I think the original point was "do Gloranthan farmers learn many combat spells?"
Ok - so farmers in Seshnela revolt periodically - do they use any magic when they do? Do they even have magic? (Help me out here, I'm clueless about Seshnela.)
And do Esrolians learn extra bladesharp spells to fight Harrek and his wolf pirates? (What's the point?) Do they fight off the Orlanthi raiders from the West, or just spend the extra magical effort recovering? Do the Esrolian queens, when warring against each other, use private armies of mercenaries and warriors, or their farmer folk? Who did the Esrolians throw at the Lunars at Building Wall Battle? I doubt it was Bubbi Josa and her husband.
I think the Sartarite Orlanthi tradition of farmer/warriors are a bit of an exception in Glorantha.
Which brings me to another unpleasant topic - are there many instances in Glorantha of total war? Have armies ever tried to wipe out the farmers to weaken their enemies? Or is the land and the farmers more often considered the prize?
From: david boatright <david_at_dboat.demo.co.uk>
>Humakti are still part of the culture unless they really embrace the
death rune and join a temple regiment.. The other Humakti
worshippers in the Clan\Tribe are probably Weapon Thanes or House
Carls. This means they are respected members of society and I am
sure they would have lots of women 'fawning' over them.
I think this depends a lot on how you handle Humakti in your Glorantha, and what area and time period you're talking about. We (the Gloranthan Farmer's Society of Seattle) tend to view Humakti as non-productive, off-beat and brutal members of society, kept as thugs by thanes. Sometimes you're forced to host them over the winter, and they eat _a lot_. They try to impress women with tales of how many men they've killed, which, for some reason, many Ernaldans don't find particulary arousing. You have to be polite to Humakti, though, because if they pick a fight with your male kin, you get to bury family members.
Now, there are likely some wierd and off-beat women - Vingans, Babeester Gor followers, Lunars - who enjoy the stench of death. But not 'round these parts.
"Naverian Pam"
(Or, in this case, "Heortling Pam"
End of Glorantha Digest V2 #485
WWW material at http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/rolegame.html
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