Most felines are solitary. Hunting with a cat would be dull. (Wait six hours while it waits for a deer to come down the trail... make the pounce and miss. Oh, well, try again tomorrow.) Dogs are far superior at group hunting, because they cooperatively chase and direct prey. (This same behavior is used in herding.) This works well, because humans are also social, cooperative hunters. The two have a natural alliance. Hunting with humans, all dogs need do is get the prey within missile weapon range. Easy, compared to finding, surprising, and defeating a large animal in single combat.
Now, if you _really_ must have hunting alynxes, make them cooperative, social felines, like lions. Or perhaps alynx band together to keep safe from dogs and other predators. (In my neighborhood in urban Seattle, the stray cat population is held in check by coyotes.)
CATSEYE: I am aghast at all those who actually suggested that Yelmalio (a grandson of Dayzatar himself) would steal anything from anybody. (Only a true Orlanthi would immediately jump to such a conclusion <duck>). Yelmalio could have recieved the Catseye ability as a dying gift from his half-brother Basimal of the Firey Mane, even as Basimal fell defending the people during the Darkness. Or perhaps he holds it as a natural gift from his father - as a reflection of his faith that Yelm would return.
Maybe Yinkin stole Catseye from Elmal - or inherited it somehow from Basmol. Dogs, horses, raccoons, and a lot of other animals also see quite well in the dark. Perhaps Hykim & Mykih gave the gift to all their children.
DEVILLE: I like the Deville stories - I appreciate all the fiction posted about Glorantha. I also find the depictions of other Pavisites (Sor-Eel, Radak, the BlackFangers) quite entertaining, and helpful for fleshing out my own NPC's in Pavis. I also appreciate the discussion on motives and charcter it (or any fiction) can bring to the Daily. Keep it up. More! Others too!
Pam
Double life? Inside the stead, every alynx is a dependant kitten. Once it goes out the door (or through the wind-eye), it becomes completely wild and utterly self-sufficient. Wild in the wild, tame in the stead. Intimate yet independent. An alynx has two views of itself: completely human and completely feline (this bi-species mentality is doubtless the source of Yinkin's unique gifts of perception - the link between realms, between species, between cults).
A domesticated alynx sees humans as pseudo-parents. Humans provide food - which is pretty amazing, because they are obviously lousy hunters. Hence a alynx will often bring prey to the stead door - birds, rats, small trollkin
Which is about all you'll ever get out of an alynx.
On Earth, cats have been domesticated for around 9,000 years - the earliest archeological evidence comes from Jericho - which just happens to be one of our oldest cities. There was no mutual interest until humans built dwellings and granaries large enough to attract rats. (Contrast this with dogs, whose relationship with humans extends back to the hunting days of the paleolithic). The Egyptians used cats as temple guards - one of the few instances of humans getting anything useful out of the beasts (unless you count the use of mummified cats as fertiliser). The cult of the cat goddess
Alynxes are individuals - which is also a bit of an Orlanthi thing. Unlike dogs, they have no 'group' or 'pack' loyalty. They are solitary stalkers. This is why they are useless in communal activities like hunting or herding.
(An allied Alynx might stalk game for you. IF it felt like it. MAYBE.)
For this reason I like Michael's idea of Yinkini as scouts. In my campaign at least, the Odaylans are a pretty chummy bunch. Solitary types are more likely to follow Yinkin, completely absorbed in their own lives and goals. Never expect a Yinkini (or an alynx) to help you 'for the good of the clan'.
Other themes worth exploring: a reputation for casual cruelty, constant grooming, psychic perceptions (whiskers), an abilty to predict earthquakes, always finding ones way home, an abilty to always land on ones feet, and a reputation for loud orgiastic sexuality. Which is a fine combination of 'earth' and 'air' characteristics: very fitting for an animal that has come to symbolise the stead.
I once hit Greg with the possibility of cat hsunchen still existing around Far Point, but he thought it "too close to civilisation". If I remember correctly, he also dropped the tidbit that most Orlanthi were originally cattle hsunchen. Of course, since the half-beasts escaped from the Youf zoos, you can find small groups of just about anything in the wilder parts of Dragon Pass.
However, I really liked Michael's explanation of Yinkini on Kero Finn. Noted and added to my list of the myriad mysteries of the sacred mountain.
Martin:
> Here's the Levi-Straussian structure for Orlanthi: Cats are Inside
(the
>stead), Dogs are Outside.
Or a tad more formally:
CAT: INSIDE: STEAD: INDIVIDUAL: FEMININE: PERCEPTION: ARROGANCE :: DOG: OUTSIDE: FIELD: GROUP: MASCULINE: COOPERATION: GRATITUDE Cheers
John
... a flying arrow, a crashing wave, night old ice, a coiled snake, a bride's bed talk, a broken sword, the play of bears, a king's son.
Havamal 86.
An
East Isles myth says that humans were created last of the mortal races,
by the storm gods. But since the storm gods are incompetent klutzes they
botched the whole thing so that gods from all the other elements had to
intervene and patch the creation. That's what makes humans unique, and
nowadays the dominant race: they have the truth and vision of the Sky,
the fertility and bounty of the Earth, the strength and flexibility of
the Sea, the hunger and craving for more of Darkness and the impatience
and penchant to dabble in things they shouldn't touch of Storm.
Nils W | Here we are!Office: niwe_at_einku.ericsson.se | We sail on a ship made of dreams. Home: nilsw_at_ibm.net
End of Glorantha Digest V2 #306
WWW material at http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/rolegame.html
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