Re: Tear of Yelmalio; fetishes; Earth temples; marriage

From: David Dunham <dunham_at_pensee.com>
Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 17:25:18 -0700


"Terra Incognita" wrote

> In Court of Celestial Emperor Yelm, many princes and princesses of imperial
> blood lived as stars and planets such as ... cruel scholar Bserian

I love it! The ineffectual Buserian is now cruel! (In our Alkothi game, I'd describe the Buseri character as vicious -- though not his deity.)

> Perhaps it seems completely redundant for many many works for Elmal and
> Yelmalio Business after famous workers such as contribution of Stephen
> Martin & David Dunham in Enclosure #2,

Now you are a famous Yelmalio worker too!

My only complaint is

> Halamalao heard about Ritual Magic Miracle
> which can be used for bringing back Rebirth of Yelm, It was called Hill of
> Gold Quest

because I don't think the Hill of Gold heroquest is about resurrection at all.

Olli Kantola asked

> BTW, do ever fetishes "run out" of their mojo? Are the spirits bound to
> fetishes freed after the owner of the fetishes dies?

I assume you're asking for a Hero Wars rules answer. The first is definitely "yes" -- "Some 1-use fetishes may be destroyed by the act of invoking the spirit within - "throw this packet into the fire to summon the spirit", "smash this gourd", "eat this leaf"... " <http://www.glorantha.com/hw/hw_faq.html>. As to the second, I'd say yes.

> Can deists use
> fetishes without problems (I have a Kolating shaman in my group.)? I'd
> expect that shamen can't "manufacture" fetishes for infidels for money
> without damaging their connection to their fetches, but maybe they could
> give a couple of fetishes to a friendly yinkini.

I believe they can. But if the Yinkini wanted to improve the target number of his fetish, it would cost more because he's not an animist.

John Hughes

> What do earth temples look like? What are the more common layouts?

Simon Bray knows -- he drew the sketches that we used in King of Dragon Pass. (Hint: they tend to be square, or at least rectangular.)

> would you find inside? What sort of statues, tapestries, urns? Name one
> thing you'd find in an earth temple that isn't bleedingly obvious, but which
> upon hearing will make most Digesters go "Hmmm, yeah.. that makes sense".

Snakes (probably are obvious) -- they are clearly earth critters according to the Kalevala, where people are always talking about turning up vipers when plowing a field.

> In Heortling society, kinship is both normative and often fictive. It often
> works by reverse logic - you're useful, so you *MUST* be related.

In Korol's Saga, Korol essentially married into the Varmandi clan (and not as underhusband. He'd already proved himself a valuable member of his stead (though he was the only member of his bloodline).

> Women don't change clans on marriage, just the place where they live.

This is a tricky subject, but I think you're mostly wrong here.

  1. Women would effectively be clanless, relying on their inlaws, unable to bond with other women of the clan. This would especially be a problem for all the various Ernalda rituals, which are often to clan-specific aspects.
  2. Women of a different clan would have far less common interest with their husbands. Why goad them to vengeance if the dead brother is from a clan different from hers?
  3. If women are considered to be from other clans, they would be precluded from political participation. Why would the Varmandi want a Taraling woman on their clan ring?

But I do think that a woman never loses membership in her original clan, which leaves her free to participate in its rites (if geographically convenient), and means she has no problems if she divorces. Think of it as her retaining her Taraling passport, even though she's a Varmandi citizen.

BTW, I don't see why you're singling out women, when you say

> Swapping
> clans could happen any number of ways by osmosis once you've moved
> elsewhere. Underhusbands would almost certainly be full members of their
> wife's bloodline in all practical ways

unless you're reserving "all practical ways" as waffling. An underhusband would be a member of his birth clan, and his wife's clan. You definitely want the guy fighting next to you to be part of the same clan!

David Dunham <mailto:dunham_at_pensee.com> Glorantha/HW/RQ page: <http://www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha.html> Imagination is more important than knowledge. -- Albert Einstein


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