> From what I can gather, Herowars carries an ISBN number, doen't this mean
> it can be purchased from any good bookstore by quoting these number?
That's right. I once ordered a Pendragon supplement in my local bookshop here in Switzerland & I got it... even though at a scalper's price ! Once it has an ISBN, you can get it anywhere on the planet if your bookshop is ready to do do the ordering. As an aside & for the political activists among us, the Libertarian Alliance in the UK puts an ISBN on *all* of their publications, from one page (!) pamphlets to booklets, for just this reason... (Cf. http://www.digiweb.com/igeldard/LA/ )
> Large stores like Waterstones and perhaps even Amazon.com can be of service.
Definitely. Last time I checked, Pendragon & its supplements were listed on Amazon.com.
> On a much more Gloranthan note. Is there any plans to print guidelines for
> converting or creating all our Praxian information to Hero Wars? I know that
> Urox has been skipped in the Core Rules until fully clarified, I assume that
> this is also having an effect on Storm Bull. Is the Web Page carrying this
> stuff?
Nochet... sorry: "not yet" !
As I understand it, the Praxians are probably "animists" whereas the Heortlings are "theists" which means that one population got its "worship" all wrong about our favorite Bull ! Yes, either He is a "god" or He is a "great spirit": He can't be both at the same time, can't He ?!? If, for instance, He is a Great Spirit of Prax & Genert's Wastes, then the Heortlings who "sacrifice" to Him as an Umathson are in fact practicing a kind of "misapplied worship" which is costlier to them than it is to the Praxians who worship the Supreme Bull correctly, through "ecstatic communion".
The only other possiblity, is that one or even both cultures practice "mixed worship" of Ye Goode Ole Buller-in-Chief. (I.e. "sacrificing" to Him as well as "communing ecstatically" with Him at the same time.)
The relevant concepts follow & come from the glossary:
"Religion (1): A unified system of worship and belief. A religion can be large and have great political influence, or can be a small group of local worshippers. A religion must usually adhere to one of the four magic systems, though inclusion of a second type of magic in mixed worship is possible."
"Worship: Any method used by inhabitants of the Inner World to contact and deal with denizens of the Otherworld. Several forms of worship exist, each of which is used to contact different types of entities or obtain different results. The common forms of worship are asceticism, ecstatic worship, propitiatory worship, sacrifice, and veneration."
"Sacrifice: A form of worship normally given to deities, who provide magic in return. Sacrifice involves the destruction or loss of something of value to the worshippers, often by fire."
"Ecstatic Worship: Type of worship performed by animist cultures, also known as Adoration. Ecstatic worship involves an attempt by worshippers to alter their consciousness so that they can better perceive and understand the spirits. Worship usually involves mass celebrations consisting of music, dance, ingestion of hallucinogens, and other trance-inducing practices."
"Misapplied Worship: The act of providing the "incorrect" mode of worship to an Otherworld entity, e.g. sacrificing to a saint or spirit, venerating a god or spirit, or giving ecstatic worship to a god or saint. Greater energy, sacrifices, and devotion must be provided to the entity in order to learn its magical abilities, reflected in Hero Wars as an increased Hero Point cost to learn or increase them."
"Mixed Worship: The act of using two modes of worship to contact a single entity, e.g. both sacrificing and giving ecstatic worship to a god or spirit. More generally, a culture that routinely uses two modes of worship, though individual entities usually receive only one type of worship."
"False Demesne: An area of the God Plane or Sorcery Plane "created" when ecstatic worship is given to a denizen of one of those worlds. Animists who enter the false demesne suffer at least a dangerous otherworld safety modifier."
("False Node: An area of the God Plane or Spirit Plane "created" when veneration is given to a denizen of one of those worlds.")
"False Temple: An area of the Sorcery Plane or Spirit Plane "created" when sacrifice is given to a denizen of one of those worlds."
"Spirit Cult: A congregation that sacrifices to a spirit. This misapplied worship gains the worshippers an affinity and feats, but at increased cost."
The Glossary:
http://www.glorantha.com/hw/glossary.html
So, is the cult of Urox Umathson a "spirit cult" for the heortlings or is the Sacred Corral of Storm Bull a "false demesne" for the Praxians ?
Another possibility would be for Storm Bull to be a Great Spirit in Prax *and* for Urox the Tamed Brother to be but an aspect (Orlanth the Sandstorm ;o) of Orlanth the Chief of the Storm Tribe ?!? Thus no increased cost for anybody !!! Munchkinism rules !!!
From the glossary:
"Aspect: A "portion" or "function" of a great god that is worshipped individually as if it were a god, with its own affinities, feats, and secret."
After all, Orlanth *is* The Storm; i.e. He *is* Umath !!! Thus, all Lesser Storms are just aspects of the Greater Storm which He fully incarnates & always will !!! (Orlanth Lawspeaker, Orlanth Goldentongue, Orlanth the Thief, Orlanth the Healer, Fleshy Orlanth, Orlanth the Jar, Orlanth the Farmer, Orlanth the Shepherd, Orlanth the Warrior, Orlanth the Hunter, Orlanth the Cat, Orlanth the Swift, Orlanth the Rainmaker, Orlanth the Blizzard, Orlanth the Tornado, Orlanth the Seastorm, Orlanth the Red-Headed Crossdresser (!), Orlanth Salt-of-the-Earth, Orlanth Moonhater, Orlanth the Argrath, Orlanth-This, Orlanth-That, ad nauseam... ;o) Humakt really knew what He did when He severed all connections with the Storm Tribe... His is the only truly individualistic tradition in *all* (orlanthi all... ;o) of theyalan culture with its holistic/collectivistic clap-trap !?! :o) ;o) :o)
<< Orlanth' so-called individual freedom, kiss my ass ! >> Humakt the Rebel's famous last words... as kin of The Storm !!! ;o)
ChOK, an aspect of Christoph Kohring :o)
Powered by hypermail