Re: Re: Leaving the hero plane

From: Greg Stafford <Greg_at_...>
Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 12:08:15 -0800


At 09:09 AM 3/26/2001 -0600, you wrote:
> As I see it, children, in Heortling eyes, are part of the wealth of the
>whole clan. Yes, their immediate kin will be most concerned, but if a boy's
>initiation fails, that's five year's worth of young men lost; an immense
>disaster for the clan. I think extraordinary suopport is not unreasonable.

I agree with this.

> I don't think these are weird "specialty myths." The special rituals of
>the clan are going to be part of daily life. Parts of them will be told at
>every hearth, every day. When you take the sheep out as a young man, your
>dad (or uncle or foster-dad) will say "that's Havrd's Rise, where Havard
>the Poet raised the scorn-pole against the Elderbroom clan so they dwindled
>and died." In the Loom House, where the girls are learning the first steps
>of weaving, their female kin will tell the stories of Ernalda and her
>family and how they blessed the tula specially. All the children will be
>raised with the secret stories and the public stories about their homes and
>the daimons and spirits that live there. These stories may have hidden
>meanings that are explained during the preparations for Sacred Time and
>other rites, but the rough outline of the myth should be very familiar. I
>suspect that "stay at home" priests have very high skills in "local myth."
> If we can accept KoDP as a model, it's the big myths whose secrets are
>often unknown, because how often does a clan need to do "Orlanth and
>Aroka?" On the other hand, the rituals and heroquests that are part of the
>life of the clan, I suspect the god-talkers of the clan know those very well.

I agree.

> Well, I think they should be. "The clan always begins and ends its Sacred
>Time journey from the top of Thunder Hill. It's a holy place, you shouldn't
>go there unless the god-talker blesses you. The clan shrines to Ohorlanth
>and Hedkoranth sit on the slopes beneath the summit. At the foot is the
>pool that the priests drink from and the children bath in before the
>journay that leaves childhood behind." Every tula should have at least a
>couple of "power spots" which are sacred for different purposes.
>Rediscovering one could be an adventure. Maybe the clan had a lot of
>Humakti at one time, who worshipped at the Burnt Tree; your character wants
>to find an reconsecrate the spot to help bring the blessings of Humakt to
>the clan's warriors.
> That's a little off the subject though. I see no reason why date and place
>modifiers should not be figured into leaving the Godplane. It's part of the
>quest, after all.

This is correct too.
Good work Peter.



Greg Stafford
Issaries, Inc. 900 Murmansk St., Suite 5; Oakland, CA 94607 Phone: (510) 452 1648 Fax: (510) 302 0385 Publisher of Hero Wars, Roleplaying in Glorantha See our site at: <www.glorantha.com>

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