Elves. Tell me stuff.

[Noita]

How do Aldryami communicate and if different from humans, can humans learn to do the same?

Tell me what you know of those that live in the Big Rubble. Please.

[Robin "RoM" Mitra]

Have you checked the Guide to Glorantha, page 65?

It basically says they speak Aldryami wich is a weired language not related to any other language in the world. Elves prefer not to use their native tongue in conversations with outsiders.

I believe the latter is the main reason it is so hard to learn Aldryami: you hardly find a teacher.

Besides that in my Glorantha Aldryami sounds like leaves in the wind and the growth of trees - nothing human anatomy is made for. YGWV.

[David Scott]

@MOB can probably fill you in on a bit more than I can. The Yelmalions interact more with the Garden elves than the nomads likely do. Although there must be some nomad contact as there are about 300 Aldrya initiates and 3 priestesses scattered throughout the tribes and at the Paps.

[Noita]

Why would you worship Aldryami if a Praxian nomad?

[Byll]

3 minutes ago, Iskallor said:

Why would you worship Aldryami if a Praxian nomad?

To make your Mum and Dad crazy...

Edited June 13, 2016 by Byll

[Noita]

3 minutes ago, Byll said:

To make your Mum and Dad crazy...

Go on now go
Walk out the yurt
Just turn around now
'Cause you're not welcome anymore
Weren't you the one who tried to break me with Storm Bull
Did you think I'd crumble?
Did you think I'd let you worship Aldryami?
Oh no, not I

 

[Tindalos]

My view of the Pavic elves is that they were part of Pavis' attempts to recreate the Green Age.

As such, their founders included elves from all across Genertela, and even some from across the ocean. Green, Yellow, and Brown elves all cooperate for the good of Aldrya.

The Green Temple was what helped maintain their existence. This building was built of shining crystal which focused the power of Yelmalio, nurturing a Great Tree within. Inside are plants from every place imaginable, even some which should be extinct. The Elves no longer let any approach the Temple, but during the second age, it was a pilgrimage site for many agricultural cults.

[Byll]

41 minutes ago, Iskallor said:

Why would you worship Aldryami if a Praxian nomad?

In all honesty this is a tough question. Aldrya's followers (elves in particular) want to maintain or reestablish their traditional forests. Animal nomads use Oakfed to keep the forests at bay and maintain an open chaparral / prairie for their herds.

There's the old bit in Varosh's travels about the 'Flower Bison' where the high status women are given a Brolian narl-flower which never fades if sung over each Godsday. They still have them a year later when he meets them again, and they have been approached by some elves near Adari and are running an underground droveway smuggling elves captured by the Lunars back to the forests in return for Praxian herd-beast tails that the elves obtain. 

So there's always 'ritual' to fall back on. Alternatively a clan might want a specialist to locate/'cultivate' medicinal plants on their travels (though these might be easier to get from Oasis people).

Edited June 13, 2016 by Byll

[scott-martin]

1 hour ago, Iskallor said:

Why would you worship Aldryami if a Praxian nomad?

Different healing magic, access to legendary "power plants," stubborn karmic attraction to the mysteries of Grower. She's recognized in the Paps complex so mom at least won't mind. Dad might have trouble unless we're a Light clan anyway, in which case I might represent a form of upward spiritual mobility.

[10baseT]

4 hours ago, Iskallor said:

 

How do Aldryami communicate and if different from humans, can humans learn to do the same?

 

They communicate among themselves with the song and life sense, empathically with each other and the forest (trees, runners, dryads, etc)... so all know what is happening. Word can spread about invaders this way, call a council meeting or, what part of the forest needs tending or pruning. There is a difference between the two, and i think life sense permeates thru the trees. While the song is between all aldryami, like a hive mind i guess, and it lends to better use of life sense. Anyway, 'A Guide to the Aldryami' has great info on it and i think you may still be able to get it for $1. (Actually, anything written by Shannon Appelcline is very informational...i wish Oak and Thorn would be released).

I would say humans cannot learn it. But the aldryami dont use life sense/the song with outsiders... probably speak the local tongue.

[David Scott]

2 hours ago, Iskallor said:

Why would you worship Aldryami if a Praxian nomad?

It's in the nature of the land. Cults of Prax tells us that the Paps are all that remains of a great earth temple. Now the complex supports only a few goddesses compared with it's previous age. Aldrya was one of those goddesses, her presence is still there, slough tiny. There are plants in the Wastelands, that need help to live in its now fragile ecology. Aldrya supports that. As an echo of the past, some nomads are born strong in the Plant Rune, worshipping Aldrya is a natural extension of that.

1 hour ago, Byll said:

In all honesty this is a tough question. Aldrya's followers (elves in particular) want to maintain or reestablish their traditional forests. Animal nomads use Oakfed to keep the forests at bay and maintain an open chaparral / prairie for their herds.

There's no way forests can grow in the Wastes, even with Aldrya's help. Tada's Loincloth has been missing since the Dawn, the fertility of the land has gone, and hasn't been replaced. Oakfed helped destroy the forests, but isn't allowed to burn them anymore, Waha sees to that. The plants need all the help they can get, what's there can be maintained, but not expanded.

Aldrya in the Wastes is very different to what the elves have:

Quote

(Plant) Aldrya. The goddess of vegetation lives at the Paps with her sister and mother. Her followers form a small spirit society with a shaman path. A single shaman or priestesses heads it. Since the destruction of Genert's Garden, Aldrya's power in the Wastelands extremely limited. The scope of her charms and runes are much reduced. Only those with the plant rune may use her magics. Initiates with the plant rune may also use it for Rune Magic. This great plant spirit provides charms and Rune Magic that relate to plants. A very incomplete list of the Rune Magic  and Charms Aldrya initiates use the Plant Rune for includes: Bless (plant type), Become (plant type), Accelerate (plant type) Growth. All magics are specific to a type of plant.

Aldrya is part of the Praxian tradition, so no conflicts with any of the other tradition cults:

 

Edited June 13, 2016 by David Scott

[Mankcam]

15 hours ago, Iskallor said:

Go on now go
Walk out the yurt
Just turn around now
'Cause you're not welcome anymore
Weren't you the one who tried to break me with Storm Bull
Did you think I'd crumble?
Did you think I'd let you worship Aldryami?
Oh no, not I

 

Praxians have Khans, not Queens heh heh

Good one, very witty Iskallor!

Edited June 14, 2016 by Mankcam

[Freddie]

With muted apologies for the Questworld incursion, maybe you'd worship Aldrya as a stoner Nomad so you could sing "Food Song" over your nice secret patch of homegrown Jhope. "Greetings, fellow Wahanos. I am named Phinheas Free-Kears.".

Wonder if that technique might work with Hazia instead. Hmmm.

[TRose]

Remember Trolls worship Aldrya . She is  a great food God.

[boztakang]

On June 14, 2016 at 10:02 AM, TRose said:

Remember Trolls worship Aldrya . She is  a great food God.

While there is always some clan of miscreants somewhere doing just about any old silly thing, I doubt this is common.

Though trolls benefit greatly from Aldraya worship, I don't see them participating except as antagonists. She IS an important food goddess, but certainly not friendly or allied. 

[Byll]

On 13 June 2016 at 3:28 PM, Iskallor said:

Tell me what you know of those that live in the Big Rubble. Please.

Yelmalio worshipers are sometimes invited into The Garden, but there is no known method of soliciting such an invitation. There is an elf from the stinking forest in the Yelorna temple as a Wanderer initiate. Yelmalio and Yelorna Cultists talk of re-ocupying Angle Fort on Yelmalio Hill, but so far the trolls have always frustrated any attempt to establish sky cultists near their other (elvish) enemies. Trolls eradicated the Aldriami presence north of the river during the occupation.

Almost certainly non-cnonical, but in Tradetalk 8 and 9 some articles propose that the elves of the Garden are on good terms with the Mani clan (whose fort on Mani's Hill used to be called Earth Fort). Mani and Pavis both recognised a means to access the Green Age of Genert's Garden from Robcradle/Paragua/Pavis and Pavis retrieved some Green Age specimens which he sent to the Aldriami at Torch, prompting them to colonise The Garden quarter of the city. There is a redwood Elf?/Dryad? still in the Garden that was alive during the colonisation and awaits another visit from Pavis's masked messenger (possibly one of his actual daughters). Following Pavis's withdrawal to the doorless room, the elves considered that the Flintnail dwarves had become pre-eminent in Pavis's cult). 

The trade talk PDFs are available at DriveThruRPG.

[Roko Joko]

I'll answer without having read the Mongoose elf book, although I bet it's very good.

Races made from the man rune are supposed to be like humans even if they have alien qualities, so I think Aldryami have a language that uses mostly spoken communication and that humans can learn pretty well.

They also have the Song of Aldrya that I'd describe as "like Twitter, but with real birds".  Actually I think it's a combination of animal and plant sounds, wind, and telepathy.  I think humans can learn it up to a low level of proficiency.  Forest hunter-gatherers in particular are going to be good at interpreting the sound of the forest.  Humans probably can't pick up detailed messages or send them into the group mind without magic from Aldrya.

[MOB]

52 minutes ago, Roko Joko said:

They also have the Song of Aldrya that I'd describe as "like Twitter, but with real birds".  Actually I think it's a combination of animal and plant sounds, wind, and telepathy.  I think humans can learn it up to a low level of proficiency.  Forest hunter-gatherers in particular are going to be good at interpreting the sound of the forest.  Humans probably can't pick up detailed messages or send them into the group mind without magic from Aldrya.

"Twitter, but with real birds". I like that!

[Byll]

There is also Encounter 10 in PGtA in which a party of Aldryami from the Pavis Garden travel to Sun County where they are allowed by treaty dating back to Arrowsmith times to worship Halamalao, though their visit unnerves and disturbs the Light Priests 

[Kim]

" How do Aldryami communicate and if different from humans, can humans learn to do the same?"

They communicate by the expression and reception of phylologomenes, a substance that cannot be detected, let alone interpreted, by meat and rock things. No, humans can't learn anything about them. Aldyrami and humans communicate by sheer shrieking pain and hate and fear at each other.

[Darius West]

I have always thought that Aldryami were a quiet people.  Their language like a susurrus of a breeze through leaves.  Seldom more than a whisper.  Which helps when you're ambushing trolls.

[Erol of Backford]

On 6/16/2016 at 1:12 PM, Byll said:

There is a redwood Elf?/Dryad? still in the Garden that was alive during the colonisation and awaits another visit from Pavis's masked messenger (possibly one of his actual daughters). Following Pavis's withdrawal to the doorless room, the elves considered that the Flintnail dwarves had become pre-eminent in Pavis's cult). 

Maybe the masked messenger is actually Pavis himself, come back for one last fling and when he sees the "Redwood Dryad" they get together and have a child... that's how we see our female, half elven, actual daughter of Pavis coming into being but she doesn't know it until much later who dad really is... we have her being born in 1585 and no one knows dad was Pavis besides the Redwood Dryad and she's not telling anyone.

[g33k]

(7Y necro, fwiw):

8 minutes ago, Erol of Backford said:

Maybe the masked messenger is actually Pavis himself, come back for one last fling and when he sees the "Redwood Dryad" they get together and have a child... that's how we see our female, half elven, actual daughter of Pavis coming into being but she doesn't know it until much later who dad really is... we have her being born in 1585 and no one knows dad was Pavis besides the Redwood Dryad and she's not telling anyone.

 

[mfbrandi]

10 hours ago, g33k said:

7Y necro, fwiw

Yeah, but Delecti tells me that’s fine. In fact, he has a whole bunch of threads with different prime numbers of years between posts. When the great conjunction occurs and they all receive fresh posts on the same day, it will trigger the Zombie Cicada Apocalypse.

[Erol of Backford]

13 hours ago, g33k said:

(7Y necro, fwiw):

The old posts are great for me but if its prefered to start a new post?

I am thinking in 2.5 years I've likely only been through what, 5% of the posts... All of you have had so many great exchanges since 2007, roughly 15 years of posts will take a while, for me anyway.

Have your campaigns involved the "actual" Pavis somehow interrelated to the more recent game time elves in the Garden?