The Cult of the Orca

From: Thomas Doniol-Valcroze <tconrad_at_orbital.fr>
Date: Wed, 05 Feb 1997 01:14:02 +0100

Greetings, folk.

Me:
>I'm afraid I can speak about marine mammals for a very long time...

MOB:
>Please do!

Well, I'd like to, but I need to link it with Glorantha. The following text is just a draft, inspired by Elder Secrets mentionning a Cult of the Orca taught to humans by Thrunhin Da, the Dragon living beneath the Sea of Kahar, to help them fight the Zabdamars.
Comments (of any kind) will be welcome.

Before I go on, here is just some quick RW data about interactions between humans and orcas.
Despite their name, Killer Whales pose no threat or danger to human beings. They have *never* attacked or killed a human. On the opposite, they seem to be as curious about us than we are about them... A few attacks on boats have been reported, albeit for unknown reasons, but even then, once the boats were sunk and the sailors found themselves in the water, the attacking Killer Whales have left the humans unharmed.

It might interest australian gloranthophiles to know that the most famous account of Killer Whales cooperating with humans comes from Australia, early in the century: A pod (a group) of individually known Killer Whales at Eden, on the southeast coast of Australia helped human whalers to find the baleen whales and assisted in killing them, taking their share on the body once the hunt was over.

• Notes about the Cult of the Orca, by Korol Hangbelly, Grey Sage of the Temple of WhiteWall *

General facts about the Orca:

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The Orca breaths air and its blood is warm; like seals, dolphins and whales, it comes from the marriage between Tholaina, daughter of Triolina and Hykim, and an unnamed Air God. The Orcas were the favourite children of Tholaina, and she was very proud of them. She gave them much love, and that is why the Mother is so important to the Orcas, and this explains why their social structure is matriarchal.

The Orca, besides of its usual surname of "Killer Whale", is sometimes called "Sea Wolf", "Sea Demon", "The One who Brings Death" or "Black Death" (opposed to the great white shark being called "White Death").

Killer Whales are powerful, strongly built, fast and cunning. Males can grow to lenghts of 9.5 meters and weights of 8 tons or more! Females rarely exceed 7 meters and 4 tons; they are less robust in overall body shapes than males, though known to be wiser. Armed with about fifty teeth each the size of my thumb, they are deadly hunters, fearing no foes except perhaps the most dreadful monsters of Magasta.
They can travel at incredible speeds, reaching 32 knots (36 mph or 58 km/h), and able to maintain that speed long enough to chase down any prey.
One can imagine the effect of a charge: 8 tons hitting the target at 32 knots! No hull can resist. And when Killer Whales charge sharks, hitting them from underneath, they can throw the helpless sharks two meters above the surface...

The teachings of the Cult:

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The Cult of the Orca allows humans to maintain good relationships and fast friendship with the resident pods of Killer Whales living along their coast. The magics of the Cult allows humans to understand and speak the whistled form of Seaspeech used by Cetaceans. Killer Whales offer protection and their great knowledge of the sea, as well as the wisdom of their elders (females can reach eighty years of age).
In return, these fully-intelligent wonderful creatures gain access to shrines and temples of the sea divinities they worship, like Magasta, Triolina and Wachaza. They are said to worship some ancestors as well.

The idea that Killer Whales, because of their usual association with Death, could be sea servants of Humakt seems terribly hypothetical to me. But in the unlikely possibility that there is some truth in it, what then of the undead Killer Whale that can be found in Delecti's swamp?

Fighting against Zabdamars:

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Worshipping Iphara, Goddess of Mist, Zabdamars use mist and fog to ambush human ships, casting spells from under cover, sending spirits and elementals, summoning sea monsters to attack the boats and using white sharks, servants of Drospoly Cold Death, to kill surviving sailors.

This is why humans have great need of orca escorts. Presence of the Killer Whales is sufficient to guarantee safeness to the boats. Relying on their sonar, they can find their foes whatever the visibility in and out of water.
Since Zabdamars magicians have to be within 50m of the ships to cast their spells, they are easy preys for the fast-going, deadly-striking orcas. Faraway sorcerorss can be stunned with long ranged sonar blasts. No undine, whatever its size, can resist the powerful charge of an adult male Killer Whale.
The Orcas then use group tactics to take monsters down, and individual attacks to send sharks back to the abyss.

The Seven Ways of the Hunter, and their teachings:

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What follows is directly taken from the sayings of Thrunhin Da, telling of the hunting tactics of the Killer Whales, and seeking any teaching they can bring to the human hunter.

• Orcas can use sonar blast to stun or kill their preys from far away. Teaching: The Hunter must learn to strike from distance, with spells or harpoons, remaining unseen from its target.
• Orcas push schools of fish against the coast, driving them mad with creepy sounds, using the shape of the sea bed to trap them. Teaching: The Hunter must learn to use his environment.
• Orcas can voluntarily beach, with stunning speed, to seize sea lions resting on the sand, thinking themselves safe. Teaching: The Hunter must learn to strike like the wave: strike fast and withdraw fast, whenever he is not expected.
• Orcas can break huge pieces of ice, with penguins or seals resting on them, and send them drifting away from their colony, thus isolating them and making them easy preys. Teaching: The Hunter must learn to divide to conquer.
• Orcas know how to use their colors to hide in their environment: from above, the black of their back is mistaken with the dark of the abyss, and from underneath, the white of their belly is mistaken with the light of the surface. But a Killer Whale hunting in shallow waters above a white sand knows how to swim upside-down to be mistaken with the sea floor. Teaching: The Hunter must learn that concealment is the key.
• Orcas use group tactics to hunt big preys like whales. They chase it, tire it, harass it, and when the whale is exhausted, a few Killer Whales hang themselves to the whale's lips, to force its mouth open. The leading female then enters in the mouth and devours the tongue, which seems to be the best part. The whale then dies from bleeding. Teaching: The Hunters must learn to use their numbers to strike where the prey is weak.
• Orcas know when a fight should not be fought. Remember Jacknife Scarredfin, who could summon the Strenght of the Sea and turn his teeth into Old Ivory. Yet he failed and died against the Gloomshark. Teaching: The Hunter must learn that some fights cannot be won.
• May Lhankor Mhy protect and bless this document and the knowledge kept within it. *

Yours, Thomas.

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