> I was in a musuem today, and read ancient Romans put their dead in
> urns, in clay/earth/whatever, but sometimes also made of glass. I wonder
> if that's what we would call glass today... Do you think glass exist in
> Glorantha ?
Genertela Book (from the RuneQuest box) tells us that glassblowing was invented in Safelster near Syran, so it certainly exists in the West and Maniria.
Trolls use volcanic glass aka Obsidian, among other uses for (anti-) sun glasses.
> What does it look like, what could be its use ?
The earliest RW glass was opaque and could be stained by melting certain pigments reheating the glass beads (the most common form). These glass beads replaced fossilized sea shells as the most common ornamental item.
IIRC archaeological evidence suggests that glass blowing was invented in the Old World somewhere in southern Anatolia. Possibly around the same time mass production of iron was invented there.
I don't know about independent developments in China, India, or the Americas, but since pottery often comes with glazing, I suspect that the basic chemistry was pretty widespread.
> How was it done in the RW ? I think Egyptians used some place in the
> desert (today in Lybia, I think) were a meteor fell and fused some sand.
> I suppose such an event from the God Wars is also possible in Glorantha
> ?
The common theory is that campfire ash and sand or sand and soda fused to the first glass beads which were collected as curiosity (just like other unusual stones), and then systematically produced as there turned out to be a market.
> I'd personally give glass to the Pelorian (for anything beautiful should
> be givin to Pelorians),
Has been done: the cover of RQ Dorastor - Land of Doom was the depiction of a stained glass window in the Empire.
> Seshnegi, Loskalmi (those cathedral must have
> stained glass and a dedicated Saint).
Zzabur records time after the flow of the Sands of Time in some kind of hourglass, so Danmalastan must have known glass, too. Probably already Vadel on his journey to Bamatela had glass beads to trade...
> And maybe Caladraland: when
> Caladra fell from the Sky, he must have created the Glass God...
Shadow Plateau with its Palace of Black Glass, dear Philippe... ;-)
> Concerning the HeroQuest Homelands, I don't think Heortling use glass
> (except as some exceptional remnant from Dragonfire), but Esrolian
> might, due to contact with the West.
To over-use the Scandinavian parallel for the Heortlings: from the Roman Iron Age period, the most common imported items (found by archaeologists) were metal products and glassware. Pottery containers were found, too, indicating wine imports, so a fairly sophisticated logistics (Goldentongues) was available for utter barbarians (Vadrudi-like ;-).
I'm fairly certain that glassblowers in the Kethaelan cities produce glass objects specifically designed for the Heortling market. (The romans along the Rhine produced glass drinking horns...)
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