>Finaly, a second thought on what happens to the spirits of animals in
>Balazar not released with the Peaceful Cut (and one with Biblical
>precendent). They inhabit the swine in the cities, explaining why said
>pigs are nasty, bad tempered beasts, unconcerned with their own hygene.
>Vengeful shamans have even been known to bind the spirits of unrepentent
>butchers to pigs, so they can share the torment.
I think this is an outstanding idea! it explains why the pig herders are so looked down upon. But I think this also would mean that the Votanki would try to use Peaceful Cut on the pigs when they killed them, to try to return the spirits to Rigtaina (or wherever it is they go).
In Prax, I am certain that some tribes believe that herd beasts slain without the Peaceful Cut come back as chaos herds -- the beast is born, but its spirit was not freed at death, and so they are soulless -- undead herd beasts.
michael.lay_at_ctsu.ox.ac.uk (Dr M. D. Lay) Pavis
>1) The street map shows a magic shop, presumably run by a mage of some
>sort.
>Has anybody any comments on what such a shop would sell (and for how
>much)? My
>feeling would be that it would be mostly temporary charms (a pendant
with
>several months duration perhaps), contract magic ("Make me the following
>item")
>and consulting ("We found this... what is it?").
At least for the first part, the temporary charms, I have some mechanics to make temporary spell foci.
I always assumed this guy made most of his living buying small magic items, then reselling them for double (at least) what he paid, supplemented by his reusable Analyze Magic spells. I would suggest that he would not cast a lot of Enchantments, as he does not have a readily available source of power for them.
Peter Metcalfe <P.Metcalfe_at_student.canterbury.ac.nz> elmal and other stuff
>I would have thought that you would be claiming Cloaking Devices
>for the Blue Moon Uz. Y'know Decloak, Bite Victim's Head Off,
>Encloak. But I'm not sure that Uz would have martial arts in
>the hooman sense as their primary tactic of unarmed combat is bite.
The fact that their main tactic in unarmed combat is Bite does not preclude them from having Martial Arts. According to Sandy, the morocanth of Prax practice a type of martial arts, and I am a firm believer that the ducks do as well.
Martial Arts (the skill) is NOT just what modern English associates with it, that is oriental-style of kicks and breaking boards with your hands. I believe that it is more akin to the ancient sense of Martial Arts, that is the art of fighting. Some types of Martial Arts skill should not increase damage, but instead reduce it from incoming attacks, representing superior blocking and dodging ability. Boxing is a perfectly acceptable Martial Arts "special effect" (to borrow a Champions term). Hell, an Elephant can have Martial Arts, something weird he does with his trunk. It is not as specific as our language wants us to believe nowadays.
As for the term "Winter Sun", I have always taken that to mean "Great Winter Sun", that is the Sun in the Darkness, i.e. Lightfore. Though I admit that "Cold Sun" is also an acceptable reading of Winter Sun, i.e. the Sun that gives little warmth. I don't think any Orlanthi treats the term "Winter Sun" as being a Sun which is around only in Winter.
<<My apologies for not getting the names here.>>
>In Nomad Gods, you have magical societies. What do the members in time
of
>peace, how do they live?
>For the moment, I think that they form small clans. They live by
hunting,
>and by raiding like the other tribes. And in time of war they are hired
as
>magical specialists.
>Does this seem correct, or does someone have a better idea on this?
Actually, the key here is "societies". Most of these are not individual cultural entities, like the Cannibal Cult or Bolo Lizard Folk. In most tribes, there are a couple of old women who are members of the Star Witches. At certain times of the year, they go out at night and meet, in many small groups throughout the Wastes. Thus, you might have twenty groups of 4 or 5 Star Witches, and a couple of hundred individual ones, worshiping the proper stars at the proper time. Getting all of these wise women together, some of whom are shamans, some priestesses, all of them from different tribes or clans, is a) somewhat of a miracle, and b) more of a game convention than anything else.
Similarly, most tribes have one or two older shamans, who are really mean, like sending evil spirits against people, always kick the dogs and children (even when they aren't in the way), etc. They are suspected of being members of the Sunset Society, though no one can usually prove it, and no one would risk accusing them of it, in case it were true (and they would then cast lots of really bad curses on you and your whole family).
Again, getting them together would be unlikely, though they would wield great power if it were done.
Now, having said this, I think the Wind Singers and Serpent Dancers _might_ have a core group of "worshipers" who travel throughout the Wastes, though I also think they have members throughout the tribes as well. Serpent Dancers are a rainmaking school, while the Wind Singers tame the Storm Bull winds (among others) -- both make the Wastes a little more habitable.
Red School of Masks is a very recent innovation, an attempt by the Lunars to subvert these ancient schools, and so the tribes. So some of the Praxians say. Others, mostly Sables of course, claim that it is merely the coming of a new knowledge, which does successfully explain some fragments of lore and myth, whose importance was unknown until now. For example, the fact that Redwood, Silver Deer, and the Twin Stars are all Lunar Spirits is a recent innovation of the Lunars, though it explains why they have some features in common none of the shamans could understand before.
Note that Little Moon, also called Bronze Treasure, is not truly a Lunar spirit in the current year (_at_ 1621), though he might be later.
Sandy
Shang-hsa (MHNBC) and Yanoor
Sandy, fascinating stuff. I can accept Shang-hsa (MHNBC) as being pre-FDR, though I would rather have him as the Emperor AFTER the Sunstop, who screwed up then. Regardless, however, I have one question -- what was the Third Sin which Shang-hsa (MHNBC) uncovered during the Sunstop, and how did it make him Yanoor?
No confrontation meant here, honest curiosity -- _almost_ I am convinced!
HOW TO MAKE UNDINE WATER BOTTLES
Shon Vaughan <oberon_at_autoiii.com>
Undines in the Wastes
>Givens:
>1. A matrix holding an elemental does not display any of the elemental's
>qualities. Examples: a salamander matrix is not hot and an undine matrix
is
>not wet.
This is not a universal belief: MOB once started work on an article basically giving appropriate attributes to objects holding elementals -- fire elementals in a ring would make it hot, etc. Non-elemental entities could cause similar effects.,
Alas, he turned his work over to me to complete, which I never did (though I did quite a bit of work on it). But I mention this only as a curiosity -- the intent was to make a special spell to cause this effect (and make cool magic weapons, natch), not to state that this type of effect was automatic.
>2. When an elemental is pulled from its matrix it does not require
outside
>material. That is, for example, a salamander does not require a
>pre-existing fire to manifest.
I believe that the RQ rules, both RQ2 and RQ3, intend for this statement to not be correct -- the elemental requires the presence of the element to _manifest_, not to be summoned. So I read it anyways.
How could you store two cubic meters of water in anything smaller than would normally hold that much? And if the binding object _will_ hold two cubic meters of waters (which is about 18 cubic feet of water, a lot!), it will be sort of inconvenient to use. And what happens if you pour the water out -- since it is part of the Binding Enchantment, I would expect that _that exact water_ would have to go back in to restore the enchantment. And that is basically impossible.
Seems contra to the rules, to me. And to the intent of Glorantha.
Bernuetz.Oliver_at_cbsc.ic.gc.ca (Bernuetz, Oliver: WPG) Faltikus the Good
>If I remember correctly Faltikus the Good is Illuminated which may or
>may not bring his devoutness into question. He's pretty much immune
Not exactly: he is "rumored to be illuminated". Some people have accepted that he is (MOB put him as such in a scenario or description, if I recall rightly), while others do not.
>On a related note I've always hated the idea of Illuminates being able
to
>do whatever they want religions-wise like Zorak Zoran Humakti's and such
>nonsense. It's as if the cult doesn't have humans to spot suspicious
and
>un-cultlike behaviour. (Uh, Swordmaster Bob why are you eating your
>nephew?)
And if we see Swordmaster Bob eating his nephew, we immediately realize that he is not only chaotic, but also an illuminate (since these tales of illuminates are well-known), and we try to kill him twice if we can (too bad Humakt can't be resurrected). Orlanthi know of the dangers of illumination, which is why most of them are suspicious of people asking lots of questions.
The current Illumination write-up, in Dorastor: Land of Doom, was not one I would have chosen -- it is very stilted in one direction, lacks most of the charm of the original, and makes it seem far too organized for my tastes. Take a look at the original (the bits left out of D:LoD were mostly put back in Lords of Terror) to get a better feel for this.
>(Yes I do realize that Illuminates don't have to follow cult
restrictions if
>they don't want to but would their fellow believers let them get away
>with it?)
That's exactly the point -- their fellow believers _won't_ let them get away with this. As soon as your illuminated Yelmalion Sun Priest is seen summoning a shade, he is _out_ of there!
Sandy
>>2) What products are the Lunars importing?
>Among other things, slave collars, which are manufactured exclusively in
a
>single Kralorelan city. Other stuff too, mostly luxury goods, spices,
silk,
>magic items. Bulk goods are too hard to transport across Pent.
Actually, the Oceans write-up says that Slave Bracelets are manufactured exclusively on one of the islands of Vormain, which officially has no contact with the outside world.
Personally, I think there are a number of sources of Slave Bracelets -- a city in Kralorela is possible, as is an island in Vormain, heretical dwarfs, and maybe one of the less-savory Malkioni sects. Of course, there is an organized cult in Fonrit which manufactures them for the wealthy slavers. I also think that each of these sources produces slightly different varieties of enchantment, so that any pair you get may work slightly differently.
In The Book of Drastic Resolutions, Volume Prax, I plan on printing an appropriately revised version of the original Slave Bracelets article from Cults of Prax.
Stephen Martin
ilium_at_juno.com
- -----------------------------------------------The Book of Drastic Resolutions
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