Changing History:

From: Mike Cule <mikec_at_room3b.demon.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 08 Sep 1995 09:19:57 GMT


Andrew Joelson commenting on Carl Fink

> Carl goes on to say
>
> > Clearly I'm not getting through: In my Glorantha, heroquesting CANNOT
> > CHANGE myth in the sense of changing Godtime events. It can change
> > the nature of reality, as for instance the wounding of Korasting, but
> > it can't go back into the past and change what already happened.
>
> This time Carl is a off the center; whatever he desires to be true
> in _his_ Glorantha is so. But Eric is entirely correct in stating that
> the past is mutable in Greg Stafford's Glorantha, which is the one most
> of us are trying to emulate. Greg made this quite clear at RQ Con 2.
> The example he used when explaining is Zorak Zoran attacking Yelmalio at
> the Hill of Gold. If a Lightson makes a lot of preparations & goes hero-
> questing, he can re-inact the battle and potentially win, winning back
> (for himself) fire powers! Somewhere out there, there will be a ZZ'er
> without fire powers (if he even survived). If enough Lightsons do this
> often enough, eventually, the outcome of the Hill of Gold will be changed!

Now, I'd like to carefully distinguish here: what is changed is not the historical event. We are not talking time travel and Grandfather Paradoxes here. What has changed is the Eternal Event, the Event outside Time which things inside time reflect. It will not 'always have been that way' if the hypothetical Lightson manages to change things. People will still remember that ZZ once had fire powers just as people still remember that Kyger Litor once didn't bear the Trollkin curse. But otherwise yes, you can change Godtime Events to cause changes in mundane Glorantha. (Now, there's a contradiction in terms if ever I heard one.)

Actor and Genius.
AKA Theophilus, Prince-Archbishop of the Far Isles (Arms: Purpure, an open book proper, without clasps. On the dexter page the Greek letter Alpha or. On the sinister page the letter Omega of the same. Motto: nulla spes sit in resistendo.)

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