> Mr. Kyer has already made the analogy
> of Odayla followers to the "mountain men" of the pre-Civil War American
> west. It's a good analogy - in part because there really weren't that many
> "mountain men" but their importance as symbols and myths were much more
> important than their numbers or economic relevance.
My most recent brush with mountain men and frontier mythology has come via Tim Flannery's 'The Eternal Frontier' - an ecohistory of North America that makes me hope that Odaylans *aren't* like mountain men. :) That is, I hope (and the cult writeup supports this) that Odaylans know how to nurture, sustain and conserve natural resources, rather than exploit and despoil them to extinction. But I digress.
> Folk like Kit Carson, Jebediah Smith or
> Joseph Walker all spent years in the wilderness, but still returned to
> civilization. Heck, Kit Carson became a very prominent (and rather
wealthy)
> figure in the Colorado and New Mexico territories. [For what it is worth,
> his occasional boss, John Fremont, became an early millionaire, a US
> Senator, a presidential candidate (first Republican nominee for president)
> and a Civil War general. He sounds like a follower of Orlanth
Adventurous.]
> Even mountain men don't stay in the wilds all their life - even if they
long
> for it.
Is that the same Kit Carson of the Long Walk genocides and the bison near-extinctions? That would seem to make my point for me. I know in that in some senses the Heortlings are freedom loving democratic pioneers fighting off the red menace, but i wonder if in this case if American mountain men are the most appropriate mythic metaphors. How about Amerindian hunters?
If Odaylans are born in hunting camps and love solitude to the extent that they spend entire seasons off by themselves, and rarely marry, what exactly are the pleasures of civilisation that stead life that offer them? Agriculture is back-breaking work from dawn to dusk, while hunters (depending on the ecological zone - but I consider Sartar luxurious) are the *most-leisured* people on the planet. (Look at Yinkini! Odaylans aren't that much different :)). Male hunters average less than two hours work at day, females (who bring in most of the protein from plants and small game) work considerably longer.
My own campaign clan has a large proportion of hunters, and Far Point furs and amber *can* be traded to the Lunars through the market at Ironspike, so the hunters are reasonably well-integrated with the herders and farmers. This also fits into one of my themes for upland Far Point - that the Lady of Wild is slowly reclaiming all the clans to her ways. Even so, we play the steads as having mainly novelty value to the hunters - they come to see kin and attend moots, and to meet marriagle folk from other clans, but aren't drawn much to the 'comforts' of the stead. In fact, the *main* reason they come is the same reason as probably first convinced semi-nomadic hunting bands to settle permanently - a steady supply of good beer!
I've discussed this more fully elsewhere, but consider briefly the difference in world views between an Odaylan and more typical Heortling stead dweller. Odaylans have no concern for material possessions. They always travel light, and carry everything they need on their backs. For an Odaylan, the best place to carry a tool is in your head. They would only rarely engage in the cattle gifting pursued so relentlessly by their stead-dwelling cousins.
There's room for considerable variation in the depictions of Odaylans of course, but I do question the link to a 'superior' mode of living that you're reading into the mountain man analogy. Odaylans act as though they are part of the landscape, rather than seeking to dominate and control it. They nurture resources carefully.
> I think that in some clans, the small handful of Odalyans may have a more
> significant role for Heortlings than you are giving credit. Farmers may
> view the half-wild hunter as a negotiator with the wilderness - someone
who
> has an understanding of the wild forces of the woods and wastelands.
The writeup mentions the constant feuding between Barntar and Odayla as a metaphor for their clash of worldviews. Ormalayons are better placed as mediators. I'm sure that Odaylans *are* valuable as ring members, but would need more detailed reasons than the ones presented so far. (Here's one - they act as a corrective to the more typical Heortling impulsiveness and greed Two - as teachers of survival skills to children and initiands). In upland Far Point, where memories of the Tearing Claw Season are preserved in everyday ritual, having someone who speaks for the Lady is a *real* advantage to the Ring, but this wouldn't apply over most Heortling lands.
> Furthermore, the furs provided by these "mountain men" might be a valuable
> trading commodity. In places like Syllila, their symbolic and ceremonial
> role is probably far more important than their role as a provider of meat.
I like this. Every society has objects of symbolic value whose circulation fosters social ceremony. 'Furs for the Earth priestess' are mention in the Storm Tribe writeup. Perhaps they have a wilder symbolic value - similar to the role I already ascribe to Earthshaker teeth.
> I agree that it is probably the grizzled elder that sits on the ring -
> probably bored and frustrated with clan politics, but useful nonetheless.
Indeed. He (yes, usually he), can no longer roam the wilderness, but by the Goddess can he tell stories! Don't let him catch you or he'll bore you all day - another thing about these hunters is that they have no sense of time!
Cheers
John
For every thing that lives is holy, life delights in life; Because the soul of sweet delight can never be defil'd. - William Blake.
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