David Scott

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.

As for Bubar, not much is said of him anywhere except the book of heortling mythology. So to backfill, he's going to be one of Generts tribe, and so likely a son. GtG p452 gives the Ginmuz Mountains: The four peaks here are called the Sons of Genert and have no names. Presumably lost to chaos, the peaks could be their earthly remains.

I'm wary of Genert being an Earth giant. Primal Earth god yes, but giant only in he was physically big. The whole giant thing is a bit too much of a norse mythology crossover. Physically big as in the whole continent, the part we are referring to is the conscious god part, not the physical size. Clearly when he dies, the continent remains, devolved/evolved into his daughters and sons - the land goddesses - apart from the Wastelands which is his core being. Following this line of though the mountains are part of his body, so the true giants are his are his children.

I don't think gods become chaotic after encountering chaos. I think they have to actively go over to chaos and embrace it. Gods that encounter chaos get wounds that don't heal or cripple them (eg Larnst), die and are no more (as in gone forever even in name), or are mostly destroyed but some part still lingers on so we know their names (eg Genert, Tada, Seolinthur).

Trifletraxor can we pin this to the Glorantha board as it provides updates for those looking for info on new products.

With the new understanding of Gods and Runes, i'd say that Caladra & Aurelion are are a two Rune Cult, like likely with the runes of Fertility and Harmony. Tessele the True is a hero of the cult with Harmony Veskarthan the Deep is likely also two rune with Fire and Disorder

I believe this is also the image of Caladralander, @Quackatoa maybe able to give more specific cultural references.

I could be wrong but I'm sure I recall seeing some caladralander figure sketches - @Jeff I'm I miss remembering?

@Tindalos, for HQG I rewrote the Peaceful Cut so that it resembled a more traditional real world shamanic song. In this context it's a ritual (and therefore fulfils the spell criteria). It has the Death rune in front of the description as it's categorised as a charm and so needs the rune defined, It's part of the tradition so never needs to be noted separately. Interestingly Daka Fal's Funeral Rite that you mentioned works the same way in the current version I've done - it's a shamanic song as the Peaceful cut.

Following on from the Practicing sorcery: any material components? topic: I thought I'd mention one of the discoveries I had in doing the spirit magic for HeroQuest Glorantha. Spirit Magic users can learn rituals that will do things like summon a specify spirit. These are clearly different from a charm. A charm is a spirit in an object that will do a specific task for it's "owner". But a ritual is a set of knowledge based tasks that produces a particular result every time. Waha Khans can learn to summon special spirits - The Founders and Borabo Nightmare the cult spirit of retribution. Doesn't this sound like sorcery with specific limitations (must be a khan)? Theists can also learn rituals.

But that's what you do in tapping material components, you tap their Rune source - If you tap a log you're tapping the plant rune, if you tap a metal bowl, you're tapping the rune metal it's associated with, etc.