Question about the curse of Mokato

[Pentallion]

The GtG says "no one who has spent an entire year on Mokato can ever leave the island or (else)".

Does that mean one solid span of a years length (example Earth 10, 1620 to Earth 9, 1621) or does that mean cumatively one year so if I spent half a year in 1620 followed by half a year in 1625, I'm now cursed?

[metcalph]

21 minutes ago, Pentallion said:

The GtG says "no one who has spent an entire year on Mokato can ever leave the island or (else)".

Does that mean one solid span of a years length (example Earth 10, 1620 to Earth 9, 1621) or does that mean cumatively one year so if I spent half a year in 1620 followed by half a year in 1625, I'm now cursed?

Which makes more sense to you?  Choose that.

[Pentallion]

I'm just double checking cuz I want to write something for the JC.

It has major ramifications so it needs to be correct.

If the former, then Mokatoans would annually leave their island to avoid the curse.  

If the latter, then all Mokatoans are land bound.  This probably means the curse is what ended the Eastern Sea Empire.

The choice has significant ramifications.

 

[metcalph]

10 minutes ago, Pentallion said:

I'm just double checking cuz I want to write something for the JC.

It has major ramifications so it needs to be correct.

If the former, then Mokatoans would annually leave their island to avoid the curse.  

If the latter, then all Mokatoans are land bound.  This probably means the curse is what ended the Eastern Sea Empire.

The choice has significant ramifications.

 

Mokato adopted the curse in order to avoid the Closing.  i doubt they are in the habit of taking annual holidays.  I'm still not giving a statement on which interpretation is correct because either works.  

[Pentallion]

Ok.  I was leaning towards the latter anyways.  

But now I have two more questions:  where does it say the Mokatoans took the curse to avoid the closing?  And how can a curse that permanently land locks you "avoid" the closing?

That's like cutting off my arm to avoid having my arm cut off.  Haha, can't cut off my arm, I beat you to it.

Think I am missing something important here.

Edited June 27, 2021 by Pentallion

[metcalph]

5 minutes ago, Pentallion said:

But now I have two more questions:  where does it say the Mokatoans took the curse to avoid the closing?  And how can a curse that permanently land locks you "avoid" the closing?

It was written in the Glorantha: Intro after discussions from Nils Weinander and Greg Fried.  

Nobody in Mokato knows how it works.  All anybody knows is that Hobimarong told them to do so and Vithela was saved.  Praise Hobimarong for He is Always Right.

 

[Pentallion]

Ahh, so Mokato sacrificed for all the East Isles.  Thanks.

[soltakss]

On 6/26/2021 at 10:41 PM, Pentallion said:

Does that mean one solid span of a years length (example Earth 10, 1620 to Earth 9, 1621) or does that mean cumatively one year so if I spent half a year in 1620 followed by half a year in 1625, I'm now cursed?

That sounds like the sort of thing that a PC would ask, or argue.

There is an easy way to find out: Take someone who has spent nearly a year on Makoto, remove them from the island for a couple of weeks, return them to the island for several weeks, so they have now spent more than a year on the island in total, then try to remove them again. If they can't be removed then you know the curse is a cumulative period, if they can be removed then it covers a full year on the island.

Of course, the problem there is how is the curse enforced. Is the person stopped dead in their tracks, so they cannot physically be removed? Do they disappear and reappear in the centre of the island? Does a dragon arise and destroy the ship that they are being transported on? Do agents of the curse appear and fight any would-be abductors? Does Mokato smite thee down as transgressors?

On 6/27/2021 at 1:28 AM, Pentallion said:

I'm just double checking cuz I want to write something for the JC.

The JC is non-canonical, so write whatever you like.

JC can disagree with published material for several reasons, all of which are valid:

• Your material is better and differs as a clarification
• The original reason sucks
• You wanted to vary it for some reason that fits into your game material
• You didn't know about the original material
• Because that's what you wrote in a JC supplement

On 6/27/2021 at 1:28 AM, Pentallion said:

If the former, then Mokatoans would annually leave their island to avoid the curse.  

If the latter, then all Mokatoans are land bound.  This probably means the curse is what ended the Eastern Sea Empire.

Mokatoans wear their curse with pride, or complain about it bitterly. I cannot see everyone taking their newborn infants and all children with them on a sea voyage once a year to escape the curse, so most Mokatoans are affected by the curse anyway.

On 6/27/2021 at 2:04 AM, Pentallion said:

And how can a curse that permanently land locks you "avoid" the closing?

It stops you from endlessly wandering the oceans, being eaten by monsters, dying of a foul disease on a ship, being turned into undead sailors or worse ...

 

Edited July 3, 2021 by soltakss

[davecake]

Nils says one full year, not cumulative. 

A few of us are already working on an East Isles book, if you’d like to compare notes. 

[Pentallion]

On 6/30/2021 at 2:44 AM, davecake said:

Nils says one full year, not cumulative. 

A few of us are already working on an East Isles book, if you’d like to compare notes. 

I pm'd you.