Hsunchen spirits of place from carolyn mckinney on 1997-05-01 (Glorantha Digest Vol 04)

From: carolyn mckinney <kone_at_xsite.net>
Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 07:13:04 -0700

Marion wrote...

<The way I see Hsunchen is that they are simply pseudo-humans who are=
influenced and in tune=20
<with the "spirits of place".=20

...snip...

<The world of Glorantha, instead of having discrete and fixed Hsunchen=
types, has only one <shapeshifting tribe, the Hsunchen.=20 ...snip...

I really like this explanation. It has, IMHO a nice mythic resonance,that= these people are shaped by the spirit of their landscape. Your post just= peaked my interest in running Hsunchen!=20 One point though: This reminds me of one animistic reincarnationist belief= that the group-soul, or well of souls of the people resides in the earth= between incarnations. This leads to the fear that, if you give birth after= concieving on foreign soil, you'll bear a child with a foreign soul,= instead of continuing to re-cycle your own ancestors. This dosen't really= disprove the next point...=20

<In this way a travelling, adventurer Hsunchen may find as they move further=
from the lands of <their birth, and the influence of the totem of their= land and tribe, that their form may <gradually start to alter until they= adopt the new forms of the totems of their new lands.=20

But, I prefer to imagine the local totem being involved in blessing= Hsunchen fertility or not, according to the parents' keeping of taboos etc.= So, if your Hsunchen parents cheezed-off the local totem you'de be born a= "normal" human considered sub-normal by your tribe. You'de still be a= Hsunchen, and might try to move up the coast and earn your place in another=

 tribe and the blessings of their totem, or do some great service (quest)=
 for the displeased spirit of your original tribe, so that your offspring=
 might be normal/blessed Hsunchen. The idea of Hsunchen changing to match=
 the form of local totems makes them seem more like shapeshifters (or the=

spirit's play-doh). I agree this makes for cool & creepy role-play imagery= but, game-wise, the whims of important spirits can provide rich veins of= story material. Opens up a whole can of cultic/shamantic worms, eh?

-Carolyn