On 21/02/2012, at 10:15 PM, Daniel wrote:
> A slight derail on my part, I'm afraid, but I think this is probably particularly horrifying from a Western (humanist, materialist, monotheistic, wizardly, whatever we are calling them these days) perspective, since I doubt a Westerner would accept this view of it, regardless of whether it is true or not. In fact, if more Westerners knew about the herdmen, this would probably be a popular example of why following heathen spirits is a bad idea. They'd make your life depend on an inherently unfair contest, and if you fail, you will become an animal, utterly incapable of reaching Solace! The horror! > > Animists, of course, may look on this quite differently - I wonder about the hsunchen, in particular... > Speaking of cannibalism, and a Western perspective - I was reading through the story of the Crusades in Arcane Lore, and I noticed that the Basmoli are said to have invoked the dark powers of the Cannibal God in their battle with Hrestol's people. Seems reasonable that this is the Cannibal Cult, more or less. It is worth remembering that in this whole discussion of exactly which of the omnivorous sentients that are part of Wahas Covenant are allowed to eat who - for Hsunchen carnivores, like the Basmoli (or presumably Telmori, even Kralorelan Tiger people, etc) eating sentient beings might be considered going too far, but is still somewhat following a natural path. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the answer to the question of why the cannibal cult is non-chaotic is because it has its origins in the natural instincts of carnivores (and draws the occasional wayward omnivore in). As such, the cult is probably kept alive all over Glorantha by carnivore hsunchen - in Prax the Basmoli. I like this idea from a game perspective, too - plenty of potential for truly terrifying Telmori or Basmoli villains, and a nice dark temptation for hsunchen PCs. And of course, this too is horrifying to the Westerners. The whole idea of committing such vicious brutal acts is made even worse because it is giving in to animal instinct and abandoning all higher moral reasoning. It is turning away from Solace deliberately. No wonder the Seshnelans hated the Basmoli so much. Cheers David
>>> If I remember correctly, (and if I hadn't then it wouldn't exactly be the first time), early sources on Morokanth (the 2nd edition RQ rules, Cults of Prax) don't mention that the Morokanth's human-looking herd are really Gern. So what Chris suggests is that this old Cults of Prax idea lives on, in part, as a rumour is rumoured to still have some truth in it by the other tribes.
>>> Slightly later write-ups of Waha magic (Gods of Glorantha; can't remember if it was retained in Mongoose RQ) suggest that there is a Waha-specific runespell/feat which curses a sentient being with the loss of sentience (and a corresponding blessing to awaken intelligence in a herd beast, though personally I quite liked the old Cults of Prax idea that this blessing was bestowed upon the herd beasts of 'rune level' Waha cultists when the cultists receives their allied spirit). If it is known that your own clan shaman's most potent curse is to do this, doesn't it follow that the shamans in the Morokanth tribe can probably do the same?
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
Powered by hypermail