On Thu, 2002-07-25 at 20:27, brnetboard@TUARHIEVEL.ORG wrote:
Don Tancredo wrote:
Hi everyone. I`m writing the ancient history of the Vos people since their arrival to Cerilia, and I would like to know the opinion of the community about some points.
Concerning the lands where they first settled, they were the last tribe arriving to Cerilia; maybe they settled the fertile lands in the northern Zhaïnge valley (there were plenty of empty land in the East, I see no reason for they going farther north). Then these would be the ancestral lands of the Vos people, before they were corrupted by Azrai. Only after Deismaar they would flee north, abandoning in Khinasi hands the Zhaïnge valley.
About the corruption of the Vos and the "gift of war", how could Azrai corrupt so many people (OK, he was a greater god, but SOMETHING should be made: ritual, corruption of the leaders, a slow process of brainwashing...) ?
And, last but not least, after Deismaar and the fleeing of the Vos to Vosgaard, what they did? Surely the strongest tsarevos created kingdoms using the blood powers. Which ones? Because in a warlike society, I can`t imagine kingdoms lasting 1000 years as in Anuire or Brechtür; Rovnograd is the oldest city in Vosgaard, and is only about 400 years old. So there is a gap of 1000 years in the Vos history.
Any suggestions?
Somewhere along the way (or perhaps from the very beginning) Vos society
became dominated by the priest caste. The priests decide which warriors
are fit to rule, the priests grant this warrior a bloodline for him to
do so. Reading between the lines (ToHW), a realm regent generally does
not have the decision making power to choose an heir to pass his realm
and bloodline to. All political systems are corrupt to a greater or
lesser extent, and the Vos wont be any different. Having said that, its certainly rule that near relatives of an incumbent leader in such
societies have a leg up (an advantage) in being selected as the next
leader - but it`s equally true that if they are unpopular choices (or
deformed/ugly e.g.) they are passed over without them having a
legitimate claim.
The powerful influence wielded by the priest group in this society would
probably have its origins in pre-Deismaar times when the priests of
Azrai ruled. One assumes here that the priests of Azrai were more
coherent in organization - and as such the “Empire of the Vos” was not a
landed realm, but a domination of one faith over an entire people
(tribe). Equate this with (say) the domain of the faith(s) of Erik in
Rjurik in Cerilia modern - except that this Vos faith had a much greater
say in the ruling and government of the people. (perhaps they were/are
the courts, the lawmakers, with the war leaders simply lieutenants -
extensions of temple power)
Post-Deismaar, the greatest Vos warriors and priests are chosen to be
the new gods in place of Azrai - and this dilution of power, especially
with so many awnsheghlien created as well, brings about contention and
strife at the very highest level. Indeed Belinik`s portfolio and his
priests encourage contention in the ranks in order to determine the
“strongest” in his favor. This kind of society produces some strong
leaders but poor unity (with some exceptions). The good news is that it
very very rarely produces poor leaders. Still unification of such
societies is so rare that they are usually wiped out by a more organized
one over time. (but enough earth history - this is Cerilia!)
Both Vos main religions are very insular and restrictive. One can`t just
rock up to the temple and join up as a priest of Belinik for example.
Kriesha limits her priesthood to women. This is an important point given
that the role of women outside the warrior caste in Vos society seems
very limited. Building a society around the dynamics of coexistence of
these two religions and their place in, and influence on Vos society is
central to an understanding of Vos disunity, and their relative
situation with respect to the other human cultures in Cerilia.
One further anthropological aspect that is gaining much acceptance these
days in the ready availability of resources and their effects on the
development of cultures. Mankind originated in central Africa yet this
continent does not dominate today. The Australian aborigines were the
first human culture to use stone tools and yet never developed or even
adopted many more advanced ideas (like pottery e.g.). So perhaps, the
food situation in Vosgaard - less land suitable for agrarian
development, the restriction of climate and weather, tribal rather than
nomadic - but perhaps semi-nomadic is suggested by the relationship to
Petcheniks (?spelling?), where a tribe would settle one place for a time
(perhaps several years) then move elsewhere for a while as the resources
of the area grew insufficient. Such a society doesnt form a strong bond to a particular place, or identify with this land is ours` except in
a temporary way, thus the forming of nations and empires is difficult -
except as meetings of the mind and culture (again through religion
and/or language).
Well, you asked for ideas!
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