YGWV

[TRose]

 I for one do not like the idea of Vegan Morocanth . I mean why keep herdman if you don't have to?

 And grass is low in nutrients and most herbivores need to spend a lot of time grazing.  I could see them being able to eat plants that humans get no nourishment  from and eating less meat then humans but vegan Morocanth  is to me a big NO

[boztakang]

The Herdmen do all the hard, annoying and time-consuming work of finding and gathering the veggies. Thus, the Morokanth don't have to graze at all - just gorge themselves on the relatively high-quality food delivered by their "beasts." 

A Vegan Morokanth would certainly have to spend more time eating than a normal human, but still not nearly so much as a Troll would, and trolls are still quite functional despite their constant snacking. 

Perhaps the Morokanth "Chariot" has its origin in a Hay Wain type contraption, incidentally adapted so a rider can hop on and snack while traveling long distances.

Just because the Morokanth "race" chariots, doesn't mean they actually have to go fast... 

Sure, short "sprints" might move at a reasonable speed, but the Main Event must be endurance. The pure entertainment value of a ritual 10k race/festival being played out over several days like a Cricket Test means I'll almost certainly shoehorn one into my Glorantha eventually.

In fact, it has just become obvious to me that during the annual "Tour de Prax" race/migration the leader for each day wears a special Golden Shawl to indicate their status. Recent events have been increasingly marred by accusations of unscrupulous racers using non-traditional performance enhancing magic...

Edited May 20, 2016 by boztakang

[Joerg]

Don't know if it is just me, but I get the strange idea of a morocanth musher using at least one hind leg to push his chariot while calling out commands to his team, all of which are individually connected to the chariot.

[Tindalos]

1 hour ago, boztakang said:

Perhaps the Morokanth "Chariot" has its origin in a Hay Wain type contraption, incidentally adapted so a rider can hop on and snack while traveling long distances.

Just because the Morokanth "race" chariots, doesn't mean they actually have to go fast... 

Sure, short "sprints" might move at a reasonable speed, but the Main Event must be endurance. The pure entertainment value of a ritual 10k race/festival being played out over several days like a Cricket Test means I'll almost certainly shoehorn one into my Glorantha eventually.

Very true. A Morokanth chariot race may be like Japan's Ban'ei racing or Horse Pulling, with the difficulty of pulling the Morokanth in the chariot being part of the point.

[Noita]

I like the idea of Morokanth racing teams. Short sprints along dry river beds. Part fertility rite part betting frenzy. 

Used to herald the coming seasonal serpents and a reminder of times when Ronance drove across the land.

The herdmen wear elaborate serpent masks and the driver throws out handfuls of either real petals or handcrafted ones.

Trolls have trollball....Morokanth are racing fanatics. I draw the line at raiding with chariots.

 

Edited May 21, 2016 by Iskallor

[Noita]

Actually in my game the morokanth have been gathering at Hoofcrack and has worried the pcs why. The Morokanth arent talking. Now i have a reason.

The grand national!

[TRose]

On ‎5‎/‎16‎/‎2016 at 1:27 PM, Pentallion said:

Alas, according to the Borderlands campaign, Morokanth are only as fast as humans on foot, having movement 8.  Impalas move 10,, but Bison and other herd beasts move 12.  So running away is not much of an option.

 .

 

 

Then perhaps they are betting at running through bad terrain . Running through areas of dense brush and swamps

Edited May 21, 2016 by TRose

[Noita]

I think Morokanth only raid small family groups and when they do it is a total take down. All the herd beasts and all the people. No need to run away then. Picking suitable terrain is a no brainer.

Attacking at night or when the beasts are watering. 

They have awakened herdmen dont they? Nothing stopping them from learning to ride and even impersonating nomads. Hard to tell at night.

 

[Noita]

10 hours ago, TRose said:

 I for one do not like the idea of Vegan Morocanth . I mean why keep herdman if you don't have to?

 And grass is low in nutrients and most herbivores need to spend a lot of time grazing.  I could see them being able to eat plants that humans get no nourishment  from and eating less meat then humans but vegan Morocanth  is to me a big NO

Each of the herd beasts have their own type of fodder. So Morokanth will too. Though scarce in the Wastes this will be nutritious and gathered by herdmen.

There will be plenty at oasis and along the river.

It's Glorantha not Earth.

 

[MOB]

12 hours ago, g33k said:

I'm working from MD's "GC Vol.IV: B&B..."

pg.187, col.1:   "His special joy is his chariot with its team of four matched herd-men, which he races against teams belonging to other Morokanth."

Oh yeah, I forgot Velakol gets a mention in Borderlands and Beyond too. I agree that does more strongly infer there's a morocanth sitting up in there in the chariot cracking the whip. Oh well, maybe the idea of trained herd man jockeys is a new speedier innovation, after a well-travelled morocanth saw how they race their chariots in the Lunar Heartlands...

 

[David Scott]

Just to put this into perspective, there are 80000 Morokanth spread across the whole of the Wastelands split into about 150 clans. They are nomads just like the other tribes and spend their time travelling their ancestral migration paths across the Wastes, just as their ancestors did. Their traditional paths have been altered by the Lunar invaders, the armistice of Prax and the rise of settlers in the Zola Fel Valley, and they know how to tread new ones. Whether you have them as vegetarians or not, they still raid, herd and practice a nomadic lifestyle. The only real difference is that 50% are members of the Shadow People spirit society. This society is the home of the Praxian Darkness spirits. All tribes have access to these spirits, it's just the morokanth have a higher tendency to have the Darkness rune as their main element (85%).

Nomad Gods tells us Ronance is a Spirit of the Earth and god of Fertility. His counter has a wheeled and winged chariot, and theres's a cool Gene Day picture of him as well with his chariot pulled by snakes. In in RQ2 Ronance is a subcult of Eiritha found only at the Paps, he teaches Find Fodder and the spell of Pathway that locates oases. You'd need to be a woman to access his magic.

I don't think there's any link to Morokanth chariots and him. However in the Prax book, i've added that he does sometimes lend people his chariot.

Given the physical problems with morokanth riding chariots and a brief mention in an old supplement. I'd say that this was a recent imported practice, likely from the Lunar Empire. Maybe practiced by Lunarised morokanth who have connections to the Seven Mothers (Cults of Prax says 8% of Morokanth are 7m initiates - 3200 people). Perhaps the chariots are imported or are gifts and modified to make them easier to ride and pull. Perhaps they are actually small carts and just called chariots to make it all the more exciting. I think it's localised as well, to somewhere a track is possible and so seasonal, as nomads move around. I'd also add that it's a minority sport. I can't see the clans carting these about.

[Noita]

Ronance has an oasis too. I reckon Morokanth have held that oasis in the past and somehow got one of his chariots. Perhaps led by a Morokanth Priestess who taught them the rites after serving in the Paps.

Being bad boys the young uns adapted them for racing in their leisure time, put go faster spirits in the wheels and snake spirits in their herdsmen. Velakol is one of those boys all grown up.

Vroom: Snake spirit of the Wastes (Think black Mamba) Movement rune.

[Pentallion]

It seems pretty obvious to me that, while it may not be brought to light in the gaming material published so far, the Morokanth are also worshippers of Lokarnos.  They race chariots, so they probably need the God of the Wheel to make their chariots overcome the problems with wheels and mud or even the weight distribution.  They trade in slaves and Lokarnos is the Merchant of the Gods.  Both Drive (Vehicle) and the spell Hie Wagon strongly suggest that Morokanth chariot racers are also worshippers of Lokarnos.

[Noita]

Their chariot wheels are runes of darkness, ensuring stealth at night when raiding....

[Joerg]

2 hours ago, Iskallor said:

Their chariot wheels are runes of darkness, ensuring stealth at night when raiding....

Darkness is not about stealth as in silence, but as in indistinguishability from the shadows. And it is about projecting fear.

A chariot on a raid ought to project fear rather than provide stealth.

[David Scott]

Here's the counter and pic from Nomad Gods for reference. His snakes are Earth Spirits as he's an Earth God. IMO he looks very sky god too, so I'd suggest his parentage is Ernalda and a sky god. There are Morokanth with the Earth Rune (2% Male & 10% female) and Sky Rune (both 1%). So there could be a connection there.

As for Lokarnos, well he's not one of the Invader deities of Prax. Although he could easily have been encountered during the First Age Praxian diaspora. There are Trader gods amongst the nomads, Issaries is rare (233) and Eyries non existent amongst the tribes, so Lokarnos is also nonexistent too. The Cult Compendium says

 

Quote

 

Lokarnos

Lokarnos is the god of wagons and inventor of wheels and money and is by extension the trade god of the sky pantheon. He provides Hie Wagon.

 

Sun County says

Quote

All trade and portage in Sun County is strictly controlled by the Sun Dome Temple through the Lokamos wagon-cult.

So the cult does exist, but there are no Yelmalion morokanth according to Cults of Prax.

[Noita]

55 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Darkness is not about stealth as in silence, but as in indistinguishability from the shadows. And it is about projecting fear.

A chariot on a raid ought to project fear rather than provide stealth.

I wasnt being serious. Just my silly self.

[Joerg]

2 hours ago, Iskallor said:

I wasnt being serious. Just my silly self.

Sometimes a deadpan reply is silly in its own right...

[Pentallion]

There may be no Waha Sun Domers either, but Yelmalion worship of Lokarnos doesn't preclude Morokanth or other Waha worship of Lokarnos.  If anything, it cements that Lokarnos worship is present in Prax.  I think it is even more proof that the Morokanth have a sub worship of Lokarnos.  The chariots in both cultures nails it.

Perhaps it is only half jokingly that one might infer that where there's a White Bull secret society, might there not also be a White Wheel secret society?

[g33k]

On 5/21/2016 at 8:15 AM, David Scott said:

... they still raid, herd and practice a nomadic lifestyle. The only real difference is that 50% are members of the Shadow People spirit society...

Nomad Gods tells us Ronance is a Spirit of the Earth and god of Fertility...

I don't think there's any link to Morokanth chariots and him.

Why not?  I mean... seriously:  Why not?  

If we take the source materials as-written, it's pretty clear that the Morokanth aren't a "chariot-heavy" culture (as I have been suggesting).  But that they use chariots AT ALL is notable amongst the Tribes!  Afaik there is NO hint in materials published to-date that Morokanth chariot-use is of Lunar origin.   Yet here we have Ronance, a substantive charioteer-deity native to Prax and linked to a specific oasis (and the Morokanth a water-loving people!).  

You want the Chariots to be Lunar-origin, instead?  <shrug>  YGMV...?  

I realize my own "More Chariots!" take on this runs in the opposite (MGWV) direction!   

===

So, here's how they're gonna roll, I think, in my upcoming Prax campaign... by and large, it'll as per my original post, but (with many thanks to those who've contributed here!) a bit of tweaking.   As before, I'm asking for any comments/criticism/etc; I believe I've addressed all the logistical issues, but obviously tastes will vary!  This is, of course, a My Glorantha Varies piece!

===

Because they are the slowest 4-Legs amongst all the people of Waha's Compact, and had the slowest Herd-Beasts amongst all the Herds of Waha's Compact, the Morokanth have had to adjust; this they have done mainly in two ways.

One of those is the use of chariot and cart.  Over a thousand years ago, five clans of Morokanth met by chance at Ronance's Well, and impressed that god so much that he offered an alliance:  worship and service in return for the things he could teach, chiefest of them being the use of the Chariot.  In a few decades, Ronance had Rune Lords and Rune Priests -- and chariot-use -- in all five clans.  Within three generations, Ronance's Ways had spread to most of the Morokanth Tribe.

Morokanth chariots differ from Human chariots in several ways.  Physically, Morokanth race- and battle-chariots are low-walled platforms, where Morokanth ride either seated (rump-planted, forelegs braced) or recumbent (freeing the forelegs):  This is because Morokanth aren't quite as bipedally-stable as "native" two-legged people, and are prone to falling over in a "regular" chariot.  Morokanth sometimes adopt an upright/bipedal chariot, adding straps or braces to lean against.

Herd-men must be specially-trained by a Beast Master, and successful charioteering (in all but the simplest circumstances) also requires EITHER (i) the driver is also a Beast Master, OR (ii) the Herd Men have a team leader who is either an intelligent slave, or an Awakened Herd-Man -- either way, also with special training/skills as a chariot-team leader.

Magically, the use of Mobility is of course ubiquitous!  Morokanth often use Rune Magic -- akin to the magic used to make armor strong and light -- to improve the materials available in the Wastes.  Additionally, they often enchant their chariots -- with spells of Ronance's teaching -- so that moving chariots become lighter-still.  This prevents further damage to the delicate Wastes, and allows the Gerns pulling even a heavy chariot to move as quickly as if they weren't pulling anything.

There are persistent, but unconfirmed, rumors that some Morokanth actually have chariots that can fly, herd-men and all!  Some of the Morokanth charioteers also claim that their Ronance-blessed chariots are enacting a mighty spell, re-knitting the Wastes year after year, and will eventually allow the land to grow green again (few humans believe either tale to be anything other than grandiose bragging and/or Morokanth propaganda).

The other major adaptation the Morokanth have done is to their Herd Men.  By capturing Agimori and breeding their lines into their own Herds, and by diligent prayer, POW-sacrifice (to Waha, to Ronance, and to Eiritha), and by heroquesting, the Morokanth have managed to adapt their Herds into taller, longer-legged and faster Beasts than regular two-legs, though not quite as large and fast as full-blooded Agimori.  A regular human slave, enchanted with the "Alter Creature" rune-spell, becomes a Herd-Beast and begins to grow:  after a year, they have generally become over a foot taller (mostly in the legs) and gained 2d4 of STR and CON, and can run almost as fast as a Bison or a Zebra!

===

NB -- in the very first "Borderlands" adventure, the Morokanth had captured some Agimori and were going to Alter Creature them.  The PC's negotiation of the situation was significant for later adventures/encounters, but apparently nobody (not the Morokanth, not the Agimori, not the Duke's people) doubted that Alter Creature would affect the Agimori.  Note that an unscrupulous (but daring!) Morokanth Herd-Breeder might capture an Agimori, use Alter Creature on him, breed him to a female in the Herd, then return him to Agimori lands, using Alter Creature again at the very end to make him an Agimori again!  Add in a bit of "Sleep" and "Befuddle" and/or some drugs, and the Agimori "stud" in question would never know what had happened...

 

[Noita]

I like the re making of the Green aspect of the chariots. 

[MOB]

3 hours ago, g33k said:

Morokanth chariots differ from Human chariots in several ways.  Physically, Morokanth race- and battle-chariots are low-walled platforms, where Morokanth ride either seated (rump-planted, forelegs braced) or recumbent (freeing the forelegs):  This is because Morokanth aren't quite as bipedally-stable as "native" two-legged people, and are prone to falling over in a "regular" chariot.  Morokanth sometimes adopt an upright/bipedal chariot, adding straps or braces to lean against.

Herd-men must be specially-trained by a Beast Master, and successful charioteering (in all but the simplest circumstances) also requires EITHER (i) the driver is also a Beast Master, OR (ii) the Herd Men have a team leader who is either an intelligent slave, or an Awakened Herd-Man -- either way, also with special training/skills as a chariot-team leader.

I am somehow reminded of the wagons of first-ever railway built in Australia, which was human-powered: the convict tramway built in 1836 at the penal settlement at Port Arthur in Tasmania. Rather than have a team pulling at the front, the convicts were able to use their arms and shoulders strength to push the wagons along using spars sticking out from the sides:

 

[David Scott]

5 hours ago, MOB said:

I am somehow reminded of the wagons of first-ever railway built in Australia, which was human-powered: the convict tramway built in 1836 at the penal settlement at Port Arthur in Tasmania. Rather than have a team pulling at the front, the convicts were able to use their arms and shoulders strength to push the wagons along using spars sticking out from the sides:

 

This is exactly how I imagine Egajia Chewer of Flesh (most respected elder at the Paps) being carted around (she's pretty old as well). No rails of course, and more herdmen. Ronance is a spirit of the Paps, and he does lend his chariot out sometimes. Why shouldn't the most powerful woman in the Wastes benefit. Clearly other Morokanth are emulating this, racing around with their Eirtha priestesses, trying to out do their neighbours. This is clearly the basis of a MOB MGF scenario.

[Noita]

Yes. Chariot races but involing scores of herdmen, not several uber gern, pushing and pulling. A mad scrum especially when turning corners.

On holy days/heroquests real giant snakes pull them.

At Hoofcrack it is the myth of when Ronance ran over Malia or "The Green Age Code."

[David Scott]

6 hours ago, Iskallor said:

The Green Age Code

Very funny...