<TTrotsky_at_aol.com>
Red Moon
>Steve Martin, on CoP and ES:
><< That's funny -- nowhere does it say the Red Moon is visible outside
of
> the Glowline, though King of Sartar implies this in the Colymar Book
(pg
> 200). >>
> Actually, there is a statement in print that the Red Moon can be
seen
>outside the Glowline (not that you were saying it can't be seen). ES,
p43:
>the picture shows 'the sky of Glorantha, summer, midnight from the...
center
>of Magasta's Pool.' The picture shows the Red Moon, ergo it's visible at
>least from the Pool, which is well outside the Glowline.
> The fact that the merman's location has to be defined implies that
the
>stars do show parallax (or that the world is spherical, which it
obviously
>isn't). Although, FAIK this may have been Gregged...
Actually, this is not _quite_ correct. What it says is that this view is from "the point of view" of a triolini. Since even a triton can't lie on his back in the middle of Magasta's Pool (since he would be long on his way to fishie hell), this is a reference to a location. Greg and Nick both at one point seem to have thought that merman astronomers leave something to be desired.
Since a lot of this stuff is wrong, I wouldn't take it as gospel. For example, while Lightfore is in the right place, Mastakos is not -- since the Sunpath has to intersect the Eastern and Western Gates, he should be somewhat lower on the page than he is. As should Pole Star, since he does tilt with the Dome. Greg has since moved Youth, such that this picture would better describe Spring Midnight, if not for the location of the Sunpath. Etc.
Your point on parallax is well-taken. I would disagree with this statement, myself, and say that the stars always appear to be the same distance away. After all, since the ancients of the RW could not measure parallax in the stars, the Gloranthans should not either. IMO.
Sun Dragon
The bits we have heard about this "cult" seem overrated. Greg once told me that it is a very minor deal, whose one Divine spell (Telekinesis) is used by the winged creatures to make up for their lack of hands.
I am of the opinion that it is identical, more or less, to the Dragon Sun of Dara Happa, and so is related to the EWF. As to whether or not it is a physical entity or not, of course it is -- all true dragons are real entities. Of course, it also is not exactly real, since true dragons aren't exactly real in Glorantha, either.
As for it being in Nomad Gods, Second Edition, as the reviser/editer/author, I can state without doubt that this was done so the Praxians could have access to a dragon in multi-player games involving Dragon Pass. You note they also get an assassin -- Black Fang. Superhero will be Tada -- look for 18 more counters for Nomad Gods in The Book of Drastic Resolutions, Volume Prax.
rhwolfe_at_ix.netcom.com
Dnewt hijinks
My guess is that you had the single most realistic dragonewt campaign in the history of Glorantha and RuneQuest, Greg Stafford _not_withstanding. Too cool.
The head of the DNewt march translated his name as Master Prince of Four Jewels. At some point along the March he started calling himself Master Prince of Five Jewels. No one ever saw him carrying any gemstones.
Some notes (by Steve Perrin?) about The Dragonewt Power Rune Cult, which seem to have formed part of the article in WF14, mentioned that there were five different paths to self-mastery which dragonewts might take. Lord Master Prince of Four Jewels was said inthat article to have mastered four of them, hence his name. If this is still true, I doubt he could achieve all five jewels, since once he did he would go back into his Egg to await his turn at becoming the Inhuman King. At least, he would once he died again. Though I don't think he could complete the mastery _until_ he died, since that seems to be when dragonewts do all of their skill progressions, experience rolls, etc.
Arthur Reyes on Prax
River of Cradles answers most of your questions about Pavis, the Rubble, and Corflu. The stats for the Great Tribes are in Glorantha: Genertela, Crucible of the Hero Wars. Some cultural info is in River of Cradles, some in Genertela, some bits in Codex 1. The last, unpublished bits from Chaosium will be in Drastic, Volume Prax.
As for Tada's High Tumulus, Trollpak has a map of Dagori Inkarth which includes northern Prax, and gives some detail on the hills surrounding what most Praxians say is Tada's burial mound.
Praxian legends state that if you bring all of Tada's Grisley Portions atop the mound at the right time, with the right rituals, the god will be reborn. As at least one of the Portions has been lost since before the Dawn, Tada's Loincloth, the ancient prophecies remain unfulfilled. Some of Tada's Warriors, who sleep in the hills around the mound awaiting his return, can occasionally be called to fight for one tribe or another, though it takes one of Tada's pieces (i.e., the Grisley Portions) to awaken them. Nomad Gods has some information on this topic, Drastic will have a little more.
Jon.Thorvaldson on Tada's High Tumulus
I myself have never heard of Wind Children living atop it, though I agree that normally you cannot climb to the top of it. Only if you possess one of the Portions could you succeed, IMO.
Note also that I believe at least one of the Independent Tribes has their own myth about the mound. Specifically, I believe the Men-and-a-Half say that their god "Lodril" is buried beneath the Tumulus, and that one day he will erupt from it again, to lead them back home.
Hate Sky
Hate Sky is described in Lords of Terror (as is Tyram), under "Other Cults in Dorastor". The concept of Tyram shows up in a couple of Chaosium fragments, which are (if I recall) printed in Lords of Terror. The spell I made up, originally for use by a Zorak Zoran subcult.
Essentially, Hate Sky is an area effect Extinguish spell.
Alex Ferguson on Stars
You probably did see a comparison chart of Sun, Moon, and Planetary sizes, as Greg has one, apparently the _only_ piece of the Elder Secrets-era star work which survives. However, that does not have to mean the size of the Red Moon disk is fixed -- it could merely be the Red Moon at its largest appearance.
Greg and I have been discussing the apparent size of the Red Moon for some months now, going back and forth between fixed and variable. The explanation I posted a few Digests ago represents the _current_ theory.
Stephen Martin
ilium_at_juno.com
- -----------------------------------------------The Book of Drastic Resolutions
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