First a lot of background information, then some LARP ideas.
I was thinking of going to the GloranthaCon and heard that Live Action Role Playing (LARP) is the best part. I wasn't particularly enthused so I tried thinking about what would be most fun; obviously (for people who know me) that would be a Trickster character of some sort. What could a Trickster do at the birth of the goddess? Something silly like making the new goddess flash on and off, attracting attention from far and wide. Those distant nomads won't be able to ignore flashing red neon in the sky!
OK, so how could that be achieved? Obviously by making the red goddess spin faster, taking seconds instead of weeks to wax and wane.
This is where things get interesting. Lunar magic is related to the moon's phases, so it would change power very rapidly rather than over weeks. This starts to sound like the battle between direct current (Thomas Edison) and alternating current (Nikola Tesla), from which I can steal many oddly appropriate ideas.
If you don't like the fast spinning magic idea, the same pulse system of magic could come from heartbeats, but wouldn't make as good a story.
The sorcerers could cast their spells timed to the beat of the moon (though this implies a few throbbing headaches) and hope that nobody can counter-attack in the few seconds when their magic isn't working. Perhaps attuned crystals could be made which charge up in a few seconds and discharge a few seconds later, allowing for continuous power. Of course this means that the god of time and phase synchronization, Arachne Solara, is very important to Lunar magic. Oddly enough, I found an old message that describes pulsating magic, maybe even the temporary storage crystal and current power phase indicator in the Glorantha Digest Archives:
From: martin <102541.3423@compuserve.com>
Date: 08 Dec 95 18:34:07 EST
Subject: Devillle arrives in Pavis
[...]
On his right hand was an silver gaunlet that to Gaius's eyes glowed with a
faint Crimson light, it was etched all over with mighty runes and strange
glyphs. On his left was a heavy iron fencing glove, as worn by the Glamour
Fencing School. Currently the iron bound hand was hooked casually over the
bejewelled hilt of an iron broadsword. A large red crystal pulsed lightly as
the pommel stone. Most notable of all to Gaius was the runes and sigils on
display on the mans robes, indicating his status as a full Priest of the Red
Moon and of several other deities too.
[...]
By analogy with Tesla's Sky Capacitor (http://www.amasci.com/tesla/tesceive.html), which uses both sky (ionosphere) and ground to transmit power long distances, Lunars could do something similar with Ernalda and the sky god (Aether or Dayzatar or ?). The sky capacitor fills up the the air from ground to the top of the atmosphere with high voltage, which in the Lunar analogy would be magic - which explains why they need the moon up so high, touching the sky. Perhaps the land at the edge of the range of magical power transmission would glow red. Specially constructed temple buildings would receive the magic power remotely. As a side effect, the pulsating magic differential between sky and ground periodically enhances then reverses the attraction between Ernalda and Aether (or other sky god), or it may just make them itchy and irritable. Who knows what it does to the wind gods sandwiched between sky and ground?
There's also the long distance ground hugging wave (http://www.tfcbooks.com/articles/tws4.htm) power transmission system - but it doesn't refer to sky as much so I can't work it in as nicely.
Another advantage of alternating current, and perhaps magic, is that it can be increased in voltage (perhaps equivalent to intensity or speed or heat (pick one) for magic) at the cost of reduced current (quantity for magic) so that it can go longer distances with less power lost (a thin high intensity/speed stream of magic can burn through clouds where the equivalent thick flow of cool/slow magic gets stopped quickly). At the far end, it gets gets converted to more usable intensities (lower voltage, cooler/slower magic) which people can handle safely. So, you can draw on Lunar magic from great distances, making use of temples (which collect power) that would otherwise be idle. The sky transmission system helps with this and is related.
However, changing from low intensity/speed to high intensity/speed magic requires special techniques (like power transformers for electricity). I imagine you can have two concentric rings of priests joining hands. Whipping magic once around the inner circle (say of 10 priests pushing in sequence), induces an echo to whip around the outer larger circle (say 30 priests) at the same time, but it is passing three times as fast through each outer priest, thus giving the higher speed/intensity. Lunar temples have to be carefully built to house both the huge rings of priests, the magic guides, and the sky capacitor plates (possibly integrated into the roof and floor, probably not shaped like plates when in Gloranthan form).
Choosing between taking magic from the moon or giving magic to the moon (implying seemingly odd worshiping methods in the temple) depends on the phase timing. Arachne Solara is very important here - pushing magic at the moon when it is in the wrong phase (a matter of fractions of a second) leads to sparks, wasted energy and maybe dead priests thrown across the hall. There are chants which keep the priests synchronized, and glowing coloured indicator stones to keep an eye on.
Moon boats fit in too. The pulsing field between ground and sky has waves which the boats can push against or take power from. The boats have short term storage crystals which can catch power and use it to push against the power waves themselves. If the boat pushes down when the wave crest is behind it, it will speed up. Changing the timing phase so that pushes happen when the crest is in front will make it slow down. Weaker or stronger pushes move you down and up. Call this technique magic levitation, or MagLev :-). There are two drawbacks - the waves are centered on the moon (though warped near active temples), so you can only go towards or away from the moon. To go sideways, you need to use a conventional wind sail. Tacking is possible (blending the directions of the push of the wind and the push from the magic crests) so you don't have to have the wind exactly at your back. The other drawback is that the boat is bobbing up and down, in time to the Lunar power frequency - thank the goddess before you get sick.
Lunar insanity is all too common, happening to people watching a flashing red light. Sort of like Epilepsy, but worse since it's both red light and red magic hitting the unprepared mind.
Nick Teslo, unhappy priest of ordinary magic (Tesla used to work for Thomas Edison who refused to take seriously the alternating current ideas of his employee) has thought up this system of pulsed magic and would like to see it applied. A sky high magic source is one of his requirements, plus a source of high intensity pulsed magic. If he hears about making a new moon goddess, he'll be very interested in raising her and making her spin fast. In return, he can promise lots of power over long distances.
George Westfort (based on George Westinghouse, the train air brake (and many other things) inventor - well known for helping out the community, fairly wealthy, and generous to his workers, and supporter of Tesla) is Teslo's supporter. He clearly sees the future of a new empire and wants it to be good for people in general, welcoming everybody (sort of like Westinghouse, who wasn't in it for the money). He also sees that waxing and waneing of the empire is related to the moon's period (is it?). A faster spin would mean shorter wanes. Short wanes would lessen the amount of time foes have to attack the empire; traditional military and magic could fill the gap, leading to a stronger empire over the very long term.
Sky, air and earth gods. People who think this is godlearner magic (which it kind of is). Maybe a Thomas Edison equivalent strong spirit magic priest?
Everybody is welcome to the new empire. Promises of military and magic power. Old friends of Westfort.
A final dance to speed up the moon, much like a traditional Greek dance. It also unites the supporters. The supporters form a circle around the moon (a ballet dancer dressed in red on one side and black on the other). They clap in time (ideally when they see the red side, the claps being like magic pushing against the moon). But that may not be very acoustically pleasing, so maybe clap all at once. They try to stay synchronized and to increase the speed as the Gaida style music speeds up. For bonus points, the circle dancers can move in a circle rather than standing still while clapping (moving in the same direction as the moon). If bits of the dancer fall off, then the dance is too fast and the moon is weakened. Also it can only go as fast as the circle can clap (representing the speed of the priests). But too slow and you don't get as much Lunar power. Another option - the dancer can toss a big red beach ball up into the air at the climax, more bonus points if it sticks to the ceiling (hidden fishing line can do that trick). Plus the goddess can flash on and off and drive those nomads insane!
Copyright © 2003 by Alexander G. M. Smith.