Re: Questions

From: Peter Larsen <plarsen_at_...>
Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2004 17:02:27 -0500


At 10:20 AM +1300 3/4/04, Peter Metcalfe wrote:
> > True, but my point is that, even if it's hard to collect weregild
>>from an usheathed Humakti, all that means is that the feud remains open --
>>the Humakti doesn't "get away" with it.
>
>He does get away with it if the clan is weak.

        Sure, but they'd have to be pretty weak. Or poorly led. Or really distracted.

> > Eventually, assuming the Humakti
>>kills enough people, the clans will begin to refuse him/her entrance to the
>>tulas
>
>If they can drive him off. And if there is animosity between some of the
>injured clans, one might be willing enough to "use" the Humakti against
>others.

        That's true, and would probably make a good story. But then we don't really have a Humakti acting alone kind of situation.

> > >Like weregild, these laws of hospitality are Orlanthi laws and an
>> >unsheathed Humakti is not obliged to follow them.
>
>> As a stranger, the unsheathed Humakti can't expect any more
>>hospitality than a Lunar soldier, and that's what the clans will provide --
>>a knife in the dark as soon as it's possible/convenient.
>
>Which means the clan is buggered if the Humakti has Makla Mann's
>Sense Ambush skill. Moreover hundreds of lunar soldiers do similar
>things but survive because the clans are too frightened.

        Yes, but if you kill a Lunar soldier, eventually you have more Lunar soldiers to deal with, then lots more if you deal with the second batch. When the lone Humakti gets killed, that's it. And the Humakti may be tougher than a Lunar soldier and even able to sense ambushes, but he/she will still be at a disadvantage on the clan's home ground, where they know the land and their magic is strongest.

        So yeah, a really powerful Humakti dealing with a weakened clan and aided by the clan's enemies would be harder to beat, but that won't be the case all that often. Unsheathed Humakti, as a rule, do not have the leverage to push people around for all that long -- they will pick and choose their battles carefully (or as the god wills). They'll learn just how far to push clans to be more useful than trouble, or they won't survive to get to be 10W3 monsters....

Peter Larsen

Powered by hypermail