a wench approaches Padrick but withdraws when she sees that he is human!;
the smoky room becomes still as Adzel enters;
patrons draw forth knives;
torchlight, bright to natives, is dim and red to Adzel;
garments are sleazy;
faces are avian;
eyes are unwinking;
when Padrig introduces Adzel as the Emperor's guest, a drunk laughs and patrons resume drinking but remain watchful.
It sounds like Hell to me. How do League traders become used to going into such places?
9 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
** I ** think the Ikrnankan inn is fascinating, not hellish! And I hope I would react well to being with non humans. Moreover, by the time of David Falkayn many, many humans lived with, or worked with non humans. Probably for as long as three centuries, if we assume the FTL hyperdrive was invented in or soon after the year 2100 in the Technic History. That would give plenty of time for the human race to adjust to living with non humans.
Sean
Sean:
I think what Paul finds hellish is the fact that a foreigner (in this case, alien) walks in and everything goes threateningly quiet, people drawing weapons and staring with unblinking attention. It's not at all a WELCOMING place for strangers.
Think of the Mos Eisley cantina in *Star Wars*, a "wretched hive of scum and villainy" — the room got quiet in much the same way when Obi-wan, Luke, and the droids entered (and the droids had to go back outside to wait; "We don't serve their kind here.")
Granted, people SHOULD be wary of anyone as big and predator-LOOKING as Adzel if they don't know he's a pacifist, but the Ikranankans in this place seem to be more than just cautious.
Criminals? Perhaps not; they relax (a bit) when told Adzel's a guest of their ruler, so they don't appear to think of themselves as outlaws.
Kaor, DAVID!
I grant that the Ikranankans in this tavern became menacingly quiet when Adzel walked in. I tried to suggest in another note that this was ultimately due to their fear of demons and the gradually worsening conditions of life on the sun facing side of the planet.
Sean
Hi,
Yes to all of that. Also I thought that unwinking eyes in avian faces in dim, red light seemed Hellish.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Another thing to keep in mind is that the history of the Ikranankan Empire would encourage paranoia and suspicion of outsiders. As apparently the most fertile and prosperous part of the planet, it had been the victim of repeated barbarian invasions from the deserts. In fact, the ruling dynasty had its origins in being descended from the latest barbarian invasion to conquer the Empire. Political instability would do its bit to making people being wary.
Sean
"As apparently the most fertile and prosperous part of the planet, it had been the victim of repeated barbarian invasions from the deserts"
That sounds like the history of the Maghreb regions (Morroco to Tunisia) during the middle ages, as recounted and explained by Ibn Kaldun. Toynbee regarded Kaldun as a worthy predecessor of himself & Hord appears to have been influenced by Toynbee.
Kaor, Jim!
Thanks, never heard of Ibn Kaldun before--someone else to look up. What I recall is that the Maghreb was the source of repeated invasions of Spain by various Muslim regimes and dynasties.
Ad astra! Sean
I guess those invaders from the Sahara of the Maghreb often just kept going north.
Kaor, Jim!
After the collapse of the Ummayad Emirate/Caliphate of Cordova, Muslim rule in Spain split into many small, quarrelsome principalities. Their weakness and disunity enabled the Reconquista kingdoms in northern Iberia, such as Castile/Leon and Aragon, to push further south. That inspired the Almoravids and Almohads to invade Spain.
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment