> What are the characteristics that distinguish spirits from
daimones? If you
> encountered an unknown otherworldly entity on your tula, how would
you find
> out which one it was? (If your answer is "go to your local tribal
magician
> and ask him", how would he or she determine that?)
>
I'd say it depends :)
Depends of course on whether you have any skill at recognizing
spirits or daimones. As a comparison, how do you tell whether a
snake is poisonless, or not? How do you tell a wolf from a coyote?
How do you tell a logical argument from a fallacy? How do you tell
granite from basalt? How do you tell Yavor's lightning spear from
the blasphemous summoning of a soulless westerner?
I figure much like most things, it is basically a skill, one that
some people have a knack for, but which can be learned by anyone with
enough work. Of course, Glorantha being Glorantha many people have
magical abilities to do the same thing. Frex, god-talkers can
recognize nearby spirits and 'gods' (including
daimones/devas/godlings) which is probably largely a learned skill,
while Tatouth devotees can recognize (iirc) nature spirits and
daimones as a magical ability (they share Tatouth's ability to
discearn this part of the nature of the world).
Therefore, I'd say that:
- Anyone can try, using an unskilled '6' if they don't have a
relevant skill (something feels really weird, I bet that is a
spirit!).
- Anyone should be able to buy skills like "sense spirits nearby," so
some portion of the population are apt to have some knowledge of it
("yup, when I was growing up we had problems with forest spirits. Do
you notice that musty smell, I remember it from whenever the Ernalda
priestesses chased them off, so this must be a spirit").
- In areas where you know a lot, you might be able to use another
skill with a penalty, so if it is a question of whether it is a wind
spirit or umbroli, mythology of Orlomanth should give you a good shot
("It comes from the east in fire season, and the barley trembles
before it. Orlomanth swore to keep his umbrolis from scaring the
barley when it was almost ripe, after Minlinster showed him how to
tame the blue giant. If it isn't an umbroli, it must be a spirit
wind").
- Finally, if none of that will do the job and you really care, you
go to a professional, i.e. a god-talker, shaman, or whatever.
They've spent a lot of time learning a variety of signs and stories
that will normally let them make the decision properly.
Just my take on it. Others may prefer that only 'professionals' or
those with magical abilities can tell the difference. Probably
something that people need to decide within their games.
--Bryan