I was surprised to find a post by Peter Metcalfe on a previous digest (v8 #159 !!), in reply to an earlier post of mine concerning the Third Eye Blue people. I was searching the last digest archive about Logicians and found it because the 'Logician' word was in it. I just hadn't seen it before. Some information in it drew my attention.
>They are related to or associated with the Blue People that invaded
>mythical Wendaria. The Blue People came from the Sweet Sea that
>also flooded much of Fronela during this time.
Is this canonical or just an assumption? What's the origin of the connection? Is it because the Blue People 'ruled all of Fronela' just like the Third Eye Blue people claim they have? (and both have 'blue' in their names :)) Or are there other clues?
>However the earliest mention of the Third Eye Blue has them
>inhabiting hilltops and mountains (cf Glorantha: Intro p81 and
>Fortunate Succession p89) which argues against them being part
>of the Blue People. One group of Third Eye Blues even fought
>with Daxdarius (a foe of the Blue People) against the Logicians
>(allies of the Blue People) so the relationship may not have been
>always friendly.
The Logicians were those guys who kept challenging people at magic contests, weren't they? And they came from the Land of Logic. (I couldn't find much about them, having not [yet] FS & Entekosiad)
>Your assumption that the Third Eye Blue are based on the Lycian
>Cyclops is probably true considering that Daxdarius is stated in
>the Fortunate Succession (p96) to have been friends with a
>giant cyclops. Which means that the Third Eye Blues might be
>devolved giants. Hence I assume that the secret of the third
>eye was traded or stolen by their Founder from the Blue People.
This is interesting. I doubt they are devolved giants. Instead, maybe the 3EB founders were a race of 3-eyed giants living on hilltops and possibly inside mountains, whom the Blue-People-related humans learned the secret of the Third Eye tattoo from.
>They also have the power to do something with animals (Piku can make animal
>heads on the pommel of his swords).
I think it's related to their friendship with North Fronelan Hsunchen (there's a clue of this in Glorantha Intro). The influence of hsunchen culture brought some basic artwork to their totally utilitarian (sorcerous) craft. Being practical people, they just created magic spells which allowed them to carve metal with little effort. I think this is rather complex for them to do that, that's why Piku Gastapakis's art doesn't vary much.
Third Eye:
>My current feeling is that it allows them to see onto the Other
>Side and see their god directly.
Now it seems they're sorcerers. I've tried to write a little story, but i'm not sure about how to feature a sorcerous otherside into Godtime events. Please pardon the bad English (and maybe a strange, probably heretical view of sorcery).
When the Sun fell from the sky and the waters of the Sweet Sea began to invade the land, the Mostali became fewer and more remote, and eventually the only race of Mostali that was to be seen on the surface world were the Iron Mostali. Piku was amazed to discover they worshipped a new metal, which he could not find in his home mountains, whereas he could find all of the different sorts of ore. The Iron Mostali would not let him watch them work either, because they knew he could understand what they did.
One day Piku came to a fresh battlefield, where some humans and Iron Mostali lay motionless on the ground. He tried to awake them, but they didn't move, and their eyes were closed. Well, why would he miss such an opportunity? He took some iron and brought it to his workshop in the mountains where he lived with his family. His Third Eye had been fully open by now (1), and though it took him a lot of time and also a little spying in the deep Mostali caves, he managed to work the new metal. He forged a few swords, because in those times of trouble a lot of people came to meet him and ask for swords.
Piku tried to learn the iron magics, the same way he had already learned from other metals. He went to the mountains and searched for the Iron Motherlode. He was sure the Motherlode existed somewhere. After all, despite iron being brand new, it was just another metal and it had its place beneath the mountains, because every metal had mines which were the source of their magics. [See that as a node and the metal as a grimoire!]
He found the vein under the Nidan Range. Indeed it wasn't there before. He began to dig, searching for the iron secrets, and hiding from the Mostali keepers, who were unusually watchful and wary of any intruder.
Piku digged far under the mountain. At the deepest, he found the Motherlode. There lay the power of Death. (2) Thus he died, and his family found his eyes had closed forever.
That's why we have to be very careful when working iron. It is dangerous to dig too deep through the Iron Veins. The best smiths have to fold their third eye when they work iron, for fear of digging too deep. When we die, our immortal parts rejoin Piku underneath the Eternal Mountains and make swords, waiting for the next Gods War. Our mortal parts dissolve and reunite the mineral world.
(1) Daniel Fahey suggested the founder had learned metalworking just by watching the Mostali work. They didn't hide from him because they didn't know yet he could understand what they were doing. He probably fulfilled several quests in order to gain tools and raw materials. Gradually, his third eye, which had been closed since his birth, gradually opened. He understood the secrets of metals and learned how to use smith magics. Third Eye Blue apprentices have their third eye gradually tattooed as they improve in their craft. Master smiths have a fully open third eye.
This way the Third Eye allows them to see onto the Otherside and fetch magic into the 'Motherlodes'.
(2) The 'Why i dislike Mostali' article (Different Worlds #24 & Issaries site) says the Mostali made iron as the Bearer of Death and this inspired me a lot.
I believed Piku was the 3EB founder hero's name (as well as the Apple Lane smith's name). Actually, i don't know if it appears in FS or any book, or who used it first, but it sounds good and it's shorter than '3EB founder hero'.
Trotsky:
> You are most likely thinking of the henotheists in Ralios, at least
>some of which do >use a combination of the two types of magic (although
>probably not in the same >individual).
Even among those Stygians who claim to be Malkioni - ie more than it should i guess - some of them don't use sorcery and use theist pagan magic instead? Hrestol!
New map of the Lunar Empire on the Issaries site:
I saw it slowly unfold (because my computer is quite slow) and it's really
beautiful!
http://www.herowars.com/new/images/Lunar_Map_Final.jpg
Jerome
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