Hijabg

I like to think about the spirit world as if it was the Internet. Most places, things and peoples will have their place there, and you'll be able to interact with some aspects of them, but you will be able to travel between them as if there was no distance. Also, depending on your cultural interface, you might see things others might not, or see them differently. There is the easily accessible part of the spirit world, with publicly accessible shrine-terminals you can unlock with the right combination. There are also parts of the spirit plane that are quite similar to the Dark Net, and that's the place an apprentice hacker might have to explore until he finds the exploits he'll need in his fight against the Bad Man. 

21 hours ago, Ali the Helering said:

I thought this very interesting

What I find the most interesting about ancient maps is that the older they are, the more abstract they get. 

In the real world, this mostly means old maps were inaccurate representations of the real world, based on limited data, skills and tools.

As for Glorantha, I am convinced the old mythic maps shown in the Guide are totally accurate representations of what the world was like at that (non)time. They are not abstractions of what Glorantha was like at the time, but accurate representations of how abstract the reality of Glorantha itself as a world must have been before Time was born.

11 hours ago, Eff said:

the Holy Country in the material world is the layout of the core Disneyland parks: six themed areas laid out in a supposed circle around the central palace of wonders.

Like this famous map of The City of Wonders and the Holy Country
(schematic aerial view, as seen from Leonardo's famous Pedalcopter, which is said to be based on Feldichi plans)

5 hours ago, lordabdul said:

However, they're getting desperate: now that most buildings have been equipped, they need *something* to drive up the maintenance costs of their clients, and they may be looking at *actually* getting Giants to come this way...

My theory is the Issaries cult is involved in this scam:

Secure your roof ! Your roof is the most important and vulnerable part of your cottage. Have your roof professionally inspected annually and keep your tree spike well maintained. Get in touch with your local Issaries Insurance representative for more information and a free quote.

1 hour ago, Nevermet said:

because heroquesting wasn't "invented" yet.

Nothing is invented.

Everything is discovered.

1 hour ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

I realize it's a bit fraught to draw comparisons to RW politics, but somewhat like totalitarian ideologies can operate within democratic societies (as parties entering elections, etc.) but still operate with the goal to overthrow that democratic system, it's possible that the Chaos Rune is bound to play within certain rules of the Compromise, but ultimately with the goal to overthrow the Compromise. 

I love this angle. What an insightful vision ! This also reminds me of the thread about playing the enemy's role in a HeroQuest. 

To bring this back to the main subject, Belintar, would this mean he had to emulate or amalgamate some older forgotten deities to establish his own godhead ? We know this is the recipe followed by the Seven Mothers when they "discovered" the Red Goddess. The identity of those forgotten powers Belintar have "discovered" to become the God-King might be the key to his fall and the strategy deployed by Jar-Eel to imprison him in lunar hell. Maybe they have a mythic ancestor in common and this gave the lunar heroine the insight to achieve victory against Belintar. Maybe this common ancestor revealed that Belintar always had been some kind of lunar deity...

12 hours ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

Do they need to sign (metaphoricaly) the compromise to become a god ?

I've had the impression that the path to become a god was to take the role of an older deity that had been forgotten and that it was not possible to add new "signatures" to the contract. I draw a parallel with the corporate world: you can see the Great Compromise as a contract signed by corporations. Even if the CEO of any of the companies signing the pact was to change down the line, the corporation itself would still be forced to obey the clauses of the contract as it was originally signed. 

It might warrant a visit from the Gift Carriers, but if you think about it maybe the real pact is between the Runes themselves. It's a deal made to unify and protect the integrity of the raw powers, elements and conditions that define Glorantha, by themselves and among themselves. If gods are masks interfacing between us mortals and the raw Runic forces, then maybe gods are just subject to the Compromise, which would be a myth to help us understand the cosmological reality that his beyond the reach of common men. It also raises questions about the existence of the chaos rune and its real role in the Great Compromise: if it's bound by its rules now, can we consider that chaos signed it too ?

Maybe you could explain the ship-sinking part by using some mythical link with Tsankth, the pirate god from Vormain. Tsankth is also the Barracuda god, and his followers are known to turn their own ships into snapping biting monsters. 

Another Vormain link could be that what your players thought were mermen were instead Ratuki people, who can turn partially into sharks. They might be Hsunchen but it's not too clear as far as I know.

There is that new viking survival game, Valheim, that is very evocative of Glorantha. It has runes, mythic beasts, standing stones altars on which you can offer sacrifice, a titanic branch spanning the whole sky (from an even larger tree, Yggdrasil), and to add fun to this already winning recipe you can even play in co-op with up to 10 friends. It's on Steam if you want to know more about it. Best game I have played in a long time.

13 hours ago, Runeblogger said:

For those who don't have Facebook accounts

Each time you use the ritual to connect to your Facebook account, you are actually offering sacrifice to Atiar, the knowledge thief, and his brother Tien, the Face-Hunter.

That being said, thanks a lot for sacrificing yourself and bringing those amazing pictures back from deepest echo-caves of the underworld.

22 hours ago, coffeemancer said:

I am so friggim curious about the white moon

I've been told it's really good.

Among the many films you can use as inspiration for heroquests there are two from Monty Python members that are particularly inspiring (in addition to being quite funny) : The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, from Terry Gilliam, and Erik the Viking, directed by Terry Jones.

On 7/11/2020 at 4:23 AM, metcalph said:

The nearest that I know of is Crabtown in Trollpak p144 and also Into the Troll Realms.  But that doesn't have any details of Cliffhome itself.

There is some information about Cliffhome in the Into the Troll Realms adventure book for RQIII. It's in the players' information intro for the Skyfall Lake scenario. 

Lunar Report on the Skyfall Lake Region [compiled 1584]

This populous troll queendom is ruled personally by the heroquester called Cragspider. Her impenetrable castle, Cliffhome, perches atop the highest mountain of the region. Many able lieutenants assist her in dealing with her populace, for she is never seen outside of her home.

There are no cities here, though many tiny villages dot the shores of the misty Skyfall Lake. (...)

On the next page:

Lunar Report on Religions Ic. 15951
The most popular religion in the area is that of Arachne Solara, the goddess of nature. Cragspider, a monster troll, is said to be high priestess of the cult. She is never seen but the pinnacle which houses her is but 12 miles away from the lake, always visible. (...)

14 hours ago, jajagappa said:

I don't recall if there was anything in the old RQ3 Troll Gods book, and don't have it immediately available, but it did include the cult of Aranea.

Here is what I found about Cliffhome in the Aranea Cult description from the Troll Gods box for RQIII.

The cult is also popular among trolls dwelling in and around Cliffhome and Skyfall Lake, in Dragon Pass. Holy places for Aranea include Cliffhome, Spider's Rest (in the Rockwood mountains), and Web Combe (in the Man Mountains). Spiders and other arachnids are generally solitary creatures, and hence maintain no temples. Intelligent spiders living near Aranea's holy sites can obtain divine magic from these sites. The spider hsunchen maintain shrines or minor temples in their villages. The trolls at Cliffhome actually maintain a great temple. Shrines teach Spider's Head. (...)

13 hours ago, jajagappa said:

To save the reforested lands, an Elf hero quests to the Green Age and returns with the secret of the Dark Forest.  This secret allows the trolls to break the Curse of Gbaji, but it requires the sheltering darkness of the forest canopy to do so.  A Great Compromise is reached between Aldrya and Kyger Litor, and the Great Dark Forest spreads across the land.

That could also explain why the elder races seems to be vanishing during the fourth age. It's not that they are extinct, it'just that they are hidden in those dark corners of the Great Forest, out of reach for humankind. I love that survival through compromise-between-old-ennemies idea because it just goes so well with my own angle on the 4th Age.

In My Glorantha, the fourth age is when the Elder Races go into hiding, much like the Gods had to do during the Great Compromise. For the first 3 Ages since the birth of Time, gods could only be heard via ceremonies, and could only be reached by heroes. But their creation, the Elder Races, were still living near humankind pretty much everywhere on Glorantha.

In the 4th age, the Gods are completely gone, but, IMG, the Elder Races are just very very rare and hard to reach, much like the Gods used to be.

It's much like if there were only 3 ages, and that this 4th Age would in fact be the 1st Age of a brand new world, born out of New Compromises between the Elder Races.

Using the Great Dark Forest unifying Trolls and Elves as an inspiration, I want to discover what the other New Compromises could be. Maybe the Trolls had a New Compromise with the Dwarves too, allowing them to hide under the Dark Stone Bridge.

Maybe the Dwarves and the Elves have their own New Compromises, allowing them both to hide in the depths of the Branching Caves or in the canopy of some Growing Ruins.

Maybe the participation of long gone Elder Races would become essential for some of those New Compromises, and that could further explain the return of Pinchining the last Gold Wheel Dancer. (Who would have been the Gold Wheel Dancers' old ennemies ?)

Maybe some lesser known Elder Race would have annihilated its old enemy long ago, and without any means to bring them back and accept a New Compromise, their own fate would be sealed.

Maybe this 4th Age is a New Compromise between Humankind and the Gods, allowing those older powers, those runic essences, to hide inside us, in our own heart and soul, and manifest themselves in our passions and our moments of transcendance. 

Where are the white elves ? if they are still part of Yelmdrya, but are gone from this world, how can we contact them ?

Quote

The third seed of Flamal's seeds was lifted up to Yelmalio, Yelmdrya was born. Yelmdrya is the mother of all plants grown upon the Sun, as well as their collective soul. The White Elves are still a part of Yelmdrya though they are now gone from the world.

Greg Stafford, The World of Plants, in Rule One Magazine,  issue #9, http://www.ruleonemagazine.com/Iss9/WorldOfPlants.php

Make Arkat Gbaji Again !