From:	Josh Harrison mataxes@****.net
Subject:	Atlantis
Date:	Tue, 13 Jun 2000 17:12:59 -0400

----- Original Message -----
From: Simon Nixon <a_9365@*******.com>
> Just a quick query. Someone mentioned 'Heavenherds' as a magical cabal as
> the powers behind the throne of Therra, possibly IE's. IIRC weren't
> Heavenherds mentioned in Cybertechnology? It's somewhere in the annonymous
> telephone conversation near the back IIRC.

I don't have Cybertech, so I couldn't tell you about info in that. I do know
(having just skimmed it) that no mention is made in Man & Machine about the
Heavenherds.

> It mentioned that they were now in Amazonia, so did they just decamp, move
> shop and set up Amazonia? They're one of the three groups that can perform
> cybermancy but don't. Got the information from around 10,000 years ago.

If the info you mention is accurate, it makes sense that this group might
have some connection to Thera. The Empire had developed a type of extreme
techno-magical augmentation that caused similar sorts of problems for their
elite troops (this info is in the Theran Empire SB, if anybody cares). This
might explain their reluctance to practice cybermancy, even if they can do
it.

> Also
> refers to something about weird Great Spirits of Man but not involved in
> their version of Cybermancy, Passions? Oh yeah, and mentioned that holding
> the title of office as head magicker was more than symbolic, thread magic?

Passions are the "divine beings" of Earthdawn -- they are spirit
manifestations of intense emotion. (Their exact nature has never been
revealed; are they created by the emotion, or do they feed off it, not
unlike the Horrors?) One of them even made an appearance in the opening
story of "Harlequin's Back."

The significance of the top dog is (just guessing here) that he undergoes
some sort of reNaming ritual, linking his own essence to that of the
group -- essentially boosting his own power by actually *becoming* the group
in a sense. "Thread Magic" is the practice of connecting True Patterns to
each other, one of the more powerful styles available in Earthdawn. A lot of
this theorizing is based in ED magic theory (which I consider myself rather
proficient in) which doesn't really bear any significant resemblance to
magic theory in SR. If you're not familiar with the game, it isn't likely to
make much sense.

I wish I could track down a copy of Cybertechnology now. I'd love to see
that conversation.

-- Josh