I didn't know about the board until recently (hehe) but I had a couple of questions that Mark answered. My remarks to Mark's answers are in brackets.
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Q: Do you have any plans to do Sarroc? Dhekhnami languages? Their alphabet?
A: Dhekhnami, definitely; Sarroc, eventually. I'm sure they'll come with alphabets, too.
[The reason I was asking this was because in the Historical Atlas of Almea, the "3480c" map showed all of Dhekhnam, including the Sarroc areas, using the Demoshi alphabet. --BG]
Q: Are Sarroc and Verdurian in Dhekhnam written in the Dhekhnami alphabet? I noticed that the northwestern corner of Dhekhnam is represented as Verdurian-speaking, including the city of Govanro.
A: Yes, I think that's wrong, actually. That's based on a very old map, and some of the details are outmoded, including some of the language names. I'd say now that the entire Shkónoro valley is Sarroc-speaking. The newer map in the Historical Atlas also shows Sarroc spoken in the region to the east, Visecra.
Q: Does Eled'at exist in Govanro, and if so, is it violently persecuted? In your article on Dhekhnam, you state that only the Jippirasti Carhinnoi were allowed to keep their religion.
A: Eledhát does exist in Dhekhnam, but it is heavily persecuted, even more so than Cadhinorian paganism. The Dhekhnami haven't been in charge long enough to deeply affect the culture. (And as well, they're not simply B-movie heavies; they know how to wield carrots as well as sticks, and they know that the ability to maintain traditions is a very effective carrot.)
Q: Given that Erenat is sitting on the lip of the Dhekhnami bear (on the EAST side of the Ctelm mountains), I was wondering about relations between them and Dhekhnam, and the military stance. (Poland vs. Nazi Germany, or Finland vs. Soviet Russia?)
A: Maybe the best analogy is West Berlin vs. Soviet Russia-- a small country with quite powerful allies. War with Erenat would mean immediate war with Verduria. At the same time it wouldn't be a great idea to taunt the bear.
Q: What is the dominant religion in Kebri?
A: They have their own religion, descended from the polytheism of the Monkhayu; there is also a significant Eledhe population.
Q: I am curious as to how Erenat is Verdurian-speaking, seeing that it is separated from the rest of Verdurophone territory by Ismain-speakers and that little triangular desert.
A: On a more detailed dialectal level, we'd actually see that Ismaîn and Avéle share a number of features-- voicing of intervocalic consonants and syllabic r's, for instance. And some rural areas in the west are closer to Ismaîn. But perhaps more importantly, Ismahi is more isolated and has more of its own cultural identity, while Avéla always looked to the Plain for its cultural identity. Again, I should redraw the dialect map to suggest that the islands along the coast are Verdurian-speaking. Language features spread easily by sea-- this effect is very striking in Spanish and Latin American coastal dialects, which are closer to each other than they are to their own highlands. (Ismaîn culture is centered on the interior Efrát river.)
[I just thought of another comparison with Germany: Pre-WW2 East Prussia versus the rest of Germany. --BG]
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Anyway, I thought that maybe if any other posters had any similar questions about Dhekhnam, maybe they should put them here!
BG
Q&A about Dhekhnam etc.
Re: Q&A about Dhekhnam etc.
Incidentally, in a previous statement, Mark described the native Kebreni religion as similar in some respects to Shinto.BGMan wrote:Q: What is the dominant religion in Kebri?
A: They have their own religion, descended from the polytheism of the Monkhayu; there is also a significant Eledhe population.
I took note of this thread and boy#12's related one about the Eynleni; I, too, would not mind knowing more about culture and daily life in Dhekhnam.
p@,
Glenn