In a recent conversation, I came across an interesting conundrum. Did Heron Guards use Mandrake Roots before they were Journeymen?
The evidence seems to go both ways. Here's a log of my converstion...
Adam Jakob Adamczyk said:
It just dropped into my mind again that the when the Heron Guards became Journeymen they took up the art of healing. So, please keep in mind that our Heron Guards won't be able to heal, if I understand this correctly.
To which I responded:
No, no... the Herons were made immortal by the powers of the root. So they must have been able to use it back then. When they became Jmen, they took up the *role* of healers, instead of warriors.
To which he responded:
Another Asylum thing, eh? This is not anywhere in GURPS(which I've read very carefully, I believe).
To which I responded:
I believe it's in the Myth II Heron flavor text that it says, talking about Mandrake roots "... but what bring about immortality in a truely exceptional person merely restores vitality in a lesser man", or some such. And in Myth TFL, the pre-Journeymen taking Murithemne palace tiles are described as the "deathless Heron Guard". In other words, the Herons use the Mandrake Roots to become immortal, or "deathless"; thus they must have always had them, before they became Journeymen.
To which he responded:
GURPS says: "Older Herons have mastered the Halt Aging spell and extend its benefits to all their brethren, greatly increasing their life spans"(p.73 fourth paragraph). Unfortunately GURPS doesn't mention anything about when the Guards/Jman started using this apart from the fact that "They [the Journeyman] usually carried six mandrake roots, as they spent their time hunting and enchanting these."(p.74) - from this I gather that the Journeyman started the tradition of using Mandrake roots and newer Heron Guards still keep to it since "... the former Journeyman retain their skills if not their penitent ways."
Anyway - I want to stay compatible to the story according to what the Asylum says. :)
To which our mutual friend Bloodluster says:
we don't need GURPs or the Asylum to figure this one out. Page 69 of the MII manual says this on the matter within the Journeymen description: "Formerly the guards of the Emperor, they disbanded and wandered the earth in self-imposed exile after the Fallen destroyed Muirthemne and everyone in it. In a further show of penance, they developed the ability to heal other people, though they are by nature loners... etc." So you can see, to make up for their failing to protect the Emperor, the developed the ability to heal (aka learned how to use mandrake roots) DURING the Great War (which lasted over a hundred years, I'm led to believe), some 60 years before MII. Thus, they definantly didn't have mandrake roots during the Wind Age :).
So, what do you all think?
