>I agree that that's the (very) likely sense of "marcher"; however,
>there's another, slightly different possible shade to the phrase
>"Marcher Baron" than the "Warden of the Marches" type connotation (that
>is, on the border, defending them from the nasties). To wit, the sense
>of "marcher lord", the recipient of the (notorious) practice of a
>"speculative" grant of land. ("It's yours, just as soon as you've
>ejected those various tribes of Gaels/Cornishmen/Praxians from it.")
>I confess I haven't followed half the nuances of the competing theories
>in this thread, but I'm sure that must be grist to _someone's_ mill...
I pretty sure that's what the first merchant princes from Jorstland got to hear from whoever was in charge of the Bandori valley at the time (OOO, High Talar of Talar Hold, Mayor of Refuge, or Bandori tribal king - I don't think that the south was Hendriki territory this early).
This still leaves the question what is so attractive about the land bordering upon the Praxian chaparral that people risk recurring visits by the beast riders. I suppose that there is sufficient water for irrigation from the Storm Mountains if the rainfalls are lacking. The climate should be warmer than traditionally associated with Orlanthi territory - for comparison, I'd use Ireland or Wales for Heortland and the Spanish interior for western Prax (the region of the cork oaks slowly drying out, visited by huge flocks of migratory birds in coompetition with the husbandry for the greenery).
I don't think that grain would be a main crop here on the Praxian border - while it is a main staple for food, profitable crops should be different. IMO a mixture of oil trees (or other oil fruit), fruit trees and day-to-day food could be harvested here, and some non-food produce as well (why not cork?).
Ideas?
Powered by hypermail