> I humbly withdraw my objection to "picturesque", as long as
> Elizabeth Taylor gets to be either the High Queen or, more
> likely, the Hag holding the knife.
IMHO the "High Queen" nowadays would normally be a politically- (and magically-) impotent -- but beautiful -- figure: more a May Queen chosen from an all-Esrolia beauty pageant than an actual ruler. Again, Belintar emasculating local politics of the Sixths (I suppose 'effeminating' would be more accurate, but certainly confusing).
My #1 bet for Hag Queen would be the actress who played Livia in "I, Claudius"...
As to the question of who sees what happens:
> I would have to say that few of the normal people can observe
> most of the actions [of the ToMoLaD]... most people won't know
> about the Contest until it is over. Which does beg the question
> of how all those outsiders in Sartar flocked to the Holy Country
> to participate. Obviously, there must be some sort of delay be-
> tween the death of the Pharaoh's body and the start of the Contest,
> and this delay must be significant (i.e., weeks rather than days).
This does, you'll admit, suggest that Pharaoh's death is probably *not* part of the ToMoLaD (routine or otherwise).
> The God Forgot stuff would have to happen during Sacred Time, I
> guess --
The Left Arm is odd: maybe the non-repetition of its ritual is odd, too. After all, if the Casino owes Belintar a bank-busting amount of winnings, that debt won't go away just 'cos he doesn't keep winning. Maybe they send some sharp-dressed bankers to check it's still him?
> Nobody sees or witnesses [Jar-Eel's involvement in the death of
> the Pharaoh]. The whole point is, I don't think anyone in the
> Holy Country knows _why_ the Pharaoh did not return.
Ah... I wasn't talking about a public killing, I was talking about player characters having the chance to interact with or witness Jar-Eel. If we say "It all happened on the Hero Plane", then we cut away the association between Jar-Eel and Esrolia in 1616, which looks like a picturesque link between RQ campaigns and the Great Events of the Hero Wars.
I fully agree that it isn't public knowledge in Esrolia that the Lunars were involved in offing Belintar -- and though Sartarites may have spread rumours to that effect, "They would, wouldn't they?"
Still, so long as we agree that the Hero Plane of the Holy Country is located in the Holy Country (and you gotta be there to mess with its rituals), we can both be happy.
> I believe the write-up on Jar-eel in Genertela Book mentions that
> she is the one who "arranged the capture and spiritual dismember-
> ment of the Pharaoh and his household."
Yep, but with no mention of the Tournament.
> I don't recall which source mentions a vacancy in the Pharaoh's
> throne drawing a large number of Sartarites to the Holy Country...
It's in the "Dragon Pass" / WB&RM history section, also alluded to in the Sartar History boxes from Wyrms Footnotes (cf WF p.88). You've remembered the context perfectly: shortly before the Fall of Boldhome, as a major theme of Terasarin's reign.
> A thought occurs to me - the CoW is probably filled with "false
> Pharoahs" in the years following the event. Con men, beggars and
> the madmen of the area all vying for the throne, money, etc. I
> have the image of someone standing up in a crowd with a sign...
Yep. Also, each of the Sixths is gradually trying to resurrect its own 'native' traditions of rule -- thus rumours of the return of the Only Old One, blood-sacrifice at Esrolite temple-altars, hot air in Caladraland and windy talk atop Heortland's (undespoiled) hills...
> Did any dates emerge for Tarkalor's various deeds? The Teshnos trip
The original trip to Teshnos was a sea voyage carried out during the Closing -- a bit of a continuity cock-up. I doubt there will be many serendipities if the campaign timeline has survived... :-(
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Nick
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