Re: Vadrudi's customs and history

From: Chris Lemens <chrislemens_at_ZNo3bWYt7XnPq_aBlm-ei7UOBxnCqmPw1qS9KdDmr2L6CqEyMOYRxL7q0NAYUi6F>
Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 08:34:18 -0700 (PDT)

Jeorg:

All of the below just screams animism to me:

>>>Maybe priesthood should be a female occupation among the Vadrudi?
>> Insofar as the Vadrudi have priestesses, they are likely to
>> appear as mad crones and hellish witches.

> Slaves to the gods. I don't really see those brutalo machos approaching an
> ancestral giant as a slave. On the other hand, norns and curse-wielding
> witches feel right.

I see them handing out fetishes, not feats; summoning spirits, not heroforming gods.

>> 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.

> Still, kin are those you fight only when there is no one else
> worth taking the trouble.

And since there is no law against killing or enslaving kin, capturing ancestors in fetishes would be fair game.

>> If the "clan" decides to follow another god then the priests
>> start cursing left, right and centre.

> Somehow this doesn't strike me as typical for their deities. Punching some
> heads in, yes. Snowing them in, pummeling them with whirlwinds, hailstones
> and similar would be in character. Slaying some thralls to show that they
> can, and that they care.

Bad weather seems very animist to me. Yes, I know there are daimones of everything, but Valind sending the spirits of blizzard just seems cooler. And more savage.

>> Choosing another diety
>> is like telling Tony Soprano that you are shifting your
>> allegiance to somebody else.

> And calls for little better than broken leg subtlety.

This seems like the kind of personal relationships that animists have with spirits, rather than the kind of relationship that theists have with gods. Do the dance, don't burn the goat.

>> 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.

> How do they get there? Heroforming their deities?

No, by beating other spirits in spirit combat. "Community support" is an interesting problem when a leader considers most of his "community" to be some sort of slaves. Maybe that's what limits the scope of abuse. Or maybe "community support" means that the leader goes around and takes something from everyone. It would seem to imply that Yggite society throws up leaders who don't need much community support; it may also imply that Yggite leaders tend only to take on heroquests that are sufficiently below their abilities that their followers are pretty sure that they will be coming back to kick their butts if they fail to provide sufficient community support.

Peter:

> Nope. The strongest Yggs remain in the Isles. Those leaving
> are their weaker kin. As for preferring warmer places to live
> that's like telling the Praxian that the Wastelands are no place
> to live or the Agitorani that there are cooler places to love.

Damn straight.

Chris