Victoria Con saw the release of two all new Gloranthan products, both of which I heartily recommend!
ENCLOSURE, the Victoria Con fundraiser book, manages to pack in a wealth of information in its 90 pages, with clear, crisp layout and groovy cartoon-like illustrations by Mike O'Connor throughout. So packed it is, 'Enclosure' unfortunately lacks any sort of introduction, editorial page or reference to the con it was created for, which is a bit of a shame. Of the three sections (Orlanthi Lore, Pendragon Pass, Alkoth and the Empire), my favourite part is Alkoth stuff, revealing a whole lot about a place previously unfamiliar to me. Martin Laurie's story "The Wooden Bull" gives Homer a whacky Gloranthan twist, and Andrew Bean's entertaining "It's the Little Things That Make All the Difference" (in the Orlanthi section) shows that he's devoured the Tales Lunar Special from cover-to-cover. I'll be running a Glorantha campaign again soon (hurrah!), and we'll be using Dave Dunham's excellent Pendragon Pass rules, a special insert in the middle of the book. I'm still reading through the Orlanthi section, but it has already inspired me to start my new PCs off as kilted wind-worshipping cattle hoarders! This is a great book, full of lots of imaginative new material from a variety of authors. 'Enclosure' is an essential part of any serious Gloranthaphile's library: order it now and avoid disappointment!
I managed to read through much of THE BOOK OF DRASTIC RESOLUTIONS - PRAX at LA Airport, waiting for my connecting flight. Stephen Martin describes the second issue of his zine as a "supplement to Tales #14 & #15", and you'll need copies as there are constant references to them (the Praxian specials) throughout. The 100 page issue features quite a bit of material culled from earlier publications including RQ2's 'Plunder', 'Big Rubble', 'Pavis: Threshold to Danger', 'Borderlands', 'Cults of Prax' and 'Nomad Gods', and it's great to have all this in one cover. If you haven't got these long out-print publications, 'Drastic - Prax' is an absolute must. The zine is graced with a fine colour cover by Simon Bray and has a much improved order of presentation, layout and artwork, though, as with the first issue, much of the material therein has been written or reworked and then edited by the same hand (a consequence of 'Drastic' being essentially a one-man band I guess). Like Enclosure, this is a highly recommended publication.
Dave Boatright asks:
>Are you the same MOB as mentioned as a playtester for the Babylion
>project rpg ?
No, that ain't me. If I was, my question to them would have been "fhat the wuck are you doing?" Astonishingly minimal relationship with the show and its characters, artwork ranging from just adequate to laughably naff and uninspired rules combine to make it a very disappointing product indeed.
Dan McCluskey writes:
> However, this is exactly what I'm implying. The cult of Kyger
> Litor specifically forbids killing another troll for food. ANY
> other troll.
Aha! But, as we know from Sun Dome experience, rules like this are only there because this is *obviously a problem*! Otherwise, why have such a rule?
Cheers
MOB PS "Pelorian Rhapsody": Note that Nick's lyrics actually make more sense than Freddy's. I'm very much looking forward to the next singalong!
[XXIX.1345.Gerallon/p4*]
It was easy to see she hadn't been deep into the forest before, for I heard her long before she appeared. Snapping branches and stepping loudly, her hair was wild and her smock was rent by the vegetation. Her desperate face was dirty and streaked with tears. She was lost.
Of course, she took fright when I appeared. She turn and ran blindly, running into a tree. Pinned against it, she turned to face me and began to tremble, so much so I feared she would shatter herself to pieces. Seeing this, I considered what the reactions of a braver person would be at the sight of me.
"Are you lost?", I asked her, as soft as I could be. She did not answer. I tried again, and took a step closer: "Are you from the village?" She nodded her head and said in a soft voice, laced with fright, "Please - -..don't hurt me."
"Why would I hurt you?", I asked. "Because you're a broo!", she said. "I asked you for a reason, not what I look like."
We talked some more, but I didn't attempt to come any nearer. I offered to take her home, and finally she agreed. It took us over an hour, and she didn't let me come within ten paces of her all that time. When we came to the rise above the village I stopped. It was getting on to dusk. Down below, I could see the pitched roofs of the settlement and the smoke from the dinner fires. A deep man's voice was calling "Darya, Darya!"
"They're calling for me", said the girl. She was closer to me now. "Thankyou", she said. Then, quickly, she reached out and stroked my muzzle, just above my nose. My heart missed a beat. She turned and ran down the slope.
I didn't tell my mother about her. Nobody came to seek me.
A week later I met her again - in the same place as before. She was already leaning against a tree, and gave me a curious smile. "I'm lost again", she said.
I laughed, and we sat down together and began to talk. Most of the time she talked and I listened, and watched. I mean, I know nothing about beauty, but she was beautiful, she was innocent, and she was my friend; the only friend I had, and the only friend I have ever had.
I learnt that she had lived fourteen winters here in the village, with her mother and her father. Her father, Darya said, had been a great warrior in his day, but had retired here with her mother. "Father has even slain broos", she said - I resolved to keep away from her father.
"Don't tell anyone about me Darya", I pleaded. "I won't", Darya promised.
And she kept that promise.
*note: this is the fourth part of a story submitted to Tales so long ago I have lost the author's name. The english language version here was substantially polished from the original submission by me; I think author might have been Finnish or Swedish. I've put it up here because it is unlikely it will ever be published in the zine but I think it is good 'un (and I spent quite a while working on it at the time). It would be great if I could get in touch with the author again.
End of The Glorantha Digest V5 #92
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