>Peter and I discussed the Proxies a few months ago. I originally
>thought, as you did, that the proxies where officials taking the part of
>the Red Emperor in some rituals, while Peter thought that the Proxies
>where literally Golden or Bone or whatever statues magically animated -
>and he appears to be correct.
I believe both these examples are correct. I also believe that "Proxie" is used like we would use the term "anti-pope" or "pretender to the throne" to describe a ruler whose legitimacy is at some stage discovered to be questionable: in the Lunar Empire this stuff usually doesn't make the papers. Just like the the RW Roman Empire, the common folk do not see the distinction between one 'Moonson' and the next (nor are they encouraged to).
While I think we all accept that the successive Moonsons after Sheng who take different regnal names (eg. Artifex) are in fact different people, I suspect that *within* some of these so-called reigns there have been the odd swaps made as well, very quietly so the populace at large suspect nothing. The Court of course play along: it's quite shocking to discover that the ruler you served all these years was nothing more than a proxy, and such a relief that the Mandate of Moon has descended on the true Red Emperor.
[Note: when the Blue Army inquisitors come for me, I'll deny I said *any of this*. Like the loyal Lunar I am, I know that the Blessed Red Emperor lives forever, praise his immortal soul...
Blue Army joke:
Knock, Knock
Who's there?
It's 3 o'clock in the morning and you don't know who's there?]
Stephen Martin:
>Fortunate Succession specifically states that there were "False Red
>Emperors". Since the Red Emperor is said to have died in a couple of
>places, and Greg very specifically denies that he died there...
Of course he'd deny it!
Of languages:
>Every dialect seems to have its own phrases for this sort of thing.
>And, very strangely, for bread. "Loaf" stays constant, but a bread roll
>can have all sorts of strange names.
David Cake:
>>And beer. Often in a pub I ask for 'a middy of super' (though not
>>if I'm in a decent pub).
Either you West Australians like *strong* liquor, or "super" doesn't mean gasoline with lead in it, like it does here in the Eastern States.
BTW, I got a kick out of the 'sinks like a lead balloon' schtick: "Lead balloons, of course, are sometimes a useful means of travel in the underworld, as the magically enhanced lead is attracted towards large areas of primal darkness, giving it some reverse lift."
Cheers
MOB
As is well known, light, like Fire, is a manifestation of Aether and thus properly belongs in the Sky World. The elements always seeks their own proper level in the bubble that is Glorantha, thus light tends to curve upward slightly as it flits along at a great pace. This is why you see the top of a mast as a ship approaches, then the sails, then the body. Some crude drawings may make this more clear:
YOU:
o .... ....* top of mast -|- .... Curved Path of Light from Top of Mast ..... |\ / \ ............. ............. | \ <- sail ____ ................. --- ------------------------------------------------------------------ the sea
At this stage the light from the mast barely skims the waters, making the top visible, but the path that light from the sails would have to take intersects the ocean's surface and is absorbed by the hungry waters. A little thought reveals this to be the true explanation for the 'horizon' of seafarers and for why the tops of objects are seen first as a distant object approaches. Note also that an observer higher up may see farther, thus we have lookouts atop the masts of ships and observation towers (this phenomenon is seen on land as well but is less obvious.)
As for the so-called arguments of the deranged Columbus Mercator, these rest on the principle that light travels in straight lines. Obviously this must be false, as we know that Light is but the subtle form of Fire, which, seeking its proper level, tends to rise. Thus it is insupportable that light should not curve upward in it path.
Objections of the Ignorant:
I answer this as follows: beyond the Sky Dome is a Shining World. Of the Shining World's great Light, but a small Fraction descends to us along the paths pioneered by mighty Yelm and his lesser descendants and followers. The Will of these divine Beings is to send light to the mortal world, hence the light descends, against its Nature. However, it always yearns to return unto its true Home.
2. That El-Metal (Gold) falls Down toward the Earth with great Force, against the Tenets of my Theory.
I answer this as follows: Yelm's metal indeed falls down with great Force, but in the oldest records this is not so. In Godtime, before the Darkness, it was the Lightest of Metals and would even Leap and Dance about, from the Yearning of the Fire Within to return to the Sky World. See [list of references deleted for brevity], and lastly "The Sun Wheel Dancers" by Hector the Wise of Sun County for a compilation of the works of the Ancient Authors I have cited.
Only AFTER the Sunslaying (familiar to all who love the Lightbringer Saga) did Gold become heavy and lifeless, seeking to join the Celestial Emperor in the Underworld. Thus through the actions of Great Orlanth did Gold become the heaviest of Metals.
End of Glorantha Digest V4 #160
WWW material at http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/rolegame.html
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