No Fish, Some Urine

From: John P Hughes <John.Hughes_at_anu.edu.au>
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 1995 20:31:39 +1100

CATCHING UP, CATCHING UP, CATCHING UP, CATCHING UP... Perennially behind on my e-mail, things have taken a turn for the worse of late. I've tried to install a TCP connection on my home mac, an elderly SE called 'Gorgorma'. The result... xxxxxxxxxxx___________

So those of you I owe mail to, please be patient! I'm helping to run Greg Fried's 'Atek's Ghost' this holiday weekend at CanCon, and then I'll be trying real hard to catch up, even if its with a Unix interface. Bloody Gift Carriers... ;-)

NORTHERN INVADERS Michael Raaterova, keep posting! Your stuff is great, and we need to teach those ignorant Sartarites a thing or two about Far Point.

FAQ Great Idea.

We need a list on those
Eternal-Questions-that-come-up-every-two-months-which-we-all-feel-passionately-a bout-but-never-resolve.
Gods, History, One True Way etc. I nominate Pete Metcalfe to write it, as long as he promises to abstain from historical theorising. ;-)

A (HOPEFULLY) FINAL WORD ON PLOUGHS AND IRON Thanks to all who responded. After weighing up the pros and cons, I have to say... I've changed my mind! Dave Dunham, Martin, Doug Thayen, GAWINTER, Harald Smith, Alison/Ian, you've convinced me.
The heavy ploughs of Far Point don't need to be iron. I'll do some minor re-editing of my essay, to emphasise the heavy form of the plough rather than its material, and concentrate more on the rituals and spells associated with its use.

USES OF URINE, BOTH TROLLKIN AND HUMAN I listed trollkin urine as a Far Point export. My rationales for its uses are similar to the uses of human urine in our own past and present, to whit:

• As an agent in dying materials and leathers. Urine dilutes dye in a different way to water, producing unique subtleties of shading.
• As an agent in tempering metals. Both urine and honey baths have been posited as the secret of Viking sword making.
• As a source of rare minerals and metals. Phosphorus was first isolated from human urine by the European alchemists. Given what trollkin eat, its probably an even richer source.
• As an ingredient in magical brews and medicines. Don't even think about it.
• Other strangeness. After reading yesterday's post about wolf urine, anything is possible.

Cheers Folks

John

"The metaphysicians of Tlon do not seek for the truth or even for versimilitude, but rather for the astounding. They judge that metaphysics is a branch of fantastic literature." Jorge Luis Borges. "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius"

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