I'd really like to see what people do with the Ethiopians. They really are in period, and have cool mystical traditions. The modern poverty of Ethiopia makes peope less than entirely aware of what an interesting place it was in the Middle Ages: a sort of Europe looking back at Europe, at least theologically.
In fact I'd even say that one of the tradegies of Africa in generel is that more or less only the tradegies also there reach the Western media. The same somewhat holds true for the history of Africa - I did my paper in studium generale (scientific theory of the human sciences) at history on African historiography and the richness of African history is really internationally underresearched.
And Ethiopia has a truely rich history beyond belief - and I had some of my most profound experiences, both cultural/historic and spiritual, when exploring remote Medieval monestaries of the 12-13th century town of Lalibela. It was an influental kingdom with striking architecture and an intruiging religious merger of Jewish and Christian religion. There were evident links to the Levant and grounds for making stories connecting the Ethiopian kingdom to European militant orders.
I think 1620 is a bit earlier than Northern Crown. I'm trying for the time of some people but not many. Also it is the hey day of pirates with Backbeard raiding the area.
But it was more a look at how you would make a Covenant with perhaps just books. Who would the Order send for this mission. What would they find and what would they bring with them (American Gods?)
Yup. The fact that theyu claim to have the ark of the covenant is quite something that should interest AT LEAST the templars, methinks.
Cheers,
Xavi
Moreso, it's the center of devotion of every church... The Kebra Negast includes the tale of how it came to rest in Ethiopia is really a fun read and a great source for mythic ideas.
The existance of templar and/or maltese crosses within the structure of some churches and a visitors' (an Armenian monk traveling by the Red Sea from Jerusalem) account that tall red-haired mail-clad knights carried the ark at a religious ceremony has all added to 'conspiracy theories' in that direction - an European author claiming that the templars added their skills engineering to the construction of the rock churches.
Any chance that we may see it one day?
I second that notion 
Despite our past disagreements Timothy, I am actually a fan of your work. A Mythic Cathay sourcebook or fan work done by you is bound to be interesting and fun to play.
Wasn't that published in HP?
Xavi
By the accounts in our records, yes, we were there and did indeed exchange knowledge with them (and by we, well, I'll just let you guess at what I mean 
)
As a side digression, modern Ethipoia is posed for a huge change if all goes well. That emaciated girl, poster child for the famine in the 80's, she grew up to be a healthy, beautiful well educated woman. Ethiopia has a rich and ancient history, and they have a potential bright future. If all goes right, and they recieve key international assistance, Ethiopia can be a crown jewl of the African continent and lead it out of the poverty and darkness that has afflicted them for so long.
Uhh... more side digression inbound.
Yes, I've seen interviews with her. It's a striking story and it's an important one too. Many people have a dismal take on both Africa and international assistance - stories like that of Birhan Woldu (the girl's name) are important because they offer hope and belief that a difference can be made. Myself, I'm a sceptic optimist when it comes to development, but I also believe that the first step of succeeding in any large-scale effort is the belief that it's doable!
Ethiopia was a jewel; in Ancient times as a rising kingdom and in modern times as the only African country never colonised (with the possible contested exception of Liberia). During the decolonisation period many other African nations looked to Ethiopia, Addis Abeba both hosting UNs African Headquarters and the headquarters of the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union) and the last emperor was even hailed as god incarnate by the Carribbean Rastafaris (from the emperor's name Ras Tafari Makonnen). Today it's mainly known to Westerners as "famine country" and the subject of the LiveAID of the 1980ies - and it ranks on the UN Human Development Index as the 8th poorest country in the world.
As a student of the field, and with an interest in it and wanting to work with it later on, I do agree that key international assistance is an important thing. But that's only one facet of bringing about development, international trade and local national leadership are at least as important, and sometimes projects of international assistance are so misguided that they do more harm than development. Ethiopia, in spite of being the famous famine country to most Westerners and thus also one of the countries in Africa most Westerners can name, is not a darling of the international donors. This is partly because its level of democracy is questioned, but just as much about the Ethiopians not being known to offer the donors too much influence over domestic policies - ironically local ownership is known to be an important factor in making development.
But in spite of being one of the absolute poorest countries in the world Ethiopia still has untapped potential - its rich history being one of them (many African countries at their starting point after the decolonisation of the 20th century being more of bunch of haphazardous lines drawn on a map at a conference in Berlin back in 1885 than coherent national societies)...
Personally I still dream of returning to Ethiopia some day, but untill it's possible I might just bring Ethiopia to me - in form of tall and mythic tales.
It was in HP...well, most of it. There was, very briefly and a long time ago, a group of three of us trying to get a Mythic Cathay thing together for 4th edition. I wrote about 20 000 words for it, and then the other authors had some real life problems which meant they couldn't go on with it. I'd like to stress that this isn't a criticism of them: this was just a hobby thing we tried to get up, and people have real life problems and priorities and they get in the way. I tidyed up my chapters as magaine articles.
So, it's as done as it is going to get, from my perspective, pretty much forever. I do a bit of writing for the Ars line nowdays, and I now have uite a good life (unlike my penniless student with a lot of free time days) and so I get the opportunity to write as much as my hobby time allows.
At that stage, actually even today, there are some things I'm not all that good at writing, and so there are some things I'm not interested in writing because they look amatuerish when I'm done and I could spend that time on something else that will look a lot more interesting when I'm done.
I couldn't finish it myself. The bit in HP (or was it MP?) reflects this, because you look at it and go "Why is there no X here?" and the answer is "I'm not your guy for X. Make your own X."
Also, China has some problems which look insurmountable for a supplement. A tribunal book like the Alps covers, basically, modern Switerland and Austria. A book on China covers a territory so large that, and I know this will shock some readers basically trianed to see history as the march of Western progress, it makes Europe just a -penninsula- filled with -poor- and -ignorant- people.
The sheer amount of data reuired just to bring people up to speed on geography is immense, and then you have a religion with more gods than you can poke a stick at. You also have a setting in which your personal desire for glory is not really worth much, and the frontiersy narrative that so excites some players is just ridiculous. THe scope of the book is too big for Ars, and too har,d when you can instead, say, be writing "Covenants" or something like that, which people will want to read and use.
I'm not sayign there are no big projects: all of the authors have a lot more experience than in the old days and so I can sort of see how we could do some of the more epic stuff that previously we'd just go "Not practicable...move along." on, but even with that said, China's sheer scale is too great for the format, and I say this as someone who earnestly tried to get it to work.
Thank you for the explanation.
I like allowing "full access" so to speak, so nothing stopping anyone from taking a trip around the world, mundanely or magically. Troublesome and problematic certainly but magi does have access to some additional problemsolving ability.
I did much enjoy the creation of the one maga that has the most extreme worldwide knowledge, starting out as one of 3 old(more like ancient in this ones case) magi tagging along with former apprentices setting up a new place(old place makes "Machiavellian scheming" sound like no big deal), so very old maga with "area lore" knowledge of world at 4 and all continents of 4 or better, including Australia and Antarctica, and speaking languages from just about everywhere.
She had the wonderful Virtue/Flaw combination of "Well travelled" and "No sense of direction". 
Always loved that little joke.
2nd of those 3 had also been out and about, and was at start of campaign unknowingly to all but the head of Ex Miscallenea and the other 2 oldies of the new covenant the creator of a covenant in Japan, of which she is still technically the head of and in regular contact with via special communication spells.
At the same as being known in the order as a "weak maga", "rebellious against the code" and "disinterested in the arts"...
You can find Timothy's 5 ArM4 Mythic Cathay articles in Hermes Portal #10 and #11 (as well as all the other issues) here for free download on the website of the publisher/editor Erik Kouris:
pagesperso-orange.fr/styren/herm ... ermes1.htm
Timothy's articles are well worth a read IMHO - as are the other back issues.
I'd personally like to see magi travelling the Silk Road and think much of Timothy's work could be reinvisaged using the ArM5 rules (RoP and HoH:S especially) to make such a variant Saga possible. Maybe someday?
Enjoy,
Jarkman
It will prbably be someone else, then. Now that I have a wife and a home and a garden and all that, I find I want to write a lot less than when I was a university geek. Also, the stuff I'm writing in a paid way, that is the stuff I'm about to start working on right now, or could be working on soon, it's never been more interesting.
Cathay is hard, at least without a novel approach I just don't see. There's more fun to be had elsewhere, as a writer.