Geo-Political Questions

[Moderator\'\'s Note: Kenji Schwarz asks about the geography of Tekumel and ] [ also about Salarvya. ] I have a few quick questions (and one longer one) for the Blueroom group about the geography of "known Tekumel," Maps 1-4. On these large-scale maps, there are several settlements which are not clearly part of a described state, nor are they mentioned (except perhaps in passing) in published materials. I\'\'m curious to know a little more about them -- who lives there, what their political status is with regard to neighboring countries, and what they might be like to visit. 1) The coastal cities in the Unknown Forest: Port Chanul and Dale\'\'e. Are these Livyani outposts? Mu\'\'ugalavyani? Something else? 2) Ssamris Isle: Is this under Mu\'\'ugalavyani or Tsolyani jurisdiction at the present time? (Or Livyani?) Its location could make it, perhaps, an important port along the sea lanes, but is not mentioned (that I can find) in any released materials. 3) The Isles of Ill Winds, with the town of Mardza. This is not part of the Ahoggya lands, nor of the Nyemesel Islands, is it? Who or what lives here? 4) The Farise Isles, and the town of Ai\'\'is. Are these islands part of the Salarvyani feudal domain, or part of Rannalu (or the Nom lands)? Again, what are the islands and their inhabitants like? 5) The towns in Rannalu (Birchan, Tkemar, Hlame\'\'e, Mimore)--given the "band"-type social structure and nomadic economy of the inhabitants of Rannalu, how did these settlements arise, and who lives in them? Obviously, given the remoteness and obscurity of most of these places, one should expect fanciful and inexact travelers\'\' tales. Nonetheless, a few reliable pointers or basic facts would be greatly appreciated. 8) I\'\'ve also wondered about the cultural cohesiveness of Salarvya. Bob Dushay\'\'s recent Blueroom article on western coastal Map 3 Salarvya got me thinking about this again. Salarvya as a whole extends over 7000 Tsan from east to west, which, given the slowness of normal travel and communication on Tekumel, suggests little contact between, say, Elelun and Chame\'\'el. The fragmented, feudal political structure and the (apparent) absence of a powerful centralized religious or cultural authority extending over the entire country would also seem to encourage cultural drift as one moves away from the "center" of Tsatsayagga. I would tend to imagine that there is a great amount of variation in language, material and symbolic culture, and probably even physical appearance as one travels from one end of Salarvya to the other. Is this correct? If so, could the Professor perhaps mention a few key points in which the "Far East" of Salarvya is different from the better-known western regions? If, on the other hand, there _is_ socio-cultural-linguistic homogeneity in Salarvya comparable to that found in the other Five Empires, why is this? What historical forces created the uniformity across this huge area, and why does it persist? ----- 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.