> Thanks to Sandy's description, I think that the Waertagi are the
> only seafaring nation who doesn't need the Open Seas ritual. Their
> dragon ships are like floating tree trunks.
This isn't so, per "Spirits of the Sea" (cf. Wyrms Footprints, or the equivalent section in "Les Dieux de Glorantha"): the Closing is presented there as a terrible blow to the Waertagi, and explains why they haven't been seen at sea throughout the Third Age. OTOH, there may well be a "secret" behind it. Two oddities connected to the Closing include:
If taken at face value, these two sources could indicate (contrary to "Spirits of the Sea" and common sense) that the Waertagi are, indeed, immune to the Closing. So why haven't we seen them throughout the Third Age? Because they didn't want to be seen, and we couldn't go to sea to find them!
(The Sog City Blues -- not a musical form! -- are my own invention, so I won't cite them as evidence of Waertagi vulnerability, tho' I'd be sorry to lose them and their Dragonbone Quarter of Sog, not to mention the Boat Race).
> I like the idea that old Brithos is still inhabited by Brithini so that
> the Vadeli can teach them how to live without their skin.
I don't *quite* see what you're getting at, but as long as it's cruel, nasty and horrible I'll happily accept it. Reference to the Blue Book, maybe?
> Once the Blue Vadeli are around, things will become very interesting
> in the world.
This is, of course, one of the best reasons for them to return!
The Brown Vadeli I play like sleazy Carthaginian or Phoenician traders, or a mediaeval anti-Semite's view of rich Jewish merchants, or Frank Herbert's dirty, stinking Tleilaxu; the Red Vadeli are inhuman monsters; what do you suppose the Blues would be like?
PS to Sandy: do you have any RQ stats for the Red Vadeli beyond those in PB:G? Without those, I'd have assumed they weren't human-normal...
> The death [Brithini soldiers] fear is their final death. Usually if
> they have an accidental death, a zzaburi can heal or restore the link
> between the body and the soul. Because of this possibility, their
> training is as harsh as possible.
In Greg's draft Ms. for Arkat's Saga, the Brithini narrator fears and hates death, even although he's experienced it (ending in resurrection); he also knows and fears that something could always go wrong with sorcerous Resurrection and lead to the Forever Death. The soldiers don't play silly games with death during training.
That said, they also don't need to bring back complete bodies for resurrection. With appropriate use of sorcerous Regeneration spells, they can recreate the body of a dead soldier. Apparently the severed head is the most efficient load (best Resurrection or Regeneration success chance vs. least weight to carry from the battlefield).
> If the dwarves find a new weapon, they have to build new iron dwarves
> to use it.
Definitely the right way of looking at it!
> On the battlefield both armies are terrifying.
In the unlikely event you ever got the iron dwarfs to come out of their holes in the ground to fight, this would be true. "In its prepared positions, a dwarf army is horrifying" might be nearer the mark. On the battlefield, it would be somewhat odd... their preferred form of warfare is for opposition to march into an abattoir; their preferred enemy commander would be General Haig.
> A dwarf thinks of himself as a machine, a horali has a life insurance <g>.
A dwarf *IS* a machine, for what it's worth, and an Iron Dwarf is a killing and/or mincing machine. As for Brithini, I disagree. They fear Death, and know that (if defeated) they may be gone FOREVER. And Brithini armies have been defeated, within living memory of their current commanders, with catastrophic consequences and comrades-in-arms lost FOREVER. They certainly won't want to risk it!
> Brithini and dwarves try very hard not to fight battles they aren't
> certain to win, and avoid guerilla warfare like the plague.
Agreed, completely. The KoW, on the other hand, tend to *win* battles that nobody expected them to *fight*, and are masters of guerilla warfare (and, indeed, every other form of warfare, including plague!).
> When you are standing on a battlefield looking at a bunch of guys to
> whom death is a opportunity to drink with your God forever, I think
> these guys [Brithini or dwarfs] would have a serious morale problem.
While interesting, much of this argument is theoretical and irrelevant unless and until the KoW takes on the dwarfs or the Brithini, which doesn't seem to be imminent. And since only the Loskalmi think that the "War To End War" will be a walkover for their side ("It'll all be over by Malkionsmas"), while everyone else recognises that their untested, Chivalrous army is outclassed (pretty much by definition), that pretty much covers the factions currently embroiled in the Fronelan conflicts.
I don't think what's "special" about the KoW is *just* this Spirit of the Jihad - -- there is surely more to them than that. They don't expect to win by attrition: they expect to win, Full Stop. But certainly the Brithini or dwarfs would find any form of self-sacrificing heroism inexplicable: "DOES NOT COMPUTE". :-)
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