Since I have initiated into the world of Glorantha, the West has always been focus of my attention. I have found their philosophy and culture are extremely fascinating. And I think the God Learners and their empire is the crowning jewel of the world. Hoping to get a comprehensive treatment of that era... someday.
But it isn't about the God Learners and their secrets, which may remain forever concealed. It is about their empire. I have some questions to ask. I will classify them into categories.
Herequest: How the God Learners Heroquest served to further their empire-building? How their Herequest is fundamentally, radically, distinct from the past and future equivalents? And if their Heroquesting is so powerful, so rule-breaking, why they still didn't manage to conquer the entire mortal realm?
By the same token, how the Dara Happa and Carmania managed to resist and eventually evict the EWF? In the boundaries of land, they were even more powerful than the Empire. It is explictly stated that they could field the mightiest land force in the entire recoded history of Glorantha, including the Dawn Age. They literally steamrolled Dara Happa without much effort while fighting off the Empire and continue their diverse endeavours and entreprises.
Sorcery: Has Sorcery around the world propagated by the God Learners conquest, or has codified Sorcerous traditions already existed in the East and South? Do denizens of Vithela have their own Sorcerous traditions, too?
Chaos: How the God Learners and the Empire treated Chaos? Why they didn't put down the Chaos worship prevalent in Fonrit? It seems they successfully identified and linked Fonrit pantheon to the Chaos, but didn't take any action. There is even an implication that God Learners might have assisted the Fonritan to find their gods. The best course of action would be burning Fonrit down to the ground and salting the earth. It should be also noted that takeover of Fonrit had taken unusually long time, despite the fact that the region had been under the orbit of the Empire since almost the beginning. What kinds of difficulties may have plagued the God Learners?
Pamaltela: It is beyond my comprehension why the Empire had never been able to reconquer its Pamaltela territories. Kolar had been a net drain of their finance, so I could understand why they decided to cut the loss and withdraw from cesspit, though precisely how Hon Hoolbitku was able to defeat a vastly more powerful enemy is anyone's guess. The gulf is infinitely greater than the Lunar-Orlanthi discrepancies. The Empire lost both Fonrit and Umathela at the height of its power, and it seems they had never made any serious attempt to reclaim the provinces, despite of their significance. The sole mentioned expediton was scared off and retreated without a fight. Of course, that might be retconned or expounded in time. AFAIF, nothing of Glorantha is set in stone... save the Third Age and its End.
BTW, what might possibly be the Kolat Slave Riots? How a mere slave revolt managed to shatter the Empire's hold over Fonrit? And why they targeted the Empire's power base and left Fonritans alone, despite the latter being even worse?
Eldar Races: How the Empire had interacted with the Eldar Races? It seems relationship between experimental empires and the Eldar Races was turbelent. It is stated that in the Imperial Age, humanity regined supreme and the Eldar Races plotted out and actively participated in their downfall.
Dwarf: It is mentioned that the dwarfdom has started the Third Age on the weakest position due to widespread looting (and probably destruction) of Dwarf cities perpetrated by the God Learners, and both experiment empires were extremely adapt at deciphering Dwarven secrets with little material clues, so they went into hiding. I wonder whether the God Learners had learned the secret of gunpowder.
Elf: How Errinoruela could fight off the Empire till the Closing? They might initially have been capable of battling the God Learner fleets on equal footing, but it was the early era, when the Empire used puny ships not different from later Age, and the Empire had no qualms about burning down entire jungels and forests via Sorcerous conflagration. They also could abuse Herequesting to vanquish quarrelsome Elves. Besides, I wonder Errinoru may have interacted with the Empire when he visited Genertela. The most curious is the cause behind the fall of Errinoruela and extermination of all of Errinoru’s descendants. What might be the strange insect?
Troll: What use Ezkankekko had for both experimental empires? How Esrolia interacted with both empires?
Eastern Isles: How extensive was the Empire's holding in Eastern Isles? How they governed the diverse territories? It is mentioned that the Empire never truly ruled the isles. Perhaps they mostly indirectly ruled through tributary system? I'm also curious about Golden Mokato. It seems their ships and sorcery were actually superior to the Empire, and their fleets were said to be invincible. Their ships might have been composed of pure magic.
Another curiosity is Vormain. AFAIK, there is no mention whatsover how Vormain fared during the Imperial Age after the fall of Waertagi. Surely both the Middle Sea and Easten Sea Empires would have coveted the archipelago, and IIRC, Vormain was once a tributary of Kralorela. The God Learners could easily project their power from Kralorela and other colonies without the need to cross the Ocean. It is mentioned isolation of Vormain generated intense gratification. So perhaps they were a tributary of either empire?
Sorcerous weapon: How are Sorcerous weapons operating? I'm wondering about their mechanism and delivery methods. It seems they are distinct form the Sorcerous spells. And the Empire had developed Sorcerous superweapons, though it hasn't been known whether they had actually been deployed.
It should be noted that after the Tanian's victory, there is absolutely no mention about strategic use of Sorcery, despite of the exponential advancement made in the Sorcerous knowledge and technique. I suppose such lacuna is owing to paltry of the Imperial Age lore. It would be reasonable to assume that the Sea of Flame had become the standard tactics of the Imperial Navy, and their enemies somehow had been able to ignore or nullify the Burning Waters and similar maneuvers. Also it seems that the Empire worshipped Togaro along with Tanian. Togaro is called Ocean of Terror, the Burning Ocean. Apparently turning water to fire was among favourite tactics of the God Learners.
Emperor: How magically powerful were the Emperors of Land and Sea? They were foci of worship around litearlly half the world. Considering how powerful are the emperors of the Third Age empires, they must have been walking, breathing living high gods. They are referred to as the Mortal Ruler, a mortal peer of immortal gods. It is curious that the Prosopaedia dosen't include the Emperors in the list of Malkioni pantheon. Although Svagad is included, his runes aren't described.
Industry: How widespread was inventions and contraptions made in Zistor? Though secret of mass producing magical enchantment had never beyond its immediate vicinity, couldn't non-magical technology itself be propagated and reproduced? I believe I once saw primitive machine shops were widespread thanks to Zistor, but have yet found the source.
It is also mentioned that they consisted of a key component throughout the Empire's contention with EWF, which possessed the greatest and most powerful land force ever graced (or ravaged) Glorantha. They even developed submarines and hot air balloons, though these aren't mentioned in the Men of the West supplement.
Had the wider Empire aided Zistor throughout machine war? Zistorite project was a major investment of the Empire, and it seems the movement had been widely famous. They held the Ingareens in high esteem. But AFAIK, there is no mention whatsover the Empire-wide intervention in conflict, aside from occasional supplies.
Closing: Why Zzabur decided to put the Empire to the closure? What would be his purpose? He had never deigned to intervene during Gbaji debacle after all, which is directly linked to Brithos via Arkat. Since the failed invasion attempt, the Empire had never antagonized Brithos.
Government and Logistics: Are there any discussion regarding the government and logistics of the Empire beyond sourcebook?
Future Publication: Although the mention of humanists in the other gods section heightened my anticipations, in all likelihood we are never going to see the Malkioni supplement in the foreseeable future. Considering even the East has gotten a dedicated writer, it is kinda depressing. I dearly hope to appreciate the Invisible God and Sorcery sourcebook. Announced plan of the West and South sourcebooks is a silver lining in the cloud, though their release would probably be significantly later than Kralorela sourcebook. I wonder the Vithela and Teshnos will eventually get their own sourcebook. They are really an interesting and unexplored region.
Campaigns: Has anyone played campagins centered on the West or the Imperial Age?
