Re: Troll magic

From: Andrew Solovay <asolovay_at_...>
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2005 15:05:21 -0700

Peter Metcalfe wrote:
> At 12:32 AM 4/15/2005 -0400, you wrote:
>

>>In that light, what then is the situation concerning trolls now?

>
> Most of troll worship is animistic (from RQ3 Troll Gods) but we
> know Argan Argar's cult is Theistic. The HeroQuest Trolls
> description p218 has both the troll and the warrior trollkin
> with the abilities: Kyger Litor tradition knowledge _and_
> worship Kyger Litor - indicating that Troll religion still
> encompasses both animistic and theistic perspectives.

It's been argued that clean-cut distinctions between theism and animism don't apply in the Underworld. (That argument is made in particular in UTToG.)

It may be that we're using human categories where they don't apply. For example, Aldryami do not worship gods or spirits, according to GIttHW--they participate in "great songs". For game purposes, these "songs" (like "Aldrya", "Flamal", "Halamalo") are treated as gods or spirits--but that's not how the elves see them, or so we're told.