Jane Williams wrote:
>No doubt MOB could (and I hope will) answer this one better, but let me
>give it a try.
In fact, Jane has done such an eloquent job on this (see V5 #478), there's really little more I can add. I hope Jane might consider putting this on her web page with the rest of her excellent Sun County material.
The Sun Domers hold to the custom "thrice taken proves the custom". In effect this means that families can continue to hold land as long they stay on it and continue to uphold their cult obligations. Nevertheless, the granting of land remains the gift of the count alone, and wills are not recognised in Sun County specifically to enable him to apportion real estate as he sees fit. Because there is still under-utilised land in and around Sun County, especially on the fringes, the Count is able to grant new land to second sons and immigrants. Population pressure may begin to be a problem in this era of peace and prosperity, but even now there are still many old irrigation channels from the county's first peaceful period (879-1200 ST) that could be dug out to create more arable land.
Since the Lunar conquest, certain exiled Yelmic families have been permitted to settle in the county. While they might claim certain perogatives (ie. that hog farmer over there styles himself "Lord" Lionedas), it must gall them that here in Sun County, if they want to make it to the top, they've got to do it just like everyone else.
It's interesting to see how the Sun Dome concept of a theocratic meritocracy compares to that practiced by the Loskamli in the West. I wonder if their system will stand the test of time as long as the Sun Domers has?
Mikko sez, regarding the GAG notion that the lozenge *does* have a horizon:
> Isn't this a rather boring decision? I've often wondered why people are so
> eager to figure out a way to have an Earthlike horizon on Glorantha. Does
> something in Greg's recent material demand a horizon?
I actually think it's *more* fun to come up with weird science explanations why a flat world could have a RW-like horizon (along with how "gravity" works, what the Sky Dome really is, how the Red Moon can have eclipses/phases, etc, etc...)
While STRANGERS IN PRAX does have a boxed bit 'o text in it which claims Glorantha doesn't have a horizon, most people (Stafford included) seem to concur it does. There's actually been quite a lot written about this, ever since the Grey Sage Columbus Mercator boldly proclaimed he was going to organise an expedition to circumnavigate Glorantha and prove the world was round! For more, see "Notes from Nochet #4" through to (and especially) "Notes from Nochet #13" in the "Notes from Nochet" section of my web page -
http://gateway.bayswater.schnet.edu.au:81/~mob/notesfromnochet
Andrew Raphael catches the reference:
>I have written a sort of "Holiday Glorantha" descriptive piece about
>Pent Ridge
>>I suspect Gold Burn is another nasty place to do porridge in Sun County.
>>Just in case you think they need more than one. ;-)
HM Prison Pentridge was the dreaded place where most Victorians who fell foul of the law did time, from 1850-something until late last year when it was finally closed. The site - ironically now being turned into yuppie apartments, presumably with good security (though I hope for the poor sushi-eaters' sake they won't have to piddle and poo into plastic buckets like the inmates had to) - is a few miles from my place and just up the road from my dad's work. How could I not resist giving the Sun County gaol the same name? Goulburn gaol is another one of our prisons, out in country Victoria (of course, our whole country was a prison once!).
Cheers,
MOB
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