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[Karynn]

I'm curious as to what the general stance is on the Thukker Elders (and Starkmanir and Nefantar) these days, post-Source's revision on the nature of the Elders as a whole.

According to Source,
[spoiler]the Elders are selected individuals from each Tribe, chosen from each generation and charged with absorbing the accumulated knowledge of their Tribes and guiding them.[/spoiler]

Personally I find that a bit more plausible than the mythic status they are given in Theodicy.

But as we know from Theodicy, the Thukker, Starkmanir and Nefantar Elders died on Diemnon.
Did those Tribes go on to select new Elders after that? Or did some irretrievable knowledge die with them that prevented that succession from happening?

It seems that for the Thukker at least, it was a very serious and final thing, as hinted in the system description for Y-DDSK:

"Those demons killed our Elder. You can have no idea what that did to the tribe.. none. I wonder how history will judge us, I wonder what picture the Thukkers will paint – who can say. All I know now is that we cannot stay, we are lost. And we will wander the infinite until we find ourselves again."

- Thukker Tribal Chief at the formation of the Republic

In the unpublished "Oasis" piece, it makes no reference to the Elders, but it does state that the Khargai are "the closest thing the Thukkers have to priests".

To me, it makes sense that due to their nomadic and decentralised nature, the Thukker have abandoned the idea of Tribal Elders, instead each caravan has a conclave of Khargai (or a single Khargai for the lesser caravans) to take care of their spiritual needs and collective knowledge.

Any thoughts?

[Mizhara]

Market forces. A supplier of a product that's heavily in use goes bye bye. Something will take its place. Either a straight up copy as it's been proven to work before and it's a safe bet it'll work again, or a derivative trying to reinvent the wheel. This is where there's a lot of room in Thukker side of things to invent your own thing for your own caravan.

[Nissui]

To me, it makes sense that due to their nomadic and decentralised nature, the Thukker have abandoned the idea of Tribal Elders, instead each caravan has a conclave of Khargai (or a single Khargai for the lesser caravans) to take care of their spiritual needs and collective knowledge.

Any thoughts?

If I may be so bold, based on the quote you cited, it seems to me that the Thukker are in transition. They remain nomads with no seat among the Tribal Chiefs, thanks to that tragedy, and so have no strong connection to the 'spirit' of the Republic. However, the Khargai could serve the same role (at least in their capacity to preserve the 'way' of the Tribe), with hope of the coming of such a time that a new Elder may be chosen, in all probability from their 'class'.

'Finding themselves' appears to be the proverbial linchpin to bringing a genuine Thukker Elder into the Republic fold in some capacity, so the pilgrimage relies as much on the Khargai teachings as it does the caravan masters, who must build consensus among one another about what identity they find, or wish to find. It would take no small measure of ambition and force of personality.

[Jace]

'Finding themselves' appears to be the proverbial linchpin to bringing a genuine Thukker Elder into the Republic fold in some capacity, so the pilgrimage relies as much on the Khargai teachings as it does the caravan masters, who must build consensus among one another about what identity they find, or wish to find. It would take no small measure of ambition and force of personality.

After reading Source and other various things in combination with it, this is largely my impression. Namely, that there is not necessarily anything permanent - but who knows how painful or long the transitional period will be.