Who's yer mommy? (Uz heroquesting)

From: Andrew Solovay <asolovay_at_...>
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2002 15:05:59 -0700


James Frusetta <gerakkag_at_...> wrote:
>
> Of course, it's a bit complicated since uz use heroquests (IMO) to
> deliberately trace links and "shape" family trees ("See? I'm the real
> Rightful Daughter of this clan now!") and, come to think of it, now
> that you suggest this -- probably to *obscure* them.

Hm... I'm not sure about this. I guess "shaping the family tree" could mean one of several things:

  1. Actually changing who is whose daughter. Yesterday, Ginger was not descended in the female line from Queen Britney. Last night, she heroquested. Now, she *is* descended in the female line from Queen Britney.
  2. As above, but dealing with descent in the male line, which is less important to trolls (and probably less well-documented, if e.g. a troll queen has a harem of mates).
  3. Establishing who is the *heir* of whom. That is, before the Heroquest, we knew that 1st-age Queen Britney had two daughters, Bubbles and Buttercup. Everyone thought Buttercup was the heir (IIRC, the heir is not necessarily the first-born--it has more to do with who's respected, liked, and (especially) powerful.) 3d-age troll hero Blossom (descended from Bubbles) heroquests and establishes that, in fact, Bubbles was the best-liked and the heir, and (therefore) Blossom's clan is a lot more important than anyone knew.

#3 seems straightforward enough. #2 seems plausible, if only because Uz don't care all that much about fathers. (This might be useful when all you want to do is establish some kind of kinship, and don't much care about what--e.g. welcoming an uz to a new clan, establishing that a Kaarg's son gets to chow down, performing "only on relatives" magic).

#1 seems tough, though. All the Uz Great Mothers (and probably every Korasting shaman) are going to know all kinds of geneology--in their own family all the way back to Kyger Litor (in the female line anyway), in other local families, and in all families of any importance.

So. Say that Ginger wants to perform that heroquest to establish that she's descended in the female line from Great Queen Britney. There's some key generation where the lineage actually *changes*--e.g. before the Heroquest, the 2d-age heroine Posh was the daughter of Sporty; after the heroquest, Posh is the daughter of Scary.

So. All those dozens or hundreds of Uz who know Posh's lineage--what happens with them? Do they suddenly remember things differently? (When they chant "Song of the Spice Ancestresses", have the words changed without their noticing?) Does that Uzuz great mother, who actually was *there* when Sporty gave birth to Posh, remember things differently? Or do they all remember the old geneology, and not notice something's changed until Sporty stops answering the "summon ancestress" rituals?

In either case, I'd expect that the heroquester would face automatic opposition from *every* Uz who remembers the old geneology and does not actually support the quest. That's a pretty tough barrier to overcome.

>> and nothing in the rule says the dead relative has to be fresh...)
>
> Suggesting there's the sneaky expedient for Bad Karrg's Sons of
> just keeping a few relatives in the locker, and nibbling as little
> as you can get away with... Of course, that's horrible and
> lacks compassion for the dead, but hey...

Ad-hoc proposal: A particular relative only counts *once* for a particular Kaarg's Son. It's okay if you only get a mouthful of Uncle Krusty at the funeral--you've done your duty. But if you go to his funeral this season, then swipe his legbone and bring it home with you, you won't fulfill the obligation by eating that legbone *next* season.

Still, it might make sense for a particular Kaarg's Son to keep a chest full of qualifying trollkin-femurs, of related trollkin he *didn't* help eat, just in case he needs them...

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