There's certainly a strong thread around the world of the moon having something to do with bunnies. Tecciztecatl, the Aztec moon god, is a rabbit himself, while the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e is said to hang out with a rabbit on the moon, the Hindu moon god Chandra is specifically associated with rabbits, and Artemis is the special protector of baby rabbits. Moon bunnies are a worldwide phenomenon, though they are more rare in northern Europe, where (perhaps in part thanks to Mani) we usually refer to the Man in the Moon instead. So where does the bunny mania come from?
From just looking at the moon, actually. The pattern of dark spots and craters on the face of the moon have long appeared to be a rabbit to many cultures, so much so that many of them have myths about the rabbit that lives there or the shape of the rabbit being embedded on it. To shamelessly borrow some images from others on the web, here's a picture of the moon with the bunny outlined in green:
As far as whether or not the moon rabbits hang out with one another, I would imagine it depends on where you are on "the moon" in a cosmic sense. Certainly the abodes of moony Titans like Chandra are often lousy with rabbits, but if you got into a rocketship and landed on the airless surface of the room, it's unlikely that you'd find any floppy-eared rodents hopping around. The moon bunnies are probably in a Terra Incognita - perhaps several Terrae, actually - and while you could invent some kind of moon bunny Terra paradise, the game already gives you a convenient out with the concept of the Lunar Estate boon. We would assume that various moon deities' complements of bunnies are located within the borders of their lunar estates, meaning that the moon science knows about is completely devoid of cottontails, but a sideways Psychopomp step into Chang'e's house might well bring you face to face with the famous lunar rabbit itself.
We've had Scions who visited moon gods at home in the past run into quite a few bunnies, from the general riot of rabbit life in Tecciztecatl's estate to the single, somewhat solemn bunny companion of the Chinese moon goddess. Lunar estates are separate and sovereign, so I doubt the bunnies are traveling between them much, but that doesn't really prevent there from being plenty of rabbits wherever you turn on the moon.
Or hell, invent a Terra Incognita on the moon and name it The Bunny Paradise, and fill it full of zillions of adorable rabbits who frolic in the silvery fields and cuddle visitors with their soft floppy ears. We're not the bosses of you.
Depending on whether Journey to the West gets included or ignored, Chang'e's moon rabbit companion might not be all that solemn.
ReplyDeleteShe made the usual attempt to snatch Xuanzang and even fought Sun Wukong for a few rounds using her pestle.
True. With bunnies, you never know.
DeleteActually now I'm confused, on a semi-related topic at least. Lunar Estate mentions a cost of 5+ Legend per use. But its main effect is simple the existence of the Estate when you purchase the boon. Is the cost to travel there or something? Then why is it variable, to bring others along? Either way there's no mention. I suppose I could check the book (God I'm assuming), but I generally avoid that when there's the revised and finely tuned JSR boons to look through.
ReplyDeleteOh, stop praising us when we're making mistakes!
DeleteYep, that boon definitely fails to explain what the activation cost is for. I'm pretty sure the 5 Legend is the cost for the moon god to go there, and the + indicates that they can pay more to bring someone else along, but I'll have to wait until John gets back from rehearsal to make sure of specifics. Thanks for noticing that. One thing's for goddamn sure, we never have a mistake up online for long before one of you guys finds it!
I'd probably keep on ignoring the original version of the boon in God. It involves little grey aliens and other weird stuff.
Confirmed. Five Legend to go to your moonbase, one extra for each person you want to take along. It's corrected - thanks for checking!
DeleteIsn't Tecciztecatl on Mextli? And was one of the Scion groups whom visited moon gods the one with Sangria? If so I suppose they didn't take her with them considering her possible reaction to a moon diety.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Tecciztecatl currently hangs out in Tamoanchan, on Meztli with fellow poorly-regarded Aztec moon croney Coyolxauhqui. This is slightly story license - technically, Tecciztecatl and Coyolxauhqui don't interact in any stories we know of, but since he lives on the moon and Coyolxauhqui's severed head is the moon, we figured it wasn't much of a stretch to assume they probably work together against the Aztec gods.
DeleteYou are totally right, it is not safe for Sangria to go moony places. It was Marcus James (with a side order of Goze) who did most of the visiting of the Lunar Estates thanks to being a budding moon-god himself, and he intelligently did not volunteer to bring Sangria and her violent tendencies anywhere near it. He had a drunken party with Tecciztecatl and several nubile young anthropomorphic rabbit-ladies, as I recall, and offered to mow his lawn.
I believe Geoff was in charge of keeping tabs on Sangria while this was going on to prevent things like unauthorized moon invasions. Lucky for everyone that Sangria's not much of a visionary and doesn't really notice things that aren't in front of her.
I would not cuddle a wild rabbit myself. Rabbits can be vicious.
ReplyDelete