Jeff

Just to put this all into some sort of perspective, here's a breakdown of how many independents there are: Pol-Joni Unicorn Bolo Lizard Rhino Basmoli Hungry Cannibals Baboons Agimori Zebra Ostrich Other 10000 500 2500 17500 6500 1000 10000 5000 5000 1000 1000 You can see that the main groups are the Rhino, Pol-Joni, and Baboons. Other includes any as yet unknown groups.

Ernalda and Yelm are the big ones, but there are also Maran Gor, Polaris, Babeester Gor, Foundchild, Humakt, and even Orlanth, Chalana Arroy, Issaries, Lhankor Mhy, 7 Mothers, etc. Just check out the chart at the end of the Mythology book. Yelm and Polaris get the full treatment in the Solars book. Yelmalio is not a big thing among the Pure Horse People, as they can contact Yelm directly. Polaris is known, but a pretty minor cult.

Remember, as far as the legal system is concerned the GAI does not perform ANY transformable or copyrightable activity. It cannot. It is not a person and is not an intermediary between the copyright image or text and the user. So from the perspective of copyright law we have loads of copy-written works that end up being cut up and reassembled. You shouldn't take someone else's work and draw over it and expect to survive a copyright challenge - any more than George Harrison should have let "He's So Fine" get stuck in his head as he created "My Sweet Lord".

You are aware that the judge did not dismiss the copyright infringement claim against Stability AI? To me that is the crux of the matter here. Remember, these programs are NOT people and, at least as far as the USPTO is concerned, cannot create transformative work - they are just "dumb machines". There's no "creative work" in the way that phrase is used in intellectual property law. The end user of the program has cut up the works of others, reassembled them, and is passing it off an unauthorised derivative work. You might dig the result, might not care about the impact on the artist's ability to continue to get paid - but in the end, I cannot see how one gets away from the copyright violation unless you "train the machine" (again I put that in quotations because the very terminology we use can actually be very misleading) on a walled garden of materials that you own the rights to make derivative use. But until the appellate courts come to some consensus (or the SCOTUS hears a case), this will likely trundle on like Napster until it doesn't.

As long as these tools "train" by using the copyright material of others without their permission (let alone compensation), that is exactly what they are. The copyright infringement issue with AI tools is far greater and far more serious than its proponents seem to be willing to acknowledge.

There's an awful lot in there to unpack and I recommend people digest it very carefully. I think you are right - between 1981 and 1982, the broo went from evil philistines to embodiments of trauma who must continually recreate that trauma in order for the species to survive. They were warped by the cosmic rape that resulted in Wakboth, and became microcosms of it. They are sentient endoparasites - quite aware of what they do to survive. They became true nightmares - like Vivamort's vampires and Thanatar's heads.

You ever have a goat? Well Greg did, as a living lawnmower back when he was in Berkeley. I wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't the source of the association - that plus Lévi's Baphomet of course. But by Doylist are you meaning in the Misfits' sense of the name?

As an aside, prior to the birth of Wakboth, Thed was a fertility goddess married to the Ragnaglar the Mad God, one of the Air Gods. Their children were the Broos, who were originally untainted by chaos. All stories agree that the Mad God, Thed, and Mallia were motivated by jealousy and pride to usurp the functions of the world and to become its unchallenged rulers. Together they formed the Unholy Trio and brought Chaos into the world in the form of Wakboth. Thed was the mother of Wakboth, and his malevolence twisted and distorted his mother in childbirth - as a result, the Broos are twisted and distorted by Chaos, both physically and spiritually. We know the rest of the story. Storm Bull killed Ragnaglar. Mallia left the conspiracy. Kyger Litor killed and skinned Thed, leaving only her ghost. Thed haunts the world, a twisted and distorted spirit, who still commands her hapless (and tormented) children.

Caladraland's main involvement in the Hero Wars is as a seemingly inexhaustible source of mercenaries. Porthomeka and Vinavale are the main recruitment areas, and it is worth mentioning that they are the most Orlanthi (the Orlanth cult is nearly as big as Caladra & Aurelion there, and much bigger than Lodril). The Maran Gor, Humakt, and Yelmalio cultists are also sources of mercenaries. At first they fight mainly for the Esrolian cities, but as the Hero Wars progress they no doubt get recruited by Argrath's allies and end up fighting in Dragon Pass and Peloria.

Yeah, well I realised that was not right, as the Sartar Book will make clear.

A few notes on cults of the above. EHILM: Has no cult. He's too abstract and impersonal to devote direct through and is worshiped through intermediaries. GALANIN: Yelmalio with Ehilm as an associated god. That's where you can get some solar magic. GAMARA: Hippoi. YU-KARGZANT: That's Yelm. The Pure Horse People were not chariot folk. That was the Yelmalio worshiping Starlight Tribes.

Mythically? The stories of Orlanth and the Lightbringers are well-known in Ralios. Orlanth and the storm gods were powerful throughout Glorantha, and they have plenty of places of power in Ralios, especially in the mountains. Historically, the Orlanth cult came to Ralios in the First Age from Dragon Pass and was brought by the Theyalan missionaries. By the time of the Gbaji Wars, the Orlanth cult had been well established in Ralios for more than a century. The cult was in communication with Dragon Pass throughout the Second Age. However, with the Dragonkill War in 1120, it lost contact with Dragon Pass and developed independently. For example, the cult has had far more interaction with the Malkioni than the Dragon Pass Orlanthi, and has little experience of the Lunar Empire (other than viewing the Red Moon as a Bad Thing).

In truth, the big problem with the Garhound contest is that Argan Argar hates Chaos. It isn't the Storm Bull question - it is how the heck did an ogre become an initiate of a cult that hates Chaos! And that requires the initiate swear loyalty to their priest. Which to be honest, has always been my issue with that scenario.

I don't think the Rune spell 'False Form' is listed as being part of the ogre's repertoire in Sun County, but it would solve the problem if it was As much as I generally get what you are saying, I don't think Lunar tolerance/Sor Eel's presence would actually work in this case If the Stormbull manages to restrain themselves enough to rush over the the organisers (difficult but not impossible) and says 'That Daro guy is Chaos! I felt it earlier and just followed him around to make sure it wasn't someone else. Hell, yes I'm certain. He's got to be an ogre'" I simply cannot see the Garhound Contest organisers saying: "Well, because there are Lunars here, we will have to accept him as a valid suitor for Ernalda." The mythic implications of allowing this are too vast. They would have no choice but to act - at the least by rallying some more Stormbulls for confirmation So without the existence of the 'False Form' spell, this scenario is an example of the kind of scenario-challenge I am pondering But in this case, with the existence of the FF spell, it is a moot problem here anyway I don't think you appreciate how much having Sor-eel present changes things. Sor-eel is a leading member of one of the most powerful families in the Lunar Empire. He has no real superior beyond the Red Emperor and his court. His cousin is a demigoddess, and he is the Lunar ruler of Prax. This festival is permitted only by his forbearance. Sor-eel is there with Bor-eel and Radak the Iron Centurion and 50 members of his bodyguard. Which means if Sor-eel says Daro stays because the Lunar Way demands tolerance of Chaos, then he stays. And if the peasants organizing this festival want to disagree, they likely recall that not all that long ago Sor-eel had pretty much all members of Dorasar's family murdered. And those 50 armed, professional elite mercenaries with Sor-eel are likely more than a match for whatever is there in Garhound. And if you are thinking general rebellion, well a few hours away are several hundred more Lunar soldiers. And what Storm Bulls do you think are present here?

Yep. So in most Orlanthi societies, Storm Bull is at least taken seriously. Same as in Prax. But in many other cultures, Storm Bull is viewed as a raving murderous berserk. A tinfoil hat nutcase with serious anger management issues. And in the Lunar Empire the official reaction is, so what? OK, so that guy has a Chaotic taint. Assuming we even believe you, so what?