Re: A community creative challenge

From: ian_hammond_cooper <ian_hammond_cooper_at_...>
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2001 11:25:33 -0000


Philippe Sigaud wrote:
> As far as I know, Heortling villages aren't spiral shaped,

When I drew my map of Clearwine (on the Glorantha website I reasoned that 'planners' would mirror the plans for a stead/village that they knew - Storm Village - and so there is a spiral shape to the settlement, just like Aedin's Wall has. That said I like to think of it as a template, an influence which will be corrupted by local need, geography etc. Clearwine is a 'clear ' example when I draw others I suspect they may vary far more from the ideal. So, too, I would suspect that in an Esrolian village there is the ideal, maybe found in the positions of the oldest or most important buildings, but it may be obscured amidst organic growth and terrain. The matriach's house, the loom house etc. may be at traditional points forming the corners of a square but looking at a map you might see it, but just wondering around it might not always be so obvious. More likely is that 'street' patterns have blocks of four hearths in a square with a central garden. Don't forget people do plan 'street' layouts, even in this period, and Esroliansd may be far more 'oraganised' than the Heortlings. At the same time Esrolia is a land of 'There is always another way' of compromise. I expect to see this reflected in the villages (at the most negative manifestation int the extent of 'a camel is a horse designed by comittee').

> Now, as the Storm Realm is storm-rune shaped, I suppose that the
Esrolian Earth realm is (a) square.

Interesting as our view of Earth worship comes from 'Orlanth's Wife' so our perspective of the other side is the 'Storm Tribe' other side where Ernalda's Loom house is in Storm Village, we don't have a perception of an Earth Tribe other side where husband gods live in an Earth realm. Earth rune shaped does sound ike a good guess though ;-)

One interesting facet is does the year-father affect the pattern of the villages we are looking at, some are more martial etc.

> Another big difference is that nature is farther away in Esrolia for
the most part. Nature has been tamed there and you have to wander pretty far or out of the way to leave farmland behind. Much more built up and developed than Sartar.

I think a related point is age. Most of the areas of DP we look at are 'war zones'. Some parts of Esrolia have enjoyed 'relative' peace. We may find many more settlements with a record of continuous inhabitation (after all most of DP has only had huma occupation for 300 years since the Dragaonkill). Among other differences I wonder if these settlements have considerably greater magical power as a result, both of this permanency and also not having lost the work of their foremothers. They may also have far ri=cher contact with ancestors. There was thread while back about clan 'types' wich IIRC correctly that 'peace' clans could gain a lot of magical power if they worked at it for years, in Esrolia this maybe the case. Some of this will be measured in fertility, health etc, but would also create a considerable resistance to any acts of violence that might break the benefit of centuries of peace of 'finding another way'.

Ian Cooper

Powered by hypermail