From: David Cake (davidc@cs.uwa.edu.au)
Date: Wed 17 Jul 1996 - 19:49:07 EEST
[Jean mentions Yelm associate priests joining Yelm, so their children are
Yelm initiates]
>Even one such case by generation means that many thousands
>Yelm worshipers are not nobles.
I think we are all agreed that there are many Yelm worshippers who
are not nobles. The point of disagreement is wether the Yelm worshippers
who are not nobles are 5-10% of the urban population or less - basically
the upper classes and descendants of the upper classes (the view of Pam and
myself), or 80% or so of the urban population (everybody except the
servants etc.) (Peters view).
Pam said
>I'm proposing that they are restricted to the higher classes, but I
>agree that those classes can include people of all levels of wealth.
I think that most Yelmies are also reasonably well off, but there
are probably quite a few poor hard working families keeping alive their
good name. I think the 100 penny fee to enter Yelm the Youth is there to
keep the really poor out, though - not many Yelmite beggars.
A couple of other Dara Happan snippets I found when reading The
Fortunate Succession this morning.
I found at least one answer to my own question about what the Dara
Happan Senate does. I think Tribunes are appointed from within the ranks of
the Senate, and the Tribunal is able to review the performance of appointed
officials. I don't think they can remove higher ones if the Emperor really
doesn't want them to, but I imagine their criticism is something that the
Emperor worries about. The Tribunal did remove an Emperor once.
Also, for Pam and Peter Metcalfe especially, I found the source of
the Berneel Arashagorm as a draconic cult idea (and confirming Peter about
Darsen being the cults center). Its in TFS pg 74
"The disempowerment of Yelm Imperator into Yelm Arraz forced those strong
in solar power to find new object of worship for their powers. One of these
was in Berneel Arashagorm, an ancient deity whose worshipped was centered
in Darsen. It was soon associated with the southern Golden Dragon, whose
cult was spreading quickly from Dragon Pass."
So at one stage BA was considered to be draconic rather than just
serpentine. Of course, this may just be EWF misinterpretation. Which
doesn't mean it wasn't quite valid at the time.
Martin Crim raised some interesting points about being an Orlanthi
chief. I think Orlanthi chiefs are in general supposed to be obeyed, but
not without question. To some extent he is important because he is the
tribes representative. I think the chief is expected to go along with any
decisions made at the clan moot, and they are able to be criticised there,
and most chiefs find Clan Moots to be fairly irritating experiences. But
defying the chief outside the moot or other clan decision making event is,
to a large extent, defying the clan, so I don't think its the sort of thing
that anyone takes lightly.
The chiefs power is not above question, and certainly is a lot more
fragile than a Yelm Imperator or similar - but the chief usually has the
tacit support of clan elders and the priests, especially when he is
rounding up young troublemakers or similar. Defying the chief when clan
elders and advisors are willing to support you is one thing (and likely to
cause big trouble for the tribe), defying him when most of the elders and
priests are supporting him is another (and likely to cause big trouble for
you).
Cheers
David
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