Amazons: The Creation of the Furies
Amazons: The Creation of the Furies
Original: In mythology they didn't have anything to do with the Amazons. They were the Goddesses of Vengence who persued wrong doers relentlessly until death, often driving them to suicide. And they have been described as all black with snakes for hair and eyes dripping of blood.
So, does anyone know if the Furies of SB are based on anything other than Meridian's imagination?
By Kestra Fuerer
Answer: In answer to your querry, Furies as a class were already part of the SB landscape when I arrived - it fell to me and my imagination to flesh them out.
Now, as to where they arose and why they were included, Warden tells me that the inspiration for the Furies (the SB class, not the trio of Greek Goddesses) lies in a series of stories by Lawrence Watt Evens (the Unwilling Warlord is one title that springs to mind) that ouch upon a mysterious group of nature and weather oriented witches. They also have more than a pinch of the Wise Women from Robert Jordan's Ael. For another Fury model that I am familiar with, look to the Old Women that Khal Drogo made his pilgrimage to in A Game of Thrones.
I'm not really familiar with either of those sources, but I do know a thing or two about anthropology.
Furies fall into the classic pre-industrial witch/shaman model - they dwell apart from their population, live by a rigorous set of taboos (usually involving fasting, self-mutilation, and other ascetic practices), and are "blessed" with supernatural powers, some of which are profoundly destructive. It's that entire "old wise woman" mystique, with magical power linked to raw femininity. It tended to make Western civilization very nervous (the whole witch thing), but has also given rise to mythological figures ranging from the Lady of the Lake to Baba Yaga. They can be very benevolent or highly dangerous, depending on who you ask.
Speaking of Furies, and Amazons in general...
***Warning: Lore Snippets Ahead!***
According to the SB timeline as its worked out, Phaedra led the Amazon diaspora in the First Century of the Age of Kings, a short while after the ending of the War of the Scourge. That means that the Amazon Empire is "only" about 2,000 years old. But - here's the rub: Beregund the Bold ran into a bunch of Furies while on the quest for Shadowbane. Does this mean that the Furies actually predate the Amazons?
Yes it does. When Phaedra led her followers into the swamps and jungles of the South, she found the Furies waiting for her. They are an incredibly ancient order of witches that the rest of the world has always regarded with awe, suspicion, and more than a little fear. Just how old they are, or where they came from, remains to be seen.
Some other tidbits: Phaedra, legends say, originally received assistance and guidance from Saedron the Moon Goddess - she embodies that whole female magic duality: she's the Mistress of Magic and the Mother of Night, both wise and terrible. Saedron also has pretty strong links to the Furies.
Anyway, over the centuries the Amazons' devotion to Saedron has waned - she is out of her mind, after all, and goes through her bi-polar swings between Enlightened Wizardess and Bloodthirsty Crone so quickly and erratically that she's hardly a reliable patron. Vashteera the Panther has almost completely eclipsed the moon goddess in terms of popularity.
Of course the Furies still practice the Arcane Arts the Moon Goddess first revealed to them while the Realm of Ardan was still at its height. That's not the same thing as worshipping her...
Okay, lore over. For now.
One other thing I'd like to mention - there was an appeal to me not long ago to step in and resolve with a wave of my magic pen the conflict that seems to be arising between Amazon groups who are willing to serve as sub-guilds to male-dominated guilds and Amazons who steadfastly refuse to do so. Why shouldn't Amazons disagree? Everybody else does. Is American a racist nation? Ask the question in the Hamptons then ask it in Compton and you'll get some very different answers. If you're arguing, argue! Maybe one side will eventually convince the other. Whether or not you come to blows over the issue will depend entirely on the characters you've created and their viewpoints. While it's much cooler to give it a little thought and come up with reasons to depart from tradition other than "we need to be part of a superfirends guild or we won't be cool enough," in my opinion, any argument over what it *really* means to be an amazon is just role-playing. I refuse to end all such arguments by making a concrete statement.
The same sorts of arguments are popping up among the brothers of the Temple. The same goes for them.
What will the Feature Characters say? Well, they'll all have their opinions. But just because they're feature characters doesn't make them "correct" at some uber level. I mean heck, the President of the US and I disagree on some pretty fundamental points of policy here and there...
Even when you get Amazon lore - that's only going to tell you what happened in the past: it's a new age, and some Amazon groups may feel the need to adopt new tactics to survive in it, at least until they can find their way home. If other folks want to stick to the old ways, more power to them. Conflict is good - its what we're building our game around.
