Mr. Bean wrote:
>I was wondering why did the 13 Broo suddenly decide to give up their
successful raiding efforts
>agains isolated clan members and go off and attack the whole Varmandi clan
in one place ? Just >because a bunch of humans decided to do a ritual and
sack some MP's ? I assume they died horribly.
Yes, the thirteen Broo died howwibly howwibly. [end of Rowan Atkinson references]
>So what made them do such a stupid thing ? Was it a case of group MPs
>versus group MPs or what ? I'm quite interested in trying to udnerstand
>how one groups rituals can affect another group who have no connection
>to the original group.
There are several ways to approach this issue, but I suppose I'll just give you my own. For those of you who follow Korol's Saga, there is kinstrife within the House of Malan. Erland, son of Malan, killed Chief Frohdi Greydog, husband of Lismelder, daughter of Malan. This generated, in lay-man's terms, bad ju-ju. For the purposes of the story (and in lines with my mythic conceptions of the role of chaos in Orlanthi culture) - this kinstrife was physically manifested by the culturally symbol of kinstrife - ie., chaos.
As far as I (as the GM and Story Teller) was concerned there was no band of broo around Ormsthane Vale until Erland killed Frohdi. I mean maybe there were, maybe there weren't - but their existence was irrelevant. Kinstrife occured within a tribe's royal house and then there were broo. I wanted my players to understand the relationship.
So, then the hapless Varmandi were faced with broo destroying their primary source of wealth and generally throwing the clan into a panic. Like usual, I hadn't the foggiest idea how the PC's (who make up most of the clan council) would deal with the issue. Not surprisingly, the players decided to deal with the problem mythically. Heorl and Vargast both remembered that Orlanth and his kin had rituals that could Summon Evil, so that they could defeat it.
The clan found a scapegoat to make thirteen ritual figures to represent the broo - then, they ceremonial expelled the scapegoat from the clan since they were worried about any pollution they scapegoat may have contacted. Every member of the clan gathered around the thirteen figures and began chanting the songs of power that Heorl, the clan's godi, taught them. Players put magic points into the ceremony (up to the player -I think somewhere between 3 and 5), but THERE WAS NO GAME MECHANIC. I figured that as long as the clan put more magic points up than their foes had that the ceremony would work (Heorl definitely made his ritual roll). Voila, the broo found themselves participating in an Orlanthi ritual - and not in a very desirable role.
Pretty simple actually. This sort of stuff occurs all the time in my campaign. PC's cast outsiders into roles so that they can mythically understand a situation - outsiders cast PC's into roles so that they can be mythically understood. That's life amongst the Heortlings of the 1350s, and probably is still the same two and a half centuries later. I am very fortunate that I have players like Pam Carlson, David Dunham, Dave Pearton and Neil Robinson who are VERY familiar with King of Sartar, not to mention Gloranthan and terrestial mythology. As a result myth and storyline combine into a fairly seamless whole.
As for the broo's motivation, frankly I could care less. I am glad that there are those people who flesh out the non-human POV, or the chaos monster POV, or the small bit of shrubbery POV. But in the Taming of Dragon Pass campaign - there is only the Heortling POV. Everything else is foreign and will be translated by the players (and NPCs) into the Heortling POV. While we are on the subject of myths, I'd like to tip my hat to Martin Laurie and David Hall regarding the God Learner Monomyth. IMHO, the GL Monomyth that we all learned in GoG and RQ2 is not even particularly Jrusteli. I suspect that it is an interpretation of the Jrusteli monomyth preserved by the grey-bearded sages of Nochet. I don't use it for the Heortling settlers in Quiviniland.
Further kudos to Alex Ferguson regarding Associated Cults. Increasingly, I am of the opinion that the very rigid initiatory status described in RQ2 and RQ3 is just plain wrong. Most worship of Issaries, Lhankhor Mhy, Chalana Arroy, and a host of other dieties, is done by "Orlanth initiates" at the "Orlanth Temple". Same can be said about the agricultural and fertillity goddesses being done by "Ernalda intiates" at the "Ernalda Temple".
Finally, regarding Sorana Tor and the scads of questions regarding Dragon Pass in the exciting 1350s - I strongly recommend going to Victoria Con where many of these questions will be answered! As we speak, the Gloranthan sages of the Pacific Northwest are working on a booklet filled to the brim with information about that heroic era and other topics of interest. Furthermore, there will be the Taming of Dragon Pass LARP - the Fall of the House of Malan. I hope to see you all there this summer!
Yours truly,
Jeff Richard
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