#194 knee-jerk.

From: Alex Ferguson <alex_at_dcs.gla.ac.uk>
Date: Sun, 5 Mar 95 19:51:11 GMT


Joerg is:
> Mildly puzzled whom you're punning at

Coaster == Beermat, in most forms of tradetalk.

> > Though the Mandy Rice-Davis doctrine probably applies.
>
> Huh?

"He [they] would say that, wouldn't he [they]?"

> IMO Dara Happan rice should be bright in colour, and have round corns -
> Runic associations at work...

Being over-worked, indeed.

Sandy wonders:
> What is G:G? Gods o' Glorantha? Which book is book 3?

"Glorantha: Genertela [blah]". The "player's book". I'm mildly disconcerted this is the first time I'm been queried on this, after using it so often. What did everyone out there _think_ I meant?

> Alex:
> >what I meant was the "orthodox" beliefs of the first age. Or at
> >least the majority consensus, or whatever actually existed.
> I do not think there were any orthodox beliefs of the First
> Age. This entire age was a massive state of flux for Malkionism.

Well yes, hence the "'s and the qualifications. Nevertheless, there was enough of a common thread of ideas that they can at least in retrospect decide who was a good(ish) Malkioni.

> re: my theory that Dara Happa has no internal defense organization
> like unto the Native Furthest Corps, but instead funds the Heartlands
> Corps.

This is going round in circles. The question isn't "are the like the NFC" (which I started by saying they aren't), but what _are_ the Heartland Corps, and how big could and should it reasonably be?

> >I find it unlikely that every man jack recruited in the Heartlands
> >is an Elite Troop, and that there're all posted to the frontier.

> Why? No man is an elite troop when he's first enlisted. It's
> a matter of training, not muscle power

Quelle quibblant. The why isn't relevant, the issue is whether the whole of the Heartland Corps, every unit recruited in Dara Happa, is of the same quality. Unlikely, in my opinion.

> And I, for one, assume they're usually stationed in the
> Heartland, except when there's trouble.

Whereas you argued that the Roman Empire was _not_ able to mobilise all its forces outside its borders, even in dire need. Ditto the Lunars, I believe.

Peter Metcalfe predicts:
> hmm. A repeat of the Great Moose Debate with a reflecting mailing list
> would change your opinion, I'd bet.

Look on the Bright Side; it might have gotten it over with more quickly, at least in terms of calendar date...

Alex.


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