>Hello everybody,
>i am nearly a beginner in Gloranthean lore, so can anybody >answer some
questions about those ducks?
>The questions i have are: Where and how do they live? Whom do >they worship?
(Do they have their own pantheon?) Whom do >they serve or do they stand
alone? Thanks a lot in advance for >answering my questions.
>Foggy
Well, Folker, let me tell you up front that I am not a long-time expert myself, yet, but here's what I've read so far:
Ducks are known to have larger communities (several thousands) throughout
Maniria, but may well exist in other lands, as well. All the information I
have on them at this point is strictly limited to the northern continent
Genertela, though. I do not know about the Duck population of Pamaltela, yet.
To my knowledge, Ducks thrive wherever there are decent-size rivers, marshes,
lakes and coastlines. In the official Glorantha sourcebooks, a total of
40,000 Ducks are estimated to live in Maniria in 1621 ST, with 10,000 of
those in Dragon Pass alone.
In my campaign, Ducks always follow the dominant culture of their nearest
human neighbours. Thus, in Sartar and Esrolia, e.g., they are Orlanthi
through & through, and have all the pertaining cults just like the humans.
There are no specific Duck deities that I know of. It's possible that those
are a factor to Ducks who practice shamanism and ancestor worship. The
occasional Duck may convert to Malkionism and practice sorcery. If there were
a steady Duck community within the Lunar Empire, they'd certainly be
Lunarized, and Ducks in Seshnela ought to be pious Rokari (Malkioni). As to
their lifestyle, I assume most Ducks earn a living as fishermen, hunters,
boatmen, swamp guides, or even mercenary warriors. You should check the basic
info in the RuneQuest Creatures Book if you can, and go from there.
BTW, in my campaign, there is a stout Humakti Duck NPC from the Solanthi
River Valley (dangerous as hell with a shortsword and crossbow!), and a rich
old Duck merchant in Noloswal who's made a fortune from the sea trade. I
named him "Dagobertus" (German Disney-readers will get the joke). Ducks will
normally, technically be free clanspeople/citizens in Orlanthi regions, and
follow the respective human king in times of crises, but I'm sure their clans
are ruled by their own Duck chieftains, and villages have either "chiefs" or
burgomasters.
Hope that helps,
Norbert
End of The Glorantha Digest V6 #610
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