Troll rituals and ceremonies

((another bit of unneccesary information: Since most of the english names of the days originate from vikings and the norse language, they sound almost the same in swedish as they do in english. Måndag/monday tisdag/tuesday onsdag/wednesday torsdag/thursday fredag/friday (lördag/saturday) söndag/sunday. ))

Anyway, I don't really have a problem with it being night all over the world at the same time. Since you can get from one end of the world to the other in a matter of minutes, it would be really strange if the timezones differed. Perhaps the Azeroth isn't as big as we thought, but merely two small continents on a mostly unexplored planet? I don't know, but I think it's convenient the the time is the same all over the world. Also, having a sevenday week might not be utterly logical, lorewise, but you can't deny how practical it is. I'm sure some good reason for it to be that way can be made up.

They days might seem to relate, but the "English" days are anglosaxian and the Swedish ones Germanian (but with the Norse mythology gods). But after the christian takeover they were remade to more 'latin' looking words.

Yes, if the body is the spirit's link to the mortal world, then it's more than logical that Barzovia's body was burned, because Ryleen wanted to destroy his soul. Let's not forget that when troll witchdoctors communicate with the dead, they'll usually talk to their head - like in that Stranglethorn quest when you talk to Gan'zulah and Nezzliok. (Although, if you remember, when we summoned Snicka's grandfather, Umagaur's body was possessed by his spirit instead.)

I agree that the body is the spirit's link, but in the same time it's a prison - a body is more of a hull which you fit the spirit in so that they may stay in "the mortal world", so "in theory" you could place any spirit in any body and they would be alive as the person they once had been.

In regards to the seven days, as it's an odd number, and not even an obvious fraction of a nice round number ( save 35, 70, 105, 140, et cetera - I'm not including 14 and multiplications thereof because it's still the same situation ), I see no relevence to the numbers usage within Azeroth. But yeah, it's easier for us to use, if not least because, as I said earlier, most people are used to it.

It could well be that the two Continents are simply part of a larger planet, and seeing how small they are in scale, it's entirely possible they're swamped by lands far away. Being as they are, more the size of very small Countries than actual Continents. But this itself frustrates even more. We can, in looking at them this way, accept that the time zone wouldn't vary ( or not enough to worry about ) but then you are left with the simple fact the climate on such a small Country should be less localised, and more an overall coverage. Blizz, I guess, feel that because pretty much every region is closed off from the next, save the convenient footpath/cave/tunnel, by giant mountain ranges, and shear drops, that the weather would be isolated. It's yet another mechanic of a fictitious world that annoys slightly though.

I don't pretend to understand the first thing about spirits/souls, which is why I tend to avoid mentioning it/them. They're ever so convenient though, as words, to describe a great many thiings. For my part, I simply use them, when neccessary, to refer to the inherent good within an individual - Their love, their compassion, their desire to protect those they care about, their warmth, openness, and so forth. Whether it's a tangible part of a living entitiy, I don't know, nor woud I consider this a perfect theory.

Lyranne wrote:Their love, their compassion, their desire to protect those they care about, their warmth, openness, and so forth.

Exactly how Barz was.



*cough*

Well, Lyranne was left with the choice of Barz or else never be left alone. She did, if you recall, hesitate quite a lot, and was very reluctant. It's times like that I wish I could enter a narrative mode, just so people knew what my character was thinking. Sure, I could just write about immediately after, but I won't neccessarily be in the right frame of mind for that.

As I say, I don't pretend to understand matters such as 'what is the soul' simply because it's not overly relevent to me. It's somewhat odd that each of my characters seems to follow a different set of philosophies.

Lyranne is deeply religious. She believes in the soul/spirit, redemption, forgiveness and so forth, but keeps her faith mostly to herself ( she actually prayed at the altar on The Island of Zandalar every time she was there - which I found out after wouldn't have been tolerated by many trolls ). Most closely based on Judeo-Christian belief system, though having little experience of this myself, I can't comment how accurate my portayal is ( and as said, she doesn't go about telling people ).

My Warrior, Jenthir, is closer to an idealistic, pragmatic, fatalist. She wasn't taught all that much in her village, and although she believes in the Earthmother, it's only a part of it. Again, she believes in forgiveness, but I'm not so sure she believes that there is good in everyone like Lyranne does. She does easily forgive people, which I think shocks some. Yeah, I'm aware that it doesn't fit any obvious template. she sees everything, and everyone as having an equal right to life.

Whraenyyr is pretty much a Druid ( which makes sense ). He probably forgives people without too much trouble, but at the same time, he's feels he has blood on his hands ( which he does, technically, but he still doesn't recall what he did ), so for the most part sees himself as unable to easily pass judgement on others.

Marran is in a very strange situation. He's in a relationship, and couldn't be happier than with her, but because of his transvestism, his love of her, and his faith, it all seems to clash. He is, after all, a Priest. He's had a crisis of faith at least once before, after he saw what was happening with regards to Lyranne ( Marran's parents were pushing for the two to wed - this was before he was a priest, but still had faith ). They happen to have been very good friends, but didn't feel that way about each other.

Ras'teth is a typical troll - regards to to her faith, though is consumed almost utterly by a hatred for other races, and borderline insane. I base her on the forum troll. She still holds a flame for Jinto'nick, though.

getting back to the birthdays thing...there may not be a visible change in the seasons in the game world (lazy blizz ) but the festivals are a clear indication of them. Would it be likely that trolls would have a celebration for those born in each season? so for Chabat, i would say that so far she has seen 14 winters and would maybe have her 'birthday' at winter veil when she would be 15?

That certainly sounds logical.

Are there any holidays they're pilfered from the real world accredited to trolls?

While i can't find anything directly, i think (if we accept Azeroth and Draenor as 'roughly' earth-type worlds) then the trolls would have conducted rituals at the longest and shortest days of the year. Its also likely that they would have had some kind of ancestor worshipping celebration.

As they've become part of the Horde, some of these festivals/ rituals would have been merged within those of the orcs and tauren and, to a lesser degree, the forsaken.

I still don't think that most people know a great deal about Voodoo, and the rituals involved, in western society for much of it to have come over into the game. I certainly don't know enough about Voodoo to say how accurate a portrayal is given in WoW.

In that case, maybe the trolls appreciative of the Horde would celebrate the day the races united? If we can come to an agreement as to what day in the calender that was, then we can try ourselves to make it an annual event. It would certainly be nice to do something to mark such. Or maybe even a day in the year to celebrate the Horde in general - encompassing the joining of the Sin'dorei, trolls, tauren and forsaken as allies to the orcs?

I have a quick question about this 'hostage exchange' tradition we came up with. I supported it as Vyp last night as i'm sure there are historical times where peoples actually did this but i can't remember them of the top of my head...or hoe they would translate into wow-troll traditions. Any ideas anybody?

I'm not sure hostage exchanges ever truly go smoothly, to be honest. I'd imagtine that the older tribal troll mentality would be that keeping a hostage would be something only worth considering if there were no other options available. The more Horde friendly approach would be to refrain from the capture of anyone, I'd think. But again, if the situation demands it, then there's little choice. For the most part though, it's very dependant on how those who the captive is allied to feel about it. In my opinion, the House would have more realistically bluffed you into handing the captive over. What they did actually showed a modicum of compassion, which from their RP and those I know within the Guild, is somewhat contradictory. It'd have been more realistic, therefore, that Arch would have either killed the hostage, and laughed, or else encouraged the Heritage to do so. When we failed to be so ruthless, he'd have held sway over us far better.
The House would have proof we don't have what it takes to kill in cold blood, and if anyone in the Heritage had comitted such a crime, Arch could then get them in serious trouble. Furthermore, If say, Rezip had killed the captive, it may well have created a rift within our own ranks, which again would have been most beneficial to the House. I think we got lucky, in a way, that that was not the case.

Its kinda come back to me now. Not the actual historical situation, but in Kate Elliot's 'Crown of Stars' series, it is common practice to take a hostage from the among the rulers of a defeated enemy to ensure good behaviour after the battle.
These hostages would of course be prisoners but to all outside observers they would appear to be honoured guests with nicely decorated quarters and even servants of their own.

Still not sure how that would translate to WoW... *shrugs*

It was actually quite common in history to take hostages; several examples are given here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostage#Historical_hostage_practices
I imagine that when troll tribes are at war (and most troll tribes are almost always at war), it's a common practice to capture members of the rival tribe. What they do with the prisoner, it depends on the troll tribe. The followers of Hakkar would most likely simply sacrifice their captives to the Blood God; others would probably torture and kill them for the joy of it; yet others would use them as a chip of negotiation, much like we did with Malicestrom. Yet, it's usually the more powerful tribe who captures a hostage and lets him free if the other tribe follows their demands; so we acted if we were more powerful than HoS (which is, in fact, not the case).

Snicka wrote:It was actually quite common in history to take hostages; several examples are given here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostage#Historical_hostage_practices
I imagine that when troll tribes are at war (and most troll tribes are almost always at war), it's a common practice to capture members of the rival tribe. What they do with the prisoner, it depends on the troll tribe. The followers of Hakkar would most likely simply sacrifice their captives to the Blood God; others would probably torture and kill them for the joy of it; yet others would use them as a chip of negotiation, much like we did with Malicestrom.

Ah...yes, i knew that really... *mutters about the appaling state of her memory*

Yet, it's usually the more powerful tribe who captures a hostage and lets him free if the other tribe follows their demands; so we acted if we were more powerful than HoS (which is, in fact, not the case).

try telling Rezip they are the more powerful ones...

Having reminded myself that part of the original question posted by Ryleen was to do with marriage, i found this on the, ever inspirational, 'cult of the raptor' forum: http://thecultoftheraptor.forumcircle.com/viewtopic.php?t=67

a rather quick (and slightly violent) little ceremony.