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Why can't Trolls or Troll Friends Undo the Trollkin Curse?


EricW

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1 minute ago, soltakss said:

It just doesn't mention how he wounded Kyger Litor/Korasting. Not mentioning something isn't the same as saying he didn't have them, for me.

Nysalor is pretty much described earlier in the text and nobody's noticing any adamantine claws, otherworldly cloak etc,  Man-sized and insignificant is all that is said.  Moreover for him to be armed with those things contradicts the nature of Nysalor.  He is what he is, not what he is armed with.

1 minute ago, soltakss said:

The Trollpack version doesn't have the Devourer being made up of thousands of trolls, from memory, it doesn't mean that it wasn't the case, just that it isn't mentioned.

The trollpak version is written nearly three centuries later and is thought to be an eye-witness account.  Moreover it does not describe the events of the Battle of Night and Day but the spiritual battles when the curse was sent, something far more ambiguous.

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3 minutes ago, metcalph said:

Nysalor is pretty much described earlier in the text and nobody's noticing any adamantine claws, otherworldly cloak etc,  Man-sized and insignificant is all that is said.  Moreover for him to be armed with those things contradicts the nature of Nysalor.  He is what he is, not what he is armed with.

So either he was never what he appeared to be and the devouring stripped his outer shell - or perhaps what was devoured could not be Nysalor, but turned out to be Gbaji...

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Just now, Grievous said:

So either he was never what he appeared to be and the devouring stripped his outer shell - or perhaps what was devoured could not be Nysalor, but turned out to be Gbaji...

Was Nysalor Gbaji at the time?  That seems to me a rather cynical view on what is described as a Cosmic-changing event.  It's like saying that Jesus gave into the Devil in his sojourn in the desert - it just doesn't feel right.  

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5 minutes ago, metcalph said:

It's like saying that Jesus gave into the Devil in his sojourn in the desert - it just doesn't feel right.  

But the way you put it certainly feels like Gbaji.

Was Nysalor always Gbaji? Heck if I know! The undevourable devoured does sound like Gbaji to the trolls, though. 👺

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1 minute ago, Grievous said:

But the way you put it certainly feels like Gbaji.

Was Nysalor always Gbaji? Heck if I know! The undevourable devoured does sound like Gbaji to the trolls, though. 👺

If you think that Nysalor was Gbaji at the Battle of Night and Day then you have pretty much said that Nysalor is Gbaji in everything that he does, which is an awfully dogmatic position to take on the whole affair.

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2 hours ago, metcalph said:

Was Nysalor Gbaji at the time?  That seems to me a rather cynical view on what is described as a Cosmic-changing event.  It's like saying that Jesus gave into the Devil in his sojourn in the desert - it just doesn't feel right.  

I think it depends on whether you belong to the Bright Empire, or whether you are opposed to it.

IMO Gbaji is something like the barrier or event horizon between Nysalor and Arkat. If you are allied with/aligned to Nysalor, you will look outward and perceive Gbaji. If you are opposed to Nysalor, looking at him you will perceive Gbaji.

The Red Goddess sort of re-awakened Gbaji and/or Nysalor on her quest. After her ascension, the event horizon was the edge of the Silver Shadow, later expanded as the Glowline, and removed from the avatars of the two sides of illumination.

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Telling how it is excessive verbis

 

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The discrepancy between Trollpak and tHotHP Sounds a bit like the Biblical Gospels covering the same events slightly differently, but among the 4 canonical ones, there's generally room for the mentioned events in one to fit in with the mentioned events of another. Not that outright contradictions are alien to either Glorantha nor the Bible, however.

On the topic of Gbaji, Nysalor, Arkat - I was always of the impression that this was very much one of the "unsolved" cases of Glorantha - its answer would depend on the cultural viewpoint of characters.

Edited by Sir_Godspeed
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1 hour ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

The discrepancy between Trollpak and tHotHP Sounds a bit like the Biblical Gospels covering the same events slightly differently, but among the 4 canonical ones, there's generally room for the mentioned events in one to fit in with the mentioned events of another. Not that outright contradictions are alien to either Glorantha nor the Bible, however.

That seems like a long way of saying, YGMV... <gr>

cheers

... remember, with a TARDIS, one is never late for breakfast!

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  • 2 weeks later...

So, one way to possibly remove the curse - HQ to the event, after smashing his body, rip off the arms or chew off the claws - then swallow. See what happens afterwards! (No need for an "arming"... more like a "dis-arming" :D:D:D )

Haven't people from Argan Argar gone to their wonderful wife and asked her for a few Bless Pregnancy spells, or Reproduce? Sure, won't cure the entire curse, but should certainly be enough for each individual pregnancy/mating.

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1 hour ago, Shiningbrow said:

Haven't people from Argan Argar gone to their wonderful wife and asked her for a few Bless Pregnancy spells, or Reproduce? Sure, won't cure the entire curse, but should certainly be enough for each individual pregnancy/mating.

You'd get some really good Value Trollkin that way.

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

www.soltakss.com/index.html

Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here

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1 hour ago, Shiningbrow said:

So, one way to possibly remove the curse - HQ to the event, after smashing his body, rip off the arms or chew off the claws - then swallow. See what happens afterwards! (No need for an "arming"... more like a "dis-arming" :D:D:D )

Getting the Black Eater to waste the crunchier bits of a snack could be a harder heroquest than to counteract D'Wargon the Womb Biter...

 

10 minutes ago, soltakss said:

You'd get some really good Value Trollkin that way.

The difference between a superior or value trollkin and a food trollkin is uppity. Such blessed births might result in the likes of Neep or the Neepspawn, who definitely don't fit in as values in troll society.

Telling how it is excessive verbis

 

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I was thinking to describe a special troll cult to a "Dark stallion" or"Dark seed" hero, reputed for always fathering proper dark Trolls instead of Trollkins. Obviously the object of intense rivalry between competing Kyger Litor high priestess! Is there anything like that already in existing publications?

Edited by Minlister
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5 hours ago, Minlister said:

I was thinking to describe a special troll cult to a "Dark stallion" or"Dark seed" hero, reputed for always fathering proper dark Trolls instead of Trollkins. Obviously the object of intense rivalry between competing Kyger Litor high priestess! Is there anything like that already in existing publications?

I don't recall anything - You could be the first!

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

www.soltakss.com/index.html

Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here

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5 hours ago, Minlister said:

I was thinking to describe a special troll cult to a "Dark stallion" or"Dark seed" hero, reputed for always fathering proper dark Trolls instead of Trollkins. Obviously the object of intense rivalry between competing Kyger Litor high priestess! Is there anything like that already in existing publications?

No, doesn't ring a bell. You get the credit when you write that one up, I'm thinking.

... remember, with a TARDIS, one is never late for breakfast!

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23 minutes ago, Minlister said:

Thanks! I will try to write it then! Let's hope I don't end up with a Trollkin of a text!

For improved odds of writing a healthy puppy of a script as opposed to the less desirable Trollkin of a text, one could always start with rituals, meditation, a good bowel movement never hoits.

:)

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... remember, with a TARDIS, one is never late for breakfast!

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On 6/22/2019 at 4:38 AM, Minlister said:

I was thinking to describe a special troll cult to a "Dark stallion" or"Dark seed" hero, reputed for always fathering proper dark Trolls instead of Trollkins. Obviously the object of intense rivalry between competing Kyger Litor high priestess! Is there anything like that already in existing publications?

One thing to keep in mind is that while trolls are aware that men are involved in the child-making process as a general principal, they don't generally acknowledge them as parents. Women are under no obligation to keep track of their sexual partners, much less assign a pregnancy to any particular one of them. Women who are fond enough of a single partner to remain monogamous enough to be fairly certain of a father will typically be extremely loathe to share him around with others.

The upshot being that it would be rather difficult for a male uz with such an ability to become aware of it, much less develop a reputation for such prowess. And if he did, the first thing any priestess would do is make sure to keep him to herself and ensure that no-one else found out. After all, you can't have a proper matriarchy, if you let mere men take credit for truly important things like producing healthy children. The very idea! Everyone knows that it is the Mother that matters. Never mind Krogoth there, he's been quite naughty, and isn't allowed to go hunting or play with the militia until I say so.

Not to be a complete wet blanket though, the idea would work spectacularly as a men's Secret Society. A secretive confidence-man/priest selling "little blue (moon) pills", or teaching "Arkat's Secret Love-Chant" to gullible rubes / aspiring favorites. You could likely plot a fair series of adventures around a male troll with this ability trying to keep it secret so as NOT to get stuck for the rest of his life in some priestess's harem.

of course Gloranthas Will Vary, and need not all have their Uz as oppressively matriarchal as I consider them to be.

also, IIRC, Arkat is credited with fathering several Uzuz (who may have been "adopted" companions), and I believe I recall a troll hero (Varzor Kitor?) credited with both siring and giving birth to Uz.

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On 6/22/2019 at 4:38 AM, Minlister said:

I was thinking to describe a special troll cult to a "Dark stallion" or"Dark seed" hero, reputed for always fathering proper dark Trolls instead of Trollkins. Obviously the object of intense rivalry between competing Kyger Litor high priestess! Is there anything like that already in existing publications?

Becoming a "Dark Stallion" hero was pretty the life goal of my Kaarg Son PC, Korgo. Every heroquest he went on, that's what he was looking for. He did sire a dark troll right after his I Fought We Won quest, so maybe he was getting close before that particular campaign ended when the GM joined the Air Force.

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^Korgo also bought every convincing fertility potion/charm/incantation he came across in his side gig as an Argan Argar merchant. But gods help you if he thought he was getting ripped off. Luckily for most grifters he met, he wasn't the smartest troll...

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1 hour ago, Minlister said:

@boztakang

Thank for all that! I entirely agree and that's all the challenge to make it interesting!

I think Korgo will definitely be the secret cult name of the Dark Stallion!!

 

Why "stallion"?

That's a disgusting horsey Yelmic thing!!! 

Shouldn't it be the name for a male beetle ? (And I'm sure on this forum there's at least one person who will know 😛 )

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