I wouldn't get hung up on the use of the term 'false' in 'false gods'. Gloranthans believe other cultures gods are real, they just believe that the other cultures beliefs about their gods are not true, or are unpalatable. They have false religions, with dishonest gods. Obviously, as this other foreign god is not really ruler of the universe, then he is obviously some upstart challenging our own lord of the universe, and thus little more than a demon. Of course, demons can wield evil magic, but its not match for our own god when he truly manifests in his full glory (of course, sometimes the foreigners kick our butt, because we are not worthy of our lords help).
There are an endless series of rationalisations for why the other guys are damned heathens are we are the blessed, most of which do not depend on the other guys use of magic or effectiveness.
I think Dan McClusky's explanation of the observer effect in heroquesting is damn cool! Bravo!
I think Owen Jones is actually not as dissimilar from my opinions as he thinks. I didn't mean to imply, for example, that Thunderbird would always be a major storm spirit of Prax if there were no Praxians invoking his storm powers all the time. But I did mean that Thunderbird was quite definately a powerful spirit, would still be a big spirit without his storm powers, and that is an objective fact. So he has an independent existence. I agree that he wouldn't be Thunderbird without a culture to support that.
And a tip of the hat to Peter Metcalfe for his outpouring of creativity about the Clanking City.
David
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