<< 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...)>>
To clarify my position: I am merely repeating the official line here (as it is liable to promulgated in future products) - I didn't say necessarily found it terribly plausible. Indeed, I think Nick's myth is great, if a clear case of 'IMG' (or perhaps IVEBGSG*).
<<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.>>
Agreed; my understanding of the official line is that they prefer to use alynxes for this sort of thing not that they *never* do anything else. Ditto with goats.
<< 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?>>
Very likely.
<< > << 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. >>
The hevren is meant to be a lot heavier than a lynx, and I'd put 45-50 kg as a reasonable estimate of its maximum (but not typical) size. What that equates to in RQ SIZ terms, I don't know.
<< > << 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.>>
Well, alynxes are cats with bobbed tails, but I agree the term is misleading.
<< 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"? >>
I'd imagine they're prized for that purpose, although whether there's enough of a demand for it for an entire breed to be created I don't know. And they are said to be independently minded even by cat standards (!)
<< > 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...>>
Primarily rodentivorous, I would have thought. Essentially, for the Heortlings (and most other Orlanthi, as I understand it) they fulfil exactly the same role as the RW housecat/barncat.
<< > 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... >>
Trust me, he isn't going to get them back the same size as he gave them to me in :-)
<< 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>>
I think there's pumas in parts of the barbarian belt, and small wild cats such as _F. sylvestris sylvestris_ throughout. The murni may be housecat sized, but the wild alynxes aren't.
<<Personally, I want them to be recognisably feline, for starters -- no, better yet, _archetypally_ feline, while I'm at it >>
DOG: "My owner feeds me, loves me and protects me, so he must be God." CAT: "My owner feeds me, loves me and protects me, so I must be God."
Forward the glorious Red Army!
Trotsky
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