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Aldryami Babester gori


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33 minutes ago, Manu said:

Does that mean that we have Aldryami with Axes???

Presumably yes.  Could be formed in/from special Vengeance trees.  Could be made from Copperbark trees.  Could be something else.  But I'm sure the Babeester Gor initiates interpret their oaths to protect the earth as including the plants growing from the earth.

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Yes, the Axe was an earth weapon before Zorak Zoran used it to cut down Flamal, so some Elves could use them, especially if they foreswear fertility.

 

Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

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3 hours ago, Manu said:

Does that mean that we have Aldryami with Axes???

Since Elder Secrets, I've always assumed they could grow axes, so Elfen adherents of BG could easily grow copper-headed ones.

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Elves _are_ gardeners, and know the benefits of pruning. Possibly even extending to their own bodies. So yes, elves have axes, and while it is easier for them to grow the wood into the desired shape than to carve it, they will have tools for cutting wood and even cutting down trees that harm the harmony of their forests (e.g. by lowering the ground water levels to the detriment of the rest of the forest, or creating a fire hazard where none would be tolerated - yes, thinking of eucalyptus here, which may have its own place in forests, but maybe shouldn't be allowed to take over other parts).

Elf Babeester will have a different focus, and I am not quite sure whether it will be regular aldryami or rootless ones remaining behind to serve their sundered kin to take these roles. Babs and Yelmalio are often named as the most popular cults outside of ancestral Aldrya.

Telling how it is excessive verbis

 

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1 hour ago, Joerg said:

Elf Babeester will have a different focus, and I am not quite sure whether it will be regular aldryami or rootless ones remaining behind to serve their sundered kin to take these roles. Babs and Yelmalio are often named as the most popular cults outside of ancestral Aldrya.

I think it's worth remembering that many species of plant are determined, aggressive internecine "predators" within their vegetable w context, preying upon and/or killing competitors for space, sun, or soil.  While anthropomorphizing plants might allow us to postulate a "general" unity of purpose for an elf wood, individually plants (and thus elves, img) are quite remorseless.

I don't at all see elves as hippy tree huggers, not even with each other.  Elves with axes make perfect sense to me.

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2 hours ago, styopa said:

I think it's worth remembering that many species of plant are determined, aggressive internecine "predators" within their vegetable w context, preying upon and/or killing competitors for space, sun, or soil.  While anthropomorphizing plants might allow us to postulate a "general" unity of purpose for an elf wood, individually plants (and thus elves, img) are quite remorseless.

I don't at all see elves as hippy tree huggers, not even with each other.  Elves with axes make perfect sense to me.

There is a certain appeal to this idea... in a large, healthy forest, the different sorts of Elves compete (sometimes quite murderously) with one another.  In the face of an outside threat to the Forest, they naturally and automatically unite against the outside foe...

 

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5 hours ago, g33k said:

There is a certain appeal to this idea... in a large, healthy forest, the different sorts of Elves compete (sometimes quite murderously) with one another.  In the face of an outside threat to the Forest, they naturally and automatically unite against the outside foe...

 

Shannon Applecline developed a whole Aldryami philosophy around this concept in his Aldryami book for Mongoose and other articles elsewhere that he could'nt include in that book. I think it's really interesting. It all develops from the Aldryami believing they started the Great Darkness with too much Growth, so after the Compromise there is a balance between Grower and Taker. And Babeester Gor would be part of the deities of the Taker.

Ups! That's not canon any longer, sorry!   :P

Edited by Runeblogger

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2 hours ago, Runeblogger said:

Shannon Applecline developed a whole Aldryami philosophy around this concept in his Aldryami book for Mongoose and other articles elsewhere that he could'nt include in that book. I think it's really interesting. It all develops from the Aldryami believing they started the Great Darkness with too much Growth, so after the Compromise there is a balance between Grower and Taker. And Babeester Gor would be part of the deities of the Taker.

Ups! That's not canon any longer, sorry!   :P

I liked that take on the elves and was sorely disappointed when I learned it wasn't canon. Same for the other Mongoose books. They were the most in-depth and comprehensive guides to the philosophies and cultures of the elder races to this day, yet they were eradicated from canon in one fell penstroke.

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  • 3 weeks later...

The vicious Aldryami wars of the First age are still very much canon (mentioned in the Guide in multiple places). Aldryami have, at least in the first age, made savage war upon each other. and I'm sure axes were a large part of that. Though Aldryami wars are also much more complex slow (compared to human wars) ecological contests, and probably magical battles too. 

Elves as military combatants are very much stronger at defence than offence, IMO. Elf forests are relatively easy to defend against most military attack, but consolidating a conquered area is relatively slow. War trees are easier to grow than to move, dryads are very powerful but cannot travel, between Plant Spys, Camouflaged scouts and runners etc Aldryami can have almost total knowledge of movements within their territory, etc. I think elf wars often consist of holding and slowly expanding territory while changing its ecology to make it hostile to the other faction (factions being organised around types of tree/forest mostly), rather than big set piece battles etc. But consolidating territory by hacking down all the trees of the foreign type is part of it. 

Of course, modern Aldryami think all this is a terribly bad idea and that they should stick together against the other races. Its also notable that the biggest Aldryami Empire in history was largely peaceful, and conquered (at least other Aldryami) by magical/political means. But elves still remember that axes are death, and are designed to be used against their own kind. 

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24 minutes ago, davecake said:

 

Of course, modern Aldryami think all this is a terribly bad idea and that they should stick together against the other races. Its also notable that the biggest Aldryami Empire in history was largely peaceful, and conquered (at least other Aldryami) by magical/political means. But elves still remember that axes are death, and are designed to be used against their own kind. 

Is the Aldryami death rune/symbol sometime like a squared-off "P" then? I suppose swords a pretty normal thing in many human cultures, even though they embody death as well (and aren't all that good for anything but killing).

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3 hours ago, davecake said:

I think elf wars often consist of holding and slowly expanding territory while changing its ecology to make it hostile to the other faction (factions being organised around types of tree/forest mostly), rather than big set piece battles etc. 

 

It's the easiest/best way to beat the hardest difficulties in Age of Empires (most versions): expand into an area, build a murderous crossfire of guard towers that make it as impossible for enemies to approach as any Somme trench line, and then develop your economy once the area is secure. 

You just have to have patience. :)

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3 hours ago, Grievous said:

Now there's an idea for a Gloranthan computer game.

There's already a delecti versus elves game: https://www.ea.com/studios/popcap/plants-vs-zombies

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