Culture Suggestion: Thracian

Age of Mythology: Retold Discussion
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THE GODS

I. Bendis - Lunar mother goddess of hunting

	II. Zagreus - Cthonic god of rejuvenation and hunting
	II. Pleistoros - Lupine god of war

		III. Boreas - Weather god of cold and mountains
		III. Zemele - Terran goddess of femininity and childhood

			IV. Iambadoule - Pluvial goddess of wealth and farming
			IV. Dabatopios - Cthonic god of metallurgy

I. Sabazios - Solar sky father, heroic horseman

	II. Kotys - Goddess of slaughter
	II. Pleistoros - Lupine god of war

		III. Zbelthurdos - Aquiline god of lightning
		III. Zemele - Terran goddess of femininity and childhood

			IV. Derzelas - Cthonic god of abundance and vitality
			IV. Dabatopios - Cthonic god of metallurgy

I. Karabasmos - Cthonic god of horses, slayer of beasts

	II. Zagreus - Cthonic god of rejuvenation and hunting
	II. Kotys - Goddess of slaughter

		III. Boreas - Weather god of cold and mountains
		III. Zbelthurdos - Aquiline god of lightning

			IV. Iambadoule - Pluvial goddess of wealth and farming
			IV. Derzelas - Cthonic god of abundance and vitality

FAVOR

Gains favor when LOSING units. Builds Tholoi (sg. Tholos) tombs to generate more favor per unit lost. Heroes lost generate more favor. Villagers lost generate the least. Myth units generate none.

ECONOMIC BUILDINGS

Granary, Lumber Camp, Mining Camp - Thracians use individual storage buildings like the Egyptians, but theirs cost 50 Wood each to build.
Tholos - Burial mound, multiplies favor gain. Can build one in Age 1 and two more every age after.

MILITARY BUILDINGS

War Camp - Age 2 Military production building, trains Talkas, Sparathurdos, and Mezenai.
Siege Works - Age 3 Military production building, trains Polybolos and Onager
Libum - Age 3 Fortified production building, trains Sparatakos, Raskutalkas, and Ebruzelmis.

HUMAN UNITS

War Camp Soldiers

War Camp soldiers are faster and less resilient than other cultures’ soldiers.

  • Talkas (striker) (II) - Falx infantry - Good against other infantry
  • Sparathurdos (spear thrower) (II) - Javelin ranged soldier - Good against other ranged soldiers
  • Mezenai (horseman) (II) - Javelin cavalry - Good against other cavalry

Libum Soldiers

Libum soldiers are sturdy but slow, the opposite of War Camp soldiers.

  • Sparatakos (famous by the spear) (III) - Professional spear infantry - Excellent against cavalry
  • Raskutalkas (fast striker) (III) - Noble sword cavalry - Excellent against ranged soldiers
  • Ebruzelmis (wide protector) (IV) - Noble romphaia infantry with area attack.

SIEGE UNITS

Thracian siege units are smaller and weaker than those of other civs, but they attack faster.

  • Polybolos (III) - A sort of hand cranked ballista that fires rapidly. About the size of a Roman Scorpio.
  • Onager (IV) - A small trebuchet that fires fist sized stones. Another rapid fire but small siege weapon.

SHIPS

Thracians had no navy, but many operated as pirates on greek ships. Thracian pirate ships are fast and have weaker attacks, but they’re also cheaper.

  • Lembos - Greek priate shitp - Arrow ship
  • Hemiolos - Greek priate shitp - Close-combat ship
  • Liburna - Greek priate shitp - Siege Ship equipped with twin polybolos.

HEROES

The Thracian Horseman is the quintessential hero in Thracian art. He is often depicted as a javlin thrower, a dragon slayer, and even a god. So it would make sense for the thracian hero to be a javelin wielding cavalryman whose name means “Demigod”.

  • Diazelmis - Cavalry heroes. They start with a piercing melee attack in Age 1, gain the ability to throw javelins at flying units in Age 2, and become fully hybtid units in Age 3, throwing javelins at distant units but using melee against nearby units.

MYTH UNITS

  • Zagreus: Satrokentae - Literally “Satyr-Centaurs”, the Satrokentae were a Thracian tribe believed to have inspired the myths of both satyrs and centaurs.
  • Pleistoros: Pricolici - A Romanian word for werewolf speculated to have Dacian origins. The Dacians seem to have followed the PIE wolf warrior tradition and one Dacian werewolf myth survives into modern Romanian folklore as the story of the Great White Wolf and Saint Andrew.
  • Kotys: Striga - Vampire found in Albanian and Romanian folklore, a term of Roman and Greek origin.
  • Boreas: Hala - Derived from the Greek word for hail, the Hala/Ala is a malicious weather demon in Bulgaria, Serbia, and Macedonia, and may be cognate with the Romanian nymphs “Vâlve”.
  • Zemele: Zana - A reflex of the roman goddess Diana, the Zane are nymphs in Albanian and Romanian folklore.
  • Zbelthurdos: Griffin - Griffins feature in many forms in Thracian art, such as plates, chalices, vases, and even helmets. And it still exist in Romanian folklore as a giant eagle with two heads.
  • Iambadoule: Belleros - A Greek rendering of the Thracian word for beast or monster. Appears to have been a dragon/serpent as it survives in Romanian as the word for Dragon and in Albanian as the word for Water Snake.
  • Dabatopios: Cabeiri - Thracian forge gods and helpers of “Thracian Hephaestus”. Similar role in myth to Cyclopes.
  • Derzelas: Gigantes - Most Greek myths place the gigantes in Thrace, and the Balkans have many myths of giants.
  • Naval III: Zmey - In Macedonian and Bulgarian folklore the Zmey is a benevolent dragon that fights Lamia and Hala.
  • Naval IV: Lamia - In Macedonian and Bulgarian folklore the Lamia is an evil dragonness that fights Zmey. She is described as having a wolf’s head, which matches with Thracian challices of wolf-headed dragons, as well as with the Dacian draco.
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