Allied Spirits, Planar Geography and "Where's my sword?"

From: Erik Sieurin <BV9521_at_utb.hb.se>
Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 19:08:56 +0100


Henk Langeveld wrote:
> Sounds like an interesting theme for a LARP: Have some kind of
big
> event in Pavis, with half the players being high level cult members, and
> the other half "their" Allied Spirits...
>
> Just doing the casting and matching up the pairs would be great fun.
Or any convention adventure; I once played with the idea of a bunch of Lightbringer cultists going off on some quest/errand/mission WITHOUT their allies for some obscure reason, and then the allies hasta come after and rescue them. Great shades of Disney.... pax for the Issaries mule initiate :-)

Nils Weinander:
> I don't think there are separate spirit, hero and god planes.
However,
> some cultures may perceive that the gods reside in a distinct place.
> The homes of the gods should definitely be harder to reach, but IMO
> the Otherworld is a continuum.

IMO as well; I see the Godplane as the Otherworld parts that corresponds to the far-off and strange regions of Glorantha - Vithela, the Sky, the Underworld, places like the Block or the Crater.

Herr Nick of the Spoken Word:
> And *everyone*
> knows that you can meet well-dressed, perfumed, polite broos with neatly-combed
> goatee beards and little round glasses, working dutifully within the Lunar
> bureaucracy... :-)

The interesting thing with these guys is that you can never be sure whether they are broos who have became decent men through Lunar indoctrination and constructive group-therapy, or decent men who have taken too many dips in Chaos and turned into Broos (don't remember which spell it is that gives chaotic features and carries this risk) -  the Gloranthan equivalents of silent and calm students of Library and Information science discussing post-modern bronze-age worlds of roleplaying in their spare time and thereby is horribly changed.:-)

> Is Flamal aware of the fate of every blade of grass? I'd say, No.
>
> Is Uleria aware of every fond feeling, or act of love? I'd say no.
>
> Does Humakt know what every sword in the world is being used for? No.
I wonder whether there is a difference between what the gods KNOW and what they can FIND OUT. The gods are forced into a passive-reactive stance by the Compromise, but checking up a thing asked by a worshipper is a REACTION in the same way as lobbing lightning in the direction the worshipper pleads for.
Then it is much easier for Humakt to answer the question "Where is the good bronze greatsword I lost while unconscious?" than it is for Orlanth. And Flamal could check out a leaf if he so wants. The question raised is of course whether the god/ess would bother checking instead of just answering what they know; Humakt may feel that initiates loosing their swords ought to have the work of finding them as a suitable punishment, and just answer "You can find if you seek" - or give information that forces the questioner to use his/her brain. But what with the person using a Runespell being the worshipper acting As The God/ess; wouldnt they As The God/ess carry on that part of their Real Selves which consider it damn important to find the sword?

Erik Sieurin
PS, Remind me of exploring the significant theory that the main characters of "Winnie-the-Pooh" REALLY are the Seven Lightbringers some time. DS  


End of Glorantha Digest V2 #450


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