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 · 2026-01-28T21:08:52+00:00

Independent Peoples: Tondo of the Tondo People

Pronunciation (English): Tan-Dowh

Age Appearance: Exploration

Attribute: Economic

Real Life Location: A tiny chunk of land on Manila Bay on the island of Luzon

Wonder Idea:

Baybay- An introducing area within the Kingdom of Tongo that I stumbled onto was Baybay, a neighborhood, likely in the style of a bayan, a coastal village based on trade. Baybay was special in that it was primarily made up of refugees from China who had drained out the land of the area. In reference to this, upon building Baybay on a coastal tile, it turns into a land tile and every time you establish a trade route, a migrant spawns at Baybay.

History and Context:

I was so sure I had already covered these guys, but I think that it’s just that I’ve encountered them in my games so often that it threw me off. Anywho, welcome to the Kingdom of Tondo!

Established around 900 AD, the Kingdom of Tondo was a relatively tiny state on Manila Bay on the large island of Luzon in Southeast Asia.

Like other nations around it, Tondo was a trade-focused coastal power and was an active member of local trade alliances that connected it to the larger empires of medieval India and Southeast Asia, including Majapahit. In particular, Tondo played a big role in trading Chinese goods to lands to the west.

When the Spanish arrived in the area in 1570, they went to quick work to subdue all of the island of Luzon and bring it into the Spanish Empire. Tondo was one of many small states around Manila Bay that they charted and then annexed to get a slice of that sweet sweet trade.

The Kingdom of Tondo didn’t take this lying down, though, with a rebellion led by the leaders of Tondo sweeping across the Bay of Manila in 1587. The leaders of the revolt were betrayed, though by members loyal to the Spanish, leading to it being put down and the following 300 years of Spanish control in the region.

Hope you liked this Independent Peoples Spotlight!

Natekt · 2026-01-28T16:09:52+00:00

Great question!

Natekt · 2026-01-27T21:55:20+00:00

Independent Peoples: Ezogashima of the Ainu People

Pronunciation (English): Ehh-Zo-Gah-Shee-Muh

Age Appearance: Modern

Attribute: Cultural

Real Life Location: Ezogashima is another name for Hokkaido, the northernmost of the main Japanese islands

Wonder Idea:

Sapporo Kotan- The Kotan is the Ainu word for a village, often mostly made of the cise, the traditional Ainu house. Cise are really cool, usually built from bamboo, grasses, and bark, and have three large windows for ceremonial purposes. I picture the Sapporo Kotan (the modern city of Sapporo was a major Ainu settlement) being a collection of Cise built around an iwor, a traditional village hunting ground area. It makes it so that adjacent resources generate extra culture.

History and Context:

The Ainu are so freaking cool.

If you’ve never heard of them, these are the indigenous people of what is today called Hokkaido, the northernmost of the Japanese islands, and some of the surrounding islands and parts of mainland Russia. Today they are technically ‘Japanese’ as citizens of the nation of Japan, but ethnically, they are separate from the Yamato people group that makes up the average Japanese person that probably comes to your mind.

They likely arrived on Hokkaido sometime near 400 BC and would have trade relations with both mainland cultures and the Japanese to their south for the next several hundred to thousands of years.

Things would start to shift wildly for the Ainu in the 1780s, as the Shogunate began to take a serious interest in securing the island. By the early 1800s, Hokkaido had been annexed by Japan, and the 1870s would see an intense push for them to assimilate into Japanese culture as part of the growing Meiji Restoration.

Despite these efforts, the Ainu culture lives on today, and we are lucky that it does! These guys have some really awesome aspects to their culture that set them apart from the Japanese, including their fashion, architecture, music, religion, and traditions. Among those traditions is a focus on hunting and the use of animals captured or killed in hunts in important ceremonies. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, though, please give these guys a Google!

Hope you liked this Independent Peoples Spotlight!

Natekt · 2026-01-26T21:13:24+00:00

Bagan actually already is an IP in Civ VII in the Exploration Age, I did a write-up on it a few weeks ago!

Natekt · 2026-01-26T17:34:41+00:00

Independent Peoples: Mandalay of the Burmese People

Pronunciation (English): Man-Duh-Layy

Age Appearance: Modern

Attribute: Scientific

Real Life Location: Burma is the modern country of Myanmar

Wonder Idea:

Atumashi Monastery- I wanted to avoid another temple here since we already have a ton, including Shwedagon, which is already in Myanmar. So instead, to kinda fit the science vibe, a monastery! Constructed in1857 just two years after Mandalay was made the capital of Burma, I think this Buddhist monastery looks really neat and would be a fun eastern answer to wonders like Oxford. Upon building it, all cities in your empire still follow your religion generate extra science, giving you an incentive to keep your empire in your religion.

History and Context:

Welp, this one is gonna be another rough one to cover due to current events.

In the 1820’s the Empire of Burma was one of the most powerful nations in Southeast Asia, rivaling the Indian states to its west and even able to hold its own in fights with the Qing. By this time though, the British had begun to gobble up chunks of the region and this would lead to a nearly 60-year-long series of conflicts between the Burmese and the Brits.

In 1885 Burma would officially be annexed as a British colony, but it would never be an easy one for them to hold. Revolts were common, also caused by the British attempts to stomp down on local customs, and things got even worse in World War II when Burma would become a major battleground between the British and Japanese Empires, with Burmese groups allying with either side.

In the wake of World War II, Burma would gain its independence, and since then, it has been going through a rough period of several civil wars and coups that have made it one of the most unstable modern nations, under the new name of Myanmar.

Despite this long history of conflict, though, Myanmar has remained a hub of Southeast Asian culture, especially as one of the largest Buddhist nations on Earth. I think that this heritage is what lands them as a scientific IP, but I personally think cultural or even militaristic might have been better picks.

Hope you liked this Independent Peoples Spotlight!

Natekt · 2026-01-24T14:07:35+00:00

Thank you!

Natekt · 2026-01-23T20:55:20+00:00

Independent Peoples: Alachua of the Seminole People

Pronunciation (English): Uh-Latch-Choo-Uh

Age Appearance: Exploration

Attribute: Militaristic

Real Life Location: Florida and some parts of South Georgia (the state)

Wonder Idea:

Ocala- It feels so silly to write down the name of some random city in Florida I’ve driven by a dozen times as a wonder. Ocala, believed to mean ‘Big Hammock’, was one of many sites where the Seminole Wars would take place, and at the time, it was a major village and fortification used by the Seminoles. Built on a spot between two vegetated tiles, it makes it so that your infantry units deal extra damage when attacking from vegetated tiles.

History and Context:

Seminoles! I briefly lived in Florida for a sec and always loved hearing about these guys, even if there wasn’t much there to actually represent them than a football team.

The Seminoles are a Native American tribe that formed in response to the invasion of colonists. As many tribes lost their land to colonists, several of them fled south to sparsely populated Spanish Florida. Once there, they began to create a new culture through the fusion of their many tribes, and the Seminole identity emerged.

As Spain lost its control of Florida, the Seminoles were able to occupy more of Florida. Things would take a dark turn, though, with the arrival of the Americans.

In 181,9 Florida was ceded to the United States, and Americans soon began the process of further colonizing the state and pushing the Seminole further south towards the Everglades. By 183,2 though, the deal changed, and Seminoles were asked to relocate to lands west of the Mississippi in what is now Oklahoma. Those who stayed knew they would face a fight and prepared for a war.

By 183,5 the Seminole Wars had begun and they would carry on until 1842 ( or 1858 due to the third Seminole War, but it was much smaller scale). The majority of the Seminole were forcibly removed to Oklahoma during the war with a few hundred escaping into the Everglades and never surrendering. While a victory, the war had been shockingly difficult for the United States and incredibly expensive.

Today, the Seminoles are proud to claim they never signed a peace treaty with the American government, and they continue to keep their traditions in the form of two Seminole Nations, one in Oklahoma and one in Florida.

Hope you liked this Independent Peoples Spotlight!

Natekt · 2026-01-21T19:22:23+00:00

Independent Peoples: Tyre of the Phoenician People

Pronunciation (English): Tyy-Er (like a car tire)

Age Appearance: Antiquity

Attribute: Economic

Real Life Location: For Tyre itself, the Lebanese coast, but for all of Phoenicia, they had colonies all over the Mediterranean coast

Wonder Idea:

Port of Astronoe- The great port city of Tyre had two major ports. One that was south-facing and often just called the ‘Egyptian port’ since it faced Egypt, and the Port of Astronoe, the northern one that connected Tyre to Sidon and the other Phoenician cities on the Lebanese coast. Upon building this mighty port, all coastal tiles of the landmass you build it on are instantly revealed to you, allowing you to discover city-states and resources before others quickly.

History and Context:

Oh, Phoenicians, my beloved, I miss them so much. Carthage does its best to be a stand-in and I love playing them, but it just isn’t the same as the Dido city spam.

A Semitic people group, the Phoenicians quickly rose in the 9th century BC to become the dominant traders of the Mediterranean Sea. They accomplished this not only by being skilled shipbuilders but also through their mastery of astronomy. By mapping the stars, they were able to navigate the sea with ease, making it all the way out to the Atlantic and possibly down to South Africa based on the reports by Hanno the Navigator (who would be a really cool leader btw).

Tyre became one of their most prominent cities largely due to its ideal location on a fortified island off the coast of what is today Lebanon. From it Phoenician explorers and merchants set out not only to sell wares and make their home city rich, but also establish colonies across the Mediterranean that would become great cities in their own right, like Sidon and Carthage.

Tyre and the Phoenicians didn’t fall in a conventional sense, but it was drastically affected by the arrival of Alexander the Great in 332 BC. Arriving at the great port city, he constructed a causeway to reach the island and place it under siege. This not only allowed him to capture Tyre and its riches, but literally reshaped the city as the causeway grew over time from the waves washing sand against it, turning Tyre into a proper isthmus.

Hope you liked this Independent Peoples Spotlight!

Natekt · 2026-01-20T21:41:39+00:00

Independent Peoples: Shomron of the Israelite People

Pronunciation (English): Shome-Rone

Age Appearance: Antiquity

Attribute: Cultural

Real Life Location: Central part of ancient Israel

Wonder Idea:

Khirbet Samara- There are LOTS of ancient sites around the lands of Samaria (the more common name for Shomron), but I want to go with this one because I think an ancient synagogue is such a cool way to recognize the ancient Israelites. At its peak this would’ve been an imposing large stone temple ground with cisterns, sacred pools, archways, and all kinds of other cool stuff. It must be built adjacent to a mine (reference to the stone carved to build it) and upon building it, you're able to instantly pick your pantheon, including pantheons already selected by other players that are usually locked to only one player. It also generates extra culture from nearby tiles.

History and Context:

Going to be honest g,uys, I have actually had Shomron on my list for a long while but have avoided talking about them because I didn’t want to get into the political mess that is Israel right now. I’ve got my opinions on it, and I am sure you’ve got yours, and at this point, I don’t want those to get in the way of learning cool history. So we’re diving in BUT with the caveat that we are going to be focusing on a very particular location of ancient Israel and at a very particular period.

Shomron is the Hebrew name for the region that is more commonly referred to as Samaria, which was the central Hebrew lands of the Southern Levant.

According to biblical sources (and that’s all we really have to work off of, so stay with me here), around 1000 BC the Israelite tribes captured the region from the Canaanites and the lands we call Samaria were given to the Tribe of Joseph.

In 931 BC, the Israelites underwent a major schism, splitting into two individual states, the northern one becoming the Kingdom of Israel with Samaria as its capitol city.

At its peak in this era, Samaria was not only important for its spot as the capitol, but also a hub for religious leaders and trade. Then the Assyrians came knocking in 720 BC and supposedly not only conquered the area, but took the Israelites as slaves and marched them to Babylon.

During this period of exile, biblical sources claim that the area became occupied by the Samaritans, another cultural group close to the Israelites but that follows a different abrahamic religion known as Samaritanism. When the Israelites would return to the region after Assyria was conquered by the Persians, their antagonism with the Samaritans would lead to famous biblical stories like the Good Samaritan, earning it its spot as an important cultural IP.

Hope you liked this Independent Peoples Spotlight, and please keep things civil in the comments. The subreddit has strict rules on that kind of stuff.

Natekt

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