Re: intelligent animals & Theism

From: Sandy Petersen <sandyp_at_idgecko.idsoftware.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Sep 96 16:51:10 -0500


Ian Gorlick
>Those intelligent otters make me worry about other possibilities. An
>intelligent otter might be a destructive prankster but an
>intelligent marten or fisher would be a threat to lots of livestock
>and an intelligent wolverine would be a deadly threat to humans. Got
>any of those up in the hills?

        Remember that the intelligent otters are also gigantic in size -- up to a 50k or even more.

        Greg has posited, and I concur, that every species of creature in Glorantha has occasional fully-intelligent and/or more magical members. More rare with some species than others.

WOLVERINES IN GLORANTHA: their obvious habitat is North Pent, the Kingdom of Ignorance, Fronela, Erigia, Redlands, the Blue Moon Plateau, etc.. They're not particularly a mountain animal, so I doubt they inhabit the southern Rockwoods. And I'm sure that certain areas have their legends of intelligent skunk-bears. My theory is that there have to be tribes of Wolverine hsunchen in the KoI and Fronela, both. But not very numerous, one hopes.

Peter M.

>Maniria Is 90 to 95% theistic IMO. The remainder are the Rokari in
>Heortland and the Marcher Barons as well as the People Whom God
>Forgot.

        I believe that much of Wenelia is inhabited by shamanic cultures, though they are also Orlanthi. I.e., an Orlanth-equivalent is worshiped in a shamanic manner. And I also believe that the border between shamanism and theism rather tends to break down here. Finally, Pralorela is still inhabited by numbers of deer-people, who are most definitely non-theistic.

        There's also the question as to whether trolls or elves can really be considered "theists".

Sandy


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