A kind of Deep tthought

[Kyle Foster]

The recent discussion of the semi-divine nature of the blooded made me
think of a couple of semi deep philosophical points.
If there is a fragment of divine power in all scions should a blooded
priest follow the diety who assumed his bloodlines postion. Wouldn't
something in a say a preist of Andurias bloodline gravitate towards the
service and worship of Halyen? I don't really have an opinion on this
it just struck me as an odd concept.

My second semi deep thought is on the Lands Choice in the BoPC, are we
talking about the land having a totem spirit akin to some cultures
beliefs or are we talking a spirit in the Jungian sense of a collective
unconscience of the people who while shaped by their enviorment in turn
shape it through their will.

Well those are my to ponderings. Please remeber when you read these
that its 4:51 am so I could be a little dazaed right now.

Thnaks,
Kyle
"What's so amazing about really deep thoughts?" - Tori Amos, "Silent
All These Years"

[Mark A Vandermeulen]

On Fri, 3 Apr 1998, Kyle Foster wrote:

> If there is a fragment of divine power in all scions should a blooded
> priest follow the diety who assumed his bloodlines postion. Wouldn't
> something in a say a preist of Andurias bloodline gravitate towards the
> service and worship of Halyen? I don't really have an opinion on this
> it just struck me as an odd concept.

I've always played with a little variant of this idea, the idea that the
bloodlines have certain "tendencies" or "pulls" or "gravitas" or what have
you. So, people with Masela's bloodline are drawn to water. They tend to
be found living on shorelines of oceans, rivers and lakes more often than
you would expect based just on chance alone. They don't all become
sailors, or anything, but they feel drawn to water, they feel "right" when
they're near water. It is something that can be fought against easily
enough, but because it is something that is always there, at the back of
your mind, it is often easiest just to give in to it if you can. In the
same way, people with Brenna's bloodline tend to see things in economic
terms (or in terms of luck/fate), people with Basaia's bloodline tend to
intellectualize things and see things in black-and-white terms, people
with Anduiras's bloodline tend to take their personal honor very
seriously, people with Renir's bloodline tend to be drawn to wild places,
people with Voryn's bloodline tend to be loners and secretive, and, of
course, people with Azrai's blood are drawn to evil. Not that they are
necesarily evil, but that there is something within them that is
continually urging them on, telling them how much easier it would be to
just kill this person and get on with it, encouraging them to take the
selfish viewpoint. Again it can be fought against, but it is always there.

> My second semi deep thought is on the Lands Choice in the BoPC, are we
> talking about the land having a totem spirit akin to some cultures
> beliefs or are we talking a spirit in the Jungian sense of a collective
> unconscience of the people who while shaped by their enviorment in turn
> shape it through their will.

Personally, I think you got it exactly right. The land did absorb some of
the "godstuff" at Deismaar, and that gave it a spirit, but it is a spirit
that is shapeless and formless (i.e. has all the personality of your
average handful of dirt). However, that spirit is shaped and formed by the
collective unconscious of the people who live on that land, it is the
power that gives a personality to the spirit of the land. To illistrate,
remember the savage tribe of halflings that lives in the Maze of Maalvar
in the Khinasi lands. The CotS book says that they "worship" spirits of
the earth, air, and water, following a local druid WHO DOES NOT WORSHIP
ERIC. But who still gains spells. Personally, my theory is that the
halflings' collective unconscious has whipped up the land's spirit into a
sort of demigod. Which brings up an interesting idea for a high-level
divination spell: Summon Land's Spirit. The spell would distill the
"personality" of a land's spirit into a localized form which can be
conversed with. The Spirit can't answer specific questions, but knows
intimately the attitudes and loyalties of the people, and may be able to
make fairly accurate projections of such things into the future. ("I see
the people of the nation turning against the duplicity of Guilder Kalien.
The time is ripe for his rivals to act against him.") It may also be able
to give warning about random events in the future ("I foresee a Great
Captain rising in the East." "The Heresy of St. Naelyn will gain suporters
among the disposessed.") Hmm. Maybe I'll write this spell up and submit it
to the netbook. Any comments anyone?

Mark VanderMeulen
vander+@pitt.edu