[I've also posted this to the digest, where it is far more pertinent, and it's no doubt best and proper to reply in any depth to it there. But hey, there's a fun link, and it's also diverting for newcomers, so I put it here, too. I have resisted suggesting that we form a separate duck message list]
First off, aside from the general levels of humour which accompany posts of this nature, this is meant to be serious. Well, kind of. Mostly.
I'm rather a newcomer to Glorantha, so please forgive the rather small knowledge base, here (ironically, when I was one of those 'oh so serious' roleplayers, one of the things that kept me away was the ducks... but now I'm mature and sensible!)... but basically a couple of us are doing a bit of work in setting up a Gloranthan campaign setting, and were wondering about the inclusion, and proper development, of Durulz communities. I understand that little has been published recently on the Durulz; there may be a considerable amount of info in the RuneQuest canon, but sadly a lot of that lies outside my ken.
I'd therefore appreciate any pointers or help that people can give me on our fine feathered friends: be it directions to published works, or even campaign ideas that people have instituted themselves. We're quite rigorous in designing these things, so are looking for all manner of info that could help us colour our Durulz communities. It's a lot easier for people to laugh at them and treat them as a joke if they're just a transparent comedy race. Sure funny is fine, and good for the game, but we want to include communities and characters which/whom are a little more appreciated. There, I managed to say that with a straight face.
For example, I understand that there are Durulz in the east, where they are called Keets. And presumably these differ in some moderate way from their cousins around the Upland Marshes. In designing Durulz, have any pointers been taken from our real world ecology and species? Mallards versus eiders?
Obviously, Durulz have arms, are bigger and can talk (after a fwashion). Therefore definitions of, and differences between, real world surface-feeding, bay, Merganser and stiff-tail breeds are not necessarily going to apply to their Gloranthan counterparts. But they do offer some design ideas.
The title is a point in question. Do all ducks 'quack'? Surprisingly, not all do. For example, the Long-Tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) emits a 'yodelling whistle'*.
For help in better roleplaying Durulz, check out the following link (just navigate towards 'D' and 'Ducks'):
http://www.junglewalk.com/frames.asp
For a high pitched Sid James (Sir Sidney Rufffeather), I particularly like:
http://www.junglewalk.com/popup.asp?type=a&AnimalAudioID=683
Beyond considerations of species, what about sex? Whoah!... not like that! I mean differences between ducks and drakes? Male mallards possess a rather nice dark green head. Which is a lot cooler than the first image which players generally first jump to, which is Daffy or Donald.
Best wishes,
Stu.
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