> > > >Glorantha is literature ; not a description of any kind of reality.
> > > >And the purpose of this literature is to induce pleasurable dreams
> > > >and fantasies which, by necessity, are incompatible with
> > > >'the' scientific method of reason.
> > >
> > > I disagree;
>
> > What's to disagree with ? That Glorantha is not reality ???
>
> No, that "pleasurable dreams and fantasies which, by necessity, are
> incompatible with 'the' scientific method of reason." is true. Those dreams
> and fantasies may have fantastic elements, but if they do not have some
> logic ..., they are not stories
You twist my words : I said that the pleasurable dreams and fantasies were the *purpose* of Glorantha ; a purpose that is quite alien to the purposes of science, it seems to me. Unless you have a rather odd brand of science ...
Also : Glorantha is not in fact a story, and it doesn't possess narrative logic.
It does have a loose *structure*, of course. Fairly tight in sections.
> > On the other hand :
>
> > > stories must have some underlying structure of logic or
> > > they are impossible to follow.
>
> > Logic isn't Reality.
>
> > RR Mantra : "Go with the story"
>
> > NOT 'Swallow It Hook Line And Sinker'.
>
> Um, OK, but what does this have to do with anything?
Glorantha isn't a story ; it doesn't follow the rules of narrative logic ; the published Myths of Glorantha _are_ stories about the world, but they shouldn't be seen as *descriptions* of that world (although they do contain some descriptive elements).
I seek to gently warn you away from the dangers of believing what the Yelmies/Orlanthi/Carmanians/ducks/etc have to say about the Ultimate Truth and its opposite.
> If the story
> has no logic, if anything can happen, it has no direction.
And what does _this_ have to do with anything?
The topic isn't 'how to construct a ripping Gloranthan yarn' but 'which Gloranthan Myths (if any) might or might not be ultimately true descriptions of the world'.
A radically different subject.
> > > There is a difference between YGMV and the problems of a setting
> > > that has been built up by committee over some 30 years of writing and game
> > > play.
>
> > What is this 'difference' ?
>
> YGMV, it seems to me, deals mostly with little things, or
> interpretations
Depending on what a 'little thing' is ...
I don't know what to say. In this forum, certainly : what you say is correct. On the other hand, two people's Gloranthas may vary not a jot in the little details, but be radically different in the big things like, say, the existence or not of an Ultimate Evil, one particular god being the One True Sun, the God Learners being Right or Wrong about Glorantha, etc..
> if there are too many gaps or contradictions or implausibilities, then the
> "realness" of the setting suffers.
Much would depend on which sort of contradiction and implausibility you're thinking of.
See previous post about the coherence of the Inner World.
> > And : why didn't anyone invite me to the commitee meetings ??!?
>
> What do you think this digest is?
Sorry ; just being fatuous as usual ...
> > > That Glorantha will never be consistent does not mean that a certain
> >rough consistancy isn't a valuable thing.
>
> > Is anyone suggesting the opposite ?
>
> Well, yes. You are, if you are claiming that the pieces of Glorantha don't
> need to fit together because they are "mythic."
You're twisting my words again. I'm claiming that the mythic pieces of Glorantha don't need to fit together because they are subjective interpretations.
Gloranthan consistency is provided by :
These are valuable elements for the construction of consistent stories in Gloranthan roleplaying
> I'm not advocating for a "one true Glorantha," with all the myths
> neatly lined up. I do believe, however, that the mythic structure of
> Glorantha should be a structure;
But if the Myths of Glorantha *did* form one vast structure (but they don't), then you would actually have One True Glorantha.
Although there are certain meta-structural motifs in the Gloranthan Myths, it would be a mistake to imagine that the Myths of the Yssabau should somehow belong to the same structure as the Myths of the Grotarons.
Although they might describe from subjective and incompatible POVs any number of world-shattering events (such as the destruction of the Spike), and therefore possess a (fairly shallow) level of overall consistency, their core Myths would likely be completely alien to each other.
The God Learners also believed that the mythic structure of Glorantha should be a structure. Are you turning into a GL ?
Watch out for those Gift Carriers !! :-)
Julian Lord
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