[Glorantha] Re: Initiation for heortling women

[Jane Williams]

--- LC <lc at lightcastle.net> wrote:

> Not surprisingly, I agree with Jane on this.

Thank you :)


> >Everyone gets to experience
> > being alone against an overwhelming enemy, and
> what
> > they have to do is whatever they can to resist,
> even
> > when all is obviously lost and there is no one
> there to help or support them. 
> 
> And there, my friends, is your initiation. Every
> Heortiling knows they are 
> going to get to that point. Every Heortling then has
> to face it in reality, 
> in the Other World,  in a way they didn't actually
> expect. And when you can 
> do THAT, you are an adult, and a Heortling.

There's an element of "accept responsibility for your
own actions, correct your own mistakes", too, to
qualify as an adult. But yes.


Donald:
> > We need to find the parallel myth, the heroines
> and what they did.
> > Not push them into roles which they are
> fundamentally unsuited for.

Well, yes, but I still say what they did was IFWW.
Because it's a fundamental part of Heortling culture.

> I think you are too hung up on the word "Fought" and
> thinking it is simply a 
> battle. I've never viewed IFWW that way.

Nor me. I ran my players through IFWW as part of their
initiation, way way back before HW was thought of. In
fact my female PC had Vingan tendencies, but I know
how I'd have handled it for any non-combat oriented
PC.

My version of the quest took them (via a few others
stations) to Hengall (Second Son)'s stead, and after
he's given them some general good advice, it gets
pointed out to them that the stead is subject to
attack by Chaos/PreDark every night. The form of this
attack is unspecified and highly variable (of
course!). 

There's a central building which is nice and sturdy
with a nice strong door, the rest of the stead (pretty
beaten up) is what they end up defending. What they
got from me was a gap in the palisade each, and some
waves of low-level chaos each, tailored to fit each
PC's aspirations. If I'd had a healer, I'd have sent
disease spirits: if I'd had a pure Ernaldan, I might
have had waves of dirt and a need to keep the place
clean, or perhaps a need to keep providing food or
water.

In each case, their ability to see the others in the
party gradually decreases. There's a critical point
where they can see their own opponents, they can see a
nice sturdy door to retreat to, and they know they
can't win. They have to make a decision to fight on
anyway. To quote my scenario notes at the time:

"take the player aside and point out to them the
chances of their surviving this fight, and the nice
sturdy door in the hut, which they could shut behind
them. Possibly point out that running for the door
would let Chaos inside the palisade, and their friends
would then be getting attacked from behind. We hope
that they will make the right decision: to fight on.
If they do in fact run for the hut, no-one else will
ever know, and they will be safe there. Forever. With
the rest of the universe vanished. Time to roll up a
new character... "

That's the critical point, and what they're doing to
resist Chaos really doesn't matter. I could probably
justify them using an Embroidery skill if I put my
mind to it.

And to continue the scenario notes, just out of
interest:

"The stead behind them fades into Nothingness.
Everything but the latest opponent and the ground
around them fades into Nothingness. And they're going
to lose the fight. Carry it through, right up to the
point of declaring them dying, describe the pain,
their senses fading as they fall to the ground. For
the entire party. Yes, really. 
  
"OK, I'm not really trying to wipe out all the PCs.
Delay the next bit of description until they're all
"dead". What happens, as they fall dying, is that the
Light returns. They held out against the enemy for
just long enough. Their wounds vanish, and instead of
darkness and mud, they're lying on grass and flowers,
in full sunlight. Real sun, not just the sky dome.
Yelm is back. It's Sea Season: Spring. And they're
back in front of their own stead, back in the mundane
world. Time for a feast to celebrate!" 



	
	
		
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