food men and iron ploughs

From: Harald Smith (617) 724-9843 <"Harald>
Date: Tue, 03 Jan 1995 08:54:00 -0500 (EST)


Hi all--hope everyone had a good New Year celebration.

The Heroes of the King work, which Stephen Martin was putting together, is supposed to be an exploration of the many aspects of Argrath. I can at least say from my own story for that work that Argrath White Bull is NEITHER Argrath of Pavis NOR Garrath Sharpsword. But you'll have to wait to see the Truth.

I do like the idea of an Argrath having been Kallyr's Food Man. In fact, this seems like a likely personage to have married Kallyr and then to have become High King--unlike that rogue Garrath Sharpsword. And he certainly sounds like someone who contested for the Drinking Giant's Cauldron. Perhaps this is why the Lunars had to recruit Beat-Pot Aelwrin. The contest between Sartar and the Lunar Empire came down to a cooking contest.

As for the Drinking Giant's Cauldron, it sounds like a cauldron large enough to hold an extremely huge giant's drink (with enough refills to allow him to get drunk). Needless to say, any puny man drinking out of this should find it a real challenge. Make sure you have your Trickster Glutton with you!

Though Greg certainly distinguished between the light ploughs and the heavy Lodril ploughs, I hardly think that these will be of iron. My reasons:

  1. iron is scarce--the best sources are in Seshnela and Nida. There is not a lot of it to go around.
  2. iron is therefore expensive--probably more expensive than a village could afford.
  3. iron must be enchanted--if those villagers want to cast their spells to Bless the Crops, they would have to have had the iron enchanted, adding considerably to the cost and drawing attention to the fact they have it. (I would argue that unenchanted iron would destroy or negate the fertility spells the peasants have been busy casting. Not a good thing from their standpoint.)
  4. iron is desired by those in power--given iron's scarcity, its cost, and its wonderful abilities in warfare (whether enchanted or not), the rulers and warriors of the land want iron for their weapons. Why pass up having an iron sword to make it easier for the peasants to till the soil?

Particularly because of the last two, I think you will not find peasants using iron ploughs. I think the difference between the light and Lodril ploughs is a matter of the plough's heaviness and construction, not its metal.

Harald


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