Humakt, Resurrect, Chalana Arroy.

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From: Graeme A Lindsell (gal502@cscgpo.anu.edu.au)
Date: Tue 19 Oct 1993 - 18:26:01 EET

Graeme Lindsell here:

David Cheng's Humakti Death Song:

 This is a nice write-up, but I think the Swords would get the same effect using a DI: slightly more POW, but hey, who needs it anymore. I think a separate Sword or Battle Trance spell is needed.

Colin Watson writes re resurrection:

>Seriously, I wouldn't expect existing campaigns to ditch Resurrect. But
>once you start using it, players tend to become *reliant* upon it. I've
>seen this happen in AD&D (one of the reasons I don't play it much any
>more). In the RQIII campaign that I play in, there so little evidence
>of Resurrection that one of the players didn't even realise it existed
>as a spell in the Rules!

 Yes, this is one thing I have noticed about peoples responses to my initial posts on Resurrection: that almost no-one uses it. A lot of people have stated a variety of reasons why, the basic one being that there aren't enough high healers for them to resurrect everyone.

 This is probably true for an initiate level campaign, but it doesn't address the problem of a rune level campaign, where the players are certainly important enough to warrant at least consideration for resurrection. If there are PC CA's in the party, the AD&D situation could easily arise where death is a temporary inconvenience.

 Joerg proposes that Resurrect should be a type of LBQ. I agree. Joerg also writes:
>cure disease needs to be cast almost every day

 But as far as I can see they can't. Unless I missed it, the various Restore Health spells are one-use even for Chalana Arroy (someone point me to the reference if I'm wrong). Resurrect appears to be easier than restoring health!

>A heroquest with a certain risk for healer and company would be as
>appropriate IMO.

 Yes, very true. I just want to escape an AD&D like blase attitude to death - only Storm Bulls should treat their own death so casually.

>They might even have had one of the darker
>Earth deities utter a curse of incurability _until Malias grip on the region
>is released_!

 Well if they did the Talastar papers don't mention it.

Roland M. Volz writes:
>IMHO, Chalana Arroy should be a popular goddess in non-Lunar-dominated
>countries

 She is a Solar god as well (maybe Pameltelan too). Given the way the Lunar Heartlands are presented, I would say there could be a great many CA's there.

>Swords are special to him for several reasons (they are
>shaped like the Death rune, they are the only weapons whose
>*only* purpose is to kill things, etc.)

 Swords aren't shaped like the Death rune, the Death rune is shaped like a sword! Spears, Bows, Slings are all meant to kill things.

It has also been argued on this list (by me and others) that he is quite literally the Sword God, that "Humakt" is actually the name of the Unbreakable Sword, once owned by Orlanth.

 On a more rules related note, I don't like the current Sever Spirit spell because it is cowardly: no real Humakti kills at a distance!

Paul Reilly writes:
> What do people think? Should we take RQ material as canonical for future
>submissions? Is Glorantha splitting into two worlds, Greg's rapidly shifting
>one and the more permanent RQ Glorantha?

 Well it would be more stable, but it could lead to the situation where new material from Greg becomes worthless for RQ.

I wrote:
>iii) What happens to Renekot, and Fort Hazard, when Hakon dies?
>1622 isn't it?
 

 I checked out Dorastor last night: Hakon dies in 1621.

MOB vs Jeff "Wakboth" Kennett: congratulations! Pity you didn't manage to get the Block to fall on him though.  

Sandy Petersen: welcome to the daily! Now I can say to my friends: "Well, Sandy Petersen wrote saying..."! Would I sink that low? Do you need to ask?

[his analysis of CA's]

 I agree with most of this [aside: I was using the popultion figures for Sun County: 2% of the female population are CA initiates]. A couple of quibbles:
>On the other hand, most CA cultists (being homebodies) only get POW checks
>once a year at worship time

 Don't the priests who lead a worship ceremony get a POW check?

>Remember that many of the deaths are those of children,
>whom the Healers would give a higher priority to than a murderous
>adventurer

 Ah, but what about the important Rune Lord? It's in a rune level campaign that Resurrect becomes potentially abusive.

 Storm Bull:
>In most tribe's fortresses, you'll see the king sitting
>flanked by his guards -- burly berserks

 I had always envisioned the Humakti in this role, and was rather surprised when KoS almost never mentioned Humakt at all. I noticed that in Dorastor there are no Humakti at Hazard Fort either, though there are plenty inside Dorastor itself :-) Is this a recent change t o Glorantha, downplaying Humakt in Theyalan society?

 Graeme Lindsell a.k.a gal502@huxley.anu.edu.au

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