Gustbran; Kingly Responsibility; History from David Dunham on 1996-06-24 (Glorantha Digest Vol 02)

From: David Dunham <dunham_at_pensee.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Jun 1996 19:40:07 -0700

One of the characters in my campaign wants to be the best smith in Ralios. (He's already quite good.) As an Orlanthi, he recently became initiated to Gustbran the Smith. Unfortunately, Gustbran is a tiny cult (perhaps more so in East Ralios, but I'm sure this is so in Dragon Pass, too). A clan probably has a smith and a couple of apprentices, which (at least according to the RQ3 rules) is nowhere near enough to maintain worship.

Does anyone have ideas on the cult problem (Sandy Petersen posted something along these lines to the RQ Rules list, but they didn't seem to apply to Gustbran). Or for that matter, anything relating to Gustbran or Gloranthan smiths. (My version is at
<http://www.pensee.com/dunham/storm.html#gustbran>.)

I've been wondering about how Orlanthi leadership works. In particular, can a clan chieftain also be a tribal king? I doubt there's a legal prohibition, and the thought of conflict of interest would be irrelevant. However, I'm not sure that you can do a good job of performing both duties. You'd have to be involved in justice moots at both levels. You'd have to perform both sets of heroquests during Sacred Time. And as king, you probably spend a lot of time on circuit, which would mean you're away from your own clan and would have less time to spend on their needs.

Perhaps it all balances out by the favoritism you can bestow on your own clan, but I lean towards thinking that tribal kings often retire as clan chieftain. (Assuming they were a chieftain in the first place, which I doubt is a legal requirement.)

Peter Metcalfe wrote

> Given that the Dara Happans believe that there is no Compromise, can
> they and the Lunars change history? :) I resolve this dilemma by
> extending linear time (which cannot be changed) back beyond the
> compromise right to the beginning - thus the Golden Age, the Green
> Age and the Dragon Age can all be written in linear history *if* we
> had the evidence.

To an Orlanthi, Time began with the rise of the Sun. They have a history of what happened before, but it's really not very precise.

If you look at Dara Happan sources, you'll also note that events before the Dawn are pretty hard to date. Plentonius is sometimes wrong on purpose (to make the ages the right length), but comparing to other sources, it seems he may have gotten emperors in the wrong order. And even the Lunars, who can heroquest back in time, seem to be unable to agree on an Emperor's List.

So I think it's likely that the events before the Dawn truly cannot be accurately dated. Whether you think this is because of mythical reasons (there was no Time until then), or limitations of history (it's too far back to recover), it seems to be a Gloranthan fact.

David Dunham Pensee Corporation dunham_at_pensee.com Voice/Fax: 206 783 7404 http://www.pensee.com/dunham/ NO ZUKES! Stop zucchini proliferation.