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Patrick

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  • RPG Biography
    Gloranthan explorer
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    HQ:G, RQ
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    Near Paris, France
  • Blurb
    What did you expect?

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  1. Also, it occurs to me that Ernalda is not the Mountain Goddess. She is the Earth, but she isn’t Kero Fin. Not Stormwalm mountain. Let alone Vestkarthan. She is the earth in the valley, that welcomes the river, and gently guides it through canals into the fields... She cares for peace, not (visible) greatness. And yet again, to quote on the Tao Tö King: « Because she rivals with no-one, no-one can rival with her... »
  2. This is really a very interesting thread, and I would like to thank you all for the good ideas. We see a problem, and we try to fix it. Aren’t we already on Ernalda’s path, by doing so? and indeed learning, stumbling, trying to find a way - another way... Please allow me, however, to question the problem itself - as expressed earlier, that teaching wouldn’t make for good stories, or good gaming... Yes, certainly, there is room for learning myths of Ernalda. From her youth, playing in Asrelia’s Cave, and choosing or discovering who she truly is. Ernalda combined Earth (of which she became the source) with Harmony and Life. This is something that defines her - sets her apart from Maran, but also springs the qualities she will then constantly embody. Hence the need for youth myths - the ones that will educate and shape (most of) the young girls in Orlanthi community. As much as she learnt these Runes, and ways, she teaches them. « The perfect Sages of Antiquity were so fine, so subtle, so deep and so universal that they couldn’t be known. Unable to know them, we strive at representing them: they were prudent like someone who passes a ford in winter; hesitant, like one who fears their neighbours; reserved as a guest; mobile, like ice about to melt; concentrated like the block of raw wood; extended as the valley; confused as muddy water. Who knows how, through rest, to progressively pass from troubled to clear, and through movement, from calm to active? Whoever preserves in oneself such an experience, doesn’t desire to be full. Not being full, it can withstand use, and renew. » (somewhat clumsy attempt at translating Tao Tö King XV, an Iron-age text - how Ernaldan is that, though?) Now, her later adventures have to do with communities (she’s a Queen, after all), finding and binding new elements in her communities: - tools and resources (the dances, the loom...) - people/gods to recruit and ally Here, I find interesting that to help us express these stories « actively », we could revert the « active » myths of the Orlanthi warrior, into « passive » ones. And I just thought about the question of Gods as Tools - which may be thought of as manipulation, but is also practised in all Orlanthi myths. In the arming of Orlanth, his Sword can be called Humakt. And this, in turns, gives room for a Humakti HeroQuester to join the quest, even though it’s all about « Orlanth alone fighting in the wild ». Because Humakt IS a Sword, Mahome IS a fire, etc. So we could certainly think of Orlanth as an « active » deity who skilfully swirls his weapon at the enemy, or equally as a « passive » deity who doesn’t act but changes others. He teaches Humakt how to kill Yelm. He’s the god of Change, isn’t he? And we could certainly see Ernalda’s wits not as manipulative (in a social sense), but as crafts and skills. She trains Orlanth to fight Yelm, or she moves Orlanth to do that (like the warrior moves his weapon). In both cases, we probably lose some of her spirituality. Because she is indeed « universal » and « extended as the valley ». She is not manipulating Gods against their best interest. She tries to nudge them out of the dramatic endings of the Gods’ War... In fact, to emphasize the dramatic value of this course of action, let’s think this in terms of « gamification »; not for us to play, but for us to teach through games, as Ernalda does. Doesn’t she, by playing the game of seduction, make it a desireable outcome to do what must be done? She « gamifies » quests, so that her champions will do what’s right. Here, also, it may serve us to look for failure myths, to contrast them. And we can find one in the Iliad: Cassandra is Kev, failing to show clearly the future to mortals. Where Kev succeeds her quest, the community will act appropriately; where she fails, it won’t. Is Kev manipulating them? No, she tells the truth, and only the truth. But the story of Cassandra tells us that telling the Truth is not enough. That there is a Quest to make it heard. Some people call it: teaching...
  3. Pretty relevant to keep drums as Darkness, though. Dark season is the beat of the year. As mentioned above, that’s the reason/season why you need Prudence and planning. Ernalda (or Esrola) doesn’t play the drums, but creates a wave around them. A silence, that is part of the tune. « She is not dead, she is sleeping... »
  4. any news on the launch?
  5. Watcha, I must say I am surprised. Obviously they share the Sky Rune, but... I always thought they were different (moving) celestial bodies, Yelmalio being Antirius/the Little Sun/Kargzant and Yelm the Sun/Yu-Kargzant. Hints please, @Jeff 🙏🏻
  6. Glad we start talking about Sheng on a Pentan thread ;-) does he have followers as of, say, 1621? i would say yes, for mainly three reasons: 1/ MGF: what a pity it would be to discard such a huge potential for stories 2/ Cultural imprint: yes, he was trapped and unreachable for a looong time. Yet Arkat has been out of reach for far longer, and still has followers. Why wouldn’t Sheng? 3/ Magics: the teachings survive the teacher (again, Arkat’s school of sorcery is a good example). His followers were indeed hunted down, just like Godlearners did their best to suppress all Arkatism - not with full success...
  7. Arkat was such a poor practitioner of sorcery - a mere apprentice - that he created new spells (see Trollgods) and founded a school of sorcery still fondly practised by the families of Guhan... One may argue he combined learning sorcery & rune cult magics only thanks to illumination? That leads us back to Pent... where there once was this guy of little influence, named Sheng Seleris. Oh, he only practised mysticism in Kralorela for a hundred years, so his draconic illimination is still a long way from wisdom, for sure. But he also managed to make himself a local reputation dealing with spirits - the embodiment of the Spirit rune (so says the Guide IIRC). So where would he stand: - mystic? - shaman? - rune-level hero? - all of the above? ... and what magics would his followers use today? I tend to think the question is fruitful because, around the campfires, while shamans chant and priests burn horse carcasses, some oracles covered in ashes whisper of the return of the once and future King of the nomads... « Attune to your bow and inner flame, young man. The time is near for limitless deeds under the Sky. The time is near for the Avenger and Conquerer. The time is near for Sheng Seleris to be born again, from hells deeper than your soul would dare looking into... »
  8. Patrick

    Nochetanea

    Just a thought... Even in the XVIIIth century Venice, great squares were (partly) used for farming/horticulture - they are called "campo" for a reason. Wouldn't it make perfect sense in Esrolia, to dedicate some urban spaces (squared-shaped as the Earth) to agricultural activities? The blessing of the 10,000 Goddesses is ever-pervasive... Bless them all for their bounty! :-)
  9. Well, up to the circumstances and GM's taste. A few additional things come into play here, eg: - breach of hospitality: yes, that's against THAT law, too. The character may be admired for his recklessness by some, yet despised for desecrating a basic principle... - offended clan's reaction: doing so is pretty much a slap in the face of all the clan, including a challenge to its duty of "Protection". So the killer may not be treated "simply" as a killer, but also a threat to the Ancestors' goodwill - "no one can make you do anything", applies to weregild acceptance too: so the victim's clan may always prefer to send the money back and start a feud. Or even keep the silver, "taken from the enemy while he was fleeing the scene" ;-) Options, out of endless possibilities...
  10. Ah, but all worlds are filled with such stories of doom. Impatient heirs kill their fathers, distant relatives improve their succession ranking by "removing" family competitors, angry factions foment palace revolutions... Eternal dynasties never last forever ;-)
  11. About the dreariness of land: well, don't forget that Brithini Zzaburi practice tapping. Maybe infrequently, but they live forever. And typically stay in the same lands. There is something rotten in Brithos...
  12. "The story became a legend, the legend became a myth." It is not entirely unlikely that skalds telling stories, actors re-enacting this-world events, and poetic/musical performers might play a role in the building of heroes. Kin dies, cattle dies, stories don't - and bards live to tell...
  13. Yes, please count me in! :1) (already the knife in the teeth)
  14. Interesting... Does my memory fail me, or was Arkat mistakenly assigned to the Warrior caste (Horali), whereas, based on natural birth order, he should have been a Wizard (Zzaburi)? If birth rank determines caste, and color skin is based on caste, do Brithini babies get the "right skin" not upon birth, but frex after a peoper ceremony/ritual officially grants them the appropriate caste? And Brithini brothers may look oddly familiar, but in different shades...
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