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Thoughts on Uz


svensson

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I've long been fascinated with Gloranthan troll, Uz, culture. One the one hand it's bestial, brutal, and cruel. On the other it has levels of subtlety that aren't present in Lunar, Solar, or Orlanthi culture. They are 'bestial', but that's because their digestive tract is so efficient that they almost never eat their fill. They simply don't know the feeling of being satiated, and the misery of starvation [if not the actual effects] is a bright threat that lingers closer to them than it does for humans. They are brutal, because they have been the front line against Chaos since Orlanth sent Yelm screaming into the Hells, the Uz 'Wonderhome'. Chaos greeted them when they came to the surface world and Chaos hunts them now. Uz have suffered wounds from Chaos that would drive other races to extinction and because of this, there is little time in Uz culture for poetry or philosophy. Hunger and hatred and rage against an undeserving fate have made them cruel.

Even the most pissed of Storm Buller in Prax is outdone in his berserk fury by a Zorak Zoran confronted by the same Chaos foe.

And yet, there is still room for care, kindness and, dare I say, manners in Uzdom. Xiola Umbar, the Nurturer, cares and protects even the enlo... the Great Shame of Uz. Uz mothers care and nurture their children utterly and completely protected and provided for by their tribe. When an Uz female become pregnant, she turns over whatever responsibilities she has to a unpregnant female and her sole devotion is to birthing and raising a healthy and contributing member of the tribe. And it appears that this was true even before the Trollkin Curse. While the Curse of Birthing made this facet of Uz society even more important, it appears that it only emphasizes an already present cultural more. I freely admit that I might be wrong on that one, but that's been my impression from my reading.

But I still have some question about Uz, questions that the different sources either don't address or contradict each other.

For example:

- Is there a difference between the uzuz 'Mistress' subrace of Uz and 'Ancestral Trolls'?

- Have uzuz and/or Ancestral Trolls been born since Time began?

- Are uzuz immortal, or are they educated to set them up for Heroquests that prolong their lives?

- I know that 'Mongoose RQ' is 'the thing we don't talk about', but some of their discussions about trolldom [Races of Glorantha Vol. 1] make for some excellent supposition and musing. The 'motivations to adventure', for example, could legitimately apply to any troll adventurer from any era. And I'm REALLY intrigued by the idea that an uzko MALE Heroquested for a solid year and returned with an artifact from the Godplane that guarantees an Uz to give birth to a pure blooded Uz in her next pregnancy by touching it.

So, yeah, like I said, I'm fascinated by Uzdom. I've decided that whenever I referee an FRPG, Uz will be there. They're not Orcs, not Hobgoblins, and will happily butcher you where you stand if you accuse them of it. They are Uz, as Kyger Litor made them. Make no mistake about that, ever.

And they're not the only race I've adopted out of whole cloth to be present whenever I play 'X' or 'Y' game. The Pentapods from 2300AD will soon be appearing a Traveller OTU game I'm running. Here's hoping they inspire the same 'icky fascination' in my players that they do in me. Ditto the Kafers.

Anyway, have any of you got thoughts about Uz or have you completely adopted entire races /cultures to be present in any game you have?

Edited by svensson
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1 hour ago, svensson said:

- Is there a difference between the uzuz 'Mistress' subrace of Uz and 'Ancestral Trolls'?

Ancestral Trolls are much older, if they are still alive, and are likely to be very powerful.

Other than that, no, there is no difference.

1 hour ago, svensson said:

- Have uzuz and/or Ancestral Trolls been born since Time began?

UzUz have definitely been born, or created since Time began.

Arkat was reborn as an UzUz, as were his Companions.

I seem to remember there was an UzUz born relatively recently in Dagori Inkarth, but I can't remember the details.

1 hour ago, svensson said:

- Are uzuz immortal, or are they educated to set them up for Heroquests that prolong their lives?

No, UzUz are not Immortal.

Many UzUz have been killed and not returned.

Do UzUz die of old age? Probably, but it says somewhere that most have HeroQuested to the point that they are immune to that form of death.

1 hour ago, svensson said:

- I know that 'Mongoose RQ' is 'the thing we don't talk about', but some of their discussions about trolldom [Races of Glorantha Vol. 1] make for some excellent supposition and musing. The 'motivations to adventure', for example, could legitimately apply to any troll adventurer from any era. And I'm REALLY intrigued by the idea that an uzko MALE Heroquested for a solid year and returned with an artifact from the Godplane that guarantees an Uz to give birth to a pure blooded Uz in her next pregnancy by touching it.

It is worth using some of that material for gaming purposes, as it is OK.

As for the make UzKo HeroQuesting for a way to stop the Curse of Kin for one person, that is entirely possible. The male would not approach things is the same way as a female (By putting themselves between Gbaji and Korasting, for example. or taking the wound into herself) so would need a different way around the Curse.

The trick is to generalise that, so that it affects a group of people, an Uz clan, or the whole of Uzdom.

 

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25 minutes ago, svensson said:

They are 'bestial', but that's because their digestive tract is so efficient that they almost never eat their fill. They simply don't know the feeling of being satiated, and misery of starvation [if not the actual effects] is a bright threat that lingers closer to them than it does for humans.

Outright starvation ought to be extremely rare, as trolls can even eat air. Severe malnutrition and getting more and more ravenous on a diet of just dirt and rocks is well known on the other side, at least for trollkin hordes.

 

25 minutes ago, svensson said:

They are brutal, because they have been the front line against Chaos since Orlanth sent Yelm screaming into the Hells, the Uz 'Wonderhome'.

IMO they are brutalized, as a species /The term for dark trolls means "Hurt Trolls", and lesser species are degenerates thereof), not so much because of Chaos but because of Fire and Light.

Trollkind was born on the front against Chaos, deep down in Wonderhome. Down there, it was more of a nuisance than an existential threat, and in the surface world their anti-Chaos attitude still is a lot less rabid than that of the Orlanthi or Praxians.

 

25 minutes ago, svensson said:

Chaos greeted them when they came to the surface world

Didn't. An uncomfortable and hurtful world full of remaining light and fire greeted them, like Lodril and Yelmalio. Encountering elfs and dwarfs was just a continuation of earlier encounters and raids.

Chaos destroyed their main queendom on the eastern slopes of the Spike, but even that might be blamed on High King Elf slaying the Spike as much as on Chaos invading it. But this happened long after the Dark Tribe had established itself in the Surface World.

 

25 minutes ago, svensson said:

and Chaos hunts them now.

Where? Chaos has infested their kind, whether Pocharngo having turned uzuz or uzko into Cave Trolls, or Gbaji causing the Curse of Kin, but I am not aware of any chaotic plot to invade the troll stronglands in the forseeable future.

 

 

25 minutes ago, svensson said:

Uz have suffered wounds from Chaos that would drive other races to extinction and because of this, there is little time in Uz culture for poetry or philosophy. Hunger and hatred and rage against an undeserving fate have made them cruel.

The Curse of Kin is in the process of driving the race of Dark Trolls into extinction, and the new prototype troll about to be born in the Dagori Inkarth Castle of Lead is going to make the Dark Trolls and their Curse of Kin irrelevant. The new species will be superior, mostly untainted by Yelm's burns and presmably free from the Curse of Kin. Humanity has a grace period until the mid 1639ies until the first of these new model trolls become old enough to interact with them.

The remaining Dark Trolls will grow up like "superior trollkin" twin births have been neglected before.

Trill mothers giving birth to inferior kindred are likely to pass these on to mothers among that inferior kindred, damning that offspring to even less care than they would have experienced normally. Such mothers will likely serve as wetnurses for their peers with healthy offspring, while those with healthy offspring might serve as wetnurses of the offspring of (lesser) descendants of hiigher class mothers.

 

25 minutes ago, svensson said:

Even the most pissed of Storm Buller in Prax is outdone in his berserk fury by a Zorak Zoran confronted by the same Chaos foe.

ZZ is furious whether he faces Chaos or not.

ZZ is the archetype of the Dark Troll, and thus he might be diminished in impotance, too.

 

25 minutes ago, svensson said:

And yet, there is still room for care, kindness and, dare I say, manners in Uzdom. Xiola Umbar, the Nurturer, cares and protects even the enlo... the Great Shame of Uz. Uz mothers care and nurture their children utterly and completely protected and provided for by their tribe. When an Uz female become pregnant, she turns over whatever responsibilities she has to a unpregnant female and her sole devotion is to birthing and raising a healthy and contributing member of the tribe. And it appears that this was true even before the Trollkin Curse. While the Curse of Birthing made this facet of Uz society even more important, it appears that it only emphasizes an already present cultural more. I freely admit that I might be wrong on that one, but that's been my impression from my reading.

Any pregnant uz is a ravenous creature, eating not just for herself but also for the lspawn growing inside her. And defecating for two, too. Her males and sisters have the responsibility to keep her hunger in check.

As soon as an uz enters pregnancy, I suppose her offspring is taken away from her, possibly to aother wetnurse, otherwise weaned. Mothers from lesser kindred will have to wean their offspirng earlier to act as such wetnurses, and may be prohibited from contact with adult males. All the way down to the most miserable trollkin young not receiving much in breast feeding at all.

Female offspring will remain at the breast for longerthan male offspring.

Do the children receive love other than the sharing of food and the warding off light and fire? There is a reason why 3th Age Glorantha has a character class called "Hellmother". While the breast-feeding mother will nurture her offspring, I don't see much gentleness here. Tough love, dragon mothers. Helicopter parents - yes, definitely. Most uz will have been full adults for a while before leaving the rough embrace and demands of their mother.

Take all bad mother-in-law stereotypes, and turn them up to eleven. That's how I see troll mothers.

Troll fathers and uncles may be a lot more gentle and caring in their treatment of the young, at least up to a certain stage of development. Sooner or later they will turn into the initiatory uncles, challenging the next generation with limited harmful tasks. Those who break may find their way to Zorak Zoran, or may fail to initiate. Possibly acting as lowly foremen for trollkin rather than directly ending up as food.

25 minutes ago, svensson said:

But I still have some question about Uz, questions that the different sources either don't address or contradict each other.

For example:

- Is there a difference between the uzuz 'Mistress' subrace of Uz and 'Ancestral Trolls'?

Yes. I expect that there are early dark troll great-grandmothers who founded strong lineages that were able to use cunning and experience to compete with lineages more recently born to an uzuz mother.

25 minutes ago, svensson said:

- Have uzuz and/or Ancestral Trolls been born since Time began?

Uzuz: most of them yes. Ancestral trolls will most likely have died, leaving the lineage to descendants.

And I doubt that either Jarkanita AB (IIRC, the individual whose questing against the Curse of Kin resulted in multiple births) nor Garazaf Hyloring (who gave birth to Arkat Kingtroll and his companions) are still alive and well. Both will have lived to see the fruit of their labors, but any such heroic deed will remove the individual from the world of the living sooner or later. Cragspider is a notable exception to this

 

25 minutes ago, svensson said:

- Are uzuz immortal, or are they educated to set them up for Heroquests that prolong their lives?

Even humans know heroquesting paths to stop aging, but the example of Belintar shows the toll on a mortal body

 

25 minutes ago, svensson said:

- I know that 'Mongoose RQ' is 'the thing we don't talk about', but some of their discussions about trolldom [Races of Glorantha Vol. 1] make for some excellent supposition and musing. The 'motivations to adventure', for example, could legitimately apply to any troll adventurer from any era. And I'm REALLY intrigued by the idea that an uzko MALE Heroquested for a solid year and returned with an artifact from the Godplane that guarantees an Uz to give birth to a pure blooded Uz in her next pregnancy by touching it.

At the very least, I would demand that she touches it throughout her pregnancy, starting with attempts for conception. Loss of contact might cause deterioration of the spawn, resulting in a single weak uzko. And use of the item might cause a small deterioration of her stats, transferring those to her child.

 

25 minutes ago, svensson said:

Anyway, have any of you got thoughts about Uz or have you completely adopted entire races /cultures to be present in any game you have?

I did adopt the uz species to a non-Gloranthan RQ3 setting, with a somewhat different evolution of Trollmother, no Chaos conflict in their origin story (instead hiding from a race of titans). I had probably about as much mythos and history on them as one of the shorter Cults of Kyger Litor full write-ups plus the Bestiary non-rulesy bits. My trolls were kin to and herded insectivores rather than giant insects. (My world had those giant insectoids, too, but in a different corner of the world, and with non-Darkness origins.)

I haven't had any trolls played by players in any of my games yet - I usually start from rather closer-knit communities with only replacement characters bringing in more exotic backgrounds unless the community had a good reason to have such. My Sartar doesn't have moe than one or two permanent troll or trollkin residents in cities other than Boldhome, except possibly heded by Torkani or Kitori tribesmen.

 

Telling how it is excessive verbis

 

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1 minute ago, svensson said:

Follow-on question, then...

-- Are there male uzuz, or is that subrace the sole province of females [the ancestral male uzuz having died before Time began]?

There definitely are male uzuz, and they are highly sought after as studs for the remaining uzuz planing motherhood. An uzuz matriarch mating with a dark troll would come across as highly desperate, unless the individual is an exceptional hero (like Gerak Kag, the conqueror of the Pavis Rubble). Male uzuz are ageless, and remain fertile. They may be loaned to matriaachs of lesser llineages as a reward for those matriarchs (and as penalty for siring sub-par uzko offspring, like males).

Due to the herouueting against the Curse of Kin, there may be more male uzuz than females, as I doubt that failed heroquesting uzuz questers remaiined among the living for long, if at all.

Arkat Kingtroll was an uzuz, a unique feat of Garazaf Hyloring, which probably shortened her life significantly. She may have lived to see the triumph over Gbaji, but she might have passed away when Arkat returned from that battle in human form.

Telling how it is excessive verbis

 

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59 minutes ago, svensson said:

-- Are there male uzuz, or is that subrace the sole province of females [the ancestral male uzuz having died before Time began]?

Yes.  I expect all the famous troll leaders in the exodus from the Underworld (Boztakang, Gore and Gash, possibly Karrg) were uzuz males.  Arkat was reborn as one. But as with any uzuz, most of those living are deep in the Darkness of the Underworld.  Reconnecting with them would likely be a very dangerous quest.

I picture them as having been separated during the Curse of Kin from the female uzuz, perhaps by a River of Flame in Hell. 

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1 hour ago, svensson said:

-- Are there male uzuz, or is that subrace the sole province of females [the ancestral male uzuz having died before Time began]?

Yes, there are male UzUz.

Arkat and his Companions were UzUz and some of them were male.

The Uz are probably disappointed if an UzUz is born male, as they value females much more highly.

I cannot remember if Pikat Yaraboom is an UzKo or an UzUz, he makes sense as either. However, he would be a good example of a male UzUz born in Time.

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About Arkat, btw...

The three cults writeups describe [RQ2, RQ3, Mongoose] clearly say that the only way to get adopted by a tribe of Uz is to initiate into Kyger Litor. Getting initiated into Kyger Litor means being vivisected to death and literally being reborn as a human sized being infused with the Darkness Rune and vestigial Uz senses. They are now accepted and treated in all ways as uzko by the tribe, but they are not entirely so.

As I read that, it means:

- You don't get bigger or stronger, you still have many human physical traits

- But you also have new Uz traits... tusks, a digestive tract that can get nourishment out of anything, constant hunger

- You have Darksense, but at a markedly low level [sources vary at the starting percentile 5%, 15%, and 25% each DS Scan and Search]

Now, I know that by the time Arkat became Uz he was a practicing Illuminate... i.e. he was knew he was Illuminated and used it to his advantage.

But how was he reborn as Uzuz? Did he Heroquest for it? Did Illumination effect the form of his rebirth

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9 hours ago, svensson said:

But how was he reborn as Uzuz? Did he Heroquest for it? Did Illumination effect the form of his rebirth

Because her new « mother » is KL herself ?

he is the only one who doesn’t look down when she appeared during ceremonies if I remember 

the process in not to transform human into uzko but to transform non-uz into Uz 

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1 hour ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

Because her new « mother » is KL herself ?

he is the only one who doesn’t look down when she appeared during ceremonies if I remember 

the process in not to transform human into uzko but to transform non-uz into Uz 

The adoption rite for KL transforms a human into a Runic and social Uz, but not entirely a physical one. The adoptee looks recognizably like the human they used to be, but horribly mutilated. As far as Uz are concerned, the adoptee IS Uz in every single way. But looks aren't important to Uz and so Uz don't put much time into it. One major ability the adoptee retains from their human life is their visual acuity ability to discern color, but their Darksense is at a very low percentage.

Edited by svensson
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17 hours ago, soltakss said:

I cannot remember if Pikat Yaraboom is an UzKo or an UzUz, he makes sense as either. However, he would be a good example of a male UzUz born in Time.

Pikat is not a pure uz. Given his dehori father, he might be a very special case of a Great Troll. Given his uzko mother, he probably gets classified as uzko hero, or possibly demigod.

 

11 hours ago, svensson said:

About Arkat, btw...

But how was he reborn as Uzuz? Did he Heroquest for it? Did Illumination effect the form of his rebirth

Arkat's successful rebirth as a troll, and even as an uzuz, was the result of Garazaf Hyloring heroquesting mightily, and convergently with Arkat and his companions, ending up in that troll adoption rite.

Arkat and his companions might very well have been the first individuals adopted that way. Trollkin had been around only for 70 years, and multiple births of those started possibly a decade or so after that. All multiple births being classified as trollkin may have happened somewhat later - IIRC Arkat's troll wives had multiple births of superior trolls who later made up the nobility of Guhan.

Trollkin as expendable spearfodder were around in 564 or so when the Mirin's Cross Yelmalians triumphed.

 

1 hour ago, svensson said:

The adoption rite for KL transforms a human into a Runic and social Uz, but but not entirely physical. The adoptee looks recognizably like the human they used to be, but horribly mutilated. As far as Uz are concerned, the adoptee IS Uz in every single way. But looks aren't important to Uz and so Uz don't put much time into it. One major ability the adoptee retains from their human life is their visual acuity ability to discern color, but their Darksense is at a very low percentage.

The stronger in Darkness the adoptee, the less limited the body shape will be, as Darkness has some intrinsic body fluidity. There is a possibility that the uz discern between uzko and uzuz not by the physical body shapes but by their Darkness shape.

 

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Telling how it is excessive verbis

 

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@Joerg The form fluidity of the Darkness Rune argument makes sense in a Glorantha kind of way. Let's face it, 'logic' and 'Glorantha' are not synonymous, so when someone comes up with an idea or discussion that has the 'Stafford Symmetry' AND makes logical sense in context... yeah, that's pretty elegant.

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18 hours ago, svensson said:

The three cults writeups describe [RQ2, RQ3, Mongoose] clearly say that the only way to get adopted by a tribe of Uz is to initiate into Kyger Litor. Getting initiated into Kyger Litor means being vivisected to death and literally being reborn as a human sized being infused with the Darkness Rune and vestigial Uz senses. They are now accepted and treated in all ways as uzko by the tribe, but they are not entirely so.

My read of that is that, sure, on the Mundane Plane the bodies are being vivisected and remade. But the heroes undergoing the rebirth are also performing important acts on the God Plane (or possibly the Hero Plane) to undergo the troll coming-of-age rites. Trolls suffer quite a lot during their growth to adults, and the humans have to suffer the same, but without the benefits of being a troll -- they do not automatically get comfort and protection from Darkness, for example. Only when they prove themselves troll by succeeding at the coming-of-age rites, do they reawaken in the Mortal World as full trolls (of some variety).

EDIT: In other words, it is not just a ritual that is done to a person, it is something that they have to actively participate in for it to have any chance of success.

Edited by AlHazred
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On 6/26/2022 at 6:24 AM, svensson said:

... there is little time in Uz culture for poetry or philosophy....

There is still room for care, kindness and, dare I say, manners in Uzdom....

Let's not make the mistake of depicting Uz as uncultured, just out of human centeredness.  In the RW Bronze Age poetry seems not to have been a separate concept from song.  Few humans appreciate Uz music because the Uz hear a different and wider range of frequencies.  But it is clear from published material that the Uz do make music and sing.  Uz music emphasizes percussion and drumming  more than humans usually do, and Uz speak in lower tones because uz other than trollkin are larger than humans.  But there is no reason to think the content is inferior.  

As for philosophy, most Gloranthan humans have little time for it.  So why look down on the Uz in that regard?  When was the last time you looked for an Uz philosopher?  So it's no surprise that you have not met one.  They are to be found among the uzuz, and occasionally the other Uz varieties.  

The Uz clearly have literacy since we know there is written Darktongue.  Since they don't use ink but instead use graven symbols it probably takes more effort than writing on papyrus or vellum, but I have not heard whether clay tablets are used.  Since most human Gloranthans are not literate there is little reason to believe in a racial difference in this regard.  I am not clear on the relative proportions of the Lhankhor Mhy vs. the Argan Argar cults. But I know AA priests are highly literate.

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Of course, a lot of what we know about the Uz is specifically about the Dagori Inkarth Uz. While they may think of themselves as the perfect example of what trolls should be like, it should be noted they do have a lot of influence from the Zorak Zoran cult, so much so that around 1 in 5 trolls is a member of his cult. Only Halikiv is more devoted to the god of Hate, where a quarter of all trolls follow him.

It's possible that other troll communities have differing cultures and a less warlike nature, such as on the Shadow Plateau.


Highly YGWV section:

Spoiler

A lot of what makes a troll a troll does seem to be tied to the cult of Kyger Litor. Coupled with the fact that (as mentioned in Uz Lore), some superior trollkin would otherwise be dark trolls except they were born as twins, it's likely that they truly are one and the same. Any trollkin who becomes an initiate has proven themselves to be a troll, not just kin; and likewise for other darkness people.

Equally those trolls who abandon their Mother are seen as no longer trolls. The earliest kitori in the shape of trolls may have been ones who abandoned Kyger Litor to devote themselves entirely to Argan Argar.

 

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Well, if you look at it another way, an awful lot of what makes human is tied to Ernalda [or local equivalent], though I grant you that KL's influence is much more universal across the species. Husband-protectors may come and go, but if the harvest doesn't come in everybody suffers.

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3 hours ago, Tindalos said:

Of course, a lot of what we know about the Uz is specifically about the Dagori Inkarth Uz....


Highly YGWV section:

  Hide contents

,,,,,,Equally those trolls who abandon their Mother are seen as no longer trolls. The earliest kitori in the shape of trolls may have been ones who....

 

I have never thought of the Uz Argan Argar initiates as having abandoned Kyger Litor.  They would remain lay members.

Just as everyone human in Sartar worships Ernalda at sowing and harvest festivals, even though they may be Orlanth or Issaries initiates,  so the AA trader will still worship KL when all the other Uz do.  And so the Gorakiki insect herder will also give his 1MP to KL.

Edited by Squaredeal Sten
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13 hours ago, Squaredeal Sten said:

I have never thought of the Uz Argan Argar initiates as having abandoned Kyger Litor.  They would remain lay members.

Certainly, but the Kitori aren't Uz, and it's possible that one of the reasons is early proto-Kitori giving up their uz-ness.

 

17 hours ago, svensson said:

Well, if you look at it another way, an awful lot of what makes human is tied to Ernalda [or local equivalent], though I grant you that KL's influence is much more universal across the species. Husband-protectors may come and go, but if the harvest doesn't come in everybody suffers.

Well, there's also hunter gatherers who don't so much have the agricultural focus. I'd say it may be more like Kyger Litor's fellow man-rune cult, Daka Fal, about who it's been said that all mortals are lay members of his cult, whether they like it or not.

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14 hours ago, Squaredeal Sten said:

Just as everyone human in Sartar worships Ernalda at sowing and harvest festivals, even though they may be Orlanth or Issaries initiates

I can't agree with this. 

Kolatings don't, as far as I know, and there will be Maranites who have their own festivals, for whom sowing and harvest may be less important than to farmers.  A case could also be made for Odaylans, who are separate from those cycles as well as less connected to the community.  For the same reason (separation) Humakti probably don't participate in those festivals.

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1 hour ago, Tindalos said:

Certainly, but the Kitori aren't Uz, and it's possible that one of the reasons is early proto-Kitori giving up their uz-ness...

As far as I know the Kitori tribe includes both human clans and Uz clans.  They seem to have developed a common culture or at least overlapping cultures, under the Only Old One. 

But I don't see evidence that the Uz half of the clans  abandoned Kyger Litor, nor that they are all Argan Argar members. 

The human clans would adhere to Argan Argar, the parent of the Only Old One and the most approachable of the Uz pantheon (from a human viewpoint).  But I don't expect every human there to be an AA initiate.  I expect some to join Gorakiki, some Zorak Zoran - and some to follow the gods usually worshipped by humans, though considering the history a worshipper of Yelmalio would be cast out.  I expect some follow the Lowfires and provide redsmithing services to the Uz, as well as bakers and maybe distillers.  

 

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19 hours ago, svensson said:

Well, if you look at it another way, an awful lot of what makes human is tied to Ernalda [or local equivalent], though I grant you that KL's influence is much more universal across the species. Husband-protectors may come and go, but if the harvest doesn't come in everybody suffers.

Go tell that to the Malkioni...

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2 hours ago, Squaredeal Sten said:

As far as I know the Kitori tribe includes both human clans and Uz clans.  They seem to have developed a common culture or at least overlapping cultures, under the Only Old One. 

The problem with this is that ideas of who and what the Kitori are have varied significantly over the years.

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