The Secret Of Iron

[Syam Lantri]

hi folks, I want share with you an idea wich came to me a long time ago.
P78 of th HQ book, we have the different metals in Glorantha, and everybody (I think) have noticed the magic's flaw of Iron. I think someone can exploits this flaw to reduce his ennemy's magic definitively!
How? With a great amount of iron (??), magicaly tranform in powder (??), set in food or water of the ennemy's army, or worse, 's people, you can annihilate his magic, even if it's take time....

I know the Mostali would not give/sell their best weapon, but the Heroes could, at the end of a difficult campaign/Quest, find a reserve of Lost Iron, maybe in a Mostali Mine, lost a long time ago....

Do you think it's a good idea?
Do you think it's possible?

Waiting for your thoughs....

Thanks, Mike
P.S: I hope my english is good enough

[Mac Logo]

[snip]
With a great amount of iron (??), magicaly tranform in powder (??), set in food or water of the ennemy's army, or worse, 's people, you can annihilate his magic, even if it's take time....
[snip]
Do you think it's a good idea?
Do you think it's possible?

Waiting for your thoughs....

Thanks, Mike
P.S: I hope my english is good enough

Hi,

Your English is quite adequate. :)

Is it a good idea? Interesting, I'd say.
Is it possible? Yes, but... the odds against it working are astronomical. There are difficulties.

Always remembering that Gloranthan metals are named after their closest terrestrial analogues and are not actually the same metals.

1) Weight-for-weight, iron in Glorantha is worth much more than gold (to humans). There are more practical uses for such a horde of wealth than grinding it up as a magical poison.

2) How to powder iron. Magic? Who provides the iron working magic? There are not many sources of iron-working magic and they tend to deal with it as weaponry, not as alchemy. Physical methods, such as grinding with hard stones may be a better bet, but see the point below about iron and flammability as a powder and consider why iron sparks during grinding, or when striking a hard object. Yields would be low.

3) How fine do you powder it? Iron sinks in water and loading it into food will leave the food noticeably tainted if too much is added.

4) Does Gloranthan iron rust?
I'd say yes and I'd also say that only metallic iron causes the magical defect. After all humans are loaded with iron (in their blood) and trolls have no difficulty eating them! (Let's not go into that hoary old chestnut, please!)

5) Taking the example of a sword (a common use for iron in Glorantha), the penalty to magic is the total bonus that the sword provides , typically 6. Not a huge penalty for a couple of kilos of raw metal. It would be very difficult to actually feed someone that amount, let alone the quantity required to strip out a mastery or two!


Concerning Real World Iron: Glorantha May Vary -
The pure metal is very reactive chemically, and rapidly corrodes, especially in moist air or at elevated temperatures. Any car owner knows this. Powdered iron is actually dangerously flammable and is considered a fire risk.


Finely powdered iron, released into the environment, would be rust before it could do any serious "harm" to anyone, unless applied in bulk soon after it's created. The best way to apply iron in order to do damage to someone is to hit them with a lump of it. :)

On the other hand, YGWV - if it works for you as a GM and for all your players, don't let me stop you!

Cheers,

Graeme

[Paul Watson]

Its also quite poisonous in quantity.

[Wulf]

Its also quite poisonous in quantity.

Or, in Gloranthan terms, ingesting sufficient Iron would cut you off from the natural magic of the world. Orlanth could no longer supply you with breath, Yelm with heat, etc. So you can use science in a fantasy situation (in much the reverse fasion as 'primitive' peoples would explain the world).

In my opinion, regarding the original suggestion, however, if you had that much iron you could buy your enemy's country and have him evicted...

Wulf