Comparable Manirian technology/historical level (2012)

Submitted by Iskallor on Thu, 10/05/2012 – 07:44

What comparable Earth technological/historical level, would the areas of Maniria which are goverened by the Trader Princes be?

Personally I always liked …

Submitted by Daniel Adamov on Fri, 11/05/2012 – 06:43.

Personally I always liked the analogy of early Kievan Rus, based on the importance of rivers, the concentration of princely powers in trade-oriented urban centers or castles (just forts in the new reading, I suppose?), their coexistance with more primitive, wholly autonomous tribes that nonetheless also have important political and economic ties with the Princes and provide them with employees. Although there are elements that recall the Silk Route as well. And as I recall, the original inspiration was also related to Hudson’s Bay Company and the like.

Ultimately all those analogies are rather imperfect, though. And, of course, the New Coast situation is even more complicated. The modern city of Fay Jee is built on top of many generations of ruins…

Technology-wise, yes, Glorantha as a whole is Bronze Age. That being said, I was under impression that the West had a higher degree of access to iron as compared to, say, Dragon Pass. Whether this applies to Wenelia is a whole different question. An evocative description of the Trader Princes mentioned “knights in shining armour (albeit most of these are heirlooms)”. Incidentally, it probably would still be kosher to call them knights there, wouldn’t it? Considering it’s a common misconception among silly pagans? 😉

Submitted by David on Fri, 11/05/2012 – 07:24.

IIRC (from the upcoming guide), the military of the trader princes is local Orlanthi (the majority of the population) and some from the elk-people. The trader princes aren’t warriors at all, but a small soft western descended group of people, filling a symbiotic niche in the local economy/society.  As for iron, it’s rare everywhere as its source is the dwarfs. I think there’s only one source in the West, so the trader princes and orlanthi are more likely to get it from Dragon Pass.

Jeff can you correct me if i’m wrong.

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David Scott

For the first part you are absolutely right…

Submitted by Jeff on Fri, 11/05/2012 – 09:36.

For the first part you are absolutely right. However, for the second part, iron from Seshnela is an important export from the West to Central Genertela, as the Iron Mountains produce about half of the world’s iron. And until the Opening, the only way to get that iron from Seshnela to the Holy Country, Dragon Pass, and the Lunar Empire, was through the Trader Princes.

Editor-in-Chief, Moon Design Publications

Oops completely missed the Iron

Submitted by David on Fri, 11/05/2012 – 09:56.

I completely missed that the iron mountains produced half the iron!

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David Scott

I’ll wait for Jeff to respond

Submitted by Daniel Adamov on Fri, 11/05/2012 – 09:32.

I’ll wait for Jeff to respond on this as well. About the dwarves, though, it was always my impression that some of the Western kingdoms have strong traditional arrangements with the dwarves that allowed them to receive a comparatively large amount of iron. Bronze still would be the main metal, though – wouldn’t be Glorantha otherwise. 🙂

Trader Princes, of course, would only have it from second-hand sources either way, just like most everyone in the world.

Also, I would have thought the Trader Princes would have mercenaries from many diferent places as their forces – even if local Orlanthi would naturally predominate. I’d expect there to be some local variance as well, although of course I don’t know how it would have changed in the Guide. Still, Bastis, for example, seems like it might have more armed men at its disposal. Who those men are exactly is a different question.

Here’s the Military section

Submitted by Jeff on Fri, 11/05/2012 – 09:37.

Here’s the Military section on Maniria:

Clan warriors in Maniria fight largely on foot, armed with javelins, bows, short swords, or a vicious two-handed axe. They are typically lightly armored.<?xml:namespace prefix = o />

The Trader Princes maintain small units of heavy cavalry, recruited from the elite of the clans or from the Pralori elk people. They wear bronze armor and use a long two-handed spear. Many had served as mercenaries for the Holy Country prior to Greymane’s invasion of that land.

The city-state of Handra maintains a large fleet of triremes.

Editor-in-Chief, Moon Design Publications

The Trader Princes are …

Submitted by Jeff on Fri, 11/05/2012 – 03:14.

The Trader Princes are a strange Esrolian-Safelstran mixture with their material culture. Think the pre-Islamic Silk Road, which was a bizarre mixture of Iranian, Buddhist, Greek, and Chinese cultures thanks to the constant transmission of goods and ideas. The small cities are quite wealthy from their control of the main trade route between Central and Western Genertela and avidly seek the services of Esrolian and Safelstran crafters.

Editor-in-Chief, Moon Design Publications

A Bronze Age World

Submitted by David on Fri, 11/05/2012 – 03:06.

Sartar:Kingdom of Heroes says

“Glorantha is largely a Bronze Age world. Armor and weapons are not the shiny steel of our Middle Ages but the reddish orange of bronze. Bronze is the most commonly used metal; many people do not even have access to bronze, making use of substitutes such as stone and bone. Iron is exceedingly rare, a secret of the dwarfs that was stolen by a few human cults.”

The Orlanthi are described in S:KoH, also have a look at:

  • http://moondesignpublications.com/blog/jeff/theyalan-art-direction  [relink]
  • For the Western originated Trader Princes, they are bronze age as described above, look at: http://moondesignpublications.com/blog/jeff/seshnela-art-direction [relink]

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David Scott

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