Suloise vs Baklunish

 From: Allen [gargoyle@GVI.NET]

Sent: Saturday, November 21, 1998 4:35 PM

To: GREYTALK@mitvma.mit.edu

Subject: Re: [GREYTALK] (Suloise vs Baklunish)

>While I am sort of on this Suloise kick--what makes anyone think the current batch of barbarians found on the Thillonrian Peninsula have anything to do ith their ancient Suloise forefathers ( or fore-mothers if you follow the matriarchal lineage idea), or in any way but the most crude resemble the vikings of Old Earth?

My own take on this has been that the Thillornian Penn. was inhabited by a minor race when the seul refugees made it there. Through various conflicts, politics, etc., the two peoples merged into one, retaining mostly cultural elements of the original race and the reiligion and appearance of the seul. Not perfect, but it works ...

> They were the ragged remains of a people that first invaded what is now the Yeomanry and Keoland. After consecutive drubbings they ended up in lands no one else either owned or wanted. So some questions I have ...

> Who taught them about boats? I haven't a clue on this one.

> Would they even bother with a batch of deities that more-or-less failed to prevent the downfall of one of the greatest empires the Oerth has ever seen? Llerg, yes! Maybe even Norebo. But Braim, Beltar, Lydia, and Lendor, probably not. I don't see mages as having real high status among the Thillonrian barbarians--magery was equally responsible for everyone on the sub-continent hating them with a passion. So Wee Jas probably wouldn't have a real big following their either. You might be able to give Xerbo, Phyton, Phaulkon, and Furtubo more "macho" aspects. Rough them up a bit and give them a cruder, less subtle edge. Kord needs to become more than just the god of sports. IMC he has a very strong storm aspect (sort of the Stormbull of the north, ala RQ). Pyremius (the poisonous dwarf) and Syrul (his lying mom) are just deities of those sour old folks who remember the good old days when the Suloise enslaved everyone and sacrificed them on bloody altars.

> How did such a decadent culture (as the Suel Dominion) lend itself to survival in the frozen north? It probably didn't. I would say they probably copied the survival techniques and society of some other unnamed (possibly Flani) culture already living in the area. Maybe they intermarried, maybe they didn't. Maybe they were just successful enough to overwhelm the natives, subjugate them and maintain a few of the Old Ways.

> Anyway, just a few thoughts on what many folk take to be assumptions.

>--Chris Jarvis

My list of deities for the Thillornian barbarians is likewise different from the standard seul - I include many norse or norse-like deities.