> PS. Personally I'm not fond of the idea that the empire has half a
dozen
> compeating "intelligence organizations". This sounds very modern
to me,
> and not in the spirit of Glorantha (or our history either) as I
> understand it.
Peter has already given some examples, but I'd add that the key thing about the majority of the Instrumentalities is precisely that they are typically small, ad hoc teams, networks and groups. If you think 'intelligence ops' is a new concept, then you are sadly mistaken. When, for example, the Mongols were rolling westwards in the 13thC, their armies were always preceded by not just scouts but also spies, as individuals and in teams, to gather information, assess routes and carry out psychological warfare. Likewise, no Renaissance Italian grandee would not have his network of informants. Even in the ancient world, espionage was commonplace.
The whole point is that it was so ad hoc, and this is why I framed the Instrumentalities as I did -- even the bigger organisations such as the Spoken Word and the Bearers are actually much less organised than they seem when you look at them as they are, rather than through the prisom of modern organisations as the 'Lunar KGB' or 'CIA' or whatever...
All the best
Mark
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