Leonardo writes again

From: Peter Metcalfe <P.Metcalfe_at_student.canterbury.ac.nz>
Date: Tue, 07 Jan 1997 18:36:39 +1200


Joerg Baumgartner:

>BTW, can anybody around here explain what "heir to the Colymar tribe of
>Sartar" means in "The Crown-Test of Leika Ballista"?

That the said person was publically chosen by the previous king while he was still ruling (cf Harold Godwinson's appointment by Edward the Confesser as King of England). Although the position is elective, the king's statement carries a powerful force that the Tribal Ring will it difficult to ignore.

[God Forgot]

>In my Glorantha the ancient Brithini caste rules followed by the God
>Forgotten predate the anti-Gbaji crusade of Arkat, and also the changes
<(sic) devised by Zzabur after the disruptions Hrestol left behind in
>Brithos. A small shipload of Brithini teachers arrived with the early
>Waertagi expeditions this far east, quite likely during the Silver Age
>of Kethaela.

The Green Men did not arrive on these shores until after the Dawn. I remember the occasion well for the Only Old One was most displeased that the Ludoch had revolted. He ordered every nation under his banner to march to the shores to collect an armful of seashells. The Green Men did not carry Brithini with them in their ships. I later learned that they feared death too much to leave their Isle. Only madmen and exiles ever leave the Isle. We were visited by a Prophet from the West, 'tis true, but he did not arrive with the Green Men nor was he called Malkion. He taught us instead the reason why the Creator had disappeared and showed us the way to bring Him back.

We practice the caste rules of the Brithini, it is true, but we are not Brithini. I have seen Brithos from the shores of Old Trade and it is the very nadir of the World that Bores that the Creator left behind. Even the Gray Clouds that continually hung over it had not changed all the time I was there.

Why would do we follow their ways?

When the Jrusteli came, they tried to convert us to their new faith. We laughed at them and mocked their relevations saying that we knew that the Creator was not Invisible but Gone. They then realized that we sought to prolong our lifetimes so that we may create as much as possible. So the Jrusteli dropped hints saying they knew of an Isle in the furthest west where the obediance to the Laws were so strong that the people did not age. They coupled this with subtle curses that ruined our traditional ways of avoiding age. In fear, we asked them to transport a group of scholars to these fabulous Isles so that we may learn. They demanded a toll beyond measure. Not even the Pharoah was owed that much. In desparation, we assented and sold ourselves into slavery so that we might live and create another day.

When we reached Brithos (for I was one of the Scholars), we saw that we had been cheated! Brithos was the very antithesis of everything we stood for and the Jrusteli knew this! Nevertheless, we strove to complete our tasks and sought to make the new ways to save our people. Much of the Brithini caste rules and modifications were tried out. Eventually after decades of trial and error, we had finally managed to halt the aging process. The Jrusteli were amazed for they had developed a new way which they planned to sell to us to keep us in perpetual bondage. But because we did not purchase this from them, we would have been freed from their debt in fifty years time.

It must be said that our way is not perfect. We do grow old and die. But in our extended lifespans we have invented so much so that when the Creator Returns, he will visit our graves and say 'These were Creative Men' and return us to Life and Solace.

>This gave another opportunity to the fertile Leftarm Islanders
>to spread their urban settlements further north and west, and numerous
>enclaves of God Forgot citizens grew in the Kethaelan cities, adding to
>their cosmopolitan flavour.

Now if we were truely Brithini then how could we be fertile? Not even on Old Trade (when I was there) had there been children in 300 years!

>When Inolzi the
>Learned, IMO a citizen of Jrustela or Slontos, invented mechanical devices

They were invented by us! The Jrusteli made us parade our creations in front of them and took the ones they desired most. Inolzi the thief was notorious for the amount of ideas that he stole! We told him how to make the universal acid but lied telling him it was the potion of youth of our ancestors. The fool created it in the lab and the acid killed him _and_ destroyed all the evidence so the Jrusteli never found out who did it!

>Around 820 at least three Zistorite cities existed in
>Kethaela: Lylket, Jadnor, and Locsil,

Pits of Perdition!

>The majority of the Leftarmers will have been content
>to profit from the inventions, but the ordinary farmers are unlikely to
>have embraced the philosophy themselves.

Profit? We profited naught!

>The Leftarmers had been the foot troops and swordfodder of the Zistori
>lords

We did not fight for the Jrusteli! They had their own troops who were garrisoned in the city. These troops supported Zistor and his fellow Taluses in the battle. After the Clanking City was defeated, the survivors were allowed to settle where they wanted provided they mended their ways. Many did so and some of them still dwell in God Forgot today.

>Internal religious strife in Heortland between
>the old cult (in the tradition of Harmast) and the new one (in the tradition
>of Alakoring Dragonbreaker) gave the Brithini lords an opportunity to take
>back all of the island holdings, and also much of the mainland territory.
>For the next three centuries, southern Heortland saw several conquests and
>reconquests between Orlanthi warlords and Brithini Talars,

We do not conquer, we only Create. The northern barbarians destroyed several of our machines claiming they were dangerous. The foolish heathens refused to listen to reason and continued to destroy our innocent creations. So the Talars sought my aid.

I, Leonardo, built for them a huge mechanical horse made of white marble. This horse was allowed to travel wherever it wanted. And to ensure that the barbarians understood, we put an army inside the Horse. Thus when the barbarians tried to destroy the horse, they had to fight the army first. The barbarians finally saw sense after a few battles and withdrew from their lands although such was not our intention. All we wanted them to do was to stop breaking our creations.

The Horse is lost to us now. It was last seen climbing Stormwalk Mountain. Many say it met the alchemical transformer and was turned into a pot of glue. This is a bald lie. I know in my heart that the Horse still exists. Since it disappeared, the barbarians overcame their fear of us and resettled the lands that they vacated. They no longer damaged our creations but sought to prevent them from entering their lands by means of a ditch or a wall. If this failed then they saught to turn our inventions back into our lands.

When the Pharoah, the barbarians offered him evil advice and so he ordered us to restrict our creativity so that our machines would no go beyond our borders. Since he has vanished, we have not done this. Why should we? But we hear the barbarians are menacing our inventions again...

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