Sandy opined:
> The Hunter Gods in Glorantha are worshiped largely by primitive or
>subsistence hunters. They don't hunt for fur alone, unless the meat is
>inedible for some reason. Civilized non-subsistence hunters don't
>worship the same gods.
However, non-subsistence fur hunting is ancient, and a usual reaction of a hunter culture living close to more civilized traders.
The example I am most familiar with are the Lapps of Scandinavia who provided the Halogaland island kings with furs, feathers and other luxury goods to be traded along with the cod in the south. (This coastal trade actually predates the Viking era, although it was stepped up greatly when the Hanseatic settlement in Bergen was established.) The Lapps lived mainly off reindeer hunting and fishing (at least in the coastal regions), and some of the furs they sold may have been from their hunt for meat. When the coastal "Finns" hunted seals for their skin (to make very durable ropes) they certainly used the meat as well, but I fail to see what use minks or foxes would be for anybody's diet. These beasts were hunted for their furs, only.
BTW, the Lapps weren't really herders until the late middle ages. They domesticated some reindeer, but mainly followed the herds of wild reindeer to prey upon them, or waited in their coastal settlements for the migrating herds to return to their hunting traps. They certainly did not drive the herds except to ensure they enter the hunting traps.
I doubt the Lapps of the Viking era would qualify as anything but subsistence hunters with foreign traders to buy the furs in exchange for useful, non-indigenous tools. While the traders earned a lot more than the hunters, still all participants profited from the exchange.
To make this a Glorantha-related topic, where do we get subsistence hunters in contact with civilized traders? Practically all over the place. The Maslo coastal cities work in a similar way to the Halogaland island kingdoms, trading furs and other exotica from the inland savages tolerated by the elves. The Teleos primitives now again trade with Kralori and Maslo traders visiting their island (before the Closing they had been sea-going (t)ra(i)ders themselves). The Sofali of Fethlon may yet have to adapt to the Opening again.
The Kralori hsunchen will receive visits from enterprising merchants as well as the Balazaring Votanki do. IMO even the Sartarite Telmori will trade fur and other produce for superior (i.e. metal) weapons and tools.
The various Ralian and Fronelan Hsunchen still subsiding on hunting are likely to trade furs for tools and weapons as well, although in Fronela trade has to overcome the isolation of the Closing, and the developments of the Kingdom of War. The Yggling islands off Winterwood might reflect the Halogaland situation almost directly with contact to reindeer Hsunchen and possibly moose Hsunchen skimming the outskirts of Winterwood.
If you want to introduce such savage peoples to your players, you might have a trader hire them as guards for a special expedition into the wildlands (probably treasure-hunting in an almost forgotten ruin, luckily someone made a map ages ago...).
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