Listen to me, my lad and ignore these other fellows, mere dabblers in Duck Lore. I am the lad with the true, the reliable info. (If you will dig up the last Convulsion con report you will find a piece by me called HOW THE KEETS SAVED THE WORLD which tells you all this and more in a much more poetic way.)
Firstly the Ducks of Dragon Pass (or Durulz as they call themselves) are an isolated fragment of a God-Time culture called (as near as it can be rendered into modern speech) Ganderland. This lay on the slopes of the Spike and was destroyed and its inhabitants scattered when the Chaos Army exploded the Spike. It consisted of a huge number of species of intelligent birds in service to Yelm and Vrimak.
When Yelm was slain, some portion of the Duck Tribe defected from the worship of Yelm and joined the Orlanthi side, settling in Dragon Pass under the shadow of Orlanth's Mother Kero Fin and taking up Orlanthi religion and ways: they have an especially strong reverence for Humakt in recent centuries for the help he gives them against the Undead of the Upland Marsh.
They have lost all but the vaugest traditions of their pre-Dawning culture (although there may be a few shamans who can contact really old ancestral spirits for the information) and worship Orlanth and the gods of the Rivers they live along. They have always been stomped upon by the larger, stronger species around them and have developed an agressive attitude and a willingness to stick shortswords in the backs and the kneecaps of their enemies if that is the only way they will get respect. They were happiest when the House of Sartar was strong and provided them a place among the tribes of the Kingdom and justice against those who persecute them. They deeply hate the Lunars not only for overthrowing the line of Sartar but also for making them the scapegoats after the failure of Starbrow's rebellion: for a while there was a bounty on each beak brought in that reduced their numbers considerably, but their ability to retreat into the Upland Swamp and their sheer determination and courage got them through.
One other cause to the average Durulz' bad temper should be mentioned. At about the time of the Dawning, they suddenly and for no apparent reason lost the ability to fly. (For what I believe is the reason read my story mentioned above.) If they ever find out who is responsible, god or mortal, the Durulz will have their revenge.
The Durulz are physically identical (except for some minor differences in feather colouration) to one of the tribes of the Keets of the East Isles. Both lay eggs rather than give live birth and the two species can interbreed. (Yes, I know that contradicts earlier information, but this is the latest Greg poop.) The Keets consist not only of intelligent Ducks but also Herons, Ravens and other tribes all living life as citizens of various East Islands. (Mention should also be made of the chaotic Sorns, pteradactyl-like chaos-Keets.) The Keets do not have the irritability of the Durulz: perhaps they know something the Durulz do not.
Do not, I implore you, believe anything you hear about the Durulz being the product of EWF magicians (although they were not too proud to play up the Beastly side of their nature to get Ironhoof's protection or continue to live in Dragon Pass under the Ban) nor give creedence to gods called Hueymakt or anything similar. The Ducks are a brave, stubborn and bloody minded people who deserve better than cheap jokes.
End of The Glorantha Digest V6 #611
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