>I don't think it's precisely either. Now, there _is_ an Arkat secret
>society type thing, or more likely several such, but I think their
>main domain is the human populace of Ralios.
The Uz to some extent imitate the Hooman practice of the Secret Society IMO. An indication of this is the 'underground city' which supposedly runs the cult. Normally for most Uz cults, the centre of power is well known to Uz (like the Blue Moon has its centre at the Blue Moon Plateau or Argan Argar has his centre in the Shadow Plateau). The only other cult which has an unknown power centre is Zorak Zoran and that is associated with Arkat.
Thus I believe the cult of Arkat is secretive even amongst the Uz.
>Namely, "ordinary" divine-style Hero Cults of Arkat in one aspect or
>another, and of course, [Black] Arkat [Kingtroll], the one at issue
>here. My understanding is that the "sorcerous" aspect of Arkat is in
>form very much like a divine cult, whose spells just _happen_ to be
>sorcerous effects.
Although Greg has said that is what the Cult of Black Arkat is like, I'm not sure that he included Arkat Kingtroll in this. Upon reflection, I think that the Uz Arkati of Ralios use human style sorcerer whereas the Uz Arkati of elsewhere (save for the Mistress Race) use the divinized sorcery.
Nikk Effingham:
SP>> Hero: One common non-subjective definition of a Gloranthan hero
>>is "an individual whose accomplishments are so impressive that a new
>>star appears in the sky to mark them."
>Or is possession of a star merely a by-product of having achieved the
>status of Hero and therefore automatically occurs???
This is my opinion. It may confer some benefit but I think it's the equivalent of a saintly nimbus (indead certain people have had both).
>Does the star appear there
>because of the will of the Hero, or the will of the Community supporting
>the Hero?
I suppose it appears because the Hero has reached some level of Cosmic Understanding. Thus a fragment of the bygone Aether now can reach glorantha. Perhaps as more and more heroes appear, the Night Sky will become as bright as Day and the Golden Age will return? I noted from the recorded disappearance of some stars that there may be a constraint on how many stars can appear.
>I had always assumed that stars only played a significant role in Dara
>Happan, and perhaps Kralorelan, culture.
The Genertela Book 1 says that Errinoru has his own Star. According to the Argrath Saga, upon the completion of the Lightbringer's Saga:
'The treasures of heaven were available to him: peace, food for his people forever, personal immortality, friendship with demigods, a homestead in heaven, his own star'.
This implies that Orlanthi Heroes such as Harmast Barefoot and Aringor Dastalson have stars. The Runequest Companion says that stars exist for Malkion, Arkat (actually a constellation according to Elder Secrets), Talor, Snodal, Jonat, Avlor, Dromal (sic?), Siglat, Svenlos and Arthen who are all Malkioni saints and heros. However Svenlos and Arthen were actually companions of Snodal and are clustered around his star. I think it has been argued at some stage in the past that the stars in Arkat's constellation contain other heroes such as Talor and Harmast.
I've already mentioned my theory of when Harrek becomes a stellar Hero (between 1625 and 1629) on the grounds of his following Errinoru's Quest. Kallyr is not a hero according to this criteria as her star is actually a gift from her lover.
The Dara Happan records mention several emperors as having their own stars. Unfortunately some of the names are highly doubtful in that the year of appearance does not actually tally with their reign. It is possible that the appearance of a new star in the heavens might be sycophantically attributed to the reigning Emperor. It also should be noted that a star can be attributed to one hero in one culture and another in a different culture. This would be more common with the older stars and heroes as the historical facts gradually get distorted.
David Cake:
Me>>AFAIK the Western Script is alphabetic.
> Though Western script is supposed to be the written version of
>several languages that are mutually unintelligible in the spoken form, but
>not in the written. This (and that the runes are allegedly originally
>western) has led some people to speculate that it is ideogrammatic, like
>Chinese (which is the only example I can think of of a mutually
>intelligible written form between mutually unintelligible spoken
>languages).
The example that I was thinking of is Latin. The script is near standard although the spoken versions of it are not intelligible between nations since medieval times (and the 'vulgates' are even more unintelligible. An example is how the 'C' in Caesar is pronounced. If you answered 'S' then consider the German Kaiser. Even Saint Augustine of Hippo was taken to task for his North African dialect and in a fit of pique once wrote something like 'It matters not whether the c in _ignoscere_ is hard or soft when a soul is crying out for God'.
Arabic is also a good model for this effect:
'A further range of problems stem from Arabic's rigid syntax and spelling which make it difficult but though not absolutely impossible, to register colloquial and regional spoken usage. If one tampers with the spelling of the word, then one may be altering the word beyond recognition, changing its root form and therefore its meaning. Consequently the _Nights_ features no dialogue by the Middle Eastern equivalents of Sam Weller, Joe Gargery or Mrs Gamp, It has always been difficult for Arab writers to signal class or regional origin by distinctive forms of speech, though an Arab reader, familiar with the geographic or social environment, on being told that a character in a tale is an Egyptian peasant, or a black slave or a Maghribi (North African) King, may well supply those forms for himself.' The Arabian Nights, A Companion Robert Irwin
End of The Glorantha Digest V5 #16
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