Re: Aldryami types; Esrolian armies

From: Argrath_at_aol.com
Date: Mon, 22 Apr 1996 12:44:49 -0400


In V2#491, Nick Effingham writes

> Other considerations would be breeding. Could one member of a >different
tree type mate with another --

I don't think they could have offspring together. Maybe it's their form of birth control, though, as on Ringworld.

>or perhaps an elf chooses which tree to
>become associated with upon coming of age, and is linked to that type
>through a ritual.

I disagree with this idea, as it is unnecessary and un-Aldryami.

I am uncommitted on the extent to which an Aldryami is of the Red Oak sub-clan, for example, of the Black Oak clan. That may be biological or it may be due to the needs of the forest (never choice in any sense humans would appreciate).

As for the origin of the Hellwood chaotics, Ken Rolston had distributed several theories some years ago. I think Shannon Appel or Eric Rowe wrote them, and as I recall they were not for general distribution. Obviously, this is something which is a Big Secret in Glorantha.



One thing I forgot to mention in my post on Esrolian armies is that men are more expendable than women from a biological point of view, and from an Esrolian point of view. That's the major problem with all-women units. You really have to lose a lot of men, as in the 30 years war or Nights of Horror, before it affects your nation's reproductive rate. However, a loss of women, in a pre-industrial society, could have a marked effect on a nation's ability to replace losses.

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