If any of you (Michael R. should already know this - David Weihe?) have tried to contact me, and it failed, that's the reason.=20
I have done my best to unsubscribe mailing lists including this one =
from
my old adress, and hope it has worked. I apologize to the list managers
for any problems the mail failings may have caused, but it is not =
really
my fault - may all computer manangers at the University of Boras join
Sheng Seleris in a Lunar Hell!
Some talk on the ducks, with a warning and plea: I'm not able to write
whole essays of answers at work, so I save the letters and write the
answers as Textfiles (only possibility AFAIK) at a computer at school.
However, as Alex has proven earlier, this sort of transference can =
cause
problems. I couldn't see them myself the last time this happened, so if
this procedure causes anyone any trouble in reading my mail, please =
tell
me. I'll have to find a solution (the Lightbringer's Quest, from the
Issaries perspective - finding the Light of Communication?) in that
case.
IRIPPI ONTOR WAS A DUCK,
or
ERIK S. ON DURULZ
Origin:=20
I've never really seen it in that light before, but the idea that the
Durulz were created by the EWF is brilliant and reasonable. That =
doesn't
mean I like it :-).=20
It might be one of the stories about "Where the Ducks come from" that
_humans_ tell. The more common is that the Ducks were once a human =
tribe
who committed some vile deed (such as refusing to fight chaos) and was
cursed with this silly and weak form.
The Durulz (who NEVER calls themselves Ducks - its an insult on par =
with
'nigger') know The Real Truth, of course. Without their ancestor,
Durulzan (the word meaning _the_ Durulz),Orlanth would never had been
able to kill the horrible Evil Emperor and Free the Cosmos.=20
You see, haughty Vrimak, the Brird-King, the Evil Emperor's overseer,
who flew over the World seeing that no-one dared do anything else than
what the EE told them, spotted Orlanth gaining Death from Eurmal, and
would have warned the EE. Durulzan stopped this by insulting the =
haughty
raptor, whose Pride of cause was greater than his duty, since he was of
the Sky Tribe, who always keeps their noses (or beaks) in the air.
Vrimak swept down and beat up Durulzan, and thus missed to warn the EE.
The EE understood this as he stumbled bleeding towards Hell, and cursed
Vrimak to never speak again, since he did not want to do it at the
behest of his Emperor(1). And he cursed Durulzan to never fly again,
denying him the Sky forever. However, Orlanth, joyous with his victory,
blessed Durulzan with speech and hands (being a bird, he already walked
upright).
Durulz were thus Orlanth's FIRST followers, and most blessed by him.
That humans deny this is just smallmindedness. Humans have often
abandoned Orlanth - never so the Durulz.
The Durulz were also of vital importance during the Lightbringer Quest.
At one point Orlanth was trapped, lonely, without power, down in Hell.
Then a single feather slowly falls down to him - support from Above. =
WHO
DO YOU THINK THREW THAT FEATHER?! The Durulz, of course.
The Durulz gave secrets to Arkat. The Durulz told humans how to defend
themselves from the undead of the Marsh.
Of course, the Durulz are great magnanimous guys who never look down on
the humans just because they don't have the proud history of the =
Durulz.
Or at least the Durulz will tell you that, constantly. Over and over
again.
Religion:=20
The Durulz will be slightly offended if you ask them about their
religion. Of course they are pious Orlanthi just like their neighbours!
What are you getting at? If you then patiently point out that Ernalda
doesn't bear the honorific 'Frogmother' anywhere else but among them, =
or
that Humakt doesn't carry a rune-carved stake outside there lands, or
that Issaries is shown with a staff in his hands, _not_ a paddle, the
Durulz will just squeak: "Yeah, so what? Does YOUR tribe worship the
Gods just like everybody else? Who are you, some damned Godlearner?" =
(2)
The Durulz pay special attention to Humakt, for the very practical reason that he is good defense against the Undead of the marsh. If you are to believe them, they are the main reason that the ghostly ghoulies haven't overrun Sartar.
The Durulz, despite their pride of their 'civilisation', have many ties
to the Wilds and the Beasts. They make much noise about that, =
especially
if you are to travel with their rafts downriver and don't want to pay
their fees. "You know, the Beastmen do horrible things to humans, but =
we
are their KIN." They ARE very much in touch with the spirits, =
especially
those of the stream and marsh, which most Orlanthi shamans (Kolatings
and Earth Witches) feel uncomfortable with.
Relation to other races:=20
Going away from the From-Within-The-World-Mode for a moment, I have one
idea that I'm basically blood-bonded to, and that is that the Durulz,
though being incredibly inhuman physically, have very human psyches -
quite unlike other Gloranthan non-humans, their behaviour isn't really
_alien_. They are just like you and me, except that, well, they look
like humanoid waterfowl. Think of it. Spooky, really.
The Durulz will of course accept that they are not humans, and point it
out themselves. However, they most strongly stress that they are =
"human"
- - the adjective, that is. What is more, they are Orlanthings just like
the rest of them. This strong identification with Humanness, quite the
opposite to that of Hsunchen or Beastmen, confirm both the stories of
origin the Durulz tell themselves, and the stories the humans tell.
Otherwise they have about the same view of other races that other Sartarites have, except that they are much more friendly with the Beastmen, and vice versa. According to the Durulz, they preserved the Great Orlanthing customs when others turned to evil Dragon Worship, and afterwards, when humans couldn't live in Dragon Pass, they preserved them even further. They will tell you they introduced the idea of the Ring and the Lightbringer Quest and many other Good Things to the beastmen, and that mighty Ironhoof's Speaking and Knowing Companions always were Durulz.(3)=20
And oh, they treat Newtlings much like humans treat Durulz. Except they do not hunt and kill them, they just emply them as boatmen for near-starving wages.
Humans in general despise and look down on the Ducks - Jews of =
Glorantha
indeed. Cruel ethnic Duck jokes abound, pointing out their stupidity,
and cowardice, and greed. Kids jeer and throw stones. Duckish merchants
are robbed with impunity. Evil rumours - like, they are in league with
Delecti, or they greedily control river trade and cheat the Real
Humans(4) of money. And of course, they conspired to attack Lunars at
the worst possible moment. Serves them right they were outlawed by the
Loonies!(5) Yeah, they were their pawns _all along_! Waitaminnit, the
whole Lunar thing is a part of the GREAT DUCK CONSPIRACY!(6)
While Sartar's descendants ruled, most hatchets was kept buried, and while people didn't stop jeering at the Fowlfolk, the number of robbed merchants and ducks killed for fun decreased. The Durulz always have been staunch supporters of the Kingdom, because they know it saves many of their kindred's lives and makes life much easier.
The Lismelder tribe dislike the ducks, and feud with them (they are
neighbours, and Orlanthings - what do you expect?), but have deep
respect for them. They know duck hunters who follow the ducks into the
marsh never come home. They know their tribe would never have been what
it was without alliance with the Fowlfolk. And their Humakti
weaponthanes will speak with great admiration and some regret about the
Gelder's Swing, which humans cannot learn, and which the ducks invented
(7).
Ducks and Delecti:
Ducks have advantages in swamp fighting. They have Humakt spells and
religious support. They _know_ the undead.=20
Most importantly, Delecti isn't really that interested in the Durulz.
They make lousy undead servants. He sometimes have to use them, and =
some
of his ghoul and vampire underlings go for durulz blood n' bones but =
the
preferred subjects are human. Being a mighty lord of the undead is a
little embarrasing in a country where the dead a cremated (don't give =
me
that stuff about people initiated into different cults getting =
different
burials - except for a few really pious non-Orlanth Runies, everyone
gets a funeral pyre sooner or later), but Delecti does his very best.
Corporeal undead - the classic undead - are very rare in Sartar outside
the Upland Marsh, and Sartarites associate swamps with undead and
hauntings. Undead with any kind of intelligence have immigrated to the
Upland Marsh, including vampires and ghouls from far-away Esrolia.
Well, that's my take on the Durulz. Take it or leave it.
Notes:
1, Durulz know there are spells which make raptors speak, but those spells really are ways for the magician to tell the bird "I have the mandate of the Sky, you are allowed to speak for a short while."=20
2, Though there are unifying movements among the Orlanthings when it
comes to myths and stories - generally the Lawspeakers to tribal and
supratribal Kings - a question to a group of Orlanthi storytellers =
about
most anything ("How did this or that come about, what is most important
to know about this or that god?") will get the same reply as the same
question put to this digest - a very mixed bag indeed. Some of them
would probably start an intratribal war =3D flame each other.
3, Though this is probably just so much duckish boasting - a common
Orlanthing trait, the ducks would tell you - I am very enamoured of a
sort of Narnia-ish reign of Ironhoof with all those non-humans living
together. And the Beastmen may well have learned some civilisation =
stuff
from the Durulz.
4, Any Orlanthing tribe worth their salt would exploit such a geographical and cultural position, and so do the Durulz. However, the anti-anatians will tell you, they do it in a very Evil way.
5, One year of tax exemption for each Durulz head - this is for me the best picture of the Dark Side of the Moon. Using their own intolerance, that great vice to the Lunars, to pacify the cruel barbarians.
6, "You know, Irrippi Ontor, who wrote all their unholy books, was a duck. Really, honest!"
7, The swing is based on the fact that a duck's shortsword relatively
easily reaches parts where human warroirs often wear no armour, and
where it HURTS.=20
This is, by the way, the only tidbit on ducks I've ever used that has
anything whatsoever to do with Donald&Co. The unforeseen combat
advantages of being Much Shorter is what made the McDuck Clan so great
(read ANYTHING by master comic artist and writer Don Rosa - especiallly
The Life of Scrooge McDuck).
End of The Glorantha Digest V5 #97
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