Gods' knowledge

From: Argrath_at_aol.com
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 20:11:12 -0500

As far back as WF #12 (Aug. 1981), Greg has been struggling with the scope of Divination because of the dire effects on the world it can have if misinterpreted. (This also led to the death of the Discorporation rune spell, but not to a reform of Form/Set [Substance], don't ask why.) From the article in WF 12, it is clear that gods know the following:

where his priests and lords are while alive; what killed a priest or lord, if the p/l could tell at the time of death; whatever the priest or lord told the god; what the priest or lord (or possibly initiates, it's unclear) thinks about the god;
"general trends taking place within their own realms"*

Gods don't know the following:

private thoughts of worshipers;
much of anything about individual initiates; anything going on within another deity or within another deity's sacred precinct (temples and grounds);
motivations of individuals.

• A big caveat: "this ability does not mean that Orlanth can tell you everything which is happening that is in contact with air. He may be able to tell your character that an army is approaching but not necessarily whose army, how big it is, or how fast it is moving."

I think it clear from this that the gods don't know what everybody is saying in their special language, or everything said while in contact with their element, or any such expansive garb^H^H^H^H idea. In standard Glorantha, that is--YMMV.

In my limited experience with the spell Divination, I felt cheated when a god could tell me where a non-initiate was and where that person was going. It's not an "Ask Narrator" spell. (BTW, I heard recently there's a game where a character can have the ability to hear the soundtrack of the movie he's in, thereby getting clues as to what's going to happen.)

• --Martin "Fount of All Knowledge and Wisdom" ;-| Crim

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