Friday, 30 May 2014

Ramnuan Society

Before The Golden Tide

On one part of Ramnu, each of the six dzai'h'u (clans), including Kulembarach, Arachan, Arrohdzaroch and Ngaru, occupies a territory and consists of households whose female leaders gather at a yearly moot to trade etc and also to "...make Oneness." -Poul Anderson, Flandry's Legacy (New York, 2012), p. 107.

Didonians also "make Oneness" but in an entirely different sense. On Dido, this phrase means three animals linking their nervous systems to form a single intelligent entity. One of the three units resembles a rhinoceros, as do the onsars used by Ramnuans but this is another coincidence.

Each clan is named from a different Forebear and Ramnuans outside the territories have different ways. 

During The Golden Tide

The volcano erupted, emitting the Golden Tide, and the land doubled its fertility. The population increased until kin-moots were insufficient to maintain law. Then, the clans raised a stone hall near the precipice for the Lords of the Volcano, its doors flanked by statues of the Forebears and also by a seventh statue representing the chosen family, bred out of the clans, from which the Lords of the Volcano are elected.

The clans live by ranching whereas the Lord's household lives by hunting because the country around the mountain is rich. Also on the mountain are artisans and the College where the Seekers of Wisdom keep books, instruments and ceremonial items.

The Ice Returns

Plants are dying. A landslide destroys the tomb of Kulembarach and the Shrine with its books and art. The clans hope that the star-beings can help but a senior Seeker opposes off-world influence.

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