Anyway, the play of the character set me thinking about them and here's a few things I concluded:
Red Videli don't eat their children to keep immortality, at least not much or not after the end of the closing.
I think that different castes of Videli have access to different immortality rites which require different sacrifices. The Browns do eat their kids as do the Blues. The Reds don't.
For the Reds things are different. While in a condition of stagnation when trapped on their islands, I think they did eat their children to maintain their warrior elite and to keep down the population pressures inevitable in such a closed environment full of insanely competitive people.
Now, however, they are loose and unlike the less warlike Brown Videli, the Reds have gained the ability to both strengthen themselves and prolong their lives by causing suffering and death. In addition to the normal Tap spells with which every Red is always equipped, they have access to the Red Videli special spell:
Tap Suffering (AKA as "The Red Claw" or the "The Vigour of Pain" or "Death's
Sweet Kiss" or "The Rape of the Soul" etc): Taught to all Reds as soon as they
can talk.
Temporal, Passive.
This is an unusual spell as the Red casts it on himself prior to battle or a session of torture. Many have it prolonged for years. While this spell is in effect, the Red benefits by the suffering he causes others including wounding or killing in battle or torture, whether physical or mental.
While the spell lasts the recipient gains the following benfits:
Each hit point of damage they do in combat gives them 1 hour of extra life.
Each hour of sucessful torture (Torture skill roll sucess needed) gives them 1 Day of extra life.
Each Death in battle gives them a point of either STR, CON or DEX to be applied to any of those stats. These points are cumulative and last for as long as the spell does. The limit is twice the Reds initial characteristic (so if he started with STR 18 and kills 18 men in battle then he can be STR 36!!). OR 1 Week of extra life.
Each Death by Torture Gives the Red one point of POW for every 6 (rounding down) the vicitm had, However a sucessful torture roll must be made per point of POW the victim has to get this benefit (This is a highly ritual event and takes a minimum of an hour per point of the vicitms POW). Or one Season of Extra life.
Each act of Rape (irregardless of the sex of the vicitm) gives the Red the ability to impregnate a woman (Note Reds are sterile unless they use this spell and rape someone). This is the only way they can increase their race. On thier home islands, they have a large stock of slaves that they rape constantly.
Conversely while this spell is running the Red is extremely vulnerable to kindness and love.
For each kind word spoken to the Red subtract 1 hour of life.
For each act of selfnessness performed for the Red subtract 1week of life and one random stat from STR, CON or DEX.
For each act of forgiveness perfomed by a victim of a Reds torture ritual subtract 1 POW from the Red and 1 Season of life.
For each act of willing sex performed by a Reds vicitm subtract 1 POW.
Note: Red Videli have had some unfortunate experiences with Chalana Arroy healers who persist in forgiving their tormentors and thus damage them severely. All white robe folk are killed on sight by Reds, preferably with missile weapons so they can't hear them being forgiving to them. Likewise the despise Uleria worshippers.
Red Videli cultivate their foes hatred actively. They commit atrocities against them knowing that they will hate them. This is good because they gain life from their hatred. What they fear most is love and kindness and will avoid this at _all_ costs.
Cannibalism:
Red Videli also eat thier enemies (everyone else in the whole world) to use thier strength against them. They like to subdue particularily tough and worthy foes to feast on them slowly to suck away their power and boost themselves. I would suggest a sorcery variant on the Hungry Ghosts ritual but I haven't got it with me so perhaps I'll post it later.
Combat Tactics:
Experienced Red Warriors are usually extremely dangerous and lead any assault. The form the tip of the wedge in the attack to break the enemies best and leave the rest for the less experienced Videli to kill to boost themselves even further.
No Red is even let out until he has killed is the slave rings at least a dozen salve warriors and tortured many more hence the ones met in combat are truly lethal.
They often fight to disable too. Disarming or hitting limbs of particularily brave foes to save them for later. When sacking a town they prefer to keep captured families together so that they get the double benefit of being abile to rape each family member while the others watch thereby reaping the rewards of multiple suffering.
THE SECRET OF THE RED VIDELI Everyone thought they were dead or didn't exist anymore, before the opnening that is. This is almost true but they are really not a people as such, more of an idea or a ritual.
I also believe that unlike the other castes, there are no female Red Videli.
Red Videli are born of _any_ human mother but are fostered by rape and ritual suffering. Before conception they are twisted. Before birth they are ready to kill and maim. They truly are Natural Born Killers.
Being a Red Videli is simply a matter of having a twisted soul. In a way this is like a vampire but unlike a vampire they don't drain their vicitims souls to live, they drain the suffering around them and caused by them to further their own existance. They are a parasitic lifeform. They have no culture nor cares except the creation of suffering and the furthering of suffering.
The Red Videli homelands are full of captured slaves who give birth to an ever increasing army of Reds. They are a self perpetuating plague of insane evil and will only grow stronger because just like the KoW they tap into a part of the primal mortal soul that will never dissappear.
The KoW feeds on War
The Red Videli feed on Suffering
If the two groups ever meet over a few beers and get pally, watch out Glorantha, Armageddon is here.
Martin Laurie
Powered by hypermail