Re: Wenelians - a snippet from Trader Princes

From: Jeff Richard <richaje_at_Of-X24KMdIcRIcWhOMSDp4XlwuVUVpnJ1vJNGIjNq6bE0qkbmrh-h9ug-fBTmMCbjbUk>
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:00:19 -0000

> Hmm. Interesting point. I think, from the post-Sinking Wenelian
> point of view, any foreign cult was probably the result of God
> Learner meddling. There was a great reaction and many such supposed
> cults were purged from the clans. Issaries was always a favorite of
> the Justreli and would have been shunned. Of course, that would
> result in the loss of his communication and trade magic. I am not
> sure if Alakoring's reformation of the Orlanth cult really 'took' in
> Wenelia.

I doubt it - I think the key beneficiary of Alakoring's cult in the region was the triumphant Hendrikings of the "New Kingdom" who became the high kings of the southern Orlanthi, ruling from the Creek to Esvular and over much of Esrolia as well. I would imagine that during this time, there was probably Hendriking influence even as far away as Wenelia, but I doubt it really "took".

> Of course, when they purged themselves of supposed "God Learner"
> influence, the Wenelians purged themselves of all but their most
> traditional practices. On the whole, this included the Lightbringer
> cults as well as foreign. With the generally harsh lifestyle and
> poverty post Sinking/Goddess Switch, cults such as Chalana Arroy and
> Lankor Mhy would be luxuries many clans could ill-afford. It was a
> Cultural Revolution...

That was my thought as well. From about 930 until after 1050 with the sinking of Slontos, Wenelia got hit with just unbelievable disaster after disaster - the Closing, the Devastation of the Vent and finally the sinking of Slontos. Here's a description of what happened in 1050 (from the upcoming History of the Heortling Peoples):

"Shortly after Andrar became king the whole land of Kethaela shook. In Esrolia this was the Devastation of the Vent. Angry Veskarthan coughed up a poisonous cloud that drifted southwest over Slontos. Waves of lava flowed from the lower parts of the volcano out to sea. A huge wave rolled over both arms of the southern islands and destroyed most of the man made things at sea level. Lesser waves washed across the Mirrorsea, so that all the cities around the Choralinothor were flooded by the seven deadly waves. These were what put the Ship Clutter ten miles upriver from Smithstone. Andrar sent a band of the best flyers to investigate Slontos and they reported that the whole of land was gone and in its place a vast muddy sea with a few islands."

The Wenelians got hit with the end of the world and probably retreated into their ancestral survival myths. They invoked ancestors, animals, some became trees, worshiped the a surviving saint, or did something else to survive this terribly time. What survived was a patchwork mess of traditions and practices.

Jeff