Re: Forests and wildlands in Heortland, Sartar, Tarsh

From: Andrew Solovay <asolovay_at_jsUC73MJtBS_xRm1_DocihLumwxWmFG2tgXRwxmKiDzNWOnGbgA9F5EpFIlXt4TLmdG>
Date: Mon, 04 Jun 2007 17:45:55 -0000

There are creepy fire-using Uz (Zoraki), and creepy death-worshipping humans (Humakti, Sharsgashi, etc.). Creepy fire-living Aldryami doesn't seem any stranger.

Speculation: Those Aldryami who are closely tied to plants that need fire to reproduce are more disposed to this tendency. (I'll refer to them as "redwood Aldryami" for shorthand, but I mean all Aldryami associated with plants that depend on fire.)

And regardless of whether a particular redwood dryad *likes* fire, they might need to use fire in their fertility magic. This would seriously creep out the other aldryami. (Especially the sprites and pixies--since, I'd assume, "the trees need fire to reproduce" means something like "after a wildfire, the seeds sprout in the ground that's been fertilized by all the burnt undergrowth". That is, redwood dryads feed their babies with the corpses of pixies.)

Further speculation: When a fire breaks out in a mixed forest, the non-fire-associated Aldryami get suspicious of the fire-linked ones. Perhaps pogroms have ocurred? (There may be forests that were mixed once, but aren't any more.)

Regardless, if there are trees in Glorantha that depend on fire to reproduce, there are going to be some interesting myths to explain this. The myth as told by redwood dryads may not be the same as the myth as told by pixies.

Any of this sound reasonable?            

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