Re: [DL] The Spirit world.

[Allan Seyberth <darious@darious.com>]

It all looks good.  It's a good "over" definition of the system, explaining 
what has been written and allowing for infinite variation based on 
culture.  Nothing I read contradicts anything I remember.

  Just one thing.

A huckster "chat-room"?



At 10:52 AM 11/20/2002 -0800, you wrote:
 >S
 >P
 >O
 >I
 >L
 >E
 >R
 >S
 >
 >Okay here’s the idea:
 >
 >The Hunting ground is the local interface for the
 >spirit world, let’s call this interface the Metaphor.
 >The Metaphor is the place where humans and spirits
 >can meet and various Arcanes can tap into to get
 >power for their powers. The Metaphor for a area is
 >shaped by the beliefs of the local inhabitants, so in
 >America it’s the Hunting ground. In other places the
 >Hunting ground is not just called something else,
 >it’s truly a different place, in Europe it’s called
 >Under the Hill, the lands of the fair folk. This
 >would fit in with fairy tales where 20 years can pass
 >in a night, or you enter in one place and exit miles
 >away, this also fits in with the stories of not
 >eating fairy food since food in the spirit world may
 >keep you alive there for years, but would leave you
 >starved to death the moment you exit if you rely on
 >it for substanace. In Egypt it’s the Lands of the
 >Dead, in Australia, the Dreamtime, in China, the
 >Celestial bureaucracy.
 >
 >The Meraphors are home to the local spirits such as
 >Nature spirits and Manitou, and the local Powers.
 >Powers are the spirits which can be identified by a
 >name or at least a description, the Guardian spirits
 >of the Indian, the Loa of the Voodooists and Demons
 >are examples of these.
 >
 >Beyond and inbetween these places is a featureless
 >void unshaped by human belief, the Astral plane of
 >mystics.
 >
 >Beyond the Astral planes and the Metaphors are the
 >homes of the Higher powers, thems being the Divine
 >powers that the Blessed serve and the Infernal powers
 >such as the Recogners that the Black magicians serve.
 >
 >Most Metaphors contain a means of accessing the
 >Higher powers, the great tree in the Hunting grounds
 >is one example.
 >
 >Under this theory Huckster do not tap into the
 >Hunting grounds to match wits with a Manitou, they
 >create a personal Metaphor in the Astral plane
 >centered on a poker table. This personal Metaphor
 >exists only for the amount of time it takes the
 >Huckster and the Manitou to play one hand of poker,
 >then its gone.
 >
 >Anyways, that’s is my working theory of how the
 >spirit realm works in Deadlands, does anyone know of
 >anything published that contradicts it?
 >
 >Based on this theory, Here is one idea for a lesser
 >Metaphor.
 >
 >The Last chance Saloon:
 >A Metaphor of a classy Western gambling house set up
 >by a group of associated Hucksters as a meeting
 >place. Instead of creating a whole new Metaphor every
 >time they cast a hex, these Hucksters go to the same
 >place each time where they then have the chance to
 >meet together at certain set times, or just run into
 >each other when they happen to be casting a Hex at
 >the same time. The spirit who “Owns” the place is one
 >Jack Bain, a formally harrowed Huckster who got
 >himself killed rather then let his Manitou take
 >Dominion. Bain’s constant presence here is what
 >allows the Saloon to maintain its existence. The
 >Bartender is a disgruntled Manitou named the Burned
 >Man, who everyone calls Mr. Krisps.
 >
 >
 >To unsubscribe, send a message to esquire@gamerz.net with
 >       unsubscribe deadlands@gamerz.net
 >as the BODY of the message.  The SUBJECT is ignored.

-------------------
Allan Seyberth
darious@darious.com

Cahn's Axiom:
         When all else fails, read the instructions.