Re: healers & resurrection; Compromise

From: David Dunham <dunham_at_pensee.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 17:54:38 -0800


Joerg asked

> Well, Theya isn't exactly healer material, is she?

Sure she is -- she has more Heal Body spells than anyone else in the Varmandi clan.

She's not Healer (Chalana Arroy priestess) material because she's way too vengeful and nasty (sorry Pam, but Korol's family has not forgotten that she went out of her way to perform human sacrifice, when the future of the clan was not at stake).

Anyway, lots of clans will have perfectly good healers without needing someone who has sworn their life to the White Goddess. While I applaud Simon Hibbs's numerical analysis, I'm not convinced 1 in 20 priests are Healers -- it's probably even less. His numbers suggest one Healer per clan, and I've already said that's too many, that it's more likely one per tribe.

> In Orlanthi lands say 8/10ths of these worship
> Orlanth, Ernalda, Barntar, Heler, etc. Of the remaining 0.4% of the
> population, lets divide them equaly between Chalana Arroy, Lankor Mhy,
> Issaries and Humakt.

I think the difference between my numbers and Simon's are important (but not frequently worshipped) gods like Urox, Odayla, Yinkin, Minlinster, Gustbran, and Elmal.

Chalana Arroy is a wonderful cult, but you definitely set yourself outside the norms of behavior by joining (even if you're still very much a part of society). Robert McArthur is quite likely correct in suggesting that most of them live in the cities of Dragon Pass (once there are cities).

(BTW, sorry for picking on a German speaker for a case of noun capitalization, but as you probably do know, English does make the distinction.)

> If the resurrection follows the LBQ literally

I see no reason why it should. The RQ spell has to be case before the spirit heads for the Underworld (KoS.68, as has already been pointed out). Besides, the LBQ isn't a resurrection quest. I believe all heroquests can be approached in different fashions, but most of the time humans do it it seems to be done as a Weapon quest -- Arkat was Harmast's weapon against Lokamayadon, Sheng Seleris was Argrath's weapon against the Red Empire. Harmast did not enter the quest saying, "I need to bring back my pal Arkat from the dead."

And the Seven Mothers quest wasn't really about resurrection, either (though the argument is stronger). It's about creating a goddess. I suspect none of the participants ended up with what they thought they were bringing back...

> I have not ever seen any PC resurrected in a RQ (or other dice
> role-playing) game I played in, or refereed.

I still feel remiss for not remembering that resurrection was theoretically possible when the daughter of the thane of the Belovaking clan died in battle. (In practice, it took them a couple days to get back so the Healer might have refused, but there was a Healer on the ring, and surely a Ralian clan thane can pull some influence.)

> as a referee I am fed up with pounding reticent PCs into
> near-death, only to see them jump up and tackle the next enemy after a
> couple of healings

One of the advantages of PenDragon Pass's "one healing per wound" rule (plus the Major Wounds of Pendragon).

Richard Develyn quibbles with me

> > In any case, the Compromise is but one way of explaining why gods
> > don't walk the earth any more.

> What about Cacodemon? Crimson Bat (ok, it flies)? Isn't there a great
> big pumpkin in Dorastor which is also worshipped?

Not gods (you don't see Cacodemon himself, after all). The Bat is a demon. Ancestral spirits are worshipped too, this doesn't make them gods.

> I suppose one should also mention Yelm. I mean he certainly makes an
> appearance every day, even if there isn't much free will involved.

Yelm is the sun and Orlanth is the winds, but you don't get to actually meet them face to face the way you once could. In the Darkness, you really could go to Kero Fin and see Elmal and shake his hand.

BTW, I realize I'm not up on how other cultures explain the fact that the gods have faded into the background (as it were). Anyone have good summaries?

David Dunham <mailto:dunham_at_pensee.com> Glorantha/RQ page: <http://www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha.html> Imagination is more important than knowledge. -- Albert Einstein


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