coupla topics

From: Peter Metcalfe <P.Metcalfe_at_student.canterbury.ac.nz>
Date: Tue, 13 May 1997 00:33:10 +1200


Carl Fink:

[On whether the Sun could be a rebel or trickster]

>>Well the Darsen Women do know of the wicked Brightface who upsurped
>>the rule of Women.

>But this doesn't actually contradict the nature of the Sun God as
>described elsewhere. He's always the Ruler, never the Ruled, for
>instance, and he always dominates women (at least on the surface).

Not really. He *upsurped* the rule of the women which implies that he wasn't a ruler before then. Furthermore he was given the rule over men by the women which implies that there was a time when the Sun was not a ruler - he is noted for having given the best advice before this. This reflects IMO a transition between the Darsenite matriachy and the rise of a Solar state.

Generally I don't think all gloranthans would look at the Sun and say 'Hey, there's a celestial ruler!'. Most certainly do but they are coloured by their experience of knowing what a ruler is. But would an isolated egalitarian hunter/gatherer culture necessarily know? They would see the Sun as powerful but the concept of him as a ruler is not something that is automatic (insofar as a water buffalo is considered powerful but not a ruler). A RW example would be the planet Venus. You and I do not associate it with a bloodthirsty goddess but the native americans did.

>Shargash/Tolat would be much more of an apparent contradiction, I'd
>imagine. (Maybe Shargash is illuminated?)

I'm not sure that Shargash/Tolat is a contradiction at all. In both cases he is a destroyer/war god who accepts human sacrifice and also is responsible for life in the universe (ie he fathers the women of Trowjang and 'Death causes Life' is a motto of Shargash).

>For that matter, Mastakos/Uleria is pretty damned weird.

Um, got me. I'm still not sure on how to reconcile it myself. The Dara Happans think the planet is Uleria because of her life associations, she is unable to enter Hell. The Orlanthi believe the planet to be Mastakos because it teleports from west to east. Steve Martin had a theory that the Loper People actually worshipped this planet and not the Blue Moon (although the name remains the same). All I can assume is that the Starseers only watch this planet to have a quick perv and so its properties remains largely unknown (Zoriad anyone?).

Simon Bray:


>1) That [Sun Dragon] is tied to the EWF in some way.

Correct. A being known as the Dragon Sun is known as the Emperor of Dara Happa between the years of 878 to 910 (ie when the EWF conquered it). It was supposedly killed by Emperor Karvanyar but reappeared at the Dragonkill War to devour the priests of Dayzatar. An identification has been attempted with the Golden Dragon Cult but the Dragon Sun and the Golden Dragon are depicted as separate entities.

Arthur Reyes:


> How big are the Five Great Tribes of Prax? I'm confused by all the
>herbivores and the fact that Prax is considered to be a 'wasteland.' The
>landscape seems to imply small tribes. I wonder then how much
>intermingling goes on between the tribes, in regards to: decisions
>affecting the whole, migration patterns, etc.
 

The tribes break down into clans. A clan treats other clans in the same tribe as friendly but are only obliged to help them in an emergency (with the expectation of the favour being returned). Different tribes are usually treated as targets for cattle raiding and/or slave taking.

> I was wondering what year New Pavis was founded?

Sometime after 1552. There's a place known as badside which predates this.   

> Who lives in Cornflu? What is there culture like? Are these people like
>those in Pavis?

The port of Corflu was founded by the Lunars and consists of river folk, newtlings, etyries traders and a Lunar garrison.

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