Notes on the Lunar Empire

[Nick Brooke]

Chris Gidlow used to spread rumours about Black Army-run gulags in the Redlands, where they could send heretics and other undesirables. I'm not saying anything went wrong: it's completely normal that nobody knows anything about what's going on in a Black Site.

From the revised edition of Let's Speak New Pelorian: Black Site - no 'Black Sites' are operated by organs of the Lunar Empire. Please report to the Xaronea for a more thorough explanation. See also Black Ops, Black Budget, Black Projects, etc.

Edited July 11, 2021 by Nick Brooke

[Jeff]

If I recall, Heretic's Country refers to the growing number of Pentans in H'har as Jing. Remember, that the Pentans are "heretics" - they are Yelm (Pure Horse People) and Yelmalio (Cattle Herders) worshipers who reject the entire Peloria Red Moon-Yelm imperial system. Worse yet, about a quarter of them are now storm worshipers.

[Akhôrahil]

On 7/11/2021 at 9:40 AM, Nick Brooke said:

See also Black Ops, Black Budget, Black Projects, etc.

The truth is out there! They come for us in their Black Moonboats!

[Sir_Godspeed]

Ah, the NSA, Nathaic Security Agency.

[davecake]

On 7/11/2021 at 6:00 PM, Jeff said:

Worse yet, about a quarter of them are now storm worshipers.

I’m very curious about where the Pentan Storm tradition came from, and how they relate to other Pentan cultural practices. And whether they are a pre-Seleric tradition that has grown, an innovation of Sheng, or a post-Seleric rejection of Solar worship. And how they might feel about the return of Sheng. 

[jajagappa]

Some new FB notes on the Lunar Empire from Jeff:

Pelorian climate.

The Pelorian bowl is a steppe-land, about 640 km from Saird to the Thunder Delta, and about 800 km from the Sweet Sea to the Redlands frontier, where it merges into the Pent steppes. For point of comparison it is a little bigger than the High Plains of the United States or nearly three times the size of the Pannonian Basin in Europe (Austria, Hungary, Romania, etc.).

Without humans, the Pelorian bowl is a mixed temperate grassland, with wetlands and wooded areas (primarily in the hills). Native animals include bison, wild cattle, lions, black bears, sabre-tooth cats, the occasional dinosaur, and lots of birds.

Furthest is the wettest city of the Pelorian valley, at 85 cm.

Mirin's Cross is 71 cm. Mirin's Cross gets most of its precipitation in Storm Season.

Alkoth is 61 cm (Kiev - the area of the Pripet Marshes). Alkoth is in a convergence zone that gets precipitation both in Fire Season and in Storm Season.

Glamour is 41 cm (Spokane). The presence of the Crater moderates the Northerly winds, but also means Glamour is in a rain shadow.

Raibanth is 36 cm. The presence of the Yelm cult definitely increases the number of cloudless days. Almost all of the precipitation falls in Fire Season, when the Pelorians worship Entekos the Rain Goddess and Dendara the Good Wife.

Yuthuppa is 46 cm. Almost all of the precipitation falls in Fire Season.

Elz Ast is 56 cm. Elz Ast is on the White Sea. Elz Ast is an awful place - the Pelorian version of Quebec City. Cold and miserable in winter even with the Kalikos Expedition.

Further west in Talastar and Brolia, you get more rain (maybe as much as 102 cm in Hazard Fort and Dorastor), because of the Rockwoods.

Further east it gets drier. The Arcos valley likely gets around 40 to 50 cm or so, and the Pentan grasslands get even less (probably around 30 to 35 cm)

 

> Prior to the Kalikos Expeditions, the Oslira River used to freeze over every winter. I think the Arcos and the Poralistor still do.

> there's also going to be a lot of snow around the Sweet Sea, as a result of the lake effect.

> So when you think of much of the Lunar Heartlands, think this:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/.../Konza2.../1280px-Konza2.jpg

> The indigenous flora was likely mixed grass prairie, with plenty of riparian trees like cottonwoods, willows, maples, elm, oak, ash, etc. Much of the Pelorian plain is now deforested, but a thousand years ago, much of the northern and western plains were covered in woodlands.

> Another note - reindeer herding has been practiced in Eol, Ashrill, and even in Karasal since before the Dawn. And goat herding is common in the western plains. But pigs are the main meat animal in most of the Pelorian heartlands.

 

> Now this all has some impact on "Lunar" attire. Rather than looking like the cast of Rome, basic dress consists of a skirt, tunic, jacket, cloak or sleeved robe, and headdress. Commoners have few pieces of clothing and often are restricted to specific colors. The skirts of half-citizens cannot extend below the knees and usually must be shorter, while nobles and priestess wear long robes and skirts that drag on the floor.

Now that might envision images of Byzantine noble clothing, but it could just as easily be the winter attire of the Iroquois, the Volga Bulgars, the Chuvash, or the Cucuteni-Trypillia Culture.

 

>This was the homeland of the various horse-riding cultures of the Dawn - the Pure Horse People (aka Hyalorings) and the chariot-using and cattle (or even reindeer) herding folk descended from the Starlight Ancestors. Now those nomadic and semi-nomadic people were forced out some 1400 years ago, and play as much direct a role in Pelorian life as Sarmatians did during the later Palaiologos Dynasty in Constantinople.

But just as Constantinople was threatened by different nomadic confederations (various Turkic groups - Seljuks, Ottomans, Golden Horde, etc.), Peloria has long been worried about the nomadic confederations beony the Arcos River. Several times in history, the grasslands along the Arcos have been ruled by horse nomads. And of course for nearly a hundred years, a powerful confederation led by Sheng Seleris conquered much of the Pelorian Heartland, returning it to grasslands.

 

 

[jajagappa]

From Jeff on FB:

The Darjiin and Henjarl Marshes

The wetlands of Henjarl and Darjiin are comparable to the Pripet Marshes in Belorus and Ukraine. Open sedge reed spaces alternate with nearly impenetrable shrub thickets. Pine forests can be found on the pockets of dry land (many of which are volcanic in origin). With melting snow in Storm and Sea Season, and the summer rains, the marshes flood and the local population have to take boats to get around. Much of it has been turned into rice paddies.

The area is rich with bird life, and Biselenslib and SurEnslib - the heron goddess of Henjarl and Darjiin - are important ancestral cults and bird-woman goddesses with life-nurturing qualities, but can also appear as a bird of prey or corpse eater, linked with the powers of death and regeneration. These traditional "bird woman" ancestor cults are still found among many commoners in Dara Happa.

 

> The metropolis of Alkoth is at the edge of the Henjarl Marsh. The wetlands around the city are dedicated to rice cultivation, and Biselenslib is the ancestral goddess. Alkoth itself is a very Dara Happan city - with arguably more of an independent identity than even Raibanth and Yuthuppa. It is also an important Lunar centre.

 

> Alkoth is about 225 kilometres downriver from Mirin's Cross, which is the cultural centre of Saird. Alkoth's large agricultural surplus (rice, fish, and pork) enables it to maintain a large population - which of course allows it to have plenty of specialists - scribes, potters, red-smiths, merchants, as well as nobles and soldiers.

During the Third Wane, Alkothi river pirates roamed up and down the Oslira River as far as the Thunder Delta. They robbed other travellers on the river, stealing goods, raiding villages and villas, and taking hostages. These river boats would have been small and easily ported.

 

> For the most part, Alkoth is a standard Dara Happan Lunar city - it is just dedicated to a different part of the Sky pantheon. If you imagine Yuthuppa being the place of Dayzatar and Raibanth being the place of Yelm, then Alkoth is the place of Yelm in the Underworld.

 

 

[jajagappa]

More on Alkoth from Jeff on FB:

Alkoth is a standard Dara Happan city that also happens to be an entrance to the Underworld, and is a city of the dead. That is less of a contradiction than it might seem!

Alkoth's patron god is Shargash, who is the Death God of the Celestial Pantheon (Death and Fire). As a Death God he has strong connections with the Underworld and is tied with Yelm in his Dead God aspect. That Underworld connection is going to mean that there are ghosts and other underworld things whenever the barriers between the mundane world and the divine realm is weak - temples, holy days, astronomical conjunctions, etc. Most of that activity is concentrated around the high-walled enclosures where the dead are burned - these temples are decorated with the heads and skulls of the slain, a grim and grisly reminder of the city god's power.

But most people go along their normal mortal activities. They work, cook, sleep, raise kids, sing and dance, and go through their lives. They worship other gods and spirits, make offerings to their ancestors, and even participate in the Lunar mysteries.

In fact, because of the city's mighty patron, Alkoth rules the surrounding countryside and collects tribute - probably largely in the form of rice, pork, and other foodstuffs - from the surrounding villages of Henjarl. This large agricultural surplus supports a large population, which in turn aids Alkoth in maintaining control over its marshy hinterland. Compared to Darjin, Henjarl is more "civilised"- canals crisscross the marshlands and contain the waters, making rice cultivation easier. Perhaps that is a direct analogy to Shargash abandoning Biselenslib for Oslira and her irrigation canals!

The Shargash cult forms the basis of the city's militia, with the Hell Men serving as an elite warrior society. However, most members of the militia are farmers and tradesmen. When the drums beat, they drop their regular activities and engage in battle. However, they are not soldiers and rarely fight outside of Henjarl unless led by the Red Emperor.

 

Q: Are the Hell Men demons, or human warriors?

A: Human Rune Masters

 

 

[Sir_Godspeed]

Kinda satisfied that my (speculative) ideas about life in Alkoth are also where Jeff is going.

[Darius West]

On 8/3/2021 at 10:34 PM, davecake said:

I’m very curious about where the Pentan Storm tradition came from, and how they relate to other Pentan cultural practices. And whether they are a pre-Seleric tradition that has grown, an innovation of Sheng, or a post-Seleric rejection of Solar worship. And how they might feel about the return of Sheng. 

Probably worth creating a separate thread to deal with this.  The tradition is apparently modern (being the 4 winds of Pent), and thus likely a reaction to Sheng as you suggest.  As to how it emerged and from where, well, Sheng conquered a lot of land and likely dragged plenty of slaves back to Pent.  I suspect nobody is happy about the return of Sheng, ultimately not even Argrath.

[Ali the Helering]

1 hour ago, Darius West said:

The tradition is apparently modern (being the 4 winds of Pent), and thus likely a reaction to Sheng as you suggest.  As to how it emerged and from where, well, Sheng conquered a lot of land and likely dragged plenty of slaves back to Pent. 

The sources state that it is a reaction to a loss of confidence in the solar spirits of the Celestial Empire, following the defeat at the Nights of Horror.  This means that it has achieved its present position in slightly over a century.

My guess is that it was always a minor tradition on the steppe, probably inherited from the Hyalorings.

[davecake]

The relevant quote from the Guide is

• The Pent peoples underwent deep soul searching and spirit questioning to find survival in the years after the devastating Nights of Horror. Many new tribes were founded in attempts to draw upon new customs. New gods were worshiped, sometimes thought to be, and sometimes discovered later to be, storm gods

so probably not directly inherited from the Hyalorings, or any other ancient tradition, though perhaps by heroquesting back to paths that come via Hyaloring myth. A more interesting connection might be the Qingshi people of Shiyang province in Kralorela, who worship Wangbiao or King Violent Wind, which sounds a lot like the Pentan Storm Tribe worship of West King Wind. The Qingshi people in turn are descended from the Wind Children/ Qa-Ying of the Northern Shan. 
So a synthesis of Qingshi Storm worship from Kralorelan troops recruited by Sheng with the ancient Pentan tribal ways including Hyaloring riding tradition, but a rejection of Kargzant and Yu-Kargzant as having failed them in the Nights of Horror?