Michael Raaterova
>Second, i may be wrong, but i happen to believe that orlanthing society
is
>a merito- or virtuocracy. If you are virtuous, you'll rise to fame and
>glory. Eventually. The heroes and leaders of orlanthing aren't virtuous
>because they're heroes; they're heroes because they are virtuous.
Yes, that described Lokamayadon, I'm sure. And the Tarsh Civil War (pre-Lunar) had leaders who were paragons of virtue. and King Blackmoor, surely it was only jealous Leika who called him that. Finally, three cheers for Harvar Ironfist, that caring lord of the Far Point region!
My point is that in any human society, you will have good leaders and bad leaders.
>Of course there are profane and lazy wind lords, but i doubt that
Orlanth
>would find them deserving of an alynx.
But that is pretty much what you said in your last message -- alynxes would go to leaders and heroes, not the common folk. I find that boring.
>1) If the occurrence of alynxes among the orlanthings is very common,
nigh
>unto ubiquity, it wouldn't be a very special thing to have one, no?
That is _exactly_ my point, and I don't see it as a weakness at all. I think that the shadow cats, as they are called, are as common in Orlanthi society as dogs are in human society. We know the Orlanthi practice breeding of alynxes; could this be reasonably done, breeding of many different breeds, if they were rare and sacred (like cows are to many Hindus)? If you were Yinkin, would you like people performing breeding experiments on your semi-divine children?
I do NOT think the alynxes are sacred to the point of being worshiped. I think they are sacred in the same way that children are sacred, and the crops are sacred, and priests are sacred. Sure, you take care of them. But, they have to pull their weight, too -- crops get eaten, children do chores, and a Storm Voice who doesn't farm or own cows is gonna become a burden to his family pretty quick. I don't see Orlanthi as a rule feeding alynxes out of the goodness of their hearts or any sense of piety to Yinkin. If they don't do the cottar some good, they can catch their own damn food, thank you very much.
Allen Wallace
Wow, yeah, Allen -- way to go! We all need to be put in our places
sometimes, especially me!
Stephen Martin
ilium_at_juno.com
- -----------------------------------------------The Book of Drastic Resolutions
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