Re: Windmills

From: rmv1_at_...
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 16:56:52 -0000


[Mark Mohrfield, Ian Hammond, and Peter Metcalfe discuss the possibility and technology of the windmill among the Heortlings.]

Mark Mohrfield writes:
> But you don't actually have to bind an Umbroli for the work, you
> could just ask it to do the work or offer to pay it somehow. "If
> you turn the blades of our mill, o lord of winds, we shall raise a
> standing stone to you and praise your name each harvest."
Basically, this should be less of a function of general religious duty, and more the clan's attitude to other Orlanthi. I mean, the Umbroli is basically your kin, right? So if your clan tends to take thralls, you'll consider it more along the lines of a thralldom; if you don't, you treat the Umbrol like another clan member, on the order of a cottar, carl or thane depending on the clan's proclivities.

If you combine this with the "Hiorl the Miller" heroquest described earlier, then you have a large number of options and branchings available. Perhaps even clan- or tribal-level differences in the heroquest procedure and in the resulting efficiency/lifespan /sacrificial requirements for the mill.

Personally, I would give the Heortlings post-mills as opposed to the vertical variety; they've an "in" with the winds, don't you think?

Roland
"Madness takes its toll -- Please have exact change."

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