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soltakss

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Everything posted by soltakss

  1. Don't forget that Esrolia, like the rest of the Holy Country, was part of the Shadowlands, ruled by the Only Old One, until Belintar killed the Only Old One and took the Holy Country under his rule. Esrolia was never really ruled by the Grandmothers in the same way that it is now, although Belintar brought back many old customs and made peace with the Grandmothers, so probably gave them back much of the power they have now. I can't remember reading much of how Belintar proved his right to rule Esrolia, except that he revealed himself to be one of the idols at the heart of their Great Temple. Although he had a Governor of Esrolia, the real power lay with the Grandmothers, who supported Belintar.
  2. soltakss

    Solar Campaign

    Yes, Shargash is a wargod. He is Yelm's attack dog, his thug, his brute, his berserker. Shargash is not a god of soldiers, but is a god of mace-wielding hooligans, the solar equivalent of Zorak Zoran. Definitely the band of warriors you don't want to have to use. The marriage ideal is Yelm-Dendara, but men can take concubines. Although Dendara has many husband-protectors, my guess is that most Dendarans don't take many husbands. Among the peasants it is different. Lodril took many wives and the Heron Goddess is known for her lustful and promiscuous ways, as are her worshippers. Yes, each City of Dara Happa has its own city god, with the cities of the Tripolis being, I think, sons of Yelm. Many noble families trace their descent through the male line back to the City God.
  3. Although the Clan pays weregild, I doubt if the tribe becomes liable, unless there was a concerted action organised by tribal leaders. In the case of a feud, the feuding clans would make their claims and counterclaims, with the clan chieftains working out a deal. So, if the Bluebell and Bluebird clans feuded and the Bluebell clan members killed Olgar, Olaf and Olbun, with a total weregild of 1,500L, but the Bluebird clan killed Mallan, Nabar and Goshan, with a total weregild of 1,200L, then the clans would come to an arrangement and the Bluebird Clan would pay the Bluebell clan the balance of 300L. Of course, some clan members might press for the whole weregild being paid and then the whole weregild being returned. It might be possible for banked ransoms to be used to pay weregild. So, if Mabbar of the Bluebird Clan had a ransom of 500L put away, the Bluebird Clan might use that ransom to pay the balance of the weregild, as Mabbar killed one of the Bluebell clan members. Also, ransom does not have to be paid using money. Cattle is a good method of payment as are weapons, armour, runemetals and jewellery.
  4. Caladraland is the Volcano Land. It worships Lodril, under some local name that I can never remember, but also worships the Volcano Twins, Caladra and Aurelion. It is a rain forest that the inhabitants farm using slash and burn technology. The Volcano Priests used to throw people into the volcanoes as sacrifices, but stopped when Belintar offered himself up and then returned from the dead. Who knows, they might start this practice up again.
  5. soltakss

    Solar Campaign

    2 days is just the start of a thread. A thread isn't dead until nobody has posted for a year, then can come roaring back to life. The thing is, the Lunar Empire is the Dara Happan Empire and the Red Empire is the Emperor of Dara Happa. There is only one Lunar Emperor and that is the Red Emperor, until some way into the future, anyway. Understatement of the year! 😃 Yes, even commoners in the Dara Happan cities can trace their ancestry back to Yelm or his kin. They might not be able to trace it through the male line, so cannot belong to the Yelm cult, but they are still descended. He was a Dragon yet became Emperor. He was an abomination yet could still rule. He was not a real Emperor, although he proved that he was. He was foisted on them by the Empire of the Wyrms Friends, who were a bunch of Dragon-worshipping Orlanthi Barbarians. I see Yelmic justice as being based on a set of statutes and laws passed down from law-making Emperors. However, sometimes later Emperors passed different laws that conflict with earlier laws, then were revoked, or downplayed. So, it is up to individual rulers to interpret the laws. Some laws apply to Citizens of Dara Happa. Some laws refer to people who live in Dara Happa but aren't Citizens, so are strangers. Some laws apply to foreigners, who do not live in Dara Happa. It gets complicated where a transgression crosses those boundaries. So, a Citizen wronging a Stranger might be less punished than a Foreigner wronging a Citizen would be. But, at the end of the day, it comes down to a member of Yelm Imperator making a judgement in a case. in my Glorantha there are appeals and you just get your case heard by the superior Yelm Imperator member, until you eventually reach the Emperor. Lunar citizens can appeal directly to the Red Emperor, of course, if they dare. Possibly, but it depends on the crime and how connected or in favour the perpetrator is. Sometimes, a member of a family that is out of favour suddenly finds that the Yelm Imperator judge doesn't remember who he is. Far more like Babylonians, Assyrians and such like. Think Sun-Priest-Kings ruling from sacred Ziggurats. Think curled hair and beards. Think tunics and togas. What kind of things do you want to know, or want us to make up? Yelm cultists are surrounded by ritual in everything they do. They start off as children but are always taught that they are nobility and are superior to everyone else. They have rituals for everything. Good Yelmic women follow Dendara, the Good Wife, and train to become the wives of Yelm worshippers. Marrying a non-Yelm worshipper is seen as a bit of a let-down and disgrace, especially if they are from a family of Yelm worshippers. Oslir is really important and there are lots of rituals to keep it flowing, to stop it flooding and to keep it in its place. The City Gods are very important. Think of Pavis as a little bumpkin god compared to these. They are gods who live in their cities. One came out to meet the Red Goddess and ally with her when she came to his city. Everyone worships the City Gods, well everyone who is anyone. For the non-Yelmic people, Lokarnos and Polestar are fairly important, but not very. There are lots of solar deities to choose from, but they are all a bit embarrassing compared to Yelm. What about Yelmalio? Who? Oh, that bumpkin god that we ship off to the provinces? you might find his shrine in Yelm temples, but he is just not important. Yelorna? Even less so. Among the peasants, Lodril and his sons are really important and peasants worship him. Women might worship Oria, the Heron Goddess, Pela or even Ernalda. Peasants are dirty ground-grubbers who are far too sensual and engage in dirty orgies. They are not the same kind of people as the Yelm worshippers or the people of the cities. Sure, they feed the cities, but that is their purpose, their role in life, their position. Some peasants worship the Invisible Spear and do secret military training in spear and shield or pike formations. The nobility don't like that, for who wants armed peasants? Nysalor sometimes runs riot and sets enraged mobs through the cities, demanding rights and scaring the nobles, this is a bad thing, of course. Snooty, hoity-toity nobles, even the commoners are like that. They feel superior to everyone else because they are superior to everyone else and don't you forget it. They are descended from Yelm and look down on anyone not descended from Yelm. Even beggars and street urchins are probably descended from Yelm. The Tripolis are cities made of gleaming white marble with golden statues everywhere. Temples are everywhere. Every house has a shrine to Yelm. The might Oslir passes by, full of ships and commerce. Women are veiled, except among the peasants. Men are dressed in clean, gleaming togas or tunics. The streets are literally paved in gold in some places. It's a different mindset. Dara Happan society revolves around the Court. Every house of Yelm worshippers is a Court, with the head of the household acting as Yelm and his family acting as courtiers. Servants and Slaves fill the lesser positions in the court. The head of household's word is law, as he speaks for, and as, Yelm. Orlanthi households, however, are just a collection of barbarians ruled over by petty chieftains with no connection to Yelm at all. Dara Happans love feasts and festivals, but they are not the unruly, haphazard, rough and tumble feasts of the Orlanthi. Oh no, their feasts are planned meals, cooked in the household and brought by servants, served on golden platters. Their festivals honour Yelm and Dendara, the Sons and Daughters of Yelm. Again, they are sedate, well-planned, beautiful things that bring a tear to the eye when you see them. They reflect Harmony and show the beauty of the Court of Yelm. Ernalda was a jumped-up tart, not Yelm's wife at all. She was nothing more than a concubine, brought in to please Yelm, but she couldn't even do that properly. Yelm basically gave her away to that barbarian upstart , Orlanth, because she had no place in Yelm's Court. That is the Dendaran view and Yelm, because all good husbands know when to rule their wives and when to back down, demurely agrees with a decisive and majestic "Yes, Dear".
  6. No, but she was the intended bride of Ralzakark, so it was only a matter of time.
  7. I use the Guide very often, searching for information and research. I don't think I have ever used the Sourcebook for research. Perhaps I should.
  8. I ran a scenario with broos for an online Convention last year. The PCs were Chaos Creatures and at least one was a Broo. They had to find a woman who had been kidnapped by that most fearsome of opponents, a band of Adventurers.
  9. Why would you want to? For Yelm worshippers, Yelmalio is an inferior cult.
  10. Yelm is Illuminated. He died and went to Hell, then summoned his slayer to prostrate himself before Yelm and beg forgiveness for his deeds. he is a god of Life and Death. The only others are the Seven Mothers and they are Illuminated as well. Yelm is the Emperor, he doesn't need the Mastery Rune to show people who is boss. I am sure they will come, as the RQG Rulebook only really looked at core areas. We will probably get a full chargen for other cultures in sourcebooks, we just have to be patient. Then you are playing with minority cultures and will have to wait for them. The Lunars are overlaid on top of the Dara Happans. The Red Emperor is Emperor of Dara Happa first and the Lunar Empire second. he is a Yelm worshipper, or rather is an avatar of Yelm, so is Yelm Incarnated. Many of the Yelmic aristocracy are Illuminated, either through their own traditions or through Lunar ways. they rule in the Lunar Empire because they accept rule by the Red Emperor, as their Emperor. There might be some conflict between them, but not a lot. In Dara Happa, Yelm is in the ascendant and the Lunars are there, but not as anything major.
  11. Yelm owns Fire/Sky so probably should have two. Yelm had Fertility/Life and Death in older writeups, as he is a god of both Life and Death. Yelm subcults may well have Stasis and Mastery. He is the Sun, much of his power comes from that. Also, I wouldn't put too much emphasis on the Runes that spells have. Two cults with the same spell might use different runes to power the spell. This is mainly due to how the cults are presented in the rulebook. Orlanth, for example, has lots of spells, but in older versions Orlanth Adventurous, Orlanth Thunderous and Orlanth Rex were three separate cults, with the Magic Weapons as separate subcults. So, Orlanth used to get a lot of spells from sub cults and associated cults. Yelm is probably the same, with beings like Hyalor, Saggitus, Hyalor Truetune and so on providing spells to Yelm. he also has a lot of Associated Cults that provide spells. Yelm split into many deities who had his powers, so they grant more spells than he does. Many are sub cults of Yelm and provide spells back to him. Just give Yelm Sunbright, or have Yelm having given it to Yelmalio. he might get it back from Yelmalio, anyway. Personally, I feel that Runepspells are too closely associated with Runes. Sure, some spells come from Runes, but some come from the powers or deeds of deities and should not really be associated with runes. in the case of Lock, it is Issaries's ability as a Trader, so should use the Trade Rune, but that has been replaced by other runes in RQG. Because it is? Yelm was the God of the sky, of the Heavenly Dance, of Harmony. He is very associated with Harmony. Had it been Fireday/Death Week/Fireseason, people would have asked "Why not Fertility Week?", had it been Fireday/Fertility Week/Fireseason people would have asked "Why not Death Week?"
  12. soltakss

    Solar Campaign

    It is worth getting RQ3's Sun County for inspiration and then forgetting most of it, as Dara Happa is different in many ways. Dara Happa is made of the Tripolis plus surrounding areas. so, people claim citizenship of one of the cities of the Tripolis, or one of the other minor cities, or one of the peasant areas surrounding those cities. Some might claim membership of the Oslir River instead, of course. Dara Happan city life is very much as any other city life, but cleaner and more golden. The nobility descend from Yelm, or sons of Yelm, or Yelmic Heroes. They can recite their descent, generation by generation, to the founding deity. Many citizens belong to Leagues, which are massive organisations, a bit like clans or tribes but not very much so. They are described in the Imperial Lunar Handbooks for HeroWars/HeroQuest. There are a lot of non-citizens in the Dara Happan cities and they often descend from Heroes and other famous people. They have beggars, thieves and all the other kinds of people you would expect. Dara Happan peasant life is focused on the lands outside the cities, the farmlands. They are typical farmers, but do not belong to clans or tribes, instead they are aligned with the cities, I think. They worship Lodril and the Heron Goddess. In many places, the rice paddies along the Oslir are very important, in other places the wheat fields of Pela are more important.
  13. The people of Caladraland threw people into Volcanoes on a regular basis, not sure if they sacrificed their leaders, though. Belintar came along and volunteered to be sacrificed, appearing again and ending human sacrifice by always agreeing to be the sacrificial victim. The Great Sister performs an Utuma ritual on the Red Emperor in the Hero Wars, following a number of bad defeats.
  14. In my Glorantha, Kuschile Archery is an ability that allows you to use your full ability while mounted. That is different from the version in the rules, that has two different bow skills, which sucks. So, just get Kuschile Hippogriff Archery and you are sorted.
  15. In your Campaign, what happens depends on what you want to happen, what has already happened, what is currently happening, what else happens in the future and, maybe, on what happens in official or unofficial supplements. As you don't know most of those, you don't have a clue on what is going to happen.
  16. I just let everyone roll, where appropriate. If you want it to be harder, just add +10 to the skill of the lead person for everyone else who is helping and roll once. You could use the augment rolls, but I am very much against rolling for augments, as I think that rolls should mean something, they should give a result and not just be rolling for rolling's sake.
  17. In the EU, we paid Value Added Tax (VAT) on Boxed Sets but not on books, so boxed sets were automatically 17-20% dearer than books would have been. I remember some books having a PYOD Logo, for Provide Your Own Dice.
  18. Just add them to the Notes section, if there is a Notes section.
  19. Quite often a son and nephew are treated as brothers, especially if they live together and are similar in age.
  20. I'd give it a lot higher score than that! 🙂
  21. No, in my opinion, they do the farming work themselves, out of a perceived duty to the cult and to themselves. They don't have any real farming magic, so they rely on their own toil. This, of course, feeds in to their martyr syndrome of working hard and gaining no magical benefits.
  22. Yet another thing that Yelmalians do that Yelmalio wasn't very good at. He wasn't really a Templar in a phalanx, offering no such magic, but his worshippers often are. He wasn't really a Farmer, offering no such magic, but his worshippers often are.
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