I had written that the Cursed Ones are more likely to have survived in Ralios than the Pure Ones because the latter 'are Telmori and they don't have the ability to turn into werewolves'.
>Pure Ones can use Telmor's magic to become wolves, so you can't mean
>this.
>However, Cursed Ones cannot "turn into werewolves" with any control --
>they become werewolves on Wildday nights, and the majority, if not all of
>them, cannot become wolves at will. Except by using Telmor's magic, of
>course.
>So, could you elaborate on exactly why it is that the Cursed Ones are so
>much more likely to have survived than the Pure Ones?
All Hsunchen can turn into their beast forms given the right amount of magic. The Cursed Ones originally could change at will. They now must change without any control. Despite this curse, they are still better off than they were _before_ the original gift. The Cursed Ones are nearly invincible one day of every week against normal humans which is a far better performance than the Pure Ones could hope to achieve. In addition to this, the Cursed Ones can spend the _same_ amount of resources on gaining shapeshifting magics as the Pure Ones can. So they are _ahead_ in the survival stakes.
As evidence that the 'curse' enables the Cursed Telmori to be more successful than the Pure Ones, I point to the Dorastor Book. There it is stated that the Telmori are one of the most successful Hsunchen in glorantha. Most other Hsunchen tribes are successful because they are remote from "civilized"/farming enemies (like the Rathori). The other hsunchen tribe to have fought against the farmers - such as the Western Basmoli - are _worse_ off than the Telmori. The major difference between them and the Telmori is the curse.
Secondly, the Pure Ones are more likely than the Cursed Ones to apostate and become domesticated safelstrans (or at least semicivilized members of the ancient Loon society). The Cursed Ones can't because their curse prohibits them from doing so.
So the Cursed Ones are more likely to survive in their ancestral lifestyle than the Pure Ones over time. The Pure Ones are more likely to either change or die.
Paolo Guccione:
Me>> Since that time, IMO, the most successful Telmori to survive would
>> have been the Cursed Ones. The Pure Ones are at a significant
>> disadvantage because they are Telmori and they don't have the
>> ability to turn into werewolves
>Really? Cursed Ones are much closer to animals than Pure Ones, and are
>often driven by instinct rather than reason (in game terms, this is
>reflected by not being able to memorize more than half their INT in
>spells).
A wolf is still pretty cunning despite being a beast. A shapeshifted Pure One will retain his human intellect but I do not feel that a Cursed One will forget his traditional magic (ie magic gained from wolf spirits) because da roolz say he does. He will have problems if he learns magic from other sources (ie a local spirit, a unscrupulous sorcerer etc). I just feel the INT x 1/2 is far too clumsy a mechanic to represent this.
So you are right that the Pure Ones make smarter wolves but the Cursed Ones are able to become Wolves far more often than the Pure Ones which is the reason why I think they are so successful (even if the change is involuntary).
>The second point is that the Pure Ones are not intrinsically dangerous.
>They are still useful mercenaries, thanks to divine magic, but they do
>not turn agains their employers on Wildsday nights.
Why would the Pure Ones work for human employers? Or more to the point, why would Safelstrans or the Orlanthi hire Telmori? This is like suggesting that the Orlanthi hire broos as mercenaries or the Pentans hire trolls. Remember the distinction between Pure One and Cursed One is _not_ widely known to outsiders. If I were a safelstran and I heard that somebody was hiring werewolves to fight for him, then I would assume that he was probably a borist and/or arkati and seek to kill him.
>However, I am assuming that Ralians know the difference between a
>Pure One and a Cursed One, which is not necessarily true.
I think it unlikely myself. The Safelstrans are so bigotted that they damn someone whose only fault is that he comes from the next city down the road. The Orlanthi clans feud amongst each other. For both cultures to drop their blinkers for the Telmori would have to be miraculous! If the Ralians hear of what Sartar did, they would be very suspicious...
>Which introduces the question: what do Ralians believe about Telmori? Do
>they think that all Wolf-people turn into werewolves or do they know the
>difference between Pure Ones and Cursed Ones, assuming that a difference
>exists?
IMO They know that the Telmori turn into wolves. They may not know of the Curse of Talor and for all practical purposes, it would not change their views on the Telmori. For starters, the Cursed and Pure Telmori both share the same hunting lifestyle. The Telmori hunters are not likely to give a damn about whether the prey they hunt actually belongs to someone who is outside their community - the Praxians certainly don't. Thus there is ample opportunity for conflicts between the Telmori and the sedentary humans. It is IMO this that fuels the conflict and hatred between the two cultures rather than some mumbo-jumbo about being forced by some ancient curse to turn into wolves.
End of The Glorantha Digest V5 #259
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