Peter Metcalfe says of the Quidan people:
>>Formerly known as the Khitians? I can never tell whether a romanized
>>chinese name is Pinyin or old style. Always causes me major headaches.
>Weren't the Kurgan people a bronze age nomad culture too, as popularized by
>the bad guy in Highlander. Probably a coincidence, but you never know!
>Such people are often only known by the name given to them by their civilised
>foes, who had the advantage of being able to write it down for posterity.
I just remembered. I think the Quidans/Khitians are not the name of the people as such in their own tongue but an attempt to render the word Khan (by which the rulers being turkics called themselves) in the chinese ideograms. Not having a word for Khan nor an alphabet, they ran two words together which contained Kh and n to represent Khan. However it could also be read Khitian/Quidan by which the nomads became known as.
Kurgans a bronze age culture? I don't think then that they're the same as the Qudians who were circa 10th Century AD and most definitely ironage (at least). If any horse nomads were still using bronze, I think they would be dogshit if they attempted to invade China.
Sandy:
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Sandy damns the Huns with faint praise.
> Also, comparisons between the Mongols and the Pentans are not
>(yet) applicable. I don't think any Pentan group has yet reached the
>social sophistication of the Mongols. Even Sheng Seleris at his peak
>I view as more of a mega-Hun.
Excuse me? The Huns _spared_ Rome. If I were some short stinking uncultured Savage Lord of Terror upon horseback in front of some defenseless city and some wretched decadent milksop of a spiritual leader jabbering in the name of some weird concept like 'pity' or 'compassion' to spare the city, I would run him through with my sword! I would consider the Huns to be more 'socially sophisticated' than contemporary records make out.
Composite Bows:
>There are accounts of Crusaders walking around
>"like pincushions" with ten or more arrows sticking out of their
>armor, unwounded. These were composite bows, too.
There is actually a tale about some crusader captured by the Saraceans besieged in this city. They had him unarmoured on the outside of the walls as a deterent to the crusaders to stop them from attacking the city. The Crusaders opened fire with a rain of arrows and then stormed the city. When they guy was finally hauled of his perch, he had _Twelve_ arrows stuck in him and he was still alive!
Admittedly these were shortbows, but the book made no mention of the difference between the lethality of the composite bows of the mongols and the short bows of the crusaders and saraceans instead noting the crossbow as being exceptionally lethal. I really think the Mongols could have made a really good bow but in the time it took to craft such a wonder, the crafter could have easily churned out, say, ten rather shitty bows which would have been more cost-efficient militarily.
David Cake:
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> I now have another theory - based on the myth of Orlanth and
>Drolgard, where Orlanth meets Arangorf, the Inner Dragon, and learns some
>draconic powers.
>Here is the relevant passage
> 'When Arangorf came to Orlanth's Stead he smashed down the
>stockade, and he tore the roof off of the long house to join the feast. He
>drank all of the ale in the giant's cauldron, and he cruched upon the
>bones of the sacred cattle.'
The Giant is mentioned in Elder Secrets as Garvartakarn (sp?). Personally I think the major power of the Cauldron is like a Horn of Plenty. Argrath uses the Cauldron in this manner at his wedding to the Feathered Horse Queen. I think it's also the source of Argrath's ability to control the Giants which he uses in Dragon Pass. What he does, is that he takes the Cauldron to the Giants and shouts through a megaphone 'FREE BOOZE!!!'.
This brings all the giants from miles around who partake of the Cauldron and empties it. When this happens the Giants ask for more. Argrath using a Tell Convincing Lie says that he has no more but adds that so-and-so (ie the Commander of a Lunar Phalanx) has another cauldron and gives them the location. So the giant shows up at so-and-so's place and...Wot! No cauldron?!? SPLAT!!! Since Giants have such pitifully short memories, this trick works every time!
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