#not super familiar with worldwide cultures and history aha

[uldahstreetrat]

Now, I am from Turkey and I cannot speak for all Southwest Asian, North African and South Asian people out there, I can only speak of what I've spotted based on the info I have. But Radz-at-han def has some Turkish influence. The lamps on the bazaar are absolutely same with the ones in Grand Bazaar (Kapalıçarşı). There's meyhane! A win for Turkey Iran and Balkans! Also Akyaali (ak yalı in Turkish) means white beach literally. And not to forget Kapikulu. And the npc names: i have spotted fantasty versions of some turkish names. Oh and... Karniyarik is from Turkey (means belly splitted literally bc you split the belly of the eggplant). Thavnair itself does not look like Turkey at all fauna/flora/climate wise.

Tho South Asian influence is also very prominent in Radz-at-han/Thavnair. I think there's a good amount of Mughal Empire inspo there. But I don't have enough info to talk about it. I'll leave it to South Asian folks! I also think there's Farsi inspo. (Satrap is a title of ancient Persian empire). Like I said, feel free to correct me if i'm wrong!

For Ala Mhigo, I would say it has much SWANA influence overall. Especially Levant is very visible for me. Arak being Levantine spirit for example. And Sumerian Ziggurats. Also "ala" prefix/article.

I've spotted Turkish influence ( imambayıldi being a turkish food)(ala mhigan gown having anatolian kilim motifs)(conquest war against the neighboring nations in the past)(visual inspo from eastern, southeastern and inner anatolia for example: Cappadocia, salt lake area and salt industry. Travertines next to M Tribe and Travertines in Pamukkale. Tho Turkey is not the ONLY visual inspo for the region there are many many other SWANA inspos like i said, for exp: ziggurats).

Disclaimer: No matter how much inspo they have from the real world, Ala Mhigo and Radz-at-han are fictional. The inspos overlap a lot and most of the times they're not clear-cut. And sometimes they do not reflect the real world. I only mentioned of the things I've spotted. However, South Asia, Southwest Asia and North Africa are very diverse and beautiful regions with diverse cultures, civilizations and peoples and I don't have sufficient info to talk about it all so I am sure there are many things I've missed out on Ala Mhigo and Thavnair that my fellow SWANA people and South Asian folks can point out! Also both of these fictional countries have inspirations from other cultures as well (like ala mhigan monks). After all, Turkey is only a part of the inspiration both for Ala Mhigo and Thavnair. But it made me incredibly happy to see it. And i hope the real world inspirations in this game made the others happy as well!

(linking to my original post on this convo so i dont lose it again lmao)

thank you so much for your thoughts on this anon I really adore hearing about where people have seen their own cultures within the game! I think it's so super cool and im so glad you shared with me!