Gee, David Cake just mentions the discussion he and I have been having (along with Joerg and most recently the Mighty Mister CastelluccI) and suddenly Alex goes loopy! Where are Sandy's geased Humakti when we need them?? Just kidding.
Seriously, being one of the main culprits behind bringing up RQA#4, I feel obliged to respond to "the infamous Alex Ferguson".
> > And don't get me started on RQA4.
David Cake recklessly responds:
> The main points of contention seem to be that I and Joerg feel that
> the Kitori are a large independant tribe, not part of the Volsaxi at all,
> and that their tribal seat is quite unlikely to be at Whitewall.
Actually, IMO opinion the independant status of the Kitori is not the main point of contention in our discussion, rather the contention between David and I revolves around the status of the cult of Orlanth and the cult of Argan Argar within the Kitori. It seems to be generally agreed within our little group that the Volsaxi are a tribal confederation initially founded by Tarkalor Trollkiller in the 1570's to contain the Kitori. Sometime after the Lunar invasion of Sartar, the human Kitori King (presumably Junora Etori) managed to have a rapprochment with the Volsaxi-dominated priest-ring of Whitewall. This etente was possibly because of two factors:
1. The danger the Lunar Empire obviously posed to the northern
Heortland tribes;
2. The hostility that existed between the Volsaxi tribes and the Sun
Dome Templars ever since Sun Dome County withdrew its support in the Volsaxi
fyrd following the death of King Tarkalor.
However, IMO it wasn't until Broyan was acclaimed Warlord of the Volsaxi following the death of King Turloch near Wilmskirk in 1616, that the Kitori were allowed to occupy their ancient sites within Whitewall (they had been banned from the hillfort since Tarkalor seized it from the Kitori in the 1570s). Broyan's friendship (and indeed maternal kinship with the Etori clan) was the source of some difficulty with the Kurtali king early in 1617, however that problem was resolved before the summer of 1617.
Nonetheless, the Kitori are an independant tribe, however they are oath-bound to provide troops to follow Broyan's (not necessarily the Volsaxi's) war banner. All IMO of course.
Furthermore, I've hypothesized (after discussion with Mr. Cake) that Whitewall is a very ancient (Dawn age, maybe even pre-Dawn) holy site of Orlanth. Control over this sacred site has been taken by whatever Orlanthi tribe is regionally dominate. The Kitori built walls around the sacred hill to guard against the growing and violent tribes in Quiviniland.
Eventually, during Tarkalor Trollkiller's wars to dominate the Marzeel river route into Kethaela, he seized control of Whitewall with aid from Monrogh's Yelmalio cultists and banned the Kitori from their ancient shrines on the hill. Furthermore, he created the Volsaxi confederation (originally consisting of the Bacofi, the Kurtali and the Sylangi - and the Sun Dome Templars who received their land as a reward for the service they gave the High King) to guard Whitewall and defend against Kitori revanchism. Therefore, the "King of Whitewall" is the title of the Volsaxi Warlord.
All of this is IMO, of course.
To repeat, the real source of contention has been whether Argan Argar or Orlanth is the source of male sovereignity for the human King of the Kitori. David believes that AA bestows sovereignity on the human leader of the Kitori, not Orlanth. I, on the other hand, believe that Orlanth Rex defines male sovereignity (kingship) as far as the Theyalans go (there has got to be a reason that the Dara Happans follow Emperors and not kings!) and that the marriage of Orlanth and KL (a particular Kitori myth stemming from Orlanth's encounter with the UZ during the Lightbringer's quest; see KoS pg. 83) is the glue that holds that wacky tribe together.
>And now that I've been "started" (don't say I didn't warn you all...),
>I feel obliged to state (the obvious) that I don't view Heortland
>Orlanthi, much less Orlanthi in general, as being part of the New
>Republican Right constituency that RQA4 seems to envisage. Call me a
>Limp Lefty if you must. Come to that, call Greg a limp lefty too, if
>you really must.
As far as I know, John Castellucci is a Democrat (he has links to various anti-GOP sources on his homepage) and I find it very bizarre that a relationship between a bronze age pastoral culture worshipping a polytheistic pantheon and a post-industrial American political ideology can be directly inferred by RQA#4. Now, I admit openly that I am a self-declared Gingrich Republican (no hate mail, please) and am fond of using recent American political history in making analogies, but I do not believe that any Gloranthan culture is necessarily equivalent to the New Republican Right or the Limpy Left. Let us endeavor to keep our modern civic discontent and ire out of our discussions of Glorantha.
Yours truly,
Jeff Richard
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