>having said that, I'm not so sure where he's getting this idea of
>Vinga gaining power by capturing heads...
>From you, Wulf, from you. Just to make this perfectly clear - I'm not
advocating Vinga as a head-taking fanatic, nor would I see head-taking as
the first, second or twenty-third thing about Vinga in need of detailing if
we expand the decription of her cult. All I was doing was taking an idea
that you yourself floated...
>Are Vinga and Humakt both privvy to head taking magic?
>All of a sudden they are in my Glorantha...
...and applying a little mythologic to the sources by way of example as to how the vingan cult in a particular clan or tribe *might* incorporate head taking into their mythos. There's a myth for most things, even if they are unused except in the darkest times.
Published myths reveal that Vinga took powers from a defeated foe, as did many of the gods in the Great Before, and this can be variously represented as taking a weapon, a prize or a body part or simply as 'honourably sparing' a defeated foe and demanding their powers. We also that Vinga took the head of at least one enemy. So I suggested that its at least possible some Vingan myths *might* combine the two if your campaign demanded it. Mind you, you have to balance this against the Vingan passion for life and their gift for finding others ways - so I wouldn't necessarily expect literal interpretations of the myth. "The head of an enemy" will always mean several different things - this we call Devotion.
Head taking has a place in Heortling custom - Orlanth Himself took heads, so Than can go jump - and Rory and David have posted some excellent summaries of the custom and the decidely mixed feelings it must evoke. How it effects different cults in different circumstances is wide open for exploration - surely that's what this entire thread has been about?
Cheers
John
nysalor_at_... John HughesQuestlines: http://home.iprimus.com.au/pipnjim/questlines/
The Emperor had all the qualifications for a corpse except, as it were, the most vital one.
-Terry Pratchett, Interesting Times.
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