David Dunham noted the similarity with Broos:
>Perhaps Red Vadeli can only mate once (like a male bee -- entomologists
>please correct me). Perhaps they cannot mate while the Red Claw spell is in
>effect. Perhaps they can only create offspring by sacrificing something of
>themselves (thus to have a POW 10 kid, they have to sacrifice 10 POW). But
>let's not have them as hornless red broos.
Hmmm, I see your point and to be honest, I hadn't looked at it from that angle.
The resemblance to Broo is superficial though because Broo rape to twist their fertility to increase their race. A gift from Ragnaglar.
The Red Vadeli rape as a means of _accessing_ suffering to give them the virility to reproduce. That reproductive act is born of suffering, hence the child they produce is born a Red, wanting to enact suffering.
Just because one race uses rape it seems too rigid to deny any other race the use of what must be powerful fertility twisitng magics, if of a different source and intent. Red Vadeli are entirely different to Broo. They don't hate themselves and therefore wage war on everyone as does chaos, they hate everyone and wage war on them themselves.
MOB
>Martin Laurie:
>Various comments have been made about the Red Videli. I played one as
>a Lunar recruit in MOBs Rune Metal Jacket run by Neil Robinson in May
>at the Seattle Mini-Con. He'd been shipwrecked, lost his memory and the
>poor lunars thought his Red Skin indicated some kind of holy status.
>Big mistake.
>(Please, this is a good-natured dig, but why does it not surprise me to
>learn Martin played a Red Vadeli?)
Is there some sort of implication here that I like playing heartless, cruel killers who love to torture, slay, maim and sniff the sounds of suffering as if smelling a summer breeze? If so, you are absolutely right. How did you know????
>Anyway, the play of the character set me thinking about them and here's a
>few things I concluded:
>Martin goes on to provide us with WAY TOO MUCH INFORMATION about the
>loathsome practices of the Red Vadeli, which nontheless has a
>good Gloranthan feel to it.
Why thank you but how can there be too much information?
>>Being a Red Videli is simply a matter of having a twisted soul.
>Not sure if I go along with this though. I think Red Vadeli are born
>(and must have Red Vadeli parents), not created (like vampires).
Well they are born, not created. Its just that they are born of suffering and torture, weaned on blood and sacrifice and as sociologists would put it, "This has produced a negative effect on their socialisation".
They are mostly human but have been magically altered to remove all sense of affection, consideration and caring for others. This loss has strengthened their "id" massively. A good example of a fictional Red Vadeli would be Mr Jekyl. A man formed of evil incarnate, super strong, fast, vicious and malevolent but still human in form.
You know how people say that dogs resemble their owners? I think in Glorantha people can resemble their souls if the passion within them is extreme enough. This is what all the Vadeli have done, they have split their race into castes, each of which represent one extreme form of human emotion and function.
The Brown Vadeli are the focus of sly cunning, conniving and subterfuge with a smile. (Hence their Shitty skin colour)
The Blue Vadeli are the focus of cold intellect, amoral genius and a ruthlessness that grinds its opponents to dust with the same feeling as a glacier. (The link with Zzabur is obvious here)
The Red Vadeli are the focus of raw aggression, unbridled hate, ripping torture and unsuprassed violence. (The link with the Red of war is obvious. Perhaps the Reds look at Shargash/Tolat as their planet of prophecy?)
>>I also believe that unlike the other castes, there are no female Red Videli.
>I have already speculated on the rumoured vile reproductive methods of the
>Browns. I like the idea that they are as close to human-looking as
>possible (with perhaps a curious lump of latex on their foreheads like in
>Star Drek), because this makes their various abominable practices closer to
>home and therefore even more repellant to right-thinking people.
>I guess there should be both male and female Browns then. Just make sure
>you don't get asked over to dinner at Mr and Mrs Abdelcar's...
I think they are human. Whats worse, I thnk that an ordinary human could become Vadeli is sufficiently evil enough and if allowed to enter the rituals to do so. I suspec tthis has already happened. I think this is another reason why the Vadeli cannot be wiped out as long as someone knows some of the rituals to create their castes.
>BTW, do Gloranthans yet realise the Browns and Reds are of the same vile race?
>There is little to suggest they are kin, except that Brown Ships are never
>attacked by the fearsome Red Pirates. Maybe the clue is despite the
>difference in skin colour, both have the same weird brows?
I don't think anyone knows yet. The Browns with their trading connections are the people who give the Reds the information to enable them to catch their prey easily. Somewhere in the background, the Blues coordinate with implacable patience.
If you want to identify a Vadeli, find a guy with a weird skin colour who is absolutely unpleasant and the chances are you've met one. Its unlikely that many people will have worked this out though.
Graeme Willoughby writes:
>It says (in part) that the RED is vulnerable to kindness and love.
>Since "love" is such a general word as to be almost meaningless and
>includes in its spectrum of meanings such "negative" feelings as
>jealousy, covetousness and rapacousness
Rapaciousness? Thats the bit the Reds like. By love I was meaning an act of consideration that was selfness, done for the individual. Egif a Red Vadeli was in a coma and his Chalana Arroy nurse fell in love with his unconcious form and attended to him endlessly she would doubtless be bemused as to the reason why he thrashed so in his sleep and seemed to fade and die no matter how often her ministrations, no matter how considerate her care........
>I'm sure that a Red Videli would never set foot in certain hamburger
>joints - all the "have a nice day"s would kill him in about 3 mins.
Only if he was chained down. eg
Server at McDonalds: "Hello sir, what drink would you like with your combo?" Red Vadeli as he rams a dagger through her head: "Blood."
Martin Laurie
Graeme
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