Apart from the (usually terminal) experience of being robbed by Red Vadeli, the average Genertelan citizen of a major port will encounter three types of Vadeli in somewhat everyday life - Brown Vadeli fishermen, sailors and merchants.
Brown Vadeli fishermen are perhaps the least enigmatic of all Vadeli. While I doubt that they have cordial relations to the native fisherfolk of the various port cities, I expect them to ply their trade in some sort of competition with the more regular fisherfolk.
I see two possible courses the Vadeli enclave fishermen can take: confrontation or evasion into niches unoccupied by the native fisherfolk.
Confrontation will likely result in competition for the best fishing grounds, and using the best magic to attract fish. Native fisherfolk usually will claim that the Vadeli sea harvest is tainted by that magic, so only Vadeli are likely to use the products of their fishing. As long as this is the case, Vadeli fishing might be tolerated or ignored by the natives, but some conflicts are both more likely and lead to More Game Fun if player characters can be drawn into these. For inspiration, check one of the Thieves World stories (IIRC written by Robert Asprin himself) which featured non-fisherfolk battling a giant crab ruining the crab baskets of the fishermen. The co-existence between Beysib and Sanctuary fishermen can provide ideas about Vadeli and natives as well, if one stresses the differences and difficulties. (Otherwise, I tend to think of Waertagi when I use Sanctuary's Beysibs for Refuge in Glorantha...)
Evasion of conflict with the local fisherfolk into niches will result in the
Vadeli eating strange, and often disgusting, seafood. Since this provides an
excellent source of all kind of rumours, it must be true. Vadeli
(non-magical) diet should include jellyfish, squids, crabs, shells, possibly
also worms or multi-legged other chitinous beach-critters, preferredly some
of these eaten alife - especially the crawly or slippery ones.
I am a bit uncertain whether non-Vadeli would consider to purchase seafood from Vadeli sources. The general level of disgust cannot be that bad, after all people buy wares handled by Vadeli merchants, possibly including foodstuff. I believe that the Vadeli fishermen need to sell some of their catches against money or services to non-Vadeli fishermen, and I am not sure whether the local Vadeli merchants and sailors provide enough of a market to provide them with sufficient resources to keep their vessels afloat.
IMO the Vadeli fishermen (BTW, do the Vadeli have separate roles for their males and females?) will catch palatable fish as well, and offer it to non-Vadeli natives. Regardless whether this fish is their main catch or just some by-product of their more exotic catches, this will be the only product they can sell to the natives, so they will rather rarely consume such catches themselves, keeping their diet strange.
There is one problem with the Vadeli immortality and their profession as fishermen, though. Historical statistics give a quite high mortality for fishermen, drowning at an average age of about thirty years in northern Norway (at the excellent fishing grounds of the Lofoten, which were not renowned as extremely dangerous). Why would someone in a profession with that low life expectancy worry about aging?
(Ok, so Glorantha is a magical world, and the fishermen have magical means
to save their lives, but as always there will also be magical hazards which
take another toll on the fishermens' lives, so in the end I feel medieval
numbers can apply to Glorantha conditions.)
And how would a culture which does not believe in any existence after death deal with the regular loss of their members, or facing the imminent loss themselves?
The rumoured production of simulacra (or "clones", as Nick Brooke names them
in a modern term) might be the solution for this dilemma. Maybe the Vadeli
who has made simulacra of himself has a conception of identity which
includes all clone brothers, so as long as at least one of these survives,
he will not have died. This might also account for some daring and bravery
(may I say chuzpah?) the Vadeli showed in dealing with Jrustela and Umathela
after the Closing.
To outward appearances, there seem to be extraordinarily many twins and look-alikes among the Vadeli, but this might be explained by their incestuous ways. For the Vadeli who have produced a clone, there should be some magical ritual to exchange the experiences and memories since the separation of the two bodies, thus reuniting the separate bodies of one individual. Yes, this makes the Vadeli mindset very strange - as it should be, IMO.
There would be Vadeli craftspeople as well in their enclaves, serving only to Vadeli customers. After all, no guildsman can be expected to work steeped in filth, nor would any Vadeli like the sight of non-Vadeli within their private zone. As long as the Vadeli produce is not marketed within the same city, no problems arise with guild laws, unless the referee decides that this would be a fun plot to involve player characters. So, if (Brown) Vadeli crafters exist, they won't be apparent to outsiders.
Vadeli sailors will be a quite normal sight loading and unloading their ships in any port city. Local dockworkers may be suspicious of Vadeli sailors, but unlikely more so than of other outlandish sailors (think Kralori or Pithdaran traders in Maniria). There will be rivalries and minor outbreaks of violence, but usually the Vadeli ought to be bad sport - apologetic in confrontation, and vicious in magical retaliation. A Vadeli curse should be feared on most docksides... a bit like the medieval beggar subculture (which included the executioners at least in continental Europe).
Vadeli merchants are a reliable source for strangenesses and for hard bargains for more usual goods. They will be allowed to outfit market booths at certain days, or they will have shops on the outer perimetre of the enclaves. If there are bazaars, the Vadeli are likely to form clusters rather than distribute among the other traders.
Vadeli merchants come in two categories - miserable sellers of miscellaneous collections of wares, or ultra-wealthy Shylock-clones trading with whatever you can imagine, including interests and other immaterial "wares". These latter will show up unbidden as well as bidden in the better parts of town and politely remind debtors to repay their debts, or face terrible fates the merchants regret not to be able to dispell without proper payment or other redemption first. All of this extortion will be utterly polite, but the magical retaliations will be not so subtle. Tapping is a usual method of claiming in overdue debts, after all other negotiations have failed. The Vadeli lawyers (yes, such must exist to complement the merchants) will usually and truthfully claim oath- (or contract-) breaking as cause of such disfigurements...
The Brown Vadeli may sell their services as sorcerers as well, but (at least in all the major Genertelan port cities I listed having Vadeli enclaves) they will have competition from other sorcerers, e.g. God Forgot types in Kethaela. Whatever services they can offer without competition should be of the disgusting type which gives sorcery such a bad name in many Orlanthi regions.
Thoughts, comments, opinions?
Joerg
End of Glorantha Digest V3 #141
WWW material at http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/rolegame.html
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