Hi,
--<SNIP>
@@Oooops.
You are absolutely correct. ^_^
A disadvantage of working w/o pre-readers.
By now my offer should have reached you.
I'll repeat it:
I could give it a try.
But I missed the statue or lamp bit...
@@I'll send a copy in .TXT format.
Still working on the last little
bit.
<SNIP>
Additionally, in this case, her grand-father was
far from home with no chance of ever returning.
His only chance of destroying the
necromancer was to pass the job along
to his progeny. As far as "vows", I never
indicated which order the grand-father was
associated with so there is no way to know
what his "vows" were. OR what additional
vows he may have taken before leaving home.
And again I've already posted my reply.
Far from home? They were Christian monks and
threw Zhang out of Germania, unless there are some
Nestorians (or something like that) in the Hibiki
family
tree,
@@Hibiki? Where'd he come from in the story?
he can't have been that far away from home.
Europe was quite traversible even in the Dark Ages,
especially if you're the kind of warior-monk who
fights
powerful necromancers.
@@Ahhh, but they weren't IN Europe, but just
a weeee bit further to the west. ^_^ (specifically
in the "Burning Mountains" north of the silk road)
If you thought this was going on in Europe I need
to do a little re-write. They're on the Tibetan
plateau or thereabout.
It's not easy to get into that part of the world
even today. (My sister has traveled most of the
silk road so I've got literally thousands of miles of
film
of the area) 1600 years ago this was a journey of
years,
assuming you made it alive. And certainly no regular
(or irregular) postal service.
<SNIP>
Ranjit: (m) Strong, intense [Sikh]
As I recall there's no language called Sikh, I
think
they
usually speak Panjabi.
@@True, but I thought more people
would recognize [Sikh] than would
recognize [Panjabi] I'll correct this
by using both in the next publication
of end-notes (last chapter)
Then there's the non-Panjabi speaking Sikhs and the
non-Sikh Panjabis.
@@^_^ I'll add to the notes. Thanks.
Notes on "The Amazon Nation":
I'm assuming the Chinese Amazons are the
remnants
of a
group of the original Amazons that, according
to
legend,
were captured in battle and carried of into
slavery. On
One could, however, bring up several arguments
that
the
Chinese Amazons originate from one of the
all-female
units
of the Tai-Ping rebellion in the mid-19th
century.
@@ But I didn't. For one thing it wouldn't
mesh with my story line. For another,
my reading of the Anime/manga
give the impression of a much
older culture.
My reading of the manga gives the following:
Han chinese wearing near-modern (Ming-Qing
dynasties) clothes,
@@I'm not sure about the "Han". It's
hard to tell from manga/anime. Possible
of course. But there's so little "hard"
evidence on the Amazon's I felt free
to create a background.
using polearms that were
reputedly not used until the Song-dynasty and
living in a part of "China" which hardly had any
Han chinese population until the mid-20th century.
(The majority in Qinghai is (or was) Tibetans and
Mongols.)
@@Which is part of the basis of this story.
But it doesn't mesh with the story.
Just once, I would like to see someone interrupt
Cologne
talking about thousand-year Amazon traditions by
pointing
out that there were no Chinese Amazons until 1870.
@@An interesting idea for a story. OTOH Cologne
IS the authority, and, lacking evidence to the
contrary
I'll take her word for the age of the Amazon's.
But then again in Journey to the West Tripitaka and
the gang
passes through the Women's Kingdom (Queendom) of
Western Liang (or something like that), which gives
some
"justification" for Chinese Amazons as early as the
Tang
dynasty.
@@another good story idea.
<SNIP>
But how did they end up in Qinghai? It's pretty
hard
to get
there by boat.
@@I never said they got there "by boat". I only
said that in the original legend a group of
Amazons were on board a boat and, after
killing the crew, couldn't find their way home.
In the original, they made landfall and eventually
intermarried with the natives. In my version they
kept wandering until they ended up in Qinghai.
Actually they were NORTH of Qinghai until
the "daemon" destroyed their home.
North of Qinghai is: a little bit of Gansu, followed
by
Mongolia, Siberia and the Arctic Ocean.
Then again, most of Europe lies further north than
Qinghai.
Wherever they started out (Germania, Scythia etc.),
they
could easily have taken the Silk Road and then
turned right
(south) after Turfan. But it's not really relevant
is it?
@@Well, it is and it isn't. They probably
did follow parts of what later became known
as the Silk Road. However it was never
"easy". Especially if you are a band of
alien fugitives, rather than an established
trading caravan under the protection of
local rulers along the way. Recall that
the "Amazons" would be operating in
a country where they didn't speak the
language, where they looked very different
from the locals. Also they're on foot or
poorly mounted on what ever mounts
they could "acquire". They have to
take time to hunt/forage. Steal or
find "work" or barter for what they need.
This would NOT have been an easy trip.
Figuring an initial group of 30-50
Amazons, making landfall with very
limited equipment and possibly some
wounded. They've got to acquire
food, clothing, medicine. Also
recruit more warriors to make up
for losses due to combat, disease, accident.
"Husbands" acquired along the way, birth
and death en route. They need food, clothing,
weapons, medicine, etc. Easily
a five or ten year journey before
they end up in the "Burning Mountains".
And then of course, Zhang shows up a few
hundred years later to spoil everything.
<SNIP>
=====
"When I get a little money, I buy books;
And, if any is left, I buy food and clothes."-Erasmus
"A man is a small thing, and the night is large
and full of wonders." -Lord Dunsany
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