RE: Cannibalism (yum yum)

From: Gareth Martin <gamartin_at_...>
Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2001 16:19:34 -0000

> Anyone else thought about this, or know of more examples from
> Glorantha?

Well, theres the ogres, of courss. Now, thats just about the only thing I know about the ogres, but thats the learning curve for you. Of course, the Uz can eact "anything" so presumably eating sophonts is no biggie for them.

As it happens, I did some research on this idea when seeking a Horror scenario for Conspiracy X - and let me say that the situation in mesoamerica was substantially worse than I had expected. The phrase "rivers of blood" is not dramatic licence, and in the end I decided to put the idea on hold.

The programme last night implied, but did not directly suggest, a link between head-taking and cannibalism - this is actually why I asked that question earlier. Again, there are similarities in Celtic society with features of Aztech and pre-Aztech society that map quite well, such as the head as the seat of essence, the generally martial nature of society, etc. They are rather different in that the Aztechs are a very urban culture from early on, unlike the scatterd tribal structure of celtic society. Bits of Caladraland do have some similarities to Aztech/Toltech cultures - Flower Wars, temple-led society, obsidian weapons, volcanic sacrifice - but RiG gave me the overall impression that this was a fairly primitive society. Also only mentioned only one major temple, IIRC.

Anyway....

Given that I don;t know much about the ogres, is it possible that the Orlanthi rejection of headhunting is related to abroader rejection of the ogres? Perhaps there is a dark secret in the histories of some clans? Don't know enough to speculate - but it is certainly a powerful idea for motivating characters. Especially if you are a GM with an, umm, taste for horror.

Hmm, Iw as looking forward to using Zippy...

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