>> Now, I am unclear whether the current thinking is that using
>> "guardians" (and the basic blessing/defense/perception idea) is still
>> appropriate for ALL these magical communities or whether that only
>> should apply to real "Hero Bands" or what.
>
>I think the core concept is "Identity": a hero band, a regiment, a
>society, a community, an association, all have this concept in their
>nature. A group of people with a common 'Identity', based on either
>purpose, or parentage, or discipline, or culture/language or other
>basics.
>The guardian is a mere personification of this shared identity, a way
>to give magical properties to the bond. It's a plus, not a conditio
>sine qua non. You can have groups of pepole with an identity and not
>(yet or anymore) a Guardian, BUT a 'shared Guardian' alone is not
>enough to give a common identity to a group of people. They need other
>significant things, like those above.
I think a guardian is more then a 'mere personification' of shared identity. It has an existance and identity of its own. It gains power from the members of the community and repays them with magic. A community will select a guardian which is appropriate to their objectives. I am uncertain how much a guardian can change as a community changes, probably not much. In which case the community will be likely to select a new guardian if their needs change. Maybe retiring the old one to an honoured but not worshipped much role.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
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