Religion, Satire, and MGF

[soltakss]

14 hours ago, mfbrandi said:

Thed:   blamed victim.

Thed: Revered ancestress, or the cause of all Broo problems

[mfbrandi]

13 minutes ago, soltakss said:

Thed: Revered ancestress, or the cause of all Broo problems

Perhaps like Job they are being tested — Thed has a bet on with Wakboth, and if all the broos defect to Mallia, Thed loses.

But if Thed loses, perhaps her children will never be restored to their prelapsarian state and it’ll be the worse for everyone.

[Darius West]

On 5/14/2023 at 3:58 AM, soltakss said:

It is simple, really.

You ally with Broos and send them against your enemies. In the battle many Broos die and many of your enemies die. That is a win-win situation, as broos die and your enemies die.

 

Assuming the Broos don't simply take the half payment and F off.

[Shiningbrow]

On 5/15/2023 at 2:26 PM, Darius West said:

Assuming the Broos don't simply take the half payment and F off.

Or, more likely, turn on you, knowing you have money!

Or even more likely, hire themselves out to everyone on the battlefield, and then pick a side... (or, like the hirer, wait until both sides have fought, then rampage through the remaining lot)

[soltakss]

On 5/15/2023 at 7:26 AM, Darius West said:

Assuming the Broos don't simply take the half payment and F off.

They could, but they often hire out as mercenaries, so this is unlikely.

On 5/16/2023 at 11:43 AM, Shiningbrow said:

Or, more likely, turn on you, knowing you have money!

They could, but as mercenaries they are unlikely to do that.

On 5/16/2023 at 11:43 AM, Shiningbrow said:

Or even more likely, hire themselves out to everyone on the battlefield, and then pick a side... (or, like the hirer, wait until both sides have fought, then rampage through the remaining lot)

That is more likely, especially if they are contracted for one battle, once the battle is over their contract is over and they can do whatever they like.

[jajagappa]

5 hours ago, soltakss said:

They could, but as mercenaries they are unlikely to do that.

In Nomad Gods they only do that if the opposing force is greater than your force is. 😉 

 

[Darius West]

18 hours ago, soltakss said:

They could, but they often hire out as mercenaries, so this is unlikely.

I suspect hiring broos as mercenaries is an extremely stupid thing to do unless they are extremely cheap to hire.

[soltakss]

37 minutes ago, Darius West said:

19 hours ago, soltakss said:

mercenaries, so this is unlikely.

I suspect hiring broos as mercenaries is an extremely stupid thing to do unless they are extremely cheap to hire.

Yet it happens

[Eff]

48 minutes ago, Darius West said:

I suspect hiring broos as mercenaries is an extremely stupid thing to do unless they are extremely cheap to hire.

Why would you suspect that? 

[scott-martin]

1 hour ago, Darius West said:

I suspect hiring broos as mercenaries is an extremely stupid thing to do unless they are extremely cheap to hire.

I suspect not a lot of wampum changes hands . . . IMG the currency they prefer is very precious for most orthodox wahaites to pay if they value their covenant more than winning.

Edited May 19, 2023 by scott-martin
replace "money"

[Ian Absentia]

1 hour ago, Eff said:

Why would you suspect that? 

Inviting the fox to the henhouse?  Only it's not going to eat your hens...

!i!

Edited May 19, 2023 by Ian Absentia

[Eff]

56 minutes ago, Ian Absentia said:

Inviting the fox to the henhouse?  Only it's not going to eat your hens...

!i!

Well, looking at it from another direction, broo are a despised minority without any hope of blending into local communities, so taking the chance of switching sides would probably be influenced by whether they'd be cutting themselves off from safe ground. And as far as morality goes, broo as they're presented aren't significantly worse in effect than most professional and semi-professional armies have been throughout history, especially mercenary bands. It would seem strange to presume that they're therefore significantly less trustworthy without some underlying assumption that they're motivelessly malevolent.

[Ian Absentia]

I suppose that we labor under the hypocritical delusion that we might at least be able to marry an interloper into the family (or herd) as long as it looks like us.

!i!

[mfbrandi]

3 hours ago, Ian Absentia said:

I suppose that we labor under the hypocritical delusion that we might at least be able to marry an interloper into the family (or herd) as long as it looks like us.

Well, that is one of the delightful things about broos: whoever you are, you can probably find a broo that looks a bit like you. They are really doing their best to blend in, but does anyone thank them for it?

[Ian Absentia]

Perhaps the most achingly positive outlook on the broos I've seen. 💔

By the way, I'm mildly disappointed that no one made the obvious joke about marrying an anteloper into the family or herd...

!i!

Edited May 19, 2023 by Ian Absentia

[Darius West]

21 hours ago, Eff said:

Why would you suspect that? 

Because Broos are disease carrying, rapey and murderous, and offering them pay means getting up close to them?

[Eff]

56 minutes ago, Darius West said:

Because Broos are disease carrying, rapey and murderous, and offering them pay means getting up close to them?

So, they're like historical real-world mercenaries except they engage in somewhat more bestiality? 

[Qizilbashwoman]

31 minutes ago, Eff said:

So, they're like historical real-world mercenaries except they engage in somewhat more bestiality? 

the disease situation is far more acute

[Eff]

10 minutes ago, Qizilbashwoman said:

the disease situation is far more acute

I don't see how being carriers for diseases makes them intrinsically less trustworthy, though. (They're also probably not that much worse than some historical armies in that regard.)

[Darius West]

2 hours ago, Eff said:

So, they're like historical real-world mercenaries except they engage in somewhat more bestiality? 

I don't think broos have the same work ethic and grasp of economics as condotierri or landsknechts.  They at least understood that a reputation for unreliability meant they wouldn't get hired or re-hired.  Plus there is the whole thing of, "who in their right mind hires chaotics?".  I mean, if you worship Waha or Stormbull, surely you are inviting divine retribution by fraternizing with the enemy of all creation?

[mfbrandi]

16 hours ago, Ian Absentia said:

Perhaps the most achingly positive outlook on the broos I've seen. 💔

Well, they are a tragic, doomed people, no?

Didn’t I read somewhere that broo numbers are declining and have been for some time? I doubt Ralzakark (or the Wild Healer) can save them. They are going the way of the T Rex. Being tough is no guarantee of survival.

[soltakss]

23 hours ago, Darius West said:

Because Broos are disease carrying, rapey and murderous, and offering them pay means getting up close to them?

You send an intermediary, you don't deal with the Broos yourself.

Also, disease-ridden and murderous is fine when they are attacking your enemies.

20 hours ago, Darius West said:

I don't think broos have the same work ethic and grasp of economics as condotierri or landsknechts.  They at least understood that a reputation for unreliability meant they wouldn't get hired or re-hired.  Plus there is the whole thing of, "who in their right mind hires chaotics?". 

They get hired because they are tough and brutal. Also, because they might get killed in the battle.

20 hours ago, Darius West said:

I mean, if you worship Waha or Stormbull, surely you are inviting divine retribution by fraternizing with the enemy of all creation?

You are not fraternising with them. You do not fight beside them. You send instructions as to where they will attack and they attack.

[Darius West]

16 hours ago, soltakss said:

You send an intermediary, you don't deal with the Broos yourself.

FFS who in the Dark Hells would you send?  They will then implicitly be one more person in the shameful conspiracy.  One more mouth to spread the info, or blackmail you.  How many people would willingly do business with broos as an agent on your behalf?  How could you trust someone who consorts with chaos?  It will all end in tears and secret murder, I'm sure.

[General Confusion]

On 5/20/2023 at 10:19 AM, Darius West said:

I don't think broos have the same work ethic and grasp of economics as condotierri or landsknechts.  They at least understood that a reputation for unreliability meant they wouldn't get hired or re-hired.  Plus there is the whole thing of, "who in their right mind hires chaotics?".  I mean, if you worship Waha or Stormbull, surely you are inviting divine retribution by fraternizing with the enemy of all creation?

Condottieri like John Hawkwood, the man who famously double-crossed the Pope? Who was hired to take a city and then ransomed it to both sides before sacking it himself? Or maybe you mean mercenaries like the ones who sacked Magdeburg, committing one of the worst massacres of the Thirty Years War against orders and for no particular reason?

Mercenaries were not reliable, and everybody knew that. Broo mercenaries, I think, are probably exactly as reliable as RL mercenaries; that is to say, they can definitely be trusted to take money, and they will hold to their agreements for exactly as long as it seems profitable, safe, and convenient for them to do so. 

As for the question of hiring chaotics bringing down divine retaliation - well, clearly not. It's been part of the setting since Nomad Gods, so forty years at this point. There's obviously some kind of a distinction drawn that allows for it.

 

(Probably don't want the Storm Khans finding out until the battle's over, though.)

[soltakss]

2 hours ago, Darius West said:

FFS who in the Dark Hells would you send? 

Professional intermediaries such as Heralds. 

2 hours ago, Darius West said:

They will then implicitly be one more person in the shameful conspiracy.  One more mouth to spread the info, or blackmail you.  How many people would willingly do business with broos as an agent on your behalf?  How could you trust someone who consorts with chaos?  It will all end in tears and secret murder, I'm sure.

Sure, if you have a hard belief that hiring Chaos is Chaotic then all of your statements apply.

Orlanthi probably wouldn't do this, for sure.

However, I don't think that Praxians have the same concept of Secret Murder being a taboo.

I am looking at it from the viewpoint of the Nomad Gods game explicitly saying that Praxians routinely hire Broo, and other Chaotic mercenaries, and suggesting reasons why they might. Your view, that Praxians would never hire Chaotic mercenaries, is an opposing view that is fine for Glorantha but does not agree with sources.