> **
> 1) That Ogres are chaotic by being cannibals isn't a canonical fact but
> an assumption. Cannibalism is barely mentioned in the Cacodemon Cult
> Writeup - it's not a ritual obligation nor a way of worship but
> mentioned as a sign of an Ogre's blood-thirst that could reveal itself
> if it strays too close to a Cacodemon holy spot.
>
> 2) What is established is that Ogres are born, not made. Hence the
> link between the chaotic nature of Ogres and cannibalism isn't very strong.
>
The connection between Ogres and cannibalism is stronger than that. In Glorantha: Introduction to the Hero Wars, says "Ogres live among humanity, concealing their true natures except when they feed on inferior humans" (p. 249). Anaxial's Roster elaborates that Ogres arose in the Darkness when desperate people turned to cannibalism for food and became tainted and suggests that non-Ogres can become Ogres via cannibalism (p. 181). Earlier, the Ogres from Dorastor: Land of Doom are definitely interested in preying on humans, and I vaguely remember an Ogre "What the Priest Says" sheet that was even clearer, although I can't find it right now (Ithink it was called "Kill Things in Secret," but it may have been in an unofficial publication. So cannibalism and Ogres were explicitly connected at least during HW and before. I agree that it's interesting that Cacodemon isn't really concerned with cannibalism as much as betrayal and disorder. Perhaps the progenitor of the Ogres who taught them how to feed and save themselves was destroyed, and Cacodemon "took them in" because of their penchant for hiding and causing trouble.
3) There's too much stress being made about the intentionality of the
> act which is rather at odds with the amoral unthinking nature of chaos.
> An action should be chaotic primarily through the magical invocation of
> the power of Chaos rather than have it seep in through material acts.
>
I am pretty sure that Greg has said that you can become a member of a "Chaotic race" by participating in the act that that race embodies (and there's the Anaxial's Roster section mentioned above that strongly hints that this is the case for Ogres). I think this would be fairly rare, and that most Ogres are born rather than "succumbing," and I suppose you could argue that, since Ogres like to mate with humans when possible to leave little bundles of joy (and chaos) around, humans who "become Ogres" via cannibalism were merely awakening some bad blood lying dormant within them. At any rate, no one within Glorantha is ever likely to prove it conclusively one way or the other. However, the idea that you must obey the mores of society because, if you don't, you could stop being human is a great image and one that ought to be widely believed no matter what it's reality. Maybe eating human flesh while trapped by a blizzard won't make you an Ogre, but you may well believe it, and your clan/family/town/society/whatever may well believe it, and there's a good story in there, so why not?
Peter Larsen
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