Submitted by Iskallor on Sat, 03/11/2012 – 15:55
Do Mostali Heroquest?
Submitted by Ian on Wed, 07/11/2012 – 14:58.
A This World heroquest is a re-enactment of the myths of the gods in this world to reinforce its effects. So if you do the myth were Olranth helps Yinkin fights the Bad Dogs your community is going to get better at it with a successful re-enactment. It seems likely that the Mostali attempts to repair the world machine may involve a significant number of This World heroquests, that reinforce the correct workings of the World Machine whose cumlative effect is to fix broken aspects of the machine in this world.
An Other Side heroquest is a re-enactment of the myths of the gods on the Hero Plane to gain the powers that the gods gained. So re-enacting the actions of Mostal on the Other Side to create or fix the World Machine. Doubtless this would aid mostali atttmpts to fix this world, and it seems likely that mostali communities would support such heroquests. For example:
“In those days a battle was decided by moral fortitude, numerical superiority, or by champions engaging in a contest of their arts. In those struggles the Mostali often carried the day, for they had all of those traits in plenty. For example, one time they engaged Vadrus, a storm god, in a contest pitting Quicksilver’s changing ability against the wind’s. Though the wind changed quickly, it could not come close to that range of mutations which Quicksilver could place upon simple chemical ingredients.”
http://moondesignpublications.com/library/elder/dwarfs-mythos.html – FIX LINK
And in MGF terms it means that mostali can certainly be drawn into your PCs heroquests as opponents.
Experimental heroquesting is more problematic; operating outside the plan seems to be difficult for our perception of mostali, yet at the same time ‘science’ is empiricial and if anyone is likely to practice empiricism it would seem to be the mostali. Of the actions: create hypothesis, perform experiment, note results, adjust hypothesis the problem for our ‘slave to the plan’ dwarfs seems to be the creativity required to create a hypothesis. One obvious solution is to distinguish between Mostali and clay dwarfs. I suspect that experimental heroquesting is rare, but Mostali plan and lead such heroquests as experiments to ‘prove’ a magical hypothesis. In Dragon Pass, The Dwarf is a Mostali and seems likely to be an experimental heroquester, his inventiveness certainly suggests as much.
Of course it might also just be that what humans think of as experimental heroquests are just correct application of the effects of the World Machine – which the dwarfs always understood.
Mostali and heroquesting
Submitted by Charles on Wed, 07/11/2012 – 03:34.
I’m not aware of anything specific about Mostali and Heroquesting. I’ve published two other responses that seem as good as anything that I could write.
Submitted by boztakang on Sun, 04/11/2012 – 13:54.
I’m not an expert on the mostali, but i don’t imagine they heroquest in a manner that would be immediately recognizable to the Orlanthi as such, though i’m sure they do it.
They certainly are found on the Hero Plane and gods world. I am certain that occasional modern work crews are sent there to repair certain paths, or fix worn and broken bits of scenery and whatnot.
I am quite entertained by the idea of a heroquest suprise that involves a mostali work crew having blocked off the traditional path of the myth with detour signs and flaggers and whatnot. Leaving the Heroes to work out how to get around the fact that one of the stations of their quest is “closed for repairs”
From the Mostali point of view, I suspect they view “heroquesting” as either “routine maintenance” (worship ceremonies) or “emergency repairs” (active heroquest) and that they are far more likely to enter the Hero Plane as “themselves” rather than taking on the role of some specific god.
Of course, the effective distinction between one properly functioning dwarf and another is pretty slim, and the effective difference between meeting “Iron Mallet Swinger 0xa3201” on a heroquest, and the original “Iron Man” of the myth isn’t going to be especially noticable to most observers.
As a Narrator I would give the Mostali a lot of freedom to break the “rules” and go places and do things at odds with the apparent reality of the current mythological “scene.” With the caveat that they themselves would not think of it as any sort of “freedom”, but rather just as a job that needs doing.
Mostaly don’t heroquest, they Repair
Submitted by Herve on Sat, 03/11/2012 – 17:04.
Repairs to worldmachine necessary on several planes. Intervention in the other planes sometimes mandatory. Application of calculated force mandatory in eliminating undesired and/or flawed components (known by humans as “myths”). Mostal rules in all of the worlds.
Archived Glorantha Q&A from Moondesign.com
