Re: Alakorings, Heortlings and the others

From: Jeff <richaje_at_xhUWa72SmPqBGJGVlsuBrlA-h0wbYw7JJCNwMdSSg9HskpzRzvDJkK7G4_AvCEsjL6fp>
Date: Wed, 06 Oct 2010 08:53:17 -0000


> > Then close your eyes when you see the nice big
> > illustrations of Ralian Orlanthi in the Guide to Glorantha!
>
> I will probably not buy that anyway...

OK, but you will miss out on the most comprehensive survey of Third Age Glorantha ever done.

> > Ralios is not a backwater of Orlanthi culture - it is one
> > of the two major centers (the other being Dragon Pass
> > itself) with almost 2 million Orlanthi and a proud history
> > (the Ralians were the first to embrace Harmast after the
> > Lightbringers Quest, they followed Arkat and were a major
> > foundation of his Autarchy, they successfully fought off the
> > MSE, and, more than anyone, they broke the EWF. And they
> > have a lot more to accomplish in the Hero Wars).
>
> Backwater? Personally I see the Dark Empire as the cultural high of Orlanthi and the Sartarites as backwater...

Both are important cultural centers. I'd place Dragon Pass as slightly more central because of the legacy of the Unity Council, Kingdom of Orlanthland, Esrolia, and its location in the crossroads of Central Genertela. But the Ralian Orlanthi are nearly as culturally significant.

BTW, the Autarchy (Dark Empire was a name used by its foes) didn't really have its own unifying culture. Indeed, Arkat encouraged the nations and tribes who petitioned him to develop and explore their own culture and to rule themselves.

> Nothing about spiked hair and chariots that say backwater. That was your prejudice speaking, not mine.

Chariots are militarily at a disadvantage against mounted horsemen. They survive as expensive status symbols or in backwater areas where their limitations are acceptable. Given the Ralian Orlanthi heavy involvement in the Gbaji Wars and in Alakoring's wars against the EWF, I doubt chariot use would have militarily survived (just as it did not amongst the continental Celts, Assyrians, or the Greeks).

Moreoever, I doubt the ancestors of most of the Ralian Orlanthi used chariots in the first place. Prior to the arrival of the Theyalans, most of the Ralians were Galinini horse people called the Enerali. They worshiped the sun god Ehilm but embraced Orlanth and the Lightbringers with a fervor. Other early Ralian Orlanthi were actually Heortlings from Dragon Pass who settled on the far side of the Rockwood mountains.

Jeff            

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