Re: rape and cannibalism

From: David Dunham <david_at_...>
Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2001 10:46:14 -0700


Martin

> Well my view is that rape and cannibalism lead to transformation into chaotic
> creatures only if they are performed for that purpose, not if simply an
> atrocity. For me, it would be a gameworld construct and not at all
> 'realistic' if soliders or warriors committed no atrocities for fear of
> turning into broo. In everything I've read on war, atrocity happens,
> including cannibalism at times but rape is very common.
>
> In my PargAddi campaign, the Imperial terror troops actually have names for
> the different levels of atrocity they commit, because for them, it is
> relatively routine. It is an instrument of policy, as it was for the
> Assyrians and as it was and _is_ for many peoples around the world now.

This is the same Empire that embraces Chaos, eh? Methinks there's definitely a connection, even if it's not on the individual level.

I'll bet many Gloranthan cultures (like many Earth cultures) don't consider it rape or cannibalism if practiced on members of another culture. I don't know their beliefs on this subject, but I know there are tribes in Venezuela who consider tribes that speak different languages from theirs to be inhuman animals. (Tribes that speak related languges are somewhere in between.)

My guess is that if you rape or eat someone your culture defines as fully human, the odds of becoming a broo are greater.

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

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