(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?
> The Masai are nomadic herders of cattle in the RW they are very Right Footpath
Doraddi like , apart from the lack of the strong matriachal background. Their
hunters are reknowned for their bravery and will often walk directly at a lion
in order to scare it away from the herds. I think the Doraddi would be like any
nomadic herders, relying more on the blood and milk of their cattle than the meat,
only older animals or young bullocks would probably be used for meat, the rest
would be game caught by hunters IMO.
(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?
> I always thought that Jolar was covered in mainly Sweet Clover, which cattle
adore, although it does make them a litle gassy! I think the term grassland
is an earthly approximation of the environment. I supoose it is really
a cloverland. The other plants found in the environment are quite well laid
out in Tales #11 (did you say you had a copy? David Halls still got some I think!)
(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?
> All these sound correct to me and I am sure that the tribal "Callers" of
the Arbennan confederation use all these argument to gain support against the
Kresh.
Cheers Simon
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