Rokari and the Kingdom of War (again!)

From: Peter Metcalfe <P.Metcalfe_at_student.canterbury.ac.nz>
Date: Sun, 19 Nov 1995 17:18:42 +1300


Joerg Baumgartner:

>This makes them even younger than the Fonritian heresy or the
>Heortland Aeolians

The Fonritian Heresy? Are you talking about the Sedalpists? They are from Umathela which is a seperate land.

>Very similar to Christian doctrine, the messages of free will and
>freedom of choice voiced both by Malkion (leading to his expulsion
>from Brithos) and Hrestol (another exile...) were turned into solidified
>dogma in the greatest sect...

Free Will and Freedom of Choice were not voiced by Malkion and Hrestol! What they preached was something different; How to reach Solace.

>BTW: is Trading (Garzeen-style) considered a lordly or wizardly pasttime?)

Lordly. The Carmanians, the Brithini and the Ramalians all claim it as such.  

Mark Smylie:


>>What was there before may have little relation to what
>>is there now. A good Gloranthan example is Dorastor. Why is it a Chaos
>>Pit? Mark Smylie painted a good picture of the cults that exist within
>>the KoW yet he did not know what lay behind the KoW.

>Actually, Dorastor strikes me as a bad Gloranthan example; if the birth-
>and death-place of Nysalor/Gbaji isn't going to wind up a Chaos Pit, then
>what is?

How does this follow? It didn't turn into a Chaos Pit when Nysalor was born or killed.

>Dorastor is one of the most heavily "explained" pieces of Gloranthan
>real estate there is, IMO, even if Ralzakark himself and its individual
>geographic manifestations are largely unexplained. In Dorastor, we have
>the "big picture," which allows us to make up the details as we go along.

And how does this differ from the KoW? The 'Big Picture' of the KoW is that It Makes WAR! And does so quite successfully. The average warrior and the average officer of the KoW does not know why LDoaH is doing this and does not care. The esoteric secrets really only matter to a select few and to the PCs if they wish to see the KoW defeated without Loskalm and Jonatela becoming bellated in the process.

>While I appreciate the compliment on my cult suggestions (and the support
>from others in other posts), it was only _because_ I have a theory of
>what's behind the KoW that I was able to come up with that list Raaterova
>-style, as it were; ultimately, it's just a bunch of names, and will
>probably remain so until the background of the KoW is more firmly gelled.

Nonsense! The Secrets of the KoW are Esoteric in that they are only known to a few. The KoW will look the same to the outsiders no matter what its malign purpose is. Of the number of reasons behind the KoW listed so far in the digest, none of them as far as I can see make any major difference as to _how_ the KoW carries out its goals with respect to army organisation. The armies of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany differed little in the equipment they used (Tanks, Planes, Guns etc) _compared_to_ their massive ideological differences. Likewise the armies of the KoW are so structured to _Win_Victories_. Almost Everything Else is subordinated to that goal.

>However, from a GMs POV, there needs to be a distinction
>made between Losklami/Fronelan propaganda and the model on which one builds
>the KoW and constructs a campaign against it.

How does this follow? One can have propaganda that is _true_! A good RW example of this is the propaganda each Korean nation produced about each other throughout much of the Cold War.                                              

>Personally, what the KoW does and how it does it is intricately bound
>up with why; I think it makes an enormous difference in how the KoW
>would operate it, what it would "look" like, depending on whether it's
>a troll conspiracy, a Chaos Pit, Humakti gone bad, or if Lord Death is
>actually Prince Snodal being punished for killing the God of the Silver
>Fleet. All these options directly impact, IMO, how one would go about
>writing up the KoW's cults and planning a campaign that didn't have the
>KoW as anything more than colorful background.

Rubbish! The main influence on organisation of the KoW is how it prosecutes its wars. If one is going to invade Loskalm, it makes very little difference whether it was a Troll conspiracy, Humakti gone bad or whatever. We know the tactics the KoW uses. We know it is split up into several orders each which have a slightly different philosophy. The fact that it wages war and do so successfully _defines_ the KoW _more_ than any esoteric secret does.

Look at the Dark Empire of Granbretan in the Hawkmoon Stories. More one-dimensional than the Kingdom of War. It launched a campaign to take over Tragic Millenium Europe for little reason other than the King-Emperor Huorn was mad. Yet Moorcock was able to flesh out some of the orders by the Beast Heads each order wore.

>>Or if the KoW were a Nidan Decamony Plot to cleanse humanity from Fronela
>>and LDoaH worships the War Machine which feeds him information on what to
>>do. The PCs find out that the War Machine requires skilled maintanence
>>and an endless supply of spare parts. They begin ambushing Nidan Decamony
>>supply forces in the hope that the War Machine will start making mistakes...

>Hm, sorry if I was unclear; the KoW doesn't really worship the War Machine
>IMO, it _is_ the War Machine, or at the very least the War Machine made
>manifest.

Oh for Gods Sake! I don't particularly care for the Famous Flying French Philosopher's School of Thought and neither does Most of Glorantha _if_ they were able to understand it. Look at it from the PCs' point of view. What does saying 'War Machine Made Manifest' tell them that 'The Kingdom of War' doesn't? They know what it does. And I hardly see how attaching PoMo labels onto the various aspects of the GM's PoV improves his comprehension of the Kingdom of War. The aim is to have fun, no?

>Personally, I think the emphasis on Lord Death to be the result of
>Fronelan wishful thinking, a kind of put-all-your-eggs-in-one-basket
>approach hoping that if you just got rid of Lord Death, your troubles would
>be over; IMO, killing Lord Death would be a minor glitch for the KoW, maybe
>causing at most a few days (or maybe hours) pause while the Succession Rites
>were completed, if even that. They've already got their orders.

I don't think so. Look at the Real World Parallels. Stalin tolerated no rivals and after his death, his politburo spent five years or so, sorting out who was going to lead and ended up with a kinder, gentler Soviet Union in the process. Ditto for Mao's China. Hitler actively encouraged disunity among his henchmen and named a virtual neophyte as his successor when he died. A Good Recipe for the Continued Existance of the Thousand Year Reich? I think not. Lord Death _is_ the puppetmaster. He brooks no Rivals. His Puppets/Creatures/Toadies certainly aspire to replace him but none of them can command the respect of each other. Thus if LDoaH is removed, the KoW will be wracked by wars of succession as his Lieutenants duke it out to see who the next King of War is.

End of Glorantha Digest V2 #220


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