A few thoughts on the nature of the Esrolian matriarchy.
As the core rules says, Orlanthi view men as emotional, often violently passionate, and women as more practical and vengeful. In a heroic society like Sartar, where the rulers are not only expected to be warleaders but warriors, this is all positive. Think of Alexander the Great, Achilles, Heracles, Cu Chulainn, or Rustam – all are emotional heroes whose often violent passions bring them to greatness or tragedy (or both). That’s the Orlanthi way.
That’s also the Esrolian view of the genders. But the lesson from that is that it is better to have women be the ultimate rulers rather than men. The Esrolian myth is that after the martial leaders on the Vingkotlings tore their world apart in war and kin strife, the Grandmothers took power for their own survival. The warriors and chiefs were pretty much wiped out and the Grandmothers were left to lead the survivors.
At the Dawn, Esrolia was the center of the Ernalda cult, and her priestesses retained authority. You can reassemble Orlanthi society with Ernalda at the center pretty easily, especially when you have the Only Old One provide protection. And so the Earth priestesses became the center of the networks of temples and kinship groups instead of the Wind Lords. The Wind Lords were present, but not the central node. While among the Heortlings, the Wind Lords were the center; the Earth priestesses were present but not at the center.
And so we end up with a matriarchy. The Earth Priestesses are the dominant leaders, the various cults that normally would be the ruling god compete against each other for access to the Earth Priestesses. And the whole thing is remarkably stable – certainly more stable than either Orlanth or Yelm’s system. When the Only Old One was finally defeated, the Earth Priestesses transferred their loyalty to Belintar, who served functionally as the Husband-Protector of Esrolia. Only now, with the demise of Belintar, is the system failing and the Earth priestesses need to find a new protector.
Art by Jan Pospisil.
So we can think of Esrolian matriarchy as a system by which the violent passions of men can be guided towards socially useful goals by more practical women.
And for Ernalda, in general Storm or Sun are your most powerful options as a protector.
Part of Esrolia’s “luck” is that it has been able to play these powers off each other with the use of a third protector who was neither. First it was the Only Old One, and then it was Belintar.
To which extent was the Only Old One considered an aspect/representative of Argan Argar? The Only Old One was the son of Argan Argar AND of the Grain Goddess Esrola. Now that makes him a bit different – he’s not the husband of Ernalda but her kinsman. Her younger cousin actually. Which put the Only Old One into a different category from other husband-protectors.
Of course he can call upon his powerful father and the powers of Hell, but he’s also close family in his own right. Which is more directly useful than the Argan Argar aspect (AA is still very useful as an ally, but the OOO is more than a representative of his father).
Do the Earth Priestesses have less or more enemies to contend with compared to Orlanthi and Yelmic rulers? All sorts of entities threaten the Earth without even considering themselves hostile – Kyger Litor, Zorak Zoran, some of the Sea Gods, Valind, even some friendly deities like Storm Bull or Humakt. And that doesn’t even include the real enemies of Earth such as the Lords of Terror. The Earth NEEDS plenty of protection – wealth attracts enemies!
So when we think about the Esrolian military, it is mostly militia levied from the Orlanth, Lodril, and Argan Argar cults. Mostly farmers, herders, and the lot. They are led into battle by their cult leaders.
However maybe 20-30% of the forces are more formidable. Full-time warriors recruited from the Babeester Gor, Humakt, Maran Gor, Storm Bull, and Yelmalio cults. Plus plenty of non-Esrolian mercenaries – especially Sartarite Orlanth Adventurous cultists who form something of a Varangian Guard for the Nochet queens.
Traditionally, Belintar would be the war leader commanding all of these groups, as Belintar was responsible for the defense of the Holy Country. But since 1616, Belintar is gone. Ernalda is NOT a war goddess, and her priestesses make lousy generals.
Mercenaries are a very important part of Esrolian military thought – Esrolia is cash-rich after all. It is cheaper to pay someone else to do your fighting for you.
And of course the Wolf Pirates ARE an excellent source of mercenaries as well.
Wouldn’t Babeester Gor make good generals? A lot of cults are not going get along very well with her. Although BG gets along great with Orlanth, she is not friendly with Humakt, Storm Bull, Yelmalio, and distrusts trolls and dwarves. I suspect she is generally used as a reserve guard force and shock troopers, rather than overall war leader.
In thinking about how these diverse forces are led, always remember that for three centuries (until 1616) that was clear – Belintar led the army. He’d appoint officers no doubt that would be capable of doing the mundane work.
After 1616, there is no Belintar. And those whose authority was derived directly from Belintar quickly needed to find a new base of support (cult or kinship) or lose all authority.
If the Ernaldan’s aren’t the generals, who is? Most of the senior leaders are whoever likely is able to lead their cult contingent. So for example in North Esrolia, that is likely to be a combination of Storm Voices, Shadow Priests, Axe Maidens, Swords, and maybe the occasional Vinga Wind Lord. There is no preference for male or female outside of the cult structure. They are all supposed to serve the Earth Priestesses, although usually a trusted officer (often a husband or a brother or a son) is appointed the warlord.