Re: An analogy for Esrolia?

From: bryan_thx <bethexton_at_N97y1hiOJlRlzOE03Ktq9AxqQo0hKiJ4ESE2BMbTfMHrHPQzwSWQaa8ajEfRkDHeO4>
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:15:06 -0000

Jeff gave a ton of good information, all official at that! I'll anyway throw in a few thoughts from a random player, with no claims of these being in any way official.

The Esrolians are in no way Egyptians, but from an external point of view their role in the world is something like that of ancient egypt. They are seldom a military power of note, their focus is much more inwards than outwards, they are more populous (and in many ways more wealthy) than anyone around them, and perhaps key their concerns are not so much about who reigns over them but rather who rules on a practical level.

For most of their history they've accepted the reign of outsiders (The Only Old One, Belintar), they've at times had colonies of other cultures, but none of that has really impacted their culture in a major way. Their focus is the Earth Pantheon, agriculture, crafts, and the struggles between families for dominance. So long as outsiders don't disturb that, they tend not to care what the outsiders do so much.

And outsiders keep getting seduced by Esrolia. (you could imagine any 18th-19th century accounts of Europeans in India or China here). Even if you come from the Lunar Empire it is impressive.

The fertility of the fields supports a dense population in the countryside, yet still supports a huge urban population. The agricultural surplus is large enough to support large populations of crafters who have been competing against each other for centuries, developing greater and greater technique.

Although the country has been ravaged more than once, never was the destruction close to complete, so there is ancestral richness--stone building that have stood and been added to for centuries, finely carved furniture that is generations old, tapestries and rugs old enough to have mythic origins, a profusion of ceramics of all descriptions, jewelry wrought with more craftsmanship and subtelty than seen anywhere else in central Glorantha, etc.

Of course, it is also croweded compared to almost anywhere else, there is grinding poverty in places, people bound to miserable positions by ancestry, at times there are crushing taxes or tributes needed to pay off warlike outsiders, at times there are horrible slaughters of masses of poorly trained and equipped levies when outsiders invade (there are professional troops too, but few for the size of the population, but masses of people are never hard to gather).

It is also a place where taking an individual stand is seldom effective. In particular charismatic rabble-rousers are usually subtely shunted aside, isolated, or sent away (if they can't be brought into the power structure). This is not a warrior cutlure where being strong and daring bring wealth and renown, this is a place where wealth is mostly inherited, going more to those who have served the family (or at least the grandmothers) well.

Visually, it has been described in official publications that the classic Earth tribe structure is stone and square. I imagine that in the fairly warm climate of Esrolia that this would include a flat roof. (I don't know if brick replaces stone in places?) In this regard I think the buildings would look a lot like most ancient mediteranean ones. Courtyard gardens and window baskets would be common, and in general things would be verdant and lush, in a managed, tame, way.

Ernalda, besides being agricultural goddess, is also goddess of weaving and of pottery. In Esrolia I'm sure that this extends to more decorative textile and ceramic arts. So except for the poorest, clothes will feature braid, embroidery, and the like. Ceramics will go beyond functional to being works of art in many cases, with different regions and sub-cultures having their own competing specialties. Rugs and tapestries are taken seriously, and in the temples and wealthy homes these may be dazzling in their colours and artistry. Certainly both textile and ceramic will be infused with stories and myth, much like medieval Europe and for much of the same reason, to tell stories to an illiterate population.

Fine ceramics would show up in jewelry and in house decorations (disks and plaques). I don't know if they are glass workers, but at the least volcanic glass would find its way into decorative pieces (although using it may make certain statements about affiliations).

As I said, all of this is just my opions and extrapolations (other than the square, stone, buildings)            

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