Bell Digest v940404p2

From: RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RQ Digest Maintainer)
To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (Daily automated RQ-Digest)
Reply-To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RuneQuest Daily)
Subject: RuneQuest Daily, Mon, 04 Apr 1994, part 2
Sender: Henk.Langeveld@Holland.Sun.COM
Content-Return: Prohibited
Precedence: junk


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From: erjablow@cais.com (Eric Robert Jablow)
Subject: Glorantha, Baseball, Tennis, and Chess
Message-ID: 
Date: 2 Apr 94 03:50:32 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3496

I've been looking at the recent discussion on Gloranthan sports
and games, and their similarities to Terran sports.  For example,
I've tentatively placed baseball in an unusual place; in my vision
of Glorantha, it's called Trollkin Ball.  After all, who else
parries thrown rocks with small clubs?  I assume that it spread
across troll lands through the value trollkin of Argan Argar traders
and Gorakiki herders.  Trolls ignore the sport; after all, it
couldn't have any effect upon them, right?  However, the sport is
still half-primitive.  You can retire a runner by hitting him with
a thrown ball, as in the 1850's "soak" rule.  No DH's!

Dara Happans don't play lawn tennis.  They play royal tennis;
there's at least one court in every major city.  That way, they
don't have to play on dirt, clay, or grass, so they don't get their
manicured hands dirty.

I was also thinking about chess.  We know it's played in Glorantha;
it's mentioned in Apple Lane, Orlanth and Yelm played in at least
one legend, and Dendara plays Gorgorma every night.  I asked Greg
at RQ-Con whether each culture had its own favorite openings; for
example, do they use the Queen's Gambit in Esrolia, or the Sicilian
Defense in Ralios, or the Ruy Lopez in Dara Happa.  He said something
to the effect of "Good question.  You probably know more than I
do."  Do you think Gloranthan chess is the same as modern Terran
chess, or is it chess with the old 1-space diagonal move of the
queen, or what? 

Also, how do you simulate chess in RQ?  How do you get the right
probability of a draw?  Perhaps you can run it like ordinary combat; each
player has Attack and Parry skills equal to Chess skill, HP equal to
average of INT and POW, and a 1D3 impaling weapon.  No SRs; players attack
simultaneously each round, and the player down below zero HP first loses. 
If both go under at the same time, or if the players agree, it's a draw. 

What do you think, sirs?

Eric Robert Jablow               "We'll send him cheezy programs, 
Reston, VA                        the worst we can find, la-la-la."



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From: MOBTOTRM@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au
Subject: Dictionaries?
Message-ID: <01HAPXW4LLI091W9AB@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au>
Date: 3 Apr 94 11:21:50 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3497

G'day Everyone,

To take your minds off the RQAiG fiasco, here's a very old, slightly
silly article I dredged out of my files:

The Nochet Lhankor Mhy Library Collection

Listed below are some of the dictionaries in the Nochet library 
collection.  Sadly, many are now incomplete - factional hoarding, 
decay and of course the disastrous fire of 1618 have all contributed 
to their current shabby state.  

Dictionaries may consulted by members of the Lhankor Mhy or Irrippi Ontor 
cults free of charge, though this does not mean that the particular work 
sought will be available when required!  Outsiders will either have to pay 
a sage the usual research costs, or may consult the dictionary requested 
in the reading room at a base rate of 2 s. per hour.

Anias, the deputy chief librarian and head of the Exclusivist Faction makes a
critical comment about each work.

1. OLD PAVIC LEXICON
Main Language: 	Pavic	
Part Extant: All	
Benefit: Read Old Pavic at 1/2 Read Pavic	
Author: Anias
Anias's Comment: This is an excellent and definitive work, worthy of 
my scholarly brilliance.

2. AN ESROLIAN-SARTARITE DICTIONARY
Main Language: Esrolian
Part Extant: All
Benefit: Read Esrolian at 1/4 Sartarite and vice versa
Author: Anias
Anias's Comment: Still unsurpassed, it is a must for any would-be 
heroquester looking to organize a temple in Sartar.

3. THE ESSENCE OF MODERN MOSTALI
Main Language: Esrolian
Part Extant: All
Benefit: Read Esrolian
Author: Anias
Anias's Comment: A quick browse is more stimulating than 
"Erotocomatose Lucidity".

4. THEYALAN IDIOM
Main Language: Esrolian
Part Extant: Vol.3 missing
Benefit: Read other Theyalan dialects at 1/3 skill in own.
Author: Anias and others
Anias's Comment: A disappointment.

5. FIRESPEECH CODEX
Main Language: Dara Happan
Part Extant: J-N
Benefit: +15% Read Dara Happan; +05% Yelm Cult Lore
Author: Pious Goldbreath
Anias's Comment: A massive and pompous tome, compiled before the advent 
of organized documentation and mostly incomplete, with a tendency to 
stray from the subject; yet grammatically sound.

6. SURVEY OF THE WESTERN TONG
UES
Main Language: Esrolian
Part Extant: "Vadeli" vol. lost
Benefit: +25% Read Brithini; +15% most other Western Languages.
Author: Vasil of Brithos
Anias's Comment: This work begins with a fallacy (that the written 
languages of the West predate Brithos) and ends with an untruth (that, 
as a logical consequence of the author's argument, sorcerous magic is at 
its most potent when uttered in the Brithini tongue.) 

7. THE RED EMPEROR'S NEW PELORIAN
Main Language: New Pelorian
Part Extant: All
BENEFIT: +20% Read New Pelorian.
Author: Imperial University of Glamour
Anias's Comment: A bold attempt to standardize speech across the 
Empire, this work is now in urgent need of revision.

8. FROM SARTARITE TO NEW PELORIAN: A GUIDEBOOK FOR THE NEOPHYTE
Main Language: Sartarite/New Pelorian
Part Extant: All
Benefit: +25% Read, Write and Speak New Pelorian; +05% Seven Mothers Cult Lore.
Author: Sacred Consistory of the Provincial Church
Anias's Comment: A valuable aid, once one sifts out the propaganda

9. GREETNGS OF THE PELORIAN LOWLANDS
Main Language: Tradetalk?
Part Extant: All
Benefit: Say "Hello" in the various dialects of Peloria
Author: Unknown
Anias's Comment: Obviously pitched at traders, this work is 
excellent within its narrowly defined limits.

10. CARMANIAN AS SHE IS SPOKE
Main Language: Dara Happan
Part Extant: A-Q,V,Y-Z
Benefit: Read Carmanian at 1/3 Read Dara Happan.
Author: Paulis Longvale
Anias's Comment: Vapid and prolix.

11. ESROLIAN PRONOUNCIATION GUIDE
Main language: New Pelorian
Part Extant: A, L, P-Z
Benefit: +30% Speak Esrolian
Author: Eudoxus of Nochet, priest of this temple  
Anias's Comment: Uninspired foppism.

12. SARTARITE COMMON USEAGE
Main Language: Sartarite
Part Extant: Bat - Revolt
Benefit: read Sartarite +25%
Author: Claymore Stormsong, associate sage of this temple.
Anias's Comment: A guttural piece of unscholarly writing, it is a 
subversive pamphlet without redeeming literary value.

13. HOW TO WRITE YOUR OWN NAME
Main Language: Tradetalk?
Part Extant: All
Benefit:	+75% Write Own Name.
Author:  Grey Sage Quintus Namdarian (head of the "Free Educationist" faction)
Anias's Comment: A waste of good parchment.

14. BEASTSPEECH
Main Language: Tradetalk?
Part Extant: Owhh-Ughh
Benefit:	+30% Speak Baboon.
Author: Sword Savant Rastus Pinkeye, late of this temple. 
Anias's Comment:	An unnecessary attempt to understand and imitate the 
barbarous shrieks of the Baboons; rightly banned ever since a junior 
acolyte mispronounced a phrase and accidentally summoned a malignant 
baboon ancestor-spirit.

15. ALCHEMICAL NOMENCLATURE MADE EASY
Main Language: Pavic
Part Extant: Vol.2
Benefit: May be poisoned by Black Fang
Author: Phlogiston, master of natural philosophy at this temple.
Anias's Comment: Adequate.

16. THE 10000 PICTOGRAMS OF VAYOBI
Main Language: Esrolian
Part Extant: 813
Benefit: +05% Read Kralorelan; +25% Kralorelan Calligraphy.
Author: Thredbo the Wild Sage, once of this temple, currently on his travels.
Anias's Comment: Technically and pedagogically brilliant, but of little
practical use.

17. THE SIBLIANT TONGUE OF OUROBOROS
Main language: Auld Wyrmish
Part Extant: Dip-Yaah
Benefit: +10% Read Auld Wyrmish, if at least 11% is known.
Author: Procopius, Temple Procurer
Anias's Comment: Of interest only to pedants.

18. PAVIC FOR THE PRAXIAN ANIMAL NOMAD
Language: Praxian (knots)/Pavic
Part Extant:	All	
Benefit: Speak Pavic at 1/3 Read	Praxian knots.
Author: Karin Kareetha, initiate of this temple.
Anias's Comment: A valiant but inevitably futile attempt to educate 
ignorant savages in the ways of civilized speech.

19. MY DARKTONGUE DICTIONARY
Language:	Esrolian	
Part Extant: All	
Benefit: Read Darktongue +30%. 
Author: Theodopulos Pandarus, Temple Collator.
Anias's Comment:	Mediocre

20. DARKTONGUE ENLIGHTENED
Language: Esrolian
Part Extant: Fire damaged
Benefit: Read Darktongue +15%. 
Author: Capybarus the Thinker, recently joined the Exclusivist faction.
Anias's Comment: A contemporary masterpiece that excels in clarity and
completeness. Highly acclaimed.

By Michael O'Brien  - input from Trevor Ackerly

hey, know of any more dictionaries hidden away in the various
factional hoards?

MOB

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From: MOBTOTRM@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au
Subject: Glorantha Goes to the Movies
Message-ID: <01HAPY9P0AU691W9AB@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au>
Date: 3 Apr 94 11:28:51 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3498

Some more things to keep everyone amused in these dark and troubled 
times (forgive if you've seen some before):

Some Gloranthan Films we'd like to see...

The  Unbearable  Lightness  of  YELM

Seven Brides
 for 
Seven Mothers

The Wizard of Uz

Room with a Broo

For a Few Clacks More
plus the sequel, 
A Fistfull of Clacks

AMAZON  WOMEN  OF  THE (Red) MOON

A t y a r    i s    B o r n
                                                                    
The Ogre Sanction

Mad Prax - Beyond Sun Dome


...Got any more anyone?

Cheers

MOB

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From: 100270.337@CompuServe.COM (Nick Brooke)
Subject: World Changing
Message-ID: <940402164247_100270.337_BHL26-2@CompuServe.COM>
Date: 2 Apr 94 16:42:48 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3499

Colin Watson said:

> If I may, I'll tenuously link this to what Sandy said:

>> I resort to one of three techniques when I am changing an old rule or  
>> introducing a new one, and the players don't like the alteration to  
>> their game. [...]

> A fourth technique would be to induct the characters into a mini Hero-
> quest and then tell the players afterwards that the rule-change was a
> side-effect of shifting to another reality.

Something like this happened to us after we went on Old Hare's Riddle Quest 
(Tales #7): David took the opportunity of our having reenacted deeds by the 
founder of our stead to change its name, and introduced a more detailed and 
slightly different map of the Greydog Clan lands. Of course, we're the only 
people who think it was ever any different...

====
Nick
====

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From: ROBERTSON@delphi.intel.com (Roderick Robertson, SC1-5, x52936)
Subject: Games...
Message-ID: <97353F8D4000A866@delphi.intel.com>
Date: 2 Apr 94 17:57:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3500

Roderick Here,

Harald Smith writes:
          
>          Since most of the world's population does not live in cities, but 
>          in small villages, you are unlikely to have enough people to play 
>          sports that require large teams.  Most games such as soccer or 
>          baseball are urban developments of the early modern to modern 
>          world.  Far more likely in the villages are wrestling matches 
>          (certainly popular in my development of Imther and also IMO in 
>          any Orlanthi based culture) or games involving a limited number 
>          of teens or young adults utilizing the cultural weapons be they 
>          javelins, spears, bows, etc.  And in the nomadic areas where most 
>          people spend their time looking after the herds or hunting (just 
>          surviving day-to-day), you are unlikely to have any sports except 
>          at major tribal gatherings (again picturing games or competitions 
>          which emphasize the cultural weapons or skills).

    Not particularly true. The Scots, have a version of field hockey
(Shinty/Camanach) that can be played by almost any number of people. In
Scotland, the games was literally played between villages (One goal is the
corner of that house in that village, the other goal is that oaktree in
that other village). Games could last all day, with all able-bodied men
joining in. Teams of 10-20 in *any* culture are not large, even if that is
the total game-playing population of the village. As far as not allowing 
Golf to the sartarites, Shinty was the precursor to it, when we try to
explain Shinty, we call it full-contact or combat golf... 

James Polk: 

>Additionally, in any society which spends 90+% of its time trying to 
>keep themselves alive (Nomads in the Wastes, the RQ 2 Balazarlings),
>these contests would occur only during special events, such as Sacred Time
>celebrations.  When one spends all one's time trying to get enough to 
>eat, games don't seem very important.

   Those Hunter/Gatering or Nomadic societies usually prove to have *more* 
free time than civilized folk. They are not trying to build up reserves of 
useless things (Money, furniture, books...), instead, as soon as they have 
enough food (whether for a day or a week, it depends on what they consider 
"enough"), they stop working. Without the impedimetiae of 'civilization', 
they can spend more time on what they consider recreation. This is not to 
say that games based on war (football) or hunting (hide and seek) are not 
considered recreational.


Various and sundry items...

   The game played in Afghanistan with the headless calf is Bouzkashi 
(sp?), and is another violent sport (not only do you worry about your 
opponents, you've got to stay on the horse!).

  There are Broo ecology writeups in Borderlands and River of Cradles

  A Fester of Broos? Postule of Broos?


DANCING IN GLORANTHAN CULTURES

   Something I've though on was the style of Folk dancing in various 
Gloranthan cultures: 

  Orlanthi prefer Line dances (Like Greek/Israeli), or Circle dances

  Earth Cults like Square Dances (not necessarily the 'called' American Square
Dances, there are squares in other cultures: Irish and Scottish for 
instance) 

  Dara Happans - five or ten couple facing-line dances like many set dances
(for instance the Virginia Reel). They'd be slow and courtly with a lot of
posturing and intricate steps. 

  Lunars - Goddess knows... (Mosh-pit insanity?) I assume they haven't actually 
developed "Lunar" dances, they do whatever dances they acquired from the 
cultures in the Empire. One possibilty for the lunars is a medieval dance 
called the Bransle (pronounced Brawl). It starts as a sedate circle dance, 
with a moment of insanity. It speeds up as you go.

  Sun Domers - Don't dance (Just kidding).  Most likely segregated Circle
dances, possibly with a central dancer showing off (Sun Rune) in the men's 
circle. (Why don't Sun Domers make love standing up? They don't want anyone 
to think they are dancing...)

  Nomads - Based on American Indians, they'd do Circle dances. I don't know 
enough about mongol dances.

  All cultures tend to have dances done by individuals, those in
mountainous regions on Earth all have a lot of leaping and vertical 
movement (lack of flat ground for dance floors? or well-developed legs from 
climbing hills, who knows?)

  Couple dancing (Hambo, Waltz, Polka, etc) happen in many cultures (I'd 
keep them away from the up-tight Solars), the spinning seems natural for 
Orlanthi. 

  Remember that dances can be used for many social outlets - Showing off 
finery, showing off prowess or strength, flirting, snubbing, and other 
forms of courtship.


  I have also only focused on Folk dances, not religious ones. 

Roderick Robertson

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From: ddunham@radiomail.net (David Dunham)
Subject: Hunters vs Farmers
Message-ID: <199404030127.AA16876@radiomail.net>
Date: 3 Apr 94 01:27:59 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3502

James Polk wrote
>in any society which spends 90+% of its time trying to 
>keep themselves alive (Nomads in the Wastes, the RQ 2 Balazarlings)

On Earth, hunter-gatherers currently live only on marginal land (e.g.
Arctic or Kalahari Desert). Nonetheless, they spend fewer hours per week on
economic activities than do non-industrialized agriculturalists.
Furthermore, I see no evidence from a quick look at Griffin Mountain that
the Balazarings have a hard life.

Agriculture is a lousy lifestyle that nobody enters into willingly -- you
adopt it because you're so densely populated you have no other choice. On
the plus side, you do sometimes end up with surpluses that hunter-gatherers
don't. On the minus side, if there's a localized drought, you generally
can't just follow the game (or grazing). On the plus side, you can aspire
to lead many men. On the minus side, you almost certainly end up getting
led (hunter-gatherers are almost egalitarian).


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From: eco0kkn@cabell.vcu.edu (Kirsten K. Niemann)
Subject: A What of Broos?
Message-ID: <9404040050.AA09838@cabell.vcu.edu>
Date: 4 Apr 94 00:50:26 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3503

Mike Dawson here, not Kirsten Niemann.

Gee guys, 
it seems really obvious to me.

We came up with this one around 10 years ago, if memory serves.

A PLAGUE of broos.

Mike

-- 
------------
Gloranthophiles need to contact me at codexzine@aol.com
for information about Codex Magazine.
UK Gloranthophiles write to cphillips@blue.demon.co.uk
"Inquiries into the nature and secrets of Glorantha"   .
------------------------------------------------------/_\

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