountains can be sanctuaries for witches hunted by society. Here they form bonds with the spirits of the lofty reaches.
• Wizard
• Exploiter Wizard: Contrary to traditional wizardly study, an exploiter wizard forgoes the tried and true methods of arcane focus and arcane schools for the exploits favored by an arcanist. Some wizards regard this blatant exploitation of arcane magic as somehow "cheating," but most exploiters believe this prejudice is closed-minded and overly traditional. — I don't know what this means, because I'm not familiar enough with the concepts of the Pathfinder wizard vs arcanist.  One class which sounds exactly like another class emulating that class that it already sounds exactly like in concept.  Whoop-de-doo.
• Spell Sage: A spell sage has mastered spells of all types, and is able to increase the effectiveness of his own spells and eventually even cast spells from other classes' spell lists. While most wizards focus on a school, the spell sage looks at the particular aspects of individual spells and is not afraid to modify them with interesting bits of insight to gain a deeper understanding of the formulae. — In theory, every wizard should be a little bit unique, with his own focus of study, kind of like a professor, or something.  But I doubt it needs its own rules to do so.
• Spirit Whisperer: Spirit whisperers are a breed apart among wizards, and are often mistaken for witches. While spirit whisperers do gain and store their spells by communing with familiars, the spirits they gain guidance from are somewhat closer to the world and more direct than the powers with which witches typically traffic. These wizards treat such spirits as mentors and friends, conversing with them rather than appeasing them in an effort to gain and use arcane knowledge. — If they're often mistaken for witches or shamans, then why have it be a variant wizard that acts like a witch (which already seems like the same concept as a shaman to me.)  Seriously, Paizo, whiskey tango foxtrot.

Scot Project

When I first started getting into hard trance it was impossible to not hear about DJ Scot Project. In fact, I'm quite certain that the very first mix I ever listened to, which was an early Qlimax set (by either Dana or Gary D) I believe, had at least three Scot Project remixes on it. Although I didn't realize it yet, it also had at least one Arome track, which of course is another alias of the same guy, real name Frank Zenker.

Project is widely credited with almost single handedly creating the sounds of the second wave of hard trance, which is maybe too much credit, but there's no denying that he's a huge name in the scene following the turn of the millennium. That said, I think he's a bit overrated. Sometimes his remixes aren't the best versions of the song he's mixing, and his original output is also sometimes great... but not always. Now, he's got some great material, but there are other artists from the period I like better. (DJ Wag and Kai Tracid were probably just as foundational to the development of second wave hard trance in Germany and the Brits had their Guyver and JK Walker and Marcos and a few others--and the Italians split early on into hard trance and early hardstyle. It really was a Zeitgeist, and giving anyone, even the most visible, credit for creating the entire Zeitgeist, is wrongheaded.)

As one example, the very first set list I listened to had the DJ Scot Project remix of "Incoming" by DJ Vortex & Arpa's Dream. In fact, I heard this so many times from sets and mixes that I can perhaps be forgiven for going for months without knowing that there were other versions of the track. But now that I hear remixes by Mirko Milano, 4 Navigators and Beam vs. Cyrus I find that I like some of them even better; there's a whole synth melody line that Project takes out that adds a lot to the track.

That's not to say that the DJ Scot Project mix isn't a great mix, but rather that if I'd heard all four of them at the same time, it certainly wouldn't have been my favorite.

Friday Art Attack

Heavily skewed towards some Star Wars stuff this time around.

A lightsaber wielding warrior of some type.  Nice, clean lines.  Ambiguous "alignment" if you will.

The superpowers of the Late Bronze Age, during the time of the Trojan War, more or less.  This all came to a catastrophic end with the invasion of the Sea Peoples, which I've always thought was ripe material for some fiction.

Sci-fi soldier of some kind.  In AD ASTRA, this could be a Janissary, maybe.

Part of an exercise done by Star Wars concept artists.  It's kinda funny to see the hand tool that was the inspiration for this space ship.

What if wampas and tauntauns invaded the rebel base for some reason during the snowtrooper attack in Empire?  There was actually a suggestion that such a thing happen, although it never got filmed, of course.

Another space opera soldier of some k,ind.

More Star Wars concept art that's beyond the movies.  I don't know what it is supposed to be, but in the wretched hives of scum and villainy type stories, this would be a compelling character concept.

Nyarlathotep from a comic book where he fights a bunch of other Lovecraftian characters and stuff, called Fall of Cthulhu.

An Anglo-Saxon chief modeled closely on the Sutton Hoo find.  These are my people, y'all!

Not sure what this is, but it's kinda cool.  Sexy sci-fi woman sleeping while a creepy robot is creepy.

Napolean on a T. rex.

I can't help thinking that if that one guy needs a helmet, what about all the rips in his suit, the lack of gloves, the other guy who isn't wearing one at all, and the monkey?  Otherwise, I love good space opera fun.

Age of Worms poster; Kyuss and what were at one point the bizarre Dungeon Magazine iconic characters fighting some weird worm thingies.

Demic diffusion theory

I just became aware of a new(ish) theory that I quite like, although I'm still on the fence about it.  It hinges on a missed detail of the "Corded Ware Culture is 75% steppe DNA"; that it's not the same steppe DNA that later spread across Europe in a later wave; it's an R1a wave, which was followed by an R1b wave.  The Yamnaya cultural horizon seems to actually have been primarily R1b, as was the Eastern Bell Beaker culture, which populated at least most of northern Europe.  (I'm simplifying the various subtleties of different R1a and R1b lineages using them as shorthand, since they don't really change the trajectory of the theory.  In reality, there are multiple R1a and R1b lineages, but I'm talking specifically about the ones that would be markers for the eastern and western steppe respectively. To read about them in more detail, try here and here and here.) The theory is great because it attempts to be much more multidisciplinarian than most; i.e, it accounts for linguistics, archaeology, anthropology and archaeogenetics.  And it utilizes much more up-to-date archaeogenetic data than other models.  And it has some of the detail of Anthony's model, except updated.

It's really quite nice.  I'm coming around to seeing its merits.  Here's how the theory works, summarized probably a little bit too simplistically:

• Steppe is steppe is steppe, right?  Well, no, although in the past, many experts have made very little of the differences on the steppe itself and assumed that all of it lead to Proto-Indo-European in some form or another.  There are actually a number of differences on the steppe in terms of physical type, economy practiced, material culture, and even genetic signatures.  Many cultural movements and displacements/replacements/admixtures are posited to have happened on the steppes long before anyone really started migrating in large numbers beyond the steppes.  For the most part, this can be sorted into an Eastern and Western cline, with most of the traits most strongly associated with Indo-Europeanism (kurgan burials, pastoral economy, horse domestication, etc.) arising first in the Eastern steppe zone; the Volga and north Caspian region, and then spreading westward to the north Pontic region, but often in "incomplete" terms, forming a cultural cline, if you will, of cultural traits that runs east to west.
• The Don River forms a kind of loose frontier between the two zones.  The cultures of the west; Dnieper-Donets II, Sredni Stog and later Dereivka, certainly interacted with the cultures to the east, but they also interacted probably even moreso with cultures further to the west of them; like the Trypillian, the Cucuteni, etc. which were urbanized, Balkan neolithic farmers, associated with the EEF population.  The West started as riparian hunters, gatherers and fishers, and gradually adopted more settled agricultural traditions from the west, and were relatively late adopters of animal husbandry, especially horse domestication and pastoral nomadism, to the extent that they did at all, it was all influence (and even migration) from the east.  The horse-head scepters and social stratification and kurgan burials are also not associated with the earlier western cultures, and only gradually adopt it as a clear innovation/adoption from the east.  The west is also the center of the R1a-Z645 haplogroup.
• In contrast, the Samara and later Khvalynsk cultures of the east, which eventually evolved into the Repin culture, which was the immediate flashpoint of the creation of the entire Yamnaya horizon are much less settled.  They practiced a more mobile economy.  The domestication of the horse (and later the riding of the horse) happened here.  Heirarchical social stratification, evidenced in rich burials happen here first (to be fair, probably adopted/adapted from the Caucasian Maikop culture, which had clear contacts with both eastern and western steppe cultures both, in terms of trade, genetic flow and more, in the past.  Plus the Caucasus was the metallurgical hotbed for the entire region, unsurprisingly.)  When changes in economy, social structure, and material culture which make the entire region more closely resemble "typical" Proto-Indo-European, they always come from east to west.  The eastern region is also the Urheimat of the R1b-L23 haplogroup and later R1b derivations.
• But what if instead of assuming that all of this was some very early form of Proto-Indo-European that we propose that there was a linguistic frontier as well as a cultural, economic and genetic frontier?  And, in fact, why wouldn't there be?
• One may notice, as soon as one makes this piece of the puzzle click into place, that the so-called "Yamnaya" DNA in the Corded Ware actually isn't; it's not associated with the actual Yamnaya eastern horizon (which, to be fair, expanded westward to cover the territory earlier held by cultures such as Sredni Stog, Mikhailovka, Dereivka, etc.); it's specifically R1a.  R1a is often sloppily applied to the entire steppe, because later admixture between late Yamnaya and post-Yamnaya cultures like Sintashta, Andronova, etc. feature high levels of R1a, but that is not because R1a is a genetic marker associated with the Yamnaya cultural horizon, but because of clear contacts and admixture between those and adjacent eastern Corded Ware cultures.  When "steppe" invaders bring R1a to India and Pakistan, for instance, during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, they are not bringing Yamnaya R1a, they are bringing Corded Ware R1a.  The genetic history here is not hard to see in the literature, but most specialists have not made a very fine distinction between R1a and R1b and have handwaved the difference between them away, essentially.
• So, this model of the Eastern and Western steppe peoples being essentially two different peoples, both in terms of genetics, economy, culture and language (albeit certainly two populations with lots of contacts, interactions and admixture between them, and quite possibly a deeper shared ancestry) fits the archaeogenetic data quite well.  It fits the archaeological and anthropological data quite well too.  Does it fit the linguistic data, or is there a linguistic model that makes sense for it?  In fact, there is.
• The Uralic languages are the other "major" European language family (other than Indo-European) that appears, especially in the northernmost part of the continent (with Hungarian being a more recent and historically attested arrival.)  For the most part, they seem clearly to have been in place long before the arrival of written history.  In addition to that, there are:
• clear linguistic clues that posit that proto-Uralic and proto-Indo-European had to have been in contact while still proto-languages.
• clear heavy linguistic interaction between later eastern Indo-Europeans of the Indo-Iranian variety that are best represented by post-Yamnaya eastern steppe cultures, such as Poltavka, Sintashta, etc.
• evidence of Uralic as a substrata in much of northern Russia and other areas that later emerged as Balto-Slavic, or other northern Indo-European linguistically, much of which corresponds geographically to the Corded Ware horizon.
• So, in the Demic diffusion model, we see the following developments:
• At some point prior to 5,000 BC, there is a common Indo-European/Uralic community.  It's possible that the two are both daughter languages of a common mother tongue, but not required that it be so, merely that they grew up in close proximity, sharing areal and cultural features.  By 5,000 BC, Indo-European and Uralic have started to go their separate ways.
• Between 5,000 and 4,000 BC, roughly, Indo-European is at the "Indo-Hittite"stage.  This is associated specifically with only a portion of the steppe; the Samara and early Khvalynsk cultures.  Starting at roughly 4,400 BC, the Suvorovo-Novodanilovka "horse chief" culture migrates from the east into the western region, probably representing the splitting off of the Anatolian group.  They continued moving westwards (Cernavoda I) and took up location in the Balkans before moving into Anatolia where they are first historically attested.
• Between 4,000 and 3,500 or so BC, we have Proto-Indo-European forming into it's "classic" form, and by the end of this era, we see a number of changes.  Late Repin/early Yamnaya (of predominately R1b lineage) go on the move.  They end up as far away as the Altai (Afanasevo culture; R1b) and cross the Don as intrusive colonizers, forming the South Bug and Lower Don groups, which make up the western half of the Yamnaya horizon.  This Yamnaya horizon displaces the R1a peoples of late Sredni Stog and other cultures already living there, who migrate northwards, becoming a principle component of the Corded Ware Horizon by about 3,300 BC.
• The next half millennium shows Indo-European essentially splitting into two major stocks; a northern stock more closely related to Tocharian, and a southern stock.  The southern stock is, by this time, in the Balkans, superimposed over what remaining non-Indo-Europeans were still there, as well as any remaining Anatolian groups.  It also remains on the steppes, while the northern group moves into northern Europe, largely at the expense of the Corded Ware horizon; eventually forming the Eastern Bell Beaker culture.
• This explains two things; 1) a number of correspondences between languages that originated in the Balkans (Phrygian, Thracian, Armenian, Greek, etc.) and the Indo-Iranian group, which maintained a southern linguistic spectrum.  2) The northern group inherited a Uralic substrate which had significant impacts on the development of very early pre-Celtic, Italic, Baltic, Slavic and Germanic languages. 3) A number of other correspondences between Balto-Slavic and Indo-Iranian, since the Indo-Iranian peoples picked up a significant admixture from eastward Corded ware peoples.  The Bell Beaker R1b peoples dominate genetically over area previously occupied by R1a Corded Ware.
• These groups continue to diffuse and differentiate into proto-language families, leaving (probably) only Balto-Slavic, Indo-Iranian, and maybe Italo-Celtic as intermediate steps in between proto-language families as we know them.  Of course, there could be anonymous language groups that spun off and were later absorbed.  Historically, we can see the loss of the Thracian and Dacian languages, for instance, to Slavic or Romance languages, the loss of Phrygian and Anatolian to Greek and Roman (and later Turkic), and shrinkage of Tocharian to Iranian, to be later replaced by Turkic, and the loss of much of the former Iranian language family territory to Turkic languages and the (almost) total loss of the Celtic languages to Romance or Germanic or other languages.  The same probably happened prehistorically as well, although we simply don't know how to tell much about it except through often somewhat cryptic linguistic clues.

Now, of course it isn't strictly speaking necessary that Sredni Stog > Corded Ware > historically attested Finnic/Uralic groups of northern Europe.  Even if it does fit the data quite well.  It could be an earlier spread of Indo-European that later was subsumed by later groups, for instance.  But it's a nice theory, a nice model, and it makes a bold attempt to tie up all lines of evidence that we currently possess into one model that works for all lines of inquiry.

https://indo-european.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/indo-european-uralic-haplogroup-1.jpg

EDIT: Now, granted, this view is controversial.  See one rebuttal here, for instance.  Although, I will point out that this doesn't really rebut it so much as it is an appeal to authority.  But, it does seem to imply, at least, that there is genetic data that contradicts Carlos' Demic Diffusion theory, even though it doesn't really explain it exactly.  I think maybe we're supposed to believe that everybody who reads that blog is sufficiently well versed in the technical aspects of archaeogenetic research that its already obvious without needing to be spelled out, or something.

Although the guy there makes a serious complaint about demic diffusion model, another of his own posts seems to support it, suggesting that the steppe was the bifurcation point between R1a and R1b.  Carlos also adds a linguistic assumption to that same bifurcation.

Indo-European genetics

I mentioned in a post a few days ago the basic population stocks that make up the genetic profile of today's Europeans.  Here's some maps that document their spread.  There are basically four stocks, although of course, that's an overly simplistic point of view.  The Western Hunter Gatherers (WHG) make up most of Western Europe, a different group called Eastern Hunter Gatherers (EHG) make up northern and eastern Europe, Caucasian Hunter Gatherers (CHG) seem to have been left over from glacial refugia in the Caucasus (as the name implies) and Early European Farmers (EEF) are the spread (from Anatolia and the Aegean) of a farmer dynasty that brought with them the Neolithic technology packet, so to speak.

Here's the oldest; before the spread of the Neolithic farmer across Europe.  WHG, the Western Hunter Gatherers cover most of western Europe (of course) but contribute relatively little to the DNA today.  The Eastern Hunter Gatherers (EEG) are combination of a WHG like population with ANE, Ancient North Eurasian—their very deep genetic connection with the WHG should not distract from the fact that they would have been a phenotypically noticeably different group.  At the places where they "met" geographically there were some hybrid groups, like the Scandinavian Hunter Gatherers.  In many ways, they formed a cline from east to west, but in Scandinavia the EHG were actually considerably to the west of the WHGs in the Baltics.  The CHG, Caucasian Hunter Gatherers probably resemble closely the Caucasians today, and they are related, somewhat to the Anatolians, who will spread later to become the EEF; Early European Farmers.

After the spread of the Neolithic, this is what the map looks like; the WHG are almost completely absorbed into EEF cultures that spread from Anatolia, although a little bit of greenish on the Atlantic edge of the map shows that they're not completely gone, and of course much of their haplogroups remain, especially in the more northern area where they "cline" with EHG to form the (not labeled here) Scandinavian Hunter Gatherer population.  CHG admixture into the Pontic-Caspian steppes has started, and the CHG and Anatolians have also admixed to some degree, as shown in the color blending areas.

1,000 years later, the Yamnaya complex is pretty well formed, which is a combination of CHG and EHG, and it is poised to spread from the steppes.  Most models posit that climate change decimated the communities of Europe, especially the populous "Old European" EEF communities of the Balkan Peninsula, thus paving the way for the Yamnaya expansion, which later emerged as the Corded Ware of Europe.

After the spread of early Indo-European, the genetic map looks more like this, and we see how much the Yamnaya contributes to the DNA geography of Europe, through the vector of the Corded Ware horizon, mostly (which is 75% or so Yamnaya in its genetics.) EDIT: Actually, I find out more recently that this isn't really true.  It's 75% steppe in its genetics.  The Corded Ware horizon was primarily R1a-M458, whereas the Yamnaya culture was primarily R1b-L23.  This is a bit of a misnomer, and one of the main reasons for the existence of the Demic Diffusion model; the idea that it would be odd to group both Y-DNA lineages with the spread of Indo-European.  It kind of goes back to the east/west divide on the steppe (more or less at the Don River) and the fact that although the western cultures (like Dnieper-Donets, Sredy Stog and Dereivka, etc. are often considered foundational to Indo-European, it's clear that most of the cultural markers associated with PIE actually developed in the East, in the Khvalynsk and Repin cultures, whence came Yamna in the first place.  When Yamna spread eastward, it didn't just absorb Sredy Stog, it displaced it, and Sredni Stog is actually the best candidate for the immediate source of the Corded Ware horizon.  What does this mean?  Rather than Yamna "eating" Sredni Stog and spreading northwards to become the Corded Ware, Yamna pushed Sredny Stog northwards to become Corded Ware, and only later spread over the same territory, absorbing Corded Ware as a substrate.  This explains why some of the more northerly populations, like the foundations of Poltavka, Potapovka, and later Sintashta and even Andronovo show significant influences of both Yamna and Corded Ware genetically (and linguistically and archaeologically, i.e., in material culture).  The notion that the spread of Yamna was more complex than often proposed, and a very specific model for the interactions of Yamnaya and Corded Ware actually solves one of the biggest hurdles on Indo-European archaeology that's been out there for decades.  The solution was right there under our noses all along, but we were kind of seduced by the siren song of handwaving away the notion that some Yamnaya people went north and became Corded Ware... somehow... without proposing that they actually were two separate cultures, with separate genetics and likely separate linguistics too.

Of course, the major problems with this model are obvious too—1) Uralic isn't particularly closely related to Indo-European, and nobody has seriously proposed that it comes from the steppe; in fact, there are better models associated with the Seima-Turbino expansion further north and the spread of N1c Y-DNA. 2) Despite the seeming disparity in preponderance of Y-DNA haplogroups, at a genomic level, Yamnaya and Corded Ware are quite similar, and Corded Ware's drift away from it is better explained by hybridization with a substrate in Europe than by any other explanation. 3) If the Corded Ware were Uralic speaking, it would be astonishing that somehow the eastern Corded Ware cultures turned into the very Indo-European Indo-Iranian languages and the Central Corded Ware cultures became Balto-Slavic; equally very Indo-European.  Carlos Quiles' theory is interesting, but it runs afoul of actual facts very quickly, and it never was even possible except for Western Europe anyway. I suppose the most likely explanation for the Y-DNA split is that certain families or lineages had prestige in certain areas and therefore persisted, especially in the prestige burials.  But the theory isn't objectionable at all if you consider that a preponderance of R1a correlates to satem languages and R1b to centum languages...

We still don't have anything that can be associated with actual, specific Indo-European languages, although the stocks are starting to sort, and Anatolia probably has early Anatolian languages (like Hittite, Luwian, etc) in place; 19th century BC Assyrian texts seem to show a few loanwords and names from Hittite, although the real cache of language information doesn't appear until the 13th century.  Mycenean Greek is usually dated to the 16th century BC.  Vedic Sanskrit and Avestan are not dated as confidently, but are within the same general window.  Those all start to appear not too long after this map.

British genetics

Beaker culture regions in orange

Not very long ago, we were treated to a study that suggested that DNA in the British Isles had been essentially unchanged since the retreat of the glaciers, with the only blip being the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons (in this scenario, we don't see any genetic discontinuity related to the arrival of the Celts, the Romans, the Vikings, etc.—only the Anglo-Saxons.)  More recent studies now suggest that there was in fact a very tremendous discontinuity about 2,500 or so B.C. with the arrival of the "Bell Beaker" culture, which replaced at least 90% of the DNA on the island, and which generally indicated that for whatever reason, the Neolithic peoples left essentially no descendants and much later arrivals from Central Europe's Bell Beaker culture.  The Bell Beaker culture is a bit mysterious, because it seems to have spread from multiple regions at once, it's got a big spread of open areas where other cultures are manifested instead, and it's ethno-linguistic affinities are dubious.  In fact, it's genetic markers come in two clusters; some from Neolithic Iberian sources, and some that bear a more Yamnaya influenced "steppe" genetic profile.  The Beaker phenomena seems to have been a brief hybrid between probable early Indo-Europeans coming from the Pontic-Caspian region and some locals from the Atlantic coast, and the beakers themselves might have been a prestige item that spread for whatever reason across a broad region across multiple ethno-linguistic and cultural groups.

This massive Beaker people migration to the British Isles and subsequent replacement of whomever was there before (the Stonehenge builders) has often been associated with an early stage of Celtic, which makes sense, but at the same time, the Bronze Age Urnfield culture is generally seen as the very earliest material culture that can be seen as an early stage of Celtic, with the subsequent Halstatt as proto-Celtic and the even later La Tene as actual Iron Age Celtic.  Given that, it seems likely that the Beaker migration to the British Isles had to have been, at best, some level of late Indo-European dialect or linguistic identity that predates anything that we can consider Celtic in any meaningful way.  So... how did Celtic get to the British Isles to be the linguistic identity of the first people who are historically attested in the region?

It's worth noting that the Insular Celtic languages are quite a bit different from the Continental Celtic languages, and make up a separate linguistic group.  This group is also posited to have been a P-Celtic stock, i.e., it is closer to the Gaulish languages than to other Celtic languages such as those of Cisalpine Gaul, the Celtiberians, etc.  This P-Celtic is sometimes also called Gallo-Brittonic.  Q-Celtic is Goidelic (i.e. Irish, Scottish) and the Celtiberians.  Nobody knows for sure where the division lies; Insular vs. Continental, or P- vs Q-Celtic.  But both models do suggest that there were extended contacts between the islands and the Continent still, so possibly even if the Beaker migrants to Britain were pre-Celtic, they were still part of a linguistic continuum that many centuries later emerged as Celtic.  Maybe.  Or maybe we should be looking for an elite dominance of Celtic arrivals separate from the original peopling of Britain by some other late Indo-European group (Nordwestblock?)

Anyway, archaeogenetics is a fascinating subject.  While it's told us some interesting things that are not very surprising (for instance, it's pretty much ended any remaining controversy surrounding the Indo-European homeland, at least from a scientific standpoint, although science deniers still hold on to their pet theories in some instances), it also has raised all kinds of questions and told us things that we didn't expect and can't explain.

I expect yet that many more interesting things will come out of the study of archaeogenetics.  It's been a wild ride in a short time for the study as it is.

Middle-earth Remixed, again

I haven't (yet) drawn a map for my Middle-earth with the serial numbers filed off, or replaced the names of important places like Rivendell, Gondor, Angmar, Mordor, etc. with names that are specific to my MIDDLE-EARTH REMIXED setting.  But I just re-read my posts under that tag, and I want to rekindle this project.  It was a good idea.  Plus, here's some more Angus McBride artwork that can serve as inspiration.

But first; assuming of course that if I ever do anything with this I'd use FANTASY HACK (because of course I would), do I actually have everything that I need?  The notion that orcs and goblins are better represented by baboons and apes is more cosmetic rather than meant to mean that I should use the stats for baboons and apes instead of orcs and goblins (although I could, I suppose.  No reason why not, especially if I want to emphasize their barbarity and savage-ness.)  I can have various interpretations of Ringwraiths riding Fell-ghasts—are they vampires, or liches or some kind of ghost, or something else?  Why not a little bit of "all of the above" as desired?  Heck, they could even be Royal Heresiarchs from the optional "More Monsters" link.

I'm not sure that I have anything that really compares to the dangerous fey approach of the Celtic mythology that I'm using for elves and dwarves, etc.  Honestly, I'd defer for the time being and try to minimize the exposure of the players to them anyway.  Make them more like haunts or even just plain old plot devices rather than statted antagonists that you're meant to approach in combat, if they are even uncovered at all.

Anyway, on to the McBride!

Gondor and the Northmen fighting in the Kin-strife wars.

Royalty of Arthedain.  Or maybe Rhovannion, actually, if Eriador is meant to be more Celtic and east of the mountains is more Germanic.

During the Kin-strife, South Gondor was effectively (although not in name) lost to Gondor following the Kin-strife, as Haradrim moved into the territory, who recognized no authority at Minas Anor.

Northmen from two different groups greeting each other in passing.

A ship from Dale crosses the Long Lake to Esgaroth (which you can't really see here; just a few of the outlying farmsteads.)

Just because there are Dark Lords to oppose doesn't mean that the various men of the North all get along with each other.  A raiding party from near Framsburg crosses the mountain passes to sack a village of northern Rhudaur; already occupied by semi-alien Hillfolk, possibly allied with Angmar.

Let us not forget that along with McBride's wonderful historical artwork, he also did some pretty hot Middle-earth artwork himself.  Here, some Rohirrim run down orcs on the plains of Calenardhon.

A party of Dunlendings survey an outpost between Isengard and Tharbad, here still allied (culturally, if not necessarily politically) with Gondor.

Spaceshokkers

I just got the "Angelius" single from Spaceshokkers (2012).  It's a little odd.  Spaceshokkers suggests that it's a collaboration between S.H.O.K.K. and DJ Space Raven, which it is.  Except, of course, that DJ Space Raven joined S.H.O.K.K. in 2008.  Now, I know that he still has his own single stuff going here and there, and I guess DJ Giotto or DJ Emergency or whatever Claudio Pettanice calls himself these days does too, although he seems to recognize that the S.H.O.K.K. name is itself a better brand.

The name seems to imply that it's Pettanice working with Perrottey the way Woodshokk was a collaboration between Pettanice as S.H.O.K.K. and Marcel Woods, but it's not, because Perrottey had already been a credited member of S.H.O.K.K. for 4-5 years.  Anyway, maybe I'm reading too much into this; a lot of electronic music "bands" play around with different names, and then remix their own work but credit it to a different name.  Kamui remixed songs by Synthflut and Virus Inc. (and vice versa) but of course, all three (and some other names besides, like Black Phaze) are just the same two guys.  The style differences between the names aren't even very different.  The same thing happened with S.O.D., P.G.L. and Russenmafia (and more names again.)  So, I guess if the guys want to play around with names, and remix their own work, and crap like that, there's nothing wrong with that.  It just seems odd.

Anyway, there are five tracks, but one of them, the Radio Mix is just a shortened version.  Two of the regular length ones are remixed by the band (the "DJ Space Raven vs S.H.O.K.K." version and the "Epic Mix."  The former seems to be the one that the band focuses on (the Radio Version is a shortened version of it, and it's appeared on a few compilations here and there),  but I like the second one better.)  And two are remixed by someone else; Swiss DJ Passion and Japanese Nish.

For fun, here's the two remixed by the band.  I'm ignoring, as usual, truncated radio mixes that don't add anything, and in fact just take away from longer, "club length" tracks.

Friday Art Attack

Indiana Jones in Hell.  Or something like that.

A very pulpy interpretation of the Witch-King from Lord of the Rings.

 Rawr!  Amazon stone-age hunters stampeding styrachosaurs with stone-tipped spears.  Of course.

 If only exploring the jungle were to find such incredible scenery...

When cats hunt brachiosaurs.  Again; why not?

La is at it again.  It'll never work, La.  Give it up.  Tarzan will never love you.

More exotic sexy pulp women.

Submarines and underwater cities... this should be a watery planet in AD ASTRA.

Very pulpy space opera.  I love this kind of stuff.

More very pulpy space opera.  Maybe even proto or pre space opera planetary romance.  I'm not sure exactly what this is supposed to be a picture of, but it could easily be Flash Gordon.  And a mosasaur.

A normal trancey spacescape image.  I've got several of these, and I think that they're kinda nice as backgrounds.

An early concept piece of Darth Vader's very first appearance in Star Wars.  Note the stormtroopers with lightsabers and shields.

The Emperor fighting... Horus, I presume.  Can't really see because of the big lightning blast.

A pretty sweet alternate, Gladiator style Vader concept.

Demons and undead and stuff.  The forced perspective is a little bit obnoxious, I admit.

Werewolf on a roof in the rain.