Dream walking?

From: steve_at_...
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 11:57:44 +1300


Hi All,

One of my gamers is trying to figure out their backstory. At the moment, it looks like Dad became a Windlord and promptly took off adventuring, and Mum is an Ernaldan devotee. We started discussing _why_ someone with brains and skills would choose to marry someone who was on the path to Windlord...

I quite like the following, and I thought I'd share it. (in the post, Unn is the Ernaldan, and Viggo the Windlord.)

The player, Jennifer, came up with:
> I'm looking for a way to describe people who have an inherent
> affinity with their god. A calling, a vocation, something
> that can't easily be denied. Probably something that haunts
> their dreams and blurs the boundaries between dreaming and
> the hero-plane. Possibly something that spills over into
> their waking lives, leading to episodes of fugue or acting-
> in-this-world-what-you're-seeing-in-the-other-world.
> Basically a divine madness.

> I imagine that Unn has it to some degree, but that
> channeling Ernalda fits into the social context fairly well.
> I imagine that Viggo has it to the point where it's almost
> crippling to his normal social functioning, and possibly even
> dangerous to the people around him. Unn understands it in a
> way that would be hard for someone who doesn't experience it.
> Still figuring out the details, but when Viggo is being Viggo
> he's wonderful, and when he's being Destor (?) he's mythic,
> and although all up this means he's a lousy father and
> husband, it's still a precious thing to be so close to the
> gods, and it's one of the most powerful active forces in
> Unn's life.

I _really_ like the imagery, and the idea that some people are marked by the Gods - becoming a devotee or disciple becomes not necessarily a matter of complete free will, but a calling. I think it works with Glorantha (as I understand it). Jennifer came up with Dream Walking as a description, does anyone have a better name?

Imagine the poor bastard who's channeling Eurmal...

Stephen

-- 
Stephen Rennell 	steve_at_... 
Wellington, New Zealand 
GPG fingerprint - 
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