Lore Auction Questions

From: PMichaels_at_aol.com
Date: Fri, 30 Dec 1994 00:17:18 -0500


Greetings all!

As the time nears for those members of the RQ Tribe who are able to travel to descend upon San Francisco, I've been thinking about that Q&A session known as the Gloranthan Lore Auction. (It's also given me a needed diversion from working on the T-shirts! Please keep your responses coming!)

For those of you (like myself) who have not had the pleasure of attending the Lore Auction, my understanding of it is this:  (David C. or Sandy P. - please correct me where I'm wrong.)

Greg, Sandy, and whomever else they invite to join the panel of experts, may be asked almost any question about Glorantha, for a fee. The fee varies by country; at RQC1 in the US it was 1 US Dollar, at Convulsions in Britain it was 1 British Pound. There are 7 questions (or type of question) which WILL NOT be answered. (One such taboo question is "What is the Secret of the God Learners?" One such taboo question type seems to be any 'trick' question designed to learn the other questions without asking them directly.) While the organizers often try to limit questions to "yes" or "no" questions, folks always ask open ended questions which so far Greg, Sandy, & co. have
(fortunately, IMHO) been willing to answer. Also, note that there is a
difference between questions that won't be answered, and those which can't be answered..

I see the Lore Auction as a chance to ask something about Glorantha in order to get an "Official Answer." Or, at least "Official" for that day. ;-)

What I'd like to ask is, for those of you who ARE NOT going to the con, what questions (if any) would you like to see answered about Glorantha? And, for those of you who ARE going to the con, what questions (if any) do you plan to ask?

I'll go first.

Below are some of the questions I plan to ask, as well as the answer I believe at the moment, and which I may not change even if the "official" answer is different. Some of these may seem like trivial questions, but I'd like the "official" answer anyway.

1.) You (Greg) have written that the Trickster aspect worshipped by the trolls is the Glutton. Is the Black Eater a manifestation of this aspect
(perhaps without the trolls knowing this)? (I believe so.)

2.) Does Trickster have a chaotic aspect which is worshipped by chaotic beings?
(My personal theory is that the only incarnation of the Chaos pantheon
Trickster is Glorani Wasa, who created the permanence of Law amid the impermanence of Chaos.)

3 a.) The Malkioni God Learners called the Trickster "Eurmal", and even had a major temple to him on Slontos in the Second Age. Are Eurmal worshipers still found in the monotheistic West in the Third Age? (I think so. I believe there is a St. <insert appropriate Trickster name here>. Yurmel?  Ussil?)

 b.) If so, what is their societal or cultural role? (I believe that St. <insert appropriate Trickster name here> is analogous to Mullah Nasr-Eddin [aka Nasr Eddin Hodja, Nasredden Hodja]. He is an Islamic folk-figure known in North Africa, Asia Minor, and the Middle East. Other analogs may be the Russian Orthodox "foolish saints" such as St. Basil the Blessed, St. Theodore the Czar, and St. Xenia of St. Petersburg.)

 c.) If so, what aspects of Trickster are found in the West? (I know that a shrine to the Thief exists somewhere in Seshnela, and shrines to Comic Fool and Lightbringer in Fronela. There are doubtless rare shrines to other aspects (Rogue and Imp) scattered about the West. But, I think these are recent shrines covertly set up by non-Malkioni tricksters. I think the predominant Trickster aspect in the West is the Wise Fool. [This explains why the God Learners were originally willing to explore Trickster. To them he was originally seen as foolish but containing wisdom, and was certainly not seen as dangerous. They later learned differently, and all except Hofandros abandoned the Trickster United Temple project.])

4.) The Orlanthi tell of Kolat having six sons, with the sixth son being known as "the magical Lower Wind." Did the God Learners consider the Zorak Zorani spirit Hell Roar to be this sixth son of Kolat? (I believe so.)

5.) Do the Dragon Pass Orlanthi believe that Himile (the God of Cold) and Kero Fin (the Goddess of Mountains) are the parents of Inora (the Goddess of Mountain Top Winter)? (I believe so.)

6.) Do the Dragon Pass Orlanthi believe that Vadrus (the God of Unrestrained Air) and Inora (the Goddess of Mountain Top Winter) are the parents of Valind
(the God of Winter)? (I believe so, with the story being that Vadrus raped
Inora after kidnapping her to his Palace in the north.)

7.) Who or what were the EWF "waltzing and hunting bands"? (mentioned in KoS)

8.) Who or what were the God Learner "Outer Atomic Explorers"?

9.) Were any of the God Learners ever Illuminated? (I don't believe so. I see the GL's as being modern analogs, while I think Illumination is analogous to the post-modern view. I think being Illuminated destroys the GL way of seeing/thinking/believing; GL: "Seeing is believing!" Riddler: "No, believing is seeing!".)

10.) Where do/did the "races" of Gloranthan gargoyles originate? (I believe the Greater and Lesser Horned Gargoyles are Genert's children, created from the Earth to battle Chaos. Those which survive are the remnants of Genert's Army.)


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