Martin Crim and Trotsky:
> << A truly domesticated wildcat is of great use in hunting by ambush, since
> a wild lynx (about twice the size of a housecat) can take down a mature
> deer.>>
>
> Yes; I think my brain must have temporarily melted when I said in my
> post that a typical alynx is smaller than a RW lynx - of course, it's about
> the same size...
Apparently with a greater SIZ range, though; housecat-sized, bobcat-sized, lynx-sized, and somewhat bigger, if you take the 1-6 range as gospel.
> << Despite the mythical link, however, Orlanthi have to keep dogs for
> herding.>>
>
> Here I disagree; the Heortlings regard dogs as unclean, and in fact,
> according to Greg, the primary use of the domesticated alynx is as a herding
> animal.
And according to me, Greg is apt to say some mighty odd things from time to time. Certainly as regards them herding _sheep_, that's silliness on a stick, as Nick's myth expresses better than I could hope to. (A tremendously rare example of the Why It's _Not_ So myth category...)
Does this mean they _have_ to keep dogs? Well, as Chick Young and Ron Manager would each say, Small Boys. But I have no doubt that some of them do keep dogs, myself. In most (perhaps "All") clans it'd be a sign of being a flea-bitten low-end cottar, but that's far from non-existence. The very occassional clan may have some entirely warped value system as regards dogs. In fact, there's an example of said heterodoxy in KoDP, IIRC. (Which I reserve the right to laud as Neu Canon one moment, and slag off in excelsis the next, as suits my purpose, or in case of the lack of a purpose (as is so often the case) unsolicited opinion of the given instant.)
As for them being _unclean_: you're sure you're not confusing the unconvincing Greg/Jeff rationale for the non-existence of dogs in Dragon Pass with the unconvincing Greg/Jeff rationale for the non-existence of goats in Dragon Pass?
> << The Oxhead breed of Talastar is the largest, and hunts deer, pigs, and
> sable. It ranges in size from forty-five to fifty kilos (SIZ 7-8). >>
>
> I agree that's about the maximum size for a hevren, which is the
> largest alynx breed.
This sounds like SIZ Inflation to me, personally. The Bestiary gives their maximum size as 6, which is already decidedly hefty compared to yer terrestrial Lynx lynx.
> << Most Orlanthi regions have a hunting cat breed in the thirty to
> thirty-five kilo range (SIZ 5). These take rabbits, small species of
> antelope, rubble runners, and other prey in the SIZ 3- 18 range, including
> the occasional deer. A common (but misleading) term for these is bobcat.>>
Misleading would be right: they're much bigger at SIZ 5 than bobcats, and if they're at all lynx-like, don't look much like bobcats either.
> The red-coated gavren is around this size, and seems to be primarily
> used for hunting, so I'd disagree that that's unusual. So is the dark-furred
> alusar (and for that matter the shadowcat), although I'm not entirely clear
> what the alusar is actually bred to *do*, as they seem rather contrary
> animals with no particular talents other than high POW.
"Familiar Fodder"?
> << Cats in the SIZ 1-4 range (5 to 23 kilos) usually serve to kill pests,
> such as rats, mice, and crows. The smaller sizes are useful to control
> insect populations, especially grasshoppers and locusts.>>
>
> The murni, the primary vermin-hunting breed, is about the size of a
> modern-day housecat so 23 kilos is probably somewhat excessive.
Decidedly. Even a housecat-sized "SIZ 1" is oversized to be primarily insectivorous, though fractional SIZ might be too nerdy even for the diest-hardest of RQers...
> I'm not so sure about this, although Greg gives them combat skills and
> damage even greater than a lion (!) in his HW stats, so you could be right.
Has someone been letting Greg at the numbers again? Pry his fingers gently (but firmly) off the gear stick... Since HW combat abilities don't _directly_ reflect 'damage per bite', one could perhaps hand-wave one around this -- though I don't immediately see either how, or why.
I think what disquiets me about this thread (and others like it of yore) is the seeming implicit assumption that if there's a feline predator in the barbarian belt, it's some or other flavour of alynx; and worse, that it's the 'generic Orlanthi utility domestic animal'. (I don't say any given individual is saying this, but it seems to be rather the net effect.) Personally, I want them to be recognisably feline, for starters -- no, better yet, _archetypally_ feline, while I'm at it -- and furthermore, non-ubiquitous enough to retain some Ooo-aah value as a sacred, special, and magical animal.
Cheers,
Alex.
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