[UA] History - is it all bunk?

[Myles Corcoran]

    I'm of the mind that Clios have to be controlled by in-game
concerns: competing cobweb farmers, urbanomancers flexing their
muscles, mafia guys (or other organized crime types) pounding on the
freak, etc. The Clios have one of the few charging rituals that are
pretty much routine and have no time limit (I hate that. There ought
to be a taboo!) So you have to be stingy about doling out magick
unless you're sure  that the month's limit is going to apply. For
one-offs and short  time-scales that's no limit at all, so it's the
supply you have to regulate.
	
> With Clios, to what extent is it how famous a place is rather 
> than how historically important it is. In Agra the Taj Mahal 
> is obviously flowing over with mojo but what about the little 
> known "baby Taj" from a historical or architectural point of 
> view it is as important but it attracts only dozens of 
> visitors a day compared to the Taj's tens of thousands. 

    Baby Taj is only a minor charge at best. He's not an
architechomancer after all.

> Also what if the "place" has ceased to exist - is there any 
> charges at the site? e.g. the Reichstag and Hitler's bunker 
> in Berlin which were totally destroyed to stop them becoming 
> shrines to nazism. Any mojo for the amoral Cobweb Farmer? I'd 
> incline towards thinking not - or at best a minor charge as 
> the site is not there so it is like a place where something 
> famous happened?

    Location is as important I think. It's only a grassy knoll in
Dallas after all. People are focused on the event, the place and the
idea. In fact, I'd guess that a lot of people thinking about Hitler's
Bunker (and thereby producing the mojo) don't even realise that the
bunker was destroyed.

> What are the dimensions? To get it from the Eiffel tower do 
> you have to buy a ticket a go to the top, touch the base, 
> wander around under it in the public area? 

    I'd say this is personal. Each Clio has his or her own take on the
ritual significance of a historical place. The only certainty is that
you have to be there in person (or by proxy).

> Similarly, how does somewhere that is significantly famous in 
> its own right in one country compare with somewhere 
> internationally famous? I was thinking about the Dublin GPO 
> which would be of great historical importance but probably 
> doesn't mean much to too many people outside Ireland. Does it 
> just take longer to develop its significant charge than the 
> Eiffel Tower?

    The rules say something like X million people thinking about the
place/event each day. That's a tough call with a lot of places and
makes China and India real goldmines. Ireland is sh*t out of luck. I
don't like that, and would make each event and location minor or sig
as a judgement call.

> And is here a statute of limitation on how old somewhere has 
> to be? I was wondering about the hearing aid store that Bono 
> (that sanctimonious twat from U2) got his name from? I've 
> allowed one player to get charges off Graceland and Sun 
> Studios in Memphis so the fact that

    It's not age, it's the number of people focused on the place. 

> Finally do you have to be aware of the significance. From the 
> UA1 rules I am sure you'd have to have some idea but maybe 
> not much. 

    It's both magickal potency and the mage's intent. Like the
entropomancer with the blanks in his gun playing Russian roulette. If
he knows they're blanks, no charge. If he doesn't know, the universe
does, so no charge. (And I know that a blank to the head could well
kill, I'm leaving that aside). So I'd say the Clio has to have at
least some sense of the importance of the place and the place has to
have its own significance to generate/retain a charge in the first
place.

   Myles



-- 
The late, great John Peel on some Duran Duran video:
JP (jaunty): Well that was the best song I've heard since...well, tea time. 
Mind you, I had a late tea.