[Glorantha] Aeolian mythical history

[Peter Metcalfe]

Rob Helm:

> > The Aeolians (and the God Forgotten) have been in Kethaela since
> > mythical times.

>This doesn't seem to rule out the possibility that a historical
>figure put the Aeolians into Kethaela in mythical times.

Glorantha simply isn't the world in which you can ret-con entire peoples
out of nothing by heroquesting.  The Aeolians were there at the dawn
with a grey age presence.

>This raises the question about what can be accomplished by heroquesting.
>For example: Orlanth faces wizards/sorcerers at several points in his mythic
>career. Could a historical figure in a "proto-Esvular" community 
>take the role
>of one of these wizardly opponents, defeat Orlanth in one of the myths where
>he's supposed to win, and force him to accept baptism, thus founding the
>Aeolian Church at least for that community?

This way of thinking about heroquesting is far too artificial for gloranthans
to even consider.  You don't heroquest to make black white, make Sauron
an unperson, or to enact spelling reform..  You heroquest for things that
make sense within your own mythology.

> > If somebody heroquested, he and his actions would have been remembered

>Agreed. However, there's a chance that he would be remembers in the form of
>a mythic figure (e.g. Aeol, Karatch) and his historical identity 
>conflated with that
>figure or forgotten entirely. In effect, the history is forgotten or 
>deliberately
>suppressed (perhaps by the church itself), while the myths survive.

I don't find the "Big Lie" view of glorantha very persuasive or even 
attractive.

--Peter Metcalfe