I would assume that back in the Golden Age, crops did not need irrigation, but just sprouted from the ground obediently, at the behest of Yelm's warm, pure light and heat. Only by the victories of Oslira do crops now need water!
>
> Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 11:43:48 +1100
> From: "John Hughes" <nysalor_at_primus.com.au>
> Subject: Heortling Unity
>
> Heys folks
>
> Peter Larsen:
>
> > Martin Dick's comments about the unity of Sartar made me wonder
> -- do you
> > suppose Sartar's unity magics, however successful they were, made Sartar
> > more receptive to the Lunar "We Are All Us" philosophy? If so, does
> > rejecting the Lunars weaken Sartar nationalism?
>
> I played with this theme a bit in my Far Point campaign. IMG, Kallyri
> vingans started saying things like 'the freedom of Sartar means
> freedom for
> us all', or 'The Storm tribe must unite to defeat its most ancient enemy.'
> This sort of sloganeering went down like a krashkid at an Uroxi
> temple bash.
> Appeals to loot, cattle, old feuds and revenge for defeats during the
> Righteous Wind were more likely to get the warriors active. When the
> victories started, and the tribes rose in the south, this sort of language
> became more common - as long as there was still loot and vengeance.
This is where Myth and Heroquesting comes in. During Godtime, Orlanth had to deal with much the same thing... in the face of destruction from the Darkness Tribe, his own kin were squabbling and fighting, as the storm tribe often does. What Orlanth did in the 'Making of the Storm Tribe' myth is that he reminded all of his Tribe that they were *all Kin*, and not to stand together would be to die together.
Sounds like Kallyr needed to perform this important Heroquest first. I'm sure that it was a vital tool of both Sartar and Argrath for the uniting-reuniting of the Quivins at their respective times.
> Yet there *is* a stream of trans-clan unity that runs through the heart of
> Heortling culture. Every adult male (and all vingans) have triumphed in 'I
> Fought We Won' during their Orlanth (male) initiation. They have
> experienced
> the overwhelming power of united lifekind in its defiant,
> willful, desperate
> victory against the Unlife, the eternal affirmation of unity and common
> purpose. Now Heortlings aren't given to philosophising or wordy
> elaboration,
> but the memory and raw power of that experience will stay with them for
> life.
Further, the foreign ways of the Lunar Empire are at base antithetical to the Heortling way of life. Only by subverting the Ernaldan ties of marraige and the ancient Kingship rites of Tarsh could could the Lunars conquer Tarsh - Hon Eel had to become Ernalda to Pallashee Longaxe (is that the right name?). The essential challenge for the Sartarite Orlanthi is to remember that they are all one Tribe - the Lunar Empire's way of unity is simply a mask, a deception based on mere ideas, while the unity of the Orlanthi peoples is based on blood, bones, and marraige and kinship ties. Note that this is an obvious pro-orlanthi notion, as for the point I'm trying to explain in Orlanthi terms.
> Ernaldans of course, have their own concepts and traditions of unity, a
> unity achieved through the marriages of the Goddess and the marriages of
> the clans.
These were used by both Hon Eel and Hwarin Dwalthippa to conquer Tarsh and Sylila, respectively, by subverting Orlanthi marraige and kinship institutions.
> Some Heortlings who have gone over to the Lunar way might draw comparisons
> with IFWW, but most, if they thought about it at all, would
> consider it just
> another false mask of Nysalora.
You have it spot on!
> I believe Kallyr and the Argraths *did* resurrect some of the
> seeds planted
> by Sartar, building on this common experience of lifekind defeating The
> Chaos, and the notions and rituals of the House Royal. There may well have
> been Other Side quests and rituals to achieve this.
Definitely, the I Fought, We Won as well as the Making Of The Storm Tribe would be important myths to this.
> Of course, the larger your 'clan' becomes, the larger and more
> deadly become
> the treacheries of kinstrife. 'The old foe, ever at our necks...'
That's why the old virtues of King Storm will save the Orlanthi people. Forget that your kin and give into Ragnaglar's jealousies, and you will suffer the punishments for kinstrife! This is why, IMO, Sartar was conquered.
> All IMG of course.
>
>
> John
- ----
Chris Bell
argrath_at_agoron.com
coridan_at_shai-net.com
chris.t.bell_at_chase.com
http://www.agoron.com/~argrath/intense.htm
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