Introduction

The Children of Malar (CoM) is a live role play group that is based on the premise that we are a group of linked individuals that come together through our common belief – The following of the Ancestor Malar. A number of people have been involved in working out an outline to these ideas but they continue to evolve through the input of the group members and are by no means complete or comprehensive. The CoM has been, and will continue to be, a group run by the players and their ideas. Everyone has a voice and is encouraged to put forward ideas. I am, at present, the group leader but the title is more an administrative one. As Huntmaster of the Children of Malar, I do have some authority but, as I said earlier, the concept is one based on the premise that all have a say in what we get up to. We currently have three Huntmasters in the group; Myself, Mog, who is the group War Leader and Bison, who deals with all things magical. Mog and Bison are Huntmasters of Malar and all three of us fight a constant internal battle for control due to our close ties and association to the Wyld – more on this later. I play Cheetah, the present Huntmaster of the CoM (of which there is only ever one). Cougar, who was killed at Gathering ‘99, preceded me in this position. Before Cougar was Pike who, in turn, was killed shortly after he bested Cheetah in a challenge for the position at the Lions spring festival of 1999. Cheetah returned shortly after the start of the Gathering, after being taken into the Wyld for five months of ‘further education’.

Malar

Malar is brother to Mithras and the ancestor of the Hunt and the cycle of life. In some ways he is akin to Herne or Cernunnos, but we tend to be far more primal. The Hunt is the highest expression of the cycle whereby death leads to life and vice versa in an ongoing process. Malar represents the essence of this – he is tooth and claw, fang and beak, fin and talon and, most importantly, instinct. We have a savage aspect due to the fact that nature is not a nice place. In the latest game terms he is considered a Dark Ancestor. This gives some ‘Dark’ incantors a slightly altered spell list. It is important that the terms ‘Light’ and ‘Dark’ in this part of the Gathering world not be confused with ‘Good’ and ‘Evil’ – This is not the case and besides, even if it were, Malar is animalistic and human moral labels have no meaning to him. Malar is sometimes referred to as chaotic, but this is not strictly accurate either. As in nature, the chaos of life eventually leads to a balance, so unpredictability may be a more fitting term. The ideology of our following has strong links with the three aspects of the cycle - the Predator, the Prey and the Carrion Kind. References have been drawn from many sources, including Werewolf – The Apocalypse, the most notable of these being the Wyld. The Wyld is a dreamscape domain wherein Malar oversees all aspects of the hunt. Changes in this domain are almost constant and this throws up the possibility of evolution and development. There have been problems in the past with the definition of Malar’s aspect – some have resulted in, as yet unresolved, in-character conflicts between group members and those who profess to ‘know’ what Malar thinks of one issue or another. As I understand it, the Lorien Trust view is that ancestors are defined by the people who follow them – something that holds true for many real-world belief systems - although in role-play terms it needs to be a little more practically detailed. We believe our following is a personal experience, unique to each individual. We will often collectively discuss issues before acting, as a way of determining what Malar would think of a situation. Upon the death of a group member, it is believed that their pattern goes to the Wyld with Malar and that the fusion of the animal they ritually hunted is emphasised. The mix of human intelligence and animal instinct throws up ripples in the eternal hunt, leading to diversity and hence evolution. The savagery of the natural world combined with the problem solving intelligence of man understandably creates a very potent force in and of the Children of Malar.

The Children of Malar

The Children of Malar (CoM) originated at Liverpool Realm and have been attending the Gathering since it first took place. Recently it has undergone a rapid expansion and people from this group have moved on to great things within the world of Edreja. There is no requirement for group members to be in the Lions faction and there is no bar to them joining other groups or factions. Their commitment to Malar and the CoM should however be regarded (for role-play purposes) as total and overrules all other alliances. For those who follow Malar, this group is their true home and family. We enjoy an enviable reputation that has been earned by the hard work and excellent role-play that we’ve tried to encourage. Personally, I think that the key to the success of the group is due, in no small part, to the philosophy that we employ. For the most part, we are a group of individuals who are able to call on formidable back up if required. This allows our members much more freedom in what they get up to. It can be very difficult to smooth over some of the feathers we manage to ruffle! It does make life interesting and helps to keep both enemies, and allies, on their toes. Although we are not Eco-warriors, situations involving large scale, wanton destruction of a habitat may cause the group to act. Our beliefs don’t just revolve around caring for the environment and looking after the fluffy bunnies, as nature is a savage place. Survival of the fittest is the rule and death is irretrievably interwoven with life (think of that fluffy bunny after a fox has got hold of it). Situations are dealt with on a case-by-case basis. To illustrate, our views on undead came into question last year with regard to the Gargoyles Faction plot. The group consensus was that undead, being non-natural, are nothing to do with Malar and may as well not exist. If a group of undead were working against the group interests however, we would destroy them as we would any other enemy. By far the majority of CoM take predatory animal names but remember that a prey character should be viewed with respect – a predator fails in the hunt and misses a meal – if the prey fails in the hunt the outcome is definitely more serious! Ultimately there is only one rule and two ‘advisories’ in the group. The rule is: No member is allowed to harm, directly or indirectly, another member or betray the group. The advisories are: Don’t get caught and don’t get dead! We also have a single punishment that is used very rarely, usually against someone who as broken the rule - the Blood Hunt. This involves the group banding together and hunting the transgressor who is then torn to pieces; their pattern will not join the Wyld in this instance.

Initiation

All people who wish to join the CoM are eventually required to undergo initiation. The first official stage of this is exposure to the Spirit of Malar; a brew made by a Huntmaster and designed to determine those with the possible aptitude and constitution to survive initiation. On taking this step an aspirant can then go forward to a full initiation ceremony. Again, the Spirit will be used to determine suitability and a Huntmaster will call on Malar, through himself, to look into the pattern of the individual and determine which animal most fits with their character. Once the animal name has been given the character has to ritually hunt the animal. They are not allowed to use weapons and may only be aided with transport to the area that their animal inhabits. Once the hunt has been completed, each initiate retells their story to a Huntmaster and as many other CoM as are present. This story can be five minutes or half an hour, it’s up to the individual to role-play it. Once this is done that person can be considered a full member of the group. There has been some confusion pertaining to the fact that we hunt and kill an animal for the sake of our following. There is a good reason for this for, at the moment of the kill, the pattern of the animal links with the individual and they are bound together to become more than the sum of their parts. Most players tend to role-play this binding by bringing some of their animal’s nuances into their own character. How much you want to do this is entirely up to you to decide. Some hunts have also incorporated recognition on the part of the animal, as if they understood that this binding was to be their fate.