Re: Re: Gloranthan reality of magic and religion

From: Peter Larsen <plarsen_at_uri.edu>
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 12:44:51 -0500

At 01:26 PM 2/23/2004 +0100, Joerg Baumgartner wrote:
>Peter Larsen
>
> > Similarly, an Ernaldan worships the Mother Earth to keep food
> > coming and society together. If she were to have a chat with a Dara Happan
> > farmer's wife, she would find that they have much in common, but she would
> > not be driven to give up her goddess for the rites of the Pelorian nor
> > insist that the Pelorian was incorrect for following her own gods -- after
> > all, the goddesses of the great river valley are not the goddesses of the
> > steep hills. If the Dara Happan was brought to the stead as a thrall, that
> > would be a different matter; who wants foreign goddesses in the stead? It
> > still wouldn't be evil.
>
>Ok. So what about those "enslaved tribes" or clans who have accepted
>Doburdun worship?
>
>Do they retain their clan wyters? If so, how do the wyters or their powers
>change from the switch of affiliation? How much ancestor support will they
>retain?

         I't varies, I'd think. Whether your ancestors and the wyter stick around depends on how well you convinced them that the change was right. Some clans, notably Elmali, might be relatively untouched, while those with a very strong Thunderous orientation would be crippled (or have rebelled). Except for the Elmali, the converted clans are going to lack leadership magic, which will allow the Lunars to push them around even more.

>Do these clans worship Doburdun exclusively, or along with the Thunder
>Brothers (i.e. something like Orlanth in 48 pieces)?

         I guess it's like Tarsh -- some Adventurous and most Allfather subcults can be converted to "individual god worship." I would imagine that Doburdun takes over all the Thunderous duties and everyone deals with their semi-crippled magic or converts to Barntar, Odayla, etc.

>How does their (temporal) magical advantage play out during the
>Fimbulwinter of '22?

         Not all that well -- Doburdun doesn't sound like he has any real Cold/Winter authority, so I bet it's pretty tough. Of course, Lunar-friendly clans get Imperial supplies, lower taxes, access to markets, Provincial Church missionaries, help with patrols (and maybe raids), freedom from the worst effects of having troops stationed on the tula, some magical stuff to make up partially for disaffected Ancestors. Heck, maybe the Lunars can hand out new wyters. ("Sure Red Star Destiny isn't as familiar as Hrut Blackhands who used to live in the Clan Oak, and when she speaks to the Chief everyone feels a weird shiver in their back teeth, but she warned us about those wolves, didn't she? And it is a little less cold here than on the Bluejay tula....") The problem for the Lunar-friendly clans is that while they only lose half of everything in the Fimbulwinter, while their stubborn neighbors lose 80%, when (or if) the balance of power shifts, they get nothing back.

>Are there Dobudurni magical strike forces among the rebels at Iceland?
>(After all, you can be a Balmyr and still hate the Empire that brought the
>Fimbulwinter.)

         I would think not; anyone who felt that strongly wouldn't have abandoned Orlanth.

Peter Larsen

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