>As for Teshnos: Ok, you don't adventure in T, so let's imagine that a ship
>from Gio disembark a party of Teshnan, sent by Garusharp, to jeopardize the
>local middlemen who trade with Melib. Your party is hired by the local
>Goldentongue or Dormali to defend his interests (and life!).
IMO Garusharp wouldn't bother interfering with Melib. There are plenty of mainland Teshnans that would.
>How do you imagine the Teshnan villains?
The most prominent type of Teshnan "villian" would be the Solfi Nobles. They are part of the Establishment and not interfered with. Trafficking with outsiders is considered corrupt and foul in Teshnos so these guys practice it wholeheartedly. They are not in it for the wealth (as they have plenty of that) but for the supporters as this will determine their status viz-a-viz each other.
The Solfi Nobles are the type of people that would bankroll James Bond Villains in any type of scheme (be it to inflict the Hero Wars Dome on an unwanting Nochet Populace or to resurrect the sunken lands of Slontos in all their evil glory) so long as the Villain was credibly delivering their stuff to foreign dopes. They are also somewhat naive about the outside world and don't have any idea how well their dope could be pushed compared to the current practice.
They however cannot ignore Garusharp's anathema upon Harstar without loss of status and so must make use of fallen Teshnans and other go-betweens (even Babadi and Goondas) to operate the cartels in Melib. Even though Harstar hates them, he contents himself by taxing their activities so he can raise an army to conquer Teshnos.
A certain type of fallen Teshnan would be the Servants of the Darklight (i.e. the same one that burns in the Thanatari Temples). Their existence is so abominable to Teshnan eyes that they are executed and do not return. They are ultimately responsible to a shrouded high priest that listens to the whisperings of a colossal skull beneath Than Ulbar somewhere in the Wastelands. They have infiltrated the many of the Cartels (and control a few) and use their cartels to spread their own brand of chaos.
Next would be the Ashurtans. Their functions in the whole business are to collect taxes and they do this very brutally.
>Are they Theists or Mystics? I imagine a combination of the two, like a
>misapplied Mysticism or a Henoteistic Eastern Sect. I would be very
>interested in hearing others' opinions.
Teshnans on the whole are Theists. The Zitro path is mystical. The nobles are studying a transcendental consciousness (I suppose it might be considered swotting up on a great secret).
The Servants of the Darklight would have a smattering of Thantari powers while the Ashurtans can only do evil magic of any sort.
--Peter Metcalfe
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