Diseases and Decay

[Sir_Godspeed]

On 4/1/2023 at 10:19 AM, DrGoth said:

So my reading of that is that decay is a product of Time

It's a really tempting conclusion that's elegant and simple, but I'm not... entirely sure if this bears out.

I'm trying to think of stories from the Entekosiad that takes place during the Green Age, which is a lot less static that the subsequent Golden Age. Lots of things get killed and transformed, but I'm uncertain if they qualify as decay.

Then there is the Heortling Mythology, which also features stories from a very early time, probably Green Age or thereabouts, of people being eaten and consumed into other things, etc, iirc. Still not quite decay, I suppose, though my memories are vague. 

A third source that comes to mind is the story related by Belintar about the Aldryami, about Grower and Maker and Taker. What is taker? Is it just violence, or is it a more generalized concept of decay? This is pre-Time, and possible pre-Death as well. As someone mentioned above, SOMETHING made the Gloranthan topsoil. Perhaps this is our first sign of true decay in the God Time? The transmutation of living matter into the basis of future living matter. But if it's pre-Death, then things are not really dying, they are merely altered. (Oh man, I am SO tempted to delve into the potential for early, primitive plants in Glorantha chemically/runically breaking down the stones and minerals of the Cube into early proto-soil as the earliest slight between Flamal and Mostal, then the alteration of plant life into topsoil for greater plant life... hmmm, a lot to chew on here.) 

Not sure about how the invasion of the Seas during the Flood eras work. Seas eat, consume, digest. Is this decay of sorts? 

And then of course we have Darkness. I think, contrary to popular impression, Darkness was around to a much larger degree prior to the Storm Age. The Green Age appears to not have had a static sun in the sky, so night darkness was a thing. What other little creeping things scuttled about? In the deep seas? 

And can something like Lodril be seen as decaying when he enters the earth and becomes a cthonic deity? Ehh, maybe that's pushing it, but it's fun to think out loud. 

I do think it's useful to think of decay as a form of change though, ultimately, and I don't think it's completely alien to pre-Time, but not sure if there is conclusive evidence either way. YGWV.

[glarkhag]

On 3/30/2023 at 12:33 PM, radmonger said:

The glorantha bestiary doesn't have an entry for mummies, so it is not clear this works there. But I would have thought the whole deal with the Necropolis in Esrolia had the implication bodies suitably prepared would remain recognizable.

 

 

I know this is an old thread but I can't see that anyone picked up on this...  The Revenant in the monsters section of the bestiary aligns with a mummy.