Changing the Magic of a Land

From: Greg Stafford <greg_at_glorantha.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 15:12:07 -0700


>Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 16:51:16 +0100 (BST)
>From: Alex Ferguson <abf_at_cs.ucc.ie>
>Subject: Re: Changing the Magic of a Land
>
>Greg Stafford:
>> I am not sure that you could actually change the magical alignment of the
>> land. That is, the actual material of the world is made mostly of "mixed
>> stuff." See http://www.glorantha.com/new/everything.html. Thus you would
>> not be able to clear the land and then make it sorcerous.
>
>I understand what you say about "everything is made of everything"
> -- but is that mixture itself immutable?
Under normal circumstances, yes it is immutable. It has been created. It is made. It is.

>If it's dependent not simply
>on one's "quadrant", but on the ancient mythicm events that helped
>shaped its mythology,

correct on both counts.

>isn't it equally possible that _future_ mythic
>events, if of a sufficient "scale" (lemmehearyallsay, "the Hero Wars")
>can change them in much the same way?
Yes, indeedy do. Note that my comment above was "under normal circumstances," but that the Hero Wars provides abnormal circumstances. In effect, it is continuing the creation story.

>Or indeed, smaller events, on
>a more localised scale. (Like say, a clan giving worship (of some
>unspecified sort) to the local wood spirit for a century or three.)
A local wood spirit residing indicates that the area has significent spirit magic over others. But putting any other sort of worship into it would not change the nature of the land.

>> I think so. Thus you might discover, after clearing that patch of marsh (or
>> Praxian Waste, or Snakepipe Hollow) that the land was actually a powerful
>> Animist site, but that it was suppressed by some ancient cleansing,
>> imprisoning or other suppression.
>
>Isn't one of the morals of HQing that there's a fine line between
>discovering or proving something, and actually _making_ it true?
>(i.e., any sufficiently advanced heroquest is indistinguishable from
>reality.)

Well, we'll have to meet on a HeroQuest contest to decide that one.

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