> Funnily enough, as I have been reading these threads I have been coming around to the opposite point of view, because I'm wondering if the "English" words are giving a distorted view of the castes. - Part of this was based on the discussion of what caste the merchants would belong to. Your (Jeff) said
> >Well long-distance merchants tend to belong to the Talar caste (!).
> >The Talars deal with outsiders, not the dromals.
>
> If we think of the castes as "Peasants, Soldiers, Noble, Wizards" I think we are causing ourselves confusion with roles that don't fit this divide - All Peasants are Dromal, but not all Dromal are peasants, equally, all Nobles are Talar, but not all Talar are Nobles.
Good point. BTW, I suggested "Workers, Soldiers, Noble, Wizards" - not "peasants". The problem is, as you rightly observe, "Talar" is not equal to the all the connotations of the English word "noble" and creates problems. <Sigh>
> Someone (and I can't find the message now) said something about Dromars being "Makers" and Talars being "Talkers", which makes me wonder if Horali are "Doers" and zzaburi "Thinkers". I'm not sure if that makes things any clearer or just adds a new level to the confusion!
That's pretty close. Horali are "Fighters" though, not doers.
Jeff