Manoza

The Kingdom of Manoza is the largest polity on the Eastern Continent, taking up much of that landmass's southern half. Much as I did with Edina, I'm using the newer name here; the older translations called it Samanao, which is more accurate to the original Japanese, but sounds more like the name of a city than a country, so I'm saving it for the capital. The territory is ringed by high mountains, making it inaccessible from the coast - in-game, the only way to get there is via a portal, which connects to a small temple located in the eastern plains. As I've discussed in the past, these portals are likely the remnants of an advanced transportation network constructed by the ancient Aliahanian Empire, so if Manoza is only accessible by these portals, it was likely first settled by the Aliahanians. That would explain why it's the only large and settled kingdom on the continent as well - much like Romalia, Manoza is likely a successor state to Old Aliahan, growing from a lost colony cut off from the capital when the empire fell. The Romaly of the east, if you will.

Unlike Romalia, the temple where the portal to Manoza dumps you out at is actually in working order, staffed by a priest. Said priest knows rumors about the king, so we can assume that this temple is a subject of Samanao. This provides us with some interesting implications if we take it literally. While other Aliahanian portals are located in bygone ruins, it seems that Manoza has made efforts to preserve its portal system. Given the kingdom's rugged terrain and difficult natural boundaries, and the fact that its closest neighbors are barbarians and pirates, it might rely on these portals for trade with the outside world. The temple connecting Manoza with the rest of Erdland might be a strategic trade artery. For The Saga of the Ortegids, I'd probably place a town around this temple, as it would likely be an important market center. I'd also put some trade routes through the mountains, but these would be difficult to navigate, fraught with danger from bandits, wild beasts, and the elements. Most Manozan merchants, then, would prefer to use portals for easier access to places like Romaly, Ashalam, or Portoga, saving them a lengthy voyage to get to trading partners wealthier than their neighbors.

In general, the eastern part of Manoza would be most conducive to settlement - it's mostly plains. To the west, around Samanao, the terrain is more rugged, with hills, dense forests, and swamps. Perhaps the capital is built on the site of an ancient Aliahanian city, the surroundings of which have been long reclaimed by nature (incidentally, providing any DMs plenty of liberty to drop in lost ruins buried deep in the jungle). The settlements to the east would be more recent constructions, established by vassals of the capital who migrated to more hospitable regions over time. This would influence the culture of Manoza in a few ways. Due to their distance from the capital, the eastern cities might enjoy a degree of autonomy - and the fact that they provide Samanao with access to the outside world would mean the nobles of the capital would want to keep their favor, likely relaxing their grip over them.

Art by Geoff Taylor

At the same time, with the capital being in the thick of the wilderness, it might have to make itself into something of a fortress, either to protect itself against outside threats, to take advantage of natural defenses, or both. This is supported by some NPC dialogue, which notes that the wilderness is dangerous, and the people fear to leave the city's walls. With the entire kingdom ringed by easily defensible mountains, I can see it taking its impregnability as a point of pride - Samanao is likely somewhat of a microcosm for Manoza as a whole, in this way; a fortress within a fortress. Perhaps the city or the kingdom would take on something of a regimental character.

This ties in nicely with how Samanao's quest plays out in Dragon Quest III. The kingdom has been usurped by a troll using a magical staff to disguise himself as the king, imprisoning the real ruler and exerting his will over the city as a tyrant. He's imprisoned and executed people for speaking out against him, abuses his servants on a whim, and banished the kingdom's greatest warrior, Simon, to the Shrine of Shackles so that he might not oppose him. You could play this as something of a police state, with the people taking the role of prisoners trapped inside the walls of the capital.

The real-world inspiration for Manoza is less obvious than most places in the game. The more recent translations give the NPCs there Portuguese names ("Simon" becomes "Simao," for instance), because as we all know, Brazil is the only country in South America. However, looking at the map, the capital would appear to be closer to Peru, and the mountainous geography is more reminiscent of the Andes. Coupled with the plot here, I'm convinced that Manoza is actually a reference to Spain's South American colonies at the time of Simon Bolivar's rebellion. That is a deep cut - it's an era that isn't often referenced in Anglophone pop culture, let alone Japanese. But it speaks to how well-versed in history DQ3's developers were, and it's a bit disappointing that such a cool reference was completely lost in translation.

All that being said, the early nineteenth century is stretching the limits of a medieval fantasy world a fair bit, even going under the assumption of the History's Greatest Hits setting that is Erdland. I probably wouldn't use the aesthetics of the era - Romans might not look too out of place next to knights, but Bolivar's armies certainly would. Luckily, the image of a decadent fortress-city ruled by a tyrannical overlord, built on the ruins of a bygone empire in the midst of a vast and inhospitable jungle, just oozes sword-and-sorcery flavor, and fits right in with the Eastern Continent drawing more on the pulps than history. In a sword-and-sorcery setting, Samanao might look something like Lankhmar or the City-State of the Invincible Overlord, even if it's nominally the capital of a much more expansive realm than either of those.

Art by Wanxing Wang