True Mostali: some heretical thoughts

From: Argrath_at_aol.com
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 1995 17:42:36 -0500


The thread on the number of existing True (Ancient) Mostali got me thinking.  

Would all existing TM's necessarily be embodied? It's a heretical notion for such materialists as the Mostali, but it might be possible for a TM to exist in spirit form, particularly a post-Chark (i.e., Individualist) TM. There may not be any Individualist TM's, or if there are, they might still be dwelling in the same corporeal form as they previously occupied. But it's something to think about.

Somewhat less heretical is the idea that existing TM's need not be in the classic bipedal form imitated by the Clay Dwarfs. We know that Mostali are not descended from Grandfather Mortal, i.e., they don't have the Man Rune. A TM might find another form more efficient, or might have gotten stuck in a temporary form due to a malfunction. I get a picture of a computer from an old Twilight Zone episode, with blinking lights and a roll of paper bearing cryptic marks shooting out of a slot.

Another thought: would all existing TM's (or Clay Mostali for that matter) necessarily be found in the Inner World? Many might be laboring to repair the Sky Dome, or in the Underworld scavenging for bits of the Spike. Some could be on broken-off "islands" of Gloranthan reality, surrounded by Chaos, and working to repair the lost links to the rest of the world. They could pop up anywhere at almost any time, totally unaware of everything which occurred after the point they got cut off. Maybe they have no Iron Dwarfs, or Clay Dwarfs, or Diamond.

Dwarfs could be found in all sorts of strange places. Mike Dawson's Errontree campaign had a "primary construct area" which I won't describe (since he may want to publish it as a scenario) except to say that it was evidently some sort of mojo or focus for the repair of the universe. It struck my character as a very, very bad idea.

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