MOB:
> *most RQ spells have very straightforward names like this. When I first
> began playing RQ, all we had was a copy of Apple Lane (no rulesbook),
> and we just tried to figure out what the spells might be like from their
> names. Had a bit of trouble with Disrupt though; we figured it had something
> to do with distracting or upsetting an opponent's concentration, rather than
> a way to zap flies or make cappucino.
We did a similar thing; I only had "basic" RQ 3 to begin with, so we
just guessed the meaning of any spells ont in the book, including the
functions of the sorcery skills besides Intensity.
Now, how do you do cappucino with a Disruption spell? By the way,
were in Glorantha do they drink cappucinos? Valind's Glacier (to keep
warm)? Peloria ("aye, and the Loonar dagos do decadent things to their
coffee - the right thing is of course to drink it black, or with 50%
vodka, 50% coffee")? Esrolia?
GOD LEARNER ROBBING OF CHILDRENS' BOOKS:
Sandy mentions some ideas he got from childrens' litterature. I'll
follow up with some of my thefts.
- In a book by a Swedish female writer whose name I've currently
forgotten, "Mara Kahn the Seamonster" (Sjoodjuret Mara Kahn), you
have this Really Big Monster which has a whole country inside it. It
is populated by people who have been swallowed by the monster and
their descendants, for whom the sun, the winds and things like birds
and flowers are fantastic stuff. They still celebrate spring with
artificial flowers and birds, though. There are really weird bits of
geography concerning the inner parts of the critter. The heroes of
the story are swallowed and finds out a way of getting out of Mara
Kahn for the whole population, but their king is quite comfortable
with his position and is not about to let such things happen.
In other books by the same author we learn how to make wings out of
the aurora borealis (which only last until the next aurora - sound
like a nifty Sky Runespell to me), that female dragons kidnap princes
(of course) and about a very, very old male dragon that is unable to
stomach meat anymore. He is "court dragon" of the ruler of the
giants, and in such a status-filled position he cannot let it be
known that he isn't living on virgins and the children of royalty (he
would loose all his dragon machismo as well) so he has this false
"sacrifice" scheme where he doesn't eat the victims but keep them as
slaves to grow vegetables and fruits for him....
- In one of the books by aforementioned Irmelin Sandman-Lilius, a
king of an early Middle Age kingdom is about to loose his throne and
his country - he started bloody wars of conquest that was too much to
handle. With his last followers he seeks refuge with a famous witch
and asks to be saved, but also to be able to repair the damage he has
done to his country by his foolish megalomania. "Let me become a
draft horse, that I may pull the plough to break the ground that has
become barren, and pull the sleds with stone and timber to rebuild
the houses that has been torn down." His four last men wants to do
the same and follow their king. Thus, the kingdom is forever guarded
by five horses, in some way concealing the fact that they are
immortal until they have payed off their debt - they may be
reincarnating, for instance, this is never made thoroughly clear.
- And for a really scary pair of magical weapons, check out "The
Cats of Seroster". The things that happen are supposed to take place
in the end of the Middle Ages somewhere in Europe, but would fit
exceedingly well in Safelster, say. A wandering student gets his hand
on a dagger that seems to A, have Mjollner-like abilities while
thrown and B, keep its carrier from aging, and an ancient greatsword
("This was silly. NOONE fought with great swords these days.") that
appearantly keeps the spirit of some sort-a-Egyptian king, Seroster -
the horror when the poor lad is possessed by Seroster and becomes
_someone entirely different_ is one of the best written descriptions of
possession I'v ever read. Add to that a society of telepathic cats
living hidden and waiting for the King to reappear. Make them rats
(Argan Argar associated) and you have a nice scenario for the
reappearance of Black Arkat. Also contains a nice crusade and some
very funny descriptions of Landsknechts - read it.
Now, when things cool down, I'll produce a little essay on my wiew of
Tricksters and their place in Orlanthi society - which is rather
down-to-earth.
Erik Sieurin