Re: Cannibalism in Prax (was Bestiality in Prax?)

From: David Cake <dave_at_QpAZRcYdxOGZBN9bFCSh6pnuD_vBQyrUl9DVHGSyvn8dSC5F8gpq9x_3-L2gNfsnG1G9HcC>
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2012 21:48:12 +0800

On 22/02/2012, at 9:08 PM, Andrew Larsen wrote:

> Ok, but how do they survive otherwise?
        

        They don't necessarily - they are a cult, not a tribe. Only the knowledge of cult practices needs to survive - and the knowledge survives because many shamans who never use the rites still preserve the knowledge of them.

> Prax is an extremely harsh place. The Beast Nomads survive because they have a culture that is very well-adapted to the ecology of the place. The Agimori survive because they are biologically adapted in a way that regular humans aren't and because they focus very aggressively on hunting. What do the Cannibal Cultists do for food other than have the occasional holiday feast of mock-pork? It seems unlikely that they can be as effective as hunters as the Agimori, since they lack the Men-and-a-Half's special adaptations, and the Agimori are a pretty marginal group, just barely surviving when compared to the Beast Nomads. I guess it seems likely to me that cannibalism is the particular adaptive strategy that the CC uses to survive.

	Nope, cannibalism is secondary. The adaptive strategy is learning to live with angry ghosts. 
	And they aren't a tribe, they are a cult - they do for food mostly what they did before they joined the cult, IMO, with some adapting to their circumstances. 
	One pattern is probably living like oasis folk, only comparitively unmolested by passing nomads. Another pattern is probably to raid, and then retreat to to ghost territory to evade pursuit. 


> Are you suggesting that the CC is confined to a particular oasis that is haunted enough that other Praxians avoid it? That's an interesting idea, but it sort of limits what one can do with them.
Nope, just that a particularly haunted oasis provides a situation that the cult is well equipped to take advantage of. Cheers David

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