Bestiality in Prax?

From: Andrew <aelarsen_at_4yFd62NEuNhAQ0k94ipW_C-jruiOuyV6LV17itVsnZcnbFIkpj3s_dOKga_URUu8ATw>
Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:01:42 -0000

So as I've been running my Praxian campaign, for various reasons I keep running into the question of whether humans and morokanth can interbred. My thinking on this is that yes, they can. Waha's Survival Contest established two broad categories, people (those who eat meat) and herd beasts (those who are eaten as meat). Since the morokanth fall into the category of people/meat eaters (they are fully sentient, they worship Waha and Eiritha, etc), it seems to make sense that if a morokanth copulates with a human, the act would be considered 'normal sex' rather than bestiality, whereas a human or morokanth copulating with a gern would qualify as bestiality.

	The Storm Khan of the Block is the husband of the High Priestess of Eiritha at the Paps, and in the early 16th century, the High Priestess is a morokanth.  Given the importance of fertility rituals to the Praxians, it seems likely that these two copulate at some point (in other words, it's not just a simple ceremony, but on some level a genuine union).  
	And given the magical ecology of Glorantha, it seems to me that a human/morokanth union would be fertile (although the offspring might or might not be).  So would the child follow the mother or the father's race?  I'm thinking the father's, just because it seems more interesting (a morokanth mother giving birth to a human baby).  But perhaps it's only fertile if there's a ritual involved. 
	Given that culturally taboo actions in Glorantha often lead to chaos, and given the powerful importance that Praxians attach to the distinction between people and herd animals, this suggests that for Praxians, bestiality might be considered a chaotic act, something that gives rise to broo or its own special form of chaos.  Perhaps there is a chaotic spirit associated with bestiality, the way that Urain is associated with kinslaying among the Sartarites.
	On a related note, some time ago, there was a debate about the chaoticness of cannibalism and whether it produces ogres.  If I remember the debate correctly, the general conclusion tended to be no.  But I think, given the powerful importance of the eater/eaten distinction for Praxians, that in Prax cannibalism might be understood as chaos, because it collapses the fundamental distinction established by Waha to enable survival (the same way that Urain/kinslaying collapses the social bonds necessary to prevent violence among Sartarites).  
	But what about the Cannibal Cult, which commits cannibalism but is not 'objectively' chaotic?  I think that perhaps normal Praxians (that is, non-cannibal cultists) consider the Cannibals chaotic.  Or perhaps the Cannibal Cultists heroquested to establish their practices as sanctioned by Waha and therefore not chaotic (I seem to remember something about them claiming that Waha had allowed their rituals, so perhaps they have a myth/quest for it).  
	Any thoughts?

Andrew E. Larsen