I'd suggest expanding this and posting it to the blog anyways!
A few comments:
> The main difference between Gloranthan bronze and terrestrial bronze is that Gloranthan bronze can be mined directly, but terrestrial bronze required both copper and tin. It was exceptionally rare for copper and tin to be found together, so bronze was difficult to come by and required the maintenance of trade networks. That made bronze the province of elites - its not just the cost of labor to cast it, its the effort and alliance required to transport it.
Yes. Gloranthan bronze is in that regard more similar to terrestrial iron (as in it can be mined directly and does not require copper or tin - although that is often the case).
However, unlike terrestrial iron, Gloranthan bronze is not ubiquitous. You find it where Air gods died in the Gods War. That may seem ubiquitous, but there are plenty of places where that happened more than others (the Barbarian Belt may actually have the richest area of bronze deposits in Glorantha!).
So in Dragon Pass, Kethaela, south Peloria, Ralios, Fronela, and Maniria, there is plenty of bronze - a legacy of the wars of the Air gods against their foes and against each other. In northern Peloria (flooded and under the glacier during much of the Storm Age, bronze might be more of a rarity. In much of Pamaltela, it might be even rarer!
Jeff
Powered by hypermail