Cimmerian Traditions

[Supplement Four]

I'm looking for ideas--any and all Cimmerian traditions (or those that would work with Cimmerians) that you are willing to share, I'm looking to brainstorm.

I'm trying to build a nice sandbox for my players to begin the campaign within. Instead of creating a specific adventure, I'm creating the world that they live in. Then, I'm going to follow their interests and either adapt published adventures or create custom encounters for them.

I'm trying very hard to populate their world with the sights and sounds of Cimmeria. I want them to taste it....to believe that they've lived there their whole lives.

If you feel like getting creative, or sharing something you've read or created in the past, and all ears and eyeballs.

 

[VincentDarlage]

You might look at one of the drafts to Phoenix on the Sword to capture REHs take on Cimmeria.

(Prospero says to Conan,) "You laugh greatly, drink deep and bellow good songs, wherease I never saw another Cimmerian who drank aught but water, or who ever laughed, or ever sang save to chang dismal dirges."

"Perhaps it's the land they live in," answered Conan. "A gloomier land never existed on earth. It is all of hills, heavily wooded, and the trees are strangely dusky, so eve by day all the land looks dark and menacing. As far as a man may see his eyes rests on the endless vistas of hills beyond hills, growing darker and darker in the distance. Clouds hang always among those hills; the skies are nearly always gray. Winds blow sharp and cold, driving rain or sleet or snow before them, and moan drearily among the passes and down the valleys. There is little mirth in that land."

"Little wonder men grow moody there,"quoth Prospero...

"Strange and mood, indeed," answered Conan. "Life seems bitter and hard and futile. The men of those dark hills brood overmuch on unknown things. They dream monstrous dreams. Their gods are Crom and his dark race, and they believe the world of the dead is a cold, sunless place of everlasting mist, where wandering ghosts go wailing forevermore. They have no hope here or hereafter, and they brood too much on the emptyness of life. I have seen the strange madness of futility fall upon them when a little thing like a spinning dust-cloud, or the hollow crying of a bird, or the moan of the wind through bare branches brought to their gloomy minds the emptiness of life and the vainness of existance. Only in war are the Cimmerians happy. Mitra! The ways of the Æsir were more to my liking."

(Conan's) mirth fell away from him like a mask, and his face was suddenly old, his eyes worn. The unreasoning melancholy of the Cimmerian fell like a shroud about his soul, paralyzing him with a crushing sense of the futilty of human endeavor and the meaninglessness of life. His kingship, his pleasures, his fears, his ambitions, and all earthly things were revealed to him suddenly as dust and broken toys. The borders of life shrivelled and the lines of existence closed in about him, numbing him. Dropping his lion head in his mighy hands, he groaned aloud.

(Conan drinks some alcohol and cheers up) Things and happenings assumed new values. The dark Cimmerian hills faded far behind him. Life was good and real and vibrant after all - not the dream of an idiot god.

___________________________________________________________

I think those are some interesting passages about Cimmeria from REH himself. One wonders if the Cimmerians consider Crom to be an "idiot god" who dreams the world.

Other than traditions revolving around raiding and war, I would think most of the traditions would revolve around staving off depression and suicide. I think there would be some traditions to ward off Crom's attention, the way we have traditions to ward off bad luck (since another story Conan claims that if one gains Crom's attention, he sends dooms to that person. Apparently Crom is cheered up by making people he notices miserable).

If your players have lived their their whole lives, they are likely to be a bunch of depressed souls looking desperately for some hope, something to believe in.

 

[djd]

It's rather counter intuitive isn't it? In most 'gloomy lands' where it rains all the time or is otherwise miserable, people drink more to cheer themselves up! Scotland, Ireland and much of eastern Europe come to mind! :wink:

 

[Supplement Four]

If your players have lived their their whole lives, they are likely to be a bunch of depressed souls looking desperately for some hope, something to believe in.

I see where you're coming from, but I can't agree. Yes, life is hard, and Cimmerians aren't the most joyful example of a culture. I think the difference is that Conan, in the passages you cite, has seen what it's like elsewhere. Cimmerians know nothing but Cimmeria--many of them that's all they know their whole lives.

So, if you know nothing else, its hard to be so depressed, because you can't compare it to something you don't have and know nothing about.



Plus, I'm a believer in the human soul and the power we have to adapt and suceed. I think Cimmerians have their festivals--their joyus moments. People carouse and get drunk and have sex and enjoy each other's company and joke and play--but maybe not as often as someone from a country that didn't take such a large toll as price for living there.

Does everybody in Siberia want to kill themselves? No. Do the people in Siberia laugh and joke and have good times, from time to time? I would think so.

I would say it's no different for the Cimmerians.*





*Given your take on things, I sure wish you would have written a Cimmeria supplement. It'd be interesting to see your take on things.

 

[VincentDarlage]

Well, to be fair, I said "depressed," not "suicidal." (although their lust for war might be seen as... well, probably shouldn't go there).

I am sure they have their happy days, too. I bet they have their first loves, which are then squelched by overly-critical parents who "brood overmuch on unknown things." I imagine kids who have too much fun are immediately corrected by dour adults, warning of the dooms Crom shall send upon them if they laugh too much.

I just think to capture Howard's flavor, one has to make the nation lean more toward Howard's atmosphere than not. Still, to describe the stereotype does not mean everyone in the nation is that way. Obviously (via Conan), this is not the case.

 

[Supplement Four]

I'm stating the game with the PCs at age 12. It is just before the Beltain--the festival of the first day of summer.

Old one-armed Olav will make his way into the village. Sometimes he makes festival, and sometimes he doesn't. But, he always brings something interesting in his wagons. I wonder what it will be this season.

The boy are excited, not only because of the Beltain and not only because Olav made it.

They're excited because the Ras Croi will be run. It's an endurance run. The entire village comes out to watch. Many line the course as it is spread across the outskirts of the town. Through the creek bed, up the sheer side of the cliff, across Bec's Bridge (a fallen tree that spans a shallow chasm), past the falls, returning through the southeastern plain, past the standing stones, to the starting point.

Three laps constitute the entire race--the Race of Heart, with each lap symbolizing the three parts of the human soul, which is solid as the earth, but can be sculpted by something fluid, as with water, where both can be molded by air from the sky.

The town elder begins the race by allowing each boy to throw a short spear. The point at which it hits the ground is that boy's starting point. That none of the boys start together, even, in a line, is the first lesson of the ritual. Life isn't fair.

The Ras Croi is the event that marks the challenge of change, from boy to man, among the Blue Fox Clan. All warriors in the Clan have a vote, and upon completion of the race, the vote is cast as to whether a participant did well enough to begin the journey to manhood. Those that do start a three year program, training to be the men that they will be in the future. Those that don't can attempt to run the Ras Croi again next year.

And, the winner of the Ras Croi becomes the Ar Gais--the First Warrior--who, for the next three years, until the boy is accepted as a warrior among the other clansmen, will be given first choice of food and be treated as the chief of the other boys in training by benefiting from other special treatment.

This fosters strong competition during the race, a strong desire to be the best, and a healthy respect for those who do, indeed, conquer all the others.






I've developed this for four reasons: One, it adds some pizzazz to the atmosphere of the sandbox I'm creating; Two, it will give the PCs a "memory" they had as a small (as the next game session will pick up a year later); Three, it encourages character building and role playing among the players; and, four, it gives me a fun, exciting tool to teach the Conan RPG skills system to my players (who have never played the Conan RGP or any 3rd edition + D&D before....they're AD&D 2Eers).

I'm setting up a few preliminary sessions like this that will slowly teach the game to the players while also creating a background for them in which to game. This game session, we will roll up stats (I've named all the players already...you don't get to choose your name as you don't in real life), go over some history and game background, explain the skills system, and then run the Ras Croi to see which PC will become the Ar Grais.

 

[VincentDarlage]

If you are looking for some background superstitions and some customs surrounding them, you might read this: http://www.electricscotland.com/books/superndx.htm

 

[djd]

Sup4 - I hope you don't mind me voicing my opinion - because it's your game and your choice - but to me a running race seems an unlikely 'rite of passage' for a warrior / hunter type society. Most rite of passage rituals in the real world revolve around either hunting or fighting. Why a race? Why not a hunting expedition or a raid on an rival clan? A running race seems rather unlikely in the context of that society to me :wink:

 

[Supplement Four]

Sup4 - I hope you don't mind me voicing my opinion -

Your voice is more than welcome...hit me.

- but to me a running race seems an unlikely 'rite of passage' for a warrior / hunter type society. Most rite of passage rituals in the real world revolve around either hunting or fighting. Why a race?

First off, if you read closely, you'll see that I've set up a "3 year program". I'm making where this clan, the Blue Fox Clan, starts the boys at 12 and trains them until 15 or so. They get 3 years of warrior training.

We don't just pop in using weapons. First, we train physically. The boys are starting their growth spurt. Soon, they will have the muscles of men. So, the tribe identifies who can handle it now (if not, they try again next year)--is ready to begin the training.

12 years old? They can't swing a warsword yet. But, in three years? Probably so.

That's my "in-game" reasoning.

My "out of game" reasoning is that I'm also teaching my players a new game system, so I'm taking it slow. On night one, we'll roll stats, and I'll teach them about skills. Once they've allocated their points, we'll run the race--which is full of throws using the physical skills: Balance, Climb, Ability checks, Jump, Swim...possibly Use Rope and Tumble.

My players will learn the skills system in a neat, in-game, way.

The next game session, I'll skip ahead a year. They're 13 now. And, we'll go over the feat system.

At age 14, we'll do the third game session, and I'll show them how the combat system works.

Each game sessions, I'll make up something "in-game", such as the Ras Croi, that advances their trainging.

Yes, I do plan on having them go on a hunt--but during one of the later game sessions. I will focus on Survival, Hide, Spot, Concentration, Move Silently. I may even have them sneak into another Clan's camp and steal some cattle or something.

I'm also thinking that a kill will have to be made, as the final test, to become a warrior. Whether this is an animal or an enemy, I don't know yet--haven't got that far.

Now that you see my whole in-game-teaching plan, do you still think I'm off the mark?

 

[Spectator]

S4, I like the race concept a lot!
There was a film called "Rapa Nui" about the true events on Easter Island in the far west Pacific portion of Polynesia that was about coming of age, village champions, etc...
Very relevant.