Me>>Given that the current kralori system owes more to the FDR than
>>to Yanoor's system, I find such distinctions to be in the eye
>>of the beholder. If you must discount the False Emperor then
>>you must also discount Godunya.
>I am not sure that there is any way for you, me, or anyone to know this.
>Since we know nothing at all about 1st Age Kralorela, how can you say
>that the current 3rd Age version is based on the FDR stuff?
There are several extant writings which you have publically referred to at the Victoria Lore Auction that indicated that Kralorela in the first age (or before the God Learners came) was full of primitives and hsunchen. Given that these lands are now heavily urbanized it follows that their culture is closer to the society under the God Learners/New Dragons than it was to the Good Old Days.
Secondly the idea that the Exarchs after the War in Heaven turned the clock back to arrive at first age style government seems to me implausible. The Third Republic never returned to France nor the Weimar Republic to Germany after the Second World War (not even at 1989). And yet the interregnum those countries had was far shorter than the Kralori under the God Learners.
The Exarchs when they fled to Bliss in Ignorance and set up the new Kingdom of Wisdom were aware of God Learner and New Dragon ideas and the need to develop responses to those ideas. To ignore these ideas and wait until the FDR are gone leaves them open to the possibility that the FDR might decide to expand into the Kingdom of Wisdom. Given that they have already had their arses kicked once, this is not a wise strategy. Therefore they must have imitated some of the ways of the FDR and rejected other concepts. They may have covered this up by rediscovering the secrets of the burnt books but the fact remains that they have _changed_ because the Old Ways are obslete.
>If Godunya had existed for much longer than we suppose, perhaps
>throughout the entire time of the FDR, it could be that the False Dragon
>Emperor (FDE) gained power only by "imitation" of the hidden True Dragon
>Emperor (TDE). When the TDE exposed himself briefly at the Dragon's
>Awakening Shudder, the FDE was dis-empowered, and either faded from
>history, or was quickly swallowed.
Why do we need to suppose all this? All this does is perpetuate the myth of that the Old Ways are All Good and the Ways of the Invaders are All Bad. Dara Happa is no poorer for having had foreigners being acclaimed as Emperors on the Footstool and indeed we can trace many changes to these foreigners. Barbarians have sat in the thrones of Seshnela and Fonritans lorded it over the Umathelan cities. Why should Kralorela somehow be ultimately pure and untainted by the foreigners? Wouldn't it be more _interesting_ if people knew but rarely discussed the possibility that the Dragon's Awakening Shudder was caused by the Old NDR Emperor passing on having ruled wisely for many years. After all the Malkioni have similar hangups with their Church Fathers being God Learners and the Dara Happans have left several people of their list of Emperors.
>An only marginally related question -- does anyone think that the August
>Dragon of Kralorela is either a previous emperor in retirement, or a
>future emperor waiting for his turn?
The human Exarchs themselves are referred to as Lesser Dragon Kings which implies that they are also dragons so becoming a Dragon in Kralorela is no that unusual IMO. I believe that the basic custom in Kralorela is to find an infant who was born when the Old Emperor died (and make him pass a few tests to check) and enthrone him as the Emperor. I do not believe in some pool of old and wise dragons waiting around for a chance to rule Kralorela. Why would they bother?
>Sandy on Shang-hsa-may-his-name-be-cursed **
>You never say what the Third Temptation is!
Is it really necessary? It could after all be a Cosmic Secret. Shang-Hsa Passed On when he found out and never got a chance to write it down IMO. I'm sure there's a sect of students in Kralorela trying to divine the Third Temptation so they too can shuffle off this mortal coil.
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