<< Can the average peasant find a safe place to live, or does chaos invade too
often?>>
As far as outright chaos is concerned, there are many places you can go to be relatively safe from it. The middle of a large organised nation such as Loskalm, Esrolia, Kralorela etc. (arguably Dara Happa, depending on how much chaos you think the Lunars muck about with in their own heartland). Then you merely have to deal with tax-collectors, oppresive government soldiers etc. etc. Not to mention subtle chaos such as disease, drought etc. which get everywhere. Life is tough being a bronze age peasant.
<< The evening-out factor that Dave Dunham mentioned before is part of this.
We can say that it all works out in Glorantha, because everyone curses the
neighboring tribe, and so on, but there must be individual areas of higher
fertility or even no fertility.>>
The Wastelands have very low fertility. Pamaltela has a higher fertility than the northern continent.
<<This all makes out Glorantha as a desperate place. It's no wonder the relatively peaceable and safe Kralorelans have such potent defenses.>>
Safe from the obvious manifestations of chaos, yes (although even then, they've got problems along the border). I don't imagine its a particularly jolly life being a Kralori peasant.
<< When you fall in an accident, or fumble, does one cast Dispel Magic on the curse you have? Is Heal a specialized form of Dispel Magic or Reflection?>>
Dispel Magic only works on magics still in effect, so it can't heal injuries already caused by Disruption, Sunspear or the like, any more than you can use it to negate the effect of a Heal spell which has already been cast. There may well be a Gloranthan (but not RQ AFAIK) spell which brings bad luck on the victim, and Dispel Magic would work on that. But I think you'd only likely try it after a run of personal disasters.
<< Playing Glorantha this way is the sort of campaign where tribes hire Mallia priests and Thanatar cultists are in the Free Army. >>
Certainly not. Everyone knows Malia and Thanatar are chaotic, and not to be trusted. They'll jump on *you* as quickly as your enemy - you'd have to be desperate indeed to try this (and, of course, sometimes people are that desperate, but not very often). This is a far cry from using hostile magic to hurt your enemy.
Forward the glorious Red Army!
Trotsky
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