MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 1814 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) Owl Series in UK/fluff by "Kalen [One In Black]" <95662014-+AT+-mmu.ac.uk> 2) Re: Karse religion/van's appearance in AotQ by tan3-+AT+-cornell.edu 3) Eye Colour/Testing by "Rhiannon Shadowsong" 4) country correlations/sushi/big fluff by "Nelson Greenslade" 5) Just curious by "* Talamari *" 6) Re: country correlations by J/D/H Robertson ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 13:15:12 GMT From: "Kalen [One In Black]" <95662014-+AT+-mmu.ac.uk> To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Owl Series in UK/fluff Message-ID: <995C1464193-+AT+-alnilam.mmu.ac.uk> [Popping head out of Mundania] Muranog Shadowbane I've just bought Owlsight from Waterstones in Manchester, they ordered it in so I assume that Forbidden Planet should have copies. [You are in London right?] Fluff Kalen storms over to the OIB tent and flings himself on the nearest pile of cushions. "Goddess I need to get some rest. Why did I chose to do a Post Grad teaching course? I've just found out that I have not passed my assignments for this term and have to re-write them ALL!!!!!!!!!! Ok, on the whole "What cultures did YOU think of when confronted with the Karsites/Taleydras/etc.?" discussion.... I've been so long in responding to this because I wanted to really think about why I thought of Islam when I met the Karsites, and the only things I could come up with are very superficial. People are often mentioning "Hot/Dry/Dusty Karse" (usually from LHM, but also others), so I thought of desert region. Then, colorful, flowing clothing. Then, the pictures on the covers from the LHM books has Karsite Soldiers with turban-like hats. Everyone has dark hair and dark eyes and a darker complexion. Finally, they live in a theocracy. Now, what area of the world do we know of that fits all of these criteria? The Middle East, you say with eyes alight? Exactly. Now, although many major religions are well represented in the Middle East, Islam is the major theocratic center, I believe, hence my association of the Karsite Religion with Islam. Now, the Taleydras association with Native Americans. (Off the subject, is Taleydras singular or plural?) Let's see...intricate weavings in hair with feathers and beads. Tendancy for long, black hair and dark eyes. No-Impact Land Management. Total ease with moving through their territory (and amusment at outlanders who cannot see them in the background). Kinship with the other inhabitants of their territory, regardless of species. Yes, the trees are different, but the Pelegris trees don't exist outside of ML's imagination anyway. Raptors are often connected with native american mythology as well, so there is a stong connection there as well. I think you have to look at the Eastern Tribes (Onondaga Nations, Pequot, etc) to see any familiarity, since those were forest dwelling tribes. The Plains Indians (and those of the Southwest) might be more comparable to the Shi'a'in. Cheers. :) Zephyr tan3-+AT+-cornell.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 11:48:40 PST From: "Rhiannon Shadowsong" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Eye Colour/Testing Message-ID: <19981214194841.3575.qmail-+AT+-hotmail.com> Heyla all... One more week and then Woo Hoo! I can't wait til vacation. Did you know that our physics exam is going to have over 200 questions? We only have 90 min to take this, and there isn't any way we can do that many problems. I heard he gave a 50 point curve last year though, so I have hope. Firesong's eyes: I think they're supposed to be silver and the blue was an error. Vanyel got his silver eyes from his mother, and I think that's why Brightstar's were silver. And since Firesong is supposed to greatly resemble Van, I'd conclude that they're silver. And as for the testing thread: I don't think that testing would be very prevalent n Valdemar, because just about everyone with a gift ends up at Haven before any thing happens. And I think that only the Herald-Mages test for gifts, because after Van tested Jisa he said something about Savil being powerful enough to do it. So perhaps that's why no one does it. I think that family members would definitely be tested, becaus families tend to have clumps of Bards/Healers/Heralds. At least that I've noticed. Perhaps because they're all at the Collegium together, so the chances of Bards marrying Healers is pretyy high... I've gotta go. I *still* haven't written my college essays, and applications need to be in by January 1 for Rice. Eeek. Wish me luck, and all that. Wind to thy wings, Rhiannon Shadowsong ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 20:34:21 -0400 From: "Nelson Greenslade" To: "Misty" Subject: country correlations/sushi/big fluff Message-ID: <027201be27c2$f60c6a20$9562a4c6-+AT+-epzfbrwg> Heyla, Listsibs! [Why am I not working on my huge French project due tomorrow? Maybe I'm masochistically procrastinating. Again.] Well, now that the flurry has sort of died down, I'll tell you what I compare who to, and why, if I have reason. [I don't usually...] Shin'a'in: Let's see, dark hair/eyes/skin, nomadic (Tarma says it, Kethry says it, Kero says it; practically every Shin'a'in we meet says it), horse-breeders. Dwell in tents. Clothingwise partial to fringe, bright colours, vests, and loose baggy pants drawn tight at the ankle. Hmmm. Well, I'd say Middle Eastern to Asian, with possible Native American influences. Plus, the language reminds me of the little bit of Japanese I know. Tayledras (plural AND singular, like "sheep"): Mostly tan skin, dark eyes/hair before bleaching. Feathers and beads popular decorations for hair, clothes, and masks. Fond of silky, colorful robes. Keepers of the land, friendly with animals, especially intelligent ones (who aren't Changechildren). I'd say strong Native American influence, with tiny hints of Asian culture. Karse: I have to agree with the leaning towards viewing Karse as a country akin to the Middle Eastern ones of earth, if only for the Turbans. However, I never noticed the influence until the second Storm book. Karse has it's own personality. And don't forget that there is a place on Earth called "Karse". I couldn't try to categorise the rest. Aside from Valdemar, we know so little about them. Valdemar itself is a country of refugees from other places. I would compare it to North America, but that's as pinned down as it gets. There was a king named "Waldemar" in our history... Anyone else remember Warrl describing sushi in one book? Tarma (I think) said something like: "Who are you calling a barbarian? I'm not the one who eats raw fish!" and Warrl reposted with a hauty sniff and "Some of the more refined cultures in the world eat raw fish." In my mind a big blinking light went on and I thought "Japan!". I can't help but wonder if there are any counties east of the Eastern Empire... ~~~~~~~~FLUFF~~~~~~~~ The wall on which Elsa had been drawing stands unattended. Among crayon scrawls of various animals, characters from books, comics, and TV and persons from Elsa's own imaginings in the centerpiece: a strip entitled "Christmas Vacation Plans". *** Cartoon Elsa looks out her window, dancing with glee because it's snowing. She hops into bed. There follows a disjointed series of dream images: Elsa skating with her friends, cross-country skiing with her family, drinking hot cocoa, building snowmen, making snow angles, having snowball fights in snowforts, dancing in a night-time snowfall, illuminated by a street light which makes each flake shine and sparkle. The dream-sequence ends with a startled "POP!" when Elsa is jolted awake by her alarm clocks. She hops out of bed, pulls on her robe, and hurries to the back door with an anticipatory excitement. She pulls it open, expecting to see a scene of snowy splendour. Instead, Elsa is greeted with a panoramic view of her hilly river-valley home, covered in a carpet of green grass and puddles of melted snow. Elsa's eyes are brimming with tears, and the sound of her heart breaking lost in her sorrowful sniff. She stares at the scene, then sadly closes the door. *** From a corner of the garden can be heard a sad voice softly singing a melancholy song barely recognisable as "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas..." ~~~~~~~~END FLUFF~~~~~~~~ Elsa Knight of Fluff, On In Black, Member of the Order of Drifting Ashes, OoUH Champion of Jonne, Moonbeam, and Iceshadow, and caller of monsters "I am a passenger on the spaceship Earth." --The Tick (Okay, really it's R. Buckminster Fuller, but can't you just hear The Tick saying this?!) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 18:53:21 PST From: "* Talamari *" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Just curious Message-ID: <199812150253.SAA19935-+AT+-law-f106.hotmail.com> Is anyone else on the list getting emails from some place called XOOM.com? I get them about once every 2 days and I have no idea where they're coming from. Otay...ObMisty...ummm...oh!! I know!! Do the Di Tregarde books come in any particular order? I'm pretty sure they do, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what that order is. Whew!! My conscience is clear. :Þ Tala ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1998 19:56:48 +1300 From: J/D/H Robertson To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: country correlations Message-ID: <36760830.3E969F7C-+AT+-ihug.co.nz> Hi, Ok don't hate me but I just had to spill my opinion on this one.... Nelson Greenslade wrote: > Shin'a'in: Let's see, dark hair/eyes/skin, nomadic (Tarma says it, Kethry > says it, Kero says it; practically every Shin'a'in we meet says it), > horse-breeders. Dwell in tents. Clothingwise partial to fringe, bright > colours, vests, and loose baggy pants drawn tight at the ankle. Hmmm. Well, > I'd say Middle Eastern to Asian, with possible Native American influences. > Plus, the language reminds me of the little bit of Japanese I know. To me, with the baggy pants, etc they seem kind of Arabian but the language reminds me of Samoan with the apostrophe's separating syllables. > Tayledras (plural AND singular, like "sheep"): Mostly tan skin, dark > eyes/hair before bleaching. Feathers and beads popular decorations for hair, > clothes, and masks. Fond of silky, colorful robes. Keepers of the land, > friendly with animals, especially intelligent ones (who aren't > Changechildren). I'd say strong Native American influence, with tiny hints > of Asian culture. Native American comes to my mind here too but then I don't know all that much about them. But I was also thinking that they remind me a little of some African countries with the dark skin/hair, masks, bead decorations. > Karse: I have to agree with the leaning towards viewing Karse as a country > akin to the Middle Eastern ones of earth, if only for the Turbans. However, > I never noticed the influence until the second Storm book. Karse has it's > own personality. And don't forget that there is a place on Earth called > "Karse". If you look at the maps in the books of Karse the placenames are very German-like (Ebervergen, Veildorf, Knechter, Jaggermeir, Vondern). So maybe all of the countries in Velgarth are a mixture of many different cultures from Earth? > I couldn't try to categorise the rest. Aside from Valdemar, we know so > little about them. Valdemar itself is a country of refugees from other > places. I would compare it to North America, but that's as pinned down as it > gets. > There was a king named "Waldemar" in our history... Valdemar reminds me of Great Britain (starting in the middle ages with LHM going through to the industrial revolution with the storms books), with the running of the country (monarchy), the layout of the city (reminds me of a castle even though I don't recall any of the books ever mentioning one, what with everything being inside the guarded walls, the palace at the centre...). Although that could be describing almost any European country couldn't it? Valdemar reminds me of "home" (which isn't all that much like Great Britain at all) and if I was to put myself into the books I can only imagine myself being Valdemaran. Maybe this is just because we get told more about it or if it reminds me of where I'm from I don't know. I think it is time for me to shut up now :) Zai'helleva Heather ------------------------------ End of MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 1814 **********************************