davecake

Pamaltela, especially the southern plains, is notably more focused on beans and pulses.

And the Loskalmi, and probably most non-Seshnelan Malkioni really, would scoff. Which is why I said ‘many’, not ‘all’ or even ‘most’.

I generally take Daka Fal as the local ‘flavour’ of generic animist Ancestor Worship, and many other cultures (and some races) have a version of Ancestor Worship that has more or less the same form and spells. Whether they are all really the same deity, or this is a deeper mystery, is another question and I am sure there are many God Learner theses on the question. But they have a few local different myths, maybe different likely associates, but the same basic cult structure and spells. Various local versions include Daka Fal in Prax, Darhudan among the Heortlings, Old Man and Old Woman among the Hsunchen, Iste in the East Isles, and Ebe in Kralorela. These deities are all listed in the Guide with the same Runes, and all are ‘owners’ of the Man rune, which is rather a hint they are the same at the core - Grandfather Mortal (and Grandmother too), who reproduces and has children to create mortals, then later is killed. This isn’t all Ancestor Worship, by any means - in some cultures, they evolve non-animist ancestor worship, and this can differ. The ancient Heortlings worshipped the children of Vingkotlings as tribal ancestors. I’m pretty sure Aptanace the sage is civilised theist ancestor worship in Kralorela (with his 700 children as sub-cults that offer a little crafter magic etc). The ancient Seshnelans are said to have done something similar (and were just a few generations from Demi-gods, so it really worked well for them), something similar may still go on. But it’s a very primal thing that I think any shaman may be able to start if they really try. Also, I think in practice Ancestor Worshippers mostly function with each family of ancestor worshippers more or less separate, no ‘cult hierarchy’ or structure. Their ethos and expectations can differ significantly. And they definitely don’t always work together, sometimes it’s Hatfields and McCoys with feuds transcending death. Chaotic ancestor worshippers are just the same - a family of ogres might know all their ogre ancestors, and get good help from them (the ancestors probably like a little blood sacrifice and to enjoy a little incarnation for food and torture every now and then, but that’s expected). Broo, though - they probably don’t know the names etc of many of their ancestors, and they tend to hate and fear each other anyway, so summoning random ancestors is dangerous and unpleasant. Broo being the hateful desperate beings they are, they probably still make it work somehow. NB: it’s unusual to combine sorcery and ancestor worship, at least the shamanic form (and would be pretty heretical to many modern Malkioni). But it can work surprisingly well! Let Magus Great Uncle incarnate for a few hours to cast a few spells, some enchanting maybe, share a bit of wisdom…

I also had an elf PC in an RQ3 game I GMed who totally outclassed the other players. He qualified for Wood Lord at character generation. The other players included a Hrestoli (the game was in Fronela, based around Sog City) who, according to the RQ3 rules, was a sorcery user but who wasn’t even allowed to earn Intensity until he’d qualified during play, so the gap in levels of competence was huge. The elf was a warrior, and rolled 15 on the 2d8 for age, which meant +75 to his Bow skill. He was very lethal at range, and better than most at melee (though no damage bonus). He was also an elf far from his home in a city based campaign, so needed lots of help from humans to get stuff done, in a not particularly combat heavy game. From memory he had some special mission from the forest to accomplish, in a game with the Kingdom of War as looming off scene plot driver but not actually encountered much.

Maybe you just need better players? I play a Babeester Gor PC at the moment. She is not beautiful, men-hating, overly-sexualised, perpetually under-dressed or kinky. She is deadly, but that’s pretty core to the cult. She hates oath-breakers and tusk riders, mostly dresses like a professional warrior, and is somewhat aromantic, unsurprising for someone with an 89% Death rune. I’m more sick of every tough as nails PC fighter being a Humakti, tbh.

The relevant quote from the Guide is The Pent peoples underwent deep soul searching and spirit questioning to find survival in the years after the devastating Nights of Horror. Many new tribes were founded in attempts to draw upon new customs. New gods were worshiped, sometimes thought to be, and sometimes discovered later to be, storm gods so probably not directly inherited from the Hyalorings, or any other ancient tradition, though perhaps by heroquesting back to paths that come via Hyaloring myth. A more interesting connection might be the Qingshi people of Shiyang province in Kralorela, who worship Wangbiao or King Violent Wind, which sounds a lot like the Pentan Storm Tribe worship of West King Wind. The Qingshi people in turn are descended from the Wind Children/ Qa-Ying of the Northern Shan. So a synthesis of Qingshi Storm worship from Kralorelan troops recruited by Sheng with the ancient Pentan tribal ways including Hyaloring riding tradition, but a rejection of Kargzant and Yu-Kargzant as having failed them in the Nights of Horror?

Among humans, I think that the inner core of the Spolites probably worshipped Subere as well, with Xentha/Netta the more common cult.

This leaves out her most important magic, IMO - she has Summon, Dismiss, and Command spells for a wide range of Darkness beings. These include well known being like darkness elementals and dehori, but many stranger and older things too, some of them entirely otherwise unknown. In RQ3 this included chonchons, hellions, hags, wraiths, lamiae, and ghoul spirits. In RQG it would include such beings as nyctalopes, Darkness demons, hags as Darkness nymphs, many other forms of dehori, gloom’s and living shadows, and all manner of others. And all sorts of other underworld beings - perhaps they can summon black horses or hell hounds. They know the things that live in the deepest Darkness, and the underworld. An encounter with Subere cultists should include strange and terrifying Darkness being. And in RQG they also have Absorbtion.

Darkness alone of all the Elements predates what we normally think of as matter. And so is primal Darkness is different from the other primal elements.

I’m very curious about where the Pentan Storm tradition came from, and how they relate to other Pentan cultural practices. And whether they are a pre-Seleric tradition that has grown, an innovation of Sheng, or a post-Seleric rejection of Solar worship. And how they might feel about the return of Sheng.

As @jajagappasays, the Cults book will substantially expand the information on the Lunars and Lunar empire cults. I would also recommend looking at the Armies and Enemies book from the JC for an idea of the diversity and range of the Lunar Empires military, including magical ones - having your characters face soldiers from a few known military units makes things seem a bit realer, much more like a big complicated empire than just a single mass of soldiers - and of course many, even most, of the Empires military are not initiates of Lunar religions. Note also that a few of the spells from the Lunar cults have already been published in the Red Book of Magic - and you can take a few educated guesses at which are which. Given that your PCs are not going to be in the Lunar cults themselves, that may be enough to wing it. For example, Yara Aranis is always depicted with 4 arms, and was conceived to fight the Pentan nomads, so give a priestess Sprout Arms and Terrify Horse and you have an interesting opponent. If it turns out a few things are not quite the same as the published cult, easy enough to explain it away as a variation/sub-cult/or result of individual heroquesting or a gift from a regimental spirit etc. See also the Meteor Swarm spirit magic spell for the Crater Makers, the Bat Wings, Fangs and Power Drain spells for the Crimson Bat, etc. Or just improvise with Irripi Ontor as Lhankor Mhy with Mind Blast and Madness, Jakaleel as shamans that also have access to Seven Mother’s magic and some interesting spirits (as well as normal shamanic abilities), etc. it’s close enough to work with until you get the Cults Book(s).

Six parts, five, or the different Doraddi set, etc - it’s all different cultural conceptions. Different ways of explaining this complex thing that is mortal existence (and the different sets of characteristics in various RPGs are the same sort of thing, for a different purpose). They aren’t even necessarily talking about the same thing. Ie the Dara Happans treat your physical body as one part of your ‘soul’ but of course everyone still has a physical body. Having different conceptions and terminology doesn’t mean anything changes. when the Lunars talk about the Seventh Soul, they mean the transcendant, pure consciousness, part of ourselves. It’s not our mind, it’s not our body, it’s not the bit that works magic (or can be normally changed by magic, except indirectly). It’s the process of Illumination. I don’t think they usually talk about gaining a Seventh Soul, they talk about awakening it, because it was always there. It’s a different way of thinking about it. Yelm, of course, is considered Illuminated, whatever that means for Gods (when we say a god is Illuminated, that might only be a metaphorical thing, that it has become possible to fully identify with Yelm, and with the All, at the same time. Gods may not have a single consciousness, and mystic truths are hard to communicate). But saying Yelm is Illuminated is the same as saying his Seventh Soul is awake, just different words. Other cultures use different terms for the same thing.

Some mystics conceptualise the Seventh Soul as being fully aware of your connection with the one, Universal Soul. There is only one Seventh Soul, everything is connected to it, most of us not in a way that we are conscious of. Awakening the Seventh Soul is experiencing that you are part of the one universal consciousness. We Are All Us.

Nils says one full year, not cumulative. A few of us are already working on an East Isles book, if you’d like to compare notes.

I think the laws are intrinsic to the process by the people of Danmalastan were created in the Fourth Action, and are not easily changed now. The Vadeli can’t quite escape them now. But the Brithini approach them with the attitude that following the laws as much as possible, and trying to follow them in spirit where they do not specify, is the right attitude. They try to be what they consider as much as possible close to the original first people, and try to return to and emulate the idealised past of Danmalastan (which some few of them remember) as much as possible. The Vadeli follow the laws to the letter (because they like being immortal), but push to their limits. They are in a new world, full of other beings, not in Danmalastan, and the laws do not guide them. Even in Danmalastan (which some very few of them may remember), they were the ones who yearned to explore outside of it. That, and the Vadeli are sociopaths, and the Brithini are just arch- conservatives, but still have some sense of altruism, if usually only for other Brithini.

No, it’s just easier with mortals, because the mortals have no idea what is really going on and don’t really understand Logic. They’ve totally tried to exploit all of them, especially the Mostali.

I think the idea that the Vadeli possibly asked Hrestol for permission to have sex hilarious. I also think there is an Admiralty law/ Sovereign citizen joke on there somewhere.

Some things I think are probably true about the Vadeli: in the modern era they sneak around many rules regarding the need for a Talar to make certain decisions by invoking the authority of a ships captain, laws possibly that originally were intended to apply to Waertagi (and are mentioned in the Abiding Book as such). This is why the only great leaders of the Vadeli we hear about in the modern day are Admirals. they have worked out that they can cast sorcery as Brown or Red caste, (possibly it’s not actually magically prohibited for the Brithini either, they just can’t see why you would try). But they can’t cast just any sorcery, they have to stick to certain restrictions on the spells that are caste appropriate. So Brown Vadeli can use some spells for manipulating base matter as essentially crafting magic (so that’s why your own clothing is strangling you, or their building is now crushing you), dealing with animals of all kinds (their enthusiasm for controlling creatures like blood birds as a warfare tactic), and various spells of deception (merchants are drones caste?). This may also mean some enchanting items as crafting magic. Sadly for the rest of us, this means that the Red Vadeli focus on sorcery directly for combat purposes, hurting others, and drawing blood, so they are restricted mostly to using the magic you least want them to have. so a lot of the worst and most notorious Vadeli magic, like mass undead production, could be Blue Vadeli only? So when they return, it will get bad very quickly. They also have access to some magic from their Viymorni heritage, to do with exploring. This is the Telendarian school magic, and the Vadeli connection is a large part of why exploring magic is banned by most Malkioni. Though they also managed to sneak stuff like Tap POW in there. And whether it comes from this, or via the marine loophole, they have a lot of useful ship and water magic. Vadeli love magic items, because they can be used without violating the laws. So so many of the Brown Vadeli like trading in magic items. If there is a sort of magic they are forbidden to cast, they can use a pagan magic item. The laws don’t state it has to be a Vadeli talar. This is why they made Hrestol a judge, so he could make certain decisions for them. But of course they don’t like giving a mortal power over them normally. So sometimes they will indulge in weird plots designed to force others to give them permission to do what they want. None of this changes that they are totally immortal genius sociopaths who think of most mortals as nothing but to exploit. But sometimes they are playing a game for goals you don’t understand with rules you don’t understand.

I find this quite misleading in its use of the word ‘simple’. While true, it doesn’t mean that the control and use and profit from the land in Esrolia isn’t subject to Byzantine and vicious politics and incredibly complex bureaucracy, but that all of takes place (at least in theory) within the Earth temples. Who include a hugely complex pantheon, at least ten or so major goddesses and literally thousands of minor ones (many of whom may turn up in person and have their own opinions, such as nymphs such as oreads or limoniads, and possibly be deeply embedded in the politics (such as heroic ancestors of various noble houses)). Especially in the current environment, with Esrolia on the brink of civil war between three factions that are all essentially factions within the Earth cults, arguing about their choice of allies. But yes, it’s the Earth temples that are in charge. In Esrolia, that’s a bit like saying ‘politics is simple, it’s the people with the power who make the decisions’.

I recently ran the Cradle using RQG, and I found it necessary to adapt them a bit here and there, mostly because they would have been a bit underpowered in RQG. But I also beefed up encounters by adding a few NPCs from elsewhere, and the RQ3 stats for tough opponents were still very much tough opponents (eg Coders, Sun County rune masters). A few rules changes *drastically* changed encounters, and I may have house ruled a few as a result (in particular, I dislike the RQG RAW that any Orlanthi who relies on woad will almost certainly die to a Sunspear).

Yes. I think this means developing the first sorcery spells to command spirits etc, rather than any interest in using shamanic methods themselves. Plus their expertise in Tap POW type spells, separating matter and energy to create zombies, etc. It also makes the modern Hrestoli expertise in anti-spirit techniques (eg the Furlandan school) seem just very slightly suspicious. Both seem quite typically Vadeli, yes. Though perhaps a bit more Blue Vadeli than typically Brown or Red.

Grandfather Mortal is a Godtime figure, and further more a God Learner construct - every culture has the story of the first mortal being (or beings, in some the first man and first woman are created simultaneously, or are effectively a hermaphroditic myth figure), but the individual myth figures vary (such as the East Isles lustful Iste, or the Kralorelan wild man Ebe. Perhaps the most extreme variation is that he is an aspect of Malkion. He dies in the Godtime (if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be mortal). In most cultures he then becomes a god of ancestry and mortality - but Grandfather Mortal is the name for this god before the separation. Daka Fal is the Praxian name for this god of mortality. He does have a separate Orlanthi name - Darhudan - but it seems pretty likely that the Orlanthi and Praxian traditions have got mixed together in Dragon Pass, especially his worship as a separate path is more prevalent in Prax. Some of the RQG imagery (particularly the mirror face) seems more Darhudan than Daka Fal - but there really isn’t much to differentiate them in real terms, it’s just imagery and cultural role. In Kralorela he is the wild man, whose worship gets ‘tamed’ - the wild man Ebe is worshipped through his son Aptanace, who invents ancestor worship, and the 700 other arts of civilisation - the original shamanic ancestor worship still exists in the rural villages. In Pamaltela, it is tied up with fertility, because he is the first of the Agi who drinks water, choosing both mortality and fertility in that act. And so on. The potential Ogorvaltes cult is interesting, because it’s about integrating ancestor worship into worship of the gods, and puts an interesting wrinkle into lots of these potential ancestor worship traditions.

I think venerating ancestors for magic was probably one of those things that some Brithini found necessary to survive in the Darkness, and established as a practice by the time we get to the Dawn, at least among the Dawn Age Seshnelans. The Vadeli probably don’t usually, their individualism, nihilism and general sociopathy generally don’t leave them with warm feelings towards their families, and shamanism and spirit magic interferes with sorcery (and unlike the Brithini, the Vadeli are generally all sorcerers). Though combining sorcery and ancestor worship can lead to some interesting synergies.

me with a Red Cow

I think approximate metric length means +/- 10% to 20% or so. But if you want to interpret it as ‘whatever, they said approximate so surely numbers are arbitrary and meaningless, a short sword could be the length of a broadsword’ we will just have to disagree (not just about how swords work, but somewhat about how words work).