Re: Why Hsunchen are Losers

From: Sandy Petersen <sandyp_at_idgecko.idsoftware.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 96 20:33:05 -0600


Peter Metcalfe
>A Shaman is just as powerful as the Sorcerer or the Priest.

        But he is not as useful or acceptable in a culture based on towns, or other civilized usage. Shamans are unreliable, not readily subject to control by centralized authority, and exceedingly regional-based. Take a shaman away from his homeland and the spirits he knows, and he is far weaker than a priest, who in turn is weaker than a sorcerer (whose magic is pretty much effective everywhere).

>I would have thought it was the capacity of other cultures to
outnumber the >hsunchen by means of agricultural technology.

        I think you are seeing Hsunchen decline from a slightly misleading perspective. The Hsunchen don't decline because they are destroyed and cut back by their expanding neighbors ... er, well, they do, but this isn't the primary, or even a major cause of their vanishing. Instead, the Hsunchen vanish because they cease being Hsunchen. They adopt agricultural ways, their religions become more formal. Priests replace shamans, nobles replace chieftains, professional warriors make their appearance. In a century or two, the Hsunchen are gone.

        What happened to the once-dominant Basmoli of Ralios? They weren't exterminated by the Malkioni. Today, they _are_ the Malkioni.

>Given that the wicked farmers have evil geniuses among them who
invent things >like iron weaponry, mounted warriors, decent armour and forts, the long term >prognosis of the dominance of the hunter-gatherer Hsunchen is not good.

        What are you saying? All we need to do is to buy their iron weaponry for ourselves. Of course, that means we'll need to barter animal hides at the trading post. And perhaps we should teach some of our youth to make their _own_ iron and bronze weaponry. Of course, they'll need a fixed town-like site to set up their smithies, and teach their apprentices. Maybe some farmers to feed them. And we can build our own forts easily enough. We'll need more farmers to keep the garrisons and builders fed.

        Hey presto! Two generations later, the Hsunchen are indistinguishable from the wicked farmers. Except that the noble Pig Totem is prominent in their townships.

>The other Hsunchen live in regions which are remote from civilized
areas >(Upland Fronela) or in rough areas which the farmers do not see as desirable >(Shan Shan Mountains).

        Yes. Since these places are hard to farm and build towns in, the Hsunchen who happened to live here have not converted.

Sandy P.


End of Glorantha Digest V2 #443


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