Hi, this is Stephen Martin. Some of you may remember me. :)
I recently posted a message to the Gloranthaboard about the new Hero Wars Storm Bull paradigm. Many people there were confused by the recent posting on the Issaries, Inc. web page, and I thought I would offer my perspective. I know that many other people are confused, upset, or annoyed by the recent revelations about Urox and Storm Bull, and Daniel Fahey thought my message would be useful here as well. So, here it is, with some modifications, since y'all don't have the benefit of the preceding discussion.
Please note that although I have discussed this subject with Greg several times (especially during the final months of work on Hero Wars), the following view is my own understanding of the situation, and may not be 100% correct in the final publications. But, it should be pretty close. At first I resisted Storm Bull being a spirit at all, and this resistance was the primary reason there was no Urox keyword in the Hero Wars rules. (Yes, you can really blame me, and only me, for that necessary omission.) But, I now like how the dynamic works.
Cheers to all,
Steve
> Okay, so riddle me this: It was Storm Bull who summoned the Block to
kill
> the Devil right? Not Urox? If that's correct, and thus it was a Great
> Spirit who saved the Universe, it looks to me like it's just a matter
of
> how the being is generally worshipped -- via shamans or priests. Both
Great
> Spirits and Gods can be entities of tremendous power. I dunno, maybe
I'm
> confused. I probably am. But that leads me to think that if some
nutcase
> adventurer-type wanted to set up a Priesthood of the Storm Bull, that
would
> make him a God to his worshippers.
OK, I may not have been clear enough. Let's try this in a different way.
Storm Bull and Urox are the same entity. Think of them as being a transcendent entity, though that is not quite correct. Thus, Orlanth is a single entity, and he has different aspects -- Adventurous, Thunderous, Rex, several others. And each of these is _treated_ as if they were a separate entity in game terms, and even in Glorantha. But they are all aspects of the same larger entity.
Storm Bull and Urox are the same way -- they are the same entity, but with two different keywords. This is not like the normal regional variations, which usually are the same type (i.e., variations of a theist keyword). Instead, Storm Bull/Urox is a deity that breaks some of the normal rules, like chaos, and trolls, and mermen, and trickster. He has two different keywords, and is one of those unusual entities who has both animist and theist keywords. Now, this is normal for trolls, but unusual for humans. But, Urox is an in-betweener.
Urox provides several affinities to his worshippers, stuff like Berserker Combat and Anti-Chaos. Storm Bull, on the other hand, provides spirits for his worshippers to integrate and bind into fetishes; see the web page for more details.
One reason for this is because of his victory over the Devil -- a single entity, Urox the Storm Bull, slew the Devil with the help of the universe. I personally believe that it was the creation of the Eternal Battle with this act that set Storm Bull apart. Sure, he has both Urox' Camp in Orlanth's Realm on the God Plane, and Storm Bull's Corral on the Spirit Plane. But, neither is his true home -- in essence, each is a "false temple" or "false demesne" -- his true home is the Eternal Battle, which links to both locations, and also exists within the Inner World. This makes Storm Bull unique, and so his split nature.
I believe that his worshippers can worship together, with absolutely no penalties, at the Block (either because that is where he did the deed, or because of the millions of tons of truestone there). Thus, an Urox devotee with his anti-chaos affinities can go to the Block and gain Storm Bull's anti-chaos spirits. I think this is required of Urox' disciples, the Storm Khans, who have to go to the Block to gain their spirit ally Part of the Bull. Note -- what did we have in Runequest for Storm Bull/Urox? We had a god whose "high priests" had spirits as allies.
One last thing. I personally believe that Urox and Storm Bull were NOT originally the same being, and I think this is what the God Learners believed as well. Orani figures prominently in this belief as the original Storm Bull. But, this is my (Stephen's) personal belief, which Greg consistently refuses to accept.
Anyways, hope this helps smooth some of the ruffled feathers, anyways.
Steve
P.S. One last thing -- the Urox/Storm Bull split is NOT a mere game mechanic interfering with Glorantha. Greg very firmly believes i the paradigm of the Three Otherworlds, and that with only a few exceptions every entity has to come fro one or another of them. Trickster is an exception for obvious reasons, chaos as well. Storm Bull because of the Eternal Battle, Kyger Litor because she is native to the Underworld (where all three worlds mix), and the mermen for reasons that are less easy to explain. The in-betweeners are unusual, and almost unknown among humans.
End of The Glorantha Digest V7 #685
Powered by hypermail