From: Joerg Baumgartner (joe@sartar.toppoint.de)
Date: Tue 21 Jun 1994 - 07:03:33 EEST
This is a spin-off of my discussion with Alex on Heortland. I thought it
might be of general interest.
Copyright June 1994 by Joerg Baumgartner, all rights reserved, etc.
The Second Age in Heortland
After Gbaji was born and had subdued Kethaela, there was no educated priesthood of Orlanth left, only old men with dim memories how things were when they were young, more than 55 years ago (380 Dragon Pass and Kethaela were conquered by Gbaji, around 440 Arkat freed it, in the meantime Lokamayadon disconnected Orlanth from his worshippers). Harmast had to heroquest to refind the Orlanthi truths. His knowing companion on these heroquests discovered a different truth from that Harmast had found, the truth shown by Arkat, and the magic of the wizards. Harmast disagreed with both Arkat and his knowing companion, and went on a heroquest again, and again a western, sorcery-using hero was summoned by Harmast. Again Harmast made the Orlanthi follow such a hero, and they ended up populating Fronela, next to the wizards' land of Akem.
With Arkat there came wizards and knights into Theyalan lands. Arkat made his followers mingle, so that they could learn from each other, as he had learned from all of them.
In Heortland both Hrestoli knights and wizards and rebels from the mountains enter the flat land with the cities. The rebels are impressed by the magical and martial prowess of the Hrestoli, the greatest epitome of the contemporary fighters being Arkat, who had just - with the help of Harmast - proven that it was possible to combine the fighting style, magic and gouvernment of the West with the traditional gods they have heard about from their elders (although never experienced, because the ban on heroplane contacts posed by Lokamayadon prevented religious experience and _real_ worship, allowing empty ceremonies only).
The city dwellers and peasants subdued by Palangio are even worse off - they have been indoctrinated wth the lies of Gbaji and Lokamayadon. (If you think this is not a problem, I can tell you about a disturbing tendency in the former DDR to glorify the "socialist" system now they have experienced both sides of capitalism and democracy. A very similar case...)
Several solutions in for of new religions were feasible, but only Arkat offered the return to piety past Gbaji's delusions called Illumination. So the Hendriki rebels and the city dwellers of soutern Heortland turn to Arkat's creed, and have his companions teach them.
On his further conquest of Gbaji's lands Arkat deviates from ideals he had impersonated and adapts to his foe to overcome him. Harmast (the driving force behind reinstalling the old gods) looks for help of a Westerner again, even the grand old man of Orlanth-worship relies heavily on Malkioni influences.
To make a long tale short, Arkat destroys Gbaji and erects the Dark Empire. He rewards his staunchest allies with leading positions in his empire.
The Hendriki succeed to get upper water by reproducing the Theyalan adoption of Western ways in Ralios, and get to play a ruling role under the Only Old One, just as the Theyalans in Ralios get uner Arkat himself. Harmast's former knowing companion after a while leaves Arkat and codifies the religion of the Hendriki rulers.
For the next 300 years the Dark Empire and its religion dominated Kethaela, although from the land, under the eyes of the Malkioni Bishopric of Nochet, a new force rose in Dragon Pass - the Wyrms' Friends.
Another time the Orlanthi creed of Dragon Pass was first threatened, then changed into something quite different. That of the Hendriki did not change drastically, thanks to the protection of the Only Old One, the land god of earth and darkness worshipped by all his subjects. Conventional Orlanthi did change, strongly.
By 740, the Return to Rightness Crusade had first joined Slontos to their Empire, then crushed Paslac, the last ruler of the Dark Empire. 40 more years they need to pacify the land and to shatter the organized Stygian Church there. Again the Only Old One prevented the Aeolian creed to be strongly influenced.
When the God Learners invaded western Kethaela, they upset the bishopric of Nochet, and inserted some different ideas into the remaining Malkioni sects of Kethaela, but again the Aeolians got off lightly because the EWF intervened on behalf of their ally, the Only Old One.
The next assault on Kethaela was more insiduous, and the southern cities of the land fell to their vile seduction of knowledge. This time the Hendriki found themselves in the middle of the battle, and suffered quite heavily from the ten years of the Machine war. Yet they and their allies from all neighbouring nations managed to overcome the atrocity of the Clanking City, and came out of it spiritually strengthened. So were the other nations.
The Closing of the Oceans came less as a curse to the Hendriki. The only city to lose status was Karse. The positive effect of the Closing was that the God Learners couldn't come from the sea any more.
The growing unrest in the EWF did shake the Hendriki society once, when the corrupt Third Council leaders were eliminated. Yet the Only Old One and his subjects remained faithful to old alliances and marched to their help against the True Golden Horde. The Dragonkill War and the subsequent Inhuman Occupation forced refugees from Dragon Pass into Kethaela, and with the flower of manhood eliminated, did reduce the importance of the Aeolians versus the newcomers significantly.
With the arrival of the Pharaoh and the discovery of human inhabitants of Kerofinela these dissenters found an outlet for their ways, and the most troublesome emigrated into Dragon Pass.
--
-- Joerg Baumgartner joe@sartar.toppoint.de
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.7 : Fri 10 Oct 2003 - 01:35:19 EEST