The Maw and all who live in it

I imagine the available terrain in the Maw would include plains, jungle, mountains, valleys and semi-temperate forest. The wolves in the Maw form packs that consist of varying numbers of families speaking a similar dialect. Packs rarely hold any territories, preferring to lead a nomadic lifestyle. Some travel in large groups, while others split themselves into small squads or individuals that range independently, and rarely gather without a good reason.

Most of the larger wildlife would fly, but there would still be small to medium sized critters that don't. Waters in the Maw would also have their share of fish, amphibians and reptiles.

Given that non-sapient alternatives exist, the reason the Garr prefer anthros for their sacrifices has yet to be revealed.

Removed to the appropriate forum due to the nature of the discussion.

Click [here] before proceeding with discussion.

The Maw islands' cerulite-cores manifest a tropical climate overall. As the article said, Noran, the primary island, has a wide grassland plain called Wolfgrave by the Garric tribes. Wolfgrave has religious and historical importance to the Garr. Garreg, the capital city and Mecca of the Garr, lies on the western border of Wolfgrave.

The Garr prefer "people" rather than animal for their blood magic by necessity. The Garr who discovered the use of blood of sentient beings was forgotten by history, but the mages did try to use animal blood and it did not work at all. Only planteaters are used in the bloody ritual, while non-Garric flesheater peoples (eg. the Wolves?), few as they are, are very much left alone. The Garr of course experimented with the blood of a Garr and other flesheaters, and the result is as good as a planteater's. The Garric mages concluded the blood of sentient beings is the necessary ingredient.

However, the culling of planteaters for blood magic is only occasional. The Garric prides cull planteaters primarily for food and control. The Garr are known to eat animals, but they would feed on planteaters to keep their population in check, and to keep them in constant fear. Perhaps, the Garr were not always planteater-eaters. History might record that the Garr had once lived in peace with the planteaters, but the Garr, few in their population, became enslaved. Since they revolt against their planteater masters, and discovered the flesh of planteaters good to eat, they had been feeding on them to keep their numbers in check and to rule through terror.

Quote :

Magic
Most Garric tribes are led by an elite group of battle mages, who are powerful warriors privileged to the drinking of cerulite-infused blood. The Garric practice is called blood magic by mages abroad. The Garric battle mages only use the blood of planteaters they hunted on. Through consuming the fresh blood that bathed a cerulite crystal, a Garr is able to acquired all the energy in the crystal that transferred into the blood. The blood usually soaked out all the energy in the cerulite.

Would the non-Garric flesheater be any use to the Garr? Perhaps there are. They wouldn't be adopted into their prides, but they would be charged to govern the local planteater villages while the prides rode off to other villages for culling.

Just wondering. While the encyclopedia states plainly that they use the blood of planteaters to draw the magic from the cerulite crystals, and that they hunt/cull the planteaters for blood/food/sport/etc, it does not state the explicit significance of the act (ie: using planteaters).

I'm taking this from a neutral POV, in much the same way that if I observed an act of cannibalism (and took it objectively), I would make no assumptions regarding the reason for it.

Even the Holocaust had Jewish resistance, so _to me_, it would be pretty hard to cow any race into just submitting to slaughter. Planteaters, being sapient and (I'm assuming) intelligent, would probably put up some form of resistance, no matter how futile. Even the best warriors may walk into ambushes or traps. Given all that, the alternative ("stupid beasts") would seem far easier to kill.

Right. So after an IM session, it has been clarified the exact usage of the blood of sentient beings in Garric blood magic. The reason why animal blood having no same effect as the blood of sentient beings is because sentient beings have souls. In Cerulea, a lot of things have souls and spirits. The Garric mages simply find it advantageous to use planteaters' blood, as the fluid is very conducive to cerulite energy, and also politically as a show of power and control.

In the present, the planteater population is kept at a manageable level to the Garric mages. Resistance movements are expected. I am just waiting for contributors to create those groups. A few ambushes wouldn't deter them enough from their practice. In fact, I think the Garr would take it as acceptable risks. It makes the sport more thrilling. I think this ritual practice could be called the Great Hunt, becoming an essential part to the identity of the Garric culture I suppose.

The Great Hunt (or whatever it turns out to be called) could also be a sort of initiation rite into adulthood, kinda like the Krypteia that the Spartans had.

Hence, the nomadic lifestyle. To go where prey is abundant while leaving the grounds they just hunted on to recover their numbers. I think I'll stick with the Great Hunt as the term for this brutal Garric custom.