Ambusing Orlevings, the Great Revelation, Kitori

From: Jeff.Richard_at_metrokc.gov
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 1997 15:40:45 -0700


Wow, I go into hermitage for a few days (I have legal examinations this week and next - I apologize to everybody who has been trying to get through to me), and the digest goes BESERK. Pretty cool actually.

Someone asked -
> Aren't there local fashions of dress, shield patterns, etc. that give a
>clue as to who is who in TODP-era Satar? Must make ambushing the vile
>Orlevings pretty tough.

There are clan tatfoos and individuals may give their clients shields with a design - or they might not (which is more usual IMO). Locals can tell a clan that came from the central Heortland highlands (like say the Varmandi or the Orleving) from the old Colymar clans (which came from elsewhere) from the Hyaloring clans just based on traditional dress (slightly different styles). Of course to a foreigner, they all look the same.

Remember, the Quivini aren't Highlander Scots of the 18th century. Although I enjoyed Braveheart, it ain't Sartar.

How does a Varmandi recognize an Orleving then? Well, in my game there is a PDP skill called Recognize. These clans aren't very big. My player characters have met Orlev numerous times, know his huscarls, his thanes and most of the leading carls. They hate them, but they know them.

> When you had the battle with the army of Malan did each side have a
>banner or standard?

Clans fight around their local leaders. In the mid-1300s, this means that a clan fights around their chief. No detached formations, no funky units, just a whole bunch of fyrd-men with a chief and his retainers at the point. Any clan with any pride has a war-sock (a fanciful wind-sock with patterns) that has a role in the war-rites of the clan and needed for the Orlanth the Warrior spell - Bless Standard. It is a real bummer to lose your clan standard - indeed the Orleving/Varmandi feud seemed to have really taken fire when Varmand the Strong (back in his care-free youth) took the Orleving war-sock during the Battle of the Kings.

The Heortlings are a mighty litigious culture - as Pam Carlson said, they have to be. If anybody is really interested in the basis I use for understanding Heortling law, I would recommend "The Economics of Justice" by Justice Posner of the US Seventh Circuit of Appeals (written back when he was a professor at University of Chicago Law School if I recall). It has a great section on law in decentralized societies like the Homeric sagas and north-central African tribes. Further, J. Byock wrote an incredible book call "Sagas, Societies and Power: Law in Medieval Iceland". Great stuff.

Alex Ferguson:
>I presume Jeff Richard's Great Orlanth Revelation has some Light to
>shed on this whole matter -- or failing which, lots of Heat. After
>all, if we get to Invent a Quester in mid-Quest (or after the quest,
>come to that), then we can assuredly due the same with the Quest
>Maguffin.

Yes, in the presence of David Dunham, David Cake, Pam Carlson and Neil Robinson I had the Great First Age Revelation that sheds much Light and Darkness onto the issue of Orlanth/Elmal/Yelm/Evil Emperor and Harmast/Lokamayadon/Arkat. It explains much and raises even niftier questions. Come to Glorantha-Con V to first hear the most ambitious of my heresies. (BTW - if Joerg, Alex and Peter are God Learners and Nils, Greg F. and David Dunham are Wyrm's Friends, can I be Lokamayadon? I do so love Orlanthi heresies!)

Finally the Kitori. I talked with David Cake last week and I am pretty much in agreement with him. As I see it, the Kitori are a loose confederations of clans, troll groups and troll/human groups. They hold a number of things in common:

1.  Argan Argar is the Ruling God
2.  Troll matriarchs are very scary
3.  Darkness is powerful

Since there are so many Kitori variants in peoples Glorantha, I personally prefer to be fast and loose with the write-up. In my game, the main human clan of the Kitori (known as the Kitori), is a large pig herding clan with some agriculture living in the western Troll Woods and east of Whitewall. They hold Argan Argar to be king, Orlanth to be the Thunderer/Justice-Bringer, and Zorak Zoran to be the War God (not too many initiates of this). Their king is the leader in sun light.

The troll groups are Kyger Litor/Argan Argar types (lots of trollkin fearful of AA), with a small minority of ZZ warriors/chaos fighters. They are respected by the human clan. Their Queen is the leader in darkness.

The handful mixed troll/human groups are scary and distrusted by almost everyone, but they have a role in the tribal ring. Run wild with these guys.

Personally, I hate the idea of elves in the Troll Woods. Then again elves in general are on my "Things in Glorantha I Hate List". Of course, they aren't as bad as Yelmalio, but what is?

Jeff


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