Nesubi

It's tempting to assume that Nesubi is a harsh, unpleasant place to live, with so much of its land given over to one of the world's hottest deserts. Thanks to the River Sankhu that runs its length, however, life has survived and thrived here for thousands of years. The Sankhu's waters and the fertile valley surrounding it support a riot of Pokémon species and human settlements, modern and bustling as well as ancient sites that have endured the test of time. And hey, if you really think you're up for testing your mettle against the desert and its denizens, beyond the cities and the valley and even the ruins, that challenge is always there—just make sure you don't skimp on the supplies.

Upper (southern) and Lower (northern) Nesubi were often at odds throughout the region's long history. The records are full of stories of pharaohs building ever grander monuments, carrying out competing traditions and, more than once, waging outright war. Perhaps it's not quite so surprising when you consider that the patron legendary Pokémon of the north and south, which each kingdom fiercely identified with, are supposedly constantly vying with one another themselves. Some of the region's greatest historic heroes were said to have earned the favor of both legendaries or to have ended threats that would've brought ruin to all of Nesubi, and afterward united all the people as one strong nation. (For as long as that balance lasted, at least.)

The worst of Nesubi's internal troubles seem comfortably distant these days, but that spirit of competition is still alive in a (mostly) more amicable fashion. While the Nesubian Pokémon League is open to all comers and its eight gyms can be challenged in any order, competitors from both north and south like to use their league challenge to prove that their home turf produces the toughest trainers of all.

For both general visitors and traveling trainers, there are countless sites and sights to see. Those interested in Ancient Nesubi's unique tombs might travel to the warren of lavishly-carved chambers known as the Palace of Horizons, or pose for a photo next to the iconic Semdet Pyramids to the north. The Sebayt Lighthouse in Djehouti is a grand library and history museum full of knowledge from Ancient Nesubi and beyond; the original lighthouse-library sank into the sea long ago, but the new underwater museum grants everyone the chance to see it up close. For extra head-scratching mystery, consider visiting Port Usheb and its collection of Unown texts in Ancient Nesubian and also other languages from inexplicably far away. Some travelers head to New Mesuten to meet with the growing group of weirdos enthusiasts searching for a long-lost patron legendary that an ancient king once claimed was the most powerful of all. (To which most of his contemporaries, as well as modern Nesubiolgists and Pokémon professors, generally respond: Yeah, sure, buddy, okay. If you say so.) And there are always new archeological discoveries to be made out there somewhere, amongst the sand and silt and stone...

I've been fascinated by Ancient Egypt since I was literally three years old. I still remember—still have, I believe—the first pop-up book about the pyramids that my mother gave me as a small child. She had also long been in love with Egyptian art and mythology, and as soon as that triangle-shaped book full of shining pictures of tombs and treasures and ancient paintings was in my hands, she'd got me hooked just as bad. In another world, one where I had any ability at all to tolerate hot weather, I might've grown up to be an Egyptologist instead. It was pretty much inevitable, then, that my love for Ancient Egypt would eventually bleed over into my various creative pursuits.

Nesubi draws a lot of inspiration from many parts and periods of Ancient Egyptian history, but in particular from the various points in time when Egypt wasn't actually a single nation. Especially in early Egyptian history, Lower (northern) and Upper (southern) Egypt were often in conflict with one another, with their own rulers and governments and capitols, and the first well-known king's claim to fame was that he united both halves under his rulership. The region's name, "Nesubi", is even modified from a later pharaonic title that, according to some interpretations, symbolized the pharaoh as leader of both Upper and Lower Egypt: nesut-biti, "He of the Sedge and Bee" (where the sedge/papyrus was an emblem of Upper Egypt and the bee an emblem of Lower Egypt). Nesubi is a region that has overcome its historical differences to unite as one people... at least, most of the time.

Nesubi is technically the "spiritual successor" to an older fanregion project, the New Logora region. The historical/geographic inspiration, backstory and characters are different, but it shares many of the same Pokémon, including an increased emphasis on the mysterious Unown. Nesubi even has its own set of Unown forms inspired by Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. As with New Logora before it, I'd like to try and integrate the Unown into this region as more than just an alphabet-soup collectable with a few throwaway lines of ~super mysterious mystery~ that never amount to anything. I think it'd be fun to see these guys get a little more involved in the actual "plotline" of the region, and it'd be nice if a few more NPCs or environments or mechanics had interesting ways to interact with them, from proper sidequests or "minigames" to making them a little more interesting to use in battle (without overriding the fact that they are supposed to be pretty simplistic when alone, of course). The exact shapes these extra Unown goodies will take are still being worked out, but whatever it comes down to, I hope it'll be an interesting way to add some more spice to these little weirdos and their place in the world.