Re: Best hillbillies : tarsh exiles or alda-churi ?

From: Nick Eden <nick_at_S3xtQRbaEfUyC0idRBfQUCipUuf6cWx7HSBmPb3snaTPnsbXOLl7Ftwu1P5XIFfX7JlCGWy>
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 2010 13:55:56 +0000


On Sun, Jan 24, 2010 at 1:27 PM, <hcarteau_at_YNmQSpKcxzpPX1qV4UG3QM6EYNPSVKEQCwok6wagRQnyZw3iCT1DjAbU9hAxytkPe_zLvwFG4Z5O298.yahoo.invalid> wrote:

> > The Tarsh Exiles are certainly violent and dangerous, but they are
> > not removed from contact with the outside world, having strong kinship
> > connections with much of Tarsh (they do claim to be the rightful rulers
> of
> > Tarsh). The reign of Palashee is about as long ago for them as the end of
> WW2
> > is for us - there are elders that remember King Longaxe and the time when
> > they were the rulers of Tarsh. Moreover, they live at the base of great
> > Kerofin the most sacred mountain in the world. Pilgrims and merchants
> often
> > cross through their lands. In short, the Exiles they are hardly removed
> from
> > the rest of the world.
>
> /// That's the way your exiles are. Mine are cut off from civilization in
> their
> grubby little valleys in the shadows of Kero Fin, whose very presence also
> mucks
> up magical communications. Even the lunar army keeps a wide berth, content
> with
> containing these ferocious hillbillies. Traders to hesitate to visit such
> ferocious, backward fellows. Their kin back in Tarsh is mostly embarassed
> about
> such throwbacks. They might honor ritual obligations to them but see them
> as
> little as possible.
>
> The exiles honor rituals that are completely out of date in Tarsh and that
> are
> not applied in Sartar. They are a living anachronism. They worship Maran
> Gor the
> shaker, practise scalp-taking and eat babies (sorry, it came out naturally
> ;-).
> Not to mention inbreeding... In short, their practises make them very alien
> to
> everybody else.
>
> I like my exiles to look and feel truly dangerous and weird, best avoided
> by
> anybody sensible. I liked the way they were presented in "In Wintertop's
> Shadow", which gave me and my players lots of fun in our now-stopped Tarsh
> Campaign.
>
> As for the WW2 analogy, think about people who still live in the past and
> are
> not very much interesting in present-day news. What doesn't fit their
> worldview
> is ignored, or bashed in (cut off) when they can't ignore it. How's that
> for
> hillibillism ?
>

Your description makes me think of the Ulster Protestants. A strange tribe of people who practice strange rituals and funny dress codes which are clearly based on something familiar, but have gone off in their own direction. Fanatically loyal to something that no longer really exists. Honouring events and battles that the rest of us have more of less forgotten as though they're the most important things in the history of Europe. Continuing feuds against a neighbouring tribe who look more or less identical to outsiders.

I am pretty sure though that they don't eat babies though. Not even Ian Paisley.

>
>
> > Alone, on the other hand, is exactly what the name says: Alone. Few
> > Sartarites even know where the place is and almost nobody comes there to
> > trade.
> /// Alone and the Far Place in general are also super-background for hicks.
> The
> bluefoot clans are very backwards. There is great background material about
> them
> : QUESTLINES (from 1996) and the latest ZIN LETTERS (issue 3) both make the
> alda-churi look and feel alive in great details.
>
> It'be testing to choose between the two, but I guess the alda-churi win, if
> only
> for the majesty of their landscape, the many spirits wandering about and
> their
> sheer isolation. You can meet all sort of weird stuff up there. Not to
> mention
> the ghost gors if you want to use nice lunar ghost slaves !
>
>
> ------------------------------------
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