>BTW, what are the chances that Balazar was actually theyalan and hence a
>follower of Elmal? Also, Balazar is said to have come from the 'northwest
lands' in 1082. Anyone care to name those lands?
According to some information David Dunham passed on to me (whose
source I can't remember) Balazar is supposed to have come from Vanch.
(The actual quote from Griffin Mountain says: "In 1082 the leader named
Balazar came from the northwest lands with his cult of Yemalio..." (GM pg.
7))
I'm not sure whether people believe that Elmal is worshipped in Vanch so I
suppose he might have been an Elmali. I tend to doubt it because those
aspects of Yemalio that are evident in Balazar would tend to lean toward a
strictly Solar origin, not a Orlanthi (in the sense of the culture) one.
(Of course David's already answered the first part of this).
>What are the chances that the influx of theyalans
>(fleeing the Red Moon) into the lands of Balazar during the 14th century
>rewrote the myths and legends and made Balazar (the man, not the land)
>theyalan or, rather, an Elmal worshipper?
I'd say zip. The influx is described as follows:
"Around the year 1300 wanderers and refugees increasingly moved into Balazar from the west. These were mostly barbarians who worshipped Yemalio or Orlanth, and who were retreating before the encroaching Lunar Empire. The tribes accepted some, many died, and more stayed or passed on as they wished. Many raised bands of hungry or greedy hunters who followed them into wars." (GM p. 7)
These people were quite transitory in their influence. I also have to
wonder
that if they tried introduced Elmali influences or if Balazar himself was an
Elmali where's Orlanth? There doesn't seem to be much of an influence.
Only recently has King Yalaring Monsterslayer allowed Lightbringers to
set up a temple in Trilus. (Of course you have to ask where's Yemalio's
associated pantheon as well but my take on that is that local deities took
the roles that Yemalio's pantheon normally take).
My take on Balazarings is that they are very conservative and wouldn't have
been all that keen on letting outlander re-write their myths to suit their
purposes.
Votankiland and Balazar are lands where the main religion is ancestor
worship
in the form of Votank. It would be very hard for outsiders to receive any
sort
of meaningful acceptance in their culture. Balazar got acceptance because
he married one of the daughters of Votank (not one of the human ones but
one of the hunting nymphs, Rigtaina's daughters, and so semi-divine).
I'm also not convinced that Elmal is known in the west.
I'd say that whatever the form of the religion Balazar followed (it may have
been the weakened Sun Dragon cult after the fall of the EWF but I doubt
it) it was changed quite a bit to fit in with the Votanki lifestyle and
culture.
In modern times (early 17th century) it seems to be quite compatible with
Sun Dome practises outside of Balazar (though I think the free-loving,
less uptight Balazarings must feel out of place in other Sun Dome temples).
Frankly I believe that there was a god/mask/portion/etc. before the Dawn
that
can be recognized as Yemalio and that this is the god Balazar worshipped.
His worship might have been changed or even forgotten over the years but
he's back now.
All of the above IMO, IMG, etc., etc.
Oliver D. Bernuetz
www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/realm/5545
bernuetz.oliver_at_cbsc.ic.gc.ca
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