g33k Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 (edited) So, there's the Lutrai on the River of Cradles, and IIRC the Wenelian region, in general. And the same "sort" of folks (not necessarily called "Lutrai") I think in various numbers (though never AFAIK a majority) in various (though not AFAIK all) ocean/river/fen places along the southern coast of Genertela, and up some of the rivers feeding into it. Otter is one of the Hsunchen "First Four Companions;" do they name this Otter? Do we have a named Fralar-descent ancestor-Otter? There's an otter chatting with a dockworker in @M Helsdon's wonderful Ships&Shores! Other than that, and occurrences in the Pavis / Big Rubble / River of Cradles books, where else are they found (in canon, or in the JC)? Rather disappointingly, neither "Otter" nor "Lutrai" occurs in the RQG Bestiary. :_( === How do they interact with the Durulz (edit: and the Newtlings!) ? From a human/adventurer POV, they'd seem to fill similar roles (but durulz are largely-herbivorous and otters are obligate carnivore (wild otters LOVE duckling!) while newts (the animals) are carnivorous/insectivorous); all 3 (are there others?) share similar spaces at the water/land interface. Are these species rivals, partners, natural enemies, or...? Any other thoughts? Edited February 29 by g33k (newts!) 2 Quote C'es ne pas un .sig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajagappa Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 57 minutes ago, g33k said: Otter is one of the Hsunchen "First Four Companions;" do they name this Otter? I think they name it "Otter"! (All references to the First Four Companions go by the animal's name: Turtle, Loon, Otter, and Sea-eagle) 59 minutes ago, g33k said: where else are they found (in canon, or in the JC)? Guide p.361: New Fens: A large marsh created when Slontos was destroyed. It is inhabited by newtlings, giant semi-intelligent otters,... Guide p.640: Enkloso (Umathela) - Palau River: This wild river drains the eastern Enkloso Forest. It was inhabited by reptilian lascerdans until 475 and their colossal stone sculptures, called huvenvu by the Umathelans, are arranged along the banks. The Palau is rich with animal life, including alligators and manatees in the lower reaches, beavers and giant otters in the upper reaches. [No mention whether these otters are intelligent or not.] There are no references to Hsunchen Otter people in the guide, but I do believe they exist in the Children of Hykim book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_Godspeed Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 Wait, newtlings are herbivorous? I'd at least assumed they were omnivorous like humans, basically. So they don't fish or gather clams or anything like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Duguid Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 9 hours ago, jajagappa said: they exist in the Children of Hykim book. David Dunham had an otter Hsunchen tribe, the Udari (https://www.pensee.com/dunham/ralios/hsunchen.html). Although the Otter tribe is listed in Revealed Mythologies as one of sixteen original Fiwan tribes, I took the view in The Children of Hykim that if there ever were otter Hsunchen, they are extinct. Essentially, their descendants are the intelligent otters; just as many other Hsunchen tribes are extinct, with their descendants being the intelligent humans. 3 Quote -- An Unofficial Buyer's Guide to RuneQuest and Glorantha lists everything currently available for the game and setting, across 60 pages. "Lavishly illustrated throughout, festooned with hyperlinks" - Nick Brooke. The Voralans presents Glorantha's magical mushroom humanoids, the black elves. "A wonderful blend of researched detail and Glorantha crazy" - Austin Conrad. The Children of Hykim documents Glorantha's shape-changing totemic animal people, the Hsunchen. "Stunning depictions of shamanistic totem-animal people, really evocative" - Philip H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Scott Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 (edited) Otter refs on the Well of Daliath: https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com/?s=otter See also Heort and a salmon and otter ghost, page 123, Heortling Mythology. This explains why there are no otters in the Creekstream River or Choralinthor Bay Lutrai is pretty specific to Blood Over Gold (and hasn't appeared anywhere since - so giant intelligent otters is likely the best thing to search for Edited February 29 by David Scott 1 Quote ----- Search the Glorantha Resource Site: https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com. Search the Glorantha mailing list archives: https://glorantha.steff.in/digests/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malin Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 Thank you for this, I had forgotten all about giant otters 😅 Need to go add them in.... 1 Quote ☀️Sun County Apologist☀️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snugz Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 Lutrai/giant otters also feature in Tradetalk #11 on Handra and the New Fens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g33k Posted March 7 Author Share Posted March 7 On 2/29/2024 at 5:32 AM, David Scott said: ... This explains why there are no otters in the Creekstream River or Choralinthor Bay ... I have BoHM, but don't recall this element and can't lay hands on it, at the moment. Can anyone explain this "why" (don't need the full myth, just the tl;dr & will read the full myth later (and thank you for the page-ref, @David Scott -- it's one I don't have in PDF). I see "Heort threw a rock..." on the wiki (hosted on fandom), but it's unclear if he was intentionally chasing them away, or if that was an unintentional side-effect (and why, it not being a Dragonkill or the like, they haven't gradually found their way back...?)). I had previously imagined them largely across the southern coast of Genertela (certainly including the Mirrorsea). On 2/29/2024 at 5:32 AM, David Scott said: ... Lutrai is pretty specific to Blood Over Gold (and hasn't appeared anywhere since - so giant intelligent otters is likely the best thing to search for ??? Am I just mis-remembering that the term was also used in the RQ2/RQ3 era, in one or more of the books set on the Zola Fel? (and to others in thread -- thank you for your suggestions & info & assistance!) Quote C'es ne pas un .sig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malin Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 3 hours ago, g33k said: Am I just mis-remembering that the term was also used in the RQ2/RQ3 era, in one or more of the books set on the Zola Fel? Possibly, or I have been missing the term, think I first read it here on the forum.. There is a giant otter in River of Cradles, but the term Lutrai is not used there, and it's unclear if it is intelligent or not. The text describes it as giving more Lassie vibes, a really smart animal. Quote ☀️Sun County Apologist☀️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g33k Posted March 21 Author Share Posted March 21 The followup Q (for me) would be: Does any version of RQ have stats? Offhand, I'd probably stat them very much like Newtlings, I think ... Quote C'es ne pas un .sig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svensson Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 Meet my spirit guide, Rufus the Evil Otter Life got much less complicated when I started asking myself, 'what would Rufus do'? 😆 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svensson Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 I am about to make your day better. No, really. I am about to make your day 1000% better than when you woke up this morning. And I'm not selling anything, asking you to take a religious tract, or asking you to forward anything for 'good luck' Just relax and enjoy Snoop Dogg's take on 'Otters' You're welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svensson Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 Last one, and FAR more on-point. An inspirational image capture from The One Ring RPGs title, 'Ruins of the Lost Realm' of a Human trading with the giant otters of the Swanfleet Marshes. This seems to capture a sense of the OPs question, if a bit colder. Art on specific pages is not credited, but the artists in the book are: Antonio de Luca, Jan Pospisil, and Federica Costantini 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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