A clan on the move is something to see. This is not a military unit; it is a large group of families, with people of all ages, and all their worldly possessions. Their possessions are packed either onto beasts or onto travois pulled by beasts. I don't see wheeled wagons making it across the broken terrain of the wastes. When traveling the known Waha trails, the nomads follow rituals that make the trip an in-world heroquest. Success in the early, easier stages help in the later, harder stages. The last stage is dispossessing the current occupants of the grazing at the other end of the journey. This helps offset the exhaustion of travel and makes any fight much closer. The usual formation is an analogy to a beast's body: the hrons are a vanguard; the head is the humans on beasts; the withers is the beasts of burden; the body is the herd; the tail is the huge plume of dust raised; the hooves are groups of outriders.
Elstorana is an interesting historical figure. I believe thatvthere are onkybthree references to her. She is the "daughter of Waha" and her sons became khans of every tribe and there is a grassland named for her. I think she was the leader when the Praxian nation became too large to travel together and broke into tribes. That explains the bit about her sons. The "daughter of Waha" bit is a little tough. In a society where khans must descend from Waha, tracing your lineage to Elstorana would be very important if she counts as Waha's daughter. But then throw the morocanth into the mix. How is a morocanth descended from Waha? Ewww is one possible answer. Another is that Waha's "daughter" had a "son" in each tribe, and that this was a political move to reinforce legitimacy in a time of stress, when the tribes started living apart. That seems the right answer, backed up by some juju to make it mythically true.
Chris
Powered by hypermail