Re: Forests and wildlands in Heortland, Sartar, Tarsh

From: parental_unit_2 <parental_unit_2_at_dAtWJU6kjHk97fcBEkfacq3Zzu4leOS7DyvyZZYn8ZwlSb6qQHS94Iz-aYtV>
Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2007 16:56:07 -0000

> > Okay. So why should the Vralos elves as a whole tolerate fire
then?
>
> Why should they tolerate metal use, storm worship, lumberjacks, or
> forest pasture?

>From the ground-level view of our player characters in Umathela:

• Because we did all of these nasty things OUTSIDE of the true elf forest (which we entered only when specifically asked to)
• Because violent storm worshippers were a useful backup to the green elves in protecting the forest (a buffer, as you put it) against the Fonritians, since they remained active during the winter. Our player characters even planted some Aldryami seeds in Fonrit during raids.
• Because the storm worshippers did not burn forests wholesale, only burning rotating plots inside their clan territories, leaving most of those territories fallow (on average).

> As a possible alternative I'd suggest something like Terra Preta des
> Indios of the Amazonas bowl for Umathela, also known as "slash and
> char". Too interesting not to be used.

I agree. Maybe this is the solution in Enkloso. There's a good popular description of the technique in Charles Mann's _1491_, which I think I've referenced on this list before.

> Some cultures have set their own limits of acceptability. Like
> Fonritians viewing enslavement as good, Yelmies encouraging stasis,
or
> Orlanthi promoting trial and Error.

Frankly, I like the idea that Aldryami societies might vary at least as much as human ones, and that their social organization and lifecycles might incorporate some biological elements like serotiny. It just seems a shame to make them twisty little woodmen, all alike.

Rob