Ducks & Delecti

Hello,                                                                          
Subject: Ducks & Delecti                                                        
Some of the following information relates to material I hope will wind          
up in a future issue of Tales. Here are some highlights and thoughts:           

Delecti was a sorceror and heroquestor (of sorts) who reached the height        
of his powers during the time building up to the destruction of the EWF.        
He was tipped off about the impending doom from a group of dragonewts           
who disagreed with the destruction plan. Using a ritual he learned on a         
Heroquest, he emulated Korang the Slayer (KoS) and broke Hard Earth and         
wounded Sky River Titan. His rods of power being the specific device that       
keeps the wound from healing and the swamp flooded and mucky.                   

To avoid being destroyed by the dragons, he had to make himself and his         
people "invisible". The dragons scoured the "land" for all "humans".            
He and his followers lived in a "swamp" and were "undead". The dragons          
passed him by. He turned the dragonewts who helped him into zombies,            
thus removing them from the realm of dragonewts and the inevitable              
revenge of their leadership. Delecti quietly went back to his previous          
endeavors (stiching, immortality, creepiness, wearing black) and didn't         
do much until the resettlement of Dragon Pass brought new neighbors.            

Delecti defends his realm with a number of types of undead creepies. They       
constantly patrol and wipe out all invaders according to Delecti's orders.      
They basically are "Kill all men and beasts that walk the earth or fly          
the skys." Ducks slip through the cracks. They are neither men nor beasts,      
but something in between. They do not solely walk the earth or fly in           
the air, but also swim. Note that many aquatic creatures are not bothered       
by Delecti either. His rituals are rather frozen in time (oh, the price         
we pay for immortality) so he can't really change his operating plans.          

Ducks have an odd fate in Glorantha, and I pretty much agree with what          
Stephen Martin outlined as to their history. They were created by Vrimak        
to serve Yelm. They fell from grace (in more ways than one) and lost            
their powers of flight. They sided with Orlanth and, eventually, Humakt         
once they were cast out from Yelm's court. Not really fitting in, they          
chose to sever most ties as did Humakt. Ducks mainly want to be sailors         
on rivers and inland lakes, or fishermen.                                       

Greg Stafford loves Uncle Scrooge comics, as do I, and wanted to include        
an homage to Carl Barks in his Glorantha. I too, want to find a way to          
put Duckburg on the map. (just like Duck Gulch and Duck Valley).                

I feel that understanding the ducks too much takes away from their              
comical mystique. Let them stay a race we only vaguely understand. Let          
some of them lay eggs and some of them bear live young. Let them call           
Cacodemon, Quakodemon. Ducks are great NPC's.                                   

Take Care,                                                                      
Rick Meints, Education, Training & Development, 8-737-2126                      
Mobile: 0976-686-454           Internet: RMeints_at_e-mail.com                     

------------------------------