>In the Dawn Age, the Kitori started out as a human darkness-worshipping
>tribe providing a warlord of the Second Council.
>
Absolutely. At this time many of the Kitori lived on the Shadow Plateau. The OOO allowed non-trolls to settle there, and one of those who took up the offer was Varzor Kitor, founder of the Kitori tribe proper, who attracted most of the darkness worshipping humans of Kethaela to his new tribe.
>After their founder died, they took a secondary role in the councilic
>affairs, until the trolls, dragonewts and Heortlings broke off from the God
>Project.
>
>The Kitori stepped into the gap left by the trolls in the God Project as
>worshippers of Darkness, returning into the favour of the rulers of Dorastor.
>
While I have heard this theory before (principally from Stephen Martin, who may be its originator) this is not the case. It was certainly presented as a possibility in The Broken Council, but its only a possibility. The history that Shannon and I settled on had the Kitori staying loyal to the OOO, and retreating with him to the Shadowlands.
>It is hard to tell when the Kitori took in trolls into their tribe. It is
>possible that they offered the trolls of the Troll Woods shelter and asylum
>while the Obsidian Palace was besieged, but this needn't be the case.
Our working hypothesis was that the Kitori retreated to the Shadow Plateau with the OOO. He had granted non-trolls the right to live there early in the first age. The current Kitori lands where the lands of a troll tribe who allowed the humans to settle, not the other way around.
The date of founding of the modern Kitori is the part of the history I am least satisfied with though, so I'd love to hear other theories.
>Neither is their relation to Palangio the Iron Vrok or Arkat well
>documented, so it is hard to tell on which side they participated in the
>battles for the liberation of Kerofinela. They might even have been
>eradicated during this time.
>
The fought alongside Arkat and Kwaratch Kwang against Palangio. Unfortunately, they took the brunt of the fighting (party because Kwaratch Kwang had a religious rivalry with them, and treated them badly) and most of the warriors were killed. The first age Kitori are violent warriors (worshipping a Zorak Zoran variant called Zolan Zubar, a cult now extinct or absorbed into ZZ), but the Kitori after the Gbaji wars are more known as Argan Argar worshippers - capable of fighting, but equally at home trading or farming.
>It is a known fact that the mixed tribe of trolls and humans ruled the
>Haunted Lands north of Shadow Plateau, south of the Crossline early in the
>Third Age.
I saw the foundation of the modern Kitori taking place in the mid second age. It is a conscious attempt to make the human Kitori part of the ruling troll clans, by a magic 'marriage' between the tribal king and troll queen. By the mid second age, when the modern Kitori are founded, the survivors of the original Kitori have gone from being nearly wiped out, to being the leaders (or at least the valued front men) of the Only Old Ones rather large Argan Argar trade empire.
> They ruled over
>numerous scattered clans and tribelets whom they oppressed probably as much
>as the Vendref are suppressed by the Grazers - i.e. they were very limited
>in their military potential, forced to pay strong tribute, etc. I don't
>think that the Kitori had a mythical explanation for this tribute, strength
>alone sufficed.
>
I agree - they took it because they could. If there is any mythical explanation at all, it is that they (as Argan Argar worshippers) rule over their local clans as the OOO ruled over all Kethaela.
and the current situation
>The Volsaxi have recently (around 1550) settled the country from which they
>expelled the Kitori tribe (survivors, into the Troll Woods). Their former
>settlement patterns had been dictated by the Kitori; their new patterns may
>well have been influenced by their Sartarite allies. Especially since the
>Hendriki and other Heortlanders seem to have abstained from taking sides in
>the conflict.
Yes. The Kitori now control the troll woods, but at one stage controlled a lot more.
The Kitori consist of several troll clans, one human clan (called 'the Human clan'), and several mixed clans. I believe the troll clans are the original inhabitants of the troll woods, the human clan is the original founding clan of the modern Kitori, and the mixed clans are clans that joined later as refugees from the Pharoah.
Peter Metcalfe
>But the OOO wasn't basing the legitimacy of his rule over the
>Shadowlands from Arkat then. He inherited the land from his
>pop. So what need to defend Arkat?
Well, many of the OOOs troops had fought alongside Arkat for years, including when he was a troll. If people thought Arkat was a treacherous monster, that wouldn't reflect well on the OOO or his troops.
But on the other hand, as relations between Kwaratch Kwang and Arkat were not always harmonius, its possible that they were not adverse to giving Arkat a little bad press.
more from Peter on the Old Day Traditionalists
>But the OOO paid tribute to the EWF. If he is helping the ODT
>as you appear to be suggesting, Mr EWF is going to get very mad.
>Thus I'd think the ODT were suppressed in Kethaela - much like
>the Irish Republic suppresses the IRA (and associated spinoffs).
The OOO supported the EWF, but was not part of it. I imagine that officially, the Old Day Traditionalists were not welcomed by the OOO - but that they found many supporters within his lands.
I think it is too easy too assume that political alliances control religious feeling and vice versa. Of course the OOO can ally with states without wholeheartedly accepting their world view, and we know he did it in this case.
>>I still can't see why the ODTs should have moved north only.
>
>Because the OOO was a pawn of the EWF.
I think that is too strong a description. The Kingdom of Night was a friendly state, not a subject state.
I think by the mid second age, the OOO was making at least as much from his burgeoning AA trade network as from tax, and was accordingly not drawing quite so hard a line on taxes. Not so many massacres.
Cheers
David
Consultants in Unix, Mac OS & internetworking technologies
Powered by hypermail