Well, I had a lovely time at GCDU, and also had a nice time in Melbourne the rest of the week. It was great to see Jeff, Neil, MOB, fellow Davids, Andrew Bean, etc again, and to meet Sandy. Kudos to the con organisers. I had a great time, though I was singularly unsuccessful in both freeforms. I started out well in Life of Moonson, but I just couldn't compete with Jar-Eel for the patronage of the Eel-Ariash clan, being merely mortal, and all my plans collapsed thereby.
I noticed that during Sandy's God Learning seminar, he specifically denied that the God Learners were Illuminated, saying that it would be pointless for them, while in Questlines II (a treasure trove of Gloranthan lore! buy it now!) you can read Greg saying the exact opposite at the end of his heroquest seminar. I haven't decided which I believe yet, though Gregs is probably edging ahead so far.
Sandy and I had a good explanation of the Vivamort cult during the
session on the West. Some important points
1) Vampires originate in the West, and are still primarily a Western
perversion. This is also in part because vampires are a lot better off if
they already know sorcery, but also for historical reasons.
2) The cult of Vivamort as known by humans is primarily a big con scheme to
get human servitors, and maybe recruit some new vampires - it does not
grant divine magic, and is not truly a cult.
3) The reason vampires associate with other vampires in the cult is to
exchange sorcerous knowledge, and perhaps a few special Vivamort cult
rituals.
4) most of the things the vivamort cult could do in Cults of Terror they
can still do (except DI), using either standard sorcery spells (ie Summon
and Command Ghoul - very convenient for body disposal), or special cult
rituals (ie draining rune magic).
Cheers
David
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