Why not? Part of a holding a Fertility rune involves generating life. Each diety generates life in its own manner, so why not allow some dieties to spontaneuously generate life? Ernalda did it at least once (Babeester Gor), thus proving that the cult has the secrets of parthenogenesis. SponGen is a similar phenomenon, except that it involves the radical transformation of matter from one thing into another (meat slowly transforming into maggots and flies). This seems to follow its own internal laws (pussywillows turn into snakes only if they sit in water, and they only turn into snakes, not birds or fish or whatever). So its not inherently chaotic. It's only problematic from a RW scientific viewpoint.
><< I ask you: how do you manage the rotting matter in Glorantha? You have no
>bacteria and no viruses. >>
>
> You don't need them; organic matter returns to the living cycles of the
>world, because those are the laws of nature. OTOH, I suppose one could argue
>that we don't know for sure that saprophytic bacteria don't exist in
>Glorantha, as nobody's invented the microscope yet, let alone the Gram stain.
>But I doubt it :-)
There are several forces involved in rot and decay. Mee Vorala as the goddess of fungus is responsible for the breakdown of organic material, and she also control the spirit of Rot, which acts as a spirit of reprisal for her. This must also be a function of Gorakiki, given how many insects are involved in the organic breakdown process. Finally, Malia is a critical player in this process, and is sometimes considered the Janitor of the Gods, responsible for breaking things down and clearing away the detritus of the world.
><<Do organic matter rots in the same way (dangerous to living beings, due to
>infection
> expositions) as in the RW? >>
>
> Pretty much. Disease spirits are attracted to rotten stuff; they like
>the stench.
Two other options exist. 1) Rotting material generates disease spirits. 2) Disease spirits cause rot in dead organic material, but prefer to transfer to living organic material. Both of these seem just as likely to me.
Andrew E. Larsen
End of The Glorantha Digest V7 #283
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