many topics

From: Peter Metcalfe <metcalph_at_voyager.co.nz>
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 17:27:09 +1300 (NZDT)


David Dunham:

>FWIW, I'm also in the "Esrolians are Orlanthi, but variant" camp. The
>history in Enclosure 1 shows that they were once the same people, even if
>they diverged during the Darkness. And then diverged more under the Only
>Old One.

Yeah, but cultures can lose their Orlanthi-ness just like the the descendants of the Bemuri are no longer Hsunchen or the People of God Forgot are no longer God Learners. Thus I don't feel compelled to acknowledge that because the Esrolians are descended from the Orlanthi camp, the Esrolians must be included within any definition of Orlanthi for the definition to be meaningful.

Nick Brooke, he say:

>[...] I can confirm that
>there's nothing unusual about her age. She, personally, is not a
>survivor from the previous age of Dark Spolite Witchery. [...]
>Yolanela is not supernaturally old, and is not a survivor from
>Ages Past.

Would you believe he was saying something completely different in an off-line conservation nearly two or so years back? I just hate it when I'm stabbed in the back...

Despite his protestations, I do feel there is ample evidence for Yolanela being long-lived within the published 'Yolanela spurned' and 'The Son of Light awakens'. Indeed when I first read the story, I wondered how old Yolanela was (only to be ticked of for rudeness).

Simon Bray:

>I sometimes wonder as to how much of the divisions in the Holy Country
>were created by the Pharoah for his own means and history adjusted
>accordingly.

Well the divisions appear to be there pre-pharaoh. You've got the Uz who are pretty distinct from all those hoomans. Then there's the Volcano worshippers who do not appear to be have been Orlanthi. The Esrolians and the modern Heortlanders were once the same people but they split up during the Great Darkness. I do believe the God Forgotten to be locals (even if they themselves do not) but then they are very different in character from the Heortlanders and were so before the Pharaoh came. That leaves the Rightarm Islanders who are again different.

Nevertheless there are cross-overs. There's the cult of Black Arkat between Man and Troll, Porthomeka between Esrolian and Caladralander, Refuge between God Forgotten and Heortlander and the Coasts are influenced by the Rightarm Isles.

David Dunham (again):

>One thing I've never been quite clear on is the distinction between the
>God Learners and the Six-Legged Empire.

I think the Six-legged Empire was really an indigenous version of the God Learner Empire created by converted natives rather than a gloranthan version of apartheid South Africa.

>It's my understanding that both used god learning techniques, but that
>the 6LE ran into religions on the continent of Pamaltela that couldn't
>be fit as conveniently into the Monomyth, so they diverged.

The sources talk about foreign gods, so it's my opinion that they imported some gods from the north and worshipped them in the plains. I don't think they made any real attempt to God Learn native spirits preferring to place their trust in the obviously superior wisdom from the north.

>I'm less clear about what went on along the Pamaltelan coast. I think
>that Umathela was settled by mainstream God Learners (and was one of
>their prime sites for experimentation). But I don't know which branch
>was dominant in Fonrit.

IMO the God Learners of Fonrit were mainstreamers. They even visited the plains of Jolar at times to trade wisdom but the distance and presence of the Sorcerers of Kalabar and others meant that the Six-legged empire remained distant.

>Also, while we know lots about the demise of the God Learners (such as
>the False Gods Revolt in Umathela), I don't think as much is known about
>what happened to the Six Legged Empire (though their horses certainly
>failed).

Personally I think it's a region of glorantha where one can make up facts on the fly. I do believe that they unleashed the plague that destroyed the Elf Empire of Errinoru which means they survived past 975 but they would have perished before 1202 ST (when the Katelites return).

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