From: RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RQ Digest Maintainer) To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (Daily automated RQ-Digest) Reply-To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RuneQuest Daily) Subject: RuneQuest Daily, Mon, 20 Jun 1994, part 1 Sender: Henk.Langeveld@Holland.Sun.COM Content-Return: Prohibited Precedence: junk X-RQ-ID: Intro This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's world of Glorantha. It is sent out once per day in digest format. More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found after the last message in this digest. --------------------- 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.