Thanks for the assorted detail, which I'll address below, but I have to reiterate that this doesn't address what I can't help but see as the basic incongruity of a bunch of "cave men" (G:G) fighting in the midst of a quasi-mediaeval army. For them to fight as "allies", in situations of actual common interest, I can perhaps see, but this would seem a very ad hoc and makeshift proposition, I think. The army of a city state has, almost by its very nature, to stand and fight formal battles, whereas any Rathori force even _as_ smart as the average[*] will slink off into the woods, porcupine any pursuit from cover, and then Maul them as they flee.
> The rathori are quite widespread geographically. Their most
> important area is (obviously) Rathorela. However, there are Rathori
> widespread through the North, in small clans.
I can see there being _some_ Rathori in forested areas outside Rathorela, but I think a more realistic paraphrase of their frequency would be "a few families", rather than "widespread clans".
> The Rathori are not exactly nomadic. Instead, they make a circuit
> throughout the year, to avoid exhausting the resources available [...]
OK, that sounds entirely appropriate, then.
> As few campaigns are made in winter, and IMO, hibernation becomes longer
> as the rathori ages, young warriors are just lazy and sleepy in winter.
Quite possible, though I'd assume that all sleep through their "mid-winter festival". ("Great party." "Yeah." "ZZZzzzzzzzz.......") Not that we know how long or when that is, and including Sacred Time in this period may be questionable. Probably doesn't affect apostates, though.
> The Rathori are acquainted with different gods
Which gods? I'm aware of no evidence that they're of significantly different religious practices than the "typical" hsunchen.
> keep borders between
> clans, experiment with supra tribal "kingdoms", and use metal currently,
> even if all of it comes from trade. Quite similar to some orlanthi.
The average Orlanthi "clan" is about 1000 strong. The typical Rathori clan would be doing well to be 100. While some Orlanthi don't have "kingdoms" at all, they're frequently "permanent" political and magical institutions -- I get the fairly clear impression the "Kingdom of the Rathori" exists only so long as the current requirement for bashing skulls. No Rathori work metal -- all Orlanthi are able to do so. Tribal structures are endemic and important among the Orlanthi, and pretty much unusual, if not unknown for the Rathori. (I think they exist in the sense of geneology, meetings for trade, the occassional head-squishing "confederated warband" -- and that's it, pretty much.)
Trotsky, replying to me:
> I didn't think "the average bear" was particularly nomadic. (Polar bears
> excepted, in more ways than one.) >>
> There are no polar bears in Glorantha, according to RQ Book 5 p30 :-(
That's one of these senses in which they're "excepted". ;-)
> [Female grizzlies] may share their range with their daughters and sisters,
> and sometimes even granddaughters and female cousins.
Almost as big a group as the generic hsunchen "clan", indeed... (One "generation" smaller, to be precise.)
> Males, however, are not especially territorial and wander across a much
> wider area (about twice that covered by females). No doubt this might serve as
> justification among some young Rathori males to become mercenaries, and then
> return when they're bigger, stronger and more experienced to claim a bride.*
It seems to me to be a decidedly weak argument for that. Twice as big a territory is one thing, leaving your ancestral lands and trooping halfway across Fronela quite another. In terms of "anthropomorphised" hsunchen behaviour, this would seem more characteristic of (say) Basmoli, where one would expect the adolescent male to be unceremoniously booted out of the clan, and expected to get on with it by himself.
> This is because female black bears are highly promiscuous, and even
> have litters with more than one sire. Who needs to chase off a suitor when you
> can just wait until he's nipped off hunting and leap into the den with his
> girlfriend?
Do you think the black bear Rathori are concentrated towards the Zoria end of their forest, perhaps? ;-)
> Certainly they wander about a lot more than barbarians like the Orlanthi,
> since they have to cover a wider range to get food.
Yes, that I agree with.
> [worship a number of 'gods' alongside Rathor himself] of lesser spirits.
> However, in my view, this is not unusual among Hsunchen - albeit not
> universal.
I agree, it would be very common to acknowledge numerous gods, at the least in a cosmological sense, though how much active worship there would be is another matter.
> p13, for instance. IMO, however, they don't mean "barbarian" in the rules
> sense, just that that's what the other Fronelans call them. The Players Book
> quite specifically describes them as primitive, albeit less so than some.
Since the p13 reference is referring to _all_ the local hsunchen thereby, I strongly agree that this is not evidence of Rathori being "barbarian" in the sense of "cultural type".
Slainte,
Alex.
[*] OK, I shall desist with the subliminal Yogi-isms!
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