Drew Craft temporarily delurked to say:
>Your subject line made me think of the Praxian Ball of Tails and I see these
>members playing a similar (though culturally approved) role. This might be
>yet another inducement for eunuchhood. As opposed to the brief and
>essentially meaningless existence of most members of the male sex, eunuchs'
>contributions assist the queen even after the eunuch himself dies. Because
>older queens have received more such gifts than younger ones, this is
>another source of their power. Proper succession between queens, like
>"proper" Thanatari succession, probably includes a collection of clay jars
>along with many other riches.
A luridly excellent idea! Next time you see an Esrolian Matriarch sitting in state on her throne, look very carefully: that ain't exactly an "orb" in one hand, nor a "sceptre" in the other!
Martin Martin Crim:
>It's a little more specific than "the width of a horse's arse," which is a
>prety nonstandard measurement if you think about it. Standard railroad
>gauge is actually traceable to the Roman chariot axle length, which had to
>be standard to use the road ruts.
Thanks Nick, for pointing out that the standard Roman chariot axle length was no doubt based on the standard Roman horse's backside!
The RW example I used when putting this whacko axle guff in Sun County was Ancient China, where it was apparently necessary to carry several sets of axles on long journeys. Going from province to province required a tedious changeover in order to fit your wagon into the new ruts. Presumably there were fatter and leaner horses in different parts of the country.
Cheers,
MOB
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