Post by doc on Jul 24, 2009 22:47:49 GMT -6
Nomenclature in Carcosa
As a casual perusal of the Carcosa supplement will reveal, the villages and towns dotting the map are ruled by personages with such flamboyant monikers as “The August Overking,” “The Exalted Brightness,” and “The Grand Adept of Dreamers.” Naturally no resident of Carcosa is born with such a name or title. So, why the need for an extravagant title instead of a name?
The answer is quite simple. In any setting, knowledge is power. The more that an opponent knows about you, the greater the potential hold they might have on you. On Carcosa, a world where sorcerers can call upon dark gods to curse or smite their enemies, having a fancy title in place of a name serves two purposes.
First, it conceals the birth name of the person. A man’s true name is the most potent weapon that a sorcerer can have against him. When calling upon the Elder Gods to wreak havoc upon a mortal, if the sorcerer can invoke the true name of his enemy than there is nothing to stop the dark magic from taking effect as it spells out very specifically who is to be effected. A man with a name concealed by a fanciful title (or, in truth, any sort of other false name) might be entitled to a save vs. whatever dark magic is used against him, as eve the gods cannot be 100% specific regarding the identity of such a small thing as a mortal man, and might err and strike down another whom appears similar. A true name connects an individual directly to his soul, and makes such an error impossible.
Secondly, bearing a title in place of name implies that the man is important and powerful enough to have dangerous sorcerers, or even the gods themselves, as enemies. Such an implication would certainly cow the lowly and poorly informed commoners and dregs that make up most of Carcosan society, making them more tractable to the whims and demands of their leaders.
Some individuals, such as The Magnificent Demise, take a fanciful title as a slap in the face to the rulers of the land, daring the petty governors and self-styled monarchs to take offence at their brazenness as they place themselves in the same category.
In general, birth names in Carcosa are short and simple affairs. A primitive village or prehistoric society might have very short and guttural sounding names that can be quickly shouted from deep in the throat to better carry across an area. Karg. Grukt. Rak.
Larger villages or small towns, settlements that have been around long enough to imply that people residing there might actually survive to the end of the week, might have more refined sounding names, including names that get passed down through several generations of a family. Such names are rarely more than two syllables, for fear that the rulers might consider a longer name as a sign of hubris and attempt to punish the person carrying the name. Orm. Shaz. Eran. Garron.
Young people seeking to leave the relative safety of their home village and become explorers, diplomats, scavengers, or raiders (e.g., adventuring types) often take up identities to conceal their birth names. Sometimes they do this to ward against the dark powers, much like the rulers of the land do. More often, though, they conceal their names so that, should they acquire mortal enemies, they cannot be easily traced back to their home village or family of origin for retribution upon their loved ones. Also, should an adventurer die a foolish or shameful death (a very real possibility), their families will not bear the stigma of their failure. She-Wolf. Stone Hands. Hunter. Moon.
Doc
As a casual perusal of the Carcosa supplement will reveal, the villages and towns dotting the map are ruled by personages with such flamboyant monikers as “The August Overking,” “The Exalted Brightness,” and “The Grand Adept of Dreamers.” Naturally no resident of Carcosa is born with such a name or title. So, why the need for an extravagant title instead of a name?
The answer is quite simple. In any setting, knowledge is power. The more that an opponent knows about you, the greater the potential hold they might have on you. On Carcosa, a world where sorcerers can call upon dark gods to curse or smite their enemies, having a fancy title in place of a name serves two purposes.
First, it conceals the birth name of the person. A man’s true name is the most potent weapon that a sorcerer can have against him. When calling upon the Elder Gods to wreak havoc upon a mortal, if the sorcerer can invoke the true name of his enemy than there is nothing to stop the dark magic from taking effect as it spells out very specifically who is to be effected. A man with a name concealed by a fanciful title (or, in truth, any sort of other false name) might be entitled to a save vs. whatever dark magic is used against him, as eve the gods cannot be 100% specific regarding the identity of such a small thing as a mortal man, and might err and strike down another whom appears similar. A true name connects an individual directly to his soul, and makes such an error impossible.
Secondly, bearing a title in place of name implies that the man is important and powerful enough to have dangerous sorcerers, or even the gods themselves, as enemies. Such an implication would certainly cow the lowly and poorly informed commoners and dregs that make up most of Carcosan society, making them more tractable to the whims and demands of their leaders.
Some individuals, such as The Magnificent Demise, take a fanciful title as a slap in the face to the rulers of the land, daring the petty governors and self-styled monarchs to take offence at their brazenness as they place themselves in the same category.
In general, birth names in Carcosa are short and simple affairs. A primitive village or prehistoric society might have very short and guttural sounding names that can be quickly shouted from deep in the throat to better carry across an area. Karg. Grukt. Rak.
Larger villages or small towns, settlements that have been around long enough to imply that people residing there might actually survive to the end of the week, might have more refined sounding names, including names that get passed down through several generations of a family. Such names are rarely more than two syllables, for fear that the rulers might consider a longer name as a sign of hubris and attempt to punish the person carrying the name. Orm. Shaz. Eran. Garron.
Young people seeking to leave the relative safety of their home village and become explorers, diplomats, scavengers, or raiders (e.g., adventuring types) often take up identities to conceal their birth names. Sometimes they do this to ward against the dark powers, much like the rulers of the land do. More often, though, they conceal their names so that, should they acquire mortal enemies, they cannot be easily traced back to their home village or family of origin for retribution upon their loved ones. Also, should an adventurer die a foolish or shameful death (a very real possibility), their families will not bear the stigma of their failure. She-Wolf. Stone Hands. Hunter. Moon.
Doc
