MOB, how can you say that your stories are disgusting? Touching and intimate portrayals of the everyday life of one of Gloranthas great men. Something like 'I Claudius', only with more bodily functions. Not splatter punk, but not without splatter.
Hoping to contribute in some small way, I believe I have identified the mythic source of the Emperors discomfort, as chronicled by MOB - Ganesatarus, Carmanian God of Evil. According to TFS pg 74, he is specifically recognised as being responsible for hemorrhoids, so I am sure constipation comes under his sinister purview. Even the great are not immune to the Lord of Evil!
Dara Happan society
To carry on in the Dara Happan vein, though turning to dryer (in every sense) subject matter, at the risk of provoking Metcalfian outrage, I would like to raise a few more issues about Dara Happan society.
Firstly, what priveleges are granted to a man who is an initiate of Yelm, other than religious. It seems general concensus that there are many poor Yelmics (though there is disagreement on just how many), unlikely to rise in the cult (except perhaps if they choose military service). What are the ancient priveleges that these people enjoy?
I think one privelege is likely to be different legal status. I think a Yelm initiate must be tried by a judge who is a Yelm initiate (at least), and may have certain rights during the trial. If one can't be found, then the trial must be postponed until it can. This explains the presence of the Count Leonidas in Boldhome - if there was no Yelmic magistrate, then Yelmites could not be tried, so many outlying provinces nevertheless have a Yelmic magistrate suffering there - especially places were the Lunar high command might be stationed, many of whom are Yelmic.
I also think there are other priveleges attached specifically to Citizenship. In Plentonic Dara Happa, to be a Citizen you needed to be both of hereditary Yelmic descent, and also to own property. A Yelmic who didn't own property was a Dekdari, or half citizen. If we assume (and it is a very big assumption, I know) that something like that holds true today, then what rights do citizens have that others do not? The Yelmic assumption is probably relaxed for outlying cities, but probably not the owning property.
The Senate is one possibility. Probably only citizens may be Senators. There may be any number of positions that are appointed either from the Senate, or by the Senate from among the citizens. There are the Tribunes, who have the right to review and criticise the Emperors appointments (and once brought down an Emperor, but that was a long time ago). There could be all sorts of others - there are any number of possibilities from politics both classical and modern. Consuls, censors, perhaps some political appointments to the higher priesthood (including Pontifex Maximus), magistrates, etc.
Pelorian Prosopaedia
And also on the Pelorian Note, the latest draft of the Pelorian Prosopaedia has been placed on the web and for FTP. http://www.cwr.uwa.edu.au/~cake/Pelproso.html or via my Glorantha page at http://www.cwr.uwa.edu.au/~cake/glorantha.html and ftp in Word 6 format (hopefully Mac or PC, also in Macbinary (.bin) format for Mac users with finicky network setup) at ftp://ftp.cwr.uwa.edu.au/pub/cake
Authors notes available in much the same place.
This draft tries to incorporate some of the many helpful comments
from Nick Brooke, Peter Metcalfe, Pam Carlson and David Dunham. I hope to
still do another draft or two, but this will be the last one for a little
while, as I am off to Brisbane (the other side of Australia, for those
ignorant of antipodean geography) for a conference and holiday.
On which subject, if there are any Brisbane or nearby dwelling fellow Glorantha enthusiasts who would like to catch up (for a snack and a chat, or to praise Minlister), please email me.
Cheers
David
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