Mark Mohrfield:
>Do we know what magic system the Masloians use?
Oh, thanks for that word. I didn't like either Masloans or Masloi :-)
I thought they were animists but Glorantha Intro says they offer sacrifices to idols, and idolatry doesn't seem to be extatic in nature. So that's an unusual theistic system, in which godlings/ daimones come to inhabit idols.
Nils Weinander
>That's true, but I find Jerome's idea that she gives no (tangible at least)
>magic rather appealing.
I think her disappearance is a mystery of the same kind as "Who is She Who Waits?" or the Arkat Mystery.
That's why i'd like to singularize her as much as possible. Her having a cult that gives no magic looks like a good way to do so. A very different cult from the Elamli norm is good too (maybe no idols for her devotees in that case).
For most people, her cult could be like Arroin's cult. They'd say Elamle-ata gave up her magic as one of the prices she paid to the Aldryami. /?/ Later the Godlearner refugees who came to Maslo drew a connection and named the people they met Elamle Aroin. The name stuck to the local culture when they began to worship Eron 20 years later to heal the forest. /?/
A special class of holy cultists appeals to me, especially since i've found a way not to contradict too much my initial statement :-)
Peter Metcalfe suggested that her secret be "the same as Overdruva's secret". I'd like to avoid that the jungle be full of would-be Elamle-ata's, so instead of emulating her Orlanthi-style, i suppose that those special persons get the magic from a higher understanding of the Oath.
>I would suggest something like this: the only magic of Elamle-
>Ata's cult is that it enables the Elamlites to comprehend and worship
>aspects of Aldrya in a more functional fashion than humans normally can
>(i.e. less of a misapplied worship penalty).
Yes, and i think this is part of their tribute. The embyli have little interest in things that are useless for the forest, so it's possible that most of the tribute be spiritual in nature rather than material.
Besides it sounds right for Elamle-ata's magic: making it possible for the humans to pay their tribute. That's the very reason for her sacrifice. Maybe the Oath affinity Peter suggests has to do with this.
The elves probably understand the Oath as a theme in the Jungle Song. So the Oath could be a doorway to the Elamle-atari (?)'s Jungle Song affinity.
And the secret would also work in Onlaks, of course.
Rumors from Elamle
Rumors from Flanch
Cheers,
Jerome
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