wrote:
> I always liked the idea of an heirloom such as "The
> Axe Great-Grandpa Torvalt Used To Kill Trolls". It
> started out as a simple axe, but it's been used to
> kill trolls by Torvalt's son and grandson, and so a
> little bit of magic has attached itself to the axe. It
> hasn't been consciously enchanted by anybody, it just
> became magic because it was used by Torvalt and his
> descendants. No doubt they wrap it up in that old pelt
> that Torvalt kept it in, brought it out on special
> occasions and told stories about it and Torvalt
> Trollkiller, and added a little bit to the power of
> the axe every year or so by all this special
> treatment.
I like this too, and I even have a Gloranthan explanation for it, I
think (I could be reading too much into a couple of lines of text...).
The secret of the crafter cults of Orlanth and Ernalda is to awaken
the daimone of their craft. Note that it is NOT to find a daimone,
but to awaken it. This implies, naturally for Glorantha, that
everything is potentially magic.
Now looking at the whole "most of the world is mixed" idea. An axe
normally made doesn't have strong daimone, spirit, or essence ties.
But a couple of possibilities seem reasonable.
- Presumaby when a crafter awakens the craft's inner daimone, part
of that is driving out the mixed nature, letting the theistic nature
predominate and awaken. Perhaps other objects, when regularly used
by one type of worshipper, especially if they use magic that affects
the object, could have a similar thing happen. So that cooking pot
that has held Ernalda's magic so often, or that axe that has held
Daylanus's magic so often, or whatever, might take on a more theistic
nature, and its daimone may come to the fore.
- There is magic in the inner world, as seen in talents. As
described in the HQ books, talents derive from inate understanding of
runes. Well, maybe when a tool has been used often enough in one
capacity, it begins to attune to a relevant rune, and embody some
inner world magic of its own.
However, I think most often, there is more to it than that. Maybe
you begin to feel that the tool is special, so you begin to add
relevant charms to it, inscribe it with the runes that you think
relate to it, etc. Even without a proper enchant skill, this is
probably part of bringing out the magic of either the above ways.
--Bryan