Posted by Irgend Jemand on 16:33 12/12/01
In reply to: (none)
How exactly was the Empire of the Carhinnoi like? When I remember it correctly, it existed for about a thousand years or so, but we were never really told much about it. How did they rule their subjects, and how was government organised among themselves? How was the administration like, and was there much of a culture? They are former Qaraumcan who converted to Jippirasti, and horse-riding nomads- but how could they stay like this while ruling an empire for such a long time without ever getting the idea to settle down or something?
And now that their empire has gone, how do they manage the new situation? I mean, Jippirasti teaches that Munkhash was the home and empire of the major enemy of Jippir, and Dekhnam as more or less the same. So, when they are still Jippirasti, how do they get along serving an empire wich their religion claims to be deeply evil? And not just working for it with some grumbling acceptance, but actually being the elite of it's army?
And for that matter, how did the population of the bold country of courage, after being raised as Cadhinorian pagans for millenia, react to their new rulers telling them that they were now allies of the demons?
Nomads are generally quite happy being nomads... all the more so when they have the military edge over the settled states. The Carhinnoi were similar to the Kazaks or Mongols. They were organized into a hierarchy for military purposes-- and had strict rules for collecting taxes from the Eynleyni that they ruled-- but they had no real need for government beyond that. And unlike the Tzhuro, who conquered a higher civilization and ended up settling down, they ruled mostly over an impoverished, very rural peasantry. Not even the atej had a settled abode.
They were never much for culture, except for music and (oral) poetry. They didn't even bother to stay literate-- the only book they were interested in was the Jippirasti scriptures, and those they simply memorized. (This is simply cultural, not a consequence of being nomads. The Lenani people were nomadic too, but highly literate.)
As for being ruled by Dhekhnam-- they hated it, at first. But they had been soundly defeated, and cooperation was the price of survival. Once generations had grown up under Dhekhnami rule, they found ways of justifying their new role. (And perhaps their illiteracy worked against them. They remembered that they had once ruled the ktuvoki; but without writing, these memories soon became merely mythical. And they did not, after all, feel terribly oppressed. It's very hard to continue to hate people who tell you how much they admire you, and give you honors and glory.)
As for Azgami and Mútkün-- these are simply tyrannies, and they are not popular with the people. The leaders do not actually enforce the worship of Gelalh; they are happy to keep that for themselves.
As you can imagine, the 36th century should be quite interesting. :)