Woad and standing stones

From: Jane Williams <janewill_at_mail.nildram.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 22:30:09 +0000

I was having a chat with a friend earlier this evening, and the discussion turned to those knotty little practical problems that RPGs so often overlook. You have your pot of Woad. In the valley below you are twenty Lunars, who you intend to attack singlehanded (and win, of course). All you have to do is strip, apply your woad, and charge. Question - how do you do the nice swirly patterns on your back? Without a friend to do it for you, that is?

After a bit of thought, we came up with the idea of a slab of slate, or some similar smooth flat non-absorbant rock. You draw the spirals in woad on the rock, and lean back against it. (No, I haven't tried this.) Then we realised that if you were prepared, you could have the spirals carved into the rock ready to receive the woad. Then we realised why the Picts had so many standing stones of approximately man-height with spirals carved into them....

OK, so it's silly. But it gives you a reason to have spiral-carved standing stones at every Orlanthi holy site, other than it looking good.

Jane Williams                     jane_at_williams.nildram.co.uk

http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~janewill/gloranth/index.shtml

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