David Scott

Before I get on the Thirstless spirit society, the Wastes are not a desert. Chaparral is the better term, water is present, it rains, depending where you are it can be hot or cool. The ground has scrub and plants, standing water exists in some places. As the earth is hard, flash floods are a danger. The Wastes main problem is the Earth's fertility is gone, not the lack of water.

You may have noticed in HeroQuest Glorantha, Waha cult write up the mention of the Tasks of Waha. The HQG write up isn't complete as the tasks section which is basically the detailed mythology of Waha is missing. The Tasks are basically what Waha did. They are the source of his magics, the source of the tradition spirit societies and the structure of Praxian society. His Tasks are mainly used during initiating and Khan making (as per HQG). The current list is: Waha and Daka Fal, Waha and Foundchild, Waha and Oakfed, Waha and Dark Eater, Waha Commands the River, Waha and the River, Waha and the Star Captains, Waha and The Storm Children, Waha and the Twin Stars, Waha and Zola Fel, Waha and Baba Ulodra, Waha and Basmol, Waha and The Monkey King, Waha and Great Rhino, Waha and the Pure Horse Founder, Waha and Yelorna, Waha and the Newt God, Waha and the Cannibals, Waha and the Zebra tribe, Waha and Ernalda, Waha does the right thing, Waha and the Priestess, Waha and Death, Waha and His Brother, Waha and the Garden, Waha and the Wastelands, Waha and the Covenant, Waha the Raider, Waha and Hyena, Waha and Gagarth, Waha and Thed, Waha and Mallia. The four that may be of help to you are Waha Commands the River, Waha and the River, Waha and the Serpents, Waha and Zola Fel. Waha Commands the River The Devil had been crushed beneath the Block. His body was purifying the land around and chaos was rising in new forms. Waha had to wash the Earth clean. Waha asked the Earth itself for help and with his Grandmother's sacred axe he dug the Good Canal, and diverted a river from its path. He commanded a river and its creatures to follow the canal, and to devour the Devil and take it away to the sea. The river did as commanded, but eroding the Devil polluted and weakened it and it had no strength left reach the sea. The river was shamed and tried to hide by burying into the Earth. The Earth rejected it, forcing it to the surface where possible. The mixing of Water, Earth and Chaos produced the Devil’s Marsh, the river’s shame. The forces of chaos overwhelmed the river and Earth. The ugly creatures which now inhabit this corrupted place are the half-digested portions of the river, and the Devil. The Water Serpents of the Wastelands were appalled at what Waha had done, enslaving the river, and vowed always to be his enemy. This version of the task is for those who have no Water Rune. In the Wastelands, Waha is the enemy of all Water spirits. Tasks: Ask sleeping Ernalda for her sacred Axe, dig the canal, command the river. Applicable Task(s): Waha and Ernalda. Boon: There are no boons for this task. It acts a negative modifier when dealing with water based activity, social, martial, water spirits, and the Thirstless spirit society. Associated Charms and Rituals W Command Earth Elementals W Command Water elementals W Fight Water elementals Waha and the River is the version for those who have the Water Rune, there's no commanding, the river does the work voluntarily and the water spirits remain friendly. Like wise Waha and Zola feel is for those with the Water rune, its the founding of the Thirstless Spirit society. Waha and the Serpents The Water Serpents of the Wastelands were angered by Waha's enslavement of the Sounder's River. They became his enemy. Waha waits at Serpent Ground. Waiting to fight the Great Serpent. It rises from the ground as a huge water serpent, and Waha and his minions fight against it. Khans of this Task know the ritual of subdue Water elementals. Tasks: go to the Serpent Ground and fight the serpent. You must win or drown trying. Applicable Task(s): Waha and Death. If the Khan or initiate has done Waha and the Sounders River it counts as a minus. New Tasks are always being discovered (Argrath's initiation is Waha and the Dragon). All the tasks have a standard format, but not all have all the parts: Task name (Group or Solo) Intro to Task Holy or Spirit place: Applicable Task(s): (maybe negative) Benefit(s) of Victory: Associated Charms and Rituals I suspect your player would enjoy battering the serpent into submission or going deeper into the Earth to Meet Ernalda in the Goddesses Dream to get her axe and carving out a new passage and forcing it into it. If there are any Water rune holders then the fun starts.

In short there is no tradition of tricksters in Prax. Even in the First Age when the Lightbringers came, Eurmal's cult was the one that didn't find a place in the Praxian tradition. There's not any room for a trickster in the Wastes as normal rules apply to them - kill them. Most "tricking" is done by evil spirits or malicious shamans, some spirits of the tradition are perceived by outsiders to have tricksterish traits, but this is just a misunderstanding of their true roles: Raven's theft aspect is just that, he's a thief with no self control, hyena is Genert's devourer, tricksters devour through greed, but his was necessity. His laughing bark taunts Praxians with with his duality as a predator and sacred animal.

Morokanth are just as spread out as the other tribes. Clan size is the same 500 as the others, split as with the others 25% male, 25% female, 50% children. Herd-men numbers perhaps later. Personally I'm not a fan of the name Gern. We've not used it in the Guide, HQG or Pavis IIRC.

The article in the RuneQuest Companion says not women and only lesser or non-sentient animals so no.

The RQ Companion p27 says "To reproduce. unicorns mate with lesser animals. including mare, does. or fine-boned hinds. ... Unicorns do not mate with human females ... because unicorns must mate with non·sentient creatures. " The confusion is that lesser and non·sentient are used in close proximity to each other. Using the description in RQ2 it clearly means a creature without an INT score "The characteristics for the beasts will be a bit different. There will be no INT or CHA rolls". in RQ3 this became Fixed INT.

Having seen wild giraffes drinking water from a lake, I think high llamas will have little trouble eating from the ground. You must have seen that funny behaviour of sheep and goats kneeling to eat. I bet they can do that too. I'm sure Eiritha makes it easy for them to get their food. Remember the animal were the real winners in Waha's contests. Some real world info: http://www.llama-training.co.uk/Teaching%20a%20llama%20to%20kush.htm

Yes you are correct on the RQC. No official change yet and some of my work won't survive editing. However they need horses to breed in that article. Given the popularity of horses amongst the Praxians, I doubt there would be any bred Unicorns in the Wastes. Much more fun to have them fetched on a dangerous HeroQuest back to the Green Age. I'm not saying that other Unicorns don't breed that way, just these don't have the opportunity. Yes, I need to get people thinking magical fantasy world not real world animals. I don't think they need training. It's a relationship brought about by a magical covenant. In Sartar they need training. Horses aren't part of the Covenant, they need breaking and training.

They are a herd of happy Rhinos happy in the knowledge that Eiritha has blessed them and their fellow herd mates. None of that bad-tempered stuff otherwise you'd be an idiot to try and ride one. The Rhino tribe are a low priority piece of work for me as are all the Independents. They are likely to get their own book or appear as a bunch of WF articles. Although there are the largest of the Independents, they are still pretty small (4500 men, 4500 women, 9000 children). I don't have the detail at the moment for a full answer, but based on Sandy's previous info they are likely to be similar to the structure to that of Bison - Bison form separate herds made up of a main herd of cows and calves, a bachelor herd of bulls and an occasional lone bull. I'd suggest that Rhino bachelor herds are small and eventually break into solo males. Pavis GTA says "The Rhinoceros Riders normally travel in small bands consisting of a Rider and his family, riding a single rhino with its young. A few families might make a clan, staying near each other." This is one of the Prax book's boxes "Praxian Tribal beasts are not Earth animals Praxian tribal beasts may look like their Earth counterparts and be generally the same size and weight, but that’s as far as it goes in most cases. They eat different food, drink much less water, their general behavior, and their mating details are different. Unlike their Earthly counterparts, all but herd-men are ridden, and all produce milk for consumption. In the Wastelands, the major tribe’s herds are all the offspring of Storm Bull and Eiritha, so all males are bulls, all females are cows, and babies are called calves, regardless of their earth names." I don't think so. You are assuming that there's a different kind of connection between Praxian and Beast - there's not. Awakened Beasts yes, but a Sartarite can have an allied spirit in his Herd Beast mount. Unicorns are magical creatures brought back from the Green age. They don't breed. When their rider dies, they return to the Green Age. It works just like a normal cattle raid: diversionary tactics from one group, race and snatch by another. Just like modern day beasts of burden, they need to eat, rest etc. The herd moves at a slow speed (5 miles a day max). Steeds can be rotated in and out easily. I'm not sure there is a personal beast for each person. Awakened animals yes, Herd-men "mounts" yes. Only Waha khans have restrictions on animal riding - they can only ride their own herd beast, but others may ride any. The Covenant makes provision for this behaviour, they are not domesticated animals or broken for riding. In Sartar an offering to Eiritha will suffice. They are not those troublesome horses.

Have a look at the examples in HeroQuest Glorantha. I tried very hard to show stuff like setting the difficulty. The examples are also actual play so I didn't script them in advance, the die rolls are also real.

I ran it many years ago. Spoilers.... Some of the core concepts like the demon hearts are fantastic. My players were a bit freaked out when they got turned inside out at the end.

As @Joerg said the population numbers are in the Guide. 500 per clan is the number used for Prax, with the usual number of half for children (25% Men, 25% women, 50% children). Slaves are extra and not counted in any of the following figures. Bison High Llama Sable Morocanth Impala Actual clans 150 120 140 150 230 These are the current figures for 1621, this will of course change in a few years. Don't divide clans into population to get clan size, the numbers are slightly askew to get variable sizes e.g. a few bison clans are 1000 people! A clan is spread out, normally into its septs. The structure is families group into septs, septs group into clans, clans into tribes. The sables have an extra step: families group into septs, septs group into clans, clans group into phratries, phratries group into tribes. Average family size is 24, families per sept varies with tribe but between 4 to 9, septs vary per tribe but between 3 to 5. There are currently five phratries, with the Hungry Plateaux sables being a lost sixth, legend has it that there were once seven. Each phratry has it's own Protectress! Under the Covenant, rhinos behave like herd beasts. One of the effects the Covenant has is let undomesticated animals live in much closer proximity than normal. So normally solitary rhinos will happily live in tight herds. As soon as a wild beast enters a herd it becomes a herd beast. There is a welcoming song that binds them to the Covenant, and one to welcome other types of herd beast into the herd.

In my Prax games the players always name their clans. I also always ask them to name their Khan, Queen and Shaman. I also get them to do the seasonal migration route of their clan across the wastelands, along with their Paps visiting frequency (in years). This is in the clan making section. Copper Bison Clan - Bison (In my game - The clan that enslaved Argrath) Spirit Rock Clan - Morokanth (In my game - Egajia Chewer of Flesh's Clan) High Horns Clan - Sables (In my game - Inire the Red's clan) You may notice a theme above. In order to connect the players into the story, their clan should have a key figure as part of it.) This is not the case for mixed tribe groups in cross-tribal bands like Orlanth, Yelmalio, Storm Bull, White Bull, etc. I'll look up their leaders when I get home.

Everyone goes to worship at the Paps when it's their time. It's not limited by your runes. This is the most sacred place in the Wastelands sacred to Eiritha and Waha. The most popular cult amongst Impala women is Eiritha (21000), followed by Daka Fal & Helpwoman (9000 each), The Burners and Sky Gazers (7500 each), then the Seven Mothers (900), Vinga (384), then a load of small cults at less than 150 each.

Yes, HQG is an introduction to get you playing. It's not the Praxian sourcebook. None what so ever. That's how it's written and how I play it.

Yes, 86% of Men & 94% of women have the Earth rune. Storm rune 10% for men & 2% for women. All other elements at 1%

A question over on the G+ group from Olivier Dubreuhas prompted this post. Olivier asked "Cannot a Sable have an Earth rune ? Why ?... Some clarification would be useful, to me at last." One of the early things I started doing for the Prax book was looking at the makeup of what the Praxians are from the bottom up. First I looked at the populations, the cult info from Cults of Prax and any other relevant info that was available. This all ended up in a giant spreadsheet. Every so often I go back and tweak it as a new piece of info appears or @Jeff says - "that doesn't look right we need to change it." It's been pretty sable for three years now. One of the tables is the rune spread of the tribes and hopefully it answers Olivier's question: Major Tribes only 10% of all Praxian men have the Storm Rune, except the Bison where it is their major rune and so 94%. 2% of all Praxian women have it. 10% of all Praxian women have the Earth Rune, except the Bison where it is their major rune and so 94%. 2% of all Praxian men have it. 85% of Impala men & women, 43% of Sable men & women have the Fire rune, everyone else 1% 85% of Morokanth men & women have the Darkness rune, everyone else 1% 85% of High Llama men & women have the Water rune, everyone else 1% 85% of Morokanth men & women have the Darkness rune, everyone else 1% 43% of Sable men & women have the Moon rune, everyone else 1% This for guidance for NPCs and does not to reflect PC makeup.

Following up on the previous two posts, some of you may be interested to see this

@soltakss, I don't think this is true anymore. The Hungry Plateau in size is smaller than the Eiritha Hills. The population comparison is Praxian Sables: 75000 (140 clans), Hungry Plateau Sables : 40000 (75 clans). Given the population pressure on the land, other tribes wouldn't just be edged out, they'd be exterminated. The Sables on the plateau clearly are supported by magical means, raiding other tribes just isn't going to work in an area about 40 miles by 65 miles. There maybe small herds of ritually kept beasts of other types, but I doubt they have riders.

It would be foolish to think that the Lunars just marched into Prax in 1610 without any preparation. From 1602 onwards, small scouting parties were sent into Prax. Eventually Sable Riders from the Hungry Plateaux were sent to do the reconnaissance as it was obvious that they would be perceived as less of a threat by the tribes. During this time the distant cousins met. Two important revelations are made; the first is that they claim they are from a lost sable phratry, the second is that their primary spirit society, the Twinstars is the same as the Hidden Ancestor spirit society of the Praxians but with a shaman path. It didn't take long for a Twinstar shaman to reach Prax and reveal the shaman path the Praxians didn't have and to summon their protectress in the original holy land. Within a few years two of the sable phratries became Lunarised much to the dismay of the other three. It was after the first battle of Moonbroth that the whole tribe polarised. One phratry remained neutral but the other two became anti-lunar. It didn't help that the tribal chief Inire (later Inire the Red) was the Khan of one of the pro lunar phratries. As one of the many stipulations of the Armistice of Prax, he was declared Paps Khan by Egajia, the Most Respected Elder. However he did not take up residence at the Paps as was normal for the Paps Khan. He lived in permanent luxury at Moonbroth, only occasionally doing his duty at the Paps. This broke many taboos, and Waha seemingly did nothing. At the Paps, most of his duties would have been taken over by the Paps Storm Khan, but he was a Bison Rider outlawed like his kin after Moonbroth. His stealthy visits were few and far between. Fortunately another sable Khan Roneer the Hue, from one of the anti-lunar phratries secretly steps in. Later when Argrath, Jaldon and Samistina arrive at the Paps, Egajia declares Jaldon Paps Khan (as is usual), breaks the Armistice of Prax and declares Inire an outlaw. At the second battle of Moonbroth, the two pro-lunar phratries are slaughtered, any survivors must have their Praxian God speak out for them or die. Inire is killed in single combat by Roneer. No one returns to the Hungry Plateaux except as ghosts.

Gerendetho and the Hungry Plateau Sables Whilst working on the Prax book I had cause to look at the Sable tribe that would eventually reconnect with their cousins in the Wastes. As the two sable nations separated in the first age, the Hungry Plateau sables must have adapted their religion to survive in a new location, far from their Praxian sources (600 miles not as the crow flies). The newly arrived sables from Prax would have had the same spirit societies as those currently found in Prax. In their new environment far from Prax, they would have to evolve. The main issues being with two of their primary spirit societies: Waha - Mythical actions in a distant land. Only shamans now have contact with Waha (normally initiates and spirit-talkers as well). Eiritha - Mythical actions in a distant land. Only shaman-priestesses now have contact with Eiritha (normally initiates and spirit-talkers as well). Changes to the Praxian tradition • Tradition renamed to The Hungry Plateau tradition to reflect differences. • New male spirit needed to supplement/replace Waha in new land. Candidate: Gerendetho. "Kostaddi: Two thirds of the satrapy's territory is rich farmland, while the rest is the tall foreboding Hungry Plateau. This was the home of the Earth God Gerendetho, who once quarrelled with the giants who lived in a big palatial hill made of granite. During the fight, Gerendetho sheared off the whole top of the hill and the ruins of palace is now called the Hungry Plateau. Gerendetho shoved all the rest of the rock to the side, and that big pile is now called the Jord Mountains." Gerendetho fulfills the role of dead Genert who would be his father - a "coming home" for any Praxian. For this to work, he has the runes of (death) and (earth). Waha defers to him in this land. • New female spirit needed to supplement/replace Eiritha in new land. Candidate: Pelora: "Genert and Gata were children of the Primal Earth, and formed two corners of the Earth Rune. Genert fathered many goddesses upon his sister, and they are the land goddesses found everywhere. They gave their names to the regions of Genertela. Hence Ralia is the goddess of Ralios, Frona is the goddess of Fronela, and so forth. In Peloria, the daughter of Genert and Gata was called Pela or Pelora." Pelora is the land goddess here, she is a sister-wife to Gerendetho. For this to work, she has the runes of (life) and (earth). She is not a grain goddess in this form. Eiritha defers to her in this land. New Primary spirit society The Earth Guardians - Pelora (earth)(life) and Gerendetho (earth)(death). Accepts both men and women. Has a shaman path. (I wrote a lot more but it's the basis of an article so I won't let it all out).

Time to add RQ2 Reprint and all the extras :-)

No it's coming from the Nargan Desert, see the map on p541, entry on p583 and box on p588. Also the Mythic maps section. Sandy discusses the details about how the chaos gets there in Forgotten Secrets of Glorantha.

I did some development work on the sables of the hungry plateau when I was working on the Praxian sables. I'll look it up and post the gerendetho link.

Good idea moving this over. The forum content to planed to move here at some point, but don't hold your breath. On the subject of lost tribes, I was reading threads about this between @Joerg and Sandy yesterday: > I don't think the plains elk of Prax was a > moose variety. It might have been a version of the now-extinct Great Elk (usually miscalled the Irish Elk in the U.S.A.), which we know to have existed in Ralios before the Dawn. You talk about the Irish Deer, certainly. <grins pedantically, though not obnoxiously so> Since you're the biology expert, what environment did the Irish Deer live in? If it was pre-dawn Ralios, there was the Great Primeval Forest. However, Prax and Genert's Garden were somewhat dense Savannah as well at that time, cf. the Oakfed story. Did the lost tribes of Praxian Beast Riders die out when the Oakfed deforestation took their means of subsistance from them? (Not immediately, but constantly declining.) >Did the lost tribes of Praxian Beast Riders die out when the Oakfed deforestation took their means of subsistance from them? No doubt this made an initial impact. The gradually deteriorating nature of the Wastes during Godtime probably also took its toll. Note that in the First Age, the Rhino Riders nearly went extinct. While the Rhinos narrowly avoided this fate, the Nose-Horn folk might not have been so adaptable. The Nose-Horn folk, by the way, were Synceros riders -- an antelope-like animal with three horns. Two over the eyes and one down near the nose which forked near the end. They were probably pygmies. --- Basically how I'm going to play it in the Prax book is that there were originally 21 tribes of 2-legs/4-Legs. Add in the Zebra's that didn't get their humans until Time began and you have a list of the tribes. You will notice that we are missing the names of some of the tribes, this leaves space for GMs and players to invent stupendous stories about the other tribes and what they were and whether they will return and what if they do. Let the speculation begin.