Simcity of Dara Happa
Greg Stafford wrote long about evolution and history of Dara Happan Army, and Martin Laurie wrote a excellent essay about cities as difensive fortification from Militarist point of view...But now I want to see the same evolution and change from the point of view of Politic, Economy and Culture as each of City Community. Dara Happa usually advocates City Culture as Classical Age Greeks and Ancient Babylonians. But as their masters wanted to make a more influence and take a tribute from them, closed Ecology would be dismantled and rose to Capital of More Larger Area, as points between lines and wildland, it would lose self-sustenance.
And from the Mediterranian circumstance, Above Greeks and their cultural successor Etruscans didn't know or detested the using of Cavalry (and Large Horses), Pants and Stirrup as that is coming from Nomads, and Ancient Chinese gained Pants from Nomads, Babylonians gained it from Medians, Europians learned about Stirrup from Arabians. (And History always showed resistance to New Barbarous Way as usual.)
Even most conservative Dara Happans ineditably absorbed many foreign customs in history...But something may never occur in the freespace of imagination, for example, Japanese in Warring States period never invented a wall surrounding a community and the castle of the ruler...(Ryoutaro Shiba) I don't know why, but there is always reasonable (but maybe unknowable) reason for that.
As priest of Dara Happans said, Golden Age is maybe best for their ideal city Life, and but in RW, Historians know "usually" city started without Divine Providence, and without city plan, and maybe Malkioni keeps such point of view about Barabarian Culture. (And Malkioni also hold city culture in Danmalastan...) And many cities had a original plan to setup under the point of view of schedule, even if it would not work properly.
God Kings had not hold Absolute Authority in Babylonia as Political Entity in the limited early stage of community. (So Yelmic Religion is not default setup.) And if I can putup this set to Anaxial Era Cities after Flood, maybe they didn't much beyond the village mayors over the septapolis. (Please not send to me Assassins, Dara Happans...) And Jenarong Era is maybe same as that scheme though Disastor which wrought havoc over their culture is not same. From realistic point of view, Plentonius created in a sense, their vision with magic about their culture.
As it is a life, I guess City Plan is important to understand the change and order of City, and even after collapse of some function as one perfect community, cities sometimes survived with substitutions (from Farming to Trade, from Military to Religion, etc...) I want to apply it to with my clumsy hands. Magic is important for understanding Glorantha, please see the Discription of City of Black Glass in Georgin's Report.
City Design
As Genertela Book and Older Gloranthan Rune Connection to Fire Rune, Spoke
of Wheel Shape (Sun Rune) and roads radiating in all directions is Basic
Style of Dara Happan City (Too Simple Idea!), but other Attributes which
decorate modern 17C Lunar Cities are likely unknown to Original Dara Happans
(In Unspoken Word, Furthest forms Earth Rune Square?). They are mostly
Roman-style Colosseum, Public Bath House and Facilities for Bread and
Circus. Reaching Moon Megacorp much invented this idea to this Area, and I
guess Greg cannot no more prevent such trend even if he want to put back to
more Oriental Component to that.
As far as I know about Art and Architectures of "Greek" Style which influenced to Romans (Cf. Marcus Vitruvius Pollio) is Ket in this parallel, Pelandan City maybe holds Agora and Acropolis as modelled to their vision to Jernotian Gods (Olympian Gods?) and it can be set on the the relationship from Pelandan to Lunar (Or Carmanian to after Seleran Empire. (I guess much difference between Roman and Byzantine paralleled to Lunar before Sheng (much Rinliddian, Arabian?) and after Sheng (much Carmanian, Persian?)
Greg showed me a Work in Progress book about it, but I think it speculates to more about the coordination to other areas for amking the Scheme of Ancient Dara Happa Cities. Maybe Erzanestyu weakened the influence of Nysalorian "South Council" Idea and emasculated it into Senatus, as Caesar weakened Senatus by increasing the number of them.
And material is also needed for that, for example, Babylonians and Sumerians could not rely on rain....they tried to dig irrigation, and made cities from Bricks which created from Clays and Hot Sun, I think Dara Happa much found difficulty to make sun-burning Bricks. (Dara Happa is much colder and rainy I guess...Of course magic can help / hinder it.) Recently Greg thought about Sassanian Empire as Modern Lunar...And of course, Zoroastrians are Dualists. Stones and Quarry are needed for Roman Empire, Maybe Modern Lunars use Stones of Ancient Monuments for their new Architecture as Medieval Popes used many Monuments of "Paganism Era" in Rome...If so, damn them.
Maybe we should rather seek parallel to such as Ganges River State Indians, Middle Americans, Yellow River Warring State Era Chinese, Egyptians than Mediterranian or Oriental Source. I think Dara Happan city-states long lost their self-sustenance before or after Nysalor as Power of Emperors of Era of the New Light or Karsdevanic Clarification as Abbasyd Caliph or Medieval Roman Pope (or Japanese Pope?) And I think Spolite, EWF and Carmanians have accustomed to use Tripolis as Symbolic, Religious Center of Power as Rome or Constantinople. (I remember Yelmgatha was born in Kostaddi...)
I think "Decandence" is important and inevitable for such long remained structure. Maybe even in Erzanestyu Dynasty, many High Blood Nobles lost their power for surviving without intrigue and diplomacy within citywall, and many Emperors were invited from Local Area, as Spanish Hadrianus or Antoninus. (Or, they maybe magically enhanced their descendants with Yelmic Magic? Goldhaired-Aryans?)
Historical Increase (Popularity, Loose Tax, Peace, Many Works, etc..) and Decrease (Crisis, Pestilence Civil War, etc...) of population is also important for understanding the change of center and expansion / reduction of City Wall, for exampe, maybe Constantinople would never fall if they could fix their older city walls during the gradual decrease.
First Blessed 900,000: Yuthuppa-Esvuthil Silver Shadow 175,000 (except Glamour 500,000): Raibanth-Vonlath Kostaddi 450,000 (except Hungry Plateau 40,000): Alkoth-Henjarl
Yuthuppa 80,000
Raibanth 75,000
Alkoth 90,000
Elz Ast is also a DH city and has 35,000 (connection to Verapur? destroyed
in the reign of Emperor Kestinoros)
First Blessed Overseer
Yuthuppa: Divine Ship
Great Temple of Anaxial
*War-Polaris, Celestial Order, Strategy and Tactics
*Tradition-Archeological Research to Yuthubars, kind of Inhabitants in
Gomengarst?
*Vrimakus-Spiritual Glory, Senatus (Their Leader is called Reverend
Captain?)
Thilla-
Great Temple of Dayzatar
*Buserian-Mandarin Style Bureaucrat to Precedences, Astrological Recording
of Harmonized Movement of Celestial Things and Mundane World
*Ourania-Virginity and Woman Right
*Ascetic Mystics-Holy Estorex and Other Hermits secluding in Star Towers
(See GROY)
Star Story Towers
Silver Shadow Overseer-Emperor
Raibanth: Capital of Empire
Great Temple of Murharzarm-Footstool Pyramid of Yelm, Victory over Oslira
*Palace-Dendara (Empress and Housemaidens), Everina
*Court-Raiba, son of Murharzarm (One Year Ceremony), Denesiod, grandson
*Foreign Ministry-Lokarnos (Diplomacy & Trade)
Great Temple of Antirius
*Law-Khorzanelm (Pro-Lunar) vs Ordanestyu (Anti-Lunar), Bureaucrat
*Tradition-Senatus, Emperor Erzanestyu Delegates from Local Areas (Like
Caesar's sons-in-law just before collapse of Roman City Republic)
*Army-War Hero Avivath aka Hastatus, Avivorus
Temple of Rufdayan (Greg, Ye Booke of Tentacles, as One of Incarnations of
RG)
Gods Wall, south of Suberb (Greg, GRAY)
Star Dome Temple (Nick, Carmanian History)
Kostaddi Overseer
Alkoth: Army Control
Great Temple of Shargash
*Green Way, Alkor-City Management
*Red Way-Berserkers and Outlaw Elevens (Antirian Cultural Detest to
Violence)
*Black Way-Bijiif & Enverinus, Monastery of Ash Monks
Great Temple of Lodril and Ten Sons
*Farming-Oria
*River Control and Tribute from Neighborhood Area-Biselenslib and Oslira
*Technocrat-Mohengus & Lokarnos?
Underground Library of Yelmgatha (He found FS here.)
About Alkoth from Martin Laurie:
Yes, they don't expand the city beyond the ring, except for the docks which
move a lot dur to the river moving. Alkoth though has a large population
and
is a packed city. 90,000 live there in the 1620s. The city is around 20
metres higher inside at ground level than outside. The buildings are build
on the ruins and foundations of previous works and are usually very tall.
Alkoth is like no earth city as it is in the underworld. People there live in a perpetual gloom, the air is thick with ash and the sky streaked with demons and energies. It is a frightening place, yet they carry on normal lives within it. They have children, they make goods, they have love and politics etc.
End of The Glorantha Digest V8 #606
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