From: gharris@jade.tufts.edu (George W. Harris)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: RQ: Chalana Array Cult (Possible River of Cradles spoilers)
Date: 26 Jan 93 18:47:37 GMT
Organization: Tufts University - Medford, MA

In article <1993Jan25.202201.2546@mercury.unt.edu> cpearce@nemesis.acs.unt.edu writes:
>Loren found it strange that Andra, River of Cradle's Arroyan healer,
>had Quarterstaff Attack skill and stated that he thought that Arroyan
>healers were geased not to learn weapon skills.
>
>Well, from what I've read about them, Arroyan healers aren't magically
>restricted from learning weapons skills. Rather, the restriction is part
>of a strict code of ethics that cult members must follow. Members who
>break cult vows can never become priests, but otherwise, suffer no 
>punishment.
>
>However, I think that the manner in which the cult is presented in the
>sourcebooks is almost too passive. I see strong parallels between the
>Cult of Chalana Arroy and that of Buddhist monks (at least how they are
>portrayed in popular literature).
>
>	<interesting example involving Buddhism deleted.>
>
>In this respect, I think the idea of Chalana Arroy's complete avoidance
>of weapons is suspect. Even though her priests wield the influence that
>Buddhist monks did, her cult advocates complete avoidance of all combat
>and violence and taking of life. I think, perhaps, this attitude is not
>completely realistic in the violent world of Glorantha.

	Well, it would certainly prevent Chalana Arroy from becoming a ruling
cult.  But, CA doesn't want to become a ruling cult, so it's not a problem.

>Even in the River of Cradles supplement, situations arise where violence
>seems to be the only out. For example, in Korfluut, the Lunar blacksmith
>rapes a fisher folk's 13-year-old daughter. However, the garrison is
>not likely to listen to the fisher folk's pleas for justice.
>
>In this case, most of the party was trying to figure out how to murder the
>man, but Naiya, my healer, was in a moral dilemma. How does the Cult
>of Chalana Arroy view the punishment of criminals? Punishment by its
>nature involves inflicting pain, which is at odds with the strictures of
>Chalana Arroy. And, in this case, where justice was not likely to be
>served through the proper channels, should the wronged parties be able to
>take justice into their own hands.

	While Chalana Arroy prohibits members of the cult from using violence,
it does not shun non-members who use violence.  Although a CA priestess would
prefer that her Storm Khan friend refrain from slaughtering Walktapi, she would
not try to convince him to do otherwise.  His realm is warfare, hers healing.

>Monk Takuan seemed willing to punish others. Miyamoto Musashi, who was
>a hunted man, killed many soldiers. When Monk Takuan captured Musashi,
>he hung Musashi from a great cedar tree. Exposed to the elements and
>taunts by the villagers, Musashi certainly experienced pain. Takuan
>inflicted physical pain in order that Musashi might grow spiritually,
>so was his infliction of pain justified? Would such an infliction of
>pain be justified by the cult of Chalana Arroy?
>
>In our case, I had Naiya go scold the blacksmith personally, in a somewhat
>risky personal venture to the garrison. By some miracle, the GM rolled
>a critical success on Naiya's Oratory roll, and she shamed the blacksmith
>into making reparations to the wrong man and her daughter. (He gave the
>man an iron sword, which the man planned to save as his daughter's future
>tuition/enrollment gift into the cult of Chalana Arroy!) But had her
>appeal failed, what recourse would Naiya have had?

	Her course of action would be to heal any wounds the man and his 
daughter may have suffered, and comfort them in any way she can.  The mission
of Chalana Arroy is not to seek justice, at least not primarily.  If justice
can be found without violence, that is good, but if it cannot, CA will see
justice fail before resorting to violence.

>Also, in the river of Cradles, the river Zola Fel and its inhabitants
>are threated by attacks by the Gorp. Though Gorp are creatures of Chaos,
>creatures of Chaos are not beyond appeal, as the Wild Healer (who is
>a broo) attests. The Gorp are mindless devourers, though they feel pain.
>Is it therefore justified to slay them out of hand because they do more
>damage to others? Naiya herself is forbidden to kill *any* living thing,
>but are these mindless devourers exempt? If the whole world followed
>Chalanna Arroy's precepts, wouldn't it be overrun with Gorp? (BTW,
>Naiya picked up a point of CLub skill by hitting a small gorp with a
>torch. Perhaps Andra gained her weapons skills through *experience* rather
>than training. Her parry is very high, while her attack is low.)

	It is *not* justified for Naiya to slay them.  It is her duty not to
protect the world from Chaos, but to heal the wounds that Chaos causes.  She
also should recognize that there *are* those whose duty is to protect the 
world from Chaos, and while their methods will likely be distasteful to her,
she should nevertheless tolerate them.  If the whole world followed CA's pre-
cepts, Gorp would overrun the world, true, but it is not CA's goal to have
everyone follow her precepts.  So, Naiya should not have struck that Gorp.
To do so was a severe violation of her cult vows, and she should seek advice
from a High Healer on what she should do.

	Remember that CA's are forbidden from violence even if they are 
attacked directly.  This is not so dangerous as it seems, because anyone 
attacking a CA initiate will be banned forever from being healed by the cult.

>Also, in River of Cradles, our group killed a broo band out of hand. The
>broo band had kidnapped a farmer's two small children. One was ripped apart
>and the other impregnated. Could Naiya countenance such outright killing
>because of the crimes committed? Was the fact that the criminals were
>disease-infested Chaos creatures enough to justify their slaughter? The
>Wild Healer proves that not all broo are mindless bloodthirsty killers...

	Again, she wouldn't so it herself, but neither would she stop others
from doing it.  It's all a matter of one's particular duty...

>Chris Pearce, cpearce@nemesis.acs.unt.edu
--
gharris@jade.tufts.edu          
George W. Harris              	"He'd kill us if he had the chance."  
Dept. of Mathematics            
Tufts University              			The Conversation  
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