>Stephen wrote :
>> Just as the land is divided into Sixths, so too is the city.
>> The Water section is the harbor.
>The city could be built in a Hexagonal shape, with the Dream Museum
>and the Embassies at the center. I love the idea of magic buildings
>which can repair themselves. My players will see the City of Wonders
>only once and I hope they will mourn the sack of the City when Harrek
>and his Wolf-Pirates come.
In fact, Greg has such a hexagonal map of the city. I have only glanced at it once, long after the aforementioned playtest session. I remember a hill in either the Sky or Air section, and little else. I _think_ there is a large temple in each of the four theistic parts (and probably an underwater one in the Harbor).
I recall nothing else. Well, that's not true -- on this map there is finally a place where Greg Stafford has named part of Glorantha after himself. The central court is either Gregory Court or Stafford Court, I can never remember which.
>Nick Brooke thinks the Pharaoh was ambushed at Jar-Eel's instigation
>while performing some other ritual (probably the Esrolite Year King
>Sacrifice), and that the subsequent Tournament was a disaster because
>he was still "alive" in a Lunar Hell (albeit spiritually dismembered),
>and thus not available to possess the victor. The Year King Ritual is
>picturesque, fascinating and performed on a grand scale: it is the
>supreme ritual of Earth Sovereignty performed in the land of Esrolia,
>an apparent survival from the Green Age at the dawn of mythology. Go
>there and be amazed!
Considering that the Year King ritual involves human sacrifice, and has been suppressed off and on for centuries in Esrolia, I find it hard to believe that it is "performed on a grand scale;" I also have trouble thinking of it as picturesque. And although Wyrms Footnotes/Wyrms Footprints states that it occurs every 1, 3, or 7 years (or something like that), I think that is the traditional/ancient form -- since the coming of the Pharaoh, I think it occurs during the ToMoLoD, however often or rarely that happens. It is how the Pharaoh maintains his power over Esrolia, which is a ToMoLaD kind of thing, IMO.
Having the Pharaoh slain before the ToMoLoD just doesn't seem likely or posisble to me -- that is the only time he is vulnerable, IMO.
Besides, I believe at least one published source specifically states that he is slain _during_ the ToMoLaD -- it's not in Genertela Boxed Set that I can find. Am I merely misremembering?
To Joerg and Nick both:
As for the ToMoLaD only occuring after the Pharaoh has died, that is
correct. I believe what Frederic and I are supposing is that he was
_psychically_ dismembered by Jar-eel during the course of the Contest,
either on his way to or on his way back from Hell. Jar-eel herself had
nothing to do with the contestants, IMO -- she ambushed Belintar directly
as he was travelling through the parts of the Hero Plane that he travels
when he is between bodies. I.e., _before_ the Contest was over.
There is a difference between the death of the Pharaoh's body and the death of the Pharaoh which you seem to be failing to distinguish between; that is the appearance I get, I may just not have read enough into your statements.
Preventing the Dead from Returning
>I am not sure with the
>Orlanthi. Again, I think the distinction is between the haunting part
and
>the connection with ancestors through proper rituals with priests and
>shamans. With the rituals, there is a spiritual connection with the
dead,
>a gateway being open. In peoples minds, I would view this as the proper
>way to worship my ancestors, not that they would be hanging around the
>dinner table constantly.
In support of Lee, I would also suggest that an ancestor _cannot_ return unless these death rituals are performed. The failure of the body to reanimate as an undead entity is only a side-effect of the purpose of the rituals, which is to get the spirit to the proper place on the Other Side. If the ancestor is not allowed/helped to get to the right part of the Spirit World, he/she will not be able to return to give advice and aid to his/her descendants. Ghosts are not good.
Stephen Martin
ilium_at_juno.com
- -----------------------------------------------The Book of Drastic Resolutions
End of The Glorantha Digest V5 #213
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