Re: 'elf' attitudes

From: Andrew Solovay <asolovay_at_...>
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 15:15:53 -0700

BEThexton <bethexton_at_...> wrote:
> (no, I can't spell alryamidrairahihdn properly, so I call them elves,
> sorry)
>
> Natural forests on earth tend to have certain cycles associated with
> them. For example in most non-rain-forests, it is normal for fire to
> sweep through once in a while, burning off mature trees, consuming
> accumulated debris on the ground, and renewing the forest. In
> certain others there are cycles of insects or even mammals that are
> periodically very destructive to a portion of the forest, but only
> normally hit a limited area at a time, so the forest as a whole is
> fine, and the damaged area is again a chance for new growth.
>
> How do the `elves' of Glorantha view this sort of thing?

According to G:IttHW, there's an Elf saying, "There is no Life without Death, no Death without Life". They seem to view destruction as part of the natural way of the Forest.

That said, yeah, while *in principle* they have to regard forest fires/insect plagues/etc. as a wholesome thing, in practice they've got their own personal interests. Yes, I do expect that old-growth redwood elves are less enthusiastic about acknowledging fire as a part of growth. They'll probably end up saying something like, "Yeah, *natural* fire is a part of the Song of the Forest. But *this* fire isn't natural. *This* fire happened because the damned Runners let the undergrowth get too deep, and the Pixies interfered with the Rain Song so the forest got dried out. Dammit."