Estal Donge and HonEel

From: Peter Larsen <plarsen_at_mail.utexas.edu>
Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 09:23:31 -0600


Joerg Baumgartner says:

>The story has Mularik behead a singular prisoner, and it is possible
>that the prisoner was Moirades rather than Pharandros, although there
>are two claims that the Grazers under Jandetin the Avenger killed the
>Evil King.

and

>IMO the Tarshite CHDP is even less accurate than the Sartarite version.

        This is the handy and frustrating thing about KoS. Pretty much anything in it can be erased or modified because it's an untrustworthy source. Since "Argrath's Saga" is even more fanciful than the CHDP, Mularik may have beheaded any number of prisoners from 0 on up; he's pretty convenient to hang atrocities on, given his later behavior.

>No reason to let
>the imperials among the occupation leaders know that whether Sartar was
>joined to the Kingdom of Tarsh or not, a royal Tarshite prince in
>Boldhome was planned.

        Plots within plots; very juicy.

Peter Metcalfe says to

me:
>>She's not necessarily Moirades's wife. If she was Lunar, who knows
>>what kind of arrangements would be possible, given the range of
>>Orlanthi and Lunar marriage styles.
>
>I dunno. If they weren't married, Pharandros would be a bastard
>in civilized Heartland eyes.

        I figure the Pelorians generally shake their heads over the barbaric customs of Dragon Pass (do Dara Happans even recognize Year-Wives and - Husbands, or do they consider them immoral fornicators?). Does the Empire care if Pharandros is legitimate if his people accept him and he's friendly to the Empire? Especially if his father is running around in the Wilds preparing to Lunarize some of the central mysteries of the area. Any ideas what Moirades is doing? I immediately thought of paving the way for the Red Emperor to marry the Feathered Horse Queen, but that seems a little, well, obvious.

>Adultery for example is pretty shocking to the Orlanthi
>(and by extension, most rural Tarshites).

        Adultery does make the whole thing spicier, and Ms. Donge becomes just a little more tragic (spurned by uncaring husband obsessed with mad magical experiments, looking for a little affection, getting caught up in Imperial plots...), so she might as well be a wife.

        Changing the subject to HonEel: there are little bits and pieces on her in many publications (and a bigger bit on the Issaries website), but is there any detailed "all-in-one-place" information? Also:

a)Is "Hon-eel" no longer correct, or is it an example of two different writing systems? Some of the "Eels" seem to be related, but HonEel isn't, is she?

b)She (and her priesthood) seem to have it in for the Red Emperor; is this part of her nature (she sounds like an unplanned result of the Emperor's hiding during the Sheng occupation), a response to the Emperor interfering with her maize rituals, or something else?

Peter Larsen


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