Bryan asks some interesting questions.
> From: bethexton_at_...
> Subject: reference for how the solars got 'there'
>
> We all know how everything started with the spike.
God Learner!
We all know things started from wherever "our mythology" starts them.
Have you, for instance, seen ANY Solar mythology which refers to the Spike? In any official sources?
> At some point Orlanth left the spike and went exploring in the
> unmarked wilderness to its north. Later he led many people down it,
> and they passed through the wilderness, and settled it in places.
> >From what I've read in the main sources, they seemed to be the first
> settlers there (1).
They were the first Orlanthi-type humans, anyway. There were "people" there already, though they may not have been human beings.
> Some time later, Orlanth comes into conflict with the Bad Emperor,
> who had his empire farther to the north. At that time it was a well
> established and prosperous empire, well set in its ways.
Yes.
> Soooo....I got to wondering things like:
> 1) Was the empire already there when Orlanth came down off the Spike?
> 1a) If it was, did Orlanth know of it even then (and was he really
> just exploring?)
The original Orlanthi "off the spike" are before the worlds of the different mythologies clashed together. They still lived in relative innocence and did not know of each other. Their worlds were not yet in contact.
> 1b) If it was not, how did they get around the storm lands?
Who are "they?" Get around? You seem to be assuming that people in the Empire came from the Spike? Wrong assumption. Read Entekosiad to learn of the mixed origins of the people of Dara Happa.
> 2) Why did the emperor leave the spike? From the orlanthi POV it
> seems like the court on the spike and the old emperor were equally
> hide bound, but did he too rebel against the gods on the spike?
He never did leave the spike, because he did not originate on it. }
> 3) Are such questions of time and geography meaningless, because
> neither time nor geography were the same pre-compromise.
Yes.
Everyone has their own origin storeis and these ae considered to be parts of the
separate worlds whose impact will later bring the Gods War. You can wonder if
these are actually separate like bubbles of fizz in a bottle, or whether they
were just metaphorically separate, or the folks were ignorant or whether or not
Umath was really the first Emperor and the son of the animist Earth Mother and
the Sorcerous Sun Father if you want. But the fact is, in myth and legend, they
were separate, came together more or less gently at first, then violently, and
then all broke into little pieces of the Great Darkness.
> I was wondering if any of this sort of question is
> explained/answered/hinted at in one of the non-main-line source
> books? If so, could someone point me the right direction?
If you are delving into this kind of esoterica, you should check my notes wich are available as Unfinishe dWorks (or whatever title we are calling them now.) These are exactly what I said: my NOTES and are always subject to change by me. But in general, theyprovide good information for the deeper background sources.
YGWV. Greg Stafford
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