Re: Volsaxi clan names?

From: Jeff Richard <richaje_at_...>
Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2005 15:55:20 -0000

> >> That being said, Joerg is
> >> right - the Kurtali clan was part of the Curtali tribe.
However,
> >> they were wiped out by the Kitori in 1579, but the Night Jumpers
> >> were able to defeat the Kitori and claimed the right to form
their
> >> own clan from King Enfrew of the Volsaxi. The Night Jumpers
are now
> >> a clan/heroband that owe allegiance to no king.
>
> > Er... But they're at WW?
>
> According to the wiki, they are.

Probably. If they are there, it is because they chose to be, not because they were obligated. Their main goal is killing Kitori.

> >> Volsaxi confederation: 110K Rural, 13K Urban (Karse 6K,
Smithstone
> >> 3K, Whitewall 4K)
> Far from it. If the numbers include Karse, I guess they also
include
> Suchara Vale and rural Karse, taking up to 30K out of the
calculations -
> which sort of fits my numbers.

Yeah, I think the Volsaxi confederation itself is about 90K Rural, 7K Urban. Political allegiances in the Suchara Vale and rural Karse (and Karhend and Gardufar) are very fluid in the years 1617-1625. Karse and the Suchara Vale may well have acknowledged Broyan as High King of the Hendreiki in 1617 or 1618 (I doubt they are within Richard the Tigerhearted's sphere of influence), but they were likely more or less autonomous. Then the Lunar invasion came and they acknowledged whoever the Lunars said to acknowledge.

> > 4K in Whitewall???? I thought we'd decided that it was almost
unpopulated
> > due to being so impractical?
> "whose king he made and trade he got" is said about Tarkalor at
Whitewall.
> Impractical or not, Whitewall is a pilgrimage site and a market
site. We
> get a royal stead, a few city-living clans herding and farming on
the
> plateau, two warbands (royal and night jumper) plus caravan guard
> services, inns, priesthood and attendants.

4K is not unreasonable, although the breakdown may be different from what is on the wiki.

> >> Troll Woods: 5K
> Non-Kitori?

That might represent what is left of the Kitori. They got hit really hard in the 1570s. And they were never too numerous (but they had powerful allies).

> There is little love lost between Kitori and most Volsaxi. I doubt
a
> peaceful co-existence as presented in RuneQuest Adventures #4
would have
> happened, even in a weaker form.

The Kitori hate the Volsaxi. And the Volsaxi have a heroband (the Night Jumpers) dedicated to killing Kitori and their allies. Folk who enter the Troll Woods end up dead.

> That said, trading contacts with the trolls via Argan Argar
caravans
> probably still happen a lot.

Yep. Folk really don't trust those trollish trader folk, but they'll buy their goods.

> Having just finished reading Helmold's "history of the slavs"
(German
> translation), I can't help comparing their relation to that
between the
> Baltic Slavs and the island Danes - mutual raiding, tributes, deep-
sitting
> hatred...

Yeah that captures the spirit.

Jeff