Thom's Vingan initiation scenaro and the debates about it have prodded me
out
from beneath the stone I've been lurking under for some time now.
What realy got me thinking was also the current debate about meeting people
when heroquesting and getting sucked into HQs by other people.
> How plausible is it that an Orlanthi clan could be persuaded to raid on a
> major holy day (even if it one for a deity not seriously worshipped by
that
> clan)?
Isnt raiding the neighbors a religious duty? What better day to do something
as
important as a raid than a Holy day (Orlanthi & Vingan Holy days match up
somewhat
right?) & if they dont care for Vinga they won't be bothered anyway.
For a war clan reenacting 'Orlanth leads the Fyrd to Kick the Neighbours
butts coz they
are all girly wusses' sounds spot on.
All it takes is the peeved family to point the clan in the right direction
(''they are weaklings ruled by their women'), and taking the opertunity to
disrupt any cerimonys
going on (like 20-200 armed nutters running through the place won't be
distracting)
But knocking the priestess on the head so the 'magic-door-to-the-otherworld
TM'
shuts and the girl is lost does not sound right. Not for a Vingan initiation
anyway.
To my mind the Vingan Initiation is along the lines of.
Girl leaves her mothers house to travel to her fathers (Orlanths) Hall.
en route through the wilderness she undergoes various trials.
When she reaches her fathers hall her deeds are recounted and she is
accepted
into her fathers household (initiated)
The point of this is the initiate set's of on her road and if she succeads
she *will*
enter her fathers hall (get home) and be initiated, thats the whole point.
I imagine that the 'Mother' (in this case the adoptive PC?) will set her on
the road
(as in the rules) but once off she is on her own the point of the quest is
to reach
the hall (Chiefs hall in this case with the clan chief taking orlanths
part?)
Now whether she is completely off in the otherworld during this or this
takes place
in the 'wilderness' around the clan tula is debatable but I'd play it as a
combination
of the two.
Her mother waves her off in the morning on a path through a wilder part of
the tula
but to her this is the tula as it appears on the hero plane. The Hills are
steeper, the
forests darker etc
She will no doubt be expecting chalanges of some sort.
If she has been called to Vinga she will have been asking travelling story
tellers etc
to tell her the storys involing her so she may know what will happen in
general, but
not the specific tests.
There may be clansfolk in the 'real world' positioned to act out specific
encounters.
Ulf the blacksmith with a scary mask will look to her like a big horrible
monster etc.
Meanwhile the clan may well get on with the other cerimonies of the day.
They will be expecting her back later (about teatime with every gathered in
the
chiefs/clan hall sounds good)
Of coarse into this is going to blunder the raiding party....
there is a magical quest going on..
more than one if the raiders are on a HQ..
and if its an orlanthi holy day then the rest of the clan will be doing
other cerimonies
of their own..
this is a holy day..
in glorantha...
The 2 realities are going to clash and affect each other.
and the first person affected by the intruders is liable to be the lone traveler in the wilds
She may or may not encounter the raiders in the real world. How they appear to her in her quest may vary.
If they are questing they will likely appear as a bunch of raiders enrout to
raid orlanths
tula (though they may not thing of themselves as such unless they are
Gagarthi)
If the are not questing then they may still appear as themselves
or they may cast a shadow of themselves on the hero plane.
Say the line of men carrying torches appearing as a firey serpent approching
from
afar (ala. 13th Warrior?)
If it is just a small group doing the disruption then they may be sucked
into the quest.
They may replaces an encounter on her quest or be an additional new one.
Either way the quest will be changed.
The new quest might be to find a faster way back to 'Orlanths' hall to raise
the alarm.
Or the girl could be driven from the path to be lost in myth
What if she arrives at 'Orlanths' hall to find it a smoking ruin! oops. :)
Events happening on a holy day may have longlasting effects for all involed,
even
before HQ's.
As always go with MGF so if you want the girl 'lost in myth' then having the
raiders
(whoever) unconciously affect the initiation quest so the girl looses the
path sounds
simple enough.
In fact if the intent of the raid is to disrupt the cerimony then by
"Gloranthan magical theory" it *has* to impinge on the quest, whether the
raiders realist *how* they will
affect it or not may be irrelavant :)
But I've waffled on far too much already and thats without dipping into the
pungent
kettle of fish that the event will kick off.
lawsuits/bloodfeuds etc. it might be ok religiously speaking to raid but if
blood is spilt people will be somewhat miffed and if there are deaths then
more may follow....
Hope this is of intrest if not helpfull
Chris Brown
crawling back under that stone.
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