> Are you doing Carmanian House Generator like the Orlanthi Clan Generator?
> For 'modern' 1622ish Carmanians?
Yes to both. I really like the clan generator idea, since it gives the players more of a sense of ownership in their family (if you let them answer the questions). I have found that this is vital (at least for my players) for getting them to think "clan" instead of "me". Since I still dream of running a multigenerational game, this is pretty important.
> Interesting idea considering the secretive bitchiness of Carmanian Houes.
Yea, the House generator has to support this somehow. Probably by repeatedly pointing out how other houses have tried to screw you over at one time or another. Fortunately, Carmanian history gives plenty of opportunities for this. Most of the "Did your House do (A), (B), or (C)" questions have other Carmanians as the enemy - ie Light and Dark Shahs, Bull Shahs, Blood Kings War, ect.
> I would personally stick to stuff after Syranthir, questions prior to that might be:
> Were you kicked out of Fronela with Syranthir? YES
> Were you part of a bunch of mercenaries who conquered Pelanda? YES
I think some gold could be mined by asking "why?" Like...
"Your ancestors followed Syranthir Forefront out of Fronela almost a thousand years ago. Did they back Syranthir because A) of their religious faith, B) they backed Syranthir as a claimant for the throne of Loskalm, or C) of a personal feud with an enemy House.
> Lots of sides to take after Carmanos establishes the basic structure.
Amen to that! <laugh> The House generator should serve as a great vehicle for both teaching the players about Carmanian history, and making it personal.
Alex responds:
> My gut suspicion is that, at least vastly predominantly, it'd tell "the story of" their Fronelan (pre-)history, but "informed by" Pelandan influences. (And hence, and otherwise, very different from other Fronelan takes.)
This is the hard part. The post migration stuff is easy compared to this. I am taking a long look at both Carmanian/modern Pelandan mythology and the older Fronelan stuff in an attempt to answer questions about the Darkness and Dawn. Peter says I should ignore this stuff because the Carmanians broke with their mythic past after the revelations of Carmanos the Prophet. I think he is right to a large extent - I should stick with the really big questions and leave the rest to something like...
"The world was once a paradise where everyone knew the Truth of Idovanus. Then we fell to the despicable Lie of Gansatarus and were consumed by our own weakness and ignorance. Let us all be thankful that Carmanos came from the lake to save our souls!"
Peter states:
> >and it doesn't matter anyway, because he wouldn't have been
> >trying to imitate the early seshnelan pagans/henotheists?
>
> I don't see how you arrive at this conclusion considering the Carmanians now worship Pagan Gods.
What the Carmanians do *now* is a result of what they did *then*. Many of Syranthir's men appear to have been pagan, but I thought we had established that Syranthir himself was not (more similar to modern Fronela than Ralios).
> I don't know anything about Syranthir's state of mind when he attempted the quest but even if he were a fanatical Malkioni, he might have still attempted it to give his army a secure place to live in.
Definitely. The most obvious thing for a fanatical Malkioni to do would be to use his own faith and mythic background for that, not some strange pagan goddess. It seems like he would have found the idea of trying to father a child in this manner somewhat... unsettling? By this light, it seems like an act of desperation - which I think fits the picture nicely.
Thanks for your pointers for the post-migration House generator Q&A! All that you wrote seems right in line with what I am looking for.
~Kevin
End of The Glorantha Digest V8 #480
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