Re: Talents and slaves

From: bethexton_at_...
Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2004 14:42:26 -0000

• In HeroQuest-RPG_at_yahoogroups.com, "simon_hibbs2" <simon.hibbs_at_m...> wrote:
  > wrote:
  >
  > One source of plunder not available to Caesar was magic. How
  > valuable would magical artifacts be to the Lunars? I can
  > sertainly imagine them confiscating any and all artfacts
  > used in warfare, but equaly they might confiscate any magic
  > up to and including standing stones, magic trees, in fact
  > anything their engineers can manage, which is a lot.
  >
  I was thinking of magic playing a role in all of this in a different way. For a lot of the imperials, they are doing this in no small part for religious reasons. If pledge to Yelm, Sedenya, or whoever that you are going to crush their enemies, and you succeed in doing so, it seems there should be benefits somehow. This might only play a role in years (decades, generations) long ceremonies, but might still be important all the same.

In the King of Dragon Pass computer game a clans magic was represented as a number, representing luck and divine favor (a bit like Runequest Power stat). I realize that there is no such mechanical meausre of magical grace in HQ, but still it seems to me that the crushing of the great rebel, and the final conquest of the middle air, would have benefits beyond just being hte condition for the new reaching moon temple.

Whether these qualify "merely" as necessary steps in great ceremonies, or as "guided HP to increase your relationship with your religion", or as general blessings on their association, I don't know. But I'm pretty sure that some magical benefit is expected. After all, crusaders and pilgrims in our world often expected not just a better after life but the favor of god in this life, with less tangible evidence that such a thing would happen than occurs in Glorantha. So at the very least I would think that a lot of the people involved would expect some blessing.

"We do this for God and Empire!"

--Bryan