>From: "Jane Williams" <janewilliams20_at_...>
>Having been Thinking (yes, I know, shouldn't try this too often), I now
>suspect it's the other way round.
>
>If the day on which you were born is magically significant, then it's
>something you *don't* want your enemies to know about. Not if they're
>liable to be able to take advantage of it. So if you're important enough
>to have that sort of enemy, the day on which you were born is a secret.
>Therefore, if you think/hope you might one day be important enough....
>
>Birthday celebrations, yes (though not cake and candles). But at family
>and trusted friends level. To outsiders, it's "yes, we're having a
>birthday celebration, and we're not telling you whose!" So no presents.
>Just beer. And suitable religious rites for the day, carried out by
>everyone present.
>
>What do you reckon, does that make sense?
>
Makes perfect sense to me, and ties in well with what a couple of other posters had to say, i.e. it being a day of devotion to the ancestors (your family and friends) and the comment about One Day (Orlanth's birthday). I had been thinking that the birthdays people would remember would be those that were on specific holy days, but if you have an Orlanthi hero who happens to have been born on One Day that is an enemy heroquest crying out to be included in the story. After all, who else would better represent Orlanth in the ceremonies (our heroquest) than our warband leader who was born on the *same* day!!
Suddenly this is something I want to include in my next game - we did a wedding (which was a very mundane affair, no otherworld travel - after all he was marrying a Telmori and they're both outlawed) last time, I can just see their faces when I say,
"Don't worry, this session is just going to be about Orlgard's birthday party..."
mike
8-)
xxx
PS According to Rick's site, Different Worlds #7 carried an article about "Gloranthan Birthday Tables". Haven't seen it myself, any comments?
Powered by hypermail