Erol of Backford

So my early thoughts on southern Spain may be OK, see tab 01 of this thread? I'd love to use examples of architecture where I have visited. I have the Guide and will reference the populations. Curious though, would anywhere in 1600 Glorantha have architecture like in 1250 ~ 1400 France? Maybe Central Fronela? The gates of Sog on p.214 look quite advanced architecturally to me, definitely late Medieval, easily on par with Romanesque if not early Baroque? Thoughts and thank you again Sirs.

Its massive!? So much more than I had thought... but less medieval and more classical than I had hoped. You did say smaller version...

Jaja, related to what you posted back in April on trade goods, I just reread after some 20 years, the p.13 entry in Tradetalk 12 on Captain Ortossno/Saronil Whiteteeth, salt, salted fish, oil, wine, hardwood and even bronze are trade good passing across Mirrorsea Bay... this all falls in line with what you outlined. Thanks again!

I realize the ToTRM 13 article on orphanages is not canonical but I like the idea that the Aeolians of Sothern Heortland would also have orphanages established more as a state school of sorts for not only those showing promise but also those who are disadvantaged or of course orphaned. They may even be one more recently established in Backford? I am looking at associating the Cathedral of St. Aeol at Mt. Passant with an orphanage as well as a school for higher learning. If anyone has done any "city planning" on Mt. Passant or has an example/sample of what they might have used for the city could you suggest and or share it? Would it be like Carcassonne (say 1250 AD) which seems a bit small for a city the size of Mt. Passant but the look of the cityscape is aesthetically pleasing...

Wasn't the Wild Healer of the Rockwoods "cleansed" of their chaos taint and so they could easily travel with and even receive the protection of Ankubi Broostalker or the High Khan of the Block, wouldn't you agree? On the other hand shouldn't we keep in mind that although Broos are certainly people and all people are equal but some are more equal than others. Along the same thought wouldn't the Gloranthinian antiegalitarianist view have them less equal but still people but you could still tap them because it wouldn't be going against Malkion's 3rd Law: Do not ruin that which you love. Being that Aeolians do not love Broo or chaos "people" in general, the tapping of Broos as a lessor people would be tolerated if minor penance was conducted following the act. Wasn't it ordained via the 4th Ecclesiastical Council of Malkion that a verbal recital of an Aeolian Act of Contrition following the tapping of Broo be enough to absolve one of their wrongdoing? Why would any right minded Rokai Wizard not reap the full potential of tapping a lessor person across all characteristics in lieu of just settling for something like Drain Soul which leaves so much to be desired on the MP/POW gain that its almost so wasteful to be considered by some Rokai to be a Mortal Sin?

Thanks for the map and further info Jeff! Jaja and Joerg have given some great feedback on trade early on in this thread. A lot of that has generated many unique adventure plot hooks. Thank you all yet again!

Based on the extensive wonderful input/insight above, the 1600 ~ 1625 campaign background ~ outline has all it needs and more. Insert events, encounters, scenarios and plenty of travel in between not to mention all the political mishmash, there is easily several years of quality real world RuneQuest Gloranthian gaming ahead. I am not sure what will happen to the denizens of Backford when its overrun but hopefully the PCs make it back in time to help the evacuation as I very much dislike the idea that they all become lunch? Thank you all!

Wait, am I totally wrong in thinking the Esvulari are all Aeolians?! Again the stuff in Tradetalk 12 by Mark and Greg may have been changed but they are calleded the children of St. Aeol!?

This is great stuff and one of the reasons I love Glorantha. Its like its an alive/living, changing world which archeology sometimes modifies the known/perceived history. The idea that all Aeolians fight is perfect for the campaign as the Aeolian PC's not only have but also, need to be the role models, setting the example for the overall population. It pushes the PC's to be exceptional, as what is expected. Along the same lines the caste system being open for those who work hard and progress, explains, adds flavor to the PC's backgrounds, working their way up from being farmers, herders, fishermen, etc. and so I will run with that as the PC's mostly come from the lot 60,000 rural peasants in Malkonwal, it simple to picture. I just have the PC's congregating in Backford, as my Glorantha varies... but Backford does, to me seem to be part of Malkonwal or at the northern border of it come 1617... From Jeff's earlier posts there are about 100k Aeolians south of the Syphon (I think I have this right with some 1500 in Nochet) with that there would be about 1000 higher level rune level/wizard types? Scott, that's me guessing the number from Jeff's earlier posts... link below. Depending on the city/town (The most important settlements of the Esvularings are Mount Passant and Refuge. Durengard, Vizel, and Leskos are also significant urban centers for the Esvularings.) Again Backford is important (to me) maybe as an outpost type border town for Malkonwal? So at most 5% of the higher level NPS would be there or the neighboring towns and villages. There would be several in Bullpen, some down on the coast, so really about 25 or so directly in Backford? That's sizable, again this is if the 1 to 100 is roughly correct of the 100k Aeolians... 30% in Passant, 20% Durengard, with another 40% spread amongst Leskos, Vizel, Duchamp and Refuge. The remainder "are scattered in the County of the Isles, in God Forgot, the Left Arm Islands, Hendrikiland, and in Nochet." Jeff's earlier post: So the Esvulari are centered at Mt. Passant: Mount Passant (large city): The largest settlement of the Esvularing people was built with the aid of Belintar after the old capital, Bensval, was razed. It has the largest Aeolian temple in the Holy Country. (If I have any patron saints, Tales 13, in the campaign they'd have shrines in the cathedral there...) The Kitori were ousted but may I assume the Oshanti, Vandarland and Gardufar get absorbed into Malkonwal? There is the time gap from 1571 ~ 1616 that has me perplexed. If there is another post on this, on the TBT, time before "Tigger" but after 1571 please send me there! Thank you all once again for the great input!

Totally wasn't intending to be unkind! I will take anything I can get, recall I am a RQ Junkie. I even have the old Judges Guild RQ stuff, Broken Tree Inn, Hell Pits, Duck Pond... Its all good to me. Just being selfish for my own desires. Keep it coming Sirs and thank you for the RQ Renaissance.

LOL, I have followed RQ since the 80's. I have some of the first prints of the fanzines and the old softcover books. I would always ask when and wait in anticipation. When? When I was in high school, when I was at University, when I lived in Tokyo, then I'd have anything I could get sent to me there, it was like I was waiting for my next drug fix. I recall being asked once, what it was I was reading on a limited express train to central Tokyo (Tales of the Reaching Moon, Issue 15 with a nice looking broo on the cover) that was back in the mid to late 90's... I have not changed I will still want and need more material. Am I a bad person to wish for new material before the rework of the old stuff? I'd rather see material on Esrolian, Grazelands, the Dragon's Eye but mostly Heortland or say a Sartar homeland book released before a New Elder Races or a GM's book? Sun County in Sartar would be really nice... but I'd be less thrilled to see another cults book? Over the years I have been exasperated waiting for the end of the Wheel of Time to come along or say the Doors of Stone but I will keep asking when, its in my blood! Thank you to those who keep plugging away at it! I'll take what I can get.

Per Jeff: "We got rid of the Sun County serfs. Greg and I were playing around with how Sun County might work in WF 15 but we weren't looking at things holistically. There is a whole Sun County book coming out which is far more useful." Does anyone know when the Sun County book may come out?

It seems very unlikely that with all the infighting of the Sartarites, that there weren't also some Sartarite Lunar collaborators, assisting and so, making at least a few of the assassinations partly inside jobs?

Along the same lines what is form/set lightning from an earlier post? "Do the Aeolian Cataphracts still ride around with form/set lightning lances?"

Still reading up on the Aeolians and while looking at the old Wyrm's Hold scenario (Tales of the Reaching Moon issue #13) the chance for mounted combat via jousting is likely. If a character hits another while mounted who is also mounted and coming towards them wouldn't the damage modifier be increased? It just seems the closing speed would increase the damage done by say at least an additional half the opponents active damage bonus?

Would not be stealing, Black Horses are intelligent and wouldn't go along with being stolen, would likely eat you if you tried? But rather earned/given for services rendered to Ethilrist. If said services are impossible, so be it.. was curious what feats might be required as this is a fantasy game.

Scott, thanks much for the link, (and to Jeff on the posts and maps found there on the Aeolians!) I am still catching up on having missed 15 years of Rune Quest ~ Glorantha, Scott, I also saw your old post on Ethilrist, I realize this is about a year late to enter that conversation but its quite interesting to me: So what would be the 5 point plan to meet Ethilrist, serve him, gain his trust, earn a Black Horse mount and still be allowed to move on to other "brighter pastures" with the mount after a given time or tasks performed? If there are 2600 of these demonic mounts (not sure where I saw this number) who's to miss 2~3 of them? What if one of your campaign's PC's was an adopted Agmori Aeolian Emali who, of course loves fire and doesn't mind riding a horse, albeit a demonic one? Again we are playing RQ3 so not so much into the runes but would an Emali need to be, illuminated to be able to ride a Black Horse? Darkness versus Light or since Emal still has fire would it be an issue? Have stats on the Black Horse ever been published? This campaign is starting in about 1600 and is based in Backford but the PC's will be moving up via trade to Sundome, Clearwine and of course Greenbrass and Apple Lane... later, much later, I see an Agmori knight in armor riding a rather large Black Horse out in Prax as potentially very epic for the PC's... The clashes with the Kitori and their troll friends would almost certainly be welcomed through this time period... trolls are not to be trusted.

Again off direct topic from women knights, but Tokugawa/Matsudaira Ieyasu, destined to be Shogun, was thought to have worn a Spanish Conquistador helmet and possibly a cuirass from what I read. It may have been for dress rather than battle but interesting to note nonetheless. The only armor peasants would have had, possibly women, was something stolen off a dead ashigaru or samurai who wandered into their village, wounded after a battle and likely on the run from the victors?

What is the best map showing the Hendriki tribes? Knowing some of the PC's are from Backford and are Aeolian are there any Hendriki that would be directly apposed to them? The thoughts on Brangbane are interesting and will likely turn into multiple adventures and a long term campaign goal. There will be at least 2 Humakti in the party possible 3 or even 4 depending on how it goes... Thank you for the info Jaja!

So since no one is interested in Bragbane (still interested in how many actual ghouls are in the woods if anyone has an opinion) being destroyed I'll ask another question. So repeating that the campaign I am looking at runs from 1600: If the twin adopted Agimori raised in Backford happen to befriend Londra (still looking for a plot connection following Apple Lane to get them with Londra) when she is getting started with the Temple of the Wooden Sword, travel travel with her off and on and end up going to the Haunted Ruins (on both occasions) to meet the Sazdorf Clan and actually play against or temporarily with the Whackers and Tacklers, I think it would be really fun to play out. They are like size 21~22 and are fast so Troll Ball would be fun no? Into Troll Realms and then Snake Pipe Hallow could follow. I have and love, a bunch of the old adventures. How to get the PC's to Clearwine following Apple Lane to meet Londra and Nameless? Is White-eye a Sazdorf outlaw and there is a reward for him being returned as he stole some troll artifact and is hiding it in the Rainbow Mounds? Any ideas? Do they simply tag along with Londra on her way there and get drawn into it all? Also along these lines how does a PC approach Nameless as a love interest over the timeframe ? Does anyone have ideas on she might be "tough and tender" as if one of the PC's was smitten with her it'd draw them back to Clearwine time and again? Just trying to spice up the campaign a bit. Are the Dragons Past magazines/articles available for purchase or are the articles only available via the Wyrm’s Footnotes? I have most of the Tales of Reaching Moon magazines... (NVM on this I saw the bundle on the Chaosium site!)

Sorry this is still slightly off topic but includes women's rolls on the battlefield if not as knights: I recall that the Ikko-ikki use volley fire (again mostly farmers and likely some women as the Ikko-ikki were made up of both sexes, peasant rabble, throw in a few female monks for color as well) against Nobunaga at Nagashima quite effectively that they held him off for a few years. Thus having been used against his forces with great effect (I think even one of relatives fell there) he learned from it and so Nobunaga (and Hideyoshi in later battles) deployed its use against the Takeda at Nagashino. It is off topic but interesting to note... the point women (samurai or not) and peasants, easily trained and then put to use to cut down the élite samurai. What an insult, maybe this was part of the reason Mt. Hei was burned (thousands killed) a few months after the first failed attempt to take Nagashima? (Katsuyori's father I think was actually mortally wounded by an harquebus ball while trying to listen to one of Ieyasu's soldiers playing a flute or something at night during the siege of Mikatagahara?) Maybe a new topic/thread would be how to translate some of the Daimyo to Runequest, Land of Ninja anyone!? It would be like Game of Thrones but set in Kralorela. Did anyone see the movie Ran by Kurosawa... "Go East" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sieges_of_Nagashima

There is a lot of great info on the Waring States Period on line but I prefer the Osprey books mentioned above, many by Turnbull have really great source material. At the Battle of Shizugatake in 1583, there was record of some 200 women musketeers. You could imagine the fury of the samurai charging their ranks only to be raked by the volley fire of female fired harquebus' and then to add insult to their masculinity, the wounded get skewered by females wielding naginatas!? I've been to Aizu a few times where there were supposedly some female samurai to die at the hands of the Mejii Forces during the Boshin War. There is nothing on site that I saw (limited Japanese I confess) which displays women fighting there but Niijima Yae who evidently lived through the battle was called the “Bakumatsu Joan of Arc”. The late 1860's is a bit late to be calling them "female knights" albeit they were "onna-bugeisha" (female samurai)?

Curious what would be the best alternate for the Hendriki Raiders if some of the PC's were Hendriki in the Pegasus plateau and you desired the antagonists to be more of a Lunar sympathizer type? Another question, if you had to estimate how many ghouls were in the Woods of the Dead what would you guess? What about Black Rock proper? Also, how many slaves would there be any given day on average? Would the Humakti turn undead affect Brangbane like a normal undead creature, even failure befuddles him until he fails an intelligence test? How/what would need to be converted to Runequest 3rd Ed/Avalon Hill... If you took 100 Humakti with say 10 Swords could you clear out the Woods of the Dead over a period of time?

Per the Avalon Hill RG, (I think RQ3?) it seems it is fairly simple to create an enchantment and so why do more NPC's not have them? Tattoos don't cost all that much so you don't really need an expensive gold torque necklace to make/have an enchantment? (was reading some posts on enchanting) Is it just the purchasing of the spells costs more than people make in a year? Just curious and thanks again.

There is a lot posted on "Tell me about Elmal and Yelmalio" but is there an actual cult write-up for Elmal even if non canonical?