High Wyvan Trauvay

The Terran Empire and the Domain of Ythri go to war. We saw Ythri in "Wings of Victory," the opening story of The Earth Book Of Stormgate, and see it again briefly from space in Chapter XII of The People Of The Wind.

We know that the Terran Emperor is the most powerful person in the Terran Empire but who is his opposite number in the Domain? There is no equivalent but the attacking Terran Admiral must speak with High Wyvan Trauvy. A Wyvan is a presiding officer entrusted with the explication of customs, precedents and Khruath decisions and with trying cases. Admiral Cajal understands that "Wyvan" translates as "Judge" or "Lawspeaker."

Ythrian families join together in self-organizing choths. Each choth has a Wyvan. Also, free adults in a territory periodically meet as a regional Khruath which has judicial and some legislative but no administrative powers. Winners of a vote in a Khruath rely on willingness to comply or on their strength to enforce.

Regional Khruaths elect delegates to Year-Khruaths which cover wider territories and which also send representatives to the planetary High Khruath. Wyvans are chosen for each Khruath and any free adult can also attend Khruaths at any level. This works for Ythrians, who are less garrulous than human beings. Avalonian human beings retain a Parliament of Man with a President but many human beings join choths, thus accepting Ythrians laws and customs with the right to attend Khruaths.

High Wyvan Trauvy presides in the High Khruath of Ythri and thus is the opposite number, although not the equivalent, of the Terran Emperor.

Planha Terminology

After watching the second Avatar film with my daughter and granddaughter, I told them that I would prefer to see a film adaptation of Poul Anderson's The People of the Wind. Attempting to share with them the wealth of Anderson's Technic History, I mentioned, e.g., that Avalon is jointly governed by the Parliament of Man and by the Great Khruath of all the choths. It is sometimes necessary to explain Planha terminology to the uninitiated:

choth

Khruath

Wyvan

Oherran

deathpride

"God the Hunter" (different from "God")

"Deathpride" has been translated into Anglic for us but still requires elucidation. Oherran is a deathpride matter. Thus, if a Wyvan's call of Oherran against an individual or group is not heeded, then that Wyvan has no alternative but honourable suicide. Blog readers who are unfamiliar with these terms might:

deduce some of their meaning from the way that I have used them here;

search this blog for previous uses of these terms;

read Anderson's The People of the Wind and The Earth Book of Stormgate.

I describe a choth as the equivalent of a tribe or nation. In fact we are told:

"'...choth.' The Planha term designated a basic social unit, more than a tribe, less than a nation, with cultural and religious dimensions corresponding to nothing human.'"

-"Lodestar," p. 650.

Regarding the religious dimension, Tabitha Falkayn/Hrill says of her choth, Highsky:

"'Most of us keep to the Old Faith, you know.'"

-Poul Anderson, The People of the Wind IN Anderson, Rise of the Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, March 2011), pp. 437-662 AT VI, p. 502.

- whereas the funeral of Ferune, Wyvan of Mistwood Choth, is conducted according to the New Faith. When the new Wyvan has spoken the words, Ferune's sons tilt his litter and his body falls from a height. He fought God the Hunter well and his spirit will be always remembered.

Choths And Wyvans

"The Problem of Pain" concludes by telling us about the Ythrian New Faith but nothing about choths which have been mentioned only once in this story. In his next interstitial passage, Hloch informs us that he aims to present:

"...nothing more than an account of certain human events which helped bring about the founding of the Stormgate Choth." (p. 55)

In fact, the Earth Book imparts considerably more information than just that. However, "The Problem of Pain" recounts a human-Ythrian interaction on Avalon which is where Stormgate will be founded.

By the time of the concluding story, "Rescue on Avalon," Stormgate has come into existence:

"Choths differed as much in their ways as human nations did, and Jack remembered hearing that the Stormgate folk who would be moving into these parts, were quite reserved."

-Poul Anderson, "Rescue on Avalon" IN Anderson, The Earth Book Of Stormgate (New York, 1978), pp. 380-389 AT pp. 380-381.

Despite his resentment of Ythrians, Jack Birnam will be obliged to come to the rescue of:

"'Not just any Ythrian... Ayan, the Wyvan of Stormgate.'" (p. 383)

Jack's informant, Ivar Holm, explains:

"'"Wyvan" comes as close to meaning "Chief" or "President" as you can get in their language.'" (p. 383)

We will learn in The People Of The Wind that "Wyvan" comes closer to "Judge." Nevertheless, the High Wyvan of Ythri will be the opposite number of the Terran Emperor, the highest ranking public official in the Domain of Ythri as the Emperor is in the Empire.

Civil And Military Authorities

The Avalonian civil and military authorities are:

the High Wyvan of the Great Khruath of Avalon;
the President of the Parliament of Man;
the First and Second Marchwardens of the Lauran System.

Although Avalon is part of the Domain of Ythri, the High Wyvan of Ythri has no authority to order the Avalonians to cease resistance to the Terran Empire. The Avalonian High Wyvan advises a Terran Admiral:

"'Ythrian practice is not Terran...The worlds of the Domain are tied to each other principally by vows of mutual fidelity. That our fellows are no longer able to help us does not give them the right to order that we cease defending ourselves. If anything, deathpride requires that we continue to fight for what help it might afford them.'"
-Poul Anderson, Rise Of The Terran Empire (New York, 2011), p. 582.

On Avalon itself, Khruath and Parliament vote to continue resistance after the defeat of the rest of the Domain. Somewhere in the text, although I can't find it right now, the High Wyvan of Ythri calls on Avalon to yield for the good of the Domain but that is all that he can do. Avalon is better equipped to resist because some of its human citizens apply the Terran principle of centralized military command but Marchwarden Daniel Holm also invokes the Ythrian concept of "'Deathpride...'" (p. 566)

The novel ends with the Terran War over and Avalon still in the Domain:

"Snowpeaks flamed. The sun stood up in a shout of light.
"High is heaven and holy." (p. 662)

The Great Khruath

The People Of The Wind.

Liaw of The Tarns is described as:

"...Wyvan of the High Khruath..." (V, p. 493)

- then as:

"The High Wyvan..." (p. 494)

- but later he announces:

"'We are met in the Great Khruath of Avalon, that free folk may choose their way.'" (XI, p. 560)

I do not think that there is any significance in this change of terminology. The High Khruath of the planet meets every six years and also in extraordinary circumstances, none more extraordinary than war. Maybe a Great Khruath is a High Khruath held in very extraordinary circumstances or maybe - and I think that this is more likely - Planha-speaking Ythrians are not as precise in their terminology even for official purposes as human beings usually are.

Planha terms like "Wyvan" and "Khruath" are explained in other posts and can be found by searching the blog.

Explanations

Each of the seven volumes of Baen Books' The Technic Civilization Saga opens with an Introduction by the Compiler of the Saga, Hank Davis. 

After the first story collected in Volume I, The Van Rijn Method, readers find what purports to be an INTRODUCTION to the second story, "Wings of Victory." However, this passage is an Introduction not just to this single story but to the entire The Earth Book Of Stormgate whose twelve instalments are distributed in their appropriate chronological places from near the beginning of Volume I until the mid-point of Volume III, Rise Of The Terran Empire. 

The fictional author of the Earth Book Introduction introduces himself as "Hloch of the Stormgate Choth," refers to himself in the third person and informs the "people" whom he addresses that:

"His Wyvan Tariat son of Lythran and Blawsa, has asked this."

-Poul Anderson, The Van Rijn Method (Riverdale, NY, 2009), p. 75.

This can mean nothing to readers at this stage, especially if this volume is their first encounter with Poul Anderson's Technic History. Hloch means that a "Wyvan," whose name is Tariat, has asked Hloch both to compile and to introduce the Earth Book. The title or rank of "Wyvan" does not recur until the third instalment in Volume III and is not explained properly until the sixth and last instalment in that volume.

However, in that last instalment, The People Of The Wind, Christopher Holm/Arinnian flies to Lythran's aerie where, after a communal meal in the dining hall, Arinnian's Ythrian friend, Eyath:

"...asked permission to leave of her father Lythran and her mother Blawsa..."

-Poul Anderson, The People Of The Wind (Riverdale, NY, 2011), pp. 437-662 AT I, p. 443.

This contextualizes Tariat. He is the son of a head of a household and the brother of Eyath although neither he nor Hloch appear in The People Of The Wind. (At least, I do not think that Tariat appears but will check.)

Even after centuries in the Weathermother on Avalon, members of the Stormgate Choth remain mostly hunters, not herders. Although Ythrians have become an interstellar power, they remain not omnivores but carnivores who must herd or even still hunt. Their biology affects their psychology, sociology and theology.

Families And Choths On Avalon

The Holms went to Avalon with Falkayn and a Holm later married a Falkayn so what had happened in between? David Falkayn, the Founder of the Avalonian colony, went there with his wife Coya and their son Nicholas who was born on Earth and named after David's employer/Coya's grandfather. Nicholas' son, Nat, was born on Avalon.

Later, one Ivar Holm works at Andromeda (Mountain) Rescue Station when the current Wyvan of the Stormgate Choth, injured in a storm, needs to be rescued. Later again, Daniel Holm is a Marchwarden while his son, Christopher, joins Stormgate Choth and marries Tabitha Falkayn, a direct descendant of David and a member of Highsky Choth.

Tabitha is the third generation of her family in Highsky. When her parents were lost at sea, an Ythrian family adopted her and encouraged her to take a wandertime in accordance with Highsky custom so she has been a huntress, trapper, sailor, prospector and gambler in human country. Living entirely among Ythrians in the Oronesian islands, she runs a commercial fishery in partnership with Draun, an Ythrian of the Old Faith.

Emil Dalmady from Altai was employed, then funded as an entrepreneur, by Nicholas van Rijn. Some of his children moved to Avalon with Falkayn and one of them, Judith Lundgren, wrote historical fiction which was published in the periodical, Morgana (named after the Avalonian moon) and later collected in The Earth Book Of Stormgate.

One of the most progressive Avalonian choths is Mistwood, embracing human technology, therefore large and prosperous. Ferune, Wyvan of Mistwood, is succeeded as First Marchwarden of Avalon by Daniel Holm. Another choth is The Tarns and Liaw of that choth is Wyvan of the High Khruath. And that is as much as I can find about families and choths on Avalon.

The Consequences Of Surrender

The People Of The Wind, X.

Admiral Cajal discusses the consequences of Avalonian surrender with the High Wyvan and the First Marchwarden. He says that:

"'Insofar as possible, the Empire allows home rule and the continuation of local ways of life.'" (p. 556)

The Wyvan dislikes the word "allow," as would I. I would also have asked in what circumstances might home rule and local ways of life be regarded as impossible. What the Wyvan does ask is:

"'Let us assume a degree of democracy. Could we stop immigrants from coming until they outvoted us?'" (ibid.)

The Admiral is obliged to reply:

"'Well...well, no. Citizens are guaranteed freedom of movement. That's one of the things the Empire is for. Confound it, you can't selfishly block progress just because you prefer archaism.'" (ibid.)

At that point, the Avalonians terminate the discussion. What are the issues here?

The framework is that, under Imperial rule, Avalon would:

"'...be included in a reorganized Sector Pacis...'" (p. 555)

And they are reminded or reassured that:

"'...Governor Saracoglu is efficient and humane.'" (ibid.)

Questions:

Is he? We have reason to believe that it was Saracoglu that promoted the war against Ythri.

Will he promote more interstellar wars?

What of the next Governor or the one after that?

When will Saracoglu or one of his successors override a decision made either by the Parliament of Man or by the Khruaths?

When will a Governor decree that some aspect of the choth way of life is "impossible"? (I dislike "deathpride" but an Imperial decree would not be the way to try to end it. Avalonians, whether human or Ythrian, can either not join choths or maybe try to found a new kind of choth, combining the best of Ythrian and human values.)

Why should the Avalonians fear immigration? Human immigrants would be able to participate in the already existing Parliament of Man which has very limited powers and it would be difficult to argue that those powers should be increased although I suppose that a growing planetary population might have that effect. Meanwhile, the sovereign choths would continue as before. I think that there is a question mark over how badly the Avalonian way of life would be affected by incorporation into the Empire.

I believe in freedom of movement on Earth. People have a right to go where the work is and to seek a better way of life. Immigrants enhance economies and societies. Populations and their politicians can promote a culture of welcoming and inclusion as against hostility and exclusion. I would want freedom of movement in an interstellar civilization. Merseians are fully incorporated into Dennitzan society. What are the crucial issues that immigrants might "outvote" the established Avalonians on? I think that this question warrants further discussion.

The Words Of The New Faith

The People Of The Wind, X.

The new Wyvan of Mistwood Choth addresses his deceased predecessor at the latter's sky funeral:

"'High flew your spirit on many winds; but downward upon you at last came winging the God the Hunter. You met Him in pride, you fought Him well, from you He has honor. Go hence now, that which the talons left, be water and leaves, arise in the wind; and spirit, be always remembered.'" (p. 559)

Noteworthy points:

the new Wyvan addresses not a spirit that has survived death but a person that no longer exists and that is described only in the past tense;

the Wyvan uses the word, "spirit," to refer to a consciousness that existed only as long as the body did;

the spirit/consciousness is remembered but not addressed as if it still exists;

the matter that composed the body becomes water, leaves and wind;

since the deceased is regarded as a prey of God the Hunter, it is appropriate that his body falls from the sky to be devoured by scavengers and to decompose into the natural environment;

Ythrians of the New Faith would not conceive of burying or burning their dead.

Filming The Earth Book Of Stormgate

A thought can move through my mind for a very long time before I realize that I should post about it. For links to other "filming" posts, see here.

As an introduction to a film based on Poul Anderson's The Earth Book Of Stormgate (New York, 1978), I think that a narrator should read in its entirety Hloch's Introduction, pp. 1-2, beginning:

"To those who read, good flight."

We should see Ythrians flying on the horizon but they should as yet be too far away for us to differentiate them from large birds.

"It is Hloch of the Stormgate Choth who writes, on the peak of Mount Anrovil in the Weathermother."

The audience should understand that terms like "Choth" will be explained later. For now, it is sufficient to pick up some idea of their meaning from context. We should see churning clouds above a large mountain.

"His Wyvan, Tariat son of Lythran and Blawsa, has asked this. Weak though his grip upon the matter be, bloodpride requires he undertake this."

Again, "Wyvan" and "bloodpride" will be explained later. "Bloodpride" is largely self-explanatory. We might see two Ythrians, Tariat and Hloch, in conversation.

"Judge, O people. The father of Hloch was Ferannian and the mother was Rennhi. They held the country around Spearhead Lake."

We see an Ythrian dwelling beside a lake with Ythrians circling overhead.

"He was an engineer who was often in Gray [and here], Centauri, and other towns, dealing with humans."

For the first time we see human beings in a town accompanied by Ythrians.

And at the end:

"Now The Earth Book of Stormgate is ended. From my tower I see the great white sweep of the snows upon Mount Anrovil. I feel the air blow in and caress my feathers. Yonder sky is calling. I will go.
"Fair winds forever." (p. 434)

We should see what Hloch sees and hear an eagle's wings.

Ferune Of Mistwood

In a recent post, I remarked that Ferune of Mistwood, an Ythrian, read Terran classics in three languages and that he quoted from both the Bible and the Rubaiyat. I said then that we would like to hear more from Ferune and we do hear a little more. Having returned from the battle in space dying of radiation poisoning, he is to be succeeded as First Marchwarden by his colleague, Daniel Holm, and as Wyvan of Mistwood by a fellow Ythrian.

When Holm blames himself for his friend's death, Ferune gives us another splendid example of "bird talk":

"'Come off that perch, Daniel Holm.'"
-Poul Anderson, Rise Of The Terran Empire (New York, 2011), p. 2011.

- then continues as an uncompromising Ythrian:

"'If I thought you really blame yourself, I would not have left you in office - probably not alive; anyone that stupid would be dangerous. You were executing my plan, and bloody-gut well it worked too, kh'hung?'" (ibid.)

He says that he would have cried Oherran. This is characteristic of him - whereas Holm's response is not in character for the new First Marchwarden:

"Holm knelt and laid his head on [Ferune's] keelbone." (ibid.)

Ferune enfolds and kisses Holm and says:

"'I flew higher because of you...If war allows, honor us by coming to my rite. Fair winds forever.'" (ibid.)

When Ferune is dead, we hear from him one more time because Holm quotes him. The President of the Parliament of Man, favoring accommodation with the Terran Empire, says that "'...the winds of change are blowing.'" (p. 567) Holm replies:

"'I understand that's a mighty old phrase...Ferune had one still older that he liked to quote. How'd it go? "- their finest hour -"'" (ibid.)

So Holm quotes Ferune quoting Churchill - who, by the way, makes it into the Old Phoenix, as does Nicholas van Rijn.

Lastly, we should quote the new Wyvan as he addresses the dead Ferune in the words of the New Faith:

"'High flew your spirit on many winds...'" (p. 559)

(More "bird" language.)

"'...but downward upon you at last came winging God the Hunter. You met Him in pride, you fought Him well, from you He has honor.'" (ibid.)

(For an Ythrian of the New Faith, this is the best possible death, requiring no hereafter to complete or redeem it.)

"'Go hence now, that which the talons left, be water and leaves, arise in the wind; and spirit be always remembered.'" (ibid.)

(What had been Ferune returns to the environment. The spirit which flew high and will be always remembered was the person who is gone, not a separate entity continuing after the death of the body.)

"His sons tilted the litter. The body fell, and after it the torches." (ibid.)

Ferune's widow leads the sky dance.

Ecologies On Avalon

"Rescue on Avalon."

"While men and Ythrians could eat many of the same things, each diet lacked certain essentials of the other. For that matter, native Avalonian life did not hold adequate nutrition for either colonizing race. The need to maintain separate ecologies was a major reason why they tended to live apart." (pp. 318-319)

The two species had seemed to be practising segregation but this was only a preliminary, albeit long-term, precaution. The Wyvan of Stormgate says:

"'Indeed, the time is over-past for our two kinds to intermingle freely.'" (p. 322)

Indeed, later, human beings will join choths and many from Gray, when it exists, will join Stormgate. 

Was Jack Birnam unwise to hike alone in the Weathermother? By our current rules, yes. The story shows that high tech can minimize but maybe not eliminate the dangers. Ayan, the Wyvan, scouting their new territory for his choth, had not known that it was wrong for an individual to venture unaccompanied under ironleaf trees which impede emergency calls by absorbing radio waves. The trees draw metal from the soil and concentrate particles. Thus, their leaves shine and attract bugs. Evolution finds a use for metal.  

Families And Places

The People Of The Wind.

See Five Families On Avalon.

The Holms

OK. Daniel and Rowena Holm have a younger son, Tommy, and a younger daughter, Jeanne. Daniel is concerned about Ythrian influence on both.

In Mistwood

The sons of Ferune, Wyvan of Mistwood Choth and First Marchwarden of the Lauran System, and of his wife, Wharr, fly their father's litter high until the new Wyvan of Mistwood speaks the words of the New Faith and the sons tilt the litter... Body and torches fall.

 

First Island

Nat Falkayn tells his Ythrian friends that he has sailed around First Island. Later, this reference is explained:

 

"[Liaw of the Tarns] and his colleagues stood on the olden site, First Island in the Hesperian Sea. At their backs rose the house of David Falkayn..." (XI, p. 561)

 

The story about Nat had told us that the Falkayns lived in Chartertown. We welcome these details, just as we welcomed information about Hornbeck, David Falkayn's ancestral home on Hermes, because these few passages are all that we get. First Island is obviously important on Avalon but is mentioned only twice in the texts.

Early Times...

The People Of The Wind, V.

"In early times, an Oherran on a whole choth meant the end of it - enslavement of whoever had not been slaughtered, division of holdings among the victors." (p. 498)

Slaughter or enslavement of every member? I could not possibly regard that as morally acceptable, Ythrians doing it or no Ythrians doing it. However, the text continues:

"Later it might amount to as little as the arrest and exile of named leaders." (ibid.)

Much better and more appropriate! So Ythrian morality progressed just like that of human beings. You can find slaughter in "our" Old Testament. 

However, Oherran remains a deathpride matter. If an Oherran is not accepted, then the Wyvan who cried it has no alternative to honorable suicide. They are like some Japanese. If I lived on Avalon, then I would want to join a choth but one that had rejected deathpride. The Wyvan could just resign.

Choths have varied:

tribe

anarchism

despotism

loose federation

theocracy

clan

extended family

corporation

other concepts

in Oronesia sometimes, a single family

But we are not shown this variety. What we do see is the usual "...internal ordering...by custom and public opinion rather than by prescription and force." (p.496)

Twelve Conversations

The People of the Wind.

War preparation affects many people at every level on both sides. Poul Anderson shows this by a series of conversations:

Daniel Holm with his son, Christopher;

Christopher Holm and Eyath, members of Stormgate Choth although of different species;

Daniel Holm as Second Marchwarden of the Lauran System with his superior, Ferune, Wyvan of Mistwood Choth;

Christopher Holm as Arinnian of Stormgate with Tabitha Falkayn as Hrill of Highsky;

Eyath with her fellow Ythrian, Vodan, before he goes to war;

Ekrem Saracoglu, Earl of Anatolia, Imperial Governor of Sector Pacis, with Luisa, daughter of Fleet Admiral Juan de Jesus Cajal y Palomares of Nuevo Mexico;

Lieutenant (j.g.) Philippe Rochefort with fire control, CPO Wa Chou, "Watch Out," of Cynthia and engineer-computerman, CPO Abdullah Helu from Huy Braseal;

Rochefort with Eve Davisson over dinner;

Daniel Holm and Ferune with Matthew Vickery, President of the Parliament of Man, and Liaw of The Tarns, Wyvan of the High Khruath;

Arinnian with Hrill (interrupted by meeting Vodan);

Ainnian and Hrill with Vodan and Quenna;

Cajal with Saracoglu.

Then hostilities begin.

Admiral, Marchwarden And Wyvan

The People Of The Wind, X.

(Although the pandemic curtails Christmas, some Christmas activities curtail blogging.)

Draun, introduced in Chapter IX, was the seventeenth major character in the novel. In X, after the farewell between Ferune and Daniel Holm, there is a teleconference between three already familiar characters:

Admiral Cajal, representing Terra;

 

Holm, now First Marchwarden (we are not told who, if anyone, has become Second);

 

Liaw of the Tarns, High Wyvan, Holm's colleague.

 

Cajal wants to negotiate the surrender and the two Avalonians pretend to think that he proposes to surrender to them! Holm boasts that his defense systems can resist any Terran bombardment. Cajal is convinced that a siege will suffice and that Ythri will cede Avalon after the war. But, before that, he pleads with them not to compel him to bombard. If he did, then it would be because he had decided to, not because they had compelled him to.

Cajal and Holm are two contrasting Admirals: the former neat and correct; the latter unkempt but defiant. Readers have no doubt whose side they are on.

Saga And Earth Book

In Baen Books' seven-volume The Technic Civilization Saga, we read Hloch's AFTERWORD to The Earth Book Of Stormgate at the mid-point of Volume III, Rise Of The Terran Empire, then read the novel, The People Of The Wind, at the end of that omnibus volume even though we understand that the Earth Book is composed in the aftermath of the events of The People Of The Wind. In the alternative and earlier reading order, the Earth Book immediately follows The People Of The Wind. Reading it that way, we already understand a great deal before we open the Earth Book. 

We already know that:

Stormgate is the name of an Avalonian choth;

Avalon is a human colony planet with a large Ythrian minority;

the "choth" is the basic unit of Ythrian social organization after the family;

Ythrians are flying carnivores so their psychology, sociology and theology differ from ours.

Reading Hloch's first Earth Book INTRODUCTION which, in the Saga, comes near the beginning of Volume I, The Van Rijn Method, we find:

"To those who read, good flight. 

"It is Hloch of the Stormgate Choth who writes, on the peak of Mount Anrovil in the Weathermother. His Wyvan, son of Lythran and Blawsa, has asked this. Weak though his grip upon the matter be, bloodpride requires he undertake the task."

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

We know that:

the Weathermother is theYthrian name for the Andromedas, the highest mountain range on Avalon;

Stormgate is based in the Weathermother;

a Wyvan is a judge;

Lythran and Blawsa are the heads of a household;

bloodpride, also called deathpride, is the highest obligation for an Ythrian.

Further along, we find references to the human towns, Gray and Centauri, and to the Terran War. The People Of The Wind describes a lot of activity in both those towns and is entirely focused on the Terran War. In the Saga, these references are tantalizing hints of what is to come. We should read the Technic History in one order and reread it in the other.

Into The Domain

The People Of The Wind, XII.

It seems a shame to leave Avalon after so many posts but Poul Anderson's text follows the Terran fleet into the Domain of Ythri where the Khrau and Hru Systems fall. Marchwarden Rusa tries to retake Khrau but recalled Terran forces annihilate his command. Choths on Hru III revolt but are defeated by bombardment from space. The Wyvans are:

"...rounded up and shot." (p. 572)

I did not like that. 

The Terran fleet surrounds Quetlan, the sun of Ythri. That system is now heavily defended whereas Ythrian tech had been pre-spaceflight when the first human ship had visited that planet in "Wings of Victory," the original "earliest" Technic History instalment. Admiral Cajal addresses a scripted and rehearsed speech to the High Wyvan and simultaneously to the Ythrian population. He does not like addressing an entire population but I think that it is right that he should do so. On Avalon, Arinnian points out a weakness in planetary defence to the Great Khruath.

When the Wyvan says that Cajal's terms will be considered, a xenologist knows:

"'The war's over! The war's over!'" (p. 577)

The narrative returns to Saracoglu and Louisa on Esperance, then, in the following chapter, to our preferred setting of Avalon.

Five Families On Avalon

The People Of The Wind.

It is the details that count although they are soon forgotten.

At Spearhead Lake And On Mount Anrovil

Ferannian and Rennhi of Stormgate Choth held the country around Spearhead Lake. Their son, Hloch, lives in a tower on Mount Anrovil in the Weathermother. Rennhi wrote The Sky Book Of Stormgate but died before completing its companion volume, The Earth Book Of Stormgate. However, Hloch, who had assisted his mother's research, then completed the Earth Book.

 

On Mount Fairview

The household of Lythran and Blawsa occupies a compound on a plateau of Mount Fairview in the Weathermother. Their son, Tariat, is a Wyvan whether of the whole of Stormgate or at least of part of it. Tariat, speaking as a Wyvan, urged Hloch to complete the Earth Book. Lythran's and Blawsa's daughter, Eyath, is a childhood friend of Arinnian and became betrothed to Vodan, also in Stormgate, but he died in the Terran War.

 

The Holms

Daniel Holm, who is Second Marchwarden of the Lauran System, and his wife, Rowena, have a son, Christopher, who is also Arinnian of Stormgate and becomes engaged to Tabitha Falkayn, who is Hrill of Highsky.

The Falkayns

Tabitha Falkayn is a direct descendant of the Founder. Her grandparents joined Highsky Choth and Tabitha was raised by Ythrians after the early death of her parents.

Draun

Draun of Highsky is a business partner of Tabitha in a commercial fishery. He deliberately sought out Eyath when she was in heat while mourning for Vodan: legally not rape in the Terran sense but morally equivalent. Arinnian provokes Draun into challenging him but, before they can meet in duel, Draun dies killing Terrans, defending the fallen body of his oldest son, Nyesslan.

Arinnian And Eyath

Has anyone else noticed this?

In The People Of The Wind, Eyath's parents are Lythran and Blawsa. (Rise of The Terran Empire, p. 443) When Poul Anderson collected the remaining Polesotechnic League stories as The Earth Book Of Stormgate, he created a framing device based on The People Of The Wind. Thus, The People... is set on the planet Avalon; The Earth Book... is compiled and introduced by Hloch of Stormgate Choth on Avalon shortly after the events of The People...

Hloch, referring to himself in the third person, explains that:

"His Wyvan, Tariat son of Lythran and Blawsa, has asked this." (The Van Rijn Method, p. 75)

Arinnian is the son of Marchwarden Daniel Holm while his childhood friend, Eyath, is the sister of the Wyvan of their choth, Stormgate. This does not make them a prince and princess but that is what they would be if Avalon were ruled by royalty.

For the benefit of any blog readers who have not read Poul Anderson's History of Technic Civilization or who have not read previous posts, Arinnian and Eyath cannot be more than friends because they are of different species.