The Domain of Ythri is a loose federation, not an empire. Avalon has a human Parliament whose functions are limited both because the planet is sparsely populated and because of Ythrian influence. There are also about a hundred choths on Avalon alone. Each choth is fully democratic but also completely sovereign. They will never surrender their sovereignty to any equivalent of the Solar Commonwealth, let alone the Terran Empire. Daniel Holm has to accept that Domain defence will never be centralized or unified. Avalon must try to cooperate with other Domain planets while also not expecting much outside help.
Every free adult member of a choth votes in the Great Khruath that decides to continue the war against Terra. Before that, individual choths had had to decide whether to support proposed defence measures. Three choths refused. The Wyvans:
"'...threatened to call Oherran on them.'" (V, p. 494)
The three choths yielded.
Wyvans interpret and apply the law. Oherran would mean calling on all other choths to take action against the three. Action could mean slaughter, enslavement and division of spoils or just arrest and exile of named leaders - but, in any case, potential civil war. Either way, it would be a deathpride matter. If the other choths had refused to take action, then the Wyvans would have had no alternative but suicide. I would welcome the full democracy of Khruaths but would prefer to live under human law until a choth could be founded that would reject the deathpride concept. In such a choth, a Wyvan whose cry of Oherran was not accepted would merely resign and Oherrans would fall short of demanding slaughter or enslavement.
The President of the Parliament of Man is shaken to learn, in confidence, that the High Wyvan:
"...had threatened to rip Avalon asunder." (p. 498)
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Some say tomatoes, others "tomahtoes." To me, the Domain is functionally a de facto empire.
Actually, no, mention was made of how Ythrian history saw the existence of many different kinds of choths, some of them autocratic, not democratic.
And choths on planets ceded by the defeated Domain to the Empire certainly did have to acknowledge the sovereignty of the Imperium.
I am skeptical that Ythrians will be giving up deatnpride, unless they converted to Christianity or Judaism.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
OK. It is Khruaths, not choths, that are democratic. But the Khruaths are where public policies are decided.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Unless some choths refuse to participate in khruaths.
I agree khruaths were where large scale public decisions were made. But some choths might refuse to accept those decisions--forcing the wyvans to decide if the issues under dispute were important enough for them to cry "oherran" on defiant choths, asking the other choths to enforce the decrees of the khruath on the holdouts.
Ad astra! Sean
One reason Earth is ruled by governments -- not an inherent feature of human life, but an invention -- is that governments can get everyone or nearly everyone to support a given policy.
Like a war. War is a constant of human life, but governments are -much better- at waging war. And if you can't fight effectively, you're meat on the butcher's table and any other virtues you have are moot.
I think Poul acknowledged this, but reluctantly.
Note that the humans loyal to the Domain (or really to their planet, which is part of the lightly-governed Domain) are the most effective at fighting off the Terran Empire.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I agree, it does not matter how nice you are or how noble your ideas are if you can't or won't fight effectively when push comes to shove. Because the not so nice guys, who do fight effectively, will smash you flat.
Yes, the humans of Avalon, along with those Ythrians who listened to them, were the most effective at fighting the Empire.
Ad astra! Sean
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