Today on the blog, we have a translator’s corner for Funbag Fantasy Sideboob Story 2!
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Funbag Fantasy: Sideboob Story 2 is the first installment in this series that allows us to accurately pinpoint the time period when the story unfolds. This creates a good opportunity to review the political structure of Eurodia, its differences from the real Europe of that time, and to appreciate how much research the author did to create the game world. But before we dive in, I have to apologize for any mistakes regarding Europe’s history. I am not a historian after all.
In the very beginning of Sideboob Story 2 we learn that it has been just a few years since Iberia expelled the Sultanate from the Iberian peninsula and discovered the New World. These facts mean that Eurodia’s timeline coincides with the real world’s late 15th century or early 16th century, the Renaissance. So let us review the kingdoms of Funbag Fantasy one by one.
Edelland is the home kingdom of the protagonist, Lute. Unlike most other countries, it is hard to say which real-world kingdom Edelland it is based on. Most probably, Edelland and Lingobard together represent the many kingdoms that made up the Holy Roman Empire, and the annexation of Lingobard by Edelland symbolized the unification of the HRE under one ruler.
The real-world France gained a lot of political power by emerging victorious in the Hundred Years’ War in 1453. This is also reflected in the game as Fronce is said to be one of the most powerful kingdoms of Eurodia.
Hillsland is England, which was not yet the United Kingdom in the early 16th century. One interesting fact that I found was that the English economy of the time was heavily invested in wool production. Henry VII, the king of England, used embargoes on wool trade in his foreign policy. And speaking of Henry VII, he was used as the model for the in-game sprite of Gawain II, which you can see for yourself if you check out the picture of Henry VII on wikipedia. Also, during the reign of Henry VII, Philip I of Castile was shipwrecked on English coast much like Mask.
Iberia is almost a carbon copy of its real counterpart. The kingdom is entering its golden age like the Spanish golden age which took place between the 16th and the 17th centuries. Its king, Emperador II, strongly resembles Ferdinand II of Aragon: Emperador II expelled the Sultanate from the Iberian peninsula, he forced conversion of the remaining population, and although the real Ferdinand married young Germaine of Foix after the death of his wife, Isabella I of Castile, his in-game counterpart chased young Rosalyn while still married to Serebria. Lastly, if we suppose that Emperador was born the same year as Ferdinand, then Sideboob Story 2 is taking place in 1497.
Nordland looks to be Habsburg Netherlands of Eurodia. Unfortunately, I do not have much else to say about it.
Last but not least, the State of Vacatin. To be honest, I always wondered why there was no pope in the world of Funbag Fantasy. Turns out, this fact was also based on a real event: the Western Schism when the Papacy was in decline.
So, all things considered, Funbag Fantasy is more akin to medieval fantasy than high fantasy as it might look at first glance because of magic and daemon
