<<It strikes me that if we really wanted to find out what had actually
happened many years ago in Glorantha, we should ask a dwarf. If I've
understood these little guys correctly: they're technicians. So keeping
written records must be very important to them. These records must also be
truthful, accurate, and as detailed as possible.>>
Truthful to them, maybe. But hopelessly biased to their world-view and philosophy, just as with any other historical record.
<<Furthermore, I reckon very few dwarves lie (i.e. tell lies), since I can't
see why they should be programmed to do something so counter-productive to
their function.>>
I doubt many human historians lie - it doesn't mean they really understand what's going on.
<<It is possible that they lie to non-dwarves as a sort of security feature >>
Bound to.
<<The only dwarves which I reckon lie are gold ones specialising in nondwarven
communications (and I imagine lying is simply seen as part of the
communication process).>>
But aren't they going to be the ones recording historical events? OK, so the others will keep records, but they're going to be tedious accounts of mineshafts being dug and the Annual Widget Inventories. The stuff most humans will be interested in is written by golds, who'll happily lie to other dwarves to 'protect' them from dangerous truths. Check out the remarkably truthful and accurate 'Public Briefing Material [a]' in Drastic: Chaos p53.
<<Are the workings of the world machine all underground?>>
No. The sun and moon are both part of the world-machine for a start.
<< Why don't we see them wandering about above ground with their slide-rules,
tape measures, clip-boards, etc?>>
Personally, I think they HeroQuest to fix the world machine's workings and do regular maintenance etc. It won't be anything much like what humans call HeroQuesting, of course.
<<Elder Secrets says that a diamond X dwarf has 9 skills at 2000% !!! Seems a
bit excessive to me - are such skill levels always possible?>>
Apparently :-)
Anyway, its just a game mechanic (or a misprint).
<< A diamond iron dwarf could murder everything in Dorastor, couldn't it?>>
Depends how many hit points he's got and how good his armour is. He doesn't necessarily have Protection-2000 and there's a limit to what a shield can do no matter how good your skill is (or should be - again, its all game mechanics).
Forward the glorious Red Army!
Trotsky
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