Who are The Jaguars?

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Wolfdrop

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« on: November 22, 2016, 09:05:48 pm »
In Chapter One of the Great Ordeal, Hituridas, the Ainoni soldier mentions his "fellow Jaguars".

This is the quote: "Hatturidas continued tramping. Beyond him, thousands of his brother Jaguars toiled, and innumerable others beyond them as well, bent beneath packs and arms and armour. The World seemed to roll as a ball beneath them, so vast was the Great Ordeal."

I missed it on my first read but I'm trying to recall any mention of these guys. I'm assuming they're some sort of company of Kishyati/Ainoni soldiers but as far as I can tell they're never mentioned again in the book, or in any of the battle sequences.

Any got any thoughts on this?

I'm hoping for at least a small mention on them in the expanded glossary in TUC.

Hirtius/Pansa

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« Reply #1 on: November 23, 2016, 12:01:16 am »
My immediate associations were the Jaguar Warriors of the Aztec civilization.  I figured it was just the particular way of referring to the warrior caste of that region of Ainon or whatever. Knights/samurai/kshatriya/Jaguars, etc. etc.  But I don't believe they are mentioned at any other point in the books.

Monkhound

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« Reply #2 on: November 23, 2016, 07:24:05 am »
My immediate associations were the Jaguar Warriors of the Aztec civilization.  I figured it was just the particular way of referring to the warrior caste of that region of Ainon or whatever. Knights/samurai/kshatriya/Jaguars, etc. etc.  But I don't believe they are mentioned at any other point in the books.

I had the same first association, but I expect them just to be the name of a military or mercenary company. In such large gatherings as the armies of TGO, people usually form smaller groups wirth the same cultural identity. Also note that we hadn't encountered any of the two soldiers in the first passage either.
I'm suspicious of any mention of animals in this book, but not in this instance. The passage appears to be mainly for illustrating the effect of the Sranc meat on nameless individuals, and the name of the company is part of the framework.
« Last Edit: November 23, 2016, 07:30:50 am by Monkhound »
Cuts and cuts and cuts...

Wilshire

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« Reply #3 on: November 23, 2016, 02:15:36 pm »
I read that and similar moments of name drops as just being part of the larger world that we aren't really privy to. Companies of soldiers, whether official or unofficial marauders, are sure to have names and whole histories that we don't know.

That, or it is mentioned somewhere that this particular group has a jaguar on their standard.
One of the other conditions of possibility.