Graeme's questions

From: Jean.DURUPT_at_st.com
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 97 16:15:02 +0100


Hi all

Graeme asked some questions.

+why do animals die?

According to the theists, the first being to die was Grand Father Mortal. Then Death had many users.
Orlanth killed the sun.
Zorack Zoran killed Flamal (and thus all the plants die) Foundchild (and others hunter gods) taught humans to use death against animals in order to have something to eat. The animals die because their ancestors were killed during the gods' war.

+Horal's caste

The Brithini don't have a knight caste, they have a soldier caste and Horal is the first soldier.
He did border patrol, monster suppression. He was a bodyguard, a custom officer or a tax collector.
And sometimes he went into the ennemies'hole in order to make them surrender or die.

All the malkioni sects have a soldier caste wether the members fight on foot or on horseback.
Only the Hrestroli (old or reformed) sects have a knight caste whose patron saint is Hrestrol. These two sects believe in caste mobility. In the Old Hrestroli church everyone begins in his father's caste and may become a knight, and have the right to lead men, to do some high magic, to fight with weapons and to do some manual work. In the Loskalmi church (ie the reformed Hrestroli), everyone begins in the farmer caste. Those who want may enlist in the army (soldier caste), become an officer (knight caste) and be ordained a priest (wizard caste) and become a noble (noble caste).

+God of silver feet

The Brithini revere Malkion as a prophet and a lawgiver, but don't worship anything. They know (at least the zzaburi) that by tieing their soul (ie worshiping) to a spirit/false god/whatever, they could have a powerful and easy way of doing magic (ie rune magic), but it is against Malkion's law and means terminal ageing. All the Brithini know that death by old age means that the soul is forfeit. IMO the Vadeli may bargain with spirits while Brithini may only enslave them.

Hrestrol brought back two things from his quest, the knight caste and the worship of the invisible god.
The theological question is what sort of being deserves to be worhiped. The monotheists say that only the invisible god, his prophets and his saints may be worshiped. IMG the Galvosti worship only the invisible god and only use the saints as example of proper malkioni behaviour. It does not mean that other beings cannot be worshiped, only that it is illegal and that those beings destroy/eat/enslave their worshipers' souls after their death.
The henotheist say that some of those beings are the creator's agents in the world and thus may be propriated or worshiped.

The god of silver feet is very strong in communication magic and was used as material component for the ritual that created the ban.

+Sacred time

IMO the malkioni have some ceremonies near the spring equinox. It reminds them the day when Zzabur brought back the sun after the long night.

+Humans

The normal races (ie the warerans, the agimori, the veldang, the kralori and the teleosians) are human races, and their members are human beings. IMO the Brithini, the Vadeli, the Waertagi and the Men-and-a-half are human. The waertagi are tied to water and sicken when they leave the sea, like other humans sicken when they do long sea journey (any similitude with scorbut is voluntary).
Sandy Petersen said that the Hsunchen were human too. I have always thought that ogres were not human.

Peace

        Jean


End of The Glorantha Digest V5 #194


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