Glorantha: The Foreman's Words 
The Foreman's Words
Instructions to New Workers
originally published in Gods of Glorantha
This document is Copyright © 1998 Issaries, Inc. It may be freely linked to, and 
one copy may be printed for personal use, but any other reproduction by 
photographic, electronic, or other methods of retrieval, is prohibited.
Table of Contents
  Where did the world come from? 
  What is the truth about...? 
  Dwarf Ancestors 
Where did the world come from?
We made the world. We and the World Machine. Elves, trolls, Umath the Destroyer, 
all broke the Machine. They ended the world. Now is the time of the Gods War. We 
must work till the Machine is repaired. Then the old world shall be restored.
Where do we come from?
You were made like other tools. Like the World Machine itself. All true life 
comes thus.
Why do we die?
You do not have to die. Only bad dwarfs die. While you and I fulfill our 
appointed tasks, we shall live.
What happens after we die?
Non-dwarfs and broken dwarfs die. Their bodies recycle in the cosmic currents of 
the World Machine. Their personalities disintegrate. Their souls' force 
dissolves into the energy fields of Ty Kora Tek.
Why are we here?
We repair the World Machine. All our tasks, all our spells, all our tools, are 
for this task.
How do we do magic?
The old world was made well. Laws were forged for its operation. We know the 
world and its workings. We use that wisdom to create sorcery. All dwarfs learn 
the sorcery they need. You shall learn the sorcery you need.
What is the truth about ...
...Aldrya?
Elves are tools of the evil principle of Growth. They fight us and they hate us. 
They can only have a part in the Machine when it is completed.
Till then they must be kept under control. Or they must be exterminated.
...Chaos?
Chaos is a force of cosmic destruction. It comes from outside the Machine.
So we must defend against it, not attempt to repair it.
...Kyger Litor?
These foul monsters come from Hell. They kill our laborers. They spill vats of 
potions. They shatter our Machines. They destroy creations which took eons of 
toil to make. One day the Machine shall be repaired. Then trolls shall be 
imprisoned in Hell or made extinct.
...the Lunar Goddess?
The rise of the Red Moon was prophesied long ago. It proves that the World 
Machine is being repaired according to schedule.
...Magasta?
The god of the deep waters has little to do with us. His mermen do not assist 
us. Neither are they important. Their god's purpose is to maintain the great 
ocean currents of the Machine. He does this admirably.
...Monotheists?
These humans scientifically examine the universe. They know some of our magic. 
But they delude themselves with lies about an afterlife. Like all beings, they 
find only oblivion after death.
...Orlanth?
This brute being and his minions led the attack on the World Machine.
They broke it once. They would break it again. We shall never give them that 
chance. When the machine is finished Orlanth shall be kept firmly under control.
...Pamalt?
This is just another human god. He does not interfere in our affairs. So we can 
ignore him and his worshipers.
...Primitive Spirits?
There are many fragments of the old world left behind. Most are broken pieces of 
the World Machine, still mindlessly trying to fulfill their purpose. They are 
best ignored. When the Machine is completed they shall be recycled.
...Yelm?
The Sun's rise at the Dawn proves that the World Machine is coming together 
despite our enemies and the ravages of Time. The Sun is one part of the world 
which still works properly and obediently.
Dwarf Ancestors
Ancestral Mostali
The Mostali were made to assist in the world's care and building. Each of the 
eight original Mostali has special abilities. Diamond dwarfs contact them on the 
Godplane.
Glorantha
Glorantha was the guiding spirit of the World Machine before its breaking.
Now the name is misused to refer to the world structure itself.
Grower
In the old world, Grower made raw material for Maker to refine. But Grower's 
warped descendants have forgotten their true purpose. Now Growth is evil. Would 
a plate of food be improved if something grew in it? When the World Machine is 
repaired, the now-cancerous principle of Growth shall be restored to its 
original purpose.
Individualism
Some dwarfs say that each must seek his own salvation, his own path. They are 
wrong. Would a hammer be useful if it changed itself, if it grew a pulsating 
brain? These heretics destroy their own usefulness. They harm the Plan thereby.
Maker
Maker is the name of those laws of the ancient universe which formed the World 
Machine. Once the World Machine was finished, Maker was subsumed by its 
operation.
Mostal
Mostal is the World Machine, now dead. One day it shall live again.
Ignorant outsiders personalize Mostal and equate him with their own 
simple-minded religions. It is well that our foes do not understand us.
Octamonism
Some conservatives believe the invention of Iron and Diamond Dwarfs was evil. 
They deny their own creation. They seek to halt our progress on the World 
Machine.
Openhandism
This heresy is one of the most dangerous. These dwarfs claim that outsiders can 
be allowed access to our treasures. They say the benefit of such dealing 
outweighs the danger. They are fools. What can the surface world offer to 
surpass our secrets?
Stone
Stone is Mostal's brother. He is the matter of which the World Machine is made. 
In the old world, all stone was alive and magical. Foul elves slew Stone and 
made him cold forever. Only the rare truestone hints at what the original Stone 
was like. When the Machine is fixed, the rock shall return to life.
Vegetarianism
This belief is so far confined to Pamaltela. These dwarfs are infected by the 
cancerous principle of Growth. They actually produce food by breeding plants. 
This vile heresy brings its own destruction upon itself.


See also:
Pantheons of Glorantha: The Dwarf Array
Non-Human Races: Dwarfs
A Personal View of Dwarf Culture
Why I Dislike Mostali
Mostal-Dwarfs: Mythos, Heresies, and Lore
Dwarf Senses
Creating Jolanti


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