Best of Greyhawk VII - Le Monde de Greyhawk

of the same. He imbues each life with the strength to carry on, and then tests that strength throughout the being'slife, so that his people do not grow complacent. Kord will not help you best your enemies. He might, however, putyou in your place if you get too powerful and forget humility. The best way to please Kord is to show him how youmake good use of your strength and your survival skills, even if that means at the expense of others. The barbariansraid constantly, and many of their ships carry priests of Kord, who bear witness to displays of strength andsurvivability, good generalship, good sportsmanship (as the Suel see it),and a lack of fear and cowardice.ChaosSubj: Re: Mystery Gods (Suel)(MB) Date: 95-10-03 02:22:39 ESTChaos28MB,You mentioned Bralm as being possibly external to the pantheon. I second this. The first time I gaveserious thought to this bug-goddess of industry, I pictured the Ovions from Battlestar Galactica, and later, when Iturned to playing Shadowrun, I thought that the Insect Spirits, with their amoral colonizing instinct and their entirelytask-directed styles, as perfect for servitors of Bralm. I still don't know what to make of all this, but I can't seem tomake Bralm fit into Suel culture in any reasonable and logical way.What if Bralm is some dark goddess who was taken up by slavers in early Suel society? But how does thatexplain why she has become a common goddess? Most people don't care much for bugs or buggy living, evenmerchants, who can sometimes be pretty insectile ;)ChaosSubj: Re: Mystery Gods (Suel)Date: 95-10-03 09:49:25 ESTQSamanthaKord as Crom. I never thought of that but I like the idea. Somehow, Kord has always struck me as a wimp.A huffing, puffing, muscle head. I'm not sure why but I remember that from the first I saw of him in the Dragon, I hadthis impression. Kord as Crom is a good idea and redeems Kord.QsamanthaSubj: Re: Bralm (MB)Date: 95-10-03 23:10:34 ESTChaos28MB,I got the same take as you seem to have, but I sort of drew this odd picture in my head...I saw the slaves working in the mines sneaking away to a set of caverns where the Mother awaits. They gothere for a variety of reasons at first, and many are recruited into the cult by friends and fellow slaves. Bralm drawsstrength from their numbers and promises them solace in exchange for hard work and obedience. The slavers areperhaps unaware of Bralm's presence, and she certainly protects her secrets as she protects her followers. The safetyof the hive is of supreme importance, and that overrides individual wellbeing when it must.This makes for a cute little puzzle. Bralm is not evil, but order and the completion of tasks, the protection ofthe hive and its secret, are of paramount importance. If necessary, the hive will sacrifice its own to keep its secrets,like human ants. How much of this behavior is brainwashing, and how much is honest devotion? At what pointdoes this line blur? And what are Bralm's followers doing now?Here's my take... Bralm's followers are the ones who carved the Lost Passage through the Hellfurnaces.Bralm recognized that her hive could not survive in the homelands it inhabited, and it was getting crowded in thetunnels as guards, overseers, and even slave lords became hive members. Bralm's people moved out into the worldwith the rest of the migration, and now they are everywhere. The Common aspect of Bralm is not due to a generalacceptance of her worship by the urbane, but simply due to the fact that her hivelings are everywhere, in just aboutevery civilized city.There is no dark, evil plan in Bralm's mind. She is the Hive Mother and she just wants her drones to get onwith business as usual. The business of expanding and ordering the Hive is the only business. Nothing inherentlyEvil about wanting to expand your base of followers. But to a parent who has lost a child to this cult, or to amerchant whose competitor seems *too* connected to compete with, Bralm has sinister implications. This is a cultwhose Neutrality does not stand in the way of making it a terrific villain. Part of the fun might be when the PCs try toget a friend or ally away from the cult without killing any of the people in the cult. since there is no outre evil goingon here.Subj: Re: Bralm (Chaos)Date: 95-10-03 11:10:11 EST