> The Bolo Lizard tribe are one part of this alliance, as are the Ostrich-Riders, but the Hero Wars Gloratha Book said that "the third is obscure" (p. 172).
That's code for "here's a hook; use it as you will." I suspect that, if you forced everyone who has thought about it to choose only one opinion, there would be a plurality behind the idea that the third tribe is the Oasis People. It makes some sense because (a) all three are shattered remnants of a pre-darkness culture, (b) the oasis people can hide ostrich and bird-lizards eggs in bad times, and (c) the oasis people's possible relationship with the water element completes a nice elemental troika (ostrich = sky, bird-lizard = earth, oasis people = water). But there's nothing yet published that forces you to choose.
> I don't even know that much about the known Tribes either. Do they both follow the Way of Waha?
Not really. They worship Foundchild more that Waha for obvious reasons -- their herds aren't really herd-beasts. But they do acknowledge him as an important teacher -- how to send the spirits of animals that they hunt to the right afterlife, etc. He's a big deal, but not as big as for the true animal nomads. For example, you don;t have the be a Waha follower to be the Ostrich khan. (I almost laughed typing "Ostrich khan." Think about what he looks like, feathers and all.)
> Given the non-mammalian nature of their tribal animals, do they worship Eiritha too?
Again, not really. She's more like the distant goddess of other people's animals. They would revere her more like they revere the important spirits of the animals that they hunt.
> Do the Ostrich Tribe have any tie to the Fire Rune-- do they, perhaps, claim descent from Yamsur, who had a chariot pulled by ostriches?
Yes, or at least they claim that the ostriches descended from Yamsur's ostriches. Given the size of the ostrich tribe, I have my doubts that they could have bred only among themselves for 1500+ years.
> Did the Ostriches themselves lose the ability to fly when Yamsur (or whoever?) was slain?
Yes, mythically.
> I understood that the people of both tribes were pygmies, (so similar to the Impala tribe in that sense),
Ostriches riders are clearly pygmy humans and ostriches are clearly birds.
I think that ostriches and bolo-lizards are both birds. Outlanders get confused because the bird-lizards don't have feathers. And they look awfully like lizards. But "everyone knows" that they are really birds.
> "Groundmen"? Are these the Oasis-folk, or are these another nomad tribe that doesn't ride?
Groundman is a term used for anyone that doesn't ride. It includes slaves, lunatics, oasis people, and members of tribes that have no beasts, like the Basmoli and Agimori. It is also an insult if directed at someone who is not a groundman. Praxians who are too crippled to ride sometimes stay behind to die when the clan moves on, because they are too proud to walk or be dragged. Theoretically, someone who loses all his beasts could also become a groundman, but most members of a clan will have someone to stake them at least a riding beast if that happened.
Chris Lemens
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