Me>> Furthermore I think the Aeolians are socially disadvantaged
>> as a result of past historical misdeeds.
>More disadvantaged than the refugees which came south before the
>Dragonkill?
The Aeolians IMO have committed crimes against the Kingdom. That tends to be remembered more than the offense of once being a landless stickpicker from the north.
>They may have flirted with some of the Zistorite ideas, but IMO they
>helped destroy the Clanking City after recognizing their error.
I think the origin of the Aeolians is contained in the myth of Orlanth and the Machine God. In particular:
Zistor had an evil brother named Gorings the Tap, who twisted Bingista and another which we can't remember anymore, and made them into food for Bingista. KoS p95
Two Hendreiki tribes IMO would have been magically enslaved to act as enforcers for the Zistorites (much like the Campbells of Glencoe). They were only released after Zistor was defeated. One of them was the Bingistans and the other is the Aeolians.
So why are the Bingistans remembered and the Aeolians not in the myth?
I turn to p102 of KoS and find that "40,000 men invaded from the south" in support of the True Golden Horde. These are not the Kingdom of Night forces for the Only Old One sends a different army entirely to help the Dragonewts. They could be the God Forgotten but they have a population of only 50,000 tops so at least three quarters of the army came from somewhere else.
My guess is that Aeolians made up a large part of that army and were damned for it. They are now lower than the Bingistans because they have now voluntarily joined in with their enemies. For this the myth-teller choses to forget the name of the other spirit to deny him legitimacy within the Heortland social order. The only other option for forgetting names occurs if something is destroyed by Chaos which isn't applicable here for the other spirit was in fact freed by Chalana Arroy.
>> I don't believe the Bright Empire ever ruled in Heortland
>Palangio held Kethaela for decades.
Which does not mean that he ruled in Heortland.
>The Hendriki were forced into the
>mountains while the siege of the Obsidian Palace was going on.
All we are told is that "some bandit groups, such as the legendary Hendriki, [...] evaded capture" (RQC p17). Since the Hendreiki also managed to worship Orlanth during the same period (WF p30) despite Lokamayadon's curses, I see a strong magic component to the continued freedom of the Hendreiki.
>> I find it difficult to believe that a Malkioni sect could have
>> its origins in this period, considering there are little or no
>> malkioni minorities founded at this time along Arkat's route.
>We know that some of the most steadfast companions remained with Arkat
>even after he left a religion for yet another one, but each time some
>followers drew the line as well. This might just yield a small group of
>fairly tolerant Malkioni licking their wounds among the Hendriki while
>Arkat became a troll.
Arkat has liberated Kethaela by this time, so there's no real reason for Malkioni to be licking their wounds among the Hendreiki as the latter are friendly to Arkat. They could be licking their wounds in Esrolia which is much more pleasant and even has an Bishopric there.
>It doesn't take many saintly missionaries to convert a sizeable number
>of barbarians. In fact, one active missionary and a few companions
>managed in Ireland, Northumbria, or Saxony.
Arkat's crusade was not marked by saintly conversion of barbarians but the destruction of the enemy.
>Neither God Learners nor Zistorites are likely to spawn a
>Stygian or Henotheist sect.
I agree they are unlikely to but it has happened several times. The Twin Priests of Caladra & Aurelion, the Umathelans being forced to worship the False Gods, the Trickster Temple of Hofhadalos the Unwise in Slontos, and at least one Arkat Cult all suggest the God Learners would not be above creating a henotheist group to further their political ambitions.
>They still carry a social stigma for their original sympathizing with
>the citizens of Lylket (and possibly more distant Jadnor and Locsil as
>well), but neither did the surviving dragonfriends (i.e. those who left
>in time) come to Heortland with a clear record.
What have the refugees of Dragon Pass ever done to the Heortlanders? There are no dragonfriends among them as they've all been eaten circa 1042 ST. As part of the Kingdom of Night, the Heortlanders would have fought for the Dragonewts against the True Golden Horde.
>The Aeolians survived the aftermath of the
>Machine Wars, the aftermath of the Dragonkill, and the Heortland civil
>wars around Belintar's arrival without being driven out of their homes.
>This doesn't indicate they were entirely unrepentant.
Plenty of minority groups have committed even more political errors without being exterminated. Consider the English Catholics who have taken the wrong side in the Reformation, the burning of the English Martyrs, the Gunpowder Plot, the Popish Plot and the Glorious Revolution and still aren't dead yet.
>It might be possible that the Aeolians had to suffer a time of somewhat
>landless existance, but I suppose their support of the Pharaoh would
>have given them some land back.
The Pharaoh may have done so, but when he gave rule back to the King of Heortland who would have taken the land back as a restoration of the traditional constitution. Another miscalculation for the Aeolians.
>If the Hendriki culture glorifies the traditional Barntaring farming
>style so much, then why did the clans which formed the Quivini emigrate?
Because of one of the following reasons:
The fact they don't form cities until Sartar comes along is to me evidence that the Heortlanders do not like cities either.
>I think it is evident that the Hendriki aren't identical to the
>Sartarite clans and tribes.
Not now they aren't, but they were much closer during the 1300s.
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