Jean Durupt wrote
> The Orlanthi are the most courageous people in Glorantha, so they
> were the first to resettle Dragon Pass. That is why they tell the
> story about how Centaurs were transformed into the Grazers.
> Sky worshipers cannot be more courageous than Orlanthi.
> In fact the Grazer nation is the Pure Horse nation that was expelled
> from Prax and came into Dragon Pass long before the Orlanthi dared to even
> think about going through the line of crosses.
I think you have the right facts, but the wrong conclusion.
First, I think that story is told by the Grazers. Second, it *is* a heroic story, at least when compared to the truth, that the Grazers were sorry refugees who were whupped at the Battle of Alavan Argay and barely managed to flee Prax using a ruse.
Michael Cule wrote
> I was thinking hard about how to account for the fact that the Pharoh
> does not suffer from the 'pressure' that we have been told again and
> again forces most Heroes to leave the Mundane World and apotheosise.
Where have we been told this?
BTW, I think most people *want* to apotheosize. That's one way to become immortal...
Jeff Richard mentions me
> David Dunham and I had a very similar discussion recently. His point,
> if I recollect, is that it is entirely possible that much of what we
> read in various Heroquests happen to be that day's Wandering Monster. I
> agreed, but also thought that how the intrepid hero interpreted that
> day's Wandering Monster was Mythically Vital.
I think I said something about how the encounters in e.g. Orlanth and Aroka aren't necessarily set in stone. They merely represent opposition. Krakos the troll avenger delayed Orlanth, but this doesn't seem to be an important aspect of the myth, it's just something that happened, and the quester could expect any previous action to rebound on him. And much as (in your game) Korol Sure-Strike was looking forward to performing the quest and getting a child on the Dark Woman, he dreaded the possibility that she might be a troll instead of a lovely Kitori lass. Assuming that, in the Place of Strangers, you met the Dark Woman at all -- there could be Jar-eel whom you need to befriend.
Going back to Waha's Quest [in Different Worlds 4], there are 6 stages. Every single one of them has unpredictable elements. For example, the Forces of Darkness can be trollkin, dark trolls, tusk riders, morokanths, or shades. As you point out, part of the key is viewing the encounter mythically: "Aha, these are the Forces of Darkness" when you see some Kitori tribesmen wandering the Plains of Prax. (In a heroquest game, it might be playing your Waha Defeats Darkness card.)
> to
> Gloranthans (like most pre-moderns) there is little distinction between
> the sacred and the mundane
True, though I think Gloranthans, just like say the Irish, do make a distinction between the mundane world and the Other Side. And in a typical heroquest (including worship ceremonies), you cross that boundary intentionally at the start, and may cross back and forth several times unintentionally before your return.
Think Wizard of Oz (as I understand it -- I used to watch it on a B&W screen as a kid). When Dorothy crosses the threshold of adventure, the movie changes to color. Crossing to the hero plane is similar.
Alex Ferguson is
> not too surprised by the implication that a HQers will tend to
> make only one "real" Quest
and I'm not either. Most people only have one task they want to accomplish. Most people do mini-max their lives, but very few of them choose to optimize power. Oh, everyone *wants* power, but most people want other things (such as leisure) more.
Besides, once you Kill the Dragon, how can you top that?
> At the climax, you're "supposed" to haggle with the Sun about how to
> Resurrect him. Insofar as it differs from this, it becomes extrapolative.
> "Yes, Arkat, well, he's _kinda_ like the sun, because, errrrr..."
Since Harmast's Saga is incomplete, as is Arkat's, I'm not sure what happened at this pivotal moment.
But I don't think Harmast went after the sun. He wanted a tool that could restore the world, just as Orlanth gained a tool that could restore the world to more or less how it was before Chaos took over.
Also, remember that Arkat was a pretty powerful heroquester. Who's to say that Harmast had any choice here?
(Jeff Richard had a theory, but I believe he intends to propound it at Glorantha-Con later this month.)
David Dunham <mailto:dunham_at_pensee.com> Glorantha/RQ page: <http://www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha.html> Imagination is more important than knowledge. -- Albert Einstein
End of The Glorantha Digest V5 #15
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