Flintnail:
First, I still think of the Pavic dwarves as Closehandists (many many
thanks to P. Metcalfe for the name): ie, they think that to repair the
World Machine properly, dwarves must reach perfection also in the line
of work that produces new dwarf work units (to humans known as 'sex').
They go about that work with the same sort of thoughts of Duty and
Perfection and Mastery as dwarves go about any other work - but of
course without any kind of Love or Passion or Joy (horrible,
irrational things). They steadily train at it just as they train other
skills, at the beginning under the stern eyes of Gold sexologists
(think of the Monthy Python sketch where John Cleese is the teacher
who brings his wife to the classroom and endeavors to teach the facts
of life and foreplay the same way he teaches grammar and math), then
on their own.
Second, I think Flintnail just used dwarven magic (with the help of Tin and Quicksilver associates, of course) to extract the birth-force (or ovo, for a more scientific Glorantha) from Pavis daughter, and then used it together with his own male force (note: I don't think of dwarves as machines, but as organic beings who try to BE machines, and quite often fail) to create a proto-dwarf/human module, no doubt for the nefarious purpose of stealing human fertility powers to increase the production of Rock Dwarf units ('bwahaha! its alive I tell you, ALIVE!'). Of course the Closhandist heresy is viewed as such by all right-thinking dwarves, and no doubt many dwarves go apostate as a result (beginning to feel human-like emotions, not necessarily pleasant), but their policy increases the production of dwarf-prototypes enough to compensate for this - or at least they say so. If the Vegetarians can remain non-apostate, so can the Closehandists.
I have no idea what Isildan thinks of all this, but as an Individualist/Openhandist he might appreciate the idea of using weird apostates to advance the cause of the World Machine, just as he uses the mortal fools around him. Especially since he has found out about humor (though no doubt this is humor, but not as we know it)
Read Enclosure for more fiendish dwarven plans, in 'The Eye of Wakboth', if Michael Raateroova hasn't changed his marvelous ideas...
Serpent analogues in Carmania:
Loren, I come from a VERY cold and usually snowy country (Sweden), and
my ancestors on both sides also come from a VERY cold and usually
snowy country (Finland), and the mythologies of both these countries
are filled with serpents, snakes and adders, from the adder mother who
has to hang from a tree while her young are born, so that they won't
killer her with their venom, to the venom-spouting lindorm from the
Viking stories. The serpent of Persia may well stay a serpent in
Carmania.
Otherwise, your ideas were marvelous!
==
'The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea,
In a beautiful, pea-green boat...'
>From 'The Owl and the Pussycat' by Edward Lear
Erik Sieurin
Did you think I would reveal things about myself in this .sig?
HA!
sieurin_at_yahoo.com
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