I think I am with Alex.
My take on the whole compass debate is that it is largely irrelevent. Gloranthan tin compasses are not 19th century ships compasses - Gloranthans, by and large, do not have the manufacturing skills to be able to determine their position with any accuracy. Very few of them, in addition, have a great enough grasp of geometry, or access to anything like an accurate map, to be able to use a couple of compass readings to say where they are.
And compasses other than tin compasses that point to Magasta's pool are rare, and not necessarily useful. A Pavis pointer, for example (AFAIK the only other 'compass' magic described) is both cumbersome, innnacurate, and points to a city whose precise location is unlikely to be known with accuracy by most sailors. So most ships will have one reading to go on, not two, like most earthly navigators.
Tin Compasses, however, are extremely valued by all sailors, for one simple reason - as long as you are not sailing in the direction of the compass, you are not sailing towards Magastas pool, which must be a great comfort to everyone. Their prime navigational function is to avoid the pool - - telling where you are is a lesser priority....
I imagine most Gloranthan navigators make use of the stars extensively, plus most have a tin compass, plus most have a large array of extremely dubious maps. Generally, they get to where they are going. But they often do not take the most direct route.
Perhaps the dwarves, sutck inside their concrete ships, and with access to better manufacturing tolerances, might rely on multiple compasses - - but then again, perhaps they take sightings from Zenith.
>Perhaps Orlanth has been
>encouraging his people to abandon slavery, as this is a Yelmic and Lunar
>practice that goes against his principles. Gods may be perfect, but men
>and women aren't. ;)
Oddly enough, it would appear that Orlanth has rather been tacitly condoning 'slavery' since the dawn of time, at least in Dragon Pass/ Heortland, as Heorts laws are the foundation of Orlanthi society, supported by the whole Orlanthi religion, and they are the laws that define the status of thrall.
Of course, slavery is a vile Yelmic and Lunar practice that goes against Heorts laws, while thralldom is an honest Orlanthi idea. The main difference is that children of thralls are not thralls, while children of slaves are slaves. To the Orlanthi, this makes all the difference. Lunars consider it a minor point, and perfectly acceptable if a given landholder should choose to follow Orlanthi custom or not.
Cheers
David
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