Posted by Glenn Kempf on 12:05 9/10/02
In reply to: (none)
Emai!
As long as I'm piling on the questions...
1. In your description of the intelligent races of Almea, you write that the ilii are capable of crossing the Zone of Fire by swimming (presumably, they are capable of long-distance migrations in near-surface waters, like many Earthly species, without, for example, sinking to dangerous high-pressure depths when they sleep), but that "in modern times they prefer to use technological assistance to achieve the same feat." Did you have any specific technology in mind? It almost makes me think of submarines (no air supply needed, apart from vertical buoyancy--but what kind of motors would they have?), or vehicles pulled by domesticated whales (!) or other enormous sea creatures... (Or is some kind of "magic" involved? At the least, if the ilii have a form of telepathy--or, as seems more accurate, empathy--it might extend to other species as well, giving them a natural way with animals--a gentler form of the ktuvoki's hypnosis.)
2. In the same passage, you also write that the ilii now "acquire most of their metal from human and elcarin traders." Does this include open or covert trading with traders in Verduria proper? The Western Wild and the Irenja (?) seem to be the meeting ground for ilii, elcari, flaids (maybe), and humans from Verduria, Barakhun, and the Rau jungles. Who does Laniroséu (northward on the coast) belong to? Is it connected to the ilii?
The iliu presence seems to be a bit greater (at least on land) in the southeast, between the Mei, Disaini, and Qarumcaacute;n. And it would be fascinating to know what goes on in the vast jungle lands of the northeast, inhabited largely by the ilii (in the north) and icėlani (in the south), and by the neighboring Qarau peoples. I somehow suspect that passing human ships are not encouraged to look too closely...
(And while I'm at it, back to Arcaacute;l: while the nearest ktuvok empires are on the north coast of Curym, there seems to be a large iliu population on the southwest coast, near Haibailai--at the edge of the Verdurian and Uytainese trading routes. Hmm...) 3. The ilii and ktuvoki (?) also transported armies of hominids across the oceans during their wars--presumably in fleets of boats, either by sailing (plus manual power), towing by ilii/ktuvoki, towing by animals (see above), or just plain hard paddling (easily believable in the case of ktuvoki slaves). Provisions would probably be the biggest issue--especially fresh water.
At any rate, with 40,000 years of civilization and an utterly different living setting and mentality, I'm sure that the ilii have tricks we haven't even thought of yet. :-)
Ad onlelán (or the Eteodäole equivalent(s)),
Glenn
1. I can't say for sure... I like the undersea creatures idea, but I think I pictured some sort of skin protection.
2. The trade is open, but intermittent: seeing an iliu in Verduria city is virtually a news event. They prefer to make arrangements to have a shipful of goods sent to them.
Laniroséu is in fact an iliu city.
3. It generally wasn't necessary to transport hominid armies across the ocean.
(Sorry this is a bit brief; some work is piling up!)