From: Mikael Raaterova (ginijji@telia.com)
Date: Tue 01 Feb 2000 - 11:16:38 EET
Joerg wrote (amid many other things with which i basically agree):
>Mikael:
> >Yelmalio was introduced to Far Point by the Lunars in the latter half
>>of the 16th century in an attempt to 'divide and conquer':
>
>I wonder how they managed, after all the Far Point tribes were enemies of
>Phargentes throughout this period, and then they joined Terasarin's
>princedom.
No greater problem actually. Yelmalio was introduced through trading
with Lunar Tarsh. Those who converted to or paid respect to Yelmalio
ways prospered. Strictly business. Most of the Big Clans have
representatives in Alda Chur, who 'infected' the clan. Alda Chur is
highly dependent on trade, and conversion (actual or fake) to
relatively neutral Yelmalio meant more and better trade for the clans.
The heterodoxy of Far Point is another matter. 'Heresies' and odd
cults are commonplace (witness Chalk Man shamanism, Brother Dog
worship, and Harvar's Bigger Wind innovation). No one bats an eyelid
on the introduction of a new cult; the old umathi virtue of
independence is the cultural backbone of Far Point. Most clans and
bloodlines perceive one another as heretics and utter weirdoes. Even
if they didn't love the Lunars, quite a lot of people were keen on
trying new things. If worship of Yelmalio can make a bloodline
prosperous, then obviously Yelmalio is a Good and Strong God.
The only things that unite Farpointers are the economical
interdependecies and their love of independence (which is why the
Lunars and Harvar are so hated).
> >I think the Canon of seeing Far Point as particularly Yelmalo-ist
>>stems from the freeform Home of the Bold, where Harvar is said to
>>worship Yelmalio. Well, in the Sartar Book draft for HW he worships
>>the Bigger Wind. It seems like he is trying to pull a Lokamayadon.
>
>IIRC, the tribal maps in Questlines 1 are based on an old map which also
>names the tribes' preferred deity and/or weapon of choice, which gives some
>Yelmalian presence there.
Since those maps are presumably pre-Elmal, i wonder if they would
read 'Elmal' or 'Yelmalio' if re-edited today. IMG, Far Point is
relatively Elmal-ist. And some of the Elmal traditions brought to FP
with the settlers were already quite Solarised. These 'splitters'
provided lots of potential converts for the Yelmalio cult.
>Horse-breeding seems to be a fairly prominent pasttime with the Tarshite
>tribes. The fourth king of the Twin dynasty stole a Goldeneye for breeding.
>Fazzur appears with a mounted force in 1613. The Bush Rangers in the DP
>boardgame are mounted skirmishers. Only the clans in the most broken
>territory (including both the Aldachuri and the Wintertop tribes) would be
>less natural horsemen.
The Elmal cults also have a thing for horses, and isn't much of an
indication for 'Yelmalioism'.
- --
- -
Mikael Raaterova [.sig omitted on legal advice]
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