> >emperors. A wild idea just occurred to me. What if
> >the August Dragon is Aptanace the Sage turned into
> >a dragon?
Stephen:
> Nah, I don't think so, if only because Aptanace is revered as the
> Ancestor of all Humans, before they had draconic connections.
Well, that was just a weird, off the wall idea, sprung from the dark corners of my mind, after midnight etc. so I won't even try to defend it.
> But, what if the August Dragon is actually Daruda, the first Dragon
> Emperor?
Possible, but not probable. The dead emperors are deified and worshipped. If Daruda was elsewhere, like still in the mundane world, wouldn't that be noticable?
> And of course, the Secret is either that he was never a human who became
> a dragon, but was always a dragon; or that he is not a human who became a
> dragon, but somehow a being who is (or can be) both a human and a dragon.
Time for my Daruda theory! I think Kralorela was originally inhabited by a multitude of hsunchen tribes. The strongest of those were the dragon people, who were not nomad huntergatherers, but built towns. Then there was an invasion of sky worshipping Vithelans. The other hsunchen were pushed to the margin areas: mountains, jungles, but the dragon people were strong enough to put up some resistance. So teh cultures melded, dominated by the sky worshippers, who provided the first emperors (Metsyla, Shavaya).
The came Daruda, a dragon people hero, who quested and brought back new draconic knowledge and understanding. He became emperor and made for a draconic revival. However, by this time the influence of the sky people had changed the dragon people into something knew. And this became the draconic Kralorelans.
>The stasis of Chinese Culture in the face of invaders is
>a bit of a myth. The Ming Empire was markedly different
>from the Sung for example. Which is why I tend to be
>extremely sceptical about claims for Kralorela's cultural
>conservatism.
Let's see, the chinese writing system has evolved, but the basic characters are still recognizable on the over 300 years old oracle bones. 2000 years old paintings show definite stylistic similarities to those a mere hundred years old. Etc.
There was one big cultural change in China though: the coming of buddhism. I think that's a lot like what Daruda did by bringing on the draconic stuff.
Me quoting the Genertela book:
> "The civilization is ancient, based upon
> Golden Age customs long lost to the rest
> of the world."
Peter:
>And how many of the other cultures in the world make the same
>claim? The Dara Happans, the Malkioni, the Brithini, the
>Elves, the Mostali and the Teshnans. Even the Lunars claim to
>have restored lost Golden Age customs.
The Genertela book is not written from the subjective point of view of each area.
>It may be but we know Kralorela cannot be that place for it has
>been conquered by Orlanth, Kajaboom, the God Learners and by
>Sheng Seleris.
Then please tell us in what way they changed Kralorelan _culture_ in a major way. Foreign conquerors don't necessarily mean broken tradition.
Stephen:
>For Kralorelans, the mundane world IS
>Heaven, it IS the Perfect Land.
Peter:
>The Kralori know of the Sky World where the Thunder Man lives and
>the Well of Rising Dragons goes.
Remember that Kralorelan philosophy is holistic. If you follow the right way, the boundary between the land and heaven are erased. Thus Kralorela is Heaven because it is one with the Sky World.
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