I join here the discussion, but it got interesting far before now; forgive if anything I say was already debated and please ignore it.
Someone wrote:
<<There might be a Praxian taboo about actually killing an innocent
member of the tribe. Most societies frown on regular infanticide, and in a
culture like Prax, where children are the gift of Eiritha, simply strangling
a newborn might seem impious, whereas abandoning the infant allows the gods
to intervene if they wish to.>>
I agree completely. I also see the Praxian society as quite as strongly influenced by Eiritha as it is by Waha. So Eiritha "herds" and "mothers" any child, IMG, even chaotic tainted ones and then handles them to Spirits or Waha shamans to decide their destiny. She always speaks for life and protection of the weak.
>I do like the idea of a fixed population due to a fixed amount of >water
>available (...)
I do not. Not in Prax, at least. I read (maybe in Borderlands?) that Praxian rain is heavy and it would allow a richer and more fertile land (and population) except for the fact that the Land (i.e. Genert garden) was blasted during the Godswar. So rain is abundant and anyone can keep it in cisterns (Sp?) or silos. Even nomadic clans, I suspect, would have developed ways to gather and treasure their reserve of water. But the earth is blasted and grows little or none.
IMG, Oasis are such not because of water presence, but because of a "local lesser degree of cursing", as a matter of speak. Syllogism is not: the Oasis land is more wet and so is richer; Syllogism is: it is equally wet but it keeps water and gives plants and animal life because the Earth itself is less blasted than around the oasis.
>This would probably tie in nicely mythologically too with being the
>same number of survivors who were at that spot, who have nor changed
Locally Myths could enforce a "fix number population geas", but it is out of
mythical reasons or other plagues, I think (rains doesn't reach the ground,
food instantly rots, people grows sick due to Malia haunting those who
number more than figure xy that was there when Malia was a baby or something
like that).
RW scarcity of water doesn't really fits as a complete explanation to
Praxian uses and ways of life, IMO. Neither to the use/abuse of water.
I read that Praxians hate townspeople and call them "Smelly"; that could be
because Praxians (who love rain and pools water) like to wash themselves! (a
thing that most RW desert nomads consider an extreme luxury)
You rem Dune? There water was little, but more important than that it was needed to grow/ban (I don't remember exactly) the Shai Ulud, the SandsWorm, i.e. god: water was a physiological element but it had deeper and less-than-evident cult ecology references. I liked that idea and I use it in "my" Prax.
<<The midwife in Praxian culture is acting in the service of life. To strangle a newborn seems like it would make her impure. If anyone in the tribe would do it, it would be a khan, who acts in the service of death.>>
Exactly what I meant above: the two "souls" of Praxian society, Eiritha and Waha, giving life and delivering death.
<< Disguising a chaotic birth is probably a crime in Praxian society, since the mother must have done something to cause the chaotic birth. Need to weed out those godless chaos-lovers in the tribe, doncha know.>>
OK. Actually I ran a case of chaotic infanticide in Glorantha-RQ3.
A PC was a Waha Praxian warrior. He was covertly possessed by a passion
chaotic spirit, during an encounter with a Shaman Broo.
The spirit urged him to rape two females (the first two he met, actually!).
He was "arrested" the spirit discovered and purged. In the meantime the two
women gave birth (after a 8-weeks pregnancy!) to two mildly chaotic babies.
The midwife gave the fast-growing boys to the father-PC. One of the women
died giving birth, the other (an idiot girl formerly herd-woman) had another
fate: the PC was forced by the clan to marry and sustain her.
The PC took his children outside the encampment. I was shocked when the
player told me "My character kills and buries them without much concern".
Then I understood his point and admired his role-playing of a true Praxian
warrior.
Noone ever asked the PC about the missing baby-freaks. Not even the mother
or the Clan-Shaman. In fact he (the Shaman) approved the PC act and the fact
he performed it outside the encampent.
Ciao
Gian
End of The Glorantha Digest V7 #433
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