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Date: Mon, 19 Jul 93 17:15:09 +0200
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From: RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RQ Digest Maintainer)
To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (Daily automated RQ-Digest)
Subject: RuneQuest Daily, Mon, 19 Jul 1993, part 1
Reply-To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RuneQuest Daily)
Sender: RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM
Precedence: junk
Status: RO
The RuneQuest Daily and RuneQuest Digest deal with the subjects of
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---------------------
From: paul@phyast.pitt.edu (Paul Reilly)
Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Sat, 17 Jul 1993, part 1
Message-ID: <9307171845.AA19050@minerva.phyast.pitt.edu>
Date: 17 Jul 93 18:45:11 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 1299
Paul Reilly here.
To Greg Fried:
We have used this 'spontaneous eruption' of various cults to good
effect in our own campaigns, and in fact it hass given rise to rather
different cult aspects depending on the local culture and on the
personality of the 'founder' (Or 'index case').
Examples:
Bruce the Storm Bull. He was a cattle herder in a small community
isolated by the Syndic's Ban in which the Storm Bull cult had totally
died out. He had heard stories about Storm Bull and liked the idea of
a Bull God but had no formal initiation available. As the Ban started to
come down he was among those who explored the neighboring area, where he
encountered Chaos and hated it alot. He started killing Chaos in the
name of Storm Bull and trying to worship in his own way. I gave the
character a POWx1% to succeed in self-Initiation and he did. (After all
killing Chaos is a good way to get Storm Bull's attention.)
He started up a local cult which, like him, were hard-working outdoorsy
types, mostly cattle herders. They were quite different from normal
SB's in that they were always going around doing useful work like digging
canals (Bruce had an idea to try to drain the Dilis Swamp) and building
fortifications while not in the field against Chaos, rather than just
hanging around and making trouble.
Another example was the Hanged Man, a rapist who was sent dreams by Thed.
He was a Hrestoli noble, knight, and sorceror and so when she sent him ideas
on rituals to gain power he had a fairly good idea of how to go about it.
Eventually he was hanged but through the power of Thed he remained semi-alive
as a sort of _draugr_, invulnerable to all weapons. (Chaos at work.) He
had a reign of terror, raping local women (and impregnating them with
broo), particularly horrifying when you consider that he was basically
dead (looking pretty much like he had just be hanged).
This continued until Bruce the SB and his friends (including some trolls)
came across him. They realized from interviewing the women he had raped that
one of them had scratched him, hurting him slightly. At this point they
realized that his invulnerability didn't extend to natural weapons and
they pummeled him to helplessness with their fists and whatnot. Then the
trolls disposed of him permanently... they were happy to help out in a
fight against Chaos.
One of the features in this campaign was that in the areas which had been
largely depopulated during the Ban there was a lot of ambient mana and few
people to use it, so that phenomena like the Hanged Man were more likely.
In a populated area there may be more total mana but there is certainly
less per person. (Compare Lunar Empire and Pent, their leaders were well
matched despite the L.E.'s greater (by a factor of 20) population.
_________________
Nick: Thanks for the Aram-ya-Udram reference, this is exactly the sort of
thing I was hoping for. I always thought the Tusk Riders were associated
with EWF.
We thought that the Tusk Rider mythology was one of those Second Age
creations like the Caladra and Aurelion cult, a piece of manufactured
Godtime that _almost_ caught on.
Good point about Arkat, I don't remember seeing the original article.
I tend to agree about his stages of initiation. What role for his
near-identical companions then? Is each of them embodying one of Arkat's
stages? If so we have two extra Arkats (original + six companions =7,
we know 5 stages). Two could be lost, or there could be two stages of
his initiation which were so secret that we don't know about them.
Lets's seeL He was raised by elves on Brithos? Could there be an
Aldryami Arkat? And Arkat is the Shadow of Nysalor, formed of the
missing pieces that should have gone into Osentalka, the perfect god
of all aspects. (In our version of Glorantha) Obviously he has to
be associated with Darkness because the Trolls withdrew from the creation
of Osentalka, leaving darkness out of his creation. Note that the
Dragonnewts withdrew as well, and their powers are perhaps the strongest
in Glorantha. When Arkat formed as a side-effect of the Osentalka ritual,
did he garner Dragon powers as well? This would explain some of his
apparent control over reality. (Like a dragon's dreams, Arkat's beliefs
and wishes seemed to manifest themselves in the real world.)
Weapons and tactics - I'll have to post a full article someday when I get
time. Let me say that I agree with your assessment of Lunars vs. Romans -
I see the Lunars as about like the Persians in strength, with the elite
troops being like the Persian's Immortals, and of cousrse with the many
colorful auxiliaries from the Lunar allies being reminiscent of the Persian's
splendid array of local troops. They can't have the discipline of the
Roman Republican troops (or early Imperial) because those stupid Sartarites
can actually beat them.
The Lunars really have no exact parallel in Earth history but a sort of
combination of Roman and Persian is about as close as I can come. Their
religious structure is like that of an Oriental empire.
More later on this stuff...
_____________
I said:
>> While Glorantha doesn't have a rigid underlying objective
>> reality like ours, I think that there is an objective reality of some kind.
^^^^^^^^^
Rob Mace replied
>I think it might have a rigid underlying objective reality or meta reality.
>It is just not the normal type of thing that we think of as a reality.
I think we arein agreement here. I think that there is an underlying
objective reality quite different from ours. In ours matter seems to
be fundamental and mind is an epiphenomenon. In Glorantha spirit is
fundamental and matter seems to be an epiphenomenon.
I tend to agree with many of your ideas, but in some sense I take them
farther than you do. I believe that the Orlanthi, for example, _are_ right
in saying that Orlanth is King of the Universe, rules the winds, etc. and
that his power is not just from worship. _And_ the Westerners are right
about Worlath as well. More on this later if I have time.
----------------------
Graeme Lindsell:
> My reason for making them acolytes is that I think most of the ancestors
>have a genuine affection for their descendants, and will help them if they
>have shown respect in turn ie sacrificed for FP. In my opinion most of the
>usual gods treat their initiates like dirt, and only start to give them any
>real help when they become acolytes
If we go to once-per-year Rune Magic for Initiates what would you think
of the ideas that most Kralori are Initiates and the family matriarchs are
acolytes?
In our campaign the Harangvats have a lot of priests or shamans, basically
anyone who survives to be sixty or so (can be quite a trick) but they are
not very strong individually. In their society older people are thought to
have one foot in the spirit world already and tend to interact with it more
as a natural consequence of aging. (Some even have their eyes turn completely
to the spirit world and lose normal vision, this is marked by the eyes
turning white.) Similarly they think of the loss of physical strength, etc.,
as transferring strength into the spirit world rather than losing it.
Occasionally people will go through the Veil half-way and half of their
spirit body goes into the spirit world. This is manifested as one-sided
paralysis in our world. People in this condition may find it hard to talk
(on the mundane plane) but may have important messages from the spirit world.
Similarly some have their ears turned to the spirit world and hear messages
from the dead or other spirits (but have become deaf to this world.)
Must go (more later),
Paul
---------------------
From: 100116.2616@CompuServe.COM (David Hall)
Subject: Reaching Moon Megacorp
Message-ID: <930718160828_100116.2616_BHJ21-1@CompuServe.COM>
Date: 18 Jul 93 16:08:28 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 1300
At last! We've printed something!
Tales of the Reaching Moon #10 is now out in the UK priced L2.50 plus 41p
postage. UK Subscriptions are still L6.00 for three issues. The issue
features two cult write-ups (Magasta and Dormal), three scenarios, articles
on the Wolf Pirates, The Oceans and the Sea Gods. Also maps, gossip,
rumours, reviews and more!
The Collected Griselda is also out, priced L6.00 in the UK including
postage (overseas add 50p for Europe and L1.00 for elsewhere). This is an
A5 perfect bound 172 page book with a magnificent Dan Barker colour cover.
It has all the Griselda stories extant, published and unpublished, as well
as a forward by Greg Stafford, bibliography, biography, and two Griselda
songs which will amuse and entertain you for hours.
A reprinted Tales #5 is also available at L2.25, including UK postage.
Please make cheques and money orders payable to David Hall. They must be in
UK pounds sterling, and cheques must be drawn on a UK bank.
Send orders to: David Hall, 21 Stephenson Court, Osborne Street, Slough,
Berkshire, SL1 1TN, ENGLAND.