Ride 'em Reindeer

From: Michael O'Brien <mrmob_at_ozemail.com.au>
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 1997 22:34:29 +1000


G'day all,

Ride 'em Reindeer

David Cake noted...
>A friend of mine told me yesterday that he saw an excellent
>documentary on reindeer riders, from near Mongolia. He said the reindeer
>rider tribes lived a lifestyle that was very similar to Praxians, though a
>lot colder, living off their beasts almost completely, having a religion
>that is tied up with their beasts, and riding them.

Klyfix_at_aol.com doubted:
>>Sure it was _riding_ the reindeer? As I recall, they're relatively
>>small compared other deer, maybe about waist high to an average man.
>>They're certainly used to pull sleds and stuff in a team but unless
>>some varieties are really large I can't see riding them.

They were riding the reindeers all right! I saw the doco David mentions above the other night, and the bloke on reindeer back could even get his trusty steed up to a fair trot. The documentary followed a family of reindeer herders through their year. Very Praxian, as David says. The lead reindeer had died, and the man of the family was waiting for a shamanic vision of which one from the herd he should select as the new leader.



Sourcing that Note

Nick
>(2) The Note from Notchet I quoted before is almost certainly from Greg
>Stafford's notes to the then-current draft of "Harmast's Saga". Who else
>would have known all those weird names, back in '92?

Yep, it was one of Stafford's (appeared in TotRM #7). Now, who'd'ya think wrote this 'un?

Cheers

MOB



>From the Notes from Nochet Files:

[XXIX. 21-015] During the Closing, a ship setting sail for deep water encountered a variety of effects, the result of which was always sinking the ship. Sometimes a great sea monster appeared and dragged the vessel down, as when Telendeus Starwise set sail from Refuge, or when Admiral Givassum departed the Bay of Ozur. Intrepid sailors departing from the Nolos region are known to have perished from various sources, as noted in various entries in Lighthouse Observations compiled at this time: "A green fog enveloped the ship" appears thrice, "A wispy red haze lacerated the ship to splinters" once, "The ship turned turtle", twice; once a ship "Was pushed back to shore, but had no crew aboard;" and one time "Sir Kransis' stout vessel broke into two as we watched, and the men were dragged under water, fighting."

Pug the Perspicacious: Many other effects have been reported as well, even in modern times when captains fail in their sacrifices.




Michael O'Brien
48 Barcelona Street BOX HILL Victoria 3128 Australia telephone: +61-3-9899-8539

    email: mrmob_at_ozemail.com.au



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