> OK, 2 things, (I wish I had the book with me at work) the
> HW Players guide doesn't say anything about Pure Horse
> refugees and what are your sources?
If you mean the Hero Wars rulebook, then you are wrong. It is clear from the description in "Hero Wars" that the Grazers are a branch of the Pentan Pure Horse Tribe: see HW p.106. It is equally clear that they escaped the destruction of the horse nomads who ruled Prax in the Second Age ("the [Praxian] beast riders banded together and ejected their [horse nomad] overlords who fled by magic into Dragon Pass"). That makes them "Pure Horse refugees" in my book.
As for sources: in "King of Sartar" there is an account of how the Pure Horse Tribe in Prax was destroyed in 1250 ST (Battle of Alavan Argary, cf. KoS p.192f): the Praxians know that half of them "went missing" from their place of captivity (the magical Black Net), don't know what happened, and assume they were destroyed. This happens in the same year the Grazers turn up in Dragon Pass (date of 1250 for arrival of the Grazelanders is consistent in other timelines and accounts, though not given in KoS itself). "Hero Wars" tells us that they "fled by magic", so this all adds up.
Older sources make the connection explicit: see for example "Pavis & Big Rubble" p.60: "The Pure Horse People ["horse barbarians who had entered Prax 500 years earlier"] ... had little chance against the combined tribes, and the greater part of them were destroyed by High Llama, Impala, Morokanth and Sable tribesmen in the battle of Alavan Argary [c.1250 ST, per text and timeline]. The survivors, mostly children guarded by the elderly and a few women and maimed warriors unfit to fight in the last battle, decided to brave the dangers and high adventure of a deadly territory rather than the slave collars of their conquerors, and slipped away to Dragon Pass ... The Pure Horse People [were] kindly received by the inhuman races of the region, and were ceremonially adopted by the natives with a ritual of rebirth and baptism. Afterwards, the remnant Pure Horse People were called the Grazelanders ..."
This adoption ritual is probably related to KoS's story of the Pain Centaurs, KoS p.108. IMO, the latter is primarily a legitimising myth to allow the adoption of the Grazers and define them WRT the Beasts of Beast Valley. I don't think there was a wholesale splitting of Centaurs into Men+Horses, rather that the myth explains how the newly-adopted Grazers relate to the in-situ Centaurs.
Finally, the timeline in first edition Runequest says: "1250: Defeated in battle, the forces of the Pure Horse tribe of Prax hide in haunted Dragon Pass. They find peace instead of demons, and are accepted by the local residents. They change their name to Grazelanders and settle."
The Grazers worship Pentan gods, follow Pentan customs, call themselves the Pure Horse Tribe and hate Praxians -- and this is all in Hero Wars. So just what is your problem?
Note on sources: "King of Sartar" and "Pavis & Big Rubble" were reprinted last year and should still be available from distributors. First edition RuneQuest isn't, but that's all it has to say on the subject. Very moderate of me, eh?
Cheers, Nick
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