The Digest has taken to calling me 'NAT' in the contents. That particular appellation means 'National Office" has been added to my office e-mail address to distinguish me from *another* John Hughes in a distant office far from Canberra. You needed to know that, didn't you?
David Dunham...
> John Hughes clearly needs to play King of Dragon Pass to see what
> happens when you let trollkin herd your sheep...
I certainly *do* need to get myself a copy of KoDP, but as for trollkin herding sheep, well you can achieve wonders with muzzles and chokers. And setting an alynx to watch the trollkin who watch the sheep (cruel but effective). It also helps to keep your values well fed, and bright enough to retain both a sense of loyalty and a concept of reward and punishment. As is often the case when dealing with campaign trollkin, we are entering a realm of MGF light comedy here (as opposed to ducks, cause ducks are *twagic*, *twagic*). I use the idea of stead trollkin because of the MGF aspect and because of the ready way it generates campaign incidents. Whether you use alynx, enlo, dogs, stickpickers or children, they're all NPCs, allowing PCs the time to get into serious trouble. Which is as it should be. The pollution by Darkness is a more serious aspect of course, but again this fits into my overall campaign conception of the Far Place as a elemental land that is slowly but surely drawing its Orlanthi immigrants back to the ancient powers.
and Crim Martin...
> Speaking of breeding and "buggers," how do you deal with the inevitable
> cross-breeding? I mean, for a lonely boy, they beat sheep. IMG, the
> Illuminated Uzuz of Halikiv crossbred trollkin with humans to get New
> Trolls (Uznu), who were like Tusk Riders but with darksense. IYG, are
* these crossbreedings infertile? Shades of Larry Niven...
Crossbreeding? Crossbreeding! We are healthy and noble Tovtaros men, and you
are obviously confusing us with those filthy Princeros and Vantaros down the
track. The very idea...
>I mean, for a lonely boy, they beat sheep.
Modesty here forbids further comment. :)
Seriously, I've never considered this interbreeding aspect, and would
welcome discussion. In general it seems quite rare - Tusk Riders and Pavis
being the only examples that spring to mind, and we've already Digested
those topics in detail previously. Given the magico-physiological status of
enlo in particular, I would very much doubt that fertilisation is viable.
Rural liaison with alynx however, given the general wackiness of Gloranthan
genetics, may explain why they seem to getting bigger :) .
Cheers
John
"There was a muddy centre before we breathed. There was a myth before the myth began, Venerable and articulate and complete.
From this the poem springs: that we live in a place That is not our own and, much more, not ourselves, And hard it is in spite of blazoned days."
Wallace Stevens. "Notes Towards A Supreme Fiction"
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