>I have a couple of questions and it would be
>interested to know what other
>people think about these things. I think ownership
>among Praxian nomads
>should be explained perhaps a bit further.
I{d like to toss a few comments in on this.
>How do
>they view thievery when
>someone belonging to the same circle of life
>(follows the Ways of Waha etc.)
>takes/steals something, which belongs to gifts of
>the Earth, Eiritha and to everyone?
I think we need to first look at the ocncept of ownership. I, a warrior of Waha, own my weapons and my bulls. My wife owns her cows and her household equipment. Our clan owns the clan medicine bundles, etc. We don{t belong to a permanent tribe, nor do we belong to a permanent nation, except insofar that we recognize we are all bison people and share tht in common copared to otehr Praxians. And of course, we are all human beings, when compared against the innumerable enemies of true humankind, like Sartarites, elves, serpment people, cactus people and Kralori. Fially, even those despicible beings are more like us than ae any creatures of vile chaos, like broos, scorpion men, gorp, etc.
>Ok. We know they can`t stand strange outsiders
>living in Sartar, Pavis,
>Teshnos and elsewhere.
:) I can stand them living there, but I can{t stand them living here!! :)
>Owning land is something
>totally incomprehensible in
>Praxian sense. But what about when a Raven
>worshiper steals something? They
>exist in every tribe and nation and they`re known
>to be cunning masters of
>thievery and so on. Worshipers of the Three
>Feathered Rivals are respected,
>and Raven too, if he/she doesn`t cause any harm to
>her/his own clan.
Note that "his own clan" part first. The Praxians have a kinship system, of course, but most important to us are the people that we live with and herd with, "our grup" which may or may not be our blood kin. I don't really want ot take from my blood kin, who are my father and mother, their brothers and sister, and my first cousins, polus my wife and her sibs.
>So,
>where to draw the line? Nomads recognise
>?stealing?, but when it comes to
>raiding beasts, that`s not stealing...?
When I raid your herd, even if they are bison, it is not stealing. I can only steal from my own people, because "stealing" is defined as the "illicit taking of somethign tht belongs to one of myown people." And of course, "my own people" is my own family group.
>IMO they
>don`t view raiding or
>taking from other clans as stealing (because that`s
>a traditional way to
>survive),
Raiding is a way to prove my manhood. If I can take your cattle and have a bigger herd, I am a beter man than you are. If you, too, are a bison man, then I am a better bison man than you are. If you are a puny Impala or something else silly, then I am a better man than you.
>but when a Raven worshiper does it,
>that`s stealing. Mythically,
>something like that. Am I correct?
Raven is a wayof stealing. If I am a normal bull man, then I will go and challenge you and beat you up to take your herd. But sometimes people are clever and can disguise their footprints, change appearance of themselves or their animals, or make a wind blow in your eyes, or convince you to take something bright and shiney in exchange for your animals. That is the raven´s way. He raids using cleveness and deception, not the usual way.
>Another question that brings to my mind is Iron
>Man`s Death wielding powers.
>It`s quite difficult to imagine Iron Man worshipers
>established in a culture
>that has long traditions in respecting life and
>Fertility. Iron Man is
>somewhat an exception in Praxian pantheon (as it`s
>in Heortling society),
>but any better clarified thoughts?
Hey, I, my Bison Warrior, dolove live and fertility. I like my herds to be big and fat, and I REALLY like being fertile with my wife and concubines. BUT my job and life way is to kill and be killed. My job is torisk my body in defense of my wife and cows, to place myself into harm's way for the good of my people. As long as it does not go against Waha or my oral traditions, I am glad to use whatever help I can to suceed in my life ways. I{d even use Raven ways! If I knew them. Yea, and Iron Man Ways too, if I was ever lucky enough to hvae iron!
--Greg
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