Originally published on Poul Anderson Appreciation, 22 May 2012.
The
star Zoria is an F8 sun, a third again as luminous as Sol. The
terrestroid planet Dennitza is half covered by ocean. Axial tilt and
rotation period cause extreme weather and climate. Less than a million
years ago, a shower of giant meteoroids caused an ice age. Now, sea
levels rise in the Great Spring.
Terrestrial
human beings colonized Dennitza about 2450. About 200 years later,
Merseian immigrants arrived and in 3047 comprise 10% of the population.
Their self-designation is "ychani," seekers. The human Dennitzan term,
possibly contemptuous in origin, is "zmayi." Displaced by political
conflicts at home, ychani provided labor for new Dennitzan industries.
Able to endure cold better than humans, they mainly live on the Obala,
the east coast of Rodna, the main continent in the northern hemisphere,
where they specialize in fishing and pelagiculture. The legendary ychan
hero Gwyth dared the storms and sea beasts of the Black Ocean.
In
Dubina Dolyina province, Danilo Vymezal is both the voivode (hereditary
aristocrat) and the nachalnik (governor chosen both by the Gospodar
{planetary head of state} and by the popular assembly).
Cultural
influences: Vymezal's bugle call is an immemorial Merseian war song;
his wife sings an Eriau lullaby to their daughter, Kossara: Dwynafor, dwynafor, odhal tiv.
Religions:
human Dennitzans, Orthochristians worshiping in St Clement's Cathedral,
later canonize Kossara Vymezal, who has a large tomb on Founders' Hill.
Some ychani of the Black Ocean remain pagans referring not to "the God"
of Merseian religion but to Afherdi of the Deeps, Blyn of the Winds and
Haawan who lairs on the reefs.
Yovan Matavuly led the human pioneers who, like other
emigrant groups at the time, wanted to preserve traditions, customs,
language, race etc. They speak Serbic and Imperial Anglic while the
ychani/zmayi speak archaic mutated Eriau.
Dennitza,
still in its ice age, has limited habitable areas. Mahovina turf and
woodland duff are soft and springy. Evergreen equivalents are low and
gnarled with blue-black plumes. Firebush burns spontaneously to ripen
and scatter its seeds. There are no ornithoids but orliks are winged
theroids. Flocks of yegyupka fly south; guslars trill; a horned bull
leads a herd of yelen; riba caught from the Lyubisha River can be fried
to eat.
The original colonists,
having to survive without sophisticated technology, developed a
baronial clan system which persisted under industrialization. The
Shkola, university and research center, preserved learning almost from
the beginning of the colony. Lake Stoyan and the capital Zorkagrad are
in the center of the Kazan, an astrobleme containing woods, farms and
rivers, on Rodna. In Zorkagrad, the fountain before the Capitol in
Constitution Square contains bronze statues of the hero Toman Obilich in
combat with wild Vladimir. On a rock hill beyond the Square are the
battlements of the Zamok or Castle, the executive center.
The
Gospodar, elected out of the Miyatovich family by the plemichi, clan
heads and barons, has supreme executive authority subject to Grand Court
rulings on constitutionality. Court verdicts are reversible by the
Shkoptsina, a Parliament with chambers for plemichi, commons and zmayi,
although more than once in history a demonstration of zmayi has marched
into the House of the Zmayi and been heard. One demonstration in 3047
carries the white star on blue standard of Yovan Matavuly and the red
axe on gold of Gwyth. A militia, the Noradna Voyska, has been basic to
Dennitzan society since the Troubles.
The nachalniki, i.e., heads of okruzhi (baronies or prefectures), are hereditary or elected by resident clans or
appointed by the Gospodar depending on ancient usage. Towns and rural
districts have elected councils. Ychani have preserved the Merseian
organizational form, Vachs. For example, Ywod is Hand of the Vach
Anochrin as well as steadcaptain of the fishing village of Nanteiwon on
the Obala. Kyrwhedin is Hand of the Vach Mannoch, a member of the House
of the Zmayi and moot-lord of the Obala steadcaptains. In this third
capacity, he presides when the steadcaptains meet around a table made
from timbers of Gwyth's ship in Council Hall at Novi Aferoch at the
Elena River mouth.
Gospodar Bodin
Miyatovich, having supported the Imperial usurper Hans Molitor, was
rewarded with governorship of the Taurian Sector which faces the
Merseian Rhoidunate. Ychani, not wanting Merseian rule, are loyal to
Gospodar and Emperor. The Dennitzan poet Andrei Simich celebrated the
deeds of the Founder and other ancestors but, in the absence of Simich,
we must make do with a prose account of Bodin's raid into Merseian
space.
Source: Anderson, Poul, A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows, London, 1978.
(For convenience, dates are as given in Sandra Miesel's Chronology of Technic Civilization but see here.)
No comments:
Post a Comment