Mournwold Human Thralls - Clothes

@McGonigle, Thank you for your thoughts. A poppet with teeth would be very scary (in my opinion). :slight_smile:

I think a lot of the Jotun/Marcher merger would come down to a) how strong the egregore magic is, i.e. is it strong enough to last through the 32 years Mournwold has been under Jotun rule? I suspect that it is, especially as for almost all of those years the Empire had a foothold in the territory in the Greensward; and b) how old the character is, as the ones who grew up without the egregore bond would be more likely to embrace Jotun culture (as witness the Marcher humans fighting alongside the Jotuns, and the ones who went with the Jotuns when the Empire regained the Mournwold).

With the dangerous animals, if you were a character who had an egregore bond to the Mournwold, you would come up against Marcher totem magic, which uses dangerous animals for things like beserk rage, and definitely not as everyday totems:

“In the Marches, the tradition of calling on spirit animals is roughly divided into two categories. Domesticated animals are called on for positive aspects - oxen for strength and fortitude, hounds for loyalty and keen senses, pigs for cleverness and adaptability, cats for cunning and subtlety, rabbits and hares for speed and agility, and so on. Wild animals are considered more dangerous - while wolves, bears, and boars may be evoked to grant great strength, they are often tied to uncontrolled or dangerous magic. A Marcher magician who instils the spirit of a bear into a target is much more likely to use images of bloodlust and berserk rage than a Witnermark or Varushkan magician working similar magic.” from Totem Magic, under Spirit Animals.

Not something that I would want to meddle with.

@Canashir, Thank you for your comments. I agree with not using any sort of trim that is reserved for warriors, and with the good suggestions in the thread for making things look old/worn/hand-me-down/mended.

Once I get to the specifics of the costume, I am hampered by not knowing enough about the Jotun-Thrall culture eg Did they pass clothes down to the thralls? Did they take cloth from the thralls, or just leave them enough fleeces to make their own? Barring any further elucidation by PD, I think the best we can do is say ‘This is how it worked on my farm under my Jotun overseer, yours would have been different’ and leave it up to the individual to decide. I haven’t even started on the question of favoured thralls with easier lives, and how they would have dressed.

"Most thralls are condemned to a miserable live of hardship, but those few with valuable skills live a better life, serving the clan as traders, crafters or sailors on the Jotun vessels." from Jotun

Those favoured thralls would have - more cloth to sew clothes? More food? Higher status among the thralls? What would be considered a valuable skill by the Jotun. Crafting is mentioned, and fighting is a given, but what about healing, apothecaries, lore magicians etc? How do they fit in?

These are the questions that keep me awake when I am trying to sleep. :smiley:

Thank you for taking the time to read and give thoughtful replies. Every reply helps me to clarify my ideas and opens up new avenues of thought (I will never be able to see a poppet without checking it for teeth), and I appreciate each and every one of you.

:heart: