Dr. Pioter Ironwood

## Dr. Pioter Ironwood, PhD

**Dr. Pioter Ironwood** was a renowned anthropologist and ethno-neurologist from the Irridescent University of the Shining City of Delenthor, where he was most renowned for his theory of 'spirit-carnal effervesence', which claimed that the nature of the Quori spirit inhabiting a particular Kalashtar could be determined by phrenology.

## Anthropological Work

Ironwood has published many books over his anthropological career, but three of his books have had particular impact in the wider Delenthorian academic discourse. The *Ethno-Neurology of the Kalashtar* is renowned as one of the few Delenthorian works to try and draw particular connections between the biology, neurology, culture, and unique magical-spiritual nature of the Kalashtar people, and has remained a cornerstone of the Delenthorian understanding of Kalashtar anthropology. The *Cultures of Ithilien* is often seen as Ironwood's greatest work, in which his particular synthetic analysis of neurology, biology, sociology and anthropology is applied to the diverse peoples of the Ithilien peninsula. It is said that the offence caused by this book is one of the contributing factors to the Muinaei Rebellion, although it remains a central text in the Irisian School of comparative anthropology. Lastly, his *Defense of Colonialism* was a scathing response to Dr. Irisanov's treatise '*Against the Subjugation of Barbaric Peoples*', which famously challenged the rights of the Delenthorian Empire to expand its imperialist control beyond its immediate neighbours. The *Defense* has remained the philosophical and anthropological underpinning for much Delenthorian foreign policy since its publication.

### Ethno-Neurology of the Kalashtar

The *Ethno-Neurology of the Kalashtar* was Ironwood's first major academic work, published in 408 EM. The book is a mixture of autobiographical and academic content, describing a seven month journey to Peratath Vathal and reporting on his observations from that time, interlaced with 'experiments' from his laboratory at the Irridescent University. The book received critical acclaim in Delenthor for its well-written but accessible prose and tight argumentation, although it is reportedly widely disliked amongst the Kalashtar people as an unfair and inaccurate portrayal of their culture and society.

The most controversial claim that Ironwood made in the *Ethno-Neurology* was that the Quori spirit inhabiting a Kalashtar could be determined by phrenology. The book contains a series of careful measurement diagrams which purport to show the average widths and typical bump patterns of the scalps of different 'kinds' of Kalashtar, with careful notes from laboratory work in which he examined the heads of ten Kalashtar subjects. Although the results of these experiments have never been replicated, many Delenthorian scholars who study Kalashtar anthropology still take these claims as fact.

Identifying the Quori spirit associated with a particular Kalashtar was a major interest of Ironwood's, and the *Ethno-Neurology* is also the first recorded case of the so-called 'psychiatric method', whereby the Quori spirit associated with a particular Kalashtar was identified by personality traits exhibited by their 'host'. Contrary to the claims of Kalashtar themselves, Ironwood claims to have identified a total of 18 'distinct' Quori spirits, each of which was regnised by a single 'dominant humour' or typicaly disposition of the Kalashtar they inhabit. For example, *ashana* was identified as 'adventurous', while *zezir* (a spirit not recorded in the Kalashtar's own writings) is identified as 'pragmatic'. In his later '*On the Psychiatric Method of Kalashtar-Quori Identification*', Ironwood reduced this original 18-type schema to a twelve spirit model in line with the Kalashtar's own cultural practices, which he divided into six sets of male and female paired spirits, each of which was identified by the 'dominant humour' associated by the male spirit, the female spirit, and one of the additional spirits of his earlier schema - thus, for example, *ashana* and *kosh* were placed in a pair, alongside the spirit *atanesh* from the 18-type schema, to become a single pair *ashana and kosh* identified as 'adventurous, savage, and quick-tempered'. The current dominant psychiatric method has made a number of refinements on this later text, most notably replacing terms deemed offensive - so the current *ashana and kosh* model replaces 'savage' with 'courageous', for example.

### Cultures of Ithilien

The *Cultures of Ithilien* is widely seen as Ironwood's *magnum opus*, and the seventeen-volume work remains one of the most iconic and substantive texts in the Irisian School of Comparative Anthropology. The work was written between 410EM and 431 EM over the course of 21 years, and it was published a volume at a time in the years 431-432 EM. Although it is not without Delenthorian bias and, at times, flagrant misrepresentation of Ithilien culture to make it seem more 'alien' and 'uncivilised' to Delenthorian readers, the *Cultures* is widely held as an excellent example of anthropological work from this era, and it is widely read even beyond the Delenthorian Empire.

The seventeen volumes of the *Cultures* are as follows,

In many ways, the *Cultures* is not so much influential because of the content it asserts or claims it makes about Ithilien Elves, although it is notable that the supporters of the Muinaei Rebellion used the misrepresentation of Ithilien culture in the *Cultures* as evidence that Delenthorians did not understand their subjects and had no right to rule over them; but rather, the true impact of the *Cultures* comes from its methodology. By discussing many different aspects of Ithilien culture and how they interralate, as well as by basing the final analysis on comparison across similar and related cultures, the *Cultures* laid the groundwork of what would become the Irisian School of Comparative Anthropology, alongside other key works, such as Dr. Brightroot's '*On Orcs and Orcishness: The Inherent Properties of Orcish Culture across Continental and Temporal Epochs*'.

### Defense of Colonialism

Ironwood's final most influential contribution was in the *Defense of Colonialism*, which was published in 433 EM in the aftermath of the Muinaei Rebellion as a response to Dr. Irisanov's *Against the Subjugation of Barbaric Peoples*. Where Dr. Irisanov argued that the Delenthorian Empire could not morally justify imperialist expansion beyond its immediate neighbours, as doing so would no longer be justifiable as a defensive measure but would become a war of aggression, Ironwood's response argued that 'civilised' countries have an absolute moral obligation to share their 'intellectual and material wealth' with other nations, and that if such nations are 'insufficiently advanced for free trade and open intellectual exchange', colonialist expansion was a valid means by which this wealth could be shared.

The central thrust of the *Defense* is around what Ironwood refers to as 'the moral argument'. This argument holds that people suffer and die when in want of advanced technology and medicine, the infrastructure of civilisation, and intellectual advancement. Thus, if one nation has the technology, infrastructure, and education to end or reduce the suffering of another nation, that former nation has a moral imperative to present that technology, infrastructure, and education to the nation which would suffer without it. However, Ironwood argues, not all nations are in a sufficiently advanced stage of civilisation to make good use of the technology, infrastructure, and education which Delenthor has to offer - quote, '*in fact, besides our own great nation, it is possible there is not a single nation on this fine world that has such a capacity, excepting perhaps Tiazunese, or some of the less savage Dwarvish peoples*.' Thus, argued Ironwood, it is necessary for the Delenthorians to provide the expertise necessary to make adequate use of the technology and education they can provide. Ironwood then proceeds to argue that fairness requires that if Delenthor is to provide a service to another nation (in technology, infrastructure, education, and in guidance as to how to apply these advances), then that nation must necessarily give something to Delenthor in return. Ironwood then distinguishes between two kinds of nations - the 'civilised', who are 'sufficiently advanced' to allow trade between themselves and Delenthor, so that they might offer 'gold, services, or other benefits, in return for the provisions of civilisation which our Empire brings to their door'; and the 'savage', who are 'unable or unwilling' to engage in such open trade with the Empire. Ironwood argues that the only way in which the moral responsibility of Delenthor to 'civilise other nations to reduce their suffering' can be fulfilled in such 'savage' places is by invasion, and the only way in which the Empire can receive just reward for the gift of civilisation is by the extraction of valuable resources and individuals - that is, by colonialism.

Alongside this 'moral argument', Ironwood presents a total of six arguments in defense of an expansionist, colonialist foreign policy, ranging from the pragmatic (arguing that other nations, such as Tiazu, can be a threat to Delenthorian security even across the sea, and therefore, it is justified even under Irisanov's strict definition of a defensive expansion to claim a 'foothold' in Eskarell), to the spiritual (arguing that Irisia was a warrior and would desire her people to honour her by warfare), to the economic (arguing that 'the ever growing number of peasantry and proletarians in the cities' requires an ever-expanding economy which can only be achieved by increasing the lands that owe tax to the Empress).

Since its publication, the *Defense* has remained a deeply controversial work, with the so-called Sovereigntist school of political ethics continuing to argue that it is nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt to morally justify the fundamentally selfish program of colonial and imperial expansion that the Empire has been following for the past few centuries. However, the *Defense* remains deeply popular with both the everday people of the Delenthorian heartlands and with the political establishment, most famously demonstrated when, in response to a protest in the Shining City against the Crown War, one of the princes is said to have climbed upon a balcony and held aloft a copy of the *Defense*, declaring '*all morality and all sense is on our side; let no man of reason contest that this War is just!*'

## Publications

Ironwood was a prolific writer in his time, with many publications beyond the most famous discussed above. The following provides a list of some of his most famous works, primarily produced by the Irridescent University.

### Bibliography

* *The Ethno-Neurology of the Kalashtar* (408 EM)
* *The Comparative-Anthropological Method* (411 EM)
* *Cultures of Ithilien* (431-432 EM)
* *Defense of Colonialism* (433 EM)
* *A Comparative Study of Scarfellan Peoples* (451 EM)

### Articles

* *The Principles of Ethno-Neurology* (407 EM)
* *Conquest as a Means of Civilising Barbaric Peoples* (429 EM)
* *A Debate with Irisianov* (434 EM)
* *On the Necessity of the War* (437 EM)
* *Reflections on War and Society: A 10th Anniversary of the Beginning of the Conflict* (444 EM)
* *The Impact of War on a Barbaric Peoples: Recovery in the Scarfellan Territories* (447 EM)
* *In Defense of the Legitimacy of the Homeland* (452 EM)