Stephen Martin overspecializes a bit:
>But, as worshiped by those very few duck hunters (for ducks are not
>generally hunters IMO, they are fishers), he would provide spells for the
>type of prey they hunt. This _might_ include insects, but is more likely
>to include small birds (Duck cannibals, yeah!), rodents, etc.
>Note that, as I said, I think far more ducks are fishers than hunters.
>And there is a local fishing god in the area, called Pelaskos (mentioned
>in the Holy Country article in RuneQuest Companion). Given the nature of
>the Four Providers in Orlanthi society, I assume most Orlanthi would say
>he is a son of Orlanth as the other three (Barntar, Odayla, Voriof) are.
Living in an area which is both marginal (in the traditional Orlanthi sense) and biodiverse I doubt that the Ducks (particularly those living deep within the marsh as opposed to refugees from Duckpoint) would be restricted to being hunters _or_ fishers. They probably do a little of everything, harvesting various wild plants for food or medicine (marshmallows anyone? Not the modern, fluffy kind but the kind made from the root of the marsh mallow plant) depending on the season, collecting bogwood (preserved trunks and large branches of oak, pine, etc used for making ornamental pieces of furniture) and reeds to trade/ sell to the Orlanthi, who IMO would refer to Ducks as "bogtrotters and muckrakers" in much the same way they use the term "stickpicker" to refer to those guys from the other clan/tribe) and hunting/fishing/trapping as needed to keep feathers and bone together. Tough times call for tough Ducks. :) So what Gods do the Ducks worship? I suppose they say a little prayer to Uncle Crawdad when going prawning and stop off at the local Bartar shrine when going to (or from) harvesting wild rice. How does that sound?
Meanwhile, in GDV5#124 Sandy Petersen sez:
>I don't think that there are many duck hunters at all.
>Ducks are primarily vegetarian. They'll eat fish, of course, and drink
>milk, but I don't think they're real big on venison or wild boar. Also,
>their natural inclinations and body form make them rather crappy
>hunters.
RW Pigmies do a pretty good job of hunting big game, even elephant (ok _pigmy_ elephants, but still) and any single Praxian Bison who turns his back on a group of Pigmy Riders is asking to be made into a robe, so I don't see why Ducks wouldn't bag the occasional marsh deer or wild pig when there are hungry Ducklings to feed at home. Plus I can't hardly see the local Hunter Priest saying "Gee, sorry little fella, but you just don't have the body to be a hunter...try the Humakt temple down the block, they'll take anybody." :)
And then Sergio Mascarenhas asks:
> Now tell me, why did they borrow human gods - Orrlanthi
>pantheon, why not a full duck pantheon?
IMHO, a key part of the swell melodrama that is the Ducks of Glorantha is that they lost whatever connection they had to their original Gods when they got booted off of the base of the Spike in God Time. Or would that be tragicomedy? Oh, and I would think that it would come as quite a shock to the Windchildren and to the Digester would recently posted about his Morocanth Issaries Trader that the Orlanthi pantheon are only human gods. :)
BTW, thank you, thank you for a) all your hard work on Duck Lore and, most of all, b) for starting this thread. I'm having loads o' fun.
Gary R. Switzer--Aero Hobbies
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