>What is the state of play with glass in Glorantha. Does the technology
>allow:
>1) glass ornaments and bottles
>2) "bottle-glass" windows
>3) clear glass
>4) flat glass windows
>5) flat mirrors
>6) sextants (using tiny flat highly accurate mirrors)
>7) re-inforced windows
>How widespread is it?
>The earth parallel, BTW, was that flat clear glass did not appear until
>1670 or so, the first sextants (sp?) were 1740. Are dwarves interested
>in glass?
I'd say that many places would be capable of glass processing. The ability to make glass dates back to around 2000 BC in the RW while blowing bottles dates back to the 1st century BC. Any technique that dates to the period BC would probably exist in regions like the Lunar Empire, Esrolia, Kralorela, parts of the Eastern Isles, the northern parts of Pamaltea and among the Mostali. Other early techniques included carving solid glass, casting glass in molds, fusing bands of glass together and the core technique where a core of dung and clay was dipped in molten glass and the glass then shaped around the core. After the object was finished the core was picked out and you had a small container. All of these techniques would produce luxury objects. The 1st century AD saw colorless glass replace colored glass as the most popular form in the Roman Empire.
Blowing glass, especially in molds saw prices go down so glass became cheaper and more common. I would imagine this would only be true in the Lunar Empire and Kralorela.
The West would probably have stained glass windows in their cathedrals as the RW dates for those are anywhere from the 6th century AD to the 13th-14th centuries (when the best windows were considered to have been done). All those periods are probably analagous to Western Glorantha.
I doubt sextants and re-inforced glass exist.
As far as the Mostali go I'd imagine they can produce pretty good utilitarian containers from glass. I doubt they're interested in windows though. They might even be able to produce reinforced glass to use in alchemy.
Glass mirrors only exist in the West in a fairly crude form and among the Mostali who can even make curved mirrors. Everyone else has to rely on polished metal or magically stilled pools of quicksilver if you belong to a sea cult.
The source of the above was Microsoft's Encarta which has a nice little potted history of glass making.
There's some additional information to be found at the Corning
Museum of Glass site at:
http://www.pennynet.org/glmuseum/corningm.htm
Oliver D. Bernuetz
bernuetz.oliver_at_cbsc.ic.gc.ca
www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/realm/5545
The entire cult has a monopoly on glass production within the Empire and each crafts-priest dedicates his life to producing a piece worthy of being smashed on the high altar. Many of the priests die without ever having attained this feat.
Some say the glassware produced by the priestesses and priests of Caladra and Aurelion is just as wonderful but my tastes do not lean towards gloomy black glassware as the only material they work with is their sacred obsidian."
>From Fresser's Gourmet Guide to Glorantha
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