Animists and their religious beliefs

From: Martin Dick <martin.dick_at_...>
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2000 10:32:34 +1100

>
> Message: 3
> Date: Sun, 29 Oct 2000 14:09:41 -0800
> From: David Dunham <david_at_...>
> Subject: Wanasgard, a Grazer example
>
> OK, by popular (well, more than one request) demand, here's a sample
> character. Abilities are in [brackets], keywords in [[double
> brackets]].
>
> Wanasgard, a [wily] [[Warrior]] of the [Flame Juggler clan], married
> [Maryu] of [clan Sweetgrass], impressing her with his [well-trained]
> hunting dogs [Stone] and [Straw], and [charming] smile. She excels at
> {star lore} and {sewing}. Wanasgard's sword [Dragon Point] (won
> [gambling]) can heal him. He can [leap into the saddle], is an
> accomplished [wrestler], and [plays the flute]. His [fondness for
> drink] is matched by his [capacity]. He learned [Esrolian] on
> campaign, gaining [rich plunder]. His [sense of direction] and [time]
> is unerring, and he's a fine [judge of character]. He can [start
> fires with a glance]. He dreams of gaining wings for his warhorse
> [Victory].
>

 lots of details removed
>
> David Dunham dunham_at_...
> Glorantha/HW/RQ page: http://www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha.html
> Imagination is more important than knowledge. -- Albert Einstein

Hi

David posted Wanasgard on the rules list, but it raises a cultural problem I'm having with Animists in Hero Wars. Wanasgard is a fun character but if you look at him, there is hardly any mention of his religion and this seems to me the general feeling with animists. If you look at any of the sample Theist or Sorcerous characters, they are far more concerned with their religion in their writeups.

The way the rules and material read to me, animists take a very utilitarian view of their spirits/religion compared to the the other three world views. It seems very much, we use the spirits, but we have very little religious feeling for them. This is far from the view I got from all the previous RQ material e.g the material on Waha and Eiritha in Tales of the Reaching Moon where the whole life of the Praxian tribes revolved around their worship of Waha and Eiritha.

Now I'm sure that it's not the intention of Hero Wars to turn animists into simple consumers of spirits, but how do people play the religious relationship between spirits and their worshippers to emphasise how important they are in their lives.

Martin

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