Feathered Queens

From: Peter Metcalfe <metcalph_at_voyager.co.nz>
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 1998 19:33:39 +1200 (NZST)


Jane Williams:

Me>> There are two feathered queens in Dragon Pass. One is the Feathered
>> Horse Queen whereas the other is the Feathered Queen of the Kerofini
>> Temple.

>I've heard the latter mentioned without ever being sure what her position
>is. Since the Grazer FHQ is an earth priestess, and any Queen, Feathered
>or otherwise, of Kerofini is also an earth priestess, I'd guess that the
>roles must be similar.

I don't think so. Kerofin is a great massive mountain that reaches into the Sky. Since birds can be found on its heights, I fail to see why the Feathered Queen must be an earth priestess.

>> I don't think that Argrath having married the FHQ in 1629 would need
>> to marry her again (even your theory states that he embezzled the
>> benefits from the first marriage so why bother with the second).

>Because the first marriage went null and void when Kallyr died.

I don't think the Grazers will be aware of the distinction or even see the need for Argrath to marry again. Marriage by Proxy is not even known to most Orlanthi (cf the Report of the Orlanthi) and I doubt it would be well known among the Grazers. I'm not saying that it was impossible for Kallyr to undergo such a marriage, just that over time the patriachal mindsets of both the Orlanthi and the Grazers would have regularized the marriage so that the proxy Argrath became the real husband.

Joerg Baumgartner:

Me>>There are two feathered queens in Dragon Pass. One is the Feathered
>>Horse Queen whereas the other is the Feathered Queen of the Kerofini
>>Temple.

>The only source for a hypothetical "Feathered Queen of the Kerofini Temple"
>not identical to the Feathered Horse Queen is the oh so reliable Tarshite
>section of CHDP, which gives about the most badly attributed information per
>word count in all of KoS (except the "Conclusion" about the identity of
>Argrath's mother).

Nonetheless the evidence is still there, no matter how much Joerg tries to discredit it. If the reference had been something like 'the Feathered Queen' or 'the Horse Queen' then I would not presume the existance of a seperate sacral queenship. But given that the words 'of the Kerofini Temple' are plainly appended to the words 'Feathered Queen' then I feel it is futile to deny that it's a sloppy mistake.

>The Kerofini Temple may very well be identical to Queen's Post, since the
>Grazers live in Kerofinela...

Looking at KoS p117, I see that Arim the Pauper meets Sorana Tor at the base of Mount KeroFin. According to my maps, Queens Post lies a long away from the base of the Mountain.

>For instance: The Wyrm's Footnotes text about Fazzur [...] tells us
>that during his demotion (between 1605 and 1610) Fazzur's brother-in-law
>(married to his sister) succeeded his older brother as King of Tarsh. CHDP
>has Moirades' son follow the only son of King Phargentes. Question: Could it
>be that the brother to succeed Phargentes' son was a half-brother related
>only on the maternal side)?

The brother could be a bastard who seized the throne after the death of King Ham^H^H^HMoraides, marrying the Queen and kept his son from ascending the throne in the manner of Shakespeare's Hamlet. But I fail to see what this has to do with the disputed existance of the Feathered Queen of the Kerofini Temple.

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