>A spell involves using an essence source. To get access to that
>involves HQing.
Really. So all magic requires HQing? Then why was HQing such a big
discovery? Or are we defining Hero Questing as "any time you cross into
the hero plane"?
This is part of the whole bit I've never quite understood in Glorantha.
A spell is something you learn, right? So it's a formula to access the
power of a rune.
So how is that a HeroQuest?
>I'm not keen on Peter's analogy of road building.
>To my mind it is more like mapmaking. The God Learners knew many
>routes around the Hero Plane and a sorcerer could get magic by
>following those routes. Without those maps it takes far longer
>and is far more dangerous to get the same magic.
So you would say that a modern sorcerer could find a God Learner's
grimoire and possibly use it as a map to find magic, but they might not
understand all the allusions and such.
No fundamental change in the nature of magic, just lost knowledge.
>The Lunars are doing something similar in the 3rd Age with the
>College of Magic.
As in they are mapping new paths on the hero plane to magic?
>>Certainly something I've seen implied. Does this mean the modes of
>>worship and type of magic you get changed?
>>Glorantha has struck me for the most part as a deeply conservative
>>world, where people can't really change their modes of magic or they get
>>struck down by the universe and/or chaos.
>>Do it as your ancestors do or you are basically risking terrible
>>retribution. So I would think theism didn't change, or that most of the
>>2nd Age involved people doing things that were wrong and when the
>>universe course corrected, it went back to as it *should* be.
>>I'm not sure I agree with that, but it has been the impression.
>That is a culture specific view.
Thing is, I'm not sure of a single culture in Glorantha except the Lunars (who we know get struck down by the old ways, right?) that doesn't think this.
>Certainly the Heortlings believe
>this and probably others do but that's no basis for the assumption
>that all theists do.
Well, except for the one where I've never seen a single culture presented otherwise. At least among Theists. The Rokari might all be about retrieving the "true Abiding book", uncorrupted by the God Learners, but they do seem to think that the book appearance really was the real deal and what they should be emulating. It's less clear to me about the rest of the monotheists, they seem to also want some original pure approach.
Maybe there are others.
>>The only culture we know that disagrees is the
>>Lunar one. They believe that change is good and the risks can be
>>managed.
And they're wrong in the long run, right?
>I would suggest that the truth is a lot fuzzier than that. Magic
>does change, new feats are discovered, new spirits are found, new
>spells invented. Where those fit reasonably well they remain and
>eventually become part of the tradition. Of course humans being
>humans they make mistakes, get too arrogant, etc. The magic blows
>up in their faces and the survivors blame the experimenters for
>defying the gods.
See, I like this interpretation, but it does seem that other than messing around the edges, you are "wrong" if you try and change.
I realize I am not steeped in Gloranthan lore, but little has disabused me of this notion.
>As an example in the 3rd Age we have the Vingan feat of 'Mile
>Javlin Throw'. IMG this was invented by a Vingan mercenary in
>the 2nd Age who was fighting for the God Learners. She copied
>some God Learner magic which threw massive spears designed to
>shoot down dragons (or dragon like flying creatures).
Now see, there's something interesting as well, as you are basically describing a theism feat learned from a sorcery spell, which didn't seem particularly possible from what I knew.
Anyway, it's not like magic is suddenly going to be clear in Glorantha anytime soon, so this is little more than idle futzing on my part. LC
Powered by hypermail