[Glorantha] 'newt sex

> From: Peter Metcalfe <metcalph_at_quicksilver.net.nz>
<snip>
> The 'newts of Dragon Pass are said to have five sexes, all of which
> are necessary for reproduction.

I did bump into this thing too, a long time back. I thought it was just a rumor/theory, and not an established Gloranthan fact. I've always thought that the 'newt eggs are all layed by true dragons. The idea that the newts reproduce among themselves doesn't grok right for me*.

*That of course doesn't mean it can't be true. It just doesn't feel right, intuitively.

> For being reborn, the presence of
> the inhuman king isn't necessary but I assume that the Inhuman
> King can quicken the rate of rebirth so that it takes place
> instantaneously rather than several weeks (which would mean
> the slain troops are goneburger in the boardgame).

Hmm... I'll have to check the original. There is a nice correlation with the newt reincarnation being tied to the Inhuman King, and the Kralori ascension to the afterlife being tied to the emperor. I'd like to keep that.

I've also played with the idea that the Dragon Pass unit "Egglord Warlocks" are magicians that utilise some half remembered EWF secrets, and dragonewt eggs that are intact but have no dragonewt because the 'newt has died in a time there was no IK, and has been lost to the cycle.

But we all have our pet theories.

> For the Ralians, they can reincarnate so long as their eggs
> aren't destroyed so the crucial question is how they can
> reproduce without an inhuman king. My current thinking
> is that they use a dinosaur in their reproduction rites, which
> just reinforces their barbarity in the eyes of Dragon Pass.

Disturbing on so many levels. If dinosaurs are fallen dragonewts anyway, I can't see how anything good could come from that.

I think I'll keep the newts as sexless in my game.

Hmm... this is shaping into something one should parhaps pitch to Greg for a Q&A.

        -Adept Received on Thu 01 Feb 2007 - 13:15:35 EET