Spirits, portage of

From: Jane Williams <janewill_at_mail.nildram.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 1997 20:12:28 +0000


Another of those nasty little practical problems I could do with a steer on. One of Sartar's HQs according to KoS p218 was to do a Westfaring, as his crown test. He "contacted a great spirit: one that could guide and protect many tribes - which could protect a kingdom".

Questions:
1) The easy one, I hope - given a spirit that size, just how do you get it home? Your average binding crystal isn't going to do the job, is it?

2) It looks to me as if he eventually put it into that giant stone ram that guards the Flame (well, there's three of them, but only one animates to protect Salinarg at his coronation). The Ram seems to fit, being a creature Orlanth nicked from the sea, but how did he transfer the spirit from its carrier to the ram? Or did he put it in the ram to start with, and then have the thing follow him back all the way?

3) A bit less practical: the Westfaring given as the start of the LBQ doesn't seem to involve acquiring spirits and taking them home. Am I missing something as usual, or is this a different myth?

4) Do we agree that this giant protective spirit was destroyed in 1602?

5) If we do, is replacing it a prerequisite to re-lighting the Flame?

6) If we agree with that, when did Kallyr acquire it? I can't really see her picking it up in the 1614-1625 period and keeping it in storage. And she didn't have time to do the job herself post-Brown Dragon. Ideas? Would this make a high-level PC scenario for 1625, for instance?

Jane Williams                     jane_at_williams.nildram.co.uk
http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~janewill/gloranth/index.shtml

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