Trickster

From: Stephen P Martin <ilium_at_juno.com>
Date: Sun, 05 Jan 1997 03:05:22 EST

<PMichaels_at_aol.com>
Tricksters
>
>Stephen, are you really considering a "HeroQuest Sneak
>Preview" written over 18 years ago, where the forms of
>trickster are not much more than a d6 chart to see what shape
>you trade riddles with, as the gospel for understanding
>trickster in Praxian society? If so, please reconsider.
>Besides, the Trickster Form chart has Coyote, not Hyena. Nor
>does it have Rattlesnake.
>

No, I am not taking it as gospel. However, it seems an appropriate place to begin. The chart has coyote, true, but Hyena seems close enough to me to accept this. Raven is on it. It has a Frog or Toad on it (I don't recall which). As neither of these seems appropriate (nobody seems willing to accept that Frog Woman is a trickster!), Rattlesnake seemed appropriate.

If you think these are bad assumptions, can you give me some better ones? We know Raven is a trickster, and I think few people would deny that Hyena is. Little Brother is obviously one as well, given the few times he has appeared.

>Below are my working ideas for Trickster among the Elder
>Races. I know some of them are probably going to cause a bit
>of a stir, and I'm willing to be convinced differently if you can
>explain to me what YOU think Trickster represents to the
>trolls/elves/dwarves and what socio-cultural effect he has or
>function he serves.
>

I'm not sure the dwarves _have_ tricksters. Anyone acting foolishly would be considered to be broken, and would be sent for repair or recycling.

Can you also give me help with Prax, as that is the more immediate need? You seem to have devoted a lot of thought to this. A one-page article about the forms of Trickster in Prax would be most welcome.

>Uz: (I note that the name and the inspiration for Sacry Monster
>came from Paul Reilly in a long ago RQDaily discussion)
>
>Scary Monster is an incarnation of the Fright, Truant, Glutton,
>and Destroyer aspects of the Trickster.
>

Is it your contention that the trolls only have a single trickster figure? I find this difficult to believe. Even the Orlanthi do not recognize Eurmal as their only trickster, though he has been popularized among the RQ crowd because of his importance to the LB Quest.
>_____
>Aldryami:
>
>Panmal is an incarnation of the Imp, Shapechanger, Sexual
>Insatiate, Destroyer, and Cultural Hero aspects of the
>Trickster.
>

Again, I have a hard time accepting a single trickster figure for the elves. And, like with the dwarves, I am not at all sure the elves even have a trickster. If an elf is not part of aldryami, if he is rootless, he will worship an acceptable cult, or he will wither and die. In the extreme case, he will become an enemy, like Saw-Tooth Korvan. I have a hard time believing that any intelligent plants would have any need or use for a trickster figure.

I also don't think trickster's role is always to teach by negative example. Eurmal often is important for what he _does_, not what his bad actions teach us. Sure, maybe he is a trickster with a conscious, but _all_ terrestrial tricksters I know of have this aspect.

Stephen Martin
ilium_at_juno.com

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