Re: social promotion

From: Martin Crim <MCrim_at_...>
Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 13:53:06 -0500


At 12:10 PM 02/18/2000 -0500, Douglas Seay wrote:
>IIRC there is a clan in the 1600s that worships Argan
>Argar instead of Issaries, so why not be slack on strictly ancestors
>too?

There's one "now" (in the 1300's) too. Or at least, in all of the games I've seen.

I agree with someone's suggestion of an adoption ceremony. Clearly, the concept of "ancestor" is not biological but social. This is not unknown around the world. I read a quite good fantasy novel set in China (can't recall title, alas) where the protagonist was searching for the spirit of her father's wife, who was the protagonist's social mother.

BUT,
I disagree with the theory that god-talkers are just called by the gods and there's nothing we can do about it. We clans tell the gods all the time what we need and they sometimes deliver. Why not be able to sacrifice to Elmal, say, and ask for a god-talker? Isn't that as reasonable as getting one of his blessings? Or recruit, the way one tries to recruit other specialists, with a possibility of failure. Either way, I see it consuming an action, possibly involving a sacrifice. Heck, an event where you had the option to sacrifice and get some more god-talkers would be an improvement over the haphazard but gradual decline in the numbers of god-talkers. (Eonislara says that we are dangerously short of god-talkers.  "Soon, we may not be able to form a ring represeting seven different gods any more!" Do you:

  1. Ignore her,
  2. Sacrifice to the gods to send you some god-talkers,
  3. Try to recruit from your relatives in Heortland, etc.)

I don't see how that gradual decline in nobles is a feature; frankly, it's a bug, and I'm trying to suggest some solutions that might be technically workable and maybe get into the next version (if there IS one).

--Martin

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