>> Presumably nobody minded the swords themselves (other than the >> enemies of the God Learners), but the process of making them was >> objectionable. > >I think what pissed off the Gods was that the GLs were working to >reproduce supposedly "unique" magical items. Now, that's *really* >bad ju-ju. But the popular belief that "+1 swords are EVIL" is a >worthwhile rumour to spread.
Further, it's probably worthwhile to look at this from a point of view of the inhabitants of Glorantha as well in terms of power relationships:
"So you say you have this process that can create 1000 magically enhanced
swords?"
"Yup"
"And you want ME (a local noble, rich merchant, powerful priest, etc...) to
fund this?"
"Yup"
"And who would get the 1000 swords?"
"Um, whoever wanted them and could pay."
"So you're saying I bankroll you, and say you give me some swords in
exchange, but then you SELL the rest? On the street? To ANYone?"
"Umm...."
"So I'm supposed to give you money to either strengthen my enemies, or at
BEST sell them to some unwashed adventurers who'll promptly start killing
god-knows-what and causing all sorts of trouble? Forget it!"
"Well, I could make them FOR you...say for your guards or something."
"Right. I start handing out magic swords like candy and everynoe and his
brother is either going to practically attack me just to sign up, or will
start picking off my guards in taverns to steal their swords. Forget it.
I prefer to keep power decently concentrated in the hands of those
qualified to use it - me."
This isn't to say there aren't groups who are univeersally equipped with similar magical tools - the Black Horse Troop comes to mind - but here we're really talking (in my opinion) the difference between repeated copies of handmade items and truly "mass produced", if that's not too fine a hair to split...
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