> I've been thinking about a Tarsh campaign, and I've got a bunch
> of questions about this really cool region of Dragon Pass.
> Looking at the old Dragon's Past article in DW it lists the
> population of Tarsh as 20% Orlanthi, and 80% Lunar. Based on
> the latest information does this still seem to be true?
Basically yes, if you count worship of Ernalda and her assorted associates as either Orlanthi or Provincial Lunar.
> Which of the Lunar deities are primarily worshipped in Tarsh?
> I'd guess it's likely the 7 Mothers, either as a collective,
> or individually along with Etyries. I'd think the Dara Happan
> dieties aren't worshipped here.
7Moms as collective, Etyries, and possibly Yanafal the Champion and Irrippi Ontor the sage are the most likely Lunar deities to be worshipped in Tarsh. Teelo Norri is popular in the cities, but lacking a real cult structure outside of the mothers I doubt that she has much of an active cult.
Hon-eel would have special importance in Tarsh, and her closest associations.
Regimental deities and Yara Aranis (the Reaching Moon) would be among the next important Lunar deities.
Dara Happan deities proper are unlikely in Tarsh, but imports from Sylila and Saird aren't. I wouldn't expect Hwarin Dalthippa - that role is taken by Hon-eel. Sylilan Orlanthi deities which were less important among the Heortlings would be stronger in Tarsh.
Yelmalio and those Dara Happan deities which easily associate with him will have a strong presence in Tarsh. This might even include Lodril as plow god. The Tarshite soil will tolerate either the lighter Barntar plow or the heavier Lodril plow, and with vast maize plantations in parts of lowland Tarsh the use of Lodril plows is quite likely. Still, the ordinary grains will be produced using Heortling methods.
> Which Orlanthi/Heortling deities are worshipped in Tarsh?
IMO almost an "Orlanthi all" of these deities, with the notable absence of Orlanth himself and a few other "unsuitables" from his pantheon (Urox). Others are likely to have fallen out of favour or fashion (Humakt, Issaries, Lhankor Mhy, possibly Vinga) but will persist in their niches.
> Based
> on the information in KoS it seems to me that the Tarshites are
> far more earth centered than their Sartarite counterparts.
> Do others think this is true?
That's my impression too. Arim's dynasty of sacred kings was based on quasi-divine birth. I haven't yet thought too much on what exactly Yanasdros changed when he forced his father into retirement after violating the peace with the Grazers, but this may have cost them some of the divine favour Arim had brought to Tarsh. I suspect that a king stronger in the earth magic would have avoided the lapse in the earth magic which holds back the madmen of Tork. Orios' death - if he really died, and doesn't linger in Tork waiting to be released, in whichever mental state - could be the displeasure of the vengeful earth at Yanasdros break with the Twin legitimation by sacred birth and his claim to Vingkotling inheritance.
After the loss of Arim's achievements, Illaro's sacrificial kingship seems to have demanded greater obedience of the earth kings to the earth mother.
Hon-eel's personal style of earth worship is as sacrificial as that of the Illaro dynasty. In this sense, there really is a continuum in the Illaro dynasty towards the Lunar kings of Tarsh. However, Hon-eel does not require the death of her descendants in the sacrifices. I have the vague impression that this is actually closer to the Twins' magic than Illaro's way...
> What about the Tarsh Exiles? Do all of them worship Maran Gor
> in some form, or is this group of rebels simply lead by the
> Maran Gor worshippers?
The best source for the Exiles still is Tarsh War. Yes, they do worship some form of Maran Gor - they worship Kero Fin. IMO Maran Gor is as much an aspect of Kero Fin as of the six earths among the Exiles.
Maran Gor proper is worshipped as the demanding provider, and as the war goddess. There is one extreme group which is totally dedicated to Maran Gor, but that lifestyle wouldn't be able to support some 30000 people. There have to be more conventional Heortlings among the Exiles.
> Or are
> they really two separate groups that work together at times, with the
> majority of them being normal Orlanthi?
IMO the extremist Maran Gor followers are part of a continuum among the Exiles. They all are closer to the sacrificial and bloody rites of Kero Fin than the Quivini. I suppose that they would be more likely to share the rites at Wild Temple in Beast Valley than the Quivini.
> How is the Feathered Horse Queen associated with the Maran Gor
> temple?
The original FHQ "quested deeply into the earth" and found the Esrolian pantheon there, which includes Maran Gor. Nick Brooke suggested a couple of thousands digests ago that the Esrolian Six Earths have placed the less pleasant aspects of the earth nearby but mostly outside of Esrolia. Necropolis lies on the Other Side, walled off by Vogarth Strongman's dam; Babeester Gor's Axe Hall sits atop Shadow Plateau, and Maran Gor's Shakers' Temple sits north of Wintertop Mountain. IMO the FHQ found or met the Esrolian Other Side and a special way to/through Kero Fin which Sorana Tor had brought to Arim.
The FHQ does not have any of the Earthquake or Earthblood magics of Maran Gor, but she seems to have the magic of the sacrificial king. She can sacrifice her son in a way strongly reminiscent of the Maran Gor or Kero Fin way.
> Or is there a second Feathered Queen?
I don't think so.
> Are there two temples there one to MG and
> one to KF? Is there a fort there as well?
IMO Shaker's Temple is primarily and originally to Maran Gor, of the Six Earths, but it is associated to Kero Fin already by its position. In Dragon Pass, the way to the Deep Earth leads through Kero Fin.
During the EWF, the Shaker's Temple seems to have been a good place to approach the dragonewts. It still is special in offering an entrance to the dragonewt road network which otherwise can only be found in the dragonewt cities.
IMO the Shaker's Temple has no military protection at all. Only a fool would consider to violate it, though, because this would risk the displeasure of Maran Gor, Kero Fin, and the dragonkind of the Pass region.
There is a fort on the western flank of Mt. Kerofin - probably not a fortified city like Bagnot or Jonstown but rather a cruder version of a fortified defensible valley than Boldhome. I expect to find a path up the flank through a narrow valley, with a "Gallic Wall" obstacle or three towards the settled area. Most of Wintertop Fort's fortifications ought to be the position on the mountain itself. Inside there ought to be a sizeable temple complex to Kero Fin and Maran Gor, but I don't expect it to be one of the Other Side sacred places like Shaker's Temple, Orlanth's birth cave, or the place where the prospective King of Dragon Pass goes in KoDP.
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