Vilani and Vargr

[Qstor2]

Its ONLY at $29.00 US on Ebay FYI all.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mega-Traveller-...oryZ2547QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Mike

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

GRRrrr!

I went to try and bid on this, but already the bidding was closed. Figures that it would be up on a weekend when I very rarely, (today being one of those days), that I get to hang on the net.

I think I had it once, as remember things about the Vilani that I have yet to find....maybe it's in T4? Fostering and such....

Well, thanks anyway, and now I wait for another one....

 

[G. Kashkanun Anderson]

That wasn't just Vilani & Vargr up for bid, but Flaming Eye as well! I've seen V&V go for over $100 dollars on eBay by itself, and Flaming Eye doesn't go cheap either, so getting both books for under a C-note is a pretty good deal for whoever won them.

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

Flaming what?

So what is Flaming Eye?

I haven't heard of that one...

 

[G. Kashkanun Anderson]

The "Flaming Eye" (or duramagi) is the Vilani version of the skull and crossbones of Ancient Terran history. In other words, it's a well-known (and widely feared) Traveller symbol of piracy, especially in the Coreward regions of Charted Space. It's also generally associated with the Vargr, who I imagine rarely (if ever) use the Terran symbol, except perhaps around Julian space.

The Flaming Eye book was a DGP product, and as such was a truly epic adventure taking place during the Rebellion Era. The characters are schlepped all around Vland and parts of Windhorn Sectors on a series of adventures, crossing paths with the likes of Ziru Sirkaa authorities, Vargr freebooters, some scheming Lucanites, and maybe even a couple of Strephon loyalists too, if I remember correctly.

It's a deep, deep piece of work, and probably my favorite DGP product overall (although, admittedly, I run hot and cold on their product line). I'd almost be inclined to say that if you had to choose between getting that and Vilani & Vargr, go for Flaming Eye first.

But if you're lucky enough to be able to score both, well ...

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

Hmmm.

OK, though, I mostly am a closet Xenostudies and History freak, and well, the base Race books are usually full of groovy stuff.

BTW, GKA do remember where the Fostering thing is from, I also remember a bit about Visiting and the Meal?

Been a long time...I mean it's just floating there in the back of the mind and some of it floats forward at times and these two did so now I am trying to track down where the exposure came from.

Cool on the Duramagi. I'll have to remember to use that one for the Blue Smoke Spacer's Crew "Free Trader". *grins*

 

[G. Kashkanun Anderson]

BTW, GKA do remember where the Fostering thing is from, I also remember a bit about Visiting and the Meal?

Well, if this is something to do with the Vilani, you've completely stumped me. All I can come up with is that by "Fostering" you mean the caste-apprentice system, and by "Meal" you mean something to do with the Shugilii.

Other than that, I'm completely out to lunch. o: Is there anything more you can give me about it?

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

So far so good.

The Caste fostering is one, yep. And the other had to do with Vilani having Guests to their Home and hiring a Shugilii to cook a feast for the Famili and Guest....there are other details but as I said they are hiding in the fog.

 

[G. Kashkanun Anderson]

The Caste fostering is one, yep. And the other had to do with Vilani having Guests to their Home and hiring a Shugilii to cook a feast for the Famili and Guest....there are other details but as I said they are hiding in the fog.

Well, any Vilani family that would have to hire a Shugilii would have to be pretty destitute in the first place. Traditionally, it was the duty of the eldest child to take on that position; it would be extraordinarily tragic (early death) or humiliating (running off, or otherwise shirking the duty) for a family to be without its Shugilii for any length of time.

And "cooking" isn't really what a Shugilii does in the first place. Rather, they prepare the food so that it is useful in any nutritional sense. You can cook anything on Vland that you want, and it might even taste good too; but in order for it to be of any use to your Terran physiology it has to be sort of molecularly rearranged, or "predigested," first. This is usually referred to as a form of fermentation, which is really a different process than cooking. I would bet another good biological analogy would be those extra stomachs carried by many Terran ruminants.

It's also worth pointing out that canon doesn't necessarily refer to Vlandish physiology as poisonous to human life, but merely nutritionally inert. That's an important distinction. A Solomani could probably try to live off a diet of birch bark and boiled sawdust sandwiches shipped in from his homeworld for a couple of weeks and not be necessarily poisoned by it, but I doubt it would do him any good.

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

Sheesh...

Fine, GKA, I was a little loose with my terminology but cut a brother some slack. I do understand that the Miller prepares the food, but to me prepare and cook are kind of linked as one thing. One doesn't just prep food...unless one is a prep cook....ah, nevermind, point to you. Gurukarpu strikes again.

On, the other hand, really, the eldest child....crap, no wonder my parents are always disappointed with me. *grins*

What, I love sawdust sandwiches, they remind me of the Soviets....almost miss 'em....NOT!

Funny that for a Race that ran 15000 worlds we know so little about them in some ways...

Go Bilanidin Studies Group! Rediscovering lost knowledge...

 

[G. Kashkanun Anderson]

Fine, GKA, I was a little loose with my terminology but cut a brother some slack. I do understand that the Miller prepares the food, but to me prepare and cook are kind of linked as one thing. One doesn't just prep food...unless one is a prep cook....ah, nevermind, point to you. Gurukarpu strikes again.

Not to belabor the point, but on Terra, most fermented or pickled food is prepared in advance, up to months (maybe even years) in some cases. This was even more often the case before the Solomani had effective refrigeration, when their diet included a lot more home-canned and/or salted foods than they do today.

On, the other hand, really, the eldest child....crap, no wonder my parents are always disappointed with me. *grins*

I'm second in line myself, which puts me in charge of the family finances and "estates," such as they are. Fortunately for the family's diet and entertainment needs, my older sister is a whiz in the kitchen. The third kid is supposed to be reserved for the Shangarim (Bureaus), by the way. My kid sister is a trained accountant, in fact; but I weep for any Bureau that tries to put her skills to any use.o:

What, I love sawdust sandwiches, they remind me of the Soviets....almost miss 'em....NOT!

My Great Depression-scarred grandmother used to make hamburgers whose "meat" was actually about 2/3 bread crumbs. And then there's the mother of one of my closest friends/Traveller gang, who as a little girl in Byelorussia witnessed Stalin's Great Famine firsthand. A nice lady, but all kinds of levels of crazy, and freakishly paranoid, to boot.

Funny that for a Race that ran 15000 worlds we know so little about them in some ways...

Yes ... it's almost as if they're ... inscrutable.

Go Bilanidin Studies Group! Rediscovering lost knowledge...

I've thought about that; but I just haven't been able to land on a decent title for it. I suppose any one of the social/philanthropic organizations named in that earlier thread would suffice. I just can't decide which one it would be.

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

Welll....

The Grammar Cops are right out.

I mean, what's wrong with the basics....

The Argushiigi Admegulasha Bilanidin Historical and Cultural Heritage Study Group.

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

I found it!

Milieu 0-Book 5 of T4 has some Vilani information.

It's where I came up with the Casting and Hosting references.

So, before I get to happy, how accurate is it, anyone know?

 

[G. Kashkanun Anderson]

Well, I'm afraid that Milieu 0 is the Great Void in my Traveller knowledge base. Not that I have anything against T4, it's just that that version of the game came out right at the precise time when I was paying absolutely no attention to the TU at all. I've picked up three T4 books since then; but there's still a heckuva lot more about Milieu 0 that I don't know over what I do.

My understanding is that T4 is nearly as good enough source of TU information as any of the other versions. I've heard that there are a few points where it directly conflicts with canon (Core Sector layout, and the Tech Levels of the old Rule of Man); but for the information you're talking about, there shouldn't be any conflict.

I think I'll need to get those T4 Milieu 0 books. I'm working on a collection of maps depicting the Traveller Universe at various historical periods predating the Third Imperium. In a couple of months, when I've made it to the fall of the Rule of Man and the Long Night, those books look like they'll come in mighty handy.

 

[Moose]

Lack of information

I seem to remember in the dim and distant past there was a Vilani Culture Mailing List. I'll try to dig something out later from my other machines. It went into the minutiae and was fascinating, if rather obsessive.

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

A quick note here....

I seem to remember in the dim and distant past there was a Vilani Culture Mailing List. I'll try to dig something out later from my other machines. It went into the minutiae and was fascinating, if rather obsessive.

This sounds exactly like the kind of thing I am into, awesome.

Thanks. Hope to be back and studying Bilanidin and the Vilani Culture and History some time soon...need net access full time and such. Anyway, good thing if you can find it.

Now GKA, for real there is a nice amount of info on the Vilani in the Milieu 0 book. There is also a chunk in the GURPS Traveller: Interstellar Wars book, which I kinda like but haven't put under the Canon-Scope.