Re: What is a wyter?

From: Roderick and Ellen Robertson <rjremr_at_emrWO0i_VtDsRxfAR9fOw90kbrX-HDzpGgvUVy8QOfLWPjIYSDVzyCSQ32T9w1IksDURN>
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:47:58 -0800


> What is a wyter?
>
> I have a perception, formed by what I read in Gloranthan material. An
> ancestor spirit, the "good soul" of a clan, the guardian spirit...
>
> But where does it really come from? Is it Greg's pure invention or does it
> have a background in real world? It faintly make me think it is a
> celtic/germanic/viking thing, but then again more like red Indian?!

To answer the question without liguistic interference...

"Wyter" is the Orlanthi name for the guardian being of a group (which might be a tribe, a clan, a temple, or a "heroband"). The basic idea is found in many terrestrial cultures - all those "household gods", the Roman lares and penates, Persian fravashi, etc.). There is "something up there" that is watching over us, keeping the bad stuff away and enhancing us when we need it. The concept of Guardian Angels is similar, thougfh they tend to watch over individuals, rather than groups.

In the real world, the existance of a "Guardian spirit" is a matter of faith. In Glorantha, it is verifiable fact. A wyter has special abilities that its followers can call on, and is a catch-all being to keep "magical bad stuff" away. It is the conduit between the group and the "Otherside" - when you go on a Heroquest and call on the support of a specific group, it is their wyter that "delivers" it to you. When you complete the heroquest, the benefits that you gain are (usually) "given" to the wyter (unless you were doing a purely selfish heroquest, and kept all the benefits for yourself). So if you "win" a blessing for your clan, the clan wyter gains a "Blessing" ability.

Almost all other Gloranthan cultures have something like a wyter (no matter what they call it).

RR
He was born with the gift of laughter and the sense that the world was mad R. Sabatini, Scaramouche            

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