Hisatsinom
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Ecology
My main concern with keeping the tress is how dramatically it transforms the environment. If the trees stay, they retain the soil. The soil supports smaller plants. The smaller plants support larger herbivores. The larger herbivores support larger carnivores. The presence of tree roots reduces erosion, which in turn reduces the number of valleys and gullies in the region. I worry that players will be unable to make the change in their mind, to make the southwest into a... well, perhaps not 'lush', but certainly more-so than the current environment. Plus, we would lose out on some things, like the banded rock canyons and cool wind-sculptures. Overall, I imagine it would look a bit like Yellowstone.

I see a couple options. One, we can go full-out. Say the climate change didn't affect the trees so bad, and the natives developed a sustainable wood-harvesting system. Full transformation of the region, it's all totally different. Two, we don't change the region, say it all went down as it did historically, and make it work regardless. Which seems a logical stretch, since the society would have to radically transform, and very few are good at doing that. Three, climate bands. We say the effect occurred, but it wasn't as far-ranging as before. Northern areas keep the trees, and are thus transformed, but southern regions are as barren as modern times.

The problem is that if we keep the area barren, they would have to get wood in huge quantities from other sources, and it would make it much, much more difficult to irrigate the kinds of fields that would be needed to support the population centers.

Regarding spiders and juniper berries. Unfortunately, I'm rather certain that spiders are obligate carnivores.

Spain
Hmm. Where would it go, though? On the northwest coast of mexico? Perhaps on the bit of Baja California they control? I don't think it would be in the delta, that area is too valuable to the Hisatsinom area as a whole.

Theme
I suppose we should think of a theme for this region too. Perhaps trade would be a good focus? If we do go with a whole or partial loss of the trees, then trade would be vital to sustain the population centers. Partial tree loss would be the best scenario, there, since there would be three or four distinct zones, each of which would have their own products to export and different needs to imports. Southern areas would need wood and food to support their manufacturing of textiles and pottery. Northern areas would need the textiles and pottery, and would provide wood. The delta would need pottery and wood to have the tools needed to produce all the food. The deserts would need everything, but they could provide some less... conventional resources, such as peyote, and powerful magic. This trade starts as an inter-empire thing, which binds them all together, but as Fusang, Aztatlan, and the Cahokian League arose around them, they would be in a great position to expand their trade routes.

But then, on the other hand, Cahokia's kinda got the whole 'trade empire' thing goin' on.

Ganonsyoni
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Theme
I'm glad this idea has gone over well, it did seem an unusual one when it first occurred to me. I think the political scheming would arise from their long-lasting democratic system. It's a trend that arises in other democratic systems, such as Athens, which was somewhat famously scheming around the time the city fell. Oration and charisma become more and more important, and the leader's actual effectiveness becomes less so. I don't know if Ganonsyonian is really a viable replacement for Machiavellian, though. I think that would indicate a level of respect for them as a culture that is unlikely to exist in the western world, at least the portions beyond the shores of the new world. I think their great skill with words and politics would make them well-known as traders and negotiators to beware, but their reputation likely wouldn't really permeate mainland Europe.

Culture
I don't think it was quite in living memory. The conquest of the main part of the Michigan mitten was conquered in 1620, according to the Ganonsyoni in the treaty that gave up said lands in 1701. If the chart on Wikipedia is to be believed, the most recent conquests in the southeast of the territory still might be remembered, but for the most part they took place between 1640 and 1680, a good 70 years ago or more by the modern day. It's possible some elders may still remember it, but they would need to be 75 or older for it.
It's hard to find records of how many other tribes lived in the area and their cultural backgrounds, but I believe the Ganonsyoni were rather populous, considering one account indicates they fielded a force of 1500 warriors for several months to harass a city. I think we could probably have the ganaonsyoni move in and spread their bloodlines and culture pretty quickly. I think the conquered people would probably be given an opportunity to join the confederacy as another state, and after the two, maybe three generations between conquest and now, they probably would be content with their place in it.

Russia
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Naming
Hmm. I suppose we could go either way, honestly. I think Novarossi sounds better on the tongue, honestly, but it might be confusing to have the colony and the city share the same name. Sorta like the confusion relating to the tuniit and the Tuniit.

Colony
Hmm... I'm suddenly doubting him much presence there would be on this land. Taking a second look at Wikipedia, Russian explorers didn't discover the pacific until 1640 or so, but they weren't ordered to explore across it until 1725. 1741 was the first sighting of land. The main motivation for colonizing the new world was fur, which was freely available in Siberia until the populations were depleted by over-hunting. I mean, it's not an issue of land, Siberia has plenty of land, and it wouldn't be like Alaska would be easier to settle or anything, particularly with the stronger natives to con tend with. The presence of chinese colonies might advance the timeline a bit (if they had all that much contact with china in the first place), but I don't think we could reasonably step things up more than, say, 50 years. At that pace, the first permanent settlement wouldn't be until 1734, barely fifteen years or so past.

Theme
Hmm... So a sort of deportation colony, or a punishment post? They send the people/groups they don't like across the sea so they dont' have to deal with them? I don't know... it seems like it would be just as easy to sent them to Siberia, which is what they traditionally did. And it woudln't require an ocean crossing.
Here's an idea... an arctic Old West. A harsh, lawless environment, with hostile natives. But it's got a great deal of potential. It's only recently been founded, so there's very little infrastructure, but there's plenty of valuable furs to be captured, and rumors of gold further inland to be found. The land is inherently attractive to pirates, bandits, fugitives, and the desperate, due to a combination of factors. For one, it's got plenty of valuables to be harvested... or stolen from those who did the harvesting. It's got almost no law enforcement, so pirates, bandits, and the like would have the run of the place. It would also be a place to practice forbidden magic, both because it's harder to be caught and magic is just that much stronger over here.

Plateau
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Rockies
I think we should try to elaborate a bit on why the rockies are so dangerous. We don't really have all that much for the region, besides some vague idea of thunderbirds nesting there, and a few kinds of monsters that live up there, but there are monsters everywhere. We need to fill the hills with danger, make them somewhere that only the crazy would dare to venture... And these guys are the ones who LIVE there.
Maybe the height of the mountains actually makes them closer to the spirit world, so all kinda of spirits have a way of bleeding through to the mortal world, some pleasant.. most not.

Theme
I know, that's why I was saying I was reconsidering the borderlanders theme. It would require a great deal more connection to their neighbors, and a great deal more support from them, too.
I am really liking the 'crocodile dundee' idea, though. These are hardcore survivalists, masters of their enviroment who spend their entire lives in possibly one of the most violent, dangerous landcapes of the world, who regularly face down monsters that would destroy small villages. I imagine that pretty much every plateau resident would have at least one or two class levels.

Great Basin
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Theme
Almost forgot to mention these guys. I haven't gotten deep enough into the culture to really be able to think of a theme. I know they've lost a lot of their RL land to the Hisatsinom, but that would be old news to these guys, stuff from hundreds of years ago. There's not a lot of info on wikipedia, either. They were mostly-nomadic hunter-gatherers, they made use of Peyote in religious ceremonies, and they gathered in villages in winter and traveled as separate families through the summer. Apparently some groups were just acquiring horses in our world and developing a plains-like culture, maybe that would have happened sooner with Fusang's presence?

Map
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Rio Grande Corridor
You raise a good point on this one. The control of the sea would make this a difficult route to maintain. I could move the corridor inland, easily enough. I wasn't going to note individual cities, though, the regions are only those with a larger, more solid control.

Maya
The large expansion of the mayan civilization pretty much stalled out as the city-states started to war with one another, I don't know exactly how big the region was when the Spanish made landfall, but I don't think it was significantly larger. The Mayan area isn't a cohesive nation, it's dozens, hundreds of Mayan states slugging it out with each other and all their neighbors.
I would like to see a land border with Aztatlan, but the main issue is that by expanding them, I have to steamroll all their neighbor-cultures. All those distinct regions and cities and peoples, rolled over to consolidate the area into the hands of the giants, Spain, Mayatolli, and Aztatlan.

New Grenada
I my defense, we were still debating this area when I drew it.
I don't think I can pull the maya south enough to do it, though, the region to cross is as wide as their entire current holdings, and there are a lot of central american cultures in that area to cover. I could make it happen, but I think there's material in those regions that deserves to be explored before we decide to pave it over.

Colorado Delta
We can't really have Fusang taking the delta, that's the breadbasket of the Hisatsinom. And I don't see why they would have to give it up if the Fusang controlled the ocean. The Hisatsinom don't engage on the sea, and Fusang would have to mount a ground offensive into an extremely valuable stretch of land that you KNOW the natives would defend to the death, since losing it would pretty much mean death anyways. The Hisatsinom could easily send huge forces of warrior into the area along the river. And Fusang, they don't really need it. The south's economy is trading-based, military action on such a valuable region would completely cut off their overland trade routes through the Hisatsinom region, as well as their access to spider silk, and what would they get for it? A fertile region, but they would have no idea how to work it properly to take advantage of the river. The Colorado is a very unpredictable river, it would have a steep learning curve.
As to why they have land on Baja, there is a mountain range running down the middle of the peninsula, that would offer them at least a measure of protection against their expansionist neighbors. I don't think the Baja Hisatsinom region would be very... involved, though.

Noveau Orleans
Yeah, that particular patch o' yellow is france.

Appalachians
I figured the Appalachians would be in Cahokian control, at leas nominally, since they would have a modicum of control over the passes, but I suspect they would have little actual control beyond them. I'm not sure if they would be an independent group or not, I just don't think that Cahokia would be able to maintain any sort of serious control over such a mountainous, isolated region.

Ganonsyoni
Yeah, new borders are called for, here. Especially since we decided they would have all sides of the lake. I'm not sure if their region would include Lake Superior, though, it kinda sticks out from the rest, but that's kinda why we make the maps, to discuss such things.

Skills
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Canoeing
Slow rapids isn't quite a contradiction in terms, but it does sound a little odd, I will admit.

Nearby waterfall makes more sense, in my head, I'll change the term.

That line was taken directly from the Voyageur thing, don't blame me for it.

I did not think of a mechanic for spilling cargo, but I think I could do that. Say, miss by 5 or less, simply wet the cargo. 5-10, lose 50%, >10, lose all of it. Or maybe 5% per point you miss by?

I intend to add it to feats once the details are worked out.

Swim DOES help you handle a canoe without the feat, you can use it as you will, but you auto-fail any check with a DC >20.

I think the details of the canoes vary pretty widely depending on the size and materials it's made from. A sealskin canoe is going to be much lighter than a solid wooden canoe. Wood typically has hardness 5, leather has hardness 2, and the total HP would depend on how sturdy the canoe is made.

I do indeed have a pretty impressive kudo-hoard.

Profession
I would say no, you don't actually have ranks in that skill, and the +3 is a bonus, not part of the ranks... But then, if it's related enough to your profession skill to substitute, then you probably would have class-skill training in it.

Survival
It's more like selecting the terrain where your skills apply. A forest-dweller would have very little survival ability on the plains, or in the arctic. There might be some cross-over, though, particularly relating to weather...

Shadow-Folk
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That was pretty much the idea, yes. Spirits are formed from the beliefs of people, but not one specific people. A people's self-opinion would have the most effect on their shadow folk (since they think about themselves and their people more often than any other group does), but the stereotypes and beliefs of other people would also be incorporated into their identity.


Skype
Okay, skype call is still set at 2PM, or about 11.5 hours from the time of this post. It's unfortunate that some people can't make it, but I do look forward to seeing those who can! And don't worry, I'll make sure to post a summary in the thread after the talk. It looks like Skype will work on this computer, so that's always good.
I haven't come up with a proper list of topics, but I think we'll be trying to focus in on the independent regions, much like in the thread. I'll come up with a few talking points tomorrow morning, since I probably shouldn't be doing any heavy thinking at this hour of the morning.