Choth Membership

"...because of its nearness to populous Gray, our choth receives more humans into membership than most."

-Poul Anderson, INTRODUCTION WINGS OF VICTORY IN Anderson, The Van Rijn Method (Riverdale, NY, December 2009), pp. 75-77 AT pp. 75-76.

Although advertised here as the introduction to only one story, this passage in fact introduces the entire The Earth Book Of Stormgate.

This passage and The People Of The Wind are the only places where we read about human membership of choths. When Christopher Holm is Arinnian of Stormgate, he speaks Anglic as if interpreting from Planha. Like many other "birds," he imitates Ythrians by not wearing clothes except, e.g., when he needs a coverall and boots to fly by gravbelt from Gray to Lythran's eyrie in the Weathermother. He prefers individual flight to much faster travel by aircar.

"Birds" live under choth law and custom. If I were a human Avalonian, then I would want to join a choth and participate in Khruaths, not Parliament, but it would have to be a choth that combined (what some of us would regard as) the best of human and Ythrian customs. Thus, no deathpride or duels and Oherran only by boycott, not by violence. These terms are explained elsewhere on this blog. Would Wyvans accept such a choth? The choth would appoint its own Wyvans. We are given to understand first that choths vary a great deal and secondly that both species influence each other so I think that my proposal would receive some support.