[Dragaera] No traffic since February?

[Philip Hart]

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008, Scott Schultz wrote:

>> I don't entirely follow you here.  What would being Malcolm X mean in the
>> Dragaeran context?
>
> It's an imperfect analogy, I'll grant you. I was reaching for someone who,
> unlike Martin Luther King Jr, say, had a history of violence, crime,  and
> even racism in his past, maybe even some Marxist ideals, but who eventually
> turned his efforts into empowering his "people" instead of overthrowing the
> oppressors. In other words, the sort of leader who might inspire the cause
> of "Easterner Power!" and create the "Eastern Dzur" and otherwise inspire
> radical social change from within instead of by trying to destroy the
> opposition. I suppose the question then is, "Who would be the charismatic
> temperate leader?", the Dr. King figure that would temper the force of the
> radicals while encouraging and/or shaming the Dragareans into seeing the
> true results of their own prejudice.

The obvious answer: Vlad becomes Malcolm and Cawti becomes Dr. King, but 
as a tag team.  Well, hopefully Cawti doesn't get martyred saving the 
Empire.



>> Background question: Is there anything keeping Easterners from joining
>> House Teckla and coming under the equal protection of the law, such as
>> it is?
>
> Hard to say. In this matter, we're generalizing from a single example - The
> only way we even know it's a possibility is that _Brokedown Palace_ opens
> with Miklos returning home from spending a couple of years as a Tekla.

I believe Vlad's father could have opted to become a Tekla. I'd have to
check but I suspect he didn't for class reasons.


> There must be some limitation, if only the number of peasants that any
> particular estate can support, that keeps the Easterners concentrated in the
> slums rather than migrating to the country.

Probably Easterners are relatively poor laboring stock from a feudal 
Dragaeran perspective - weak, short-lived, and fast-breeding, with 
relatively small prime of life fractions.  Maybe they are much more
likely to be involved in revolts.

Of course the Interregnum was very recent on a Dragaeran timescale
and the entire society is in great flux so expecting equilibrium
conditions is silly.