| Okapi are a forest species rather than a plains one, so if they exist in Gloratha at all they are more likely to be found in the Pamaltelan rainforests. Unless there are areas of rainforest in Prax they could live in (which seems unlikely after the death of Genert). If you want a strange stripy animal in Prax other than a zebra, I would suggest having Quagga. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quagga (though as the RW Quagga is now regarded as a sub-species of plains zebra, this might be a bit of a stretch) I did have a Quagga tribe in my Glorantha. They were originally the horse-riding 'children' of Splendid Yamsur (the Ostrich-riding children of Yamsur became the current Ostrich tribe instead), but when Yamsur was slain, the Storm Bull offered them his protection (and according to Quagga legend, even made his son Hrothmir their first Khan), provided they remained to fight Wakboth's Chaotic hordes in Prax. The horses were then branded with this distinctive half-striped pattern to show that they were part of the Storm Bull's forces, and therefore had to be tolerated by the other tribes. The Quagga's Solar origins means that the animals were subordinate to their human riders before the tribe (sort-of) adopted the Way of Waha, so the tribe did not go through the Survival Covenant in which Waha decided which of the human and animal tribes would be the eaters and the eaten. Whilst many of the humans in the tribe are quite war-like, their mounts are not. They are much more like cavalry horses than war-horses. Originally the men of the tribe were Storm Bull cultists, though their shamans retained a close affinity for local light and fire spirits. However they faced the same struggle for survival as the other nomads and, respecting Waha as the son of the Storm Bull, the tribe adopted most of the Way of Waha as well. Nowadays the men of the Tribe follow both Storm Bull and Waha, though those who become the equivalent of devotees in one practice can be only casual followers of the other. A larger proportion of the men of the tribe join roving Storm Bull bands than in any other tribe The women of the tribe adopted the ways of Eiritha, as Eiritha reluctantly accepted her husband's order to treat the Quagga as not-horses. A minority of the women of the tribe wish to emulate their male berseerker kin, so unusually for a Praxian tribe a small number of the women worship Babeester Gor and live in a semi-detached way from the rest of the tribe in small warbands. In my Glorantha they were well-represented at the one proper Babeester Gor temple in Prax, which serves the cultists who guard The Paps. I don't think I ever decided whether or not there was a Quagga-mother among the priestesses at the Paps though. As the Zebra tribe was granted the honour at a later date, maybe the Quagga could have been too? As a further mark of kinship with the Storm Bull, the first language of the tribe was Beastspeech (the language of Minotaurs and other Beastmen) rather than Praxian. This has helped the tribe to be on fairly good terms with the Beastmen of Beast Valley, and many of them live on the western edges of Prax, close to the Storm Hills. It is not uncommon for a lone Minotaur or other beast-man to be part of a predominantly Quagga Storm Bull band. Though the tribe are comfortable with traditional Praxian modes of warfare (the lance and the short bow-- indeed their Solar ancestry made them fine archers), the Storm Bull-influenced ethos of the tribe meant that they liked to fight toe-to-toe on foot as well. The legend that Hrothmir was their first Khan made the great axe their warriors' weapon of choice on foot, and the hatchet was their preferred short-range throwing weapon/weapon of desperation. Richard Hayes
From: Roderick and Ellen Robertson <rjremr_at_sierratel.com>
Subject: Re: Okapi
To: WorldofGlorantha_at_yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, 25 March, 2011, 16:01
> This is an Okapi.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okapi
>
> Do Okapi exist in Glorantha?
> If so how did they come about [there is the immediate MGF idea], and how
> to the Praxians feel about them?
Well, they could be:
An attempt (failed, 'cause there aren't any in Prax in the Second or Third
age) to create a horse that will survive the Plains (maybe Issaries' first
attempt at a donkey, but crossing a horse with a zebra (and yes, I know that
they are more closely related to giraffes, but if it looks like a
horse...)),
or
they exist in Pameltela (or somewhere else equally far and exotic) and the
Praxians know nothing of them, so have no opinion,
or
It is a current Hero's attempt to get a plains-dwelling horse.
or
It's the offsrpring of a Zebra-Broo and a horse (with Chaos features:
"Quadreped, No Hands, Hung like a horse)
or
It's one of the "Lost tribes" that we've just never documented.
or,
No it doesn't.
The Praxian attitude will be both A) Conservative and B) Practical. "I don't
know, that's neither Horse nor Zebra, but it can survive on in the Plains."
Choose reaction:
[] It's Chaos, Kill it!!!!!
[] It can survive on the Plains, it is one of Waha's Lost Tribes. Praise
Waha!
[] It can survive on the Plains, Waha is increasing our tribes. Praise Waha!
[] It is a trick by the {Lunars/Sartarites/Castle
People/Pentans/Kraloreleans/Teshnans/Choose another}
[] What is it? I don't know, but I raided it, so it's mine now. Take it from
me if you can.
[] What are you pointing at? There is nothing there. You city folk are
crazy.
RR
From such a face and form as mine, the noblest sentiments sound like the
black utterances of a depraved imagination.
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