Elementals aren't very intelligent, but they could be just intelligent enough to hate being enslaved. Elementals could try to break out of their bindings whenever they are given the freedom to move about, which they must be given to do any work. Since they have a physical aspect they can attempt to damage the physical structure of the binding, damaging the runes, and then they can escape. If one escapes it will completely destroy its binding. It will be inclined to free any other bound elementals in its vicinity by destroying their bindings. It will also make a point of hunting out and destroying those who held it captive.
This could explain why after generations there aren't loads of bindings around.
The elementals always destroy them eventually. It also makes it much less likely
that there will be huge elemental powered mill complexes near cities. If one
elemental breaks free, then they all will soon be free and looking for revenge.
(And the mill owners are probably legally liable for all damages.)
2. 'The God-Learner Syndrome'
In a similar vein, we can postulate a general tendency for the elements to build up resentment and resistance against abuses. The abusers find themselves the victims of more and more natural disasters. The binding enchantments become less effective. Eventually the magics change so much that the bindings won't work at all. This may be part of the slow changes that created the various Ages of Glorantha.
3. Give Elementals a Fatigue Limit
One of the reasons that elemental power systems are so destabilizing is that they run forever with no stops or fuel. Change this and they may be less of a problem.
It might be that elementals can only work at full power for a very short time, say the standard 15 minutes. After that they begin to tire and their output drops. In similar way to their inability to heal damage in the mundane world, perhaps their fatigue recovery is also impeded there. So they can either be released back to their own world to recover quickly and then be summoned again, or they must be given very, very long rest breaks to recover inside a binding.
(This would be compatible with the idea of the old boatman on the Zola Fel with
the undine bound to his keel. It can give him a big boost for a very short time
or a long, gentle push, but in either case it needs a very long rest before it
can be called upon again.)
Possibly huge rituals involving many participants and hundreds of MP could be used to artificially reinvigorate an elemental and keep it working.
4. Make it morally wrong to bind elementals.
The persons most able to summon and bind elementals are those who are tied to the element runes. The elementals are cult members of a sort. It could be considered morally wrong to enslave them.
The Command Elemental spells for the elemental cults could be considered as Persuade Elemental instead. They are not compulsions. Instead they make the elemental want to do the action requested.
People like the waertagi and the windchildren have an instictive empathy with their elementals and can generally persuade them to do the desired action. This empathy also makes these people very unhappy when they encounter a bound elemental.
To put an elemental into a binding is much the same as putting a person in
confinement. It should not be done without a very good cause, and the term of
confinement has to be limited, and it must be defined at the outset. The
elemental can be persuaded to endure binding for a short time in a good cause
(this is more a matter of trust than comprehension on the part of the
elemental).
- -----------------------------------------
How this might apply to the Waertagi
Getting back to the waertagi, which is where this whole discussion really started, let me describe how I picture they might use elemental power in a reasonable, effective, and yet limited form.
(Sandy, I hope you might consider this a reasonable compromise in our visions of
the waertagi.)
Typically a waertagi city-ship follows the currents and the trade winds. It uses a number of non-magical means of propulsion to control its course to some degree. The waertagi are nomads, in no hurry to get anywhere, content to follow courses around the ocean that take years to complete. Drifting 5 to 10 miles a day is fine, though sometimes they pick up faster currents and winds.
Sometimes they need to move in a bigger hurry. Then the sorceror priests call all the people of the city together and instruct them in the magic that must be done. And the people pray and chant and dance and hurl their spiritual energy to the gods of the sea. The elementals begin to gather beneath the keel. As the people continue their ecstatic devotions the stern begins to rise above a huge following wave and the ship rushes forward. The old and sick and young cannot stand the pace, they soon must drop out and rest, so the ship slows a bit. The people must rest in shifts to keep the ritual going, undines also drop out and replacements are sent by the gods of the deep. After a couple days the entire population of the city is too tired, physically and spiritually to continue. Thanking the undines for their assistance, the people wearily seek their beds, and the weary undines seek their homes as well. The priest-navigators try to calculate how many hundreds of miles the city has travelled.
A city ship can usually afford to maintain a single fastship of large size, and maybe some smaller ones. When the fastship is needed for a mission, the sorceror priests summon a number of undines and explain to them the mission that must be undertaken and especially how many turns of the tide it will take. The undines then enter the keel binding so that the fastship captain can communicate with them more easily.
The undines are usually called upon one at a time to move the ship until they become too tired, then they are released. For bursts of very high manouevering speed, several may be called upon at once. The mission must be completed before the agreed upon time is up, or the undines become restless in their bindings and may endanger the ship. If this happens then the captain will usually release the undines for safety sake. Then the captain and crew must perform more summonings to replace the undines. During this period they are helpless, without motive power, so they may hold a single undine in reserve until the summoning is complete. With only the magical resources of the crew on board, the ship can not be stocked with nearly the reserve of elementals that the city-ship could provide, so such ships usually seek to return to their cities as quickly and uneventfully as possible.
End of Glorantha Digest V2 #623
WWW material at http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/rolegame.html
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