Oliver
Keith:
> I believe mention should be made at this pojnt of the most accurate > timekeepers in Glorantha, the Mostali, who have an inbuilt
> timekeeping mechanism. Of course, Glorantha itself may be slightly
> out of sync. with the Mostali, running fast or slow in an
> indeterminate manner which drives them nuts.
Thankfully, they have a mechanism to repair this, and reimpart a true beat.
As if on cue...
GLORYADZE EXTRACTORFAN AND THE MOSTALI SOUND MACHINE "Oh-ay-oh-ay! (oh-ay-oh-ay) Oh-ay-oh-o-ah! (oh-ay-oh-o-ah) Oh-ay-oh-ay! [Yah-yeh-go] (oh-ay-oh-ay) Oh-ay-oh-o-ah! [Yah-yeh-go] (oh-ay-oh-o-ah)... OOO!" --Incantation to Mostal the Great Maker
Gloryadze Extractorfan was a true Gold Dwarf of the First Age, dedicated to restoring the perfect harmony of the Wold Machine. She concerned herself mainly with those minor parts of the World Machine known as 'Man'. Some of these cogs, gears and escapements were malformed and needed to be recycled. Others had the potential to run properly, but somehow didn't; and while some could be taken apart and put back together, a great many were simply poorly lubricated and required only minor regulation in a bid to fine-tune them and impart true rhythm.
Unfortunately, Man's life-habits make a broken dwarf appear virtuous. Since it couldn't keep itself running properly, the dwarfs had to get involved. Gloryadze knew that the manipulation of sonic energy could induce Man to behave properly and operate at the proper beat within the World Machine. She and her team perfected a sonic regulator that could achieve such a feat without a preliminary dismemberment: the Mostali Sound Machine.
This dwarfish treasure is hard to describe, but was constructed from the finest refined gold, silver, brass and tin - all forming a multitude protuberancies, levers, gears, jewels and springs. Partly because of this, and partly through racist defamation of dwarfs, the elves called them "cog boxes".
When correctly operated, a Mostali Sound Machine emitted a vibrant rhythmic refrain that caused those components of the World Machine to which it was properly calibrated to start to move with an irresistible beat. The reaction to this stimulus (particularly in the shoulders) was wholly unconscious, and unless a body was well-limbered could cause poses that inflicted pain and muscle and bone trauma.
The Mostali Sound Machine proved a useful weapon against those broken dwarfs infected with the Foolish Beat of heresy; it produced a signal to which any virtuous dwarf could move to freely, but caused arthymic spasms, dislocations and worse in apostates - a pitiful display known as 'break-dancing'.
The first Mostali Sound Machine was constructed in Gemborg; cog boxes were quite prominent in Caladraland during the First Age, when many of the savage tribes fell under Martaler the Blazing Forge's patronage. It's very hot down in Caladraland, especially when one lives in the middle of a volcano, so Gloryadze's companions kept their beards trimmed short and tended wear open-chested working jackets, with large, magically treated collars and lapels to shield them from the ablative heat, and glowing talismans on their chests.
The dwarfs took great interest in the volcanoes and their central function in the World Machine. Many Mostali were worshiped as gods by the savages; they presided over native ceremonies, which were often accompanied by Mostali Sound Machines. Even in the Third Age, some tribes preserve these traditions. In the west, those living around Bluesmoke worship Gloryadze Extractorfan as a totem: a tribal demigoddess; a patron of their ancestral hero-founder.
Unlike many tribes, which prize height and a honed physique, they value body forms that mimic the dwarfs and practise brutal eugenics. Babies are forced into cramped cradles, while children walk around with weights on their heads and are fed raw eggs. Girls especially are raised in Gloryadze's image, and a chosen few are veiled and shut off from the outside world, condemned to a lifestyle of industry, dwarfish elocution lessons and weight-training. When they reach puberty they are robed in ritual costumes and daubed in metallic paint, to be sacrificed as brides to the stunted gods of the mountain.
The dwarfs are utterly perplexed by this state of affairs, and hand the girls over to the Food Processors.
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