> I think that Waha inherited a lot of feats from the Founders. The two most important feats - digging a canal
That didn't come from the Founders, but from his mother. "He used the earth-powers of his mother to dig a great pass through the earth" Cults of Prax.
> The dominant bull (the khan) and the lead cow (the queen) of a beast rider tribe (or the lesser versions leading a clan) are way older than Waha's reforms.
I disagree, Waha brought together the survivors of the Great Darkness and formed them into something new. He lead by example, he was the first Khan.
> Waha established the trails? I'm with Chris that he rediscovered remains of the Ronance trails that had been used by the herds in the Golden Age.
The trails are one of the basis by which he saved the Wastelands, knotting everything together into a great bag. That the Ronance paths were already there was clearly a great help, but the Ronance Paths are not herd trails:
Nomad Gods says "Ronance is the God of Fertility who was once the mainstay of the people of the Golden Age. His mere presence is inspirational to normal humans, and though his immortal chariot never touches the earth, the ground anything is always rich in growing edible things. It is said that an ancient magical road system, now lost, was made by the runnels of his wheels.
Cults of Prax says: "Ronance is a son of Ernalda who taught men the secrets of plants and the mystical pathways of the cult. He is still useful in finding the way across the seeming trackless wastes. for his secret paths have their manifestations upon the desert. He has one skill known to the whole cult (Find Fod· der) and one Spell: ONE POINT SPELL, PATHWAY: Duration 15 min., Range 160 m" Reusable, This stackable spell allows the user to determine the direction of the nearest oasis. If two Rune points are used, then the closest and second-closest oases will be known, with each additional point increase the number of oases known. There is no limit to the number of Rune paints stackable, but the spell tells only direction and distance magnitude, not the actual distance." Cults of Prax.
The Ronance Paths are clearly about the connections between oasis (I'd include lost ones) and can manifest food plants if you know how. I see them as faint ley lines of earth fertility stretching across the old site of the Garden, broken in places.
> The most interesting thing Waha may have done is a bit controversial - Sandy Petersen once said he may not just just have dumbed down the eaten, he may also have uplifted the eaters to average human intelligence.
I also believe this to be true
> If that is true, then the Golden Age beast riders were smart herd beasts with rather dull ground apes attending them from their backs.
But I don't think they started riding their animal companions until Waha taught them to, and the morokanth couldn't anyway.
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