>But there must be limits to prevent perpetual state of war.
A state of fear IMO.
>Can a thrall wins his freedom by killing his master ?
A slave can revolt against his master at which point he is no longer a slave. But the consequences of that action (painful death etc.) often keeps the slave in continued servitude.
> > Slavery is a voluntary act and even the most terrifying
> > Vadrudi do not enslave everybody they see. Why? Because
> > they like hurting people and too many slaves around is no fun.
>
>There should be other reasons too :
>
>1) having too much thralls is dangerous :
>_ it arouses other vadrudi's envy (covetoussness)
I would rather say that having too many slaves means that a Vadrudi can't protect them all with the consequence that his status can be diminished with impunity. Thus a Vadrudi is only likely to have slaves that he can keep within his sight or place under the guidance of Vadrudi that he can frighten from a distance.
>_ it increases the risks of slaves revolt
I really don't see slave revolts as being a major concern of the Vadrudi - it only allows them more opportunity to inflict pain.
>2) Vadrudis are Umath's kin, they remember is fight for
>freedom and they don't want to mimic solar behaviour too
>much
That Umath was concerned about fighting for freedom is an Orlanthi view. The Vadrudi consider that the ideal state to be is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short". They simply will not give up their violent impulses even if it means life will be more pleasant.
>3) Maybe enslaving kin is taboo ? Maybe even the weaker
>membre of the storm tribe deserves freedom or death ?
The laws of kinship is again an Orlanthi construct. Vadrus slew Barntar for example and the only regret he ever felt was when Orlanth kicked his teeth in as punishment.
>Their cult could have an important propitiatory and prophylactic part.
>Their gods must be appeased, if they want to escape their wrath. But
>advantages should be given to the faithfull too, otherwise the clan
>can choose a diety more inclined to listen to her followers...
If the "clan" decides to follow another god then the priests start cursing left, right and centre. Choosing another diety is like telling Tony Soprano that you are shifting your allegiance to somebody else.
As for advantages to the faithful, the Vadrudi fear their gods (as the Aztecs did) and want very little to do with them. That's why the Vadrudi prefer magic beaten out of somebody else.
>So, their gods have access to the master rune, I presume, which give
>them the ability to enslave other spirits, godlings and essences ?
IMO it's a magical practice among the Vadrudi rather than their gods. It may be a relic of being initiated into Vadrus or whatever (the Vadrudi don't really care) but it's something that defines the Vadrudi as a distinct culture. It's not as bad as say Thanatari headhunting (another possible kinsman of Vadrus) but it is still unpleasant.
>IMO, Ygg inherited the ability to tame water spirits from his father
>Valind (Valind, the god who can imprison water into ice with the
>chains of frost). He can shape the waters into iceberg-boats, take
>control of the waves with his stormy winds...
That makes sense - Ygg has a special power over enslaving water which he turns to ice.
>Are there really clans who worshipp Ragnaglar (except for propitiatory
>and prophylactic reasons), the god who brought Chaos into Glorantha ?
Most of them would be Broos or have horns already. As for what Ragnaglar may or may not have done during the great darkness, the Vadrudi aren't interested in history.
>I believe vadrudi only worshipp the adventurous and thunderous
>aspects of Orlanth ?
They could consider the allfather aspect to be a god of slaves.
>Perhaps worshipp they the weaker storm gods under animals figures
>(Orlanth the hawk, Odayla the bear, etc.) as the tale of "Vadrus and
>the Logic Tribe" (Anaxial Rooster) figures it ?
The animal faces of the Orlanthi is a separate magical practice altogether. It was introduced into Fronela from Brolia and was a world council attempt to proselytize the Hykimi there.
> > The main god among the Yggites would be Valind who has ruled ever
> > since the Great Darkness.
>I'd rather think the central figure are Ygg and moreover his son
>(Yggdrasyl ?) who teaches the yggites how to build ships, navigate and
>plunder... (their kind of Heort)
What's Ygg got? A few small islands. What's Valind got? A huge motherfracking glacier. Valind is clearly the more important god among the Vadrudi. Ygg is notable because most of the people encountered by outsiders worship him.
>There's not much to gain from the worshipping of Valind... more
>snow and ice ?
How to live in the coldest winter.
>Valind's Winter Palace should represent paradise for the Yggites.
>Maybe they are buried into the Glacier, to lie forever within their god ?
It depends on the Vadrudi tribe IMO. The had the idea that some Vadrudi clans might inhume their dead within icicles and pray that they may become ice giants.
>I have thought of some tree worshipping.
Yggdrasil?
>When Darkness came, plants
>enter into slumber. So the Yggites were unable to build new ships,
>houses, etc.
Well, I don't think the Yggites built ships until the Imperial Age. Before then, they were mainly land dwellers in Bija or Winterwood. The worship of the trees is something clearly important to them but to portary it as an act of symbiosis between them and the elves stikes be as unvadrudi.
A better way of handling the myth might be to cast it as the Bijan tree hero being caught by an enemy (the Loskalmi) and nailed to a tree. Through his suffering, he acquires awareness of the trees as a force to be worshipped which turns the Bijans from pure Vadrudi into a society of woodcarvers.
--Peter Metcalfe
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