Sentient animals?

[g33k]

So, just like the title says...

Off the top of my head, Glorantha has ducks (durulz), tapirs (morokanth) & baboons (do they have another name for themselves?); but are there other "animals" that are sentient?  I don't count the half-and-half's like Centaurs, Minotaurs, Broo's, etc (collectively called "Beast-Men" (although the Broos' extremes of Chaos may now exclude them, they USED to be of the same general sort...)) in this list, only the "full" animals...

 

[Joerg]

Plenty of sentient animals in full animal shape around - lots of sentient fish in the Zola Fel cult, sentient foxes in the King of Dragon Pass computer/phone game speaking for the Wild, sentient deer in the Purendi myth (in Anaxial's Roster), and in Hsunchen lands the high probability that e.g. a deer is actually a shape-changed human (or, in their view, a human in his true animal shape). There is the famous Alynx rebel Dernu (with his mute human sidekick Gernu).

Ducks and other keets actually disqualify from your list because of their anthropomorphic bodies.

If you include demonic beings, how about the Crimson Bat or Ethilrist's Hound and horse demons?

[Pentallion]

I vaguely recall Jeff once saying that Greg once said that every species of animal in Glorantha had a sentient version somewhere.  That could have been before the chalana arroy cured my brain chills however.

[Noita]

Ive always run with there being a certain % of animals being intelligent. This comes from my childhood and the stories and fairy tails i was told.

Fits for my view of Glorantha. They are the heroes of their species.

[g33k]

Everybody's Glorantha Will Vary...   

@Joerg --  Wow... that's a remarkable list.  Some of it made me go "d'oh!" and realize I should've covered it in my OP, but much of it was new or different to what I was thinking, so... Thanks!

I don't really count divine / semi-divine (or demonic) beings, those only living via spirit-world and/or mythological appearances, or immortals; I was really looking for "purely-mortal" creatures.  I'll need to think if I'm gonna count shapeshifters.  If there is any level of "parity" between shapes, any sense that both shapes have equal "valiidity" or "identity" (as opposed to a spell or a curse imposing an alien shape -- said being still has a "native" or "true" shape), or if the animal form is "primary," then probably.  I never played KoDP; do they appear in the original version, or only newer ones?  GloranthaWiki cites MoonDesign's "Sartar Companion" as the source of the "Eleurae" fox-women.  I confess to zero info about Dernu & Gernu (???).  And, I guess I'd better reconsider whether I count the Durulz... I have always considered them as close to "just big ducks, with intelligence" as it's possible to get, while still able to wield a sword (so, hands! and, arm-like joints/muscles in their feathered wings).

@Pentallion & @Iskallor -- I confess that "sentient versions of each species of animal" does feel rather Gloranthan (so My Glorantha May Vary in that direction), but did primary authors ever write it up that way?

[Charles VA]

With the duality of spiritual and physical making up the totality of a living creature, it's only likely at least a few would be sentient. The fish recruiter in Pavis (Temple of Feroda) is a good example.  The nomad "awakening" of a beast for use as an allied spirit would be another.

Edited January 9, 2016 by charlesvajr

[Joerg]

Dernu and Gernu appeared in the Sartar Rising campaign. Their heroband is described in Orlanth is Dead, and in the third volume an attempt was made to show how it transformed into the Eaglebrown Warlocks - at least that latter attempt is not canonical any more, but I see no reason why the characters themselves should have become ungloranthan.

That fox episode was in KoDP from the beginning, and gave you the choice between hard times for growth or for magic.

The elurae fox women are classed with the beast folk - part human, part beast - but have a different, eastern origin.

The percentage of intelligent beasts ("less than one in a thousand") was in the Zola Fel cult write-up since Cults of Prax. Another stab at animal sentience was made in the sperm whale text which mentioned the occasional sentient giant squid as their opposition.

The Goldeneye horses of the Grazers probably are sentient in their own right.

The Praxian ritual to reverse the covenant in order to make herd beasts sentient might be regarded as unnatural magic if you see Waha's Covenant as defining what is natural, or might be regarded as undoing a huge magical change to return the beasts to their original, Golden Age state that Waha's Covenant upset (in order to let them survive at all).

There appear to be Hsunchen/Fiwan beasts that only rarely take human shape. The Tanuku milk antelope of Pamaltela is grouped with the Fiwan, their human shaped counterparts were first mentioned in the Guide, earlier on the only info we had on them (in the unfinished work Missing Lands) was that they served as domestic beasts of the Doraddi. The eastern Golden Eagle participates in the Korgatsu rites (as per Anaxial's Roster).

Regardless whether an animal is sentient or not, hunter cults treat it as a person.

[M Helsdon]

Glancing through the Glorantha Bestiary (which is far from a complete overview): Baboons, Lucans (Timinit beetles), Myrmidons (Timinit ants)...

[Jon Hunter]

There is also the intelligent chimp up with gon  orta.

Its fair to say they fit the world the amount is up to you, I use them sparingly but i tend to want to run gritty camapigns