>3) I've read most of the debate on Lhankor Mhy literacy, but one
point remains >unclear. The clan Loremasters: presumably they're
L.M. initiates? How are they >tested, assuming they're not literate?
I can see that the incumbent Loremaster >for their clan could
adminster the test (assuming the subject they go for >mastery in is
Clan Law/Lore), but what if the previous is dead? Does that clan
>just lose its Lore, or did it somehow get written down, or what?
And wouldn't >the incumbent be suspected of favoritism to his/her
own apprentice, anyway?
- Literacy has been known in regions adjoining hill
barbarian people since the Dawn. All hill barbarian languages, from
Sartarite to Brolian, have a written form. All hill barbarian
peoples have _someone_ in their lands who can read their tongue as
well as speak it. And I'm sure that the LM (or local equivalent)
cult provides most scribes.
- You need to learn the lore for more than just your own
clan, typically, to provide back-up for the tribal lore. You also
need more than one Loremaster per clan -- typically you'd have a
full-time Loremaster, 1-2 full-time apprentice Loremasters (possibly
full-grown adults), and a dozen or more Loremasters who'd memorized
(much of) the clan history, but has a day job, too.
In the worst-case scenario, the Loremaster's ghost can be
summoned forth and questioned. Or it might return on its own and
possess some unhappy individual until its lore had been learned. Or
the clan might just lose its lore. That's the way the cookie
crumbles.
- Favoritism is a time-hallowed trait among Orlanthi, and
_of course_ the incumbent would tend to award it to his own
apprentice.
Sandy