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, Fri, 08 Jul 1994, part 3
Sender: Henk.Langeveld@Holland.Sun.COM
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From: CryptoMatt@aol.com
Subject: The Hill of Gold and Islam in Glorantha
Message-ID: <9407071745.tn118294@aol.com>
Date: 7 Jul 94 21:45:44 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 5071
Greetings All, Matt Thale here...
I've been looking through my various Gloranthan maps,
and I've not been able to find any references to the
fabled Hill of Gold. I assume that the godtime location
has a physical world location to go along with it. Does
anyone know where it is?
I've always thought that The Hill of Gold was somewhere
in Peloria, but I can't remember if I read that
somewhere or if I just figured that it ought to be
there. Any advice would greatly appreciated.
____________________________________________________________________
And about that Islam...
Quoting Urox quoting the first surah of the quran...
"Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Rahim!
Alhadmulillahi Rabbil 'Alamiin
Arrahmanir Rahiim...
etc etc
Interesting transliteration system that... But I suppose that
is beyond the scope of the RQ Daily. ;-) However, I do agree
that Islam would make a very interesting model for Malkionism.
One of the five pillars of Islam, Ash Shahada (the creed) states,
La Ilah Illa Allah wah Muhammed Rasool Allah
There is no God but God and Muhammed is the Prophet of God.
How difficult would it to insert Malkion in place of Muhammed?
Certain aspects of Islam, especially those mentioned by Urox
(Mark Foster), lend themselves to Malkionism quite well.
However, I think that Malkionism as Psuedo-Islam works best
alongside a Psuedo-Christianity sect of Malkionism. That makes
for lots of good opportunities for Crusades/Jihads to cleanse
those misguided (fill in name of appropriate sect here) of their
infidel ideas.
Add that to the conflict between the Gloranthan equivalents of
the various Islamic sect... Terrible infighting over Hrestol's
successors... The possibilities are seemingly endless.
Of course, if Malkionism is akin to Islam, we're going to have
to chance those cathedrals to Masjids (mosques). Certainly that
won't be any harder than turning Sultanates to Satrapies. ;-)
-Matt Thale
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From: guy.hoyle@chrysalis.org
Subject: FEMALE FIGHTE
Message-ID: <9407071535.0LWP900@chrysalis.org>
Date: 7 Jul 94 13:35:42 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 5072
The subject of fighting women in Malkioni cultures has come up recently.
Here are a few examples of some historical RW fighting women, taken from
Jessica Amanda Salmonson's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMAZONS, which is a good sourcebook
for historical, legendary, and fictional women (despite her rather broad
interpretation of the term Amazon).
All of the following examples are historical ones, primarily dating from
the 11th to 16th Centuries (with a couple of exceptions). These women all had
some kind of extended career as warriors, and took to the field themselves
(thus indicating some kind of martial prowess); they were not solely generals,
leading from behind the lines. Most of them were either nobles or outlaws,
sometimes both. All the women cited here were historical characters, not
fictional or legendary ones.
Bonney, Anne (1700-1722?): Famous pirate. On one occasion, her (male)
pirates captured a shipment of dresses destined for a bordello; they dressed up
and were dancing around when another likely ship fell into their clutches. They
attacked the other ship in full drag and daubed with blood; their victims
thought they were being attacked by ghosts.
Eleonore of Toledo: Married a Medici prince in 1543; fought beside him in
several ghastly battles, and led skirmishes of her own; helped her husband take
the city of Sienna.
Erauso, Dona Catalina de (1592-1650): Fled a convent and became a soldier
of fortune of great sword skill and reknown throughout Mexico & Peru; granted
special permission to wear men's garb by Pope Urban VIII. King Philip awarded
her a pension for defending the Spanish territory and flag, despite that such
defense consisted largely of "gambling, stabbing, robbing" and the seduction of
beautiful ladies.
Isabella I of Spain (AD 1451-1504): considered a great military genius;
led early wars of succession that settled her and Ferdinand upon the throne.
Constantly riding across the countryside and undergoing hardships of the field;
once suffered a miscarriage during the siege of Toledo in 1475.
Isabelle of England (AD 1285?-1313?): wife of Edward II of England; took
up arms against her husband and his supporters. When Edward III came to the
throne, she fled to Scotland, and travelled around with a troop of fighting
noblewomen. Was eventually caught and forced into a convent.
Isabella of Lorraine (1410?-1453): renowned in arts and arms, once
liberated her husband from captivity at the head of an army, and fought for his
recognition as sovreign of Sicily.
Janine-Marie de Foix: served as cavalry fighter with Charles V between
1377-1380.
Mary of Hungary (1505-1558): called "Mother of the Camp" for her military
prowess, and"the Diana" for her love of field sports. Governed the Netherlands
and conducted several wars in the mid-1500s, frequently mingling with the
troops on horseback.
Matilda Augustus of England (1102-1167). Daughter and chosen heir of Henry
I, but her cousin Stephen took the throne by conspiracy. Waged war on Stephen
with the support of the Church, rampaging across the countryside for 9 years,
challenging those barons aligned with Stephen.
Matilda of Tuscany (1046-1115): learned to "ride like a lancer, spear in
hand, to bear a pike like a footsoldier and to wield both battleax and sword".
Made and sustained sieges, maneuvered troops, and defended the papacy against
Emperor Henry IV, defeating him several times.
Most of the above examples I saw indicate that remarkable women (such as
PCs) are able to pursue a martial career, even in a male-dominated society
(such as the Malkioni cultures). They are exceptions rather than the rule.
Most of them seemed to be noblewomen who had some training in hunting and at
least basic arms. They became fighters because circumstances compelled or
allowed them to do so, such as their husbands dying or being captured; these
women then took up the defense of their realm and often went on to greater
glory.
Another common model for the fighting woman is the outlaw, who often
disguises herself as a man to take up the sword. Sometimes she can spend her
whole career in disguise; other times she is found out, but has proven herself
so worthy that she continues to act as a man even after being exposed.
Sorry about being so long, but I hope this contributes to the discussion.
GUY HOYLE aka Fido Two-Big-Clubs
"Human Women AIN'T Like Herd Women!"
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From: guy.hoyle@chrysalis.org
Subject: CODEX #2
Message-ID: <9407071738.0OS1100@chrysalis.org>
Date: 7 Jul 94 15:38:07 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 5073
Just got the 2nd issue of CODEX, which looks to be very useful indeed.
Included are articles on the Ban as seen by various Fronelan peoples, by Martin
Crim; The Five Ancients, Horrors of Fronela, by Mike Dawson; A History of
Fronelan Malkionism, by Martin Crim, including a section on Malkioni church
structure; a Timeline for Fronela, compiled from many sources by Mark
Sabaluskas, Mike Dawson, and Nick Brooke; a map of the God Plane, from a map by
Greg Stafford; Galastar, a city swallowed up by the Ban, and now ripe for
adventurers and thieves; Tribes of Mortasor, by Paul Reilly; and Myths of
Galastar, by Paul Reilly. On the back cover is a short feature by Joerg, "Why
does the Red Moon have phases?".
The issue is superb; the maps of the Godplane and Galastar are very nice
indeed, and most of the other atrwork are very nice indeed. For GMs running a
campaign in Fronela, there seems to be a gratifying amount of usable
information; of particular use is Galastar itself.
The map on the Gods Plane is sure to excite commentary and controversy, as this
is the first graphic depiction (to my knowledge) of the Gloranthan Universe as
a whole. There are also stylized depictions of the Gods Plane in symbolic
form, which, I understand, is to become the Codex logo. I have to ask the
questions, though: What is the Rim Zone? Time's Belt? The Godswar Oceanic Bulge
and Hell Bulge? Why Central, Middle, and Lower Air rather than Upper, Middle,
Lower? What is the Everdark? What is the broken line leading downwards from the
Eastern Rim Zone to the square near the Land of the Dead?
Mike Dawson also mentions in the Polemic section that he considers Greg Maples'
EPIC System to be a good model for HeroQuesting. I haven't seen this game
anywhere; is it available to the public? Who publishes it?
All in all, a good magazine with some great features. There is also a great
need for new subscribers, to lower the cost of postage; I plan on sending in a
check for a full subscription immediately, and I encourage others to do so as
well. I'm even going to ask my friends who own a comics store to start
carrying it.
GUY HOYLE (not Guy Robinson)
aka Fido Two-Big-Clubs
"Human Women AIN'T Like Herd Women!"
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