[Glorantha] Re: Pol Joni

Simon Phipp :

Donald R. Oddy:
> > I see the Pol Joni (who I believe come from a Pentan background) as
> > light cavalry while the Elmali are mainly medium cavalry. Of course
> > some of the Pol Joni will be armoured light cavalry.
>
> Well, the Pol Joni don't have a Pentian heritage. That would be the
> Grazelanders/Pure Horse Tribe. The Pol Joni are Tarshite/Sartarite in
> heritage (Derik Poljoni was of the Blue Jay Clan of the Dundealos Tribe and
> founded the Pol Joni after a HeroQuest where he gained the Black Net and
> pulled together his followers).They joined the Swenstown Confederation and
> are counted amongst the tribes of Sartar. The Pol Joni have a large number
> of outlaws, many Praxian exiles and other malcontents.
>
> They would probably have light and medium cavalry, but not many
> skirmishers.

Sorry, old topic...

Simon is *basically* right, but having done an enormous amount of work on the Pol Joni, admittedly unofficial, I would like to disagree with some statements here.

 First of all, the Pol Joni are called the "bastard" tribe for several compelling reasons.

1. They are Praxians, despite the fact that they ride one taboo animal and herd a second non-praxian beast (moo-cows).
2. They do not have any single origin, as they include original Praxians, either outcasts, walkers, or ex-walkers ; some Sartarite bloodlines, exiles, ex-clans ; some ex-Pentan illuminates and utopians, including a hardcore element (no more than some tens of individuals IMO, having nevertheless a powerful charismatic influence from their secret wisdom) of actual ancient Praxian old Horse Tribe descent (but NOT Praxian religion).
3. They live in Prax and are de facto Praxians but they have no deep knowledge of the Wastelands, nor real involvement with the ritual duties of Praxians in that place, partially due to their taboo status, partially due to lack of knowledge, partially due to simple lack of the necessary spiritual knowledge. Instead they have a religious relationship with the gods of Sartar.

...

Militarily, they are amongst the only Praxians who really know how to build forts, and they
have all types of cavalry (with some problems at the organisational level), and many types of irregular foot soldiery (as well as a few small regular Orlanthi-type
Fyrds). Skirmishers galore, after all they are targetted by several large groups of other Praxians who consider it their religious duty to exterminate all Horse Riders everywhere, and without such tactics the Pol Joni would no longer exist...

Julian Lord Received on Sat 10 Feb 2007 - 12:42:08 EET