[Glorantha] Re: Storm Bull and Hsunchen

>>And, to rehash an ancient discussion with Sandy on similarities and
>>dissimilarities between Hsunchen (the original spirit practitioners) and
>>Praxians, do the Praxian ancestors (who rode on their herd beasts from
>> the
>>slopes of the Spike into Genert's Garden) and other Genert spirits have a
>>connection to the South, or the Hsunchen?

Peter Metcalfe
> IMO the Hsunchen - being native to the Shanshan -

While that is the entirely correct definition for the term Hsunchen, I meant to include also the Fiwan of Pamaltela and the Beast Folk of western Genertela (Ralios, Fronela and Seshnela). Which makes a great area of the supposedly theist Northern Quarter animists instead.

> are related to the original
> inhabitants of the Greatlands, the sons of Ragnaglar, who were displaced
> by Storm Bull.

That might rhyme somewhat with the goat-herding origins of the Hirenmadar (from southern Elder Wilds), one of the ancestral groups of the likewise animist Pentans, which I omitted from these musings (back when I discussed this with Sandy we still assumed they worshipped Yelm in a mostly theist manner, and had hardly ever seen the name Kargzant).

> Sure the Orlanthi may claim that Ragnaglar is Storm Bull's
> Brother as the Orlanthi believe but I doubt that any Praxian will admit
> that.

Nor would they admit Kolat, I suppose, and Little Brother only grudgingly. In Praxian myth, Humakt and Ragnaglar aren't easy to tell apart, either...

> There will be Storm Bully connections with some Pamaltelan Beast-types
> in Pamaltela as a relic of Desero's Horde but the native beast types
> (such as the Basmoli) will have no such kinship.

Still makes me wonder how two different kinds of beast kinship came to be.

One speculation back then was that it wasn't the beasts who became dumb, but the two-legged ones who became smart in the Covenant, or at least smarter.

The main difference between Praxian beast-kinship and Hsunchen(/Fiwan/western Beastfolk) beast-kinship is the lack of ability to turn into the totem beast, except for the Founders and Protectresses from which both two-legged and four-legged Praxians claim descent. On the other hand, we find a similar separation into two-legs and four-legs with the Galanini/Enerali of Ralios, and apparently many of the western "Hsunchen" too (e.g. the Telmori have wolf companions who don't regularly turn into humans, and the Basmoli of Seshnela and Prax similarly).

So: how did the pre-covenant ancestors of the Praxians differ from the Enerali, and how did those differ from Fiwan?

I note that both among the Fiwan and the eastern (or Shanshan) Hsunchen there are types that keep their beast-form as ordinary shape (Tanuku in Pamaltela, Sorenzoar in the Shanshan).

Oh, yeah, and then there are other animist shape-changers like Pumafolk of HeroQuest or (undefined worship-type) Boar- and Bearwalkers in RQ2 (who seem to be different from Rathori).

There seems to be a strong connection between beast-kinship and closeness to the Earthmaker/Creator/Korgatsu/Langamul/Amuron... Received on Fri 27 Oct 2006 - 13:03:05 EEST