Gazzam; rice; runes

From: via RadioMail <David>
Date: Sat, 25 Feb 1995 22:28:37 -0800


Mike O'Brien suggests

>just like elephants in some parts of SE Asia, gazzam in the wild
>might be all but extinct.

which seems very likely. I suspect gazzam are very expensive to keep (think of all the railroad ties you have to feed them, to say nothing of building a barn they can't break out of when in heat), and only the nobility and a few priest(ess)hoods can afford them. Such a valuable beast is likely to be used for ceremonial purposes instead of work, just like you don't use your Rolls Royce as a taxi. Perhaps they are used to plow, but only sacred fields. There, does that make both sides happy?

Joerg suggests

>Dara Happan rice: This could (and should) be different from Kralori
>and Vor(u)maini rice, IMO. Maybe golden of colour, to celebrate the sky?

I agree; there are all sorts of rice out there (short, long, Basmati). We occasionally cook a Thai purple rice -- I don't know if it's naturally purple or dyed, but a little bit will turn the whole pot of rice a pale purple.

For some reason, I decided to list all the deities known to the East Ralians, with their runes. There are a lot of gods I couldn't find the runes for. I've decided to provisionally assign them the following:

Barntar: Plant, Earth
Daga: Air, Stasis, Death
Eurmal: Illusion, Disorder, Illusion (since he owns Illusion) Flesh Man: Man
Gustbran: Heat, Stasis
Heler: Water, Fertility
Humath: Death, Truth, Air
Inora: Cold, Mastery
Kolat: Air, Spirit
Mahome: Heat, Harmony
Minlinster: Plant, Change
Ralia: Fertility, Earth, Beast, Mastery
Vinga: Air, Motion
Voriof: Beast, Harmony
Wakboth: Chaos, ???
Yinkin: Beast, Truth (since he was Orlanth's secret perception)


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