>Depends how valuable they are. If the object (weapons, armor, etc.) can be
>sterilized (dunked in boiling water, held over flame) that should work fine.
>Perhaps there are ways of sterilizing the weapons without the use of high
>temperatures (like a good soapy lather).
According to Lords of Terror the steps usually taken to sterilize objects thought to be contaminated are extreme and frequently result in the destruction of the item. Unfortunately, diseases in Glorantha are significantly more robust than RW diseases. You can boil a disease-spirit-possessed item for a month and it will still be there.
Gloranthans have few ways of telling if the disease is gone. Magic can determine if a spirit is gone but not if a disease contamination has been destroyed. So they take the prudent approach: hit it with everything they can think of and hope that something worked. If the item survived, expose an animal to it and see if it gets sick.
My purpose for asking the question was if the combatants were out somewhere far from the resources required to sterilize their weapons (like in the Wastes, halfway between oasises) what would they do? Do they keep broo-fighting weapons or do they use their most disposable? Is this a great way of disarming an enemy?
>>What is the gestation period for a broo?
>Two seasons plus 1 to 8 weeks.
Peter, is this from a published source or your game?
It seems awful long for a parasite that isn't kind to its host. Take the "Alien" reference Joseph Troxell put forward. If the Alien had required four to six *months* to gestate would it have been allowed to live that long?
My three days is a "feels good to me" number and may seem short but consider RW examples and you will see that creatures that reproduce by parasitic means usually have much shorter gestation periods relative to the host. Does a week sound better?
Maybe the "Two seasons plus 1 to 8 weeks" refers to how long before it becomes an adult? I see it as taking away the MGF of the mad dash to find a healer and would make broo rape only dangerous if forgotten about (yeah, right, like I'd forget being raped by a broo.).
>>What does a broo larvae look like?
>Like an embryoic broo.
That is a difficult image. Do you mean it looks like a small child (about 3 of 4 years if it were human) version of its adult form? Borderlands indicated that broo larvae are active at birth, burrow their way out of the host and are immediately able to hunt and kill for themselves. This prohibits them from being too undeveloped.
To Joseph Troxell:
Thank you. The "Alien" reference is precisely the image I think of when dealing with broo rape and the consequences. The embryo takes everything the host has to give and more. IMHO the host looks wasted (except for a bloated belly) when the broo is ready to emerge as the mass of the broo is drained from the host. I see the entire three days as being quite painful and the host is nearly immobilized. In the case of herd animals I see them stumbling away from the herd and dropping when they can't go on. Broos can be born from hosts that have died (Borderlands).
I asked my question as a poll of how people were playing it. IMHO I'd play it for the horror aspect rather that sugar coating it. Broos are not gentle and some hosts are catatonic from the emotional trauma.
NOT:
Jon: "Hey Bob. That broo certainly worked you over. I guess we're gonna have to save up for that Cure Chaos Wound you'll be needing come harvest time."
RATHER:
Bob: "Oh, gawd, somebody kill me! It hurts so much! Gut me, I don't care! Make it stop!" Jon: "We're going to have to cut you open Bob. We're too far from a healer so we don't have a choice." Bob: "Do it!"
Thanks to everyone for the input. Are any of you in the southern California area?
Shon "I knew I was supposed to see a healer about something" Vaughan
Shon Vaughan
Autologic Information International, Inc.
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