Bell Digest v940912p1

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, 12 Sep 1994, part 1
Sender: Henk.Langeveld@Holland.Sun.COM
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Precedence: junk

X-RQ-ID: Intro

This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on
the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's 
world of Glorantha.  It is sent out once per day in digest
format.

More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found
after the last message in this digest.

X-RQ-ID: index

6156:  = 
 - If you don't ask you don't get
6157:  = 
 - Fill your blank Truestone
6158:  = 
 - Newt News
6159:  = 
 - The Blue Wizard is not GRAY...
6160:  = 
 - scenario for free
6161:  = 
 - Greetings and Scenario
6162:  = 
 - RUNEQUEST DAI
6163:  = 
 - Basmol

---------------------

From: 100102.3001@compuserve.com (Peter J. Whitelaw)
Subject: If you don't ask you don't get
Message-ID: <940911112741_100102.3001_BHJ20-1@CompuServe.COM>
Date: 11 Sep 94 11:27:42 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 6156

Hi all,

MOB kindly says,
>The sort of hardworking GM we'd all like to have!

Only when the alternative is decorating and my wife isn't around...

>Make me one of the three.

Sadly MOB, you're the only one :-(

>>Although if you tell me 1/2 way through some long post on the finer points of
>>GRoY then I probably won't see it ;-)
>
>Me neither...

Despite pleas for GRoY stuff to go off-line with occasional summaries or
conclusions being made available to the (largely) disinterested masses it seems
that they persist.

I suppose we shouldn't begrudge anyone, though, who makes the effort to post
material whatever its nature. 

Actually, the most useful post to come out of all of it, IMHO, was Pam Carlson's
Y(K)ELMAL(IO) a couple of days back.  

>What a wonderful thing it is to own *too many* RQ books so that you can
>forget you've got information on something and have to make it up yourself!

Scatterbrained, more like.

>(Now that I've let the (shadow)cat out of the bag, what do people think of
>another book of adventures in and around Sun County?  Book might also
>feature a brief run-down of the Elmal/Yelmalio business too.  I have a
>number of scenarios worth running with, including one set in the Count's
>recently-opened halite mines at Pent Ridge out in Vulture's Country.  But, hey,
>I gotta finish SotRM first!)

Go for it!  Hard-pressed GM's need scenarios to run when they can't find the
time to create their own.  Certainly, more material to support that which is
already in print should be well received by the gaming masses, whose spending
habits directly affect which lines get pushed by Games companies and which
don't.

If RQ (or whatever it may become) is to thrive it has to compete with some very
well supported products.  We all laughed and jeered at the kiddy stuff that got
auctioned off at Convulsion but it is sickening to know that in the short time
Shadowrun has been around FASA  have produced far more material for it than we
have seen for RQIII.

I guess that's partly why Shadowrun stuff just a year old was being flogged for
a couple of quid whilst ten year old RQ supplements were being bid up to the
heavens.

To some extent, it must be possible to create demand for a product (I'm no
economist, just a banker ;-)) in that if the slavering horder see a shelf in
their hobby store replete with well-produced RQ scenario books then they are
going to gravitate towards them?

Anyway, Sun County was a great pack and I'd like to see more of it.

All the best,

Peter



---------------------

From: QFF00036@niftyserve.or.jp (QFF00036@niftyse)
Subject: Fill your blank Truestone
Message-ID: <199409111131.UAA27057@inetnif.niftyserve.or.jp>
Date: 11 Sep 94 11:29:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 6157

Hellow everyone.

I have a question about Blank Truestone.

A priest who cast all his rune spells into the trunestone
(A) cannot regain them and he must resacrifice to the spell.
   or
(B) can regain them when he pray in his temple as usual.

which is true?


Regards.
                       // Kuri (QFF00036@niftyserve.or.jp) //


---------------------

From: f6ri@midway.uchicago.edu (charles gregory fried)
Subject: scenario for free
Message-ID: 
Date: 11 Sep 94 22:46:39 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 6160

Greg Fried here.

Peter:
I for one would welcome your WMFTM here on the Daily.  Send it in!

Ian:
Please send me your cults.

Henk:
The use of tables-of-contents for the Daily is MUCH appreciated!

Bryan:
I am no expert on the Orlanth pantheon or Sartar culture (at elast in
comparison with others on this list!), but I thought your Vinga write-up was
great!  Many very nice touches.  No criticisms, constructive or otherwise,
but thanks for posting it.  I plan to use it, if my campaign even gets to
Sartar!

Martin:
Your treatise on greetings was fun and plausible.  Here are some more, based
on my East Isles campaign: 

East Islanders are as open and friendly (on average) as Genertelans are
suspicious and vicious.  A typical Islander greeting in the morning is
"Dawn's blessing to you!" or "Good Dawn!" or "Good day!"  An afternoon
greeting is "Good day" and a good-bye is "May Theya guide you!"  A dusk or
night-time greeting is "Good Eve!", and a night-time good-bye is "May your
night be short!" or "Dream well!"  Of course, there are thousands of variants
and alternatives, on the thousands of islands. 

Some Islanders use an interesting gesture of greeting: the 

---------------------

From: f6ri@midway.uchicago.edu (charles gregory fried)
Subject: Greetings and Scenario
Message-ID: 
Date: 11 Sep 94 22:54:44 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 6161

Oops.  Cut off.  Greg Fried again.

As I was saying, some Islanders use an interesting gesture of greeting: they
clasp right and left hands together, interlocking the fingers, and then
rotate the clasped hands 90 degrees up and out to the person they are
greeting, causing the fingers to form the stylized image of a net -- this is
Theya's Greeting, and represents her Net.

- A Scenario
Since it has been a while, I offer again for anyone who wishes it, my
scenario "Atek's Ghost" which is set in the East Isles.  I will send it by
email.  It includes an adventure, plus background information.  Send me mail
at my address (f6ri@midway.uchicago.edu) and I will send it back to you.  
The scenaio is in the "sticks and shamanism" style -- emphasizing local
culture and low-tech adventuring. It is intended for beginning players as an
introduction to RQ roleplaying.

 Greg Fried out.

---------------------

From: guy.hoyle@chrysalis.org
Subject: RUNEQUEST DAI
Message-ID: <9409111954.0RZBD01@chrysalis.org>
Date: 11 Sep 94 17:54:52 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 6162


                                       

Alas, while I was out of town for the weekend, my BBS apparently had 
some kind of malfunction, and I lost the Runequest Dailies and the 
Digest from Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Can someone take pity on me 
and Email these to me?
 
GUY (guy.hoyle@chrysalis.org)
aka Fido Two-Big-Clubs

 * RM 1.3  * Eval Day 13 * RoboMail -- The next generation QWK compatible
reader!

---------------------

From: jacobus@sonata.cc.purdue.edu (Bryan J. Maloney)
Subject: Basmol
Message-ID: <9409120632.AA06878@yelm.Holland.Sun.COM>
Date: 12 Sep 94 07:32:19 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 6163




You are different from the others, child, so I will tell you a tale that
the others don't get.

You are different from your fathers.

You are different from your mothers.

You are different from your littermates.

You are different child, so I will tell you a tale that the others don't get.

You have seen me dance Basmol's Perfect Dance, haven't you, boy?  You have
seen me don Basmol's Fleeting Skin, haven't you, boy?  You have seen me eat
with his teeth, run with his claws, haven't you, boy?  I'll tell you this,
boy--it's all a lie.

I do not wear Basmol's Skin.
I do not show Basmol's Claws.
I do not wield Basmol's Teeth.
It is all a lie.

Sit down and shut up, boy.
Sit down and listen, boy.
Sit down or you will never know, boy.

The Skin I wear is a corpse's.
The Claws I show are a corpse's.
The Teeth I wield are a corpse's.

In the days when Basmol lived, his coat was bright.
In the days when Basmol lived, his fangs were great.
In the days when Basmol lived, his claws were long.
The sky was his hunting ground.

Now, boy, we scratch the earth like old women for our food.  
In the old times, we leapt like the birds.
In the old times, we clawed like the hawk.
In the old times, we danced with the sun.

Now, boy, we scratch the earth like old women for our food.

Remember these things, for you are different.
Remember that Basmol's limbs are not Basmol's limbs.
Remember that Basmol's teeth are not Basmol's teeth.
Remember that Basmol's skin is not Basmol's skin.

Curse the ones who shortened our claws.
Curse the ones who turned our teeth in.
Curse the ones who stole our wings.


---------------------

From: 100270.337@compuserve.com (Nick Brooke)
Subject: Newt News
Message-ID: <940911181250_100270.337_BHL55-1@CompuServe.COM>
Date: 11 Sep 94 18:12:51 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 6158

_____
Alex:

> I'm sure you know your own tribe, Nick (said in a wary, if not skeptical
> tone), but are Humakti really booted out of the clan?

During play, we "booted Corwen out" when he became a Sword of Humakt. We 
held his funeral/wake, drank too much Auld Mutz, and told stories about how 
sad it was that he was now Dead. Mind you, he had big personal reasons for 
not wanting to be one of us any more: embarrassing household problems like 
those between Humakt and Orlanth (his brother had killed a Yelmalion guest 
at a reconciliation dinner hosted by Fazzur Wideread). So maybe he went a 
bit further than most Swords would go.

Before that, when Corwen was just a well-'ard Humakti Sword wannabe, he was 
still "one of us". (I'd agree with you that, in general, Lismelder Humakti 
initiates are integrated into the everyday life of their clan; I don't see 
why an Indrodar cultist shouldn't stay that way forever).

Afterwards, he went off to join the tribe's Humakti, and they sent him back 
to serve as a Sword-thane under our Chieftain. So now there's this foreign 
guy, called Corwen, who still hangs around with us, joins us on our distant 
journeys, and has a place in the weapontakes and clan moots, but he's not 
one of us any more. Our brother/cousin/friend Corwen is Truly Dead.

To make my position clear: outside the limits of our own campaign game, I 
do not think that all Humakti in all Orlanthi societies everywhere have to 
leave their clan, divorce their wives, or anything else like that, whether 
upon initiation, Sword-making (forging?), or whatever. That's just the way 
it's worked for us, once. I was there. I saw it happen.

Anyway, we don't want people who wave big swords and embody Death to take 
part in the Spawning Pools Ritual of the Great Newt. Might hurt somebody.

Re: "Argrath's Saga" -- I meant "Arkat's Saga".

________
Peter M:

AF>> Couldn't disagree more.  The rituals, for most purposes, _are_ the
AF>> religion, not a PR bolt-on.

PM> Hmm, we'll have a lot harder time trying to get regional variation
PM> that way.

I don't follow this at all. In the same post you've postulated three local 
traditions, involving dancing, bull-sacrifice and meditation, to obtain the 
same spell-effect (I presume). Looks like instant regional variation to me.

Why not read something like "Patterns in Comparative Religion" (Mircea 
Eliade), "The Destiny of the Warrior" (Georges Dumezil) or "The Golden 
Bough" (James Frazer) to get a feel for how far mythological images or 
aspects can diverge across cultures with time?

(Please don't bother answering that all Gloranthans are Sim-Gloranthan 
robots whose mythical-cum-religious experience cannot be compared to 
anything which arose in the real world. We've had that thread before,
and it never gets us anywhere.)


> Call the Moon Oria and you have a good indication of what I suspect...

Nice idea. Wrong, but nice. FYI, I've learned from Greg that in his view, 
Feminine cycles =/= Moon cycles; pregnancy and menstruation etc. are not 
connected to the Moon, except insofar as the Moon is perceived as female.

______________
David Cowling:

> Does anyone have a cult work up, or information on Yelornans?  I have a
> new player to play a female in a Prax campaign, and thought that cult
> would be best.  Are there Babeester Gor in Prax?

Yelorna was detailed in "Big Rubble", back in the Golden Age of player- 
friendly kitchen-sink cult write-ups. Maybe someone has a copy handy, and 
time enough to retype the salient points. It wasn't very cultural, IMHO.

I'd be surprised if there were no temple guardians at the Paps, but (like 
the Paps religion as a whole) they'd likely be sedentary full-timers, not 
roving nomadic player-character types. IMO, Babeester Gor cultists are very 
very dangerous and violent influences on a campaign; I've only once given 
one out as a PC, and that was for a campaign which revolved around avenging 
a theft from an Esrolite shrine. Freely-roaming BGs scare me shitless.


> Do Humakti HeroQuest (I know Arkat did). If so, is it a shadow of Humakt
> that they face as well.  

Yes, and Yes. Most of the recorded Staffordian HeroQuests were primarily 
Humakti affairs (Six Stones, Alebard's Quest). And Humakti must always be 
prepared to face Death. That doesn't mean they have to let it kill them.

Everyone who worships, HeroQuests.


> Other than the obligatory die rolls in the Cults book, what do you do if
> a PC is qualified for Rune Lord status ... I am making a near Rune Level
> Humakti undertake two LARGE missions for the temple as cult service. If
> he is succesfsful in both should this be enough? I kinda wanted to ask
> some deep, cult-morality type questions as well. Opinions??

Sounds good to me. I'd rather keep your version, and waive the "obligatory 
die rolls" while fudging the numbers of 90%+ skills required. Becoming an 
initiate, Rune Lord, priest, thane, sacred milkman, or bartender at Gimpy's 
is a Major Campaign Event, not something to brush off as a wee mechanical 
hiatus. OTOH, if your group enjoys a far-ranging campaign with low-level 
social ties and no fixed abodes, maybe the mechanical way is easiest.

_______
Martin:

> I'm really only quoting the above because I've caught the never-let-
> anyone-else-get-the-last-word bug. I'll be repeating this ad nauseam...

Am I unique in paying my own $$$ to read this list? Be sociable, guys!

________
Peter W:

> The file is about 11895 bytes in ASCII format so would be about 1/2 a
> 'part' of the Daily.  I appreciate that some of you might not want that
> much of the Daily to be taken up by one post.

> If three people tell me they want it, by private post or on the Daily
> then I'll post it.

I'd love to see your WMFTM, as a post to the Daily. Might prompt me to dig 
up my old Esrolite WMMTM as a response. Let's open a new can-o'worms...

____
MOB:

> Now that I've let the (shadow)cat out of the bag, what do people think
> of another book of adventures in and around Sun County?  Book might also
> feature a brief run-down of the Elmal/Yelmalio business too.

Can't have too much of a good thing. I say, go for it!

____
Pam:

> Can Basmol be considered to be a part of the solar scene? ... There are
> other similarities: lions are yellow, have halo-like manes, and live in
> very patriarchal societies.

The sabre-toothed god identified on the Gods Wall (Sakkar, God of Fear, 
Hunter of Men) was always an Enemy to the Dara Happans. They identify with 
birds; the Eagle is their Big Solar Animal.

But you'll be pleased to know that the Carmanian Padishahs of the tenth and 
eleventh centuries were known as the Golden Lion Shahs, and were for most 
of that time close allies (and relatives) of the Dara Happan Emperors. So 
there's a whole bunch of 'solar' lion imagery in lands of the old Carmanian 
Empire. Some artwork of this period combines Eagles, Lions, and Hounds to 
represent the brother-kingdoms of Dara Happa, Carmania and Saird. It's one 
of the strongest symbols of the era.

After the Dragonkill, the Carmanians went over to Bull worship; most of the 
Lion warriors had been killed, and a bunch of barbarian usurpers took over. 
They weren't related or friendly to Dara Happa after that, so everything 
diverged again (mythologically, symbolically, politically, etc.).

Look at Assyria for some Real Fun Stuff.

_______________
Paul Honigmann:

> I am currently running a campaign where the PCs are interacting with
> members of the Kalikos Icebreaker cult. Can anyone tell me where info.
> on this cult can be found? or has anyone got any ideas about it,
> particularly why and how this cult is so good at dealing with ice
> demons .... that is, why they are better than other cults which have
> fire magic for example.

No bulky published info is available: if you've heard of her, and know a 
star is named for her, you know more or less all that's in the public 
domain. The Gloranthan Encyclopaedia had a version of her story, written 
about fifteen years ago, which Greg had forgotten about completely when he 
brought her back in more recent (draft/ unpublished) work as a figure from 
early Pentan mythology. Her Lunar connection remains obscure.

Chris Gidlow is writing another Lunar semi-freeform (sequel to the Tarsh 
War) called "The Hunt for Red Storm Season" about a defecting icebreaker; 
I'll know more after we've been through that game. Current ideas are very 
much tied up with the naval and strategic aspects, trireme-cum-submarine 
puns (Lodril totem-torpedoes, anyone?), and those good old fashioned Lunar 
Soviet parallels. Surely no coincidence that the Evil Red Empire sends 
(Lenin-class?) Icebreakers out across the frozen sea... (Well, actually it 
was: we surprised Greg with this after Convulsion. Must be serendipity 
striking again.)

____________
Simon Jones:

> How do the initiates see in the Vivamort temples? ... My theory is that
> owing to the large amount of time spent as initiates, before achieving
> immortality, they spend their time growing accustomed to the dark...

All your suggestions sound right to me. Though in a game I'd be tempted to 
have enough lighting for PCs to be able to see the terrifying rituals that 
are going on, so as to create MGF. Until I really want to scare them by 
having the lights go out...

____________
Simon Hibbs:

> Go right ahead, Pete. I think your ideas are interesting and reflect a
> different view of heroquesting from mine. You seem to believe in an
> underlying mythological truth, where I believe in a continuous mytho-
> logical process. That's ok.

I'll second this statement, and the whole preceding post.

====
Nick
====