Animal herders probably get accustomed to the smell, think little of it and only worry about washing or putting on perfume on very special occasions -- though I could also imagine Praxians tolerating the smell of their own animals and being disparaging about the smell of other tribes' animals
Possibly because of the (now out of favour) Roman Empire flavour given to some elements of Lunar life during the 1990s, my Glorantha did have Roman-style public baths in larger Lunar cities, including important colonial centres like Mirin's Cross and Furthest (but not Boldhome). It was not uncommon for my player characters (one of whom was a Sartarite spy, impersonating the Lunarized Tarshite noble he had assasinated), to go to the public baths in Furthest to spy on others and gossip.Illusion magic could certainly conceal a person's smell, or superimpose a nicer smell over the top of the original aroma. Storm/Water magic could be used to create a gentle shower of rain over a small area too, so someone could take a shower -- maybe regular showers are part of the secret of how Helerings 'pull'? Though might there be Heortling circles in which using Illusion magic marks you out as either a Lunar or a Trickster -- smelling a bit might be the lesser of
two evils!
Wind magic could also be used to blow bad smells away, e.g. so that a herd of 100 bison is always downwind of your camp.
Though maybe these magical applications are a bit frivolous for all but special occasions?
Richard Hayes
To: WorldofGlorantha_at_yahoogroups.com
Cc: WorldofGlorantha_at_yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, 9 November 2011, 18:01
Subject: Re: A sense of smell
As david says : "I think it should be cinematic bronze age. No toilets, everyone's clean and no one smells like they've been sitting round an open fire:-)"
All this talk about historic RW comparisons with Glorantha is fine and well, but does not satisfy the senses. Now "what do people smell like ?", THAT is an interesting question, with answers giving more (ahem) flavor to Glorantha.
Perhaps there are Magics allowing you to say clean or, at least, suppress offensive odors ?
Public baths, sweat lodges, and showering under a waterfall might be more widespread than we thought ?
What about animals ? I remember my grandparents' stable and the overpowering smell of about eight cows which lived in during winter. I remember the smell of an elephant walking by in Thailand. How can a herd of several hundreds of bisons smell ? And what about their (ungh) riders ?
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