Budgerigar Hsunchen?

From: TTrotsky_at_aol.com
Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 06:30:33 -0400 (EDT)


Thomas Gotschall:
<< 2. I've notices that Glorantha has a large variety of Hsunchen (with  Telmori clearly the best!) but why are they all mamals? I would find it  very cool to see also bird Hsunchen (actually I had once an NPC eagle  Hsunchen) and others. Is there any good explanation why Hsunchen are  mamals ?- >>

     But they're not.... For birds we have the eagle Hsunchen of the Shan Shan mountains, for reptiles the Sofali turtle people of Dinal and Sozganjio, for fish the shark Hsunchen of the Eastern Isles (this from Sandy), and as for invertebrates, there are spider-Hsunchen somewhere in Pamaltela.

     Admittedly there are a heck of a lot more mammals than the other types. Mammals have more varied 'personalities' than most other animals IMHO, which makes it easier to envisage what mammal-Hsunchen would be like. Not that I'm saying birds, frex, don't have personalities (from a anthropomorphic POV), just that there is a lot less variety. Thus, bears, wolves, lions, raccoons, deer, moose, horses, goats, etc. etc. all have distinctive characteristics a Hsunchen tribe could emulate (I know they don't see it that way, I'm thinking of it from the GM/authors POV). For birds, I can think of only a few distinctive types that it would be possible to build Hsunchen around: eagles, vultures, sea-birds, magpies, crows, ratites, ducks, penguins, that's about it. The last two aren't appropriate IMO, because we already have duck-people and there are no penguins in Glorantha. I'm sure people can think of other examples, but my point is there is greater variety among mammals.

     Reptiles and amphibian species are relatively few in number, so they'd be bound to be in a minority anyway. Fish _are_ pretty varied, but it's very difficult to see how a halibut-Hsunchen would actually live. And while invertebrates are unbelievably varied, most of them aren't very noticeable or impressive to primitive peoples. Snail-Hsunchen, anyone?

     In addition to all of the above, humans are mammals. It's probably a lot easier to emulate/forge a spiritual link with something that's at least vaguely similar to yourself. Clearly it can be done, the Pamaltelan spider people being the most extreme example I can think of, but I think it's going to be less likely. So, although there are Hsunchen from a wide range of different beasties, the majority tend to be mammals. Before anyone flames me, I don't deny there are plenty of exceptions to the above, and I'm sure people can think of a few.

     Mythically, I doubt there's a reason in Glorantha, because each Hsunchen tribe has its own mythology and sees no reason to explain why the starfish-Hsunchen don't exist. The God Learners may well have tried to come up with something, though.

Forward the glorious Red Army!

     Trotsky


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