Re: Do Zistorites Dream of Mechanical Sheep?

From: Peter Metcalfe <metcalph_at_...>
Date: Tue, 29 May 2001 20:58:36 +1200


Keith Nellist:

>I feel Peter's ideas a slanted toward "modern" day Zistorism (if such a
>thing exists) rather than the exciting new religion of the New Knews before
>it really got "heavy". I wanted the character to have the chance to be
>enthusiastic about the Brave New World of Zistor.

So you want the character to be an "archaic" Zistorite rather than a "classic" Zistorite?

If so, then the Zistorite sorcerers aren't useless outside the Machine City but are exploring the world trying to duplicate the workings of magical and natural phenomena through their machines. In other words, a possible motive is a scientific expedition of the Star Trek kind.

Most of their machines are large, clunky and immobile. The best equipment they'll be likely to wield are the Ibiros magic swords (+^3). The average Zistorite sorcerer will travel with a large ox-drawn crystal generator that is actually a portal of power to the Zistor node.

The Zistorite Sorcerer can direct energy from the node to analyze phenomenon, both natural and magic ("tricording"). He could scan the surrounds to see if Animal Nomads are hiding behind the dunes.

He might be able to transport people instantaneously if they stand on a special crystal or are transported to a special crystal (chaos mutations can occur).

If so minded, he could cause the node to emit destructive energies ("set phasers on slaughter!") but it would only be good in sieges or as artillery.

The Zistorite sorcerer will also have talismans (Phasers, tricorders etc) to duplicate these effects to a smaller degree. Select personal (Lords, Best Soldiers, Healers etc) will have a Talisman to do jobs appropriate to their station but the amount of training required to use them is huge (they have to connect to the Zistor Node) and the Talismans expensive.

>I agree with Peter here, but would add that we know that Zistorism spread
>to theist Esrolia and somehow went wrong. That somehow, sometime Zistor
>became a god.

Zistor invades Esrolia in 842 (one of the "mixed degrees of success" of the God Learners, Glorantha Intro p48) and is turfed out equally quickly. His downfall doesn't come about until a ten year war that starts in 907. This strangely coincides with the Two Year Winter that plagued Dragon Pass and the Fortunate Succession on p39 parenthetically blames this on God Learners.

So I think the downfall of Zistorites was caused by the side-effects of a massive spell that they had sent against the EWF.

--Peter Metcalfe

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