wrote:
>
> Here's another one that the podcast started me thinking about.
>
> [Disclaimer - I love playing with metaphysics, and runnign
campaigns
> where high magic and even philosophy are issues. Some of you may be
> bored to tears with this]
>
> What is the relationship with the lunar element to the other five?
>
> We know the five elements of Glorantha form a cycle of elemental
> dominance. Fire > Darkness > Earth > Air > Water > Fire...
>
> We also know that the lunar's have their young elementals, and can
> command minor manifestations of all except Air. The story says air
> didn't have time to form before the new elemental generation
> (devolution?) ended and they were integrated into the world.
>
> The podcast seemed to say that in the HQ2 vision Storm and Moon are
> mutually exclusive. You can't hold both the Moon and Air runes.
>
> I've assumed that there is no elemental dominance with the lunar
> power, and that it's neutral with all others, but...
>
> Now I wonder if the situation is such that the conflict between
Lunar
> and Air really is an unresolved case of elemental dominance. Maybe
the
> circle of five Gloranthan elements should really be a cicle o five,
> and the fight is still going on whether Moon or Air is going to be
> superior to each other. Thinking about it, it would seem logical
that
> Lunar power would end up dominant over water (tides and all that),
but
> as this is Glorantha it seems the jury is still out.
>
> What do you guys think? Any ideas are appreciated,
>
> -Adept
>
I think that it is the 6th iteration of Ouroborous. Or, to put it
another way: First the One God made the Maker and Creator. They
unleashed the first rune: Darkness. Hilme and the other three ruled
this world. Then they unleashed the rune of water (Ouroborous eats
his tail/one dragon devours the other/the world is renewed/etc.) and
now the Water Gods rule. Meaning they must overthrow the Darkness
Gods. Then comes Earth and its four corners. Then comes Fire and
the Sky Gods and Yelm rules. Well, the Sky Gods are rather
unchanging. But the world isn't perfect (in fact, it's rather
unchanging and inflexible) and THAT'S what this game is all about,
the perfection found in striving for perfection, so Maker and
Creator throw in the Air Rune and along comes Orlanth who must
overthrow Yelm as Yelm conquered Ernalda before him. The Air Gods
represent freedom and change. However, it is unbridled freedom and
that, too, is imperfect as the tale of Thed shows so THAT world
needed renewal so they created something new:
Time.
The Time rune was added and the Lunars represent this time rune.
The Lunar phases are representative of the phases of time. And, as
Orlanth conquered Yelm and Yelm conquered Ernalda and so on back to
the Darkness, the Lunars must conquer Orlanth. They must right the
wrong of unbridled freedom. The freedom to rape. The freedom to
pillage. The freedom to deny freedom to others.
ie, there must be rules and the Lunars seek to enforce "order" aka
the rules upon the Orlanthi. As is their nature, the Orlanthi seek
to rebel.
Unfortunately, the Lunars are not perfect either. For he who makes
the rules is generally above them. This has been exposed by Sheng
Seleris - the new Painstar. The Empire is decadent. The rules
don't apply to those who enforce them.
So a new thing must be created. And with each iteration, the Gods,
the source of Chaos, magic, all those things, get further and
further away from the mundane world. The last time, the Gods
accepted the Compromise. The next time, as we've all read, the Gods
are swallowed by Arachne's net. That includes Thed and her son, her
pain, Wakboth.
For time heals all wounds.
So yes, by that definition of the cosmology, a Lune IS an
elemental. A time elemental.