Thanks!
-Santo
aum shanti shanti shantih.
"The world is like the impression left by the telling of a story." - from
the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha
On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 4:53 AM, Jeff <richaje_at_J8uVuHW7DwTxUy_ooBpJcmAdychL-Pq9q2dpyq3iZ3qMMhH67Kawxx_x1h3osKZGijU6dYcSHYXD.yahoo.invalid> wrote:
>
>
> > > 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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