Re: Dara Happans and Time

From: Jeff <richaje_at_...>
Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:15:53 -0000

Sorry Nils - the East DOES recognize the Dawn. Let's start with Kralorela, which probably should have been given far more attention in Revealed Mythology than it did. In Kralorela, Emperor Vashanti performed utuma and returned the Viceroys of Day and Night from the Underworld, and Vashanti departed the world to rule the celestial realm. In Kralorela, the Dawn was notable and significant event - created by the Dragon Emperor of course.

In the East Isles, the New Sun was prevalent throughout the archipelago - except within a few hundred mile of Vith's own island, which continued to project its own radiance. The story of the net of Thella (aka Theya) is also a Dawn story.

Now admittedly, the East Islanders don't make anywhere as big a deal about the Dawn as the other cultures of Glorantha, but that's explainable by three facts: 1. their mystics reject the illusory realms of the gods, the mundane world, and all the rest (and thus the Dawn is just another distraction); 2. most East Islanders worship minor little island entities like Braid and Comb, Hobimorang, Lumavoxoran, and so on; and 3. the East Isles never truly went Dark because of the luminescence of Vith's Island.

In short, the East Isles (like the rest of the East) recognize the Dawn, they just don't think it was truly important.

As an aside, Glorantha has a metaphysical unity that crosses cultures. There are certain base line events that all Gloranthan cultures accept. That's part of the reason we included the Heavens Corrupted plates in the Guide - all Gloranthan cultures witnessed this (unless they lived in the Underworld like the trolls or under the seas like the mermen). The monomyth, although flawed and at times misleading, is also fundamentally reliable. That's part of the foundations of Glorantha as a fictional setting.

Jeff