From: Jeff Okamoto (okamoto%hpccc@sde.hp.com)
Date: Sat 18 Aug 1990 - 09:56:33 EEST
>From: vu0141@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu
>Subject: Review: Arachne Solare and you
>This is an actualized world: the gods are real if not always present
>daily, the sun is a god rather than a star, and the world is flat.
The surface of the Earth is flat. The actual "three-dimensional" representation of the world is that of a sphere whose equator has been "pinched" as though its belt was on too tight.
>There is no gun powder. [Actually, the dwarves have gunpowder,
>as mentioned in the Bestiary and other places, but not in the
>products Fred is reviewing.-Ed]
Actually, humans do know about gunpowder, but they don't do much experimenting due to a creature called the Gunpowder Gobbler that the dwarfs created. Their purpose is to eat gunpowder (and other things if they get large enough. The more gunpowder they eat, the larger they grow.) [as mentioned in the Gloranthan Bestiary - Ed]
>The world is iron poor; most metals things are made of bronze,
>although actually the bronze and iron of Glorantha are not the
>same as the Earth equivalent.
Correct. Bronze is the bones of the gods. Iron is made only by dwarfs.
>HeroQuesting is a spiritual journey expressed either as a physical
>journey outside of normal mortal lands or a magical journey to
>participate in the deeds of the gods, in order to gain gifts from the
>powers and immortals of the world.
Or to re-enact the deeds of the gods, in order to gain powers similar to what the gods actually gained. For example, Orlanth's quest to take a drink from Daliath's Well of Wisdom.
>Gods of Glorantha has a scene of two thieves stealing a jewel from an
>idol which I would guess represents Kali, although the box back says
>it is Yara Aranis.
It is indeed Yara Aranis, a goddess born of the Red Emperor and a demon in order to terrorize the horse nomads of Pent.
>The Glorantha supplement was originally called World of Glorantha, but
>now its full name is Glorantha: Genertela, Crucible of the Hero Wars.
Yes, it was decided to break up WoG into pieces. Would you want to purchase a $50 supplement pack?
>What the Priests Say, has little write-ups of how Priests in several
>pantheons would answer questions about existence and a worshiper's
>place in the world.
>The Prosopaedia is a listing of Gloranthan gods, heros, and
>philosophies.
The important thing to note here is that in "What the Priest Says" presents a very SUBJECTIVE view of what the deity represents and things. The Prosopaedia is intended to be an OBJECTIVE view of the deities of Glorantha.
>The Mythos section contains the Jrusteli monomyth. A monomyth is a
>common pattern folklorists have found in all folk tales and myths.
>(See any of Jeremy Betham's books)
Or Joseph Campbell's "Hero With a Thousand Faces".
>The skills Cult Lore and Glorantha Lore are mentioned as universal,
>but are not defined. I assume Cult Lore concerns knowledge of cults
>other than your own. I can't figure out how Glorantha Lore is
>different from World Lore, since it is posssible to have both.
World Lore is knowing things about the world. Glorantha Lore is more mythological. A house rule is that Glorantha Lore is equal to your character's age.
>There are sections entiled "What my father told me," which show how
>people from these cultures view themselves.
Note the difference between "Priests" and "Father". The former is about the major cult pantheons, the latter about cultures.
Jeff
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