Posted by Glenn Kempf on 18:24 5/21/02
In reply to: VV makeover posted by Julao XXXIV Kanari on 18:43 5/17/02
Emai fsyan! Esce bo'? I agree that the makeover is pretty dramatic; one of the most unexpected side effects is getting to see Shm Revouse in color, complete with süpa. (Given his Verdurian patriotism (in addition to his passion for Cadhinor), I should have known it would be green...) Allow me to add my vote to those calling for Mark to post the Count of Years; every piece of new information is welcome.
Thanks to Phillip as well for posting the PIE texts; I encountered the beginning of the Schiecher story many years ago, but the book I read failed to give the ending. Both strike me as good conlang "practice" texts--like the famous Babel text, but simpler. Speaking of which...
Congratulations to all of the folks developing their conlangs and putting them up on the Net; I'm still months away (at least) from preparing a full description of my own language, tentatively named Chüsöle ("people's speech"), and its related, neighboring, and predecessor tongues, although I have made some progress in roughing out some of the features of the language and the setting in which it is spoken, the Qorhalon Shamianghynda Kiarla Dalagha (the Empire of the Crane, in the Great Valley of the Westlands), or Kiarlon (Craneland) for short. Please note that today is Tuesday, and things are still pretty fluid; by Friday none of these words might exist. :-)
Julao, I can't seem to access your Kenari site from the board; is the link all right?
Finally, I have another non-human question for Mark. Last time it was the icëlani; this time it's the elcari of the Elkarin Mountains. How advanced are they technologically compared to their various neighbors--Verduria, Barakhun, Rhanor, the settlers of the Western Wild, the peoples of the Rau, the múrtani of Kekuvag--and how much contact do they have with them? It's clear that most of them remain isolated in the mountains, but they also trade on the plain, and their mining and coinage is well-respected (presumably the mines are well-guarded against potential gold-hungry conquerors).
As I've said before, I'm curious about all of the non-humans of Almea--elcari, múrtani, icëlani, gdeoni (if they exist), ilii--with the exception of the ktuvoki--we seem to know a lot about them already (or do we?).
...In listing the non-humans of Almea, I shouldn't forget about the flaids (of course!), although they seem to be a bit more accessible than the others. In their case, I am specifically interested in their Irreanism. It seems to be an organized philosophy rather than a religion per se, despite the mention of temples--is that right?
Incidentally, with regard to the fragments of Chüsöle in the previous message--if anyone thought they saw Turkic (in this case, Kazakh) influence in the grammar, phonetic patterns, and one or two of the words, you're absolutely right. :-) Now to mix in some more unusual ingredients...
Ad onlelálan; esme fruece.
Glenn
The elcari, milennia ago, achieved what we'd call a medieval level of technology, though concentrated in metallurgy, alchemy, architecture, and other fields related to practical construction and manufacturing. For most of their history, this has meant that they're comfortably above the level of the local humans.
No human has ever successfully looted an elcarin fortress. Elcarin strongholds are well fortified and full of booby-traps; and if a phalanx of elcari is set to defend an emplacement, it will stay there till death, and take out twice its number in attackers. Occasionally a lone patrol will be attacked by a bold barbarian, but even this is risky.
The elcari readily trade with humans, not least because this covers most of their food needs. They do grow crops in the mountains, but it's more efficient to buy grain from the flatlanders. They don't feel comfortable on the plains, however, and never settle in human cities.
As for Irreanism, I have some incomplete notes on it at home... it's a bit problematic to distinguish between 'religions' and 'philosophies', all the more so when nonhumans are involved. Flaids are never dogmatic or zealous in the way humans can be, for instance; on the other hand, there's a flinty core in their beliefs, or in themselves, that makes 'philosophy' seem too light a word.