Herd Men

From: Guy Hoyle <ghoyle1_at_mail.airmail.net>
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 18:10:15 +0000


I sent this out a few days ago, but I haven't seen it show up yet. If this is a duplicate, I apologize.

Guy

The fact that Herd Men are JUST LIKE US except for their placid, beastlike intellect serves to underscore the horror of the situation for strangers to the plains. That Herd Women look so much like human women must be perversely tempting for young Praxian braves, Oasis youths, and the sexually-repressed Yelmalions, of course; the punishment for this probably involves watching the poor beast being put to death, whatever happens to the human. Even more horribly, humans and Herd Women are interfertile, even though the product of such a union is a Herd Man whelp.

That Herd Men can derive nourishment from grass and the other vegetation native to Prax is true, and is unmistakeably a magical result of the Covenant of Waha, not a change in their biology. However, I think that Herd Men must fare badly on such a diet; dwelling near the comparative fertility of the Cradle valley, they can find more nourishing food. I think that they must have at least some meat in their diets as well, such as rats, small toads and frogs, and the occasional fish. They are less adapted to life in Prax than other species of herd beast; they are smaller than almost every other herd beast, they mature more slowly, they give less milk, they have less meat and hair, and you can get less leather per beast.  They breed very slowly; their young must be carried by their mothers for years. If the Morocanth cheated when the Covenant of Waha was created, at least they got the leanest pickings.

I have had to consider the effects of living as a herd beast whn I created Fido Two Big Clubs. He was a trained Herd Man much beloved by his owner; the wealthy Morocanth was a regular winner when Fido fought other trained herd men. His master's last act before death was to free Fido from Waha's covenant. Playing Fido is very different from most other characters I've played; he's almost house-trained; he likes foul-smelling things, like durrians; he pines for his mate, who is still a Herd Woman among the Morokanth. He has a high intelligence, but few of the background skills that human characters take for granted; he's very naive, but inquisitive about the worlds and humans. He does not usually parry with his maces, since he was tought to fight when he was a dumb beast; it's hard to teach dumb beasts to parry. He knows that humans have families, which he did not, so he got initiated into the ancestral cult of his newfound friends, the player characters; he had no intelligent ancestors to object. Fido's main worry is that his mate will be eaten by the Morocanth before he gets back, but he doesn't fear or hate the Morocanth, any more than cattle fear a herdsman. Fido has even had scraps of mock pork before. "Hey!" he said happily at a banquet in the East Isles one time. "This tastes just like Herd Man!" The other characters were not appreciative.

I think that making the Herd Men less like humans detracts from their uniqueness and appeal. When a thoughtful Bison Rider gazes at the Herd Man he has just taken in a raid, he might be thinking, "But for Waha's covenant, this might be me." Then he would sharpen his knife and make the Peaceful Cut....

Guy

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Guy Hoyle (guyhoyle_at_iname.com)
http://web2.airmail.net/ghoyle1/
Visit The Gamemaster's Bookshelf
and the PANGAEA Project!

End of The Glorantha Digest V5 #138


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