Rather too many games in the past few years have been set in Venice, for example. Australian aboriginal shamans duking it out in the Dreamtime is somewhat less used as a setting. Wongar provides a breath of fresh air in this respect. Mr. How does seem to have made an error in one respect, namely the scorpion cards. My reading of the rules indicates that the Elder player turns up the cards at the beginning of the round, and is the only player 'stung' by the scorpion, which is then removed and the next card turned up.
Players are, therefore, never selecting the scorpion cards as they never stay on their stacks.
This makes choosing the Elder something of a gamble, since payoffs are greater in a Rite, but those hard-earned points might be stung away the very next round. I do suggest using the advanced rules that come with Wongar, and are the rules preferred by the game's designers. They add only a tiny bit of complexity to the game, but allow for more strategy and far less luck. The rules changes will appease any nay-sayers who feel that there is too little control in the basic game. I have read that some people are turned off by the artwork of this game, but to me it is one of the most visually appealing games in my burgeoning collection.