The Kidnapping of Princess Arelina
by Travis HenrySome things can be gleaned from the names.
Princess Arelina. Probably a fantastic modification of Latin Aura (air/breeze) or Aurum (gold) or Ariel (a Hebrew angel)+ the Latin/Italian/Spanish feminine diminutive suffix –ina
Except for the Princess' name, Garry Spiegle went all out on the Indonesian names:
Rusak's two henchmen:
Sample PCs:
- Ambil: To Take
- Teman = Friend
- Saudara = Sibling/Companion
- Kuat = Strong
- Penchuri = Pencuri (c = pronounced "ch" in Indonesian) = Thief
(It's certain that Spiegle was looking at an Indonesian dictionary, since the PC Penchuri indeed has the Thief class.)
- Triak = Scream, To Cry Out (old Malay spelling)
Present-day Indonesian: Berteriak - Awas = Careful/To Watch Out
- Berklai = ? Ber- is a common prefix.
- Klai = ???
Note: Indonesian and Malay are nearly the same language, with slightly different spellings. But this is Indonesian rather than Malay, since Malay for 'broken' is "rosak" not "rusak."
Note: the use of Indonesian/Malay as a stand-in for fantasy languages was a "thing" among some early TSR designers. Weiss and Hickman's magic words "shirak/dulak" for activating and dismissing Raistlin's light spell, were reportedly quasi-Indonesian in origin. (I don't have the source at hand though.) Note: Garry Spiegle was on the Dragonlance design team
I would guess he had a hand in the Indonesian sound of the Magius language of Krynn.
And in the B2 Orange Cover, Jean Wells suggested the Malay city "Jitra" as the name of a PC; she explicitly said it's from a Malaysian city.
In the sequel, Zeb Cook didn't stick to Indonesian names at all. [Edit. Except he kept 6 of the 8 sample PCs, which have their same Indonesian names of course, but now higher level.)
General Ernst Ziegler, Warden of the Garrisons.
- Ernst is a German version of Earnest (an ancient Germanic name meaning "serious.")
- Ziegler is a common German surname which originated in Bavaria. It means "brick-layer."
Kirkenny of Loch Glenfirg
- Kirkenny is a modification of the Irish placename Kilkenny, from Irish Gaelic Cill Chainnigh "church of Cainnech (Kenneth)"
- Loch is Scottish Gaelic "lake"
- Glen is Irish and Scottish Gaelic gleann "valley"
- Firg is probably a fantastic modification of Gaelic. (E.g. fir = Irish and Scottish Gaelic for "man.")
Magister Throrogast = probably a fantastic name inspired by Tolkien: Thror (a dwarf, a name which Tolkien got from Norse mythology) + Radagast (which Tolkien got from the Slavic god Radegast)
I'd suggest a Norse+Slavic interpretation:
- Þrór is an Old Norse name with various interprations “the plump/stout one; the thriving one”, related to þróask (to increase in magnitude or size, grow, mature, thrive). A byname of Frey, Odin, and a word for boar.
- Gast < gostŭ is an Old Slavic word meaning "host" or "guest, stranger", also interpreted as the Gothic gasts "stranger".)
These next three names (two of Rusak's henchman, plus the innocent wagon driver) all have the Russian/Bulgarian patronymic suffixes: -ov or –ev
- Petrof = Russian/Bulgarian "of Peter"
- Thoref = apparently a coined name based on Russian/Bulgarian "of Thor"
- Turef = apparently Russian/Bulgarian "of Tur". Probably vaguely inspired by the common Russian surname Turgenev
Or by the ancient name for Central Asia, Turan, which was named after the legendary villain "Tur." Who the Persians identified as the Turkic peoples to the north. Though Turef isn't a villain. He's just a normal guide; so it's probably more like Turgenev.
Philip of Marabone (also spelled "Marabon" in the PDF) is a Chaotic Thief.
- Philip is the English version of Greek Philippos "horse-loving"
Marabone is an obscure name which only has a few random hits on google:
- An English placename mentioned in a Freemasonry record
- A district in the city of Widnes, England
- A rare American and Syrian surname.
- An Irish lane in Dublin
- A Grenadian Creole word for "wasp."
- An area in Mande-speaking West Africa
Zeb Cook was probably aiming for a sort of haughty-but-sinister sounding Anglo-French name.
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Also timewise:
"some time has passed"/"many years" between the Kidnapping of Princess Arelina and the Revenge of Rusak. Princess Arelina was a "young girl", now "grown into womanhood."
***
There are "borderlands" AC8 p.3. Which suggests another country borders the kingdom.
Other gleanings and extrapolations:
- Just to say, these books themselves state that they're generic, and are meant to be placed anywhere. They have no official placement. AC8: "The Revenge of Rusak is entirely a wilderness
adventure. It has no particular background
setting so it can be used any time the
PCs are traveling to another place. There is
no map given of the territory since this is not
important to the adventure." p.2 - Arelina is not the only daughter of King Limakhan, only the "youngest daughter" (AC3 p.2). AC8 says that the rest of the royal family was slain by General Ziegler.
- The kingdom is predominantly M-Indonesian. ("M-" stands for "Mystaran analogue")
- Which suggests, it's *not* set in Karameikos.
- The characters in the cardstock cut-outs appear to be Caucasian. This doesn't preclude their speaking Fantasy Indonesian.
- King Limakhan is the fifth khan/king at the time of AC3. Princess Arelina (actually Queen) is the ruler by the time of AC8, since AC8 says Limakhan was killed by Ernst Ziegler in a coup.
- What place on the 1984-1985-era world map is fitting for M-Indonesia?
- Maybe the Sea Kingdoms on the Mentzer map? Maybe.
Based on the names, there are four other cultures near to this M-Indonesian kingdom:
- 2) M-Varangian Rus (M-Russia is more fitting than M-Bulgarian since there's a "Thor-ev", suggesting the early Norse/Varangian era of Rus. Also the mixed Norse-Slavic name Throrogast.)
- 3) M-Bavaria. "Although the Ziegler name is quite common throughout Germany, it has been most frequently found in the south and southwest of the country, in particular in Bavaria. There was an early reference to Ulreich der Zigler in the town of Eger on the border between Bavaria and Bohemia in 1340. The theologian and cartographer Jacob Ziegler was born at Landau in Bavaria in 1470; while Margarethe Ziegler, the mother of the theologian Martin Luther, was born at Neustadt in Bavaria in 1463. And a noble Ziegler family held estates in the Bavarian cities of Noerdlingen, Nuremburg and Munich."
- 4) An M-English-speaking land called Marabone or Marabon. Where the Chaotic Thief named Philip came from.
- 5) An M-Irish-Scotic land. Referred to in Rusak's illusory speech. Let's assume he didn't just totally make up the names.
Could this weird hodge-podge of five cultures comprise the Sea Kingdoms?
Here are suggested reverse-engineered names for the five Sea Kingdoms:
- 1) The Kingdom of Utuh ( = M-Indonesian + generic Western Fantasy culture.) Utuh means "intact", and is the antonym of Rusak "broken", the chief villain of the land. Ruled by Limakhan (the Khan V, the Fifth Khan) at the time of AC3. Princess Arelina (in internal exile) would presumably take up the title of "Queen" and Sixth Khan (Queen Enamkhan) if the adventurers succeed at the end of AC8.
- 2) The Kingdom of Petrofska (=Early Rus, including the Scandinavian and Khazar Turkic aspects of the Varangians, as seen in the names Thoref and Turef.) "-ef" = Slavic ending. Tur = Turkic. Thor = Varangian. This land is located on the same island as Utuh, based on the fact that the greatest number of non-Indonesian names (3) in AC8 are Russian/Slavic. And because there must be a "borderland" between Utuh and another country, which couldn't be the case if Utuh ruled the entire island. AC8 took place in the Utuh borderlands with Petrofska.
- 3) The Kingdom of Zieglern (=M-Kingdom of Bavaria). A land of brick buildings! And serious bricklayers.
- 4) The Kingdom of Marabone (aka Marabon) (=An M-England as a Kingdom of Chaotic Thieves. We'll assume Philip is representative.)
- 5) The Kingdom of Inisfirg (=M-Irish-Scotic Gaeldom). Known locations: Glenfirg (valley) and Kirkenny (city). The island's name is based on "Glenfirg" > "Inis-firg" (Inis = "island"). Possibly a land of illusionists, based on Rusak's familiarity with the land. (Maybe where he practiced to become an illusionist, and why he, in his illusory disguise, he chose to emulate a person from this land.)