>I'll suggest, though, that maybe slash-and-burn *isn't* common. Every time
>you clear woods, you risk annoying some supernatural presence there--whether
>it's aldryami, forest spirits, or what-have-you. Of course, people do that
>anyway, but I think they'd be reluctant to do it just as a matter of course.
>Clearing forest is a bit of an undertaking, not something you do routinely
>because you've used up the old land--yes?
Not common any more, in most parts of Glorantha. I am utterly convinced that Shargash was once the god of slash & burn agriculture -- he has Red and Green aspects (at least in the Enclosure version).
But if you practice slash & burn, then yes, you do routinely use up old land. It's a farming style that uses lots of land, but doesn't require annual plowing. I think it also requires less effort than clearing land that you intend to plow -- it doesn't matter if you remove every last stump or stone, since you end up planting with something like a digging stick.
>Making this list-relevant: In a low-power campaign, clearing a section of
>forest might be the sort of task heroes are sent on. After all, clearing a
>forest for agriculture could involve such things as:
>
>* Researching the myths and history of the forest,
>* Scouting it for supernatural presence (and the scouting could be magical),
>* Fighting and/or negotiating with denizens.
>
>And any of those tasks could involve heroquesting (quest to find out what
>myths are connected to the forest, quest to banish or pacify the Great Oak
>Spirit).
Given that the storm barbarians of Umathela do this every 7 years or so, I don't think it's a major heroquest at all. Of course, it helps that they have an agreement with the aldryami to practice slash & burn on second growth.
I know that other people practice slash & burn (in Laskal IIRC), and they're not all elf-friends, so it'll be different there.
-- David Dunham dunham_at_pensee.com Glorantha/HW/RQ page: http://www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha.html Imagination is more important than knowledge. -- Albert Einstein --__--__-- End of Glorantha Digest
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