> At least some common religions have otherworld locations--like Imarja
> or Lanbril (spelling? the thief god/inspiration).
Correct.
> However they 'provide' common magic.
Yes.
> Elsewhere it is implied that common magic is
> all provided from mortal world entities.
I have just reread this, and it is not well presented. The implication
you mention are not entirely correct.
I think the problem comes from the use of the word Common to describe a
type of magic and a type of religion.
Talents come from the Everything World. They have no Otherworld component. Common magic can be gained from Otherworld entities without travelling to their Otherworld.
> Yet elsewhere there are
> entities that exist on both sides (like Kero Finn or The River),
Yes. Not unusual. In fact, most entities exit on both side. Orlanth, for
instance, is in his long house in the Storm Realm, but also present in
the winds of the Everything World.
In a sense, even people exist on both wides, although their
consciousness does not. Or to say the same thing a different way: they
are not normally conscious that they simultaneously exist on both sides.
> and I
> believe that in Thunder Rebels it was suggested that many wind
> daimones travelled regularly between the gods world and the mortal world.
Yes. But again, many entities do.
Some daimones are inhabitants of ONLY the Otherside, but they can be
summoned to a temporary and tentative existence in the Everything World.
Others, like Orlanth, exist on both sides.
Some, like people, are not capable of maintaining simultaneous
consciousness of both sides and can be said to live in the Everything
World.
> So, what is the definition of a mortal world being, versus an
> otherworldly being, in terms of what kinds of magic they provide?
It would depend upon what realm they are normally conscious of. I think the above will explain that sufficiently.
> Finally, in terms of this discussion, does there need to be a
> distinction between talents and feats/charms/spells?
Here is the difference: Talents come from the Everything World, or from
entities that live here.
Powers that come from entities of the Otherside provide the kind of
magic specific to their world.
Some beings that live in the Everything World, being of origin from the
Otherworld, provide magic of the type typical to their origin.
> I'm interested both in rule-book interpretations, and
> glorantha-centric interpretations, but mostly the latter, which is why
> I asked on this list. I can tweak house rules to better match the
> effect I want, but I need to have a clearer view to help figure out
> what I want.
Well, for most Gloranthans they simply "know magic." The terminology that is so carefully defined in the rules doesn't exist, except perhaps among some scholars of the subject. The people don't divide the entities they worship into gods and spirits and essences. They don't divide the entities up into common and specialized religions, etc.
This is the biggest thing that I would change if I published HW today: I would have only "common religions" with "mixed worship."
--
Sincerely,
Greg Stafford
Issaries, Inc.
1942 Channing Way, #204
Berkeley, CA 94704
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