Greg Sez: Ducks and Eggs (Dec 1997)

Answer by Greg Stafford. Published Dec 1997.

Q: Do the ducks of Dragon Pass lay eggs, or bear their young alive?

A: Please! Some respect! If you don’t want them to call you a monkey, then please use their correct name. The durulz are members of a race of creatures which are an avian form of the Man Rune, created at the time when all those hominid races were being made. Tremendous amounts of misinformation has been given about them, like they are mutant birds or cursed peoples. These are typical delusion of humans, who imagine themselves to be unique and the center of existance. They have no desire to become human beings at all. The durulz are a feathered race of beings, whose race once spread much wider, including all the areas in between their currently widely scattered population centers. In different areas they have different external features, similar to human subspecies differences. Though in different parts of the world they are labelled differently by humans (ducks, durulz, keets, etc.) they are all the same species. They are bipedal, upright, with fingered hands with opposable thumbs, have waterproof feathers, webbed feet, beaks with teeth and lips, forward looking eyes, and lay eggs, which both parents tend to until hatching, and for the child afterwards. They are an intelligent and noble race guarding ancient secrets, with a private agenda, and a very thick skin against the normal human scorn. People either love them or hate them, with no neutrality.

To me, as a Gamemaster and world designer, I love them. However, after considerable experience with many of them in the field, none of my characters would ever go into the field with one. To my Orlanthi, they all proved themselves to be just big silly ducks.

Greg

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