From: kenrolston@aol.com
Date: Tue 26 Oct 1993 - 15:31:40 EET
Sam Phillips
Re: Beginning a Sartar Setting
Read with Great Interest. I'd also love titles and authors on the kid's books on the Vikings, and ISBNs too, though I don't know if my library computer accepts them as search keywords.
It is a Crying Shame we don't have a Sartar RQ book out after all these years. Everyone essentially has to go it pretty much alone. I never had the courage to do it. My local GM, Paul Harmaty, whipped up a Sartar campaign in the 1500's but I never got to see the GM background materials on it; we mostly skimped on setting and focused on action-adventure and clan politics.
Sandy Petersen
Re: Eminently sensible analysis of Gloranthan cults
You sound so persuasive and coherent in describing Gloranthan religions in a narrative-expository fashion, but the fact remains that the RQIII rules imply certain rules-significant judgements to be made from the formal structures of cults. This business of lay membership and pantheons has certainly not been resolved to my satisfaction at the level of RQIII rules. Admittedly, I lean toward the historical models of cults (like Roman polytheism) and freeform roleplay models in my appreciation of Glorantha nowadays. Certainly Greg's improvisations scarcely glance at the RQIII rules anymore.
Re: Atheists in Glorantha
Currently I conceive of Vivamort cultists as being bona fide atheists in Glorantha. In short, Vivamort cultists do not deny the existence of powerful supernatural beings loose in Glorantha (how could they?), but they claim that these beings are not gods, but daemons. The connotations of the word "daemons" here suggest great big spirits that may be propitiated (like gods), that may do the propitiators big favors (as do the cult gods of Glorantha), but the Vivamorts say that on the moral level these "daemons" are not gods because they are 1. moral frauds and 2. big fat liars.
First, these daemons (Orlanth, the Red Goddess, etc.) pretend to bring some special insight into morality by presenting ideal models for human behavior. Vivamort says these squabbling supernatural clowns are no different from mortals in their moral fiber -- just bigger, louder, and more muscle-bound.
Second, the extensive lines of hooey the various cults are pushing about the history of the universe make no sense at all. A number of big-time Vivamort cult figures claim to have lived since before the Dawn Ages and as eyewitnesses can discount many events reported as truth by various mythos. (The Vivamort cultists cheerfully admit that they don't have any more coherent account of history -- not interested, actually.)
The Vivamort cultists don't have any particular objections to worshipping daemons; they just think it naive (or possibly hypocritical) to justify an air of moral superiority based on a commercial transaction with daemons.
I know, I know... Nobody in Glorantha seems to have heard much about this particular point of view, but the Vivamort cultists only push this dogma on prospective recruits.
By the way, the Vivamort cultists do not deny that a number of persons called God Learners have joined the Vivamort cult in the past. Vivamorts just don't keep very good records, and they don't ask a lot of questions at initiation time.
Ken Rolston
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