Bell Digest v940321p1

From: RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RQ Digest Maintainer)
To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (Daily automated RQ-Digest)
Reply-To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RuneQuest Daily)
Subject: RuneQuest Daily, Mon, 21 Mar 1994, part 1
Sender: Henk.Langeveld@Holland.Sun.COM
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X-RQ-ID: Intro

This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on
the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's 
world of Glorantha.  It is sent out once per day in digest
format.

More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found
after the last message in this digest.


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From: drcheng@sales.stern.nyu.edu (David Cheng)
Subject: Great RQ Magazines
Message-ID: 
Date: 20 Mar 94 04:42:15 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3351

I recently received issue #3 of John Castellucci's "RQ Adventures
Fanzine."  I'd like to tell all you folks that I think this is by 
far the best issue to date.  

Issue #3 focusses on The Block, and the Storm Bull dudes who guard it so
jealously.  There is a 4 page scenario to pull Sartarite players into Prax,
and to the Block.  There are several tough NPCs with full stats and
personality writeups.  There are 3 pages on the Block, its history,
Truestone, and the terrain around the Block.  There is a 9 page adventure
about killing lots of Chaos in the swamp.  There is a 4 page pull-out on
Storm Bull: a "what the Storm Kahn says," attitudes about other deities,
and SB mythology.  There are 2 pages on Chaotic flora found in the swamp. 
There are 2 pages to supplement the SB cult writeup in _River of Cradles_. 
There are 2 pages on seasonal Storm Bull rituals in Prax.  There is a 5
page adventure dealing with what's under the Block, and how your party
finds out the hard way.  Finally, there are 2 pages of Praxian encounter
tables.

Like I said, I think this issue is the most impressive so far.  If you're
not getting "RQ Adventures Fanzine," you should be.  


Mike Dawson's _Codex_ had its debut at RuneQuest-Con.  Mike should be
beating his breast more loudly here on the Daily about how good issue #1
was.  I overhead David Hall, that terribly picky editor of _Tales of the
Reaching Moon_, muttering enviously about how he would have liked to be the
one to publish some of the excellent material within.

Codex #1 contains a 6 page adventure set in _Dorastor's_ Risklands, by
Martin Crim.  Nick Brooke contributes a bit of his Gloranthan insight
about phases of the Red Moon.  The city of Pavis gets 13 pages of
coverage: Lunar occupation strategies, cultural insight, unique
magics, freebooting gangs, and Pavic slang are all discussed.  Next
are 9 pages of Praxian cultural writeup from Sandy Petersen and Martin
Crim, some of which appeared here on the Daily.  Finally, there is a
fable about how Urox tricked the Trickster.

_RQ Adventures Fanzine_ is available from John Castellucci for $5
each issue.  Contact him at  grendel@sfsuvax1.sfsu.edu  , or at
	2006 22nd Ave
	San Francisco, CA  94116

_Codex_ is available from Mike Dawson for $4.50 each issue, First
Class mail.  Contact him at  codexzine@aol.com  . or at
	PO Box 9286-0286
	Richmond, VA  23227

I sent Castellucci some money a long time ago, such was my faith.  I
feel terrbily guilt about not sending Dawson $20 for a subscription,
so not only will I do it tonight, I'm also posting this plug.


White Wolf Magazine
It seems someone read my "Gaming Evangelism" essay in the RQ-Con
Program Guide.  I just got WW #41 today, and there's a 2 page article
on which Malkioni sects teach which sorcery spells.  Nobody but Avalon
Hill is credited, however.  Now, I just don't see Jack Dott writing
this kind of Gloranthan lore, so does anyone want to fess up?

Best,

* David Cheng     drcheng@sales.stern.nyu.edu     cheng@io.com
  (212) 472-7752 [before midnight]                       GEnie:  D.CHENG

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From: joe@sartar.toppoint.de (Joerg Baumgartner)
Subject: Heortlings etc.
Message-ID: 
Date: 20 Mar 94 23:03:51 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3352

Martin Crim (argrath) in X-RQ-ID: 3319

> joe@sartar.toppoint.de (Joerg Baumgartner) writes:
>> Heortlings. Presumably from Heortland, and untainted by Hendriki
>> Malkioni practises.
> Heortlings are the children of Heort, as the name implies. 
> Somewhat vaguely opposed to the Vingkotlings, or maybe the
> Vingkotlings are a subgroup, or maybe the Heortlings are a
> subgroup.  Anyway, Heortland is the homeland of Heortlings, in
> the same sense, frex, that Kosovo is the homeland of all Serbs,
> but most of them don't live there.  Anyway, the settlers of
> Sartar may not have purged all the Malkionism from their religion
> as much as they thought.  Maybe the Aldachuri have a more pure
> Orlanthi cultus...?

I doubt it. They have lots of Yelmalions, and around Alone there are lots 
of Tarsh Exiles, probably practicing dire Earth magics.

> Shoot, Sartarites in my world think you're living
> high on the hog if you can get most of the smoke to go out the
> smokehole in the roof!

What for? How will you preserve all those pork sides if not by smoke?

>> If TEB smiths were comon, they'd be likely to traditionally be
>> indented to their place of work and living, simply because of
>> their Western Origin which tends to make peasant-class
>> inhabitants stay where the are. TEB spread over Peloria through
>> Carmania, and these feudal lords will have done their best to
>> land-bind them either by grants of land or sheer enforcement.
> Well, as someone who has tried to write a TEB cult, I appoint
> myself authority on their cultural patterns.  What you say is how
> feudal lords would think, but a feudal lord withOUT a TEB smith
> would lure one away from his cousin's fiefdom down the road. 
> Thus, TEB smiths would tend to become the original bourgeoisie,
> accumulating wealth and (therefore) status.  Carmanian sumptuary
> laws probably began due to these guys.

More details (esp. on Carmanian sumptuary laws), please?

Anyway, a TEB smith is only as effective as your iron supply, and 
most temples will have ironsmiths, too.

> And you guys discussing ToRM #11--CUT IT OUT!  I think Mike
> Dawson and David Gadbois are the only people in North America
> with copies, and it's not fair to discuss it till the rest of us
> get our copies.  :-(

I have to disagree: You 'cross-the-pond people have RQ-Con booklets, 
Codex (if you haven't yet, get started), GRoY and AH relaeses weeks or 
months before us cispondine motherlanders. Don't moan... (I read this 
sometimes in alt.fan.pratchett, too.)

-- 
--  Joerg Baumgartner   joe@sartar.toppoint.de

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From: f6ri@midway.uchicago.edu (charles gregory fried)
Subject: Race and Roleplaying
Message-ID: 
Date: 21 Mar 94 03:54:41 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3353

Hey, Gerald,

Thanks for picking up on my thread.  I guess since this Daily is devoted to
both the game of RQ _and_ G S's world of Glorantha, speculation on
meta-issues like race and roleplaying is fair game.  

I think you are right to say that (in general usage), 'race' is applied to
various phenotypes within the (human) species.  But if I remember my college
ethology and evolutionary biology classes right, even this 'scientific'
definition of the concept of race is bogus, because there are no precise
'boundaries' (genetically speaking) between the various phenotypes.  So
although in the late 19th century, race theory began taking on the
impremature of 'science', the _idea_ of race has always had its roots in
cultural and political dynamics.  

I also think you are right to say that a large part of the fascination in
'fantasy' games and fiction lies in imagining what it might mean for there to
be other _sentient_ beings ('species', 'races') besides ourselves.  On
StarTrek tNG, the Feds do speak of other entities as "races".  I agree too
that part of the point of the Warf character is to examine the question of to
what extent "biology is destiny".  I think all of this is a displacement of
the social and political questions left unresolved in recent history.  (On
the other hand, such imagining of other beings is as old as the Odyssey.)  

Since you and I seem to be the only ones interested in the implications of
this for Glorantha, I won't bore the rest of the Daily readers with my
thoughts.  (And since I DO play the game, I wonder about my impartiality!)
Still I'll repeat that I think it is something to check in on
ourselves about -- what kind of RL issues are we unreflectively
displacing into our gaming worlds?

-- Greg Fried

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From: drcheng@sales.stern.nyu.edu (David Cheng)
Subject: Blood of the Earth
Message-ID: 
Date: 21 Mar 94 04:40:03 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3354

In yesterday's Daily, Antti Lahtinen theorizes about Aldryami blood being
copper-based, giving it a distinctive greenish tint.

I suggest we abandon all such silly Earth analogues.  Elf blood is green
_because they're walking plants_.  Period.  How do I know?  Because my
uncle told me, and he's fought and killed elves four times.  They was
raiding down from the Stinking Forest.

The only such blood metal-typing I would approve of is Mostali.  Obviously,
Copper Dwarfs have stronger concentrations of copper in their bodies.  The
same goes for Lead, Quicksilver, Iron, etc. Dwarfs.  

Trolls obviously have more Darkness, Mermen more Water, and Wind
Children more Storm in their bodies than us humans.  I don't need to
be a Lhankor Mhy to tell - ain't it obvious?

* David Cheng     drcheng@sales.stern.nyu.edu     cheng@io.com
  (212) 472-7752 [before midnight]                       GEnie:  D.CHENG

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From: jesper.wahrner@hts.ct.se (Jesper Wahrner)
Subject: Humakt
Message-ID: <2d8c73d6@hts.ct.se>
Date: 20 Mar 94 12:03:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3355

 
 
 
 > An initiate of Humakt the noble warrior as worshipped in the Holy Country 
 > would have serious identity problems in a Carmanian Humakt temple.
 
 NB> Undoubtably, but I think he'd still be an Initiate as far as Magic and
 NB> The God were concerned:  whether the local yokels would _let_ him act
 NB> as an initiate is a different matter, of course.

 Heh! This reminds me of the cultural clash one of my players suffered
 when visiting Sog City. He was a fairly conventional theyalan Humakti
 warrior from Vesmonstran in Ralios. After working as a street judge
 for  a few weeks he was worried that he would miss his holy day, and
 people's reactions on him admitting that he was a Humakt worshipper
 was about the same reaction you would get if you said that you was an
 active Krarsht worshipper in Safelster. (ie it gave him some serious
 trouble...) 
 After some detective work he found out about a "Deathplace" in Dilis
 where ceremonies to Humakt were supposed to be held on holy days, and
 he  even found another initiate to guide him there. (Even though he
 had to go  the last bit blindfolded.)

 At the place he noticed that two of the initiates were obviously
 chaotic, and one was even a Broo! The actual ceremony had absolutely
 nothing to do with a warriors cult, but treated Humakt as the rather
 impersonal force of Death.  It included a ritual duel to the death
 between two initiates in order to summon Humakt whom then incarnated
 in their swords before the ritual continued to glorify death in most
 of its aspects. It was a  rather faithshaking experience for old
 Baboc. 
  



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From: carlf@panix.com (Carl Fink)
Subject: Literacy and racism
Message-ID: <199403210528.AA13979@panix.com>
Date: 20 Mar 94 19:28:40 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3356

SMITHH@mr.mgh.harvard.edu (Harald Smith 617 726-2172) writes:

H>          One issue that came to my attention after running a scenario
 >          recently was the extent of literacy in Glorantha.  Generally,
 >          I've assumed a low level of literacy, but certain groups are more
 >          likely to be literate than others.

  I work on the assumption that literacy is relatively rare among
Theyalan types, probably only scholars and bourgeois.  In cities there'd
be a tendency to emulate the true civilizations, the Dara Happans and
Lunars.  In the West, I'd expect only Wizards and Lords to know much
writing, although theoretically anyone learning sorcery must be
literate.  Not much is known about Kralorela, Teshnos, or the East
Isles.

  Sandy, what about literacy in Pamaltela?


gbosch@vaxa.weeg.uiowa.edu writes:

 >about.  Race, in our world, is usually a question of cultural
 >meanings applied to biological (actually phenotypical) difference.

  Really, it's used to mean cultural difference much more often.  There
can be terrible prejudice between phenotypically similar groups like the
Japanese and Chinese.

 >I believe the only meaningful biological definition of race
 >concerns the ability of two organisms to successfully reproduce (am
 >I wrong? I'm a historian, not a biologist).

  Um, yes, you're wrong.  The biological definition of "race" refers to
members of the same species (who can thus interbreed) which have
segregated into two or more groups with restricted gene flow between
them.

 >     Let's consider the best documented of the non-humans, the
 >Trolls.  Trolls aren't just culturally considered to be different
 >from humans, they are different.  So the question becomes: How real
 >is the influence of biology in determining the differences in
 >racial behavior in Glorantha?  If a Troll child were raised by
 >human parents, how "Trollish" would his behavior be?

  Trollpak says, more human than trollish, although I personally would
expect some differences.

 >     In my game, the phenotypical differences between humans are
 >accorded much less weight than observed cultural behavior.  A
 >Kralorelan who dresses, acts, and talks like a Theyalan would be
 >considered a funny-looking Theyalan by most Theyalans.

  I don't necessarily agree.  There are cosmopolitan areas of Glorantha
in which all the races can be seen (Fronela, Pavis), and people there
might be a bit more tolerant.

        --Carl
                                 

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