Civilized Rural Orlanthi?

From: Peter Metcalfe <P.Metcalfe_at_student.canterbury.ac.nz>
Date: Thu, 04 Jan 1996 14:09:15 +1300


Joerg Baumgartner:

In accordance with the yellow flag rule, I have dropped many topics (which are likely to be of interest to a few - like inhuman experiences of the EWF) in hopes of keeping the main point on track.

My point was that beliefs of the city folk (ie Brigh Empire and all that)are unlikely to be a measure of the sophistication (primarily religious) of the rural folk (y'know the man in the field). Nothing Joerg has written has addressed this.

The only time he has come close in mentioning Sartarite Rebels as an example of a modern tattooed Orlanthi as counterpoint to the claim that the Orlanthi _leaders_ of bygone ages were tattooed and the modern urban Orlanthi are not. [I had already mentioned Kallyr Starbrow as an exception.] Were the Kings of Sartar tattooed? Was Duke Dorasar? The only people he can point to are religious fanatics (mostly humakti) and _not_ the mainstream leaders of Orlanthi Society. Whereas in the Broken Council Freeform, virtually all the Orlanthi Leaders (say for the urbane Dorastorans) had such a tattoo.

I also said that only in the modern Orlanthi 'Civilization' (ie the tribal system of Alakoring) are clan surpluses being redistributed within the clan as opposed to the 'Orlanthi' empires where it went to the cities in the form of taxes.

Joerg:

>Nope. Both the Second Council and the EWF were very effective in calling
>in material and magical surplus via their religious network and accumulate
>them in their cities. ^^^^^^^^^^

 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

And what does the poor Orlanthi struggling in the fields get out the surpluses being enjoyed by the City Toffs? The Toffs spend the money in learning things like Attain Perfection of Flame with lighten the plight of the rural Orlanthi not one jot. Thank you for making my point.

>The clans became mere systems of reference in face of
>the oneness with the mystical project the religious leaders pursued. Except
>for those who dissented and braved hardfisted suppression. Even the Old
>Day Traditionalists adopted the EWF civilisation in order to destroy it
>from within...

To the religious leaders, yes the clans were 'mere systems of reference'. They OTOH were more than that to the actual members of the clans. The EWF tax farmer may see the average village headmen as a member of the Great Unwashed who appears to demonstrate more acumen and intelligence than most whereas the people in the village probably see him as the head of authority in the clan.

And source for this Old Day Traditionalists adopted the EWF to destroy it from within?

>The tragedy about civilized Orlanthi is that they lose their cultural
>identity and become relatively easy prey for whatever "new" religion is
>dominant [examples snipped].

Complete Bullshit. Do the Aeolians think that they are not Orlanthi? Was the fall of the Kingdom of Sartar due to a loss of cultural identity? Did the cult of Orlanth Dragonfriend think they were draconists supplanting the worship of Orlanth? Did Lokaymadon think he was destroying Orlanthi worship? Are the modern day arabs not muslim because they do not practice the lifestyle their forefathers did in the days of the Prophet?

The majority of Joerg's reply made great mention about the civilised achievements of the past empires among the Orlanthi managing to completely _miss_ my point that the plight of the rural Orlanthi changed little. He then seems to notice it and penned this afterthought:

>Ok, maybe this did not touch all (85%) of the Orlanthi, but definitely
>more than half of them, enough so that a generalization can be used.
>Unless you describe rural as "living two days hard ride from the next
>stead"...

More than half? Only 10% lived in the cities! The only material change to the rural Orlanthi would have been to whom they paid their taxes, how much they paid their taxes and what type of soldiers would have been sent to rape pillage and plunder if they didn't pay their taxes.

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