>>[The Closing] doesn't affect swimmers (cf Belintar)
>I doubt that Belintar is the measure for what normally goes (otherwise
>you'd expect a year king to come back after his sacrifice).
Given that the Closing is meant to affect ships and that if the Closing affected everything on the ocean, it is strange that Belintar did not teach others his secret after he became Pharaoh.
>>so I think spirits (and other orts of magical communications) are safe.
>I don't think so. In this case, the Elder Races of Jrustela would have
>realized very soon that they were not alone in the world.
The Closing is not the Syndic's Ban (which does affect magical communications). It only affects ships. As for the Jrusteli, I can only presume that the trauma of their travelling prevented communications from being re-established.
>I wonder about migratory birds (like storks). Are there any regular bird
>migrations in Genertela and/or across the waters?
>We know you can travel from Ralios to Peloria if you go through hell.
>Ethilrist did this,
He did? RQ Companion states that he crossed over the Mountains and met Hungry Jack. Likewise Genertela implies that he went over the Mislari Mountains.
>>IMO magical communications should only be used within polities (such
>>as the Lunar Empire, Loskalm etc). Beyond this, the differences in
>>philosophies prevent effective communication.
>Even the Lunar Empire relies on semi-magical communicating systems, it
>appears - news travel by moonboat, heliograph, or wyvern-rider courier.
I was thinking of spells like Proclaimation (Red Emperor's cult, ToTRM#17) or Orlanth Rex's Command worshipper.
>I don't think that any sea-going power should have means to trace their
>vessels once they have left sight of their port.
Whyever not? Surely they would have some methods of tracking down their ships even if it relies on magical compasses, farsight spells etc. And there are, of course, all sorts of Divination spells in Glorantha.
>We know that Maslo catamarans and Vadeli caravels can be found in almost
>every major port. I doubt these have any means of sending messages back and
>forth to their ports of origin other than by ship.
Obviously a failure of imagination. A method like the following ought to work in glorantha.
"Surely the most colorful of the offbeat approaches [to determining the longitude - PHM] was the wounded dog theory, put forth in 1687. It was predicated on a quack cure called powder of sympathy. This miraculous powder, discovered in southern France by the dashing Sir Kenelm Digby, could purportedly heal at a distance. All one had to do to unleash its magic was to apply it to an article from an ailing person. A bit of bandage from a wound, for example, when sprinkled with the powder of sympathy would hasten the closing of the wound. Unfortunately the cure was not painless, and Sir Kenelm was rumored to have made his patients jump for powdering - for medicinal purposes - the knives that had cut them, or by dipping their dressings into a solution of the powder. The daft idea was to apply Digby's powder to the longitude problem follows naturally to the prepared mind: Send aboard a wounded dog as a ship sets sail. Leave ashore a trusted individual to dip the dog's bandage into the sympathy solution every day at noon. The dog would perforce a yelp in reaction, and thereby provide the captain a time cue." Daval Sobel's "Longitude"
The Vadeli permutations on this theme should spring to mind.
>Haragalan Tallships might have heliograph devices which might allow them
>"near long-distance" communication, if there are enough relay vessels.
Given that they have a pool of their god's water on their ships, one questions the need for a relay.
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