message 0014

• The social structure of the Hani
• Tully's mission - Human/Compact contact

>From: Lesley Grant <lgrant>
>Subject: cherryhlist 
>Date: Fri, 16 Oct 92 9:59:27 BST

> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> >From: nancy ott <ott@ansoft.com>
 
> PPS: A general Chanur/hani question -- how can the hani maintain
> continuity in their families and estates if the sons (or other young
> males) are always trying to kill their fathers and take over?  The
> mechanics of this confuse me, since it seems to cause a conflict of
> interest for hani women.  Wouldn't they have to choose between
> supporting their fathers or brothers?

	This is presumably why there are so many clans with minor influence!
The way I see it is that the estate+female clan members are the "real"
clan, while the menfolk are just over-indulged spoiled children and figureheads
who don't matter in the long run. As long as the estates are kept running,
it doesn't matter who gets to lounge around drinking gfi-and-tofi. This
presumes that the daughters of the house are not eager to become estate
managers in their own right by prodding their favourite brother into a
challenge. If you look at the really powerful clans, you find the women are
pulling together to make sure the clan-lord lives as long as possible -- not
because a new lord in and of himself is trouble, but because he'll have 
sisters :-) So, Kohan Chanur gets to die of old age, and Chanur is (and has beenfor a long time) an influential clan. In _The Pride of Chanur_ it is certainly
implied that na Tahar is another long-lived man (who is getting Kara Mahn to
do his challenging), Kymn Mahn is also in late middle age. And the most stable
(and influential) clans of all, the Immunes, are those who don't have to suffer
any new influx of women with differing ideas on management. (You, know, I bet
the happiest hani in the Compact at the end of _Chanur's Legacy_ are Hallan
Meras' sisters :-)

 
> >From: seth@cie.uoregon.edu (Seth Scott)
> 
> 
>I have read the _Chanur_ books, _Hestia_ (bleah!), and the first three chapters
> of _Downbelow Station_; that leaves me with little basis for comment, I'm afraid-- though I plan to>  do some more reading, when I get the time.  I guess that
> I do have a question, though, that ties in to the current discussion:
> 
> Tully names himself an 'Earth-man,' and I do remember that there were 'three
> human Compacts,' which would be Earth, the Belt, and the farther colonies, yes? So, Tully's origina> l ship and mission was (pick one)
> 
> 	a)  exploration
> 	b)  prospecting
> 	c)  a search for allies

	By the time of _Downbelow Station_, there is a considerably different
political scene, and the 3 "human Compacts" would more likely be Earth, Union
and Alliance. Tully's original mission (I think) would be exploration, to try
and expand Earth's influence in the opposite direction from Union. I really
don't think they expected to find spacefaring aliens -- the only thing that 
had been discovered by this time were the Downers (hisa)  on Pell.  

> I understand that once Tully told Earth about the Compact, Earth wanted help
> in defending its own space from the knnnn (and kif?), but beyond that the 
> politics escape me.  Would someone with a more integrated knowledge of human
> space please speculate?

	Earth was definetly worried about the Knnn, but I think they may have
been more worried about the Kif, who at first sight, seem more understandable
to Earth mentality. They're an expansionistic military lot (like Union), evil
cold hearted rotten aliens. Or so I'm sure the EC saw them. Earth seemed
quite content to go in with Goldtooth's plan of squeezing the Kif between the
humans and the Mahendo'sat. I'll bet Goldtooth promised Mahendo'sat aid in
winning back influence from Union and Alliance...:-)
	The fascinating thing is that Earth has *50* warships in Compact
space by the end of _Chanur's Homecoming_. These have to be the 'new Fleet'
referred to in _Downbelow Station_ (quick summary: The EC Fleet has been almost
destroyed by the Union rebels, Earth negotiates for peace while building
a new force to win back hegemony). Where do they go? Why doesn't Earth use 
them to expand in another direction? Why doesn't Earth snaffle back some of
its lost territory? They could have dragged a lot of merchanters back to their
side, Union might even have cooperated, as it detested Alliance. What *did*
Earth do with all those spanking new hideously expensive ships!

					Lesley