Shamans; Ralian Ernalda

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From: David Dunham (ddunham@radiomail.net)
Date: Fri 04 Nov 1994 - 02:27:26 EET


I wonder if a large part of Genertela's fabled lack of agricultural productivity stems from its seasonal calendar? Pennsylvania (to pick a random example) has 167 days between killing frosts, or about 24 weeks. I haven't seen comparable data for anywhere in Glorantha, but from the Prax temperature chart from River of Cradles, it's obvious that all of Dark and Storm season are unsuitable for growing plants. That leaves at MOST 3 seasons or a total of 24 weeks, but that assumes there are never frosts in early Sea or late Earth season. Glorantha loses for having Storm Season, the only season which isn't said (in Cults of Prax) to have a comparable Earthly eason.

David Cordes gives a detailed description of how shamans work, which is pretty close to how I run it. The big difference is that we always thought that spirits could be released by the fetch into the mundane plane. (Thinking about it after your essay, it might take a casting [by the shaman, not the fetch] of Visibility, which could be done on the spirit while captured by the fetch.)

>If a shaman wants to be immediately effective in dealing with the
>material plane he will have to be a walking storehouse of bound spirits.

This was our conclusion. The shaman I created for a scenario has 8 bound spirits (plus a couple in his fetch, since allowed them to be released directly).

>The logic for having a fetch cast a visability on itself would allow the
>fetch and the shaman to interact together on the material plane.

No, that's logic for why you WANT fetches to be able to independently cast spells while the shaman is corporate; I want to know what passage in the rules logically implies that they can.

Jonas Schiott said of Orlanth
>A lot of people even seem intent on revising the whole pantheon - for
>instance we learn in Codex #2 that Ernalda isn't worshipped in Fronela, and
>David D. doesn't want her in Ralios, so obviously she's just some minor
>Manirian godling :->.

Ernalda is indeed present in East Ralios, but not nearly as important as Orlanth's main wife, Ralia. Ralia, in her Ga-Ralia aspect, is the primary earth goddess, but Ernalda is still the typical access to the Six Earths. And Ernalda is probably Urox's wife in some Ralian myths. Ernalda is too important not to be present in Ralios, but she's different in Ralios.

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