Re: What does death by "natural causes" look like in Glorantha?

From: differentcomputers <mdawson_at_Xfsb_c7fxZq5MVGSwLi4ES5tXIYJ8ffmpEOCzq1S8Cj_axTasJBEwcqFZyNljOLdk3Zw>
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2010 20:43:55 -0000

>
> Mike asked:
> > He has a healer on his staff. A good one. He may have paid for a wing >of the Chalana Arroy/Deezola/whatever hospital, so you bet he has the >connections to get the healing he needs.
>
> I suppose but I can't see any dedicated healer sitting around waiting for this guy to get sick. They could always have reasons to be elsewhere when he needs healing. It's a somewhat limited resource after all and cults may decide the healing's better used elsewhere.
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> His heirs just may try to arrange things so he's denied the healing he needs. They need to inherit some time too. "Come on Grandpa, the ancestors are waiting to welcome you. Don't make me get a pillow."

I guess I failed my writing role, or maybe it read like an in-game situation I was asking for plot hooks for. None of the above address my question.

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> He could also die of "characteristic loss", even in the real world your strength, intelligence, etc. just decline and sooner of later he's going to get decrepit and normal healing won't help.
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> I would also suspect that healing will eventually stop working along the lines that there's only so often you can repair something before it can't be fixed.

These are suppositions without rules or Gloranthan documentation, sadly. (Yes, I recall Greg's exhortation not to extrapolate the world from the rules.)

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> > Remember, Chalana Arroy (at least) takes the attitude that being >alive is always better than being dead, so her followers would have no >qualms about working magic on an old, worn out guy, even if they can't >make him young again.
> >
>
> Perhaps but they also want to heal everything so "I'm so sorry but I used all my magic healing that dog that got run over by a cart." is always a possibility. Or they've headed over to the next village to help a mother giver birth/fight a plague/etc.

Sorry to be repeating myself through several posts, but this was also not what I was asking. I think it reasonable to ask "How does someone die of natural causes when they are attended by a competent and capable magical healer at all times?"

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> Money's not a motivator for Chalan Arroys. They would take his money to help in their healing work but I don't think they'd fell obliged to the guy. Other types of healers might but they may lack the healing power to help old geezers lengthen their lives.

Strikes me as odd to assume that CA temple hierarchies are not swayed by someone paying for a new wing in their hospital. Easy for them to think "he gives us the resources to do more and better healing, and the longer he lives the longer his support continues."

I recall but cannot cite that CA's charge for their work. Certainly other cults do.

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> I suspect that baring Heroquests or seriously major magic that people just wear out in Glorantha and sooner or later most magic can't fix them.

This is the process I am interested in discussing and fleshing out.

Mike