Re: Caladran Flower Wars and Maya Cities

From: Peter Larsen <plarsen_at_...>
Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2002 11:45:15 -0600


Jerome Blondel says to

Gareth Martin:
> > I'm not sure I can find much in the way of virgin sacrifice per se:
>> the top selection appears to be enemy (hell, even friendly sometimes)
>> VIP's, enemy warriors, enemy noncombatants in that order. There must
>> have been domestic sacrifice, one would think - certainly there was
>> ritual blood-shed by nobles for various ceremonies.
>
>Sacrificing blood to get closer with death and get magic power. The Caladrans
>would rather burn things, including people, for fertility.

        This is going off on a tangent, but: I seem to remember that the Pre-Columbian Mexoamericans connected blood with life, not death. The purpose of all the blood-letting was not to produce corpses but to "grease the wheels" of the world, which might otherwise run down. (I'll cheerfully admit that I have done no reading on this for years, and it could be a bunch of hogwash). Anyway, if the Caladrans (and possibly the Earth tribe, although in a different way) see blood as an emblem of life and the Orlanthi see blood as a symbol of death, you might get some fun cultural conflict/confusion out of it. Maybe Orlanthi see shedding your own blood as something that is very serious and fraught: "I cut my arm to show the seriousness of my oath -- let all my blood be spilled if I break my word." Earth people (especially Esrolians) might be more casual, although still putting weight on the idea: a visitor sheds a little blood on entering the tula (village, whatever) to show that they are willing to give to the life of the clan (village, whatever). The Caladrans might be more persnickety about blood: "keep the life inside you until you are ready to go to the Fire."

        Think of the confusion you might inflict on players and their characters when inconsequential actions have serious meaning or vice versa.

Peter Larsen

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