Re: Lhankhor Mhy book protection

From: Peter Larsen <plarsen_at_...>
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 09:01:40 -0600

At 10:41 AM +0000 3/11/02, Graham Robinson wrote:
> > >1. Do books and scrolls and other written media have "book daimones" which
>> >are awakened by the sage? Perhaps some sort of "offspring" born from the
>> >union of the sage and his personal "Light of Inspiration"? Would all books
>> >have this daimon or only certain books? And, if the latter, what would be
>> >the criterion to have one from the standpoint of the LM sage? ("That's an
>> >important work, boy! You'd better make amends for dropping him! Put him on
>> >that pillow over there...")
>>
>> I doubt this. It seems unlikely that every item would have a
>>guardian daimon. It's possible that some LM worshippers could summon
>>daimons to inhabit materials or awaken the materials' guardians (ala Pella
>>for pottery or Orstan for wooden items).
>
>I totally disagree here. I believe that everything in Glorantha has its
>guardian spirit/daemon/whatever. It may not be awake, or you may not know
>how to talk to it, but it is there.

        Maybe I should have said "_active_ guardian daimon." Everything may have a sleeping guardian whatits, but it doesn't have much effect on anything (still use the default 14 resistance, etc). It's a good excuse for when a very simple action fails. "Can't get through the door, Swen? Maybe you've offended the door daimon?" "More likely Eurmal's in the ale again...."

>Reading, at least to the Orlanthi, is
>proof of this. Those strange grey beards stare at the book for several
>hours, their lips moving in quiet prayer, and at the end of it, the book
>tells them things! What more proof of a containing spirit do you need?

        Har. Har. Which reminds me -- even among the LM, I doubt literacy levels are all that high by modern RW standards. Your average clan LM can read (unless he/she is very bad), but it's probably a slow process with much keeping track with fingers and moving of lips. It helps that what's being read is likely familiar, too -- myths, laws, sagas -- that sort of thing. If presented with a strange and complex written work, the clan LM, even if familiar with the script, may take a considerable period of time to decipher it.

Peter Larsen