[2E] Where are the Raksha?

[Flagg]

Did anyone else notice that the term "Raksha" is conspicuously absent from the 2E core?


Not that I'm complaining, as I was never an enormus fan of the change, but the omission must have been delibrate.


-S

 

[Forn Clakes]

I'm sure I have somewhere, just checking...


EDIT: No, seems you're correct, sir.  


~FC.

 

[wordman]

I liked "raksha" better than "fair folk", but never saw what the problem with "fae" was.

 

[Forn Clakes]

I much prefered "Fae" and "Faerie" to "Raksha", even after reading the Fair Folk book.  The reasons for changing to Raksha I just didn't agree with and Fae still sounded right.


Who knows what they'll be known as in the future.


~FC.

 

[Munificent Perception]

I suspect we’ll only be seeing the term Raksha in material written from the Fair Folk’s point of view.

 

[Haku1]

I suspect that the Raksha would only show up in their own terminology. Which makes sense as I believe there used to be a passage in the 1e books about how the humans of creation think it's inauspicious to call the fair folk by their real names.

 

[Solfi]

I agree with most of y'all. Raksha was never a hit. Fair Folk is ... well, a bit clunky as well. Fae or Faerie works well with me, though I've taken a shine to the variation 'Fair Ones' lately...

 

[Samiel]

Raksha is, I think (as mentioned already) an alternative name for them. The explanation that mortals wouldn't use their real titles is a good one for why it doesn't turn up in work after "Fair Folk". I did like the fact that they were honest about the name change: They thought they'd feel silly writing "Fairie" in a book so monstrous.

 

[Flagg]

The reason "Raksha" doesn't show up in the 1E core is because they hadn't thought of it yet. It's absence from the 2E core smacks of deliberate omission to me.


So what if it's the Fair Folk's self-applied term? Don't you think they'd spare a sentence to mention it?


-S

 

[Spook]

Raksha, much to my dismay shows up in the Scavenger Lands book,

 

[Laseen]

it also shows up at least once in Wonders of the lost Age.


Seems I'm the only one who likes the term.

 

[Ker'ion]

It always reminded me of the d20 Monster, the Rakshasa (a shapeshifting Devil).

 

[szalman]

lol, see it always reminded me of the Great White Bat from Ace Ventura infamy . . .  :lol:

 

[wordman]

It always reminded me of the d20 Monster' date=' the Rakshasa (a shapeshifting Devil).[/quote']
I believe that is where the name came from. Like much in the Fair Folk book, the rakshasa comes from Hindu mythology/culture.

 

[Flagg]

I believe that is where the name came from. Like much in the Fair Folk book, the rakshasa comes from Hindu mythology/culture.

Which is partly why I think the FF supplement was so jarring to many people. In their original conception, the Fair Folk were tightly tied to northern European myth, then suddenly, they were Asian.


-S

 

[Ker'ion]

It always reminded me of the d20 Monster' date=' the Rakshasa (a shapeshifting Devil).[/quote']
I believe that is where the name came from. Like much in the Fair Folk book, the rakshasa comes from Hindu mythology/culture.

But they should have been called the Rakshasa, not the Raksha, since Raksha means protector in Hindu.

 

[Persell]

Like many other things ripped from other places, it's just similar enough to maintain the meaning.


Plus, neither Hindi and Sanskrit are easily translated into roman characters since there are a lot of phoenetical variants that are difficult to convey to english speakers.  Not saying for certain that this is the case, but Raksha as "Protector" could easily be a homonym or a heteronym.


Maybe, one version of the word means protector while the other means eater of babies?  I bet few people would ever bash the Raksha again if THAT was the case.

 

[Ker'ion]

Side thought:


Or it could be Protector of the Wyld...

 

[Samiel]

Perhaps, if we want to ignore the fact that it's meaningless and probably a mistranslation, it's a twisted take on the meaning of protection by the beings of the wyld. By tainting things with the essence of a world they control, they might see it as protection or returning the beings of creation "to the flock".


Although that's a flimsy take. Raksha is a harsh-sounding word for beautiful things. Maybe that's the point?