alynxes, goats and the EWF

From: Jeff Richard <jrichard_at_cnw.com>
Date: Wed, 26 Nov 1997 17:16:26 -0800


Michael Raaterova wrote:
>If, OTOH, we follow Stephen and the SFC, the three clans would all use
>alynxes for herding sheep, and none of them would have goats or dogs. I'm
>definitely *not* saying that such a campaign would be *dull*, but i *am*
>saying that the above could *enrich* such a campaign.

Frankly I could care less what peoples' various takes are on alynxes, dogs and goats. If it is important for your campaign that Snog the Cottar herds goats with his dog - then by all means do it. I'm simply saying that it appears, as a matter of esoterica, that the Heortlings use alynxes instead of dogs and look at goats like Muslims (both Sunni and Shiite) do at pork.

For what it is worth, in the SFC campaign, to be "poor enough to eat goat" is poor indeed.

On the subject of the EWF, Steve Martin wrote:
>As with worship of the Red Goddess in the Lunar Empire today (1-2% of
>population, all of whom are by definition the rare illuminates), I think
>the actual users of draconic magic in the EWF was a very small, but
>powerful, minority. With strange magic, I don't have to speak Auld
>Wyrmish, or use dragon magic, to give my magic points and POW to support
>the Great Dragon.

I'd just like to add my support to this view - I believe that this is the way the EWF functioned. I think the overwhelming majority of the population in the EWF continued worshipping their local dieties. A pyramid scheme, the EWF gave a tremendous amount of power to a small handful of people. Many priests were amongst the first people to learn the draconic way and thus were prominent in the EWF. However, most of the Heortling peoples were not privy to the higher mysteries of the draconic path and continued to follow their old ways - albeit as supporters of the EWF. The old tribes became increasingly fossilized and irrelevant and were eventually discarded by the increasingly arrogant EWF.

Jeff


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