The father of history, Herodot, mentions the Dacians
in his works as "the bravest and fairest of all the
Thracians". He also
says that "the Thracian people is the most numerous one in the world; the
Thracians have several names, according to their specific regions, but their
habits are more or less the same". At the peak of their power, the Thracians
controlled over half the Europe and some territories in the Middle East. In some
writings, the Dacians are also referred to as the
Getae.
The territory of
Dacia, the Getae's country, was roughly
that of today's
Romania,
Hungary and parts of
Bulgary and
Ukraine. During the reign of king
Burebista (1st century BC), the western
border advanced to the Constanta lake, situated in today's
Switzerland.
The Dacians were a warrior people, and their polytheist religion
saw death as a liberation. Their belief in the supreme god
Gebeleizis made
them fearless on the battlefield, and this virtue was passed on even after the old
religion was replaced by the cult of
Zalmoxe. As with other hiperboreean
peoples, true life only began after death, where they would meet with their
god. The Dacians cheered at the funerals, but cried when a child was born, weeping
for the life he was going to have. This education and their beliefs meant that the
Dacians were not afraid of death, and thus they were fearsome warriors in the eyes
of any ancient civilization.
The dacian witch doctors were renowned in the ancient world
for their skill. They said that, in order to cure the body, one has to cure the
soul first, and they applied this principle in their remedies. As the fortresses and
settlements of the dacians were located in the mountains (to protect them against
attacks), these people were used to harsh winters and the wilderness. This
way of life lead to them having a close relationship with the nature, but not the
kind that the Celts had. The life of the Dacians was dominated by weather, long
journeys through the wilderness and the lonelyness of the unforgiving mountains.
This is why, in Getica, the magic of the Dacians is not based on the fellowship
with everything that is alive, but instead on the control of the primary elements
of nature. In game, the dacian wizards will bring rain or snow, will walk on smoke
or clouds and will be able to defend themselves against the wild beasts.
The relation between the wizard and the elements that he controls is not that of
a brotherhood, but that of stability and respect. The dacian wizard isn't tolerated
by the wolf from fear, nor simpaty, but rather because the nature accepts him
as part of the power that holds the world together, and it won't touch this
balance.
