But on to my question. Recently we've seen some dragonewt lore and dragon mysticism creep into our game. In particular, we have a game moving into the heroic level where one character has had an opportunity to learn dragon magic/mysticism. As a result, I've tried to find out more about such things, but have found that much of the information seems to be well hidden (appropriately, I suppose) or maybe just non-existent. I was hoping that someone here might be able to offer find a little bit of guidance regarding dragon magic/mysticism.
First, I'm trying to get a handle on exactly what utuma is. Our storyteller introduced it as the basis for all dragonewt mysticism and has described it as different way of viewing the world -- seeing what is not there as much as what is. In the end he interprets it as granting the ability to see patterns by looking at the world a little differently. He views dragons (and dragonewts) as being able to look at the world sideways at times and has decided that unique outlook allows them to see more. (A very appropriate "mystical" interpretation of things.)
At the moment I've come to see utuma as being very akin to certain types of Eastern mysticism. By our storyteller's interpretation, it allows you a glimpse of the hidden world that exists side by side with the real world -- perhaps the dream world of the dragons? At one point he implied that by proper meditation, a practicer of utuma could "step" into the nothingness around us and fall out of view of the real world. But now he's decided that's not very draconic. (Does this sound at all familiar to anyone?)
Does anyone know whether he's getting this from anywhere in particular or just winging it? He's generally much more knowledgeable about Glorantha than I am, so I generally defer to his judgment. But on this he's candidly admitted that he also has less information than he'd like. So I thought I'd come here to see if anyone had any thoughts or data on utuma, what it is, how it works, what it means to understand it, etc.
[As an aside, I'm aware that Argrath used (will use) an Utuma ritual to bring down the Red Moon, even though I'm not sure of exactly what the impact is of that on my question.]
Related to this, I'm curious about other aspects of draconic magic as well. It all seems ill defined (perhaps intentionally), and I was curious if anyone could give me some guidance. We've identified several aspects of draconic magic (utuma, dragon fire, use of dragonewt artifacts, dreaming, etc.), but don't have much more than these broad categories. Thankfully Hero Wars (of which we use a modified system) allows for such broad categories. But I think that a little bit of specificity wouldn't hurt, first to make certain we're all on the same page, and second to restrict any abilities learned to something that will allow for balanced play.
One interesting approach our storyteller has made involves a certain way of thinking that defies causality. In trying to emphasize the oddity of the way dragonewts think, he's suggested that many things are related in ways that most of humanity doesn't understand. For example, suppose you were trying to break into a fortified position. While others might scout the area out, arrange an ambush of outlying patrols, etc., a devotee of dragon mysticism might chop down a sapling, cut it into twelve pieces, and arrange them in piles of three, aligned with the four compass points. Why? Well, because it's just right to do that. Our storyteller has said that such "odd" activities will actually help in ways that are not readily apparent.
I will say, though, that if nothing else it does do a very good job of making the dragonewt way of thinking seem very alien. Someone who follows his interpretation of their path looks very peculiar, and almost alien themselves.
Then again, this could all be just his interpretation. So I was wondering, has there been any guidance to draconic magic/mysticism in the past. Do any of you have thoughts on the matter?
Brian Altmiller
End of The Glorantha Digest V8 #143
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