Is the Death rune part of the Duck creation myth in some way?
I thought the Durulz ability to resist Delecti came from the fact that they do for Delecti's undead what mistletoe did for Baldur. Their nature as "neither flesh nor fowl" meant that Delecti's spells and zombies don't see them coming in the same way that they do for other races. Their special status is derived from an oversight by Delecti which has allowed them to survive better than they would otherwise (and for some reason it was too difficult (or too much trouble) for Delecti to fix this.
Secondly Duck are physically better suited to getting around in the Marsh . They are better at swimming (and probably at clod-hopping too). It is also probably easier for them to live off the land than it is for humans.
Thirdly I expect a minority of Ducks are drawn to Death or other war-like cults as a result of the proximity of the Marsh. But then don't the Lismelder also have a slightly above average population of Humakti for this reason?
I am assuming that the suggestion that Ducks find it harder to get on in any cult other than certain Death cults (as suggested in the old RQ II, where there was a general rule about CHA being reduced by -10 for characters in an odd cult for their race), is now discredited. It doesn't make a lot of sense -- most Duck are not warriors, and why should Duck be discriminated against in congregations made up of other Duck?
Presumably Duck do suffer some discrimination if they step outside their own tribe, but in Heortling lands isn't this true of humans who live outside their own tribe as well? However it is probably less severe for humans of another tribe-- they don't look as different, they are less vulnerable to physicial bullying, and individuals can be naturalised by marriage. (Heortling marriage customs are flexible, but that flexible?)
To me, Duck are not just short, feathered Heortlings. Even in Sartar they should have myths about what it is to be Duck, and a religion that reflects this, as well as a religion which reflects the fact that they share a lifestyle and culture which is similar to that of the human tribes of Sartar.
In terms of the wider Duck religion, how reliable is the MRQ book about Duck? This text suggested that Duck religion was a mixture of species-specific cults and Duck interpretations of Heortling religions (including something like Humakt, something like Orlanth Adventuturous and the Storm Bill (?) something like Urox), which made up a 'Duck pantheon' of eight cults -- although presumably Durulz who become devotees do so in only one cult.
Has becoming a Sartarite tribe made Duck religion (and particularly the Duck versions of Orlanth, Humakt, Urox, etc.) a bit more like that of their human neighbours than it was written up as being in the Second Age MRQ Duck book? It seems a logical development, at least to me.
Are there still significant populations of Duck outside Sartar, e.g. in southern Maniria and the islands off the coast? (If there are, surely they are even less like feathered Heortlings? Are Duck islanders animists and/or Helerings like their human neighbours). Also are all the Duck in Pavis and the Zola Fel Valley (probably not many) settlers from Sartar?
Richard Hayes
From: Benedict Adamson <yahoo_at_NCA6ows8X45oUkRqBBOWsBiwf_JhRXdj4ZlZyFEFNqLItkYbpWp6njDLMYaAATUpxg6TWDwcmcy8rbds-lX8DoutZ20I2w.yahoo.invalid>
To: WorldofGlorantha_at_yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, 4 September 2011, 14:22
Subject: Re: Ducks o' Death or Ducks and the Death Rune
On 03/09/11 12:49, donald_at_DjBsHWoDZhIYdvydj_Sv2wHb9804SFaorUg0QjAFQxxZTynBE2IfjfJ2wiGbYzMy_KGBfl1g1GNRBomWxRS3.yahoo.invalid wrote:
...
> A purely mundane reason is that the ducks of Sartar share the Upland Marsh with Delecti
> and all the undead creatures he controls. Humakt provides lots of magic for dealing with the
> undead so a higher than normal proportion of ducks follow him.
...
I believe (it is in KoDP), it is the other way around. The Ducks alone
have the power to withstand Delecti. Which might be because of a
pre-existing Death affinity.
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