>So, more helpfully, is there a better pithy summary of
>Arkat/Nysalor/Gbaji, suitable for Glorantha newcomers and condusive to
>fun gaming?
The problem with a question like that is that the subject is ancient history for most modern Gloranthans (17th century types) and is in my opinion anyway probably the supreme exemplar of Gloranthan cultural relativity. It really depends entirely on the culture you're coming from who ended up being Gbaji. (Not that anyone is sure from a (ha ha) objective viewpoint, excuse the use of the "O" word there).
The Prosopaedia entries on the three are perfectly decent but mostly from a pro-Arkat viewpoint. There's quite a bit on the Gloranthan website on the subject but it doesn't really lend itself to pithy summaries. (Given that your description is pretty good but summarizing the topic is like a paragraph on WW II when we can't remember if Churchill or Hitler was the bad guy, (okay everyone in Glorantha is positive which is which but few agree), and no one is sure who won).
Check out the following write-ups, they all mention Gbaji
http://www.glorantha.com/library/prosopaedia/g.html#gbaji http://www.glorantha.com/library/elder/trolls-gbaji.html http://www.glorantha.com/library/history/cot-history.html#gbaji-wars http://www.glorantha.com/library/priests/chaos.html http://www.glorantha.com/library/priests/windlord.html http://www.glorantha.com/library/history/intro-mythos.html
Hope this helps,
Oliver
PS Something to keep in mind is that any game fun effects of this ancient struggle would be culturally related anyway, i.e., an artifact of Arkat would be treated alternately with scorn, hatred or reverence depending on who's looking at it. We could probably collectively come up with a list of major cultures and their feelings about the business which might be helpful.
Here's a start:
Trolls - hate Gbaji who they equate with Nysalor, love Arkat who taught them
sorcery and treated them nicely.
Orlanthi - hate Gbaji, hate Arkat for his betrayal, hate? Nysalor (not sure
about this).
Lunars - hate Gbaji who they equate with Arkat, hate Arkat, love Nysalor.
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