Jolar questions

From: James A. Holden <jaholden_at_sprynet.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 1997 12:55:35 -0700


I am trying to develop a campaign setting around the Arbennan vs. Kresh conflict in Jolar. I have found some good resources in the Digest and on the Web, but I still have some questions:

(1) How dependent on cattle or other livestock are the Right Hand
Doraddi of Jolar? I understand that the bulk of the Doraddi population live a nomadic life, swapping meat for farm produce with the older, sedentary population of the oases. But I can hardly find any references to Doraddi herding practices, except for a single phrase in the "Pamaltela: A Visitor's Guide" summary in Tales #11, so I'm wondering how much of the meat comes from herding and how much from hunting. Is their a single, RW analog culture that would help me fill in the blanks?

(2) What is the vegetation like in Jolar? GoG speaks of "rolling
grasslands"; so do most of the articles in Tales #11. The Jolar excerpt from the Pamaltela book says, however, that the plain is covered by ground cover, "but includes no grass-type plants." Does the Jolar article represent a more current idea? If so, do the various species of Pamaltelan ground cover play the same role as grasses? Can livestock graze adequately on them? If the plains aren't savanna (which pretty much implies grass), what are they? Scrublands?

(3) What is at the root of the Arbennan tribes' conflict with the
Kresh? Is it simply about territory? Political independence? Culture
(walking vs. wagons)? Religion (new gods worshipped in or alongside the
Pamalt pantheon)? Is there a mythic conflict involved? Something else? The Kresh empire, "based on trust and custom rather than conquest and domination," doesn't seem like a particularly threatening enemy. Does anyone have any insights into Kresh society or religion that might shed light on this?

Thanks for your help!

James A. Holden (jaholden_at_sprynet.com)


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