Serqu, the Swathe of Red Reply

Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2000 23:45:35 -0500 From: Edward Bornstein To: kldonnelly@erols.com [Moderator\'\'s Note: The Professor provides some information about Serqu, ] [ the Swathe of Red. ] I\'\'d love to be able to help, but this is rather a lengthy topic. >[Moderator\'\'s Note: Michael Schwartz also asks about the Legion of Serqu, ] >[ Sword of the Empire. ] >Hey folks, >The entry detailing the Legion or Serqu, Sword of the Empire (14th >Imperial Heavy Infantry) from DEEDS OF THE EVER-GLORIOUS mentions the >epic deeds of the seventeenth commander of the legion, called Serqu "the >Swathe of Red". According to the epics, in late Bednalljan times this >Serqu defeated the assembled Salarvyani forces at Tsatsayagga and later >went on to wed one Alitle Nradesu, a princess of Pechano whom he loved. The story is probably exaggerated in the telling. "Assembled Salarvyani forces" probably only included some local units from Khum and Koyluga. In many periods, Salarvyani troops were noticeably less-well-trained than their Tsolyani counterparts. The "defeat" was perhaps not much larger than a standard Qadarni battle. The Pechani lean heavily on the Tsolyani to help maintain their independence from Salarvya. It is thus no surprise that the aristocrats of Pechano were so happy to hand over a princess of the blood to the Tsolyani general, As I recall, he took her home with him, but she did not much like the hot, flat plains of the central Empire. After a few years, she left him, taking her children with her, and returned to Mechaneno, where she lived a secluded life for several decades. >DEEDS additionally states that the wedding was attended by Chnur, King of >the Ssu, (as a guest no less) and that the epic poem recounting the >events of the wedding feast could be found in the libraries of the temple >of Karakan. I\'\'d love to know more about the deeds of this particular >Serqu, especially details concerning the events of his wedding. > >Has anyone has come across any of the temple, legion or Golden Sunburst >epics regarding this man? The details of the wedding are too long to be included here. The Pechani have always had a sort of "honourable enemy" relationship with the Grey Ssu, and it is no surprise to encounter this sort of rare visit. In reality, the Ssu "king" probably was provided with a separate room from which to view the ceremonies. Communication between Ssu and humans was done, as it is today, with gestures. Neither side speaks the other\'\'s language. The Pechani are adept at this. They still fight the Ssu regularly but have occasional non-hostile contacts as well. For a copy of the Tsolyani epic poem, try the great library of the Temple of Karakan in Sokatis. I think the librarian, my old friend Tekuo hiFershena, knows where it is. Regards, Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room\'\'s FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable.