From: David Dunham (ddunham@radiomail.net)
Date: Fri 16 Sep 1994 - 09:41:28 EEST
Alex tried to answer the question
>> If there is only one sun, then please explain why the Elmali do not get
>> Sunspear?
by stating
>If you're asking me this with my Sartarite Elmali hat on, I'd say something
>about how Yelm was a false sun god, and that his worshippers were all evil
>Illuminants who got their fire powers from chaos demons, or some such.
>Yelmalions would counter-explain that Elmal's a lame-no-hoper, who denies
>his Yelmic parentage (or simply doesn't have such), and hence is hosed,
>Sunspearwise.
I think the answer would be somewhat different. Elmal is from the Fire Tribe, hence his association with the Sun. Of course, everyone knows Orlanth had to kill the Evil Emperor, and then convinced him to do the proper thing, travel through the sky aloofly leaving the lower world to Orlanth and his kin, while Elmal loyally guarded the stead. But just as there's more than one Wind god, there's more than one Fire god. There are bad winds and (mostly) good winds. There are bad fire gods and (a few) good ones. If having Sunspear makes you into an arrogant, pompous stuffed shirt, then it's a good thing Elmal doesn't have it.
Joerg thinks that grain goddesses and land goddesses are different entities; apparently Mr Baumgartner needs to take another look at the Prospaedia: "Each region .. has its own special grain or land goddess." I take the "or" not to mean they have one or they have the other, but that you can call her one or call her the other. Also, the bold title above is "queens of the land." They appear always to be both.
Paul Honigmann says
>The trouble with Storm Bull and Orlanthi characters - who seem to comprise
>the majority of PC's - is that they have to be extremists in a Gloranthan
>game. There's always something that has to be fought
Aside from pedantically taking this opportunity to point out that plurals never use an apostrophe (PC's means "of the player character"), I don't find this to be true. Agharl, my Orlanthi, is more concerned about running a stead in Riskland. This mostly means trying to AVOID fighting, since there are a lot more bad guys than there are of us. Agharl has found support not in the cult, but from society -- our stead has helped the clan chief, and we occasionally get some help back.
Orlanth is such an all-encompassing cult that I don't see it as extreme in the slightest. Sure, extremists are members, but they're a minority.
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