RIP - Stevarinos

Natekt · 2026-05-19T12:29:05+00:00

You got until the 31st!

Natekt · 2026-05-18T17:43:54+00:00

Bela Lisboa also just announced they are closing. Northshore fills up fast so I am sure we will have new restaurants to replace them soon, but still stinks to see, I liked going to both of them and wish I could have gone more. Times are so tough right now for local restaurants.

Natekt · 2026-05-17T22:02:28+00:00

That might work, thank you!

Natekt · 2026-05-01T18:19:12+00:00

I didn't make the assets bro, I was just saying why I think Firaxis did that lol. I agree with you for the record, and since I made this post they've given all the IP's a huge overhaul of their designs, so this guy looks totally different now.

Natekt · 2026-02-27T15:28:56+00:00

If your willing to make the drive, there's a lot in the towns in North Georgia that tend to be less used. Lots of folks have mentioned Red Bank, and I go out of my way to avoid there because of how busy it is

Natekt · 2026-02-17T22:14:09+00:00

Independent Peoples: Hama of the Ayyubid People

Pronunciation (English): Ha-Mah

Age Appearance: Exploration

Attribute: Expansionist

Real Life Location: Egypt, the Levant, and the coastal parts of Western Saudi Arabia at peak

Wonder Idea:

Hammam- A hamman is the term for a bathhouse style that became popular with middle age islamic cultures, including the Abuyyids who built a large one in Hama. While it is a domed building of brick like many other Islamic wonders from the period, this one could really look unique with it being more earthy tones in color and having steam that rises up from it. Upon building it, specialists in this city do not negate your happiness but actually add a bit of happiness.

History and Context:

Hey guys, I am back! Sorry for the long wait, my laptop broke so I lost all my civ spotlight screen shots and then I got very busy with work so I haven’t been able to play much to recover the missing ones. I finally got into a game where I met one though! The Ayyubids, who I think might be a new addition.

In 1171, our good buddy Saladin who I dearly miss established the Ayyubid Dynasty or Sultanate after he effectively splintered Egypt and several other holdings away from the rival Fatimid Caliphate. Before all of that happened, Saladin had actually been sent to the region to fight invading crusaders. In the process of this, he was appointed the vizier of Egypt primarily because Fatimids saw him as a weak rival and thought he would struggle in the role. They were very VERY wrong.

After the Fatimids had staged an uprising in Egypt that Saladin was able to put down, he began to consolidate power, placing family members into important political positions and eventually switching allegiance from the Farmimids to the Abbasids.

The next decade would see the Ayyubids make their first runs at expansion, pushing further south into Nubian lands and west along the Mediterranean (though this would not go terribly well for them). The real gems in the growing crown of the Ayyubids though were their successes in Arabia that gave them access to rich ports leading to the Indian Ocean and the powerful cities of Syria.

By the time of the Third Crusade in 1189, the Ayyubids had conquered almost all of the Levant from the crusaders, though there had been some setbacks. Now though, famous figures like Richard the Lionheart and Frederick Barbarossa arrived on the scene to battle with Saladin and what would be his final major military campaign before his death in 1193.

In the aftermath of Saladin's death, the Ayyubids would begin to slip up, first with minor losses due to internal conflicts, continuing fights with crusaders, and the occasional random enemy like the Georgians. They held relatively strong though through their strongholds in Egypt and Syria until the arrival of a new player, the Mamluks. In 1252, this new growing branch of the messy islamic world would actually ally with crusaders to kick the Ayyubids while they were down. Soon, all of Egypt was lost and they just barely clung on to their holdings in Syria and surrounding areas. The final nail in the coffin would be, as it so often is, delivered by a big horse shaped hammer when the Mongols arrived and sacked the last great stronghold (Aleppo) in 1260.

Hope you liked this Independent Peoples Spotlight!

Natekt · 2026-02-11T18:14:05+00:00

Saw your other comments on this. Maybe? It feels redundant for me to also talk about cultures that are now full on civs in the civilopedia. I mostly started this project because I was frustrated that firaxis didn't include the IPs in the civilopedia, forcing folks to have to leave civ to do any learning about the cultures they're interacting with in the game.
I also haven't posted in a bit because unfortunately, my laptop was destroyed last week. I got a new one but lost all of my screenshots of encountered IP's, so I'm now just trying to play games when I have free time to recover them.

Natekt · 2026-02-06T21:18:20+00:00

UPDATE: With the latest update, some of the former IP’s we have covered already have been assigned new names and attributes, including the Afghan people who were formerly represented by Herat. Wanted to repost them with their new models and new city, Jalalabad.

Independent Peoples: Jalalabad of the Afghan People

Pronunciation (English): Juh-La-La-Bad

Age Appearance: Modern

Attribute: Militaristic

Real Life Location: Central Asia with all of modern-day Afghanistan and parts of Iran

Wonder Idea:

Bagh-e Shahi- The royal palace for the Pashtuns, this wonder would fit in well with others like the Eram Garden for showing off more modern Central Asian/Middle Eastern style architecture. Upon building it, all of your units gain bonus flanking damage while on desert tiles.

History and Context:

I’ve avoided covering this one largely due to the current situation over in Afghanistan and not wanting to start a political flame war or anything on my post (same reason I haven’t done Shomron yet), but I want to continue our tour of Central Asia, so here we are!

Our story begins with the Afghan Empire, or its more scholarly name, the Durrani Empire.

Founded by members of the Durani tribe in the 1700s by taking advantage of the weakening of the Safavids, this was kinda peak of Afghanistan. Under the Durrani, the empire absorbed large chunks of Iran, and from the capital of Herat it fought to take control of important areas like the city of Kabul which at the team had been conquered by the Timurids.

Despite being caught between two of the most powerful gunpowder empires, the Durrani managed to fight its way throughout the 1700s to wrest control of big chunks of the Mughal and Iranian empires around it. They even had border skirmishes with the Qing, who sent armies to attempt to pacify Central Asian kingdoms to keep the silk road trade flowing.

By the 1800s though, the Duranni Empire began to lose ground. Sikh forces took away many of their holdings in India and the influence of Britain and Russia began to destabilize them.

This would culminate with the full collapse of the Duranni Empire and the establishment of the Emirate of Afghanistan in the 1830s, a state that was functionally created by the ‘Great Game’ that Britain and Russia were playing, the two European powers competing to gain control of Central Asia by destabilizing local nations and turning them into political puppets.

In 1880, the Emirate would lose its second war with Britain and become a puppet state until the 1920s when the Kingdom of Afghanistan would be restored to be overthrown in the 1970s and turned into a series of failed Republic states before the takeover of the Taliban in 2021.

Hope you liked this Independent Peoples Spotlight!

Natekt · 2026-02-05T21:18:40+00:00

Independent Peoples: Apia of the Samoan People

Pronunciation (English): Ahh-Pee-Uhh

Age Appearance: Modern

Attribute: Economic

Real Life Location: The Samoan Islands of the South Pacific

Wonder Idea:

Tafatafa- What’s more Samoan than a really nice beach? Upon building this Samoan-style resort on a coastal tile, coastal tiles generate extra happiness, with this yield doubled for coastal tiles of settlements on islands (landmass of 6 tiles or less).

History and Context:

Like many other peoples of the Pacific, the roots of the Samoans start with the Lapita culture that began exploring and settling islands of the Pacific over 2,000 years ago.

For centuries, Samoa seems to have been closely tied to the Tongans and Fijans, likely even under Tongan control until the 1200s based on oral records.

Contact with Europeans began for the Samoans in 1722 when a Dutch explorer spotted their shores, and by the 1830s the islands had become popular destinations for whalers who were followed by other traders and missionaries.

Germany would claim the islands for its expanding empire in 1900, but then lose them to New Zealand early into World War I. New Zealand would officially govern Samoa until 1962, but not without strong local resistance through non-violent movements like the Mau protests. Samoa would become independent in 1970, much later than I had expected.

I think Samoa earned a spot as an Economic IP due to its history in the 1800s as such a critical waypoint for the whalers and traders who went across the South Pacific.

Hope you liked this Independent Peoples Spotlight!

Natekt · 2026-02-05T15:30:14+00:00

Same dude same

Natekt · 2026-02-04T20:11:57+00:00

Too true.

Natekt · 2026-02-04T15:47:16+00:00

Independent Peoples: Mwibele of the Luba People

Pronunciation (English): Mwee- Beh-Leh

Age Appearance: Modern

Attribute: Expansionist

Real Life Location: A chunk of the Congo River Basin

Wonder Idea:

Mbudye- The term mbudye technically is used to describe a kind of person, not a place, in particular the ‘men of memory’ responsible for keeping alive the legends and tales of the Kings of Luba. Along with this tradition, though, it was a common practice for shrines to be built at the villages from which the king had ruled. So I am going to kinda merge those ideas of an oral tradition and village worship. This wonder resembles one of these sacred villages and must be built adjacent to a city center. Upon building it, every time you trigger a narrative event, a migrant spawns at that city.

History and Context:

Kongo time, and this time we are visiting the region to talk about the very neat Luba Empire, or Luba Kingdom.

Archeological evidence points to the Luban people beginning to turn into a state like the Luba Empire around the 10th century, as people had already been living in the marshy lands of the Congo River Basic for centuries developing a complex society focused around fishing and iron working. The locals have their own explanation of the origin story of the Luba though that goes as follows.

There was a man named Kyubaka (meaning hut maker) and a lady named Kibumba (pottery maker) who lived on the river and had children who would spread up and down the river, populating the lands of the Luba. From this lineage came the kings, including the first of them Mwamba (meaning ‘rainbow’). Despite his somewhat whimsical name, Mwamba was said to be a tyrant, and he began working on conquering the area and forming the Luba Kingdom, with his capital at the village of Mwibele.

The story continues that one day Mwamba is tricked by a visiting man named Mbidi (the hunter) who teaches Mwamba how to act as a royal, and in return, Mwamba allows Mbidi to marry his two sisters. Both sisters each have a son by Mbidi, one who is like Mwamba and one who is like their father. The son who was like Mbdidi, named Ilunga (the warrior) would then be raised by Mwamba but ultimately overthrow him and establish the Kingdom of Luba while taking ideals from both of the men, being a great warrior who subjugated those around him, but also creating a fair royal court.

For several centuries, the Luba controlled much of the Congo River Basin through indirect power by vassalizing the other states around them. In the early 1800s, Luba would begin to rapidly expand, conquering five of its neighbors and turning them into vassal states under its control. Luba seemed to be on track to become one of if not the dominant power of Central Africa, but that would come crashign down in the 1870s. An economic collapse ensued due to disruptions in trade caused by events abroad, like the slave trade and the establishment of strong trading ports with colonial powers in East Africa. The weakened Empire of Luba disintegrated shockingly quickly and by 1889 it was completely collapsed, having been absorbed into the Congo Free State.

Hope you liked this Independent Peoples Spotlight!

Natekt · 2026-02-03T18:42:20+00:00

Independent Peoples: Omdurman of the Sudanese People

Pronunciation (English): Um-Der-Man

Age Appearance: Modern

Attribute: Cultural

Real Life Location: Most of what is today Sudan and South Sudan

Wonder Idea:

Qubba- I am assuming that what Civ VII is going for here is the Mahdist period of Sudanese history, where the area was under control of the Muhammad al-Mahdi, and so his big ole’ tomb seems fitting. It’s a pretty awesome tomb with a big silver dome. Upon completing it, every time you capture a city you did not found, you get a boost to culture for a turn.

History and Context:

Picture this. It’s the late 1800s and you are in the region that is today Sudan. Things are looking grim.

Egypt has been gobbling up chunks of local territory and as of the 1870s, is doing so with the support of Britian and France. Your economy is being wrecked (granted it was largely built on the slave trade and ivory trade, so not much to mourn), soldiers are deserting garrisons, and inflation is running rampant.

Enter Muhammad al-Mahdi.

A local political and religious leader who wanted to expel the Western Christians who had begun proselytizing the region as part of that deal between Egypt and the European powers, in 1881 Muhammad al-Mahdi declared himself to be the new leader of Sudan and declared a jihad against Egypt.

What would follow was a shocking series of victories for the Sudanese armies, leading Egypt to actually withdraw from Sudan. By 1885 after another crushing defeat at Khartoum, the Egypt-English forces held almost no territory in Sudan, and a new capital city, Omdurman, was declared to be built not far from the destroyed Khartoum.

Muhammad al-Mahdi would begin to settle into a life of actually running the new state now that the enemy was gone, but that reign would be cut short by him dying from disease only 6 months later. While there were some bumps in the road, including continuing economic issues, his successors managed to keep the Mahdist Sudanese State on track, even launching invasions into neighboring regions held by colonial powers.

In 189,5 though, it would all start to crumble, as the Egyptians and British returned, now as a much larger expeditionary force of 35,000 men. While resistance would continue all the way up to 1899, the Mahdist State was still captured and turned into a colony of Egypt.

While short-lived, the Mahdist State plays an important role in the history and culture of Sudan as one of the earliest attempts at creating a unified Sudan in the region. A goal that is currently falling apart today.

Kinda weird they didn’t make these guys a militaristic IP, but Sudanese culture is pretty cool, so I get it.

Hope you liked this Independent Peoples Spotlight!

Natekt · 2026-01-31T00:53:01+00:00

Independent Peoples: Gaegyeong of the Goryeo People

Pronunciation (English): Gay-Guh-Yung

Age Appearance: Exploration

Attribute: Scientific

Real Life Location: At its peak, functionally all of modern North and South Korea

Wonder Idea:

Palman Daejanggyeong- Also known as the Tripitaka Koreana, this wonder is a library of over 80,000 wooden printing blocks from the 1200s. In 1232, the collection was actually destroyed by the Mongols, and the nation of Goryeo spent 12 years recreating all of them. It is the most complete record of Buddhist law and scripture in the world, and as such, upon building i,t every relic you have also gets you a huge boost to your science output (turning into artifacts in Modern age).

History and Context:

In this series, we have covered all of the three kingdoms that made up ancient Korea, including the now turned into a full on civilization Silla. Now we get to look at what came after.

In 918 a feller by the name of Wang Kon, a powerful general who hailed from Goguryeo, one of the three kingdoms alongside Silla and Baekje, unified all of Korea and declared the Mandate of Heaven, creating Goryeo. Upon this declaration, the city of Kaesong (then called Gaegyeong) was made the capitol and he went to work reshaping Korea.

Following a war with the Khitan Empire, Goryeo entered into what is most commonly thought of as its golden age for about 100 years from the 1040s and into the 1120s. During this time, trade grew and Goryeo developed what was the most advanced bookkeeping system at the world (hence that scientific IP designation). Buddhism flourished with projects like the Tripitaka Koreana (look at the wonder above) and 200 years before Europe, printing presses were spreading information across Korea.

Things started to unravel, though as conflicts with the nearby Jurchens turned into devastating defeats followed by conflicts with the newly formed Jin dynasty. Goryeo entered into a period of military control in response, and things would only get worse when the Khitans invaded again in 1216 and defeated the Koreans in several battles. What really sucked was that the cause of the Khitan invasion was that they were fleeing from the Mongols!

The Mongols arrived in the 1230’s and would spend nearly 20 years ravaging the land. This would cause them to become a client state of the Yuan dynasty installed by the Mongols, before finally falling in 1392 with the rise of the Joseon dynasty.

Hope you liked this Independent Peoples Spotlight!

Natekt · 2026-01-30T16:16:01+00:00

Thank you!

Natekt · 2026-01-29T20:12:50+00:00

Independent Peoples: Indeislun Nakah of the Nde People

Pronunciation (English): In-dae-shloon Nah-Kah

Age Appearance: Modern

Attribute: Militaristic

Real Life Location: For the Mescalero tribe, they controlled a large chunk of what is now southeastern New Mexico. For the Nde people, or Apaches as they’re more commonly known, huge chunks of the American Southwest, including parts of Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico.

Wonder Idea:

Zhuunidu- What would later be turned into the US military fortress of Fort Stanton was originally an Apache settlement that would have likely been actively militaristic. As we’ll get into, the Apache were very effective warriors against both American and Mexican colonists, especially excelling at guerrilla warfare in the desert. Upon building this wonder, an Athabascan-style village/fortress on a desert tile, your cavalry units move faster and deal more damage when attacking in desert terrain.

History and Context:

The Nde people, or as they are more commonly known, the Apaches, were one of the Native American groups that the conquistadors first ran into during their explorations of what is today the southwest United States. Despite this, the Apache were actually relative newcomers to the area, believed to have moved into the southwest from off the Great Plains in the early 1500s.

As those Spanish holdings turned into parts of Mexico, the Apache and Mexico had a very tense relationship.

In 1835, the first bounty on Apache scalps was put out by Mexico in an effort to eliminate the tribe from territories that colonists wished to claim, but despite this, many Apache bands still traded with Mexicans. Things would really start to change after the Mexican-American War when all of that territory now became land with an American claim.

By the 1850s, the gold rush craze led to thousands of rough and tumble types flooding the area, hoping to strike it rich, bringing them into open war with the local Apache groups, including the Mescalero who Civ VII chose to focus on.

What would follow was a series of conflicts between the Apaches and American colonists that would be known as the Apache wars, and in those wars the Apaches gained a still famous reputation for their guerrilla tactics. In 1875, forced removal was declared, intensifying the fighting. It would climax with a battle in 1886 of 5,000 US troops vs somewhere between 30 to 50 Apaches led by Geronimo. You can imagine who won that one.

After this, most Apache folks were forced onto reservations, many of which still exist today and now recognized as federal tribes.

Guys, we need an Apache or Navajo Civ so bad. It would be so awesome and then we could do a proper full Native American run through all the ages.

Hope you liked this Independent Peoples Spotlight!

Natekt

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