Jeff Richard, he say:
>On another subject - I fully agree with Dennis Hoover on the
>Alkothi kings. The Greek word "turannos" is associated with
>"a man, resentful at exclusion from power, who exploited the
>discontents and the military might of the citizens to seize
>personal power."
nitpick:
That only applies to the man who established the Tyranny in a city. For a person like Hippias who followed in his father's footsteps to become Tyrant of Athens, the association is somewhat iffy...
>Importantly, a tyrant is a secular leader as opposed to a ceremonial
>ruler. In Glorantha, I expect tyrants in Safelster or in the Lunar
>Empire - - not in the radically traditionalist Shargash cult of
>Alkoth.
I agree about Tyrants not being appropiate for Alkoth. Furthermore the Tyranny is a Pelorian Barbarian custom and not a Dara Happan one. In the GRAY, Avivath refuses to become a Tyrant like the Barbarians do. Instead the Dara Happans have 'Overseers' who in the image of Vantestos rule their lands on the behalf of Yelm. Any cultic similarities between Overseers and Tyrants (such as the three pronged crown and worship of Vantestos) is dismissed as 'coincidence' by the Dara Happans.
Red/Green[/Black] Overseers sounds icky and besides the title seems to be used by imperial bureacracy ie it corresponds to governer, sultan or satrap rather than being an indigeneous cultic post.
Another unexplained leadership custom that is known by the Dara Happans is the Electors. Because of Antirius's role in the leadership of the assemblies (and my hypothesis on his relationship with Turos), I'm inclined to ascribe the position with his cult. I do not believe that all Antirian Runelords are called Electors as that sounds silly. What I do believe is that a ruler who ruled by being chosen from an assembly of citizens (according to the rules of Antirius or Turos) called himself an Elector in the Jenarong/Khordavu period. Many big cities are exeptions to this rule. Raibanth select their rulers on the basis of descent and membership in the cult of Raibamus. Alkoth selects their rulers according to the Shargash Cultic Laws.
OTOH Dara Happans _do_ have Kings. When Jenarong came into Raibanth, he made peace with King Dinzered (sp?) who was apparently ruling the city at the time. The position seems to be preserved nowadays as the Patriach of Raibanth. Admittedly Jenarong then slays the Tyrant of Alkoth but I'd assume this is a Plentonian Slur on the Red King on the grounds of the barbarian associations of Tyrant.
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