Bell Digest v940620p1

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This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on
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From: MARTINCRIM@delphi.com
Subject: More on native farmers
Message-ID: <01HDOV7R67HE9204IN@delphi.com>
Date: 18 Jun 94 10:15:25 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 4660

CAMSWELL.5                        Copyright =FE 1994 Martin R. Crim
                                              All rights reserved

                       THE FARMERS OF PRAX
     All the farmers in Prax are native descendants of the
Godtime civilization of Genert's Garden, except along the Zola
Fel river and at Knight Fort, on the border of Heortland.  The
Zola Fel farmers include (in order of arrival) the native
farmers, Old Pavisites, Sun Dome County residents, New Pavisites,
Sartar Refugees, and Pelorian exiles.  Knight Fort is properly a
part of Heortland, but suffers the weather of Prax and the depre-
dations of the Praxians.

KNIGHT FORT guards the best ford over the steep, cold Storm
River.  It also guards the only gap in the cliffs which parallel
the seashore of Prax: the Storm River Gap.  It has a population
of two thousand in peace time.  The residents include a garrison
of five hundred soldiers and the eighty sacred prostitutes (some
retired) of the Uleria temple.  The others are mostly shepherds
and cattle herders.  Some dirt farmers raise oats downriver from
the Fort, in the Gap itself.  Gardens near the city walls provide
fresh vegetables.  Apple orchards and vineyards provide fresh and
dried fruit and the ingredients for alcoholic beverages.
     Prices for basic foodstuffs run high.  The large garrison
needs more provisions than the area can grow, and supply from the
hinterland is erratic.  Flash floods sometimes wipe out the oat
fields in the gap, further driving up prices.  The high prices
attract farmers and herders to this distant and dangerous place.=20
Some leave after a few years, but others come to replace them.
     Temples here include a major temple to Orlanth, minor
temples to Ernalda, Esrola, Humakt, Storm Bull, and Chalana
Arroy, and a shrine to Uleria's carnal aspect, called Warmheart.

ADARI sits at the edge of Shadow's Dance, a major troll land.=20
Many trollkin and some trolls (2,000 total) live in ruins and
garbage dumps outside the town walls.  The human population
fluctuates between three hundred and six hundred, depending on
the price of food, the availability of work, and the presence of
traders.  Recently, the city has been in a boom and bust cycle of
about ten years from trough to trough.
     About two hundred native farmers live here.  The current
Mayor is an outlaw Sable Rider named Ofnili Bigsword.  A shortage
of women, and an unruly populace, require that native farmer
women have protection whenever they leave their compounds.  The
native farmers complain about the ravenous, thieving populace.=20
On the other hand, the same populace provides them with a good
market to sell basic foodstuffs.  The native farmers here have a
higher standard of living than in most places because they
command the price of food.
     There are some hundred or more other human residents of long
standing.  Most of these are nomads who have left their tribes,
usually as a result of a crime or vendetta.  Some had to leave
their tribes because they lost their mounts and nobody would let
them have another.  A large number of half-nomads also live here.=
=20
Many deny their status, claiming to be nomads or native farmers.=20
The Pol Joni have a permanent presence here to guard their horse
market.  No Lunars are present.
     Temples here include a minor temple to Issaries, a shrine to
the Earth in her Benevolent Mother and Grave Digger aspects, and
shrines to Orlanth, Uleria, Humakt, and Tada.  The native farmer
Earth temple welcomes Six Earth cultists from other lands.  (The
Six Earths are Ernalda, Asrelia, Voria, Maran Gor, Ty Kora Tek,
Babeester Gor.)  The Orlanth temple caters mostly to nomads and
former nomads, but some native farmers belong.  The Ulerians are
mostly half-nomads or foreigners, with a few disgraced native
farmers.  The Humakti are all Pol Joni, other nomads, or
foreigners.  The Tada shrine is part of the native farmers' Earth
complex.  Only native farmers belong.  A few Chalana Arroy
healers live here, but not enough to form a temple. =20

AGAPE is a place with an aura of menace.  Its 300 inhabitants are
unusually sullen, even for native farmers.  Nomads quickly take
their leave, declining to abuse the services of the farmers.=20
Caravans leave as soon as they can.  Rumors speak of hideous
nighttime rites.  Many avoid the place, fearing diseases.  The
Lunar garrison consists of about ten frightened Pelorian Lunar
Deer light cavalry.  Sable Riders always deserted when posted
here, and the jumpy Lunar cavalry need only an excuse to send
them into flight.
     The only public temple here is a shrine to Ernalda in her
Benevolent Mother and Devouring Mother aspects.  A shrine to
Malia is a permanent fixture, which heroes have tried in vain to
destroy.

BARBARIAN TOWN, also known as Native Farmers Town, occupies a
fertile valley in the Storm Mountains.  Water rushes down from
Stormwalk and other mountains.  Fields grow lush and green with
oats and maize, although the soil is stony.  The stones frighten
away most nomads, who must take extra caution to avoid breaking a
mount's leg.  The nomads blame the locals for digging hole traps
that also break mounts' legs.  Although magical healing means
that broken legs are not always catastrophic, the constant drain
of magical force makes the area less valuable to rob. =20
     A population of 1200 lives in the town.  Cultivated fields
stretch several miles up the valley.  Many farmers have primitive
stone hovels in their fields to sleep in during plowing,
planting, and harvesting.
     There is a major temple here to the Earth, emphasizing her
Benevolent Mother and Silver Crone aspects, but also including
her Red Maiden aspect.  Other temples include a minor temple to
Orlanth, and shrines to Chalana Arroy and the Lowfires Gustbran
and Mahome.

BIGGLE STONE takes its name from a large mushroom-shaped stone in
the center of the town square.  It is a typical native farmers
town.  Downtrodden farmers eke out a living, buffeted by fate.=20
If the rains come and the crop grows, then nomads graze their
animals in the fields the day before the harvest.  The 500
residents are gaunt, hollow-eyed, and perennially morose.
     The only temple here is a shrine to the Earth in her
Benevolent Mother and Virgin aspects.

BULL FORD is a native farmer town in the valley.  It sits on the
River of Cradles at an ancient ford.  A small population of river
folk share the town with the native farmers.  The total
population is 800, and about 700 of those are native farmers.=20
Because of its strategic importance, the town has a permanent
Lunar garrison of about 50 infantry and 20 cavalry.  It has a
weekly market, held on Windsday.
     The native farmers here have a minor temple to the Earth in
her Benevolent Mother and Silver Crone aspects.  The fishermen
have a shrine to Zola Fel, god of the River of Cradles.

CLIFF EDGE is the most isolated native farmers town.  It lies far
south of the caravan routes and the best grazing.  The folk there
live on what grain they can grow in the silt of seasonal rivers,
along with plants they gather at the base of the Long Cliff (and
=66rom the cliff face itself).  The folk dam some of the seasonal
rivers to collect water to last the dry season.  Each household
also collects rainwater.  About 300 people live here, and they
have prospered since the Lunars brought maize.  They sell their
fine hempen ropes and canvas to the Lunars.
     The cliff is slowly retreating northward, so the native
farmers must continually rebuild their town.  Remains of old
outer walls become house walls and then disappear over the cliff,
in a process taking a couple hundred years.  Thus, the oldest
buildings there are less than two hundred years old.  On the
other hand, the town only needs outer walls on three sides,
because it has its back to the cliff.  Rumors say that the native
farmers know of caves in the cliff where they may hide from broos
or other danger.
     Temples here include a shrine to the Earth in her Benevolent
Mother and Silver Crone aspects and a shrine to the Climber
spirit.  The latter is a local spirit cult, which provides magics
of Coordination, Endurance, and Rope Enchantment.  The latter is
a one point reusable divine enchantment which requires a new,
well-made rope.  For an expenditure of one point of POW, it
doubles the weight which the rope can hold, and ensures that no
knot in the rope will come untied of itself.  Residents sometimes
put Armoring Enchantment on ropes, which guards against wear.

DAY'S REST is a major caravan stopping point.  It marks the spot
where Waha allowed the herd mothers to rest after he rescued them
=66rom their captivity.  One or more nomad clans are always
present, to sell protection to caravans and to buy trade goods.=20
     The native farmers population is only 150.  They subsist
mainly on skullbush products and plants gathered daily.  The
constant presence of nomads makes grain production unrewarding.=20
Some have tried raising maize in small fields, but the Sable
Riders keep stealing the grain for their mounts.  The farmers
worship at a shrine to the Earth in her Benevolent Mother and
Grave-digger aspects.

HORN GATE is an oasis with walls of white stone.  It lies near
Yiskoz mountain in the North Horn chain.  It includes ancient
ruins, including an ancient holy place underground.  The native
farmers considered it haunted or cursed, and say that it runs
underground for miles until it reaches ruins of King Hasalar's
palace (from the Godtime) underneath Yiskoz itself.  Waha once
covered the entrance to the haunted ruins with a huge gate made
of two matched animal horns.  This gate is long gone.
     Horn Gate has several wells of fresh water.  The nomads
fight over possession of the town to gain the use of the wells.=20
Those who control the town also treat the one thousand native
farmer residents as their property.  One fourth of the native
farmers are actually part-nomads, who have their own section of
town (though they participate in the native farmer rituals).=20
Only the priests live in the stone ruins of the original city.=20
The poorest farmers live in conical huts of dried mud and palm-
frond thatch.  (The rest live in typical adobe houses without
streets, with access from the roof.)  The farmers grow herbs,
dates, grain (oats and maize), and grapes.
     Some outsiders have lived here since 1615, including a
Chalana Arroy priestess and her entourage.  They protested Lunar
misrule of Pavis, and moved to Horn Gate to get away from the
main Lunar presence.  Here they aid those who resist the Lunars,
as well as native farmers and others.  They even heal soldiers in
the Lunar army, as long as they are not Lunar cultists.
     Temples here include a minor temple to The Earth in her
Benevolent Mother and Well-goddess aspects, a shrine to Chalana
Arroy, and a shrine to Gustbran and Mahome, the friendly
Lowfires.

INDAGOS lies on a seasonal river in Vulture Country, the eastern
side of the Zola Fel basin.  It provides a trading and defense
center for native farmers in the area.  About 500 live in the
town itself, and an unknown number live in hidden hovels in the
region.  The only surviving family of native farmer nobles comes
=66rom this place.  Although the leaders of the Indagos family now
live in New Pavis, the family maintains its control over its
ancient patrimony. =20
     Native farmers from this place are more militant than any
others, and will fight to defend their fields and hidden
granaries.  They use the terrain to their best advantage against
mounted enemies, and the town itself is in the center of a rock-
strewn plain.  They pay tribute in grain and manufactured goods
to nomad forces too large to resist.  When the Sartarites founded
New Pavis, they drove the native farmers from their better lands
near the river.  Still, the natives show a fierce determination
to survive at all costs.
     Temples here include a minor temple to The Earth emphasizing
her Benevolent Mother and Silver Crone aspects, but also
including the Red Maiden, and a shrine to Lord Indago as the
earth's husband and protector.

PAIRING STONE is a recently founded site.  The Pol Joni forced a
clan of native farmers to move here from nearer the Zola Fel, to
provide food when they held their Orlanth ceremonies here.  Since
that time, almost a hundred years ago, the native farmers have
grown accustomed to the place.  They even welcome the protection
of the Pol Joni from the other nomads.  Of course, the animal
nomads hate them because they are allies of the horse-riding Pol
Joni.  Thus, Pairing Stone needs its high walls, stony moat, and
hilltop location.  In the nearby hills, the 200 residents grow
oats and maize.  Cliffs and boulder fields prevent the nomads'
animals from reaching the folk's grain fields.  The folk have
terraced some land to grow more, reviving ancient practices.
     The town has a site sacred to the air gods (the pairing
stones themselves) and a shrine to The Earth in her Benevolent
Mother and Silver Crone aspects.

THE PAPS is the largest remnant of Godtime Earth worship in Prax.=
=20
Its residents enjoy higher status than any other native farmers.=20
They rule over the Sacred Ground area, a circular region over
sixty kilometers in diameter.  They maintain permanent temples to
the nomad gods, and also preserve the ancient cults of Praxian
earth cults.  The nomads accept the native farmers' membership in
their own cults.  They rationalize this by denying that the Paps
residents are native farmers.  Rather, say the nomads, the Paps
residents are descendants of the ancient godtime civilization
which the nomads built.  The ethnic makeup and culture of the
Paps residents leaves little doubt about their kinship to the
oasis people.  They even wear their hair the same way, and wear
similar felt hats.  They raise the same crops, including
skullbush, oats, dates, and grapes.  Maize has not yet appeared
here, because the Lunars have not dared trade here.
     Over 2,500 native farmers live in and around the Paps.  A
large number of them are priests and acolytes.  These provide
religious support to the nomads.  The High Priestess of Eiritha
nominally rules all the Eiritha priestesses of Prax and the
Wastes.  The Storm Bull and Waha temples provide holy day
services to nomads who happen to be nearby.
     The Paps has a temple to Eiritha which is major most of the
time and increases to great temple size on high holy days.  The
Storm Bull temple swells in size from minor to great on its high
holy day.  The Waha temple is major in size, except on its high
holy day, when it expands to great temple size.
     Only native farmers belong to the native earth cult, which
has a major temple to The Earth in all seven of her aspects.=20
Spirit cults of the earth include shrines to Three Bean Circus,
Ronance, Good Shepherd, and Aldrya. =20

RORY'S WELL is a town now in Sun County, but with a large
Pelorian exile community.  Sun County claimed ownership of the
town a couple generations back, and forced some native farmer
residents from their homes.  Only 100 native farmers remain.=20
They have adopted maize as their staple.  The Pelorian immigrants
recognize the value of having native farmers neighbors, because
the native farmers know all the ways to survive in the harsh
environment.  The Pelorians therefore honor them, although the
Sun Domers continue to treat them like dirt.
     The town includes a shrine to The Earth in her Benevolent
Mother and Well-digger aspects.  Redlander peasant women have
joined the shrine, but say strange prayers in their native
tongue.  The peasant men have erected a shrine to Lodril.  The
rulers and warriors travel to Helmbold to worship Yelmalio and
the Lunar gods.

TOURNEY ALTAR is a strange place, where the native farmer men all
worship Humakt Death.  A nomad Humakt Sword founded a temple
here, when he was crippled and unable to ride.  His name was
Ironhorn, and he was of the Bison Riders.  He had the geas of
accept no magical healing at all, and he lost a leg at the hip.=20
Rather than ride in a stretcher or rig some kind of a brace, he
chose to settle at Tourney Altar, which has some ancient
association with the Humakt cult.  He allowed native farmers to
join, in order to have a permanent temple here.  The other nomads
soon cursed his name, because the Humakti native farmers could
look after themselves. =20
     The Humakti fortified some buildings near the arena, and
made a great show of being ready to fight to the death.  The
nomads did not take them up on the offer.  When Ironhorn died, a
native farmer became Sword, and the shrine has been self-
supporting since then.  Only fifty native farmer men belong, but
they are strong enough in belief to support a shrine.  The total
population is a little over 200.
     Native farmer women and some men worship at The Earth
shrine, which emphasizes the Benevolent Mother and Grave-digger
aspects.

Other settlements exist in the Eiritha Hills, along the Zola Fel,
and in the Storm Hills.  These are very small, often with no more
than a dozen residents.  They have no temples, but there are some
shamans who lead spirit cult worship of Tada or a local nymph or
spirit. =20

The largest native farmer population is in Pavis and the Rubble.=20
Badside is populated mostly by native farmers and part-nomads.=20
Riverside is a mix of river folk and native farmers, and some
native farmers live elsewhere in Pavis proper.  If asked about
their ancestry, they often claim to be Old Pavisites, which is
true enough.  Being predisposed to surviving nomad invasions, the
native farmers did better upon the fall of Pavis than many of the
haughty Pavis nobles and Sun Domers.  Given their role in the
underclass, it is not surprising that native farmers dominate the
local thieves' rings. =20

     Native farmers traditionally act meek and dumb around
outsiders, but when pushed too far will defend themselves.  They
know many methods of passive aggression.  One common method is to
give infested or diseased grain for tribute.  Another is handing
over madmen and trouble makers when the nomads demand slaves.

     Native farmers reckon kinship and inheritance on the female
side.  All earth priestesses and shamans are female.  Only
females join Uleria and Chalana Arroy.  Only males join the other
outland cults.  All ancestor worship priest/shamans are male. =20

     Native farmers have blue or green eyes, sun-tanned
complexion, and brown or black hair.  They wear their hair short,
and wear clothes similar to Praxians'.  Males normally wear felt
hats (1 AP) and carry small knives.  Females wear extremely
concealing clothes, even in the hottest weather.  They wear
shawls over their heads and veils in the presence of outsiders.

     Native farmers speak their own language, unrelated to
Praxian.  It is, in fact, descended from Earthspeech.  Each oasis
speaks a noticeably different dialect, so there is a -5 modifier
when speaking with a person using a different dialect.  In the
valley, there are northern and southern dialects, with the
divider being Sun County.  Speakers of Earthspeech may take 1/10
their Earthspeech skill as Native Farmer.

     Cultural musical instruments are a two-headed drum and a
stringed instrument called a kagum, which is played with a pick.=20
The temple at Cam's Well contains serpents, spiraled metal horns
completely unlike the woodwind by the same name.

Half-Nomads
     Because of the inferior status of Hasalaru and the nomad
custom of taking slaves for concubines, a large number of half-
nomads exist.  Common usage labels all those with mixed nomad and
Hasalaru ancestry as half-nomad, or less polite terms.  The half-
nomads' free fathers often kept them in slavery by selling them.=20
Some fathers free half-nomad sons and even bring them into the
tribe.  Customs have varied with the circumstances and
personalities involved.  Many nomad tribes have permanent
populations of half-nomad slaves and freedmen.  These include the
Bison, High Llama, Sable, Bolo, Ostrich, Pol Joni, Rhino, and
Zebra tribes.  Half-nomads appear on the slave-dealers' platforms
at Pimper's Block and Pavis, where outlanders buy them.  Half-
nomads have appeared on slave blocks as far afield as Handra,
Tarsh, and Pent.

     Most nomads treat even free half-nomads as second-class
citizens.  They deny the half-nomads' heritage from Waha, even if
the father was a descendant.  This is so that no half-nomad can
become a khan. =20

     The native farmers also reject the half-nomads as allies of
the hated nomads.  The residents of Cam's Well keep some half-
nomads as slaves.

     Thus, many half-nomads feel no kinship with either nomads or
the native farmers.  They band together instead, or become
adventurers.