*1.* Are there any good pointers for Esrolian culture?
*A:* "There is always another way." They are not that different from
Heortlings except that the social and religious positions of men and women
are reversed so that mothers and eldest sisters own property, inherit it,
etc. They are much more agricultural than the Heortlings, less hunting. They
have a greater mercantile base. They are more accepting of foreigners. They
have more pacifistic factions than any Heortling society (a cause of
constant political problems within the country.)
*2.* I think another principle difference between the Esrolians and the
Heortlings is their conception of the role of a ruler. The ruler as
warleader is not going to be particularly important to the Esrolians -
unlike the Heortlings. In fact, I am uncertain how Esrolian rulers would be
chosen. Hereditary succession seems inappropriate - perhaps rulers are
chosen by a council of elders - "grandmothers." Does that sound right?
*A:* Yes.
*3.* Is Esrolian culture more urban-centered than that of the Heortlings (
i.e. approx 1 in 18 Esrolians live in Nochet)?
*A:* More urban dominated, yes.
*4.* 'Most' rural Heortlings live communally in steads; Do 'most' rural
Esrolians live communally with their extended family in steads? Is their
technology similar? Is their style of dress similar? Would they recognise
each others customs?
*A:* Yes to all.
*5.* Are non-leadership gender roles similar to Heortlings i.e women still
run the home, men perform warfare, heavy labour but valued differently? Or
are many gender-roles reversed for 'most' Esrolians?
*A:* Roles are not reversed. "Biology always wins."
*6.* Are clans still the basic social unit, or federations/alliances/tribes?
*A:* Clans, matrilineally calculated.
*7.* Is the similarity to Heortling culture most significant to those clans
that worship Orlanth as Ernalda's husband (or have the appropriate
year-father), with other clans diverging from this model with the influence
of their choice of year-father.
*A:* Yes.
*8.* Is polyandry common?
*A:* Common? Not sure what that means. Acceptable? Yes. Common among the
rich and powerful? Yes.
*9.* Is the Orlanth cult less rich in subcults in Esrolia?
*A:* Yes.
*10.* Is his mythic role less significant as 'just one of Ernalda's
husbands'?
*A:* Yes and No. Mostly no.
*11.* Do Esrolians recognise Vinga and Nandan?
*A:* Yes.
*12.* Is Yelmalio still a consort ("husband-protector") of Ernalda in
Esrolia? Who is Yelmalio's wife in Dragon Pass? In the River of Cradles? Is
it (still) Ernalda?
*A:* First, please take anote that the questions' wording makes some
implications that skew the answers, so I am rewording it. It is more correct
to ask who is Yelmalio's wife in the Yelmalio temples. Most Orlanthi would
not say Ernalda is the wife of Yelmalio, even though the worshippers at the
Sun Dome Temple in Dragon Pass would say so. Yes, Yelmalio is a consort of
Ernalda in Esrola. Yes, Yelmalio is a consort of Ernalda for the Yelmalians
in Dragon Pass. Yes, Yelmalio is a consort of Ernalda for the Yelmalians in
Prax. All of thesese peoples' predecessors beleived that Ernalda was a wife
of Elmal.
*13.* Would a matrilineal and matriachal Heortling clan look similiar to an
Esrolian one if you were an outsider (say a Loskalmite)?
*A:* Yes.
*14.* Did the Kingdom of Night change Esrolian culture.
*A:* The ambiguity here is vast. What is "change" in the context? Esrola was
established after the terrible and tragic events of the Sword and Helm Saga.
This occurred during the Darkness, after Vingkot was dead. Virtually NO
large political interaction occured at that time -- everyone was fighting
locally for survival. Esrola benefitted from Heort's inspiration of I Fought
We Won, and afterwards was the Unity Battle and the Unity Council, which
established the KoN as the dominant political entity. The KoN saved Esrolia
from total destruction by chaos. Thus the two grew up together, with
constant influence and reciprocal influence. Perhaps it is useful to compare
this to the Kitori, who were clearly dominated and significently influenced
by the uz.
*15.* Another question would be their relationship with Trolls, who would
have been a dominant factor in Esrolian life for most of the Kingdom of
Night era.
*A:* What does "dominant factor" mean? The trolls didn't try to affect human
practices, either political or religious. The Esrolians and trolls both have
a goddess-dominated religion, and we know that they shared worship for many
deities. Who is Ezkankekko's mother? They shared a concern for keeping world
order by cooperation.
*16.* It seems to me that Esrolia must have been peculiarly troll friendly -
would this be a by product of matriarchy or vice versa?
*A:* What does "troll friendly" mean in this context? I sincerely doubt it
means that people were chummy with uz, having them by for dinner parties,
orgies or sacrifices. (And what human would accept an invitation to ANY of
those function from the uz without mortal trepidation?) The Esrolian peoples
had reached an accomodation with having uz as the supreme political leaders.
I doubt that it affected local human politics. Clans would not be affected.
Sure they would be paying tribute or something to the uz. But that had been
established before time began. It is simply "the way it is." Certainly it
would have prevented the people from automatically deciding that all uz were
terrible cratures as they did in Seshnela (for instance).
*17.* Are the Malkioni a significant influence on Esrolian culture? If so is
that influence mainly confined to urban areas?
*A:* No. But yes, there are significent numbers of Malkioni in cities to
affect their running.
*18.* Would a male Erolian have a closer relationship with his sister's
children on the grounds that is they who will inherit or does marriage tie
his fortunes to his wife's clan so much that he would favour his own
offspring?
*A:* They are matrilineal. Sons belong to their mother's clans. Officially,
it is impossible to prove paternity.
*19.* Do the mercantile elements of the economy wield any political power?
*A:* Yes, absolutely.
*20.* Celts/Saxons/Vikings are good sources of real-world inspiration for
Heortlings. Are there any other cultures we might think of when drawing
inspiration for Esrolians?
*A:* No.
*21.* Are there Eunuchs in Esrolia?
*A:* Except for some aberrant practices by some relatively minor subgroups,
the Esrolians do not practice castration.
*22.* I assume that Ernalda the Queen is the Esrolian rulership figure.
*A:* Yes. Look for details in the TR book, which will be released this
month.
*23.* I am interested how Esrolia deals with the edges of its territory.
What I mean is, how does it interact with the clan next door that is just
out of Esrolia. Is that clan "a bit" more female dominated, is it a gradual
change or would there be a definite dividing line. It seems to me to be
almost certain to provoke problems - I guess this can be seen in Greymanes
raids.
*A:* No definite dividing line. There are always gradual changes. We know
that some clans even as far away as Sartar revere goddesses more than gods.
Border troubles are a great source of story.
*24.* Is Axe Hall on the Shadow Plateau a site holy to Babeester Gore? What
happens there?
*A:* It is her biggest holy place. She there struck down Ovodaka. Babeester
Gor worshippers try to pilgrimage there because their goddess is very
powerful. The brew is of the blood of gods, the company is perfect and all
pain, suffering and worry of the cultists is removed.
End of Glorantha Digest, Vol 11, Issue 313
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