The following is all, In My Humble Opinion and my way of looking at some very complex ideas.
> 1. HeroQuests: What exactly are they, and what are they supposed to do?
Glorantha is a Platonic Universe. Outside the 'real' or mundane world is a world where the First Things are, where the Ideas of which the mundane world is just a series of shadows really exist. The deeds of the Gods and other immortals done at the begining of all things continue to exist there, Timeless and eternally True. Life on Glorantha continues in its recognisable course because of these Truths. Because Issaries exists and performs his Trades on the GodPlane human merchants exist. Because Orlanth exists, the winds continue to blow free.
As above So below.
But also: As below, so above. The acts of worshippers in venerating and serving the Gods make them more 'real' in the Mundane world and ensure that their myths and legends continue to influence the world.
Now, it is possible for mortals to enter the divine realms. At the most basic level, the regular rituals of the various cults take the worshippers to the GodPlane and place them in the roles of the patron gods. Not very far in, nor very deeply into the roles. But each initiation, marriage, priesting and so on is a very small recreation of the events of GodTime and brings the Eternal into the Mundane.
At the next level up, it is possible for someone to recreate some special part of the God's myth and gain special advantages from this. This is dangerous and risks terrible penalties if you fail. It is something for high Rune Levels to attempt and then only once or twice in a lifetime. There are records, maps and rituals to allow people to find their way through the GodPlane known to each cult. The aim is to do as the God did and become more like the God thereby as well as to gain power for yourself, your cult and your people.
At the highest, most dangerous level, it is possible for a mortal to go onto the GodPlane and leave the known, mapped paths in an attempt to do something new. The penalties for failure are even more horrendous than those from nonexperimental HeroQuesing up to and including total loss of selfhood and identity or being the slave of some evil being for all eternity. But someone who acheives it has become in effect a Living God, a new part of the eternal pattern of the Dance that is Glorantha. Such a person is a Hero. And there are an alarming number of them on Glorantha at the moment....
> 2. The Hero Plane: It seems to me that _this_ is where the gods actually
> live. There are numerous descriptions of gods existing in this plane
> (Yelm, Krarsht from LoT, etc.), and it is also where the "afterworlds" are
> said to exist. So then what is the God Plane for?
See above. The God Plane is the deepest part of the Other World, where the deepest, hardest to change, oldest parts of Gloranthan reality dwell.
The Hero Plane is the part that is easiest to reach and contains the mortal made and fairly recent and easy to change bits.
> 3. Rune Lords: I _think_ I know what these are, from what I remember
> from the RQ rulebook, and from the description of Krarsht's Jaws: special
> warriors and agents of the gods, not necessarily priests or acolytes, who
> nevertheless receive special powers and boons from the gods. I have read
> of Wind Lords and Wood Lords, who seem to be specific versions of Rune
> Lords (Orlanthi and elven, respectively), but I am not sure of this. What
> other Rune Lords are there?
See Gods of Glorantha for this. There is a silly theory about that cults who have both RL and Rune Priests must be amalgams of earlier cults.
> 4. The Mostali: I like their "scientific" viewpoint and the World
> Machine. Their technology has been described as "advanced", but how
> advanced is this? Steel-making? Clockwork devices? Steam Power?
They certainly have gunpowder, clockwork and primative steam. The God Time Mostali were even more advanced if the stories of the Walking Fort are anything to go by. Greg Stafford once wrote a very depressing explanation of his vision for Glorantha's dwarves called "Why I Hate Mostali".
> 5. The "Invisible God" of the West: Real, or just a myth invented by the
> West to explain away their sorcery?
That's a very good question. Now go and ask the Inquisitors that and let them adjust your attitude.
No-one (with the possible exception of Mr Stafford) knows. Bear in mind that given the plastic nature of Glorantha's Reality, it may not have been true always but may be true now....
> and one more question:
>
> 6. Are _Gods of Glorantha_ and _Elder Secrets_ still published by AH?
> These are the only two RQ books that my local game store doesn't have, and
> I would definitely like to have these.
That's a very good question. We'd like to know ourselves.....
Given the recent split between RQ and Glorantha I'd doubt it myself but this material may be reprinted in part in the new 'systemless' stuff Chaosium is promising us.
Actor And Genius
AKA Theophilus Prince Archbishop Of The Far Isles Medieval Society
Arms Purpure An Open Book Proper: On the Dexter Page an Alpha Or
On the Sinister an Omega Or. Motto Nulla Spes Sit in Resistendo
(Resistance is Useless). Ask me about the Far Isles:
Better Living through Pan-Medieval Anachronisms.
Powered by hypermail