Re: resources

From: Peter Larsen <plarsen_at_nIOc5_QjCNGS_fQBVASQhg4QY0M2fMqnY95p05HA13R3PvlX_xw26_9rnl-XmY2dwlSS>
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2002 13:17:32 -0600


At 5:18 PM +0000 2/22/02, BEThexton wrote:

>I think they have their "household gods", the little statues or wood
>carvings or whatever that they make routine sacrifices at. But these
>wouldn't be shrines proper. So for most ceremonies they'd travel to
>the chief's stead where the majority of the shrines and temples lie.
>I'd guess that it is a couple of hours walk up the track. (much like
>people trecking into town to go to church each week).

        This seems more likely to me, too.

>However, it isn't impossible that a minor shrine would be at or near
>this stead, if it was the specialist within the clan or there
>happened to be a holy place near there. For instance, perhaps this
>is _the_ fishing spot for the clan, so there is a shrine to Poverri.
>(not saying we should have that, just an example of one
>possibility). When others wanted to worship at that shring, they'd
>have to come to this stead.

        That seems fair. Is this likely? Can we just say -- there is a shrine near the stead. A holy person lives there. A sample possibility:

  1. The Thunder Oak -- tended by a Hedkoranth devotee, this is the best place in the tula for Storm magics. All male stead members have Sling 12 and get to add 1 to their Storm or Rain magic, if any. The stead produces an unusually high number of Orlanth Thunderous worshippers. It also gains prestige and goods from the many visitors to the shrine.

        We could list 3-4 similar options, for a modular stead.

>I think most steads' surplus, if any, is mostly food, and is counted
>into the clan's totals. The real specialist crafters are apt to be
>at the chief's steading. Which isn't to say that there can't be a
>gifted amateur or two "It just hasn't been the same since Aunie Brega
>died, her pots were just as good as Rana's down at the Chief's stead,
>even if they weren't quite so fancy."

        I disagree. I think this is true for some vital resources (the Bonesmiths, eg), but many (if not most) steads should have some sort of economic advantage/speciality. Concentrating all the resources at the Chief's stead is a little centralized for the Heortlings. Besides, that means if you are devoted to Pella, for example, you'll have to leave home and go elsewhere. Then when you get married, will you join your husband's stead, but live at the Chief's? The clan shouldn't be skimming all the cream off every stead. Some steads will have better herds and give that to the clan, some will have the best weavers and provide cloth instead of cows. Some will have great sheep, good pots, and special trees, and they will prosper more than the other steads.

>However I agree that some of the natural resources of the tula are
>apt to be nearest this stead, just by random distribution (although
>the chief's stead is apt to be near the most valuable resources, and
>resources near there are most apt to have been fully developed).

        Great ideas, all of them.

Peter Larsen            

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