Review of Dominions 3 at Gameology

[the Vanishag]

Hi, I'm a doctoral candidate at the University of Florida, studying Visual Culture. I mostly do Comics/Graphic Novels and Computer Games. As a gamer, I love Dom 3. As an academic, I just finished a lengthy paper about Hinnom/Ashdod/Gath. It's on-line at Gameology, a kind of blog+ for Games Studies.

In case anyone is interested, the title is The Kohen Gadol has Horns: the Fates of the Giants in Dominions 3, and the direct link is: http://www.gameology.org/node/1642

In brief, it traces some of the important themes, names and images in the nations of the Giants all the way to the Dead Sea Scrolls (which might - or might not - be a surprise to the designers of Hinnom, Ashdod and Gath).

Thank you all,
Tof

P.S. - I also posted a piece of fan art I drew (ink & watercolor) for Agartha's "Ageless Olm" Pretender on deviantART. Direct link: http://vanishag.deviantart.com/art/A...-Olm-120342326

[Trumanator]

Very interesting! The mythology behind those nations has always interested me. Are there any parallels to the Abysian invasion that drives back the giants, and ultimately destroys the twin cities of Ashdod?

[chrispedersen]

Talk about mythology.. the abysians destroying the giants is *definitely* wishful thinking.....

[P3D]

Originally Posted by chrispedersen

Talk about mythology.. the abysians destroying the giants is *definitely* wishful thinking.....

Fire resistant Giants, to make it more interesting.

[Illuminated One]

Great stuff.

It always amazes me how much freaky stuff is still lingering in christian/jewish theology.
Heck, about Canabilism and Blood magic ... "This is my body ... This is my blood".

[Kristoffer O]

Nice text!

There was some additional inspiration from the rephaim texts and canaanite religion. R'p'm and the ditanu were deified dead kings and were associated with the dead. Thus Ashdod is more of a mythological mix than the others. The concept of r'p'm giants is quite prevalent in middle eastern mythology. Some even wants to equate the ennunaki of sumerian myth with the biblical and canaanite giants. I couldn't resist the sumerian setting entirtely, so the archers and chariots of Hinnom are sumerian/assyrian in design.

[the Vanishag]

Originally Posted by Kristoffer O

There was some additional inspiration from the rephaim texts and canaanite religion. R'p'm and the ditanu were deified dead kings and were associated with the dead. Thus Ashdod is more of a mythological mix than the others. The concept of r'p'm giants is quite prevalent in middle eastern mythology. Some even wants to equate the ennunaki of sumerian myth with the biblical and canaanite giants. I couldn't resist the sumerian setting entirtely, so the archers and chariots of Hinnom are sumerian/assyrian in design.

Thanks, Kristoffer. I the deeper I got into my research, the more I realized how pervasive these myths were: it used to be that (some) scholars thought the Biblical Giants were imported from Greek myth (Kronos and the other Titans), but it's actually a really complex interconnected mesh of myths that go WAY back.

I even ran across the website of a ultraconservative talk radio host who has constructed a conspiracy theory by syncretizing all the different giant myths! If he'd shed the paranoia, he might almost be able to make something of it. (If you're curious, here's the link:http://www.stevequayle.com/Giants/index2.html).

In response to Trumanator's post, I don't know of any historical or mythological connection between Ashdod and Abyssia, though there may be some link through the ancient Near- and Middle-Eastern nations that influence both of these groups. Kristoffer?

[PsiSoldier]

I once did a persuasive speech for a speech class I was taking on the Nephilim and how Demons had had sex with human women to give birth to Giants. Its a funny thing to argue with people and tends to blow most Christians minds especially when you start quoting scripture.

The best argument Ive heard against it is the Bible verse that says people will be like the Angels and will not take husbands or wives once in heaven. Which most people take to mean that there will be no Male or Female but it could just mean exactly what it says which doesn't actually state that there will be no male or female and simply says they will not have husbands or wives. Which means that the Fallen angels could indeed have been Male. And they tend to argue that Son's of God simply means Men. But yet that doesn't explain at all why their offspring would have been giants...

Anyways if your ever bored its a fun conversation to strike up

[Edi]

Abysia is an original creation of Illwinter and is tied to Hinnom, Ashdod and Gath in the internal Dom3 world history. Abysians burn the city of the Talmai to the ground, depriving Ashdod of its most powerful knowledge and later escaped Abysian humanbred slaves are accepted as refugees by the Gadite tribe of Gath and interbreeding leaves the Gadites with 40% fire resistance instead of them being normal humans.

[JimMorrison]

Originally Posted by Edi

Abysia is an original creation of Illwinter and is tied to Hinnom, Ashdod and Gath in the internal Dom3 world history.

Woah woah woah!

Are you trying to tell me that the Bible doesn't have references to a race of fire/magma beings that engage in human sacrifice, and become crossbred with demons in a misbegotten bid at world domination?

So disappointed, I was going to go buy it just for that.