Re: Ancestral connections

From: Simon Hibbs <simonh_at_msi-uk.com>
Date: Tue, 05 Jan 1999 10:15:36 +0000


Thomas :

> According to the description of Ancestor worship cults you must
> have a blood connection to the shaman (and therefore presumably
> common ancestors) to worship become an initiate in an ancestor
> worship cult.

In one of Sandy's campaigns the PCs families, in fact their whole community, were all wiped out. They came up with a plan to re-found the tribe using awakened herd men. They would have no sentient ancestors and so could be adopted into the tribe without too many problems.

> One of the players has a Praxian barbarian character (no blood
> relation). In a recent moot the question as to whether or not he
> could be a worshipper of the clans ancestors came up. Clearly he
> has no blood connection. Can he just be ritually adopted into the
> clan and become someone else's child in a spiritual sense and
> therefore gain the right to call on his "adopted" ancestors?

There are several ways I can think of.

One would be for the character to marry into the tribe. This would establish a very 'soft' link to the tribal spirits. Once he had children that were part of the clan's bloodline, that link would become much stronger and he may be able to call on the ancestral spirits of his children. It's still not ideal though. I'd give him a decent penalty on reaction rolls.

Another way would be by heroquest. Here's ho I'd do it.

First of all he has to persuade a family of the tribe to sponsor him. If the quest succeeds he will be their son.

Next he will have to heroquest to recreate the founding myth of the tribe. This is the really tough bit. How tough depends on the founding myth. How was the tribe started? If they were a splinter group from a larger tribe then he would have to take part in whatever events caused the schism. If they were 'lost in the wilderness' he would have to endure the hardships they endured.

When he starts the quest, his old life is effectively 'dying'. He will have to face an ancestral spirit from his own bloodline on crossing the threshold into the otherworld before he can break that link. On completing the quest he will also have to fight an ancestral spirit of the new tribe to overcome their resistance to him.

If he survives the tests of spirit combat and completes the quest, then his return is a rebirth into the world. He will now have to perform the rites of adulthood to enter the tribe as a full adult.

Simon Hibbs


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