Geo-Political Answers
 

[Moderator\'\'s Note: The Professor responds to Kenji\'\'s questions. ]

>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?

Most of the settlements and towns not included in any nations with
boundaries (e.g. Port Chanul, Dale\'\'e, etc.) are indeed independent or
at least semi-autonomous. They are either too far or too economically
undesirable to make them a target for anything except a passing raid and
demand for cash. The Mu\'\'ugalavyani, the Shen, and the pirates of Tsolei
have all descended on Dale\'\'e from time to time, usually without lasting
effects. Port Chanul borders on the Tane Peninsula that leafs off the map
to the east, to one of the enclaves of the Black Ssu. It is not only
independent but also owner of some enterprising little pirate ships of
its own. The merchants of Port Chanul sell pitch, timber, furs,fish, and
other marine products to other towns farther along the coast, out to Tane.
They rarely trade down to the Tsolei Archipelago, or back all the way to
Mu\'\'ugalavya -- although the new military road down from Gashchne to the
northern shores of the bay directly south of it may make it easier to do
this in future.

There is just too much of Tekumel to talk about! I could not include all
of these little settlements and remote towns in my descriptions! There
are many others: e.g. Ai\'\'is in the Farise Isles on the far eastern coast
of Salarvya -- who have never heard of Tsatsayagga!

>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.

Ssamris is now in Mu\'\'ugalavyani hands. The Livyani have owned it, and some
Shen mercenaries took it for awhile; then the Hluss invaded and ravaged
it pretty thoroughly. When they left, the Tsolyani established a trading
mission, as did the Mu\'\'ugalavyani, AND the Livyani. The island is a free
market and mercantile meeting place. It is pretty wild and lawless.
Squalid, too.

>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?

Who knows? This is *very* remote and unlikely to be visited, even by the
most intrepid sailors. It is probably inhabited by eastern Salarvyani
blown off course and stranded by the winds and tides. There are Ahoggya
there, too, of course, but nobody knows what resources the place has or
how it is governed -- if at all. Fish, shells, oils from marine creatures
-- plus certain mysterious narcotics -- are the only know exports, very
very rarely traded northward to Fort Vrusaggu and Khirre. The place is
claimed by the Salarvyani, but as far as I know, they have no presence
there. The only report I have ever had was from one Captain Harchar, a
vicious pirate, who said it was a pretty little town until he had
finished with it -- no pretty girls, though, and he could never get
excited about sex with the Ahoggya. If you want to look, go right ahead...

>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?

Mentioned above. The Salarvyani of Elelun and Mimore deal with the
fisherfolk of the Farise Isles, but they are so very remote that no
one really knows or cares. The Nom visit them, too. See the article
on these people in the Bestiary.

>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?

Settled by exiles, bandits, and enterprising colonists up from the
coastal plains of eastern and central Salarvya. They all speak one
dialect or other of Salarvyani, and they generally fit into the cultural
patterns of "rural" Salarvya. There are older sub-strata, of course.
Tkemar is influenced by the humans now inhabiting Mihallu, while Birchan
tends to be more tribal, with Salarvyani and Rannaluyani elements mixed
together. Mimore is a clear offshoot from Elelun: Salarvyani fisherfolk,
with merchants and sturdy peasants occupying hamlets and little fields in
the coves along the coast. Hlame\'\'e is a weird place: desert tribesemen,
mixed with Salarvyani, and including some silent and uncooperative nomads
from the Plains of Glass. Some guides can be found there who can take you
across to the Crater of the Unstraightened City -- if Metallja\'\'s guards
don\'\'t catch you!

>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.

Most travellers have never heard of these places. You might find an
occasional wanderer who has seen them, but you\'\'ll have to hunt!

>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.

You are mainly correct. Salarvya is a nation in name only. The great
"families" do lay claim to areas within their own enclaves and spheres of
influence, and there was a time when Bendalljan colonists and later
Ensgvanyali missions and traders wandered out to settle along the fertile
southern coasts. There has always been shipping and marine contact, with
frequent pushes in from the sea to settle the northern regions just south
of Rannalu. There is the religion if Lady Shiringgayi, of course, plus the
linguistic heritage and accompanying cultural attitudes and mores that
hold the "nation" together (in the loosest sense!). There have also been
occasional powerful leaders who have kept the Salarvyani banners flying way
out in such outposts as Jaekanta and Retsullu. But not for long and not
without a lot of local cultural changes. There is still an intense desire
to maintain the linguistic links between all of the Salarvyani regions --
somewhat as the Chinese dialects all managed to keep the same written
structure while modifying the spoken forms of their dialect/language
greatly.

The lords of Jaekanta are not likely to offer more than lip-service to
the "king" in Tsatsayagga, but they still like to think they\'\'re speaking
and writing "The King\'\'s Salarvyani."

>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?

Asolutely right. This could be the subject of a whole book! I can only
urge you to look at the Zocchi version of the "Sourcebook" (until Chris
gets vol. 3 up on the FTP site!). I wish I had time for it, and maybe I
will indeed get off a few dollops of information soon -- if I can find
the time.

>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?

There _is_ some homogeneity because of historical connections and origins.
But there are many, many changes, too. It would be hard for a native of
Jaekanta to communicate with a Tsatsayaggani. Rather like me listening to
a Cockney fellow one time in Hong Kong: he was expounding at length on
world politics, but I could only tell he was talking about Germany because
he kept saying "I\'\'-lah" (Hitler)! The rest I could not fathom.

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
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