davecake

I quite agree, the less Vormain is just rebadged Japan the better. Though entirely removing the honor code of samurai style warriors, the less most people have a reason to want to play there. The Guide does definitely say there is a hereditary warrior caste, but is uclearwhile also giving the idea of duelling martial codes being (to paraphrase Clausewitz) mystic theological debate by other means. They are great rules, that I think are worth reviving in some form, and they seem fit for purpose. Until/unless we have a more explicit/authoritative statement that’s contradicts it, that’s as good an approach as any. I think way too soon to usefully speculate on such things. I’d stick with the default assumptions of most of the Joserui are treated as gods, possibly Zaktirra might involve sorcery (as he’s explicitly called a sorcery god) but the term might be used informally, and the complex relationships between various Joserui and the various mystic and martial schools resolved later once we have a clearer idea of both Vormaino religion, and mysticism and martial arts. We do know Vormaino mysticism, while it will have cultural drift from Vithelan mysticism, has substantial overlap and makes use of austerities and often involves martial arts, so not very different to other Eastern mysticism.

Open Seas is just a ritual Ceremony. It does not require any knowledge of any sorcerous Techniques or Runes, and this is noted as unusual. It says it takes 10 minutes to cast and ‘costs 9 magic points when cast by initiates or priests who lack any sorcerous training.’ Which obviously someone with sorcerous training could cast it for less maybe? But in any case it is a special case - I would not extrapolate from it. Flintnail almost certainly uses Mostali Maker magic rules? Most of their historic rune spells are now Rock dwarf spells. Pavis, and by extension other EWF sorcery, doesn’t seem to require much extra rules wise? Sorcery that requires fluency in Auld Wyrmish instead of Western, what otherwise needs rules changes (other than trying to fit the unusual way Pavis accesses elementals, which has always been weird even in RQ2, into a sorcerous paradigm - which I simply wouldn’t do, and simply say the Pavis cult can control the elementals it accesses via magical treaty using Command Cult Spirit). Other that, a few different spells? Maybe different Techniques and some unusual Runes? I think the “misapplied” terminology is best abandoned, as almost everyone has, as being linked to the abandoned Three Worlds model. We already have the explicit example of Lhankor Mhy sorcery now being considered just… sorcery. There are hybrid traditions of course, but that’s just traditions combine more than one form of magic, and there lots of them, with big gray areas between the different forms. Irripi Ontor will be another example, and more developed than LM, of a mixed sorcerous/divine tradition. But I don’t think there is much need for it here. The Martalak and Valkarist traditions seem clearly primarily straight sorcerous ones. And I very much feel that major mainstream orthodox mysticism traditions should not require sorcery (or divine magic, or spirit interaction) rules to explain them. The Meditation skill can be useful to involve in lots of things, particularly because it’s useful for conveying a particular feel - if a martial arts form teaches Meditation, that tells you something about its culture. But I don’t think it’s otherwise particularly useful for martial arts, even less than it is for spirit magic etc. And in fiction, Meditation is by no means something one does while practicing martial arts, or that is always required for the acquisition of cool martial arts powers (though it can be something martial artists do, of course). Yes.

Which text? There is no one orthodox mysticism, and the only text I can think of that explicitly talk about confronting the other forms of standard magic in that way isn’t about Eastern Orthodox mysticism but about the EWF.

That would suggest to me that they'd use a LOT more specific Runes in their sorcery - if following an Earthsea version. And, each Control type spell would only work on one very specific entity (if keeping the Naming as an essential feature). This would certainly make their sorcery unique! I don’t think their sorcery is that unique. Valkaro was a God Learner, and he broke with the Middle Sea Empire and orthodox Malkionism not because he thought it’s sorcerers were wrong, but because he thought it’s sorcerers shouldn’t have to listen to the nobles. So I expect their sorcery is pretty standard in most ways (and names and language is a big part of sorcery, but that’s implicit already in the rules). I think they still use Western as their main magical languageHasten Vessel and Calm Water, still maintain some caste restrictions (the ones Valkaro agreed with, though probably rather less strictly), still use more or less Western runes. But they are also rooted in God Learner tradition, and have studied local myth and integrated it into their magical practice as appropriate. Inspired by Earthsea, I think they are particularly good at wind, sea and weather magic, illusions, summoning, shape changing (note Valkaro is known to have transformed some of his opponents). Note that wind and water magic is incredibly powerful and useful in naval warfare, and in and island setting generally - even just in the limited spells in the main rules, spells like Rogue Wave, Stop Vessel, Hasten Vessel and Calm Water are hugely useful (of course, Waertagi and Vadeli have access to these too). They also have knowledge of alchemy, particularly herbal alchemy (and it’s their main healing magic). And their training often emphasises supplementing magical skills with practical skills - they know some boating, navigation, plant lore, sleight, etc and some may be experts. These are all forms of magic that can have useful applications, and while other forms (say, necromancy, or spells for enhancing melee combat) are surely known, they are less common. The facility with Illusion comes straight from Earthsea, while the rest is mentioned in the Guide or can be implied or makes obvious sense in context - but I kind of like the unexpected facility with Illusion anyway, it’s the sort of detail that makes them a bit more complex and interesting, and also ties into other setting themes (especially Truth vs Illusion is a big Eastern myth theme). So the Runes they are mostly likely to master include Air, Water, Illusion, and maybe Man and Plant. Power Runes include Harmony, Illusion, Movement. The favoured Techniques include Command and Summon. Like most Malkioni they disdain Tap (but understand it). And while they obviously will have thought about mysticism a lot more than most sorcerous sects, I think that is going to be a fairly complex story, given the various conflicts, and complexities of the various different forms of mysticism. I think they are more likely to have engaged with the Larn Hasamador strain of mysticism, and probably are less keen on the modern form of integrated mysticism of the Three Sages (what I think as modern Mokato Consensus mysticism), which emphasises the Mashunasen and Ven Fornism forms and also Marnalin worship, and which I think largely preaches the essential antigodliness of sorcery, and which was the essential core philosophy of the Mokato Empire and so involved in many conflicts with Valkarism and the other other naval sorcerous powers.

In RQ3, sorcery was considered the most common magic of the East Isles and used in place of Spirit Magic, but that is no longer at all compatible with the Sorcery rules or general conception of sorcery - and there isn't really a distinct statement on sorcery since. And there really isn't much since, except the few Jonstown Compendium books. I don't think this is true. The great mystics use mysticism. But hybrid traditions surely exist. I think this interpretation made sense in the Hero Wars era. But the conception of sorcery has changed a lot since then, and I don't think it works any more. I now think that, in rules terms, the closest match is modelling martial arts abilities on shamanic abilities, which matches the idea of VenFornism originating in shamanic techniques. I'm not sure the knowledge gods of the East Isles necessarily know sorcery (after all, both Buserian and Lhankor Mhy are more centred on Rune magic than sorcery) but it's certainly possible. The discussion of sorcery in Revealed Mythologies is that sorcerers who follow the Martalak tradition of sorcery are ' sorcerers, alchemists, enchanters, and charm makers' ie professional magicians, but generally not great or powerful ones. Which was another way of saying 'if you want to play in Gloranthan-psuedo-Japan, we wrote a whole Japan box. I think we can do better. It's true that most Vormaino magic seems to be fitted into their 'colour magic' system but we don't know much more than that. I'd rather try to understand more about Vormain magic rather than just use the Land of Ninja rules because we have them. I think they actually work pretty well for the Hodaran mystic tradition, and actually wouldn't be too bad for martial arts 'mystic strikes' in general. I tend to think that the native East Isles sorcery mostly is essentially just Western sorcery with centuries of cultural drift. Martalak the East Isles sorcery 'god' is always referred to as having learnt sorcery in the West, and living in the West ('Heonarmalo'). But in those cen)turies, there could easily have been a lot of Kralorelan influence, and some (at least) Kralorelan sorcery is a native development, especially that associated with the Thalurzni alchemy tradition. I don't think the False Dragon Ring sorcery has much influence in the East Isles (especially as a I suspect they did not get on with the Valkarists). Yes! And the East Islanders at least claim their Martalak sorcerers date from mythical times. The East Islanders do not seem to claim their invented it themselves, as Martalak is said to have learnt it in the West, but they do claim their tradition is preferable because Martalak got humbled by Vith, and so knows his limits. The Malkioni probably do claim that the East Islanders obviously learnt sorcery that is of Malkioni origin, but are also a bit suspicious once you start asking from which Malkioni, as the answer could be the Viymorni. I think some East Isles sorcery may be learnt from Mostali, but for most East Islanders that makes it suspiciously anti-godly. Though the Valkarists, if rumour is to be believed that the caverns beneath Domdanalash extend into the Mostali underworld, would seem to have cordial, or even cozy, relationships with the Mostali. The Valkarists I tend to treat as pretty heavily influenced by Le Guin's Earthsea books - so the Magic Men are professional highly trained wizards, rather than sages who do a little sorcery on the side, and with a few other skills like knowing how to handle a boat. A bit broader in capacity and more capable of acting independently than most Malkioni sorcerers, probably because of the fancy training they receive at the very magical Domdanalash (which of course is half Domdaniel of the Arabian Nights etc, but half Roke of the Earthsea books). While the Valkarists started as sorcery fanatics, I think they have gradually incorporated some acceptance of mysticism into their world view (more the psuedo-Taoist Larn Hasamador, both in keeping with Le Guin's own Taoism (her version of the Tao De Ching is excellent) and acknowledging that practically both Mashunasan's Orthodox mysticism, and becoming a powerful sorcerer, are very time consuming)

I’ve never seen anything saying the DiD are bound to the marsh - arguably, one of their important functions for Delecti, expanding the marsh by creating new Blackthorn trees by draining dryads (an example of a Vampire magic only used by a few vampires, Btw), requires them to leave the borders of the Marsh. I suspect that both being all female and being mostly found in the Marsh are choices of Delecti, and there may be some reason why he wants only female DiDs - perhaps related to the Blackthorn rites effectively replacing the dryads. Though it’s possible that it’s just Delecti’s preference (indicating he cares more about sexuality than previously expected?), or that he reserves male vampires for other, more private, uses, or that he has some other magical reason for it (perhaps related to Nontraya myths - WF15 has them worshipping Delecti as a manifestation of Nontraya, perhaps they are all female as a perversion of Ernalda etc). In WF 15 it’s clear that the DiD are able to create other, more conventional, vampires, but do not share their magic with them, rather usually creating them as ‘blunt instruments’ against their enemies. The draft Vivamort cult writeup (which I have no reason to think will dramatically differ from from what will be published) is quite specific about Delecti being a hero of the Vivamort cult, and includes presumed Delecti/DiD specific magic like Blackthorn trees as well as magic for Delecti’s body hopping. WF15 suggests only that Delecti’s ability to mass produce zombies is a Heroquest ability derived from ZZ, rather than suggesting the many other powers of Delecti have any connection.

While there is nothing wrong with that as a house rule, the Vivamort cult writeup in the preview suggests draining POW requires the victim to be Entralled, occurs simultaneously with blood drinking, and for it to take place in a ritual context, usually one that results in the full draining and death of the victim, as well as the destruction of their soul via POW drain. And the POW be used at the time (usually resulting in most of it wasted). Casting Create Vampire with the drained POW on the victim for them to rise as a new vampire is a special case. So that gives a reason for the vampire to capture victims and abduct them, which of course gives opportunity for tense plots as you try and rescue abducted victims before they are consumed and the vampires evil plans succeed (or at least the vampire gets a bit more powerful somehow).

Personally I find the separation of Vampire and Dancers in Darkness in the Bestiary a bit annoying. DiD are vampires in the Delecti tradition, and subservient to him. But they are a variant subset of vampires, not a separate class of being. I think the DiD, essentially vampires whose abilities are restricted to those that Delecti wishes to teach them (whether it is because he wishes to keep them weak relative to himself, or whether he does only teaches them abilities directly useful to his own schemes, or both). This shows us that turning to smoke, Enthrall, magic point draining and blood draining are intrinsic to vampirism, but not perhaps turning to bats or wolves. I’d rewrite these as commonly known vampire magic to gain these additional forms, or at least give a mythic explanation for why those two forms, and give some explanation for how individual vampires can gain other forms. The wolves and bats thing specifically is not a traditional part of vampire lore, but codified in Victorian literature - I’d rather have Gloranthan vampire lore be more variant. In any case, I think both should be regarded as stop gaps that would be written differently if the Vivamort cult writeup was available. It mentions cult special Rune Magic, for example, which I don’t think exists in the Vivamort writeup (meaning the benefits of Vivamort initiation beyond not being eaten are more nebulous). Hopefully there will be more info when the Chaos cults book is out. I’d note that part of the Guide to Glorantha kickstarter that was never fulfilled, even minimally, was the stretch goal for a monograph on vampires by Mark Rein*Hagen. While I don’t care much about the writer, I regret that a chance to expand vampires beyond the Bela Lugosi clones of Cults of Terror 30+ years ago was missed.

Yes. though the details here are constantly blurred at the edges. Personally, what really bothered me was the lack of providing a sensible way to deal with the many examples of traditions that already blurred those edges. It was difficult enough to deal with dividing all traditions into three rigid categories, but I hated the idea that existing, perfectly functional appearing traditions that had been in Glorantha for decades (eg Waha) needed be sort of split down the middle to maintain the Three Worlds model. If this was the intentional creation of a newly perceived problem so that it’s solution could be a plot element, that does not endear it to me any more. I have always found the various traditions that cross the approaches (Waha, Aldrya, Kygor Litor, Black Arkat, Lhankor Mhy, Irripi Ontor, Dormal, Earth Witch,Jakaleel, Pamalt, etc) to be a strength of the setting, refusing to make universal rules for magic and spirituality. I find the (admittedly not huge) extent to which it has been toned back from particularly the HQ2 era (eg the removal of spirit capture tradition from Odayla, Kolat downgraded from a rich shamanic tradition to a dull spirit cult, Storm Bull explicitly being a mixed tradition) a bit disappointing, but it might yet be reversed.

Illumination itself is not enough to get anything like the immunity to magic that a superhero has. But Illumination does provide some potential immunity to attempts to force a hero to either abide by the myths of their god (forcing them into an untenable position) or be greatly weakened, a sort of maneuver I think often used in heroic contests (for example, when the Red Emperor defeated the Harsaltar of the Household of Death). It lets them deal with attempts to turn their own cult against them (as the Orlanth priests did to Alakoring, and there are several examples from Dara Happan history), and it lets them control their own most passions when they would lead them astray or cause them to give into fear. And I think there is more to mysticism than what we know as Illumination. Illumination itself is just the entry into mystic magic - similar to the way becoming a shaman is just the entry to shamanic magic. And we mostly see Illumination from the perspective of cultures that have limited understanding of it, and have not really developed it. Beyond Illumination lies access to magic learnable only by Illuminates (such as Red Goddess magic, or potentially Dragon Magic by non-Dragonewts, the great mystic feats of the East Isles mystics, etc), otherwise impossible combinations of magic (eg sorcerer-shamans), very broad Rune magic access (even without embracing the ‘Dark Side’ - eg Lunars in the LCM embracing ‘multiple phases’ which I take to be wielding the magic of multiple Lunar cults without penalty, or Larstings having access to a wide range of Movement magic), access to other worlds not available to others, etc. Immunity to some magics is known to be a typical power of some mystics (eg the kolathi in Lunar history). This doesn’t really conflict with the idea (from the guide pg 9) that mysticism itself has little magic, and that mostly of interest only to the mystic - most of these examples are either quite passive, or about how Illumination radically transforms the practice of other forms of magic.

I think Jar-Eel has, in addition to, of course, full access to the magic of the Red Goddess (Glowspot, empowered spirit magic), access to all the magic of the Seven Mothers and other Lunar cults, directly and through her close companions, including shamanism through Jakaleel and sorcery through Irripi Ontor. This does not mean she is a sorcerer (though she probably is, because she is good at everything), but that she has sorcerous long term spells on her, sorcerous relics of great power, sorcerous assistants, and probably sorcerous magical allies. But it’s a sideline, compared to her massive mastery of sorcerous Rune magic - through which she gains abilities like manifesting extra arms from Yara Aranis, a huge array of Lunar spirits on call, Mind and sanity blasting powers, access to all elements but Storm, etc. And that’s all before we get to her own array of Heroquest powers, which of course is enormous. Arkat was, of course, a sorcerer as a Man of All, and a significant enough sorcerer to have created multiple spells, and his own school of sorcery, the Black Arkat cult. And of course Illuminated, and a member of multiple cults, including Orlanth, and seemingly a hero of the Humakt cult (and numbering another Humakti Hero, Makla Mann, among his close companions). Whether or not he was a shaman (it’s not recorded that he was AFAIK, and he doesn’t appear to have associated with any shamanic tradition before becoming a troll), he was (according to the Xeotam dialogues) a kaelith - as someone who returned bodily from the Underworld after death, he was able to dissolve his body and enter the spirit world naturally, so capable of feats otherwise only achievable by shamans or by using the Discorporation spell, and without the need for a fetch to guard his body. He may have gained a fetch as a troll later. The trolls of Guhan are said to include Mistress Race trolls who are the daughters of Arkat when he was a troll, and I am sure they are generally both honored as great troll shaman-priestesses of Kygor Litor (as Mistress Trolls usually are) and fully initiated into their fathers mysteries (and thus Illuminated sorcerers, and heroquesters). They are said to dwell in the troll city of Buruzronkurz particularly. As Mistress Race trolls are immortal, they are likely around a thousand years old - and of course, they may have descendants since. Confusingly these, the actual Children of Arkat, seem to be a different group than the Wizard Children, who are the trolls who are the descendants of the First Hundred trolls who followed and fought with Arkat in Dorastor and returned to Ralios with him afterwards, who certainly number sorcerers and Illuminates and shamans among them, but it is unknown if they include immortal Mistress Race. I think sorcery was unknown to trolls prior to Arkat, and probably few of the ancient Mistress Race learnt it since, apart from maybe those few (like maybe Garazaf Hyloric) who associated with Arkat during his life. Outside Guhan the Black Arkat sorcery school seems to be more closely associated with the Argan Argar cult.

I don’t think any of the Seven Mothers have Superhero status. But seven Heroes is pretty significant fire power, at least equivalent to a Superhero in collective heft. I know there are some advocate for Yanafals being a Superhero based on his defeat of Humakt, but I don’t think it’s that simple.

The idea that a superhero corresponds to a Rune is one that Sandy has mentioned a few times, but it isn’t canon, and I don’t believe it myself, and there isn’t that much evidence for it. Jar-Eel, for example, is as much known for violent deeds and military conquests as ones embodying Harmony - its hard to justify killing Belintar or leading the assault on Boldhome as harmonious. And other known Superheroes (Arkat, Androgeus, Sheng Seleris) end up getting assigned fairly arbitrary Runes. And Cragspider isn’t a Superhero, and is notable far more for her Fire powers. Again, while it’s a cool idea, it doesn’t seem to fit all of even the small number of Superheroes we know about - Jar-Eel has been an incarnation of the Red Goddess since birth, or at least childhood, and it’s hard to think of any notable myths that she has created independent of being an avatar of the goddess. I do think Heroes and Superheroes power levels always represent not just themselves but their close companions, magic allies, web of supporters, etc. I don’t think it’s defining, but one thing I do think is true of all Superheroes but not all Heroes - they are capable (either directly, or via their close companions or magic allies ) of heroic level feats dealing with all four forms of magic/all four other worlds, including being Illuminated and having significant mystic ability, though not necessarily by the conventional method. They have no magical ‘weak points’, are able to deal with dragons etc in part using mystic means, and need not acknowledge the gods as their superiors. (yes, I know Harrek doesn’t come across as an Illuminate or mystic, but he did spent enough time in the Lunar Empire and learning to deal with Lunar Magic that he was able to kill the Emperor, and he then proceeds to kill his own deity, which seems a very Illuminated act. He has sorcerous capabilities through his companions (including Gunda) and through looting several great sorcerous treasure troves, though it seems unlikely he is a sorcerer himself (and Western heroes tend to be talars/men-of-all more than zzaburi anyway - heroic sorcerous magical feats need not mean being a great sorcerer, but dealing with the sorcerous otherworld effectively). With Jar-Eel and Arkat, it is pretty much canon that they are able to deal with a very wide range of types of magic, I can’t think of other Superheroes we know about their career in that much detail)

I’ve played it as no use of Orlanth or Ernalda Rune Points, or access to their spells from associated cults.

Vampires can use both normal sorcery, and Vampire magic which is a form of sorcerous ritual that involves draining blood and sacrifice. Vampire magic is all based on Ecstatic Communion - the victims is enthralled and then ritually drained, a method that allows draining the raw POW as well as blood - and the some of the POW thus drained can be used for Vampire magic. They can use this POW to master Runes and Techniques, to perform the magic that the Vivamort cult had access to back in RQ2 (like creating ghouls, zombies, summoning small shades, etc), and some other more unique powers, including some that are known to Delecti and his Dancers In Darkness, but not all vampires. Vampires use sorcery as their main non-ritual magic. Though vampires can have Rune Points, they usually can’t regenerate them or gain more. I suspect draining rune spells of others, as vampires did in earlier editions, is a Vampire magic ritual known only to certain vampires. But you can use the vampire magic idea to make vampires with cool vampire powers that you want to adopt from other sources/games if you want, along with custom sorcery.

Sure. A god who commands and rules over spirits. And can be approached through a spirit cult if necessary. The division between gods and great spirits is largely one that mortals make. Imagine what you like, but forges in general are not capable serving a whole temple worth of crafters, and when I said the forge/kiln spirit was likely an allied spirit of the priest/guild master, I was taking that directly from the draft Gustbran write up. Yes, and when a new priest is appointed they get a new spirit. A wyter would imply only one spirit for every community, a community large enough for a wyter will be one large enough to have many forges and kilns. I would assume a city has multiple forges and kilns, and multiple master craftsmen, each usually with several journeymen/assistants and apprentices, but at most one cult wyter. And a forge spirit that is not actively connected to a priest as an allied spirit might still be summonable with Command Cult Spirit. It doesn’t cease to exist when the priest dies, just ceases to be an allied spirit.

Shamanism isn't opposed to urbanism. Rather, priestly worship without shamanism is advantaged and empowered by urbanism - large urban centres means big temples, it means practical mundane support of a dedicated priesthood, it means powerful cult spirits and permanent temple buildings and all the rest, it means enough worshippers of minor gods to maintain a permanent temple can find each other. Shamans have nothing against cities in the abstract (I mean, some, like hsunchen, do, but some are fine in cities), but they do tend to get outcompeted, and aren't as needed. And stable temples and priesthoods put their stamp on the magical landscape just as agriculture and urbanism put their stamp on the physical - animist spirits that the local temples support and favour thrive, yes, but the ones that they do not know how to deal with usefully they will tend to drive out or constrain, and this in turn reduces the need for shamans. But they aren't absolutes, so a few shamans survive - mostly ancestor worshippers who deal with spirits of Man, but not only them. This is also not a hard distinction - while cults in RQ are presented in their current form, and some are distinctly anti-shaman in their current form, that has at least as much to do with the social context in which they exist. Dara Happen Yelmic noble-priests probably think shamanism is a backwards practice of barbarians, but Pentan Yelm/Yu-Kargzant worshippers have shamans at the core. And some shamanic traditions intermingle with cults, like Earth Witches among the Ernalda cult. Shamans can be found in cities, but thrive where there aren't cities, because they are more needed there. But in 'modern' Glorantha, Gustbran is the spirit of the kiln as well as the forge, and initiates of Gustbran are also the guild members of the smiths and potters guilds, and that gives them enough initiates to maintain a temple in the city, and the spirit of the kiln is probably the allied spirit of the guild master, who is also a priest. Animism is kind of part of the whole bronze age world view, and is distinct from shamanic traditions.

I don't think the Dream Magicians are shamans, though there may be some connection. But the East Isles absolutely does have shamans, quite a few. We know of 'the School of the Dead, the Talk to the Grandparents School, the Ancestor Worshippers, and the Vulture People, who are morticians'. '[The Great Shaman] Festanur’s people are the necromancers, spirit speakers, medicine people, and controllers of elemental spirits.' So they seem mostly interested in ancestor worship, and dealing with the dead, with a minority of elemental spirits. I think in typical East Isles style, many of the other inhabitants often regard them as just a particularly magical profession. Oh, you have trouble with ghosts? Go see the shaman, his office days are Windsday through Godsday. And in just as typical East Isles style, any generalisation about the Isles may prove to be false for any given Island, and many of the Posandpara, the small island gods, are worshipped in shamanic style. Plus many of the Parloth, the East Isles gods, may have few temples and worshippers and often must be worshipped spirit cult style. I don't think this means there are that many shamans in big urban centres in the East Isles, but thats mostly because the East Isles doesn't have that many big urban centres. A really large proportion of the peasantry are descended from Hsunchen and keep some shamanic traditions going. Loads of shamans among the Hsunchen hill tribes, and traditions descended from hsunchen shamanism exist, like the Dancing Spirit Doctors of Hanjan province (of the Korgatsu tradition). And we know of a few others - the Red Hats of Hongguan, for example. Very notably, though, the practical basis of Kralorelan urban civilisation mythically comes from Ancestor worship. Ebe the Wild Man is the progenitor of mortal races, with the Man and Spirit runes - eg he is Grandfather Mortal and Daka Fal, he is ancestor worship shamanism. But his son is Aptanace the Sage, founder of civilisation, and his 700 descendants the ancestors of the Kralorelan people. I think this is mainstream religion for the urban people, most of the people in the artisan and crafter occupations at least, maybe most of the traders too - you revere your ancestors, this is Ancestor Worship through mostly methods of simple worship, mostly you can chat to your ancestors on the holidays, mostly you claim descent from one or more (of course there is intermarriage, and probably adoption too) of the 700 ancestral family lines, and this also give you your inherited profession and some magic to do with that. And most families have no need of a shaman for regular worship of the ancestors - but they need them often enough that shamans exist in the cities and can be contacted for problems with the dead, dealing with angry ancestors, and various spirit plagues (including, as you say, the Hungry Ghosts). And sure, Darudism is the great sinews of Empire and the magic that gives them Exarchs and the Emperor, and in turn may be descended from ancient dragon hsunchen, though I think that connection is a deeply obscured one these days - though of course perhaps profound mythical and magical secrets are hidden in that (officially ignored) connection. It seems dragon magic is for mystic monks and hermits and for martial artists, and the mandarins and other elites are largely sorcerous.

I see only a hummingbird.

I do not think austerities lead to Illumination in a general sense, and definitely not when they are neither a real austerity (if they were, curing the disease would make it worthless or worse) or known to those suffering. Trolls, collectively, have access to better Chaos fighting powers than Storm Bull alone, and are far less of a blunt instrument when fighting sophisticated intelligent Chaos foes - not just ZZ, but Counter Chaos from KL (perhaps the valuable spell there is when fighting powerful Chaos foes), plus assorted things like Boztakangs Stones to Kill Chaos. And hey, Storm Bull is associated to ZZ, so you still call on him somewhat. And of course Darkness powers are handy against a Light god and allies. I think Arkat knew what he was doing. He does not betray them I did not say he betrayed them, but he turned away. He honored his agreements with the trolls, continued to honor and respect them. But he was no longer a troll, did not seem to spend time leading the trolls but remaining on his farm. The path of Darkness was not his path once he no longer needed it.

Yes, the big announcement celebrated a Chaosium internal milestone, not a public one, and I think all the efforts to hype it was setting us up for disappointment - all that customers got today was a partial publication schedule, and the promise of more in a few months.

I don’t think that is it. Arkat is not seeking revenge. He believes that Nysalor is a problem, a threat to all that is good, that can only be solved by Nysalors destruction. He does not seek further revenge against the allies of Nysalor etc. And Argrath. He starts on his journey due to revenge oaths maybe, but I don’t think that is what drives him. But every 600 years there is a threat to the world, and now it is his turn.

A thought - whether Arkat ever embraces Chaos (and I tend to think he did not, but admit the ambiguity is open), what is clear is that he began as devoted to Law, and his greatest weapons where those of the Law (his Unbreakable Sword, soon after embracing Hrestoli sorcery) and by the end of his journey had absolutely rejected allegiance to Law and rejected the Law/Chaos dichotomy. I think this applies no matter your conception of the Law.

It’s notable that when Arkat first goes to war against Nysalor/Niebie, it’s because of their deception - presenting themselves as saviors when they are the creators of the problem. He may not have even realised how deep the connection to Chaos went at first. And in his early battles (eg Night and Day) Nysalor seemed to no obvious connection to Chaos at all. Though Chaotic allies of Nysalor certainly surfaced pretty early (the Vampire Kings of Tanisor the Telmori), it seems that Nysalor turns to Chaos more as Arkat presses him, and Arkat turns to anti-Chaos more (in his turn to the trolls, who have the greatest anti-Chaos powers). But he turns away from them, and afterwards is said to without perfidy. And he names his enemy Gbaji, Deceiver. I think to Arkat, deception is Nysalors original sin, more than Chaos even, and unforgivable when dealing with the most sacred matters.

Not according to the trolls, obviously, or the Arkat cults. But it is true that Illuminates can not be trusted to respect power, and are often resented by the powerful everywhere.