Re: Medicine Bundles

From: Chris Lemens <chrislemens_at_...>
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2007 08:36:47 -0700 (PDT)


Rory:
> I didn't write the rule in question, but yes, that's the intent. The bundle
> acts as the "SuperFetish" for the Practice group. Losing the Bundle is
> similar to losing a fetish or charm - you can't contact the spirit(s).

Meaning the guardian spirits in the bundle and the majestic spirits whose goodwill it represents, right? Not the practice spirits whose fetishes you have, unless you release them.

> The bundle "ties" part of the MS to the Mortal world and acts as a
> conduit to the MS (to keep the "Relationship with MS" going).

That's a perfect phrase for Praxians because of the knot theme. I suspect Greg might say that the bundle is a home or body in the mundane world for a disembodied spirit. Of course, a majestic spirit is so big that it only fits partially into that home.

> > What happens if you leave your practice group in the sense of abandoning
> > membership, without leaving the practice?
>
> Assuming you go to another practice group for the same practice, you'd
> simply add a new "Relationship to intercessor" ability to reflect the new
> Shaman/head practitioner (what happens to your old "Relationship to
> intercessor" depends on the story...). You'd have access to a different
> medicine bundle.

Well, that makes some sense of that relationship, which always felt like it did not entirely fit in. I understood it in the context of wizardry, less so in theism, and much less in animism. Thanks.

> > Can your practice group eject you in the sense of disrupting your
> > relationship with the majestic spirit?
>
> They can eject you and cut off access to *their* medicine bundle.

Meaning that you lose your "Relationship to Intercessor," right?

> They *can't* cut you off from the [majestic spirit].

I think you mean, more precisely, that they cut your current tie to the majestic spirit, but you can make another tie through a different intercessor?

> > What happens if you are just off on an adventure, and intend to
> > come back some day?
> > Does physical distance from the medicine bundle matter if it is
> > not for a landscape spirit?
>
> I think it does, but a Shaman should be able to make a "minibundle"
> for you to take along so that you can still use you Spirits' abilities.

I think I disagree. I don't like mini-bundles. I think that's what your fetishes are (and is probably what makes them different from charms). The spirit plane and the mundane plane overlap in ways that defy description in three dimensions. You could be very close or very far from the bundle's presence on the spirit plane. I'd say that the unpredictable variability of your die rolls models that just fine. (You fumble, you know the spirit plane is a long way from here; you crit, you know it's right there. But the closeness changes over time, sometimes rapidly.) The fetishes are points that your majestic spirit has made visible to its practice spirits on the spirit plane, to help guide them back. I'm betting that most fetishes have to be created in the presence of the medicine bundle, bringing them together, then separating them.

[L.Castellucci:]
> > The description of the Moosehead Spur medicine bundle seems to say no. It
> > works at distance to everyone connected to it.

[Rory]
> Well, even *I* can be wrong :-).

Yay! Actually, my question was probably misleading. It is charms and fetishes of landscape entities that lose potency over distance.

L.Castellucci:

> I completely missed this when I read the rules.

Me, too. An off-hand reference from Greg brought me to it, after many months of it gently bouncing around my head. I'm still not sure I like it. But I think it's actually pretty important in terms of visualizing the game. You could easily ignore it in most gaming situations, if you wanted to. As Rory implies, just put "Relationship to Blueface the Shaman" on your character sheet and forget about it.

> > They can eject you and cut off access to *their* medicine bundle.
>
> So other than the guardian blessings (a-la wyter) what does being
> cut off from the medicine bundle consist of?

You can't refill your fetishes if you release your spirits from them (which ADDS their abilities to yours, rather than AUGMENTS your abilities). This is the big flash-bang of animists. It makes them really tough in a single fight, though it takes some time to recover from it. I think it is one of the keys to how animists hold their own against the other magical systems. It's like getting a feat that you can use actively.

> One bit I might be unclear on - is it one medicine bundle per majestic spirit?

One medicine bundle per majestic spirit per practice group. So, if you are in a Bison herd (think "clan" but Bison herds are huge), your sept (and extended family thing that is a subset of this huge herd) might be your practice group. It would have one medicine bundle for each of Waha, Eiritha, and probably many others. The other septs will also have medicine bundles for the core practices. However, you might have to visit another sept's rituals if you join a helper practice that your sept's shaman does not favor. For example, suppose you want to belong to the Sun Hawk practice, but your sept's shaman belongs to the Raven practice. He probably can't or won't make friends with the Raven spirit, so can't hold its medicine bundle. So you need to form a relationship with the shaman in one of the other septs.

Also, I rather suspect that there is only one Bison Founder medicine bundle and one Bison Protectress medicine bundle in the entire herd. They are (a) a practical way that the Khan and Queen maintain control and (b) an important symbol of unity. The Bison Founder medicine bundle is also a magical implement critical for war-band one magical thing when fighting; the Bison Protectress medicine bundle is equally critical for making the beast-herd one magical thing when migrating.

Daka Fal's medicine bundles might be held by family leaders or elders, rather than any group larger than that. Storm Bull's might be one per herd, held by the senior-most Storm Khan.

Obviously, all of these groups overlap to varying extents. Having to move round between them leaves interesting opportunities for role-playing.

Chris Lemens

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