Lands of Red and Gold, Act II
- Thread starter Jared
- Start date
I'm not 100% sure. The main effects would be the same as for nicotine in tobacco (not entirely, but close), and I'm not sure how effective nicotine absorption is when ingested.
But there wouldn't be much point for most purposes, since nicotine is quickly absorbed via the lining of the mouth and throat. So are the other alkaloids in kunduri. Why make things slower, really?
Probably not, or at least not in any major way. Pre-Houtman era they chewed it, since the combination with wood ash added to its ease of absorption. Afterward they're slowly taking up smoking it.
Perhaps in some very specialised purposes - say, sacred cakes baked for a particular ritual. But mostly not.
Like brownies?
Beware of any Aururian business called Bake Me A Treat...
I have begun to read Land of Red and Gold 6 or 7 days ago, and i must say that it is one of the best timelines that i ever seen. After i readed a bit of Jared Diamond's book, i begun to see why the "boring parts of history" are sometimes the most interesting of all !
I don't know if i can propely express myself in English about how i liked this (i'm sixteen, and i'm learning still) timeline, but i believe that this is one of the finest timelines in this forum, the depth that you developed each of the civilizations in Aururia is very rare as far as my small experience in reading timelines goes.
Of all those civilizations, Tjibarr and Nangu/Nuttana are the most fascinating, Tjibarr remembers a bizantine-like eternal plotting against each other, with pretty much the same factions for hundreds of years, and the Nangu looks like Venetia or ancient Athens, with a little of Portugal. But even with those similarities with real life civilizations, each one of them have a unique flavor, that "something" which make them very interesting overall.
I'm extending myself too much with my broken english, so, i would like to congratulate you, Jared, and say that i look forward to read more Land of Red and Gold. And if you decide to publish this, you have another buyer as well.
Again, thank you, from your Brazilian reader.
! I don't know if i can propely express myself in English about how i liked this (i'm sixteen, and i'm learning still) timeline, but i believe that this is one of the finest timelines in this forum, the depth that you developed each of the civilizations in Aururia is very rare as far as my small experience in reading timelines goes.
Of all those civilizations, Tjibarr and Nangu/Nuttana are the most fascinating, Tjibarr remembers a bizantine-like eternal plotting against each other, with pretty much the same factions for hundreds of years, and the Nangu looks like Venetia or ancient Athens, with a little of Portugal. But even with those similarities with real life civilizations, each one of them have a unique flavor, that "something" which make them very interesting overall.
I'm extending myself too much with my broken english, so, i would like to congratulate you, Jared, and say that i look forward to read more Land of Red and Gold. And if you decide to publish this, you have another buyer as well
.Again, thank you, from your Brazilian reader.
Oh, I can just imagine how that would go. When a cake is more than just a cake...
I have begun to read Land of Red and Gold 6 or 7 days ago, and i must say that it is one of the best timelines that i ever seen. After i readed a bit of Jared Diamond's book, i begun to see why the "boring parts of history" are sometimes the most interesting of all
Glad you've enjoyed it. And yes, I understood what you meant.
As the author, I try not to have a favourite culture, except in the sense of "my favourite is the one whose perspective I'm writing from at the time", but I'm glad you liked the flavour of those cultures.
For publishing it, I'm not sure if there's anything I can publish about LoRaG, but if I ever do, I promise everyone who reads this thread will know.
No new LoRaG update yet, sadly. Life has been getting in the way of getting much more done on the next planned instalment about the Harmony Wars in *New Zealand, and their spillover into Pakanga raids overseas.
However, in the meantime, I thought I'd share a couple of links to more information about the native peppers (TTL's "sweet peppers") that have been featured in LoRaG.
The first link is to a short video from a gardener describing the cultivation of the Tasmanian pepper (TTL's "common sweet pepper). What's interesting is that he shows how it can be cultivated in the right sort of climes around the world (i.e. the cool temperate zone). In this case, in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCyy36WR1sw
(Small note: he still uses the old name for the species, Drimys lanceolata. It has now been reclassified into a new genus: Tasmannia lanceolata.)
The second link is an explanatory video about the harvesting and processing of Tasmanian pepper. Some of the video is about the particular company who made the video (naturally), but there's still some interesting information in the rest of the video. (Disclaimer: I have never ordered from or had any other connection with this particular company. I have used Tasmanian peppers bought elsewhere, but nothing to do with this company).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLGQJpxGYd8
However, in the meantime, I thought I'd share a couple of links to more information about the native peppers (TTL's "sweet peppers") that have been featured in LoRaG.
The first link is to a short video from a gardener describing the cultivation of the Tasmanian pepper (TTL's "common sweet pepper). What's interesting is that he shows how it can be cultivated in the right sort of climes around the world (i.e. the cool temperate zone). In this case, in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCyy36WR1sw
(Small note: he still uses the old name for the species, Drimys lanceolata. It has now been reclassified into a new genus: Tasmannia lanceolata.)
The second link is an explanatory video about the harvesting and processing of Tasmanian pepper. Some of the video is about the particular company who made the video (naturally), but there's still some interesting information in the rest of the video. (Disclaimer: I have never ordered from or had any other connection with this particular company. I have used Tasmanian peppers bought elsewhere, but nothing to do with this company).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLGQJpxGYd8
mojojojo
Gone Fishin'
So which Catholic European nations are responsible for these conversions, and what other influence have they had among the Maori?
Kind of like how the humans of Defiance call the Casthians "HAINTS"
http://defiance.wikia.com/wiki/Castithans
The French are the significant group in this case. (I think this has been mentioned in passing in earlier posts). They will have further influences, some of which will be covered in the upcoming instalment.
I wasn't familiar with that particular one - interesting.
In the case of the term Kehua, it was actually one of several early Māori words used to describe visiting Europeans. The term Pākehā eventually became the widespread one in OTL.
That's probably more than me - I haven't really worked out yet what will be happening with the Pacific Northwest ITTL. (*California, yes, sort of. *Oregon, not really.)
That said, sweet peppers will grow fairly widely throughout the cool temperate zone. Eventually. Once people have worked out (or found Aururian experts to teach them) how to farm in a way which fits their peculiarities. For instance, in their natural habitat sweet peppers are alpine rainforest crops, i.e. they need high rainfall, and not too much heat. They are also understorey plants, mostly growing in areas of partial light. They can be sensitive to too much light (well, mostly heat), which can be bad for them.
A few particular regions already pretty much naturally have these conditions, and these will probably be the first to take up cultivation of sweet peppers. In OTL, one species of sweet peppers grows wild in Cornwall (where it was imported from Australia). ITTL, Brittany, which has a similar climate, will be an early cultivater of sweet peppers, making them even more wealthy than they were in OTL.
Other areas will also cultivate sweet peppers once they work out how to mimic the natural conditions - principally, grow the plants in enough shade that they can cope with the heat, and frequent irrigation at the right times of year (spring, autumn).
Occasional imports of donkeys, horses and cattle, but on a much smaller scale than in *Australia. Aotearoa is further to sail, which makes obtaining livestock even more difficult, and trade has been much more limited. It's entirely possible that the first Māori exposure to European livestock will actually be supplied by the Islanders trading livestock born in Aururia. Pigs and chickens have been brought in from Polynesia at some point, too.
So far, very few. Trade has been so limited, and wild species aren't really high on the list. Pigs, cats, more breeds of dogs, horses, donkeys and so forth, yes. Wild species, not so much. The only ones which are definitely there are rats.
A little, though not in a major way. A few coastal peoples - such as the Tjunini and Kurnawal in Tasmania/eastern Victoria hunt whales in small boats. Their techniques are not very advanced; basically they either try to heard small whales to shore so that they beach themselves, or use harpoons attached to inflated sealskins (or inflated emu pelts) to attach to the whale and try to tire it, so that they can easily kill it.
The whales targeted here are pretty much small coastal species - pilot whiles and the like. No-one's really mastered the techniques of hunting larger whales such as right whales or humpbacks. The only ones who really have the right ships are the Nangu, and they don't find whales a valuable enough commodity to bother in any major way.
Speaking of which, does anyone know if the Maori were into whaling in a big way? After all, the Polynesians did have long-range vessels.
Didn't seem to be the case. I've never read anything to suggest that whaling was a significant part of the subsistence economy of the Polynesians or Maori. A beached whale, of course, would have been harvested readily, but that would be a windfall, not a lifestyle thing.
We do know that the Polynesians engaged in deep sea fishing and had specialized hooks and techniques. It's likely that they caught and harvested smaller sea mammals like dolphins and seals
But the big mammals?
As far as I know, the Maori did not do any whaling. Certainly if they did, it wasn't enough to make much of a dent in whale populations. There's a reason whalers flourished in OTL New Zealand after Europeans got there.
Mind you, the Maori did hunt seals, but there were still plenty of seals left in some parts of the islands for when Europeans arrived. I believe that seals used to live further north, but the Maori mostly drove them from the North Island, and maybe parts of the South Island. (The North Island was, of course, more heavily populated).
Yes.
Oh, you want details?
There's a reason the Island survives in some form, albeit with much reduced population. Think of it as "Nantucket of the South".
That sounds EPIC.
On another note I am kinda interested in the Nuttana and any possible attempts to spread the Prilite faith. I see them having not trouble in *New Guinea but once they get into *Indonesia or The Phillippines proper, I see them stepping on a lot of toes. (Islamic Rulers, Spanish, English, Protuguese.) And that might hurt trading prospects.
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It will be more of a long-term development, but will show up in due course.
Plirism will create a certain amount of friction, undoubtedly, particularly in the early stages. Europeans, in particular, are not used to "heathens" who convert right back at them. And while Plirites do not insist on forcing their religion on others (well, not usually), during casual contact it's hard to get them to stop talking about it.
For Islamic rulers, one thing I'm curious about is whether Islam would consider Plirites as dhimmi, or as pagans. Plirism does not strictly require multiple deities, though it does not discourage them either (it just disputes omnipotence).The closest parallel that I can think of is Buddhism, where if I understand it right, Buddhists were eventually considered as dhimmi in some circumstances, though not necessarily all. Whether this would apply to Plirism as well is harder to say.
However, regardless of initial friction, the Nangu do have a tradition of placing commerce above religion, where the trade is profitable enough. In pre-Houtmanian days, they did this with the Atjuntja and Yadji, both of whom forbade Nangu proselytisation. I expect that the Nuttana will work out something similar in terms of designated areas where seeking converts is forbidden.
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