Surely you Joust and Weird Stuff in Glorantha

From: Erik Sieurin <BV9521_at_utb.hb.se>
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 1997 18:52:12 +0100


Andrew on jousting:
> It is possible, of course, that the Westerners have specially
> bred their horses for size/etc, as in the RW. But in the real world
> this was hideously expensive, good warhorse cost twenty farms or more.
> IMO this is taking the RW comparison too far, most cavalry
> will be of the lancer/sabre type.

I'm sure someone has already said this, but there's enough jousting in the Safelster region that you find tournament enthusiast, including that noble who spent all his fortune on jousting. Now this COULD be some other sort of tournament, but I've always assumed they were jousting.

As a face-save, one could always say that the need for a heavy warhorse comes from carrying all that armor. Now, with Damage Resistance and Treat Wounds, Western knights might well joust with padded ringmail. Heck, if I remember it right, so they did in the RW, but in Glorantha the added magical benefits would add up so as to negate most of the deaths which were the result of RW justing BPA (Before Platey Armor).

Let's just add a saint, the way saints should be.

SAINT PEOTOR, THE KNIGHT OF PEACE
Saint Peotor is the patron saint of those who love the fight but hate to kill. He instituted the first tournaments so as to give noble knights a way to compete without killing each other. He died jousting againstthe foul Dark Knight of Koandar, who rode a black steed from Hell and wielded a deadly scalpel-sharp glaive, made by the evil wizard Humct. The Dark Knight cheated in every way to win the joust, but the noble Sir Peotor refused to sink so low as to cheat himself. In the end, Peotor won, but died from his wounds.
It costs 2 POW to gain St Peotor as a patron saint. The applicant must be of the Knight caste and make a vow never to fight an opponent who is a faithful Malkioni to the death. (Heathens, heretics and krjalki are fair game).
The Blessing of St Peotor is applied to a knightly weapon, most often a lance. From then on, the weapon can only cause knockback and knockout - no real damage can be done. The blessing lasts as long as the weapon is whole, and is wielded by the blesser himself. St Peotor is most popular among the Old Hrestoli, but appear among the Hrestoli Idealists and the Rokari as well. Among the Rokari, however, he is slightly out of favor, since the frivolous pursuit of jousting is not approved of by the ascetic Rokari clergy. The Knights and Nobles don't care, however.

Me Myself about the Holy Country:.
- - I call the place Maniria - short for Holy
> Alliance of Maniria

AAAARGH! I meant "Ketahela", of course.

Mr Wolfe:
> But what do the Men in Blue
> cover up?

You will soon now, but I just had to comment this:
>Strange sightings of Airships that can't possibly be Moonboats?
> Weird abductions by non-humanoid visitors? Anal probes can't be all that
> scary to someone who lives in fear of being raped by a broo.
Yes, but most people in Glorantha do not live in fear of being raped by a broo. There are not that many broos around. Oh, in the Wastes and near Dorastor it is probably among the Top Ten Worries, but people in these regions tend to be tough, you know. :-)

> How freaked out
> would the average Gloranthan really be by that kind of stuff? "Look, Svern,
> it's a strange glowing object in the sky." "Yeah. Must be some Bat Cultist on
> a Wyvern." Shrug. "Better go get the crossbows."
IMG, most people hide in the bushes, scream and take cover or attack fervently praying for RuneSpells when confronted with Stuff They Don't Know. All places and peoples in Glorantha have Really Weird Stuff which they are used to - Orlanthings shrug (piously) at weather control, and teleporting willy-nilly at most make them mumble about foppy RuneLords spending good magic on playing around. However, dwarven technomagic, elven plant control, trollish darkness demons, Western sorcery and Lunar chaos magic amazes most of'em, excluding jaded adventurers.

Although magic IS a part of daily life in Glorantha, it is often secret, always culturally limited, and doesn't stop to fill people with marvel. Except PC's, of course, but that's one of the things which makes 'em heroes.

"The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea, in a beautiful pea-green boat..."
>From "The Owl and the Pussycat" by Edward Lear

Erik Sieurin
bv9521_at_utb.hb.se
Bodagatan 39, 2 tr
50742 Boras
Sweden
033/141731


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