My own belief is that few human Praxians consume herd-man with relish. Here are my reasons, which to me are quite cogent:
>mightn't a starving Praxian be considerably *more* likely than
anyone on Earth >to butcher and consume parts of a handy corpse in
order to survive in the >desolate Wastes?
Absolutely. My point is that, though a Praxian may have to be considerably less hungry than an Orlanthi before he'll take to stiffburgers, it is still not his meal of choice, and is engaged in with some distaste. Most Praxians would rather eat lizards.
>Another question: is the Cannibal Cult a cult, or a tribe? Are
they born, or do
>they "recruit".
Both, IMO. But most of them are born to the cult.
>I'm trying to sort out whether the morokanth (following the Way of
Waha) are >really *that* much more likely to eat real humans than
other (human) Praxian >tribesmen. After all, their dominant cult
tells them not to.
I maintain that the Morocanth interpretation of the Way of Waha is that they should not hunt humans for food. This doesn't forbid them eating humans out of necessity, cruelty, revenge, or indolence. IMO, a morocanth eating a human when there is no exigency to do so is reprimanded by the Waha priests, but not harshly. Certainly he doesn't rate a visit by Borabo Nightmare.
>As I write this, I'm suddenly aware that I know almost nothing
about how Sword
>Brothers and the like are in fact organised, recruited, etc... any
hints?
My guess is like Amerind societies, except that they normally spread intertribally. I believe that you join the Sword Brothers (say) by being recommended by your father or a close friend, that you must pass an initiation test (of which you may be totally unaware at the time you are undertaking it), an induction ceremony, and that you then get the secret handshake and decoder ring.
Martin Kelly
> If we knew cows could think, feel, write poetry, love,
philosophise and >otherwise be 'like us' I think eating them would
be out of the questions.
Not if we were trolls, morocanth, ogres, giants, tusk riders, or mermen.
>In addition, (IMG) eating the flesh of a sentient being is
universally taboo
>amongst cultures other than Trolls
Sorry, Martin. You've earned a *Pshaw*. What possible statement anywhere in any Gloranthan writing indicates this? For that matter, why is this assumed to be the norm even on Earth? We have few examples of recognizably sentient beings other than our own species, but those few examples get fed on regularly.
Recent studies have demonstrated that the intelligence of corvids (jays, crows, ravens) is quite remarkable -- better than many mammals, and includes a huge amount of non-stereotyped behavior. In the middle ages, they were believed to be practically human in intelligence (and now we are finding that this may well be true). Yet crows were eaten.
Indonesians and Congolese think of Orangutans and Chimpanzees as "men of the forest", yet hunt and eat them for food.
A close (Western) friend of mine who has lived in Japan for many years tells me that whale and dolphin meat is quite tasty (I wouldn't eat it myself, but I'd avoid the flesh of a great ape, too). I was a bit surprised when he mentioned off-handedly that he'd eaten it.
Homo Erectus was a known cannibal (I admit this might possibly have been a burial ritual, not "true" cannibalism.) Robust and gracile Australopithecines seem to have been contemporaries, and some paleontologists of my acquaintance surmise that the gracile A. fed upon the robust type.
>Waha cultists who knowingly violate the pact of the Eaters and the
>Eaten by canibalism are apostate, with no recourse.
This is nonsense. The pact of the Eaters and the Eaten does not forbid the adherents to feed on nothing else. People can eat plants, and do. They are also permitted to eat animals who were NOT part of Waha's Contest, such as jackrabbits, honey ants, ostriches, sand quail, lizards, snakes, bats, fish, dogs, and scorpions. (I believe that they are forbidden the flesh of hyenas and horses.)
>To vilify the Morokanth, to provide an enemy which is 'other' and can be
>hated and feared without rationale, *then* I can see the point in having
>them be 'true' villains.
I don't see the morocanth as villains in the slightest, despite their periodic eating of humankind. They don't eat humans regularly, nor do they seek out humans as food. They are not any more cruel than the other Praxian tribes, who engage in slavery, infanticide, geronticide, casual murder, ritual torture, and human sacrifice. BUT they are cruel in a different way than the other tribes -- a non-human, not immediately understandable way.
The morocanth in my game are frightening, potentially malign, and savage, but they are not now and have never been "villains". The "they're not bad, just misunderstood" motif is hackneyed beyond belief, and I would sooner run a campaign of Chivalry & Sorcery than insert it in the morocanth, one of my very favorite races.
>I however see much more roleplaying potential in having a race which is
>hated because it is misunderstood,
And I see even _more_ potential in having a race that is hated, about whom all the tales are perfectly true, and _then_ letting the players come to a knowledge that the morocanth attitude towards life and the world makes perfect sense, is viable, and that they are not an evil race, doing evil deeds for dark reasons, but simply a species trying to survive in a particularly harsh environment.
Sandy P.
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