From: <cpearce@nemesis.acs.unt.edu> (Chris Pearce)
Subject: RQ: Chalana Array Cult (Possible River of Cradles spoilers)
Organization: University of North Texas
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 20:22:01 GMT

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).

Buddhist monks also share a creed of non-violence and are vegetarians.
In China's past, they also knew the arts of medicine. And they were
spiritual leaders of their community. However, as Monk Takuan (from
Miyamoto Musashi) demonstrates, they were not necessarily passive.
As religious leaders, they were often acquainted with political leaders
of their time, and could indirectly wield great influence. Also, as
spiritual leaders, their advice was often sought by members of the
spiritual community (an aside, I don't think that most PCs do a very
good job of deferring to the advice of priests in FRPs -- esp.
player character priests, who are often just a convenient source of
healing magic. Yick.)

But, it seems, Buddhist monks realized that there were times when
violence was unavoidable. Generally, violence seems only to have been
acceptable as a self-defense mechanism, and that minimum force was always
to be applied. Buddhist monks developed the techniques of kung fu, which
was apparently quite an effective means of self-defense.

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.

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.

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?

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.)

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...

Oh well, this posting went *WAY* long, but I've found that Naiya is an
interesting character to play. Somehow, I think that the precepts of
Chalanna Arroy are a little flawed (hmm, is this the sort of thing
a Heroquest fixes? :) ) and look forward to anyone's comments about them.
--
Chris Pearce, cpearce@nemesis.acs.unt.edu