I think that one of the Avalon Hill supplements on Prax (River of Cradles, perhaps?) had a weather table of sorts, mainly average precipitation and temperatures in the seasons, or maybe it's my fevered imagination.
Shamans
Nick Effingham has the right idea about shamans. The Horned Man is merely a Jrusteli way of describing and codifying the things they saw around the world. In my opinion, there is no Horned Man, but each shamanic culture has a deity who fills the function. Amongst trolls, it is Jakaboom, amongst Praxians Waha, in Balazar Votank. These almost certainly do not have horns. Similarly, the Bad Man is not an individual, but a principle which is embodied by different spirits. Amongst trolls it is the Burner, amongst elves the White Lady, amongst Mallia Niorra the Healer and amongst Bagogi Bagog's Last Husband.
Shamans who belong to traditions where shamanic cults are popular and strong will be able to join the cults to gain power. Don't tell me that Shamans are not out to become powerful - they are the most selfish and power-grasping of all the "priestly" classes. As Nick said, a troll shaman will join Subere to gain the powers of Darkess easily. She could also join Aranea to become closer to Cragspider or join one of the Gorakiki cults to gain powerful friends and spirits. A Kolati shaman may join Storm Bull or a rural version of Orlanth to gain more storm powers - in fact Wind Child shamans belong to Orlanth Thunderous as their first cult. Why should they not worship the Seven Winds as well, to gain more wind powers?
Paul Honigmann (Hi Paul) asked
> Why would a mystical, spiritual shaman
>wish to learn the harsh, monomaniacal fanaticism of Faith of an
>Atheist / Monotheist sorcerer or the rigid heirarchies of many cults?
He would not. A troll Shaman would learn the secrets of a troll cult of Arkat not the truth of the Rokari or Brithini. A Kolati may well be able to learn the ways of the Aeolian Church, especially if he worships at a rural, out of the way church. Think of the Catholic Church and the different modes of worhip celebrated by its members - Voodo practitioners are sometimes called "Louisiana Catholics, for instance. I admit that few shamans would become Priests or Rune Lords of major, non-established cults, but I doubt whether Storm Bull would turn away worshippers just because they were Shamans of Waha - - he would accept worship from anybody committed to destroying Chaos.
By the way, Nick, I don't believe the trolls honour Daka Fal particularly highly, I think they see Ancestor Worship as a product of living in troll clans and as part of the Kyger Litor cult. The association with Daka Fal is merely a convenient method of providing the spells - they worship ancestors so they must be associated with Daka Fal. Another parallel - Firshala, in Griffin Mountain, grants Ancestor Worship spells but is in no way associated with Daka Fal.
>A shaman sees the world, surely, as a balance between many spirits...
>Having bent your brain into one mould how can you snap it into
>another?
Some are small spirits to be controlled, some are big spirits to be worshipped, some are spirits to be fought, others are spirits to be feared. To an average shaman, there is no difference between a "small" godling spirit such as Thunder Bird and a large one such as Orlanth - he cannot defeat either, both can be worshipped, so what's the difference. A powerful shaman, however, may be able to bind Thunder Bird and meet Orlanth head to head - he would probably not bother with worshipping either. Sheng Seleris, for instance, controlled many deities, as far as I am aware, but he worshipped the major gods of his realm. He would count as a powerful shaman, by the way.
> However, how do you explain
> pre-Bad Man (in other words from a time before the Darkness) era? Perhaps
> all shamans were born perfect?
Simple, there were no Shamans then. The Spirit Plane had not been divided, only the elemental or natural spirits were around, no Horned Man had been awakened, so there were no shamans. Only after the culture's Horned Man had walked the first Spirit Path are shamans around in that culture. (This falls down slightly in the non-sequential parts of God Time, but the principle is still there, I think.)
Take a look at http://users.aol.com/simonphipp/spirit2.html for more of my ramblings on shamans, the best things ever to walk Glorantha, after Vampires, that is.
John Brown on the Red Goddess and the Compromise:
> After all, it
> is common knowledge that the Red Goddess dwells on the Moon which is on the
> mundane plane. I think this clearly violates the Compromise. If she
accepted
> it (the Compromise), wouldn't she have to surrender her free will to act
> directly on the mundane plane and go live on the god plane?
The Red Moon is merely her physical manifestation, the Phases of the Moon are a side-effect of her being the Moon. In the same way, Storm Bull is a huge high pressure zone over Prax, Yelm is the Sun, each of the Oceans are huge bodies of water and Subere is the Darkness of Hell. Anilla's travels cause the tides, but she is still bound by the Compromise (at least I hope so), when Yelm is closer to the Earth it becomes warmer (in summer for instance, or have I got that hopelessly wrong?).
It is when the deities actually walk about doing things that they are breaking the Compromise, not by existing. So, if the Red Goddess, Yelm or Orlanth came down and said "hello" then get worried.
As a matter of interest, which deities are bound by the Compromise? The big ones arem that is easy, but what about the less powerful deities? Clearly, the City Gods of Dara Happa are not because they can leave their cities and fight. What about Waha, Oakfed, Oslir, Polaris or Yelorna? (I know that some people do not accept the Compromise as binding in all of Glorantha, but let's assume that it is for this question only).
Is anyone else bored by Martin Laurie and friends rubbing salt in each others
wounds?
Perhaps private email would be a better forum for the "But you said this ten
Digests ago! - Only because you said this - but you said this earlier"
exchanges.
Loved Nick Brooke's What My Father Told Me about the Vadeli.
David Cake makes excellent points on Yelmic status and right of the cicitzen, but why would Yelm membership be waived in the outlying cities? It would seem far better for Yelm membership to be a prerequisite for citizenship throughout Dara Happa, whether in the Tripolis or the outlying cities - after all, they are not barbarians in the provinces. Of course, women can't be Dara Happan Citizens because they cannot worship Yelm, but they have other stisfying and demanding roles to play in society.
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