Illumination

From: S. Ben Melhuish <sben_at_...>
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2004 10:09:03 -0800

Illumination seems to have been a prominent feature of Glorantha from the old (pre-Issaries) publications. (Or perhaps it's just a particularly interesting one, and so gets more attention, sort of like Vinga and her role in the Storm Tribe?)

However, I haven't gotten the sense that it's deeply important from the Issaries publications I've read (all but the most recent -- Dragon Pass and Hero's Book). Is that a misreading on my part, or is it being deemphasized in more recent publications?

And on that note, I don't have a clear idea of the sorts of themes that illumination can, er, shed light on. Orlanthi I get, Lunars and Dara Happans and Malkioni I all get to varying degrees, but I don't see how illumination fits into the Gloranthan cosmology and/or how to tell deeply interesting stories with it. Any help would be appreciated, especially help that doesn't refer to out-of-print books.

Thanks in advance --

• Sben