On whether hsunchen use their animals as beasts of burden:
<< Is this your opinion or are you paraphrasing from some hsunchen
religion
description?>>
The description in Genertela Players Book says that the Rathori hsunchen do not 'bind their beasts to work like a slave'. IMO the same holds true of most other hsunchen as well. However, exactly how that will be interpreted will vary from tribe to tribe. Many will consider riding their totem animal as perfectly OK, others would not, IMO. Its my - totally unsupported - opinion that using the animal to pull chariots is a step too far for most hsunchen peoples.
<< IMO this would not be enslaving the wolf.>>
Well, its certainly binding them to do work, although I suppose one could argue as to whether or not its working 'like a slave'.
<<What I'm trying to say that animal life has no room for politically correct behavior, and hsunchen society should reflect this. The rider doesn't make the puller a beast of burden,>>
Well, what would, then? Pulling a plough, certainly, but the passage in question says that hsunchen should not plough *or* bind their beasts, which implies to me that the latter does not simply include the former or its a redundant statement. So there must, therefore be something beyond just ploughing-type work which is prohibited. One may, of course, argue that this is simply a practice of the Rathori, and not of other hsunchen.
<<The point would be: is this a good tactic? I think this is the only question that matters from an hsunchen POV.>>
I disagree. It makes a lot of sense to take up agriculture, for example, but hsunchen don't do that. The hsunchen, like other Gloranthan cultures, have a religion which defines how they are supposed to act, and one can't simply ignore that and say that only questions of expedience are important to them.
<<In the same spirit, I like the idea of lion riding Basmoli berserker. The lion would not be treated as a beast of burden: but in Prax, if you want to stay alive, you have to move often and fast. And lions are faster and stronger that their bipedal brothers. Pragmatic, not racist.>>
I don't personally see the basmoli as riding their animals, and descriptions have portrayed them as foot nomads, like the Uncolings. Clearly some hsunchen do ride their animals, though. Some *may* use chariots, although that's not my own feeling.
<<Hsunchen are *not* WWF members! :)>>
No, but they are relatives of their totem animals, and worship their spirits, so they don't use them as tools, either. Which doesn't stop some of them eating their totems, mind you (the Damali probably do this, for instance).
Forward the glorious Red Army!
Trotsky
Powered by hypermail