Joerg

Being a GM obsessed with such details, my interpretation would be that for each enchantment process - whether original or subsequent - the person performing the enchantment has to pour one point of POW into the enchantment. That person may bring in additional POW from their own magic, or they may use POW provided by volunteers. Using your own mana is what is required to manifest this permanent (until destroyed) magic in the material world. People are pouring the fabric of their soul into this, then bind it off, separating the item from their own magical existence. Once separated this way, a new bit of that fabric needs to be poured into that item. While this happens, donations may use this connection between the enchanter and the item to contribute some of their own potential to manifest magic in this world. The successful enchantment then severs that connection - if it didn't, the death of any of the creators of / donors to the item would diminish the item in the way that MOB's Humakti Lottery Swords decay. No such effect has been observed for enchantments. In fact, the majority of enchantments worn by RQG characters would be heirlooms from past generations. I sort of disagree with this notion. A destitute stickpicker will (barely) survive on zero L through the (possibly grudging) minimal support by their clan and whatever they can scrounge up. These 50L are what is required to maintain the respectability of a free household. Bling showing off the status, (public) consumption of higher grade food, parading different items of clothing or adornments in social circumstances. A bit like having an I-phone that is no older than 2 or 3 years where an older model or one from a no-name manufacturer provides basically the same functionality. I don't think that you can put a price to the housing, the rights to hunt and gather, the participation in clan and temple rites (and consumption of food sacrifices) that membership in a clan gives you. Likewise, the price for a spear compared to the price for a sword doesn't compute unless the spear tip received the same amount of refinement as a sword blade does. In the end, you get a functional spear by hacking off a mostly straight branch or sapling, removing any branches (removing the bark is already optional) and crafting it to have a point. Given a piece of flint and a hammer stone, this entire process may be two hours of my time, with skills of "craft flint" or "use flint blade" in the single digit percentage. Looking for a suitable shaft in places where lumber is scarce will add to that time, so in Prax a spear shaft may be more valuable than the stone tip affixed to it. (Biturian should really have carried spear shafts and axe handles, or maby just "raws", on two or three of his mules. Low investment - maybe a day's worth of a stickpicker's time for that load even if letting it rest for a winter under a shelter made from evergreen branches is added to the effort going into this, decent return. The stickpicker would in all likelihood strip those branches of the bast, which is used as material for cord or ropes, providing extra income while furthering the manufacturing process.) Spear points affixed to the spear should be the price of the corresponding knife (which needs to be affixed to a grip, too). Good flint was traded almost the same way bronze was traded (except that it wasn't cast into oxhide bars). Pit mines for flint are older than permanent settlements, and there are places where the raw material only needs to be picked up. Taking a piece of flint and knapping it into a functional blade would be the equivalent of us starting up a computer. Okay, maybe our parents starting up a computer. The bast I mentioned earlier can be one material used to affix a tip of a different material (stone, bone, horn, metal) to the shaft. You may want to use some sticky matter, possibly glue boiled out of bone or hooves, or pitch distilled from bark. That's some extra effort, but then producing this material would yield material for several such tasks. The Schöningen spears (pre-glacial spears found less than 400 km south of where I live) are currently the oldest documented spears unearthed by archaeologists. Replicas were made of the same material and tested on ballistic gel and pork sides, and those replicas proved to penetrate several inches when thrown. What's the price for a javelin? And does it have bluetooth to justify those prices? In short, the price for a single spear as per the rules pays for the effort to produce enough spears for a small militia.

Troll gourmets beg to differ.

Dragonewts emerge from dragon eggs resulting from immature dragons engaging in reproduction. There is one myth "blaming" a specific dragon taking the female role in numerous matings with other dragons around Glorantha, leaving clutches of eggs from which dragonewts would emerge. Looking at the head count of dragonewts at the various known surviving populations, I cannot help but wonder how many eggs would be laid in the course or after such a mating. A dragonewt city has thousands of (nascent) individuals active, with the possibility of even more dragonewts between hatchings. BUt then, maybe a pyramid scheme is required for draconic ascension of the top 'newts, a communal effort to channel draconic energies (aka draconic worship) to the rulers meditating to reach dragonhood. Something like this happened in the EWF when humans started to imitate dragonewts in order to become dragons. As to eggs being damaged in a dragonewt hatching - this used to bother me, too. But then, a dragon's egg is already a future dragon meditating or sleeping, manifesting an entity able to interact with its surroundings. I have come to believe that that is what dragonewts really are - a mobile avatar of the hatching dragon inside the egg. Whether that emerges from the egg like a crocodile or turtle baby destroying the egg-shell or whether it is simply manifested, or whether it collects stuff from the outer layers of the egg and/or its surroundings similar to how a True Dragon rising from its meditative slumber is another question. Maybe the hill range that used to be where Ormsgone Valley is now always was the body of the True Dragon resting there, maybe that dragon just pulled the matter there into its physical shape when rising, leaving the enormous depression behind. The Dragonewt's Dream event around 1539 may have stirred up dragonewt evolution quite a bit. But, looking at the Dragon Pass battalia, crested dragonewts still make up 50% of the dragonewt fighting power. Either there is a ratio of lesser developed 'newts towards the ascensions to higher states, or there is a source of new eggs every time a ruler becomes a dragon. Possibly the production of dragonewt eggs is part of this ascension. One thing that keeps irritating me is the requirement of an Inhuman king for re-incarnation. I think that if that was true, "barbarian" dragonewt clusters would die out within a few centuries. One thing we are told is that an utuma - destruction of the worldly form - is required for a dragonewt's transformation into a more evolved form, and that it may take a series of shedding that mortal frame to sum up the experiences of the current stage to progress. The presence of an Inhuman King (or in Kralorela, the Dragon Emperor) appears to ease the re-incarnation to the extent that this rebirth may happen within the time-frame of a military campaign if we go back to our earliest source for the dragonewts, the boardgame (WBRM or its updated form Dragon Pass). Barbarian populations don't have this advantage, putting their nests into greater danger of destruction. There is the rumor that the Elder Wilds dragonewts have found a solution to this problem by loading their eggs on dinosaur herds, making these nests a moving target as these herds wander about those lands. The existance of mortal, one-use dragonewts in barbarian dragonewt colonies seems to defy the nature of dragonewts. And we already have a name for (crested) dragonewts that have become mortal - the term is Magisaurs.

IMO pretending to hunt domestic animals would be a travesty to Grazer / Pure Horse customs. Raiding settled folk and taking their stuff by force is acceptable. There is a taboo to herd anything but horses, to milk anything but horses. There is no taboo to hunt other beasts - antelopes, deer, bison or wild boar all are fair game and a welcome part of the diet. The Grazers have gone at some lengths pretending not to be the descendants of the Pure Horse Folk of Second and early Third Age Prax. They were the first humans to re-enter Dragon Pass after the Dragonkill, They were a desperate bunch of survivors, a fraction of their former numbers, and a fraction of their former herds. This seems to be a pattern in horse nomad history - possibly harkening back to what they experienced in post-Flood Dara Happa in the Storm Age, definitely what they were facing after the Battle of Alavan Argay which removed them from their overlordship over Dara Happa, and what they faced whenever they had succeeded to repeat that conquest for a while. Every single time almost the entirety of their military age male population was wiped out, and without protection a lot of the rest of the population was killed or enslaved, too. Their herds were diminished in a similar way. And still, often less than a century later, they would return in great numbers and do what they did before, or at least attempt to do that. When they entered Dragon Pass, they underwent ritual adoption by the immortal Centaur king Ironhoof, and they accepted a Centaur undergoing a magical separation into horse and rider as their new king, if the Pain Centaur story in King of Sartar is put into some perspective. A mythically true action, undergone by a martyr hero for the newcomers to the land, a feat of transformation in the heritage of Joraz Kyrem of Pavis and foreshadowing the actions of the hero Sartar. Their original range was all of Dragon Pass. The trolls had lost their ambition along with a majority of their fighting forces at the desastrous action at the Smoking ruins, after they had culled the Tusk Rider influence in the Pass region. The Beast Folk of Wild Temple coalesced into Beast Valley - not exactly giving up on the rest of the Pass area, but making themselves a lot rarer outside of that land. (Still, when Arim the Pauper entered from the Sairdite lowlands, there was a centaur roaming near the northern end of the taboo zone of Dragon Pass, and Beast Folk are likely to wander into human farmland to this day on occasion.) Yurts, horse herds, and hunting wild animals for additional meat was how the Grazers spent the first 80 years of their presence in Dragon Pass. There may have been feral domestic cattle in the region, or possibly there were domestic cattle herds under centaur or minotaur herdsmanship. I am not entirely clear about whether domestic beasts raided from neighbors - be they sedentary Orlanthi farmers or Praxian beast nomads - would be acceptable sources of meat for the Grazers. Driving them back to the camps for slaughter might be stretching their Pure Horse ethos, but butchering them within sight of their owners seems to be a good way to lose your raiding bands to punitive counter-raids. Killing those herd beasts without taking any meat or hide would be a statement similar to Praxians letting horse carcasses rot without touching any of that, but I fail to see how their earth mother goddess would approve of such behavior. Agriculture and even nomadic gardening are taboo to the Grazers. Harvesting wild (or rather feral) grains in a gatherer mode is acceptable practice, though, while being a low status endeavor. Getting serfs to do that for the horse-riding nobility is a lot more acceptable, and of the first Orlanthi immigrants to post-Dragonkill Dragon Pass many ended up as walker slaves following the yurt camps of their horse-riding overlords rather than doing any sedentary farming. (I think that they would have taken up nomadic gardening, preparing a harvest for a return later in the nomadic cycle, after learning about the rhythms of those wanderings decided by the alpha stallions or mares of the horse herds.) I don't think that the Grazers have ever given up on having walker slaves accompanying the yurt camps. They may recruit these from captives from campaigns or raids to non-Vendref lands rather than taking them from their serf population, though. This is similar to the Praxian Beast Nomads never depopulating the Oasis Folk at their oases. They may take occasional individuals, but they make sure the "herd" of gardeners can regenerate between their visits (and I suspect that most Oasis Folk children have Beast Nomad fathers). The Vendref fare better than that, thanks to their protection by the Feathered Horse Queen. Camp slaves don't have those privileges, though. And I don't see the horse rider nobility accepting children from walker slaves into their ranks. They might set them up as Vendref, but that feels a bit unlikely, too. Vendref plow, which means that they are allowed to breed draft beasts. In case of oxen, they need to be allowed to keep at least twice the number of oxen they use for their grain farming in cows for breeding new bull calfs designated as oxen, and a few for breeding. These are more cattle than you can keep around your village all through the year, so even Vendref have some transhumant herding in the higher pastures - probably pastures less suited for the horse herds, although when I look at documentaries about mustangs in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, there is no great difference between those pastures and the Alpine high pastures of Bavaria used predominantly for cattle. The Vendref are taxed grain (for the horse herds) and probably some hay, too, so they will have to provide farming effort for herds they don't profit from. That puts a strong limit on how much they can prosper from growing grain, which they are still forced to do. The way to prosperity among Vendref is through crafts and trading. Unlike the Mongols, the Grazers don't appear to have a smith caste among their riders. Vendref do repairs and production of everyday metal items, while more elaborate items may be imported from urban crafters in the surrounding Orlanthi lands. Places like New Crystal City in the Esrolian North March may have entire streets devoted to providing Grazer art on everyday metal appliances, imported by thrifty Vendref traders, possibly on the backs of donkeys. No idea whether Grazers approve of mules - they might be less opinionated about jennies. Stallions do what stallions do, after all. IMO Grazer society is a lot less warlike than the Dothraki in Game of Thrones. Their cavalry is still feared for its speed and control over their steeds, and extended Grazer raids are probably as damaging to the lands of sedentary farmers as are Dothraki visits. Not sure about sabres or long-hafted blades for the Grazers. RQG gives them broadswords as cultural weapons, alongside the expected lance and bow for sun worshipers. No tomahawks, as far as I can see. IMO there is a big sense of entitlement among the horse rider nobility. Lording over non-riders is the natural way of the world. Learning the difference between grazing areas and grain fields probably was a long process. The Vendref may have to prepare some grain fields not for harvest but for pasture, not having to harvest those fields (but having to provide the seed for next year's green cereal pasture). I don't expect Grazer cuisine to have much in the way of grains - those go to the horse herds, and come into the diet as horse meat. Horse meat is a staple of the diet, possibly with special breeds not for riding but for meat, hides and possibly milk only. Herbs, edible roots and leeks possibly make it into Grazer diet, collected or even cultivated by walker slaves. There are crafts that are reserved for riders. Bowyers and fletchers, working horse hides, butchering horses. Possibly some weaving on portable frames or using plates, creating clan-specific patterns. Possibly making pens and brushes out of horse hair.

It could be by merit. Something similar happened to Harmast Barefoot, whose tribal (Berennethtelli) tattoo altered slowly but decisively into that of the Kodigvari, causing all manner of adverse reactions when he toured Esrolia to fight the drought caused by Palangio (?) in his Niskis the Lover rites. Having a movement rune tattoo (for instance, chosen because of the greatest similarity) metamorph into the Sartar rune without intercession of a human tattoo artist could be seen as proof of descent from the royal house, regardless whether one's biological ancestors even ever had been near any descendants of Sartar.

Those cities popped up even before the first people started talking and thinking in Auld Wyrmish. Possibly already when Palangio ruled over the Heortlings and Manirians as demigod conqueror, possibly setting up administrative centers. Bbut then, the high king's stead at Korolstead and other such places probably already had spilled out of their hillforts or filled the enclosed pastures up to the brim with housing before that. The Kingdom of Orlanthland had no kings but was ruled by a ring of priests, and it appears that unlike the Grandmothers' Councils in Esrolia votes did not require unanimity but simple majority (otherwise the Old Way Traditionalists would never have been persecuted). The hero who ended Arkat's Command would normally have been the prime candidate for the post of High King, but instead he became a Great Living Hero, receiving somewhat widespread worship from the people of Orlanthland, turning him into a demigod-like existence. Possibly to make his feat of thwarting the Shadowlords available wherever needed, thwarting uz demands everywhere. Later, in the EWF, members of the ring would receive such worship, too, enabling them to take on great dragon shape defending the EWF. The Ponzi scheme accusation may have come from having to support a great number of such people upon joining the EWF, and not every place received its own dragon emperor. Thieves thrive on trade. Lanbril has a parasitical relationship to Issaries and Argan Argar. The Market spells of Issaries prevent them from performing theft or sabotage inside the market area, but that protected area is limited in its expanse. People will have shops or warehouses outside of that, and that's where protection money, shoplifting and burglaries happen. One problem here may be wyter awareness. A city's wyter cannot be a 24/7 thieves' alarm, and neither can a clan wyter alert for predators or cattle raiders on distant pastures. We know of thieves - mainly the Orlanth / Desemborth kind - that enter clan settlements and steal clan regalia, presumably out of the clan temple. Without using arson as a distraction - the point of the exercise is to get inside, grab the thing, maybe defeat a single guardian or two in a non-lethal manner, and then schedaddle. Obviously, this cannot be done if clan wyter can pinpoint any intruder's position. So how would people go about this? A Eurmali might accept (the lowest form of) hospitality and then break his vow. These guys have nothing to lose in terms of honor or standing. A Lanbril thief may not wish to incur such curses. A parasite doesn't cause its host a major immune reaction. A few exemplary burglaries and protection money in between such jobs go a lot further to keep your sorry gaggle fed. You'll have to defend your turf, though. An Orlanth thief is all about honor and fame. He's the type to leave his trademark item behind, trusting on his reputation and his community to deflect any persecution. He may use Darkwalk or similar to enter and leave to avoid detections.

That's the one, yes - one of these you win, the other you lose, if you are well-mannered, and your opponent is, too.

Even Brithini scripture (that of the "Malkion son of Aerlit and Warera" type) assigns a different mother to Dronar than to the other sons of Malkion. Still, these original stock dark-skinned Dronari should be the main worker class population in Brithos and Arolanit, and the two crafters in Akem should be of their type, too. Unlike the Vadeli, none of the Brithini castes other than Zzabur and possibly Menena should have any sorcery (or other magic), and in orthodox Hrestolism the men-of-all should have at least basics of sorcery. The question remains whether there are more stand-alone sorcery spells like the common version of Open Seas available to people from any orthodox caste. Personally, I would expect some craft magic along those lines - knowledge of sorcery, but no deeper understanding.

Possibly a piece of zebra hide, which is a pattern of harmony runes, or representations of the Issaries rune (missing from the rules). Both of these have been established by the magics of Joraz Kyrem, formerly of the Pure Horse tribe, and zebra riders are often hired as heralds for diplomacy between hostile tribes, despite (though originally possibly because of) their connection to that unnatural city inside their ancestral lands. Both Trade and Harmony are good runes to show in any such parley situations. Truth is another one showing sincerity, but doesn't really indicate abstaining from violence on its own. Heortlings and Esrolians might use the Peace Rug, found in Thunder Rebels in the obscure Ernalda subcult of Orventili Peace-Maker. Orlanthi Lunars and Yelmalians in Saird ought to be familiar with those rites, too. The Imperial Sigil (i.e a representation of Imperial authority, for whichever current holder of that power) might be used in quarrels between factions in the Empire (Lunar, Dara Happan, Carmanian). Not helpful in rebellions against that authority, though. Offering libations might be a good opening - hospitality rites are fairly universal, and offering some form of "field hospitality" might be a way to start negotiations. Hard to do outside of bow range, though. Possibly offering these libations to the land, to the ground the meeting is desired. Pamaltela south of the mountains has the Meeting Contest, which probably has initial stages that signal that a non-violent contact is desired. No idea how those might look, though.

I would GM this that Charisma from Ernalda has to go through Fertility, Charisma from Yinkin has to go through Beast, and Charisma from Eurmal has to go through Illusion. The side effects would show, too - although all three of these sources bring sexual tension into the recipient of the spell. Which spells exactly are granted to an associate cult and who decided on that (for the cult write-ups) is not quite clear to me. And it is possible that subcults (below current publication thresholds) may have other associate gifts than the main cult. The Tales of Tat and Tol, the sexual escapades of (too) young Orlanth and Yinkin, may be found in the Niskis the Lover rites, where Orlanth might receive a bit of a cat-eared and -whiskered sex appeal from his furry brother. But then, Eurmal is as likely to appear in the Tales of Tat and Tol as he is in the tales of other Storm Village residents (Vinga, Babeester Gor). While Orlanth reproduced with Heler on several occasions (one of them being the Orlanthi myth about the origin of clouds), I doubt his sexual adventures with Heler were limited to Heler's female forms and shapes. Their sister Inora may have seen something more than innuendo, too - deities (and demigods) have much lower incest taboos than ordinary mortals (whose ordinariness might be the result of such breeding with limited amounts of ancestors). I don't see any scenario where Ernalda would lend her version of Charisma - the leash by which she holds her protectors - over to one of her protectors. No worshiper of Orlanth would get to use Fertility to roll for the Charisma spell in my games. YGWV.

Griffin Mountain or the Guide are the main places I would use to look up information on the Elf Sea. The Sourcebook mentions (presumably human) cities on the Garsting shores of the Elf Sea destroyed by the horse rider Opili Nation during the Third Wane. The depopulation of the upper Arcos Valley may have played a part in the breakdown of trade there. The text in the Guide suggests that the outbreak of monsters in the Elf Sea is rather recent - it might be tied to the destruction of those cities, if you like convoluted theories. Elf river traffic on portable boats of theirs went up north on the Arcos, and also was portaged into the Oslir River catchment area, Looking at the rivers in the region, distances from the Soldier Ferry waterways feeding the Elf Sea into the Oslir catchment area are significant. Three rivers might serve as entryway to the Oslir river - Red Wyrm River (a tributary of the Black Eel river in Saird), Isildon River in Imther (near Hortugarth), or Green Vale River for a portage route north of the Imther mountains, prior to Jannisor imprisoning the Mad Sultanate horde in Tork. It is possible that (prior to the Lunar Empire) elf boats had something of a monopoly on the upper Arcos river trade, much like the riverine Waertagi had on the Janube, Poralistor and Oronin rivers and the Darjiinians on the rivers emerging from the wetlands of Darjiin and Doblian (which had been a single expanse before the Yolp volcanoes were raised in the Storm Age). The Oslir had many boating peoples coming together - the Nogatending swimming bird folk from the Black Eel River, Darjiinites, riverine Waertagi, and boating elves. There are few inland bodies of water that are more likely to be home to blue elves in Genertela than the Elf Sea, but the presence of Elasmosaurs (the only Bestiary entry mentioning the Elf Sea) and other such large predators may have taken its toll on any such population. Then there are the Water Wyrms, who appear to be sapient enough to have rune priests. But then, Murthdryami likely have the equivalent to war trees in their kelp forests - vines able to grab and drown intruders. When it comes to water beasties, you could use giant insects from Troll Pak and add two pairs of legs to arrive at crawfish monsters. The Great Diving Beetle and its larvae (which are resembling the Alien monsters in look and behavior) are frightening as is even at small scale, imagine them huge. Likewise for the larvae of giant dragonflies. Then there may be entities whose bodies are made up from water. Water nymphs have undine bodies, but less pleasant to look or meet water spirits may exist, too. Basically take the nymph stats but make them vengeful drowners of people - there are the Rusalka of slavic myth, or similar entities like the Neckr from Germanic myth (I think detailed in RQ3 Vikings), and I seem to recall a mention of the Celtic equivalent somewhere in the D&D monster manuals. Possibly a refugee population of water spirits after some of the Dara Happan, Carmanian or Lunar purges of Water spirits in the Oslir catchment area, with a deep grudge similar to that of the Hellwood elves in Dorastor. Irrigation is a foe of the wilder entities of rivers and wetlands. While the Weeder civilizationin Dara Happa may have lived in a balance of propitiation and warding against them, the wet farmers may have gone towards subduing those they could and killing or chasing off those they could not. The Pelorian rice belt is ancient, it dominated the Golden Age civilizations of Peloria on those river or at least connected wetland valleys which somehow seem to have pre-existed the coming and taming of Sshorga. Myths or histories almost write themselves. The Glorious ReAscent of Yelm hints at a Golden Age civilization in Dara Happa with humans created by the gods farming rice using gazzam - IMO fluffy downy dinosaurs, creatures of the lower heavens akin to horses and birds - the court of King Gryphon (the version on the Gods Wall, not Galgarenge), maybe. Possibly alongside bird-headed or -bodied folk from the earliest Golden Age, another form of lowest heavens denizens now lost to myth and history. Northern Peloria was the first battleground where the Chaos horde led by Wakboth and the Unholy Trio destroyed the world and its memories. The Rinliddi folk may have a few fragments of knowledge of an older avi/dinotopia in northern Peloria, before Umath's birth caused a first flood, his demise a huge impact crater, his grandson Valind froze over the place, and his other grandson Wakboth erazed many of the barely surviving entities on his way to the Celestial Court. The lost urban Arcos civilization (Jarst and Garsting have little in the way of cities left) may have remembered more, but hardly anything has been published about them. There was no urban civilization in the region after the Glacier, when the Starlight Ancestors (of several of the later horse warlord people) roamed those lands, but urban culture was re-discovered later on. And conquered by horse warlords, and destroyed by horse warlords.

An Orlanth initiate wishing to cast Charisma has to do it through Eurmal's Illusion rune rather than any of Orlanth's runes (although I would allow Mastery if a player had somehow managed to acquire that rune that isn't in the rules, yet). Interactions between deities may very well be seen as Storm Bull wielding a fragment of Orlanth. In the mundane world, I don't think I would spend too much finicking on whether different cults' magics do stuff to the caster. In a magically more sensitive environment, like on a heroquest, the origin of the spell might have way more tangible consequences - possibly leaving a character echo temporarily altering the characters temperament (as expressed by their power runes). (That would mess up non-elemental cultists, though...)

According to History of the Heortling Peoples, in the years after the Machine Wars, the Hendreiki apparently got into contact with Alakoring and the Old Day Traditionalists north of draconic Kerofinela, and the cult of Orlanth Rex made it across Dragon Pass just before the EWF collapsed to the mass utuma. The short-lived tribal kingdoms following the mass utuma of 1042 apparently also adopted the Orlanth Rex model rather than retaining the priestly council of the Kingdom of Orlanthland, and many of those folk had managed to flee south before the True Golden Horde arrived in their lands and triggered the Dragonkill. Hence the wide-spread use of Orlanth Rex tribal kings in Sartar. Vingkotling lineage kingship has been rare within Time. The House of Sartar apparently used the Orlanth Rex rites while taking Vingkotling inheritance into consideration for the candidates for Orlanth Rex kingship. Yanasdros of Tarsh probably claimed Orlanth Rex magics as well after taking over the throne from his resigning father. No idea whether he had a twin sister high priestess of the Shakers, or whether the term "Twins dynasty" referred to its founders only. The administration of Heortland under Belintar and his governor kings is still quite hazy. The cities here apparently were administrated by mayors who would be in charge of the city militias, too. The surrounding rural clans may have not have tribal kings but may have looked to the city administration to take that role, or Belintar's officials in the cities. Alakoring - the chief missionary and possibly creator of the Orlanth Rex cult - was a Ralian Orlanthi. The concept of these quite absolute powers may have come from influences of the more solar oriented Enerali. Jonating kingship appears to have a linealist approach, much like the Sartar dynasty, in this case leading back to Jonat Big Bear. The Command Priests magic certainly is attractive to their approach to kingship. Living just one mountain pass away from Alakoring's homelands, I am fairly certain that they had time to encounter and - if desired - adopt the concept of the Rex kingship. Oranor I am less sure about. They are pretty isolated, and Harmast may have been pretty much their last contact with non-Malkionized Orlanthi. Caladralanders don't look to Orlanth for leadership.

Where does it say so? P.315 of the rules says "Rune magic spells can be stacked (combining several castings into one) if the spell is described as stackable." (Emphasis mine) Several castings doesn't mean several rune points, but several times this specific rune spell (or a compatible spell) being cast on the target, as I read this sentence. I agree that spirit spells like Protection, Countermagic or Spirit Screen cannot be stacked with other castings of the same spell. Protection or Countermagic can be stacked with Shield (with Countermagic acting strangely in all these circumstances). And still, only one casting of say Protection can be stacked on top of Shield. If you cast a Protection spell on a target already protected by a Protection spell, in order to take effect your new Protection spell needs more penetration than the existing spell has in order to replace it. Equal or less points, and nothing happens, and the ongoing Protection won't be extended. I don't see this provision for Shield spells, though, which are written to be stackable with subsequent or pre-existing spells. These pre-existing spells will have expiration times different from the new casting. Slash is a similar case. "Each point of Slash increases the damage done by 1D6." doesn't say that all points need to be cast at once.

Does that temple have to be a temple of my primary god? Can a worshiper of Orlanth go to an Ernalda temple supporting an associate shrine to Orlanth and another deity and get the associate spell from that other deity? Seems to work for Barntar and Heler, I believe. As I read the rules for spells that stack, not in a single casting. It looks like it is possible for several people to cast Shield on a single recipient and have those castings add up, so it should be possible for a single caster who has Shield from two runepoint pools to cast it twice. The subsequent casting would need to be boosted to overcome the previous stackings' cumulative Coutermagic effect, though.

Killing that shaman's body may not end the possession, or does it automatically? There are ghosts of shamans who still have their fetches, basically twinned entities in the spirit world. The status of being a ghost usually indicates that the body of that entity is dead. But then, shamans are known to be able to self-resurrect, and it isn't entirely clear whether they require their complete former body to do so.

The end of Jrustela may be connected with the first return of Waertagi from Hell after fleeing into Magasta's Pool. Releasing the collective destructive magic of their race did not free them from Zzabur's curse of the Closing, though, so either those first returnees perished in the destruction of Jrustela along with the human population of that place, or they took another descent into the Maelstrom to emerge a few decades after the Opening, or perhaps triggered by the return of the Boat Planet.

Patterns in the web of Arachne Solara, emerging shapes that attach themselves to foreshadowings. There is that prophecy by Isidilian that foreshadows the heroes of the Dragon Pass boardgame. Perceiving these patterns or developments may require special senses, or the perception may come as a revelation unasked for by the (random?) recipient. As such developments are emergent, taking away some of the strands of the web may alter or even prevent a prophecied outcome. Sorting out prophecies from nightmares may be problematic. Possibly, parallel observations might be needed. But then, there may be nightmarish memes afflicting multiple recipients, too. Shamanic sendings can be of such a nature. Finally, a prophetic perception needs to be communicated to become a prophecy. Things beyond normal experience need to be put into terms of communication or recording modes unprepared for such content.

Orlanth Rex kings become the high priests of Orlanth, with the magic to command other priests of the tribe, putting them into the same position. Political or military power (backing) is required to access such a position in either case. I wonder about the next ranks in upper management, though. What are the magical powers of the mayor of a Sartarite city confederation? There are three such offices in Old Sartar, and we know the name and character of the mayor of Wilmskirk in 1613. Not exactly Orlanth Rex material, but then like many tribal kings or clan chiefs a compromise candidate under the watchful eye of the Lunar occupators. Tribal kings are supposed to gather behind a confederation mayor (at least, when there is a prince from the Sartar dynasty - not that Kallyr actually managed to gather entire city confederations with their full militias behind her).

That's sort of the point of having these events - people having these problems, or in case they don't, creating repercussions from that absence. Neither Humakti nor Eurmali have any compunctions about killing - that's what their (adopted) magical identity tells them to do. They may regret losing the people killed, but they would still obey the imperative. "Just following orders." "My god told me to do this." "My oath to my leader required me to do my duty. A pity that the person I fought was kin." (That's from the Hildebrandt-Lied, about a champions' duel between father and son who had been separated for decades, but recognize each other before engaging in that duel.) This warrior's code is alien to most of us. Yet people flock to characters who are defined by their cultural and/or personal codes of honor, which may demand loyalty even to a leader who does terrible things. Which may require them to perticipate in such a terrible thing before seeking release from that oath of loyalty. This isn't very different from running in a criminal gang, like say the fictional bikers in Sons of Anarchy. Those characters are relatable villains rather than heroes. Many of the role models of Glorantha (the cults) project alternate ethical values on the characters. The "runes for temperament " rules system ad the passions offer rules mechanics for guiding player characters in ways probably different from their players' experiences and values in their daily life. Taken to the extreme, a Dara Happan character might consider free will for the lower tier population a sacrilege and atrocity. A Westerner would be more shocked by caste transgressions than forms of intercourse or reproduction our society regards as untouchable. The Galvosti mindset declaring outsiders as valid tapping targets is fascist to the nth degree, but then you meet Brithini who tap just about anything, but who define themselves as the good guys compared to the Vadeli. So yes, the Orlanthi are way more ecologically correct when their raids slaughter their victims in the hundreds and carry off prisoners for servitude or ransom after having slaughtered their kin, and they don't usually feed those prisoners to Chaos horrors or temples altering reality for magical convenience like the Lunar Empire does. Glorantha has themes similar to playing people under General Custer's command following the Civil War, or colonial officers or administrators of just about any colonial power in the late 19th century. And possibly any time outside of that time frame, too - you could be marching with Cortez or Pizzaro, or play early colonists teaming up with one group of natives to eliminate another one for the price of a winter's survival. You can play the role of the explorer - Captain Cook, Alexander von Humboldt, Robert Peary, Dr. Livingstone, interacting with the natives from a position of enlightened superiority (?). You can play the role of the traveler becoming an official or advisor of a local power, like Marco Polo or Emin Pasha. All of these themes can be played in Glorantha as well. For instance, roll back a bit and join Tosti Runefriend in his studies of Kralorela and its draconsm before his return to Jonstown. Take the role of a Belintar loyalist striving to keep a semblance of order in Kethaela, interacting with the other Sixths from that "superior insight". Travel as one of Sartar's companions, doing the (dirty? clandestine?) side work that enabled this magician to found one of the most advanced Orlanthi kingdoms in the world. Possibly do so in flashbacks while descendants of these characters deal with the rise of Argrath (to finally come back to the topic of this thread).

I think that the Lanbril cult is really a collective of hero and/or spirit cults under a loose common roof. Lanbril thieves are organized, which makes them different from Eurmal. They don't bother with upholding culture or in fact anything outside of their immediate "family". (I co-authored a piece in the Tradetalk fanzine exploring variations in local thief gangs in Kerofinela and Kethaela.) Eurmal has his reare moments when he cares for others - his titles of Firebringer and Friend of Men in the West make him a Promethean character (possibly one subsequently corrupted by the punishment inflicted n him for robbing the secret of fire for humans (humans not created by or descended from the fire gods, like Logicians or Hykimi). Orlanth on the other side of the responsibility and organisational spectrum cares for a greater whole than just the most immediate followers. Also, he identifies as a warrior first and a raider and thief second. So, what about Lanbril as the one common deity between those different hero or spirit cults? The Lanbril cult in the Pavis box has rune lords who can operate independently or attach local thief rings to their activities. How real is this overarching, singular cult?

The games I am playing don't usually involve participating in genocide, or even ethnic cleansing like the 5-eyes temple scenario in Borderlands. I don't really use broos in my scenarios, either. I'm on the record for suggesting a villager campaign for (a feudal version of) Rokari Seshnela which deals with such topics: http://glorantha.steff.in/digests/HenkDaily/v940418p1 The same post shows how a Storm Bull berserk might be brought to research Praxian Golden Age poetry. All of that is happening in a setting which has these bouts of horror and genocide. Basically, go to Sandy Petersen's youtube channel Sandy of Cthulhu and listen to his tips for using horror in your gaming. (I am still stumped why these videos get as few views as they do...) Playing with things that make you feel uncomfortable doesn't mean it cannot be a pleasant experience in the longer run.

He's not yet the great hero. But then, all of his growth happens off-screen - there are lists of his exploits, but there are no stories about how exactly he achieved those, except for a few (mostly still future) bits in Argrath's Saga. Narcissism is fairly common in heroes - compare Ethilrist for narcissism turned up to eleven. Surrounding himself with characters like Elusu, Annstad, Rurik, etc. won't reduce those tendencies. Add in any player characters once we get a glimpse at some of his achievements in the shape of playable scenarios.

Stickpickers don't usually get access to "Enchant" magics, that's restricted to runemasters who by definition are of a higher social standing or shamans who have a different, but also elevated standing. I don't see any stickpicker sorcerers happen. One thing a GM might want to consider is letting people donate POW to pay off weregeld or ransom, but not at a rate of 200L per point of POW - those are for high ranking specialist magicians like rune masters whose time and POW regeneration is way more valuable than a mere troubleshooter PC's, and yet more than a stickpicker's. I did point out that IMO low ranking clansfolk are likely to be magical folk to get a day or two in the course of the year, and that they are likely to spend a significant amount of POW for those moments of respect and glory. They might even be treated like adventurers or at least sidekicks of adventurers wrt POW gains etc., but that may at best lift them up from destitute to poor standard of living. And as soon as that happens, they are no longer stickpickers, so that silly situation doesn't crop up. Holy folk usually create magic items tied to their cult, which makes them loanable to cult members, but not really sellable, or usable in a ransom or weregeld situation. Neither would their spending of rune points or casting of one-use rune magic be counted at adventurers' buying prices. I bet it is possible to get clandestine castings of rune magics at prices wildly different from listed prices. The cost for an aldryami spell for plant growth from an Issaries merchant (via Spell Trading) may be a lot higher than trading for some directly with your own Issaries magic or that of your Issaries retainer. Retainers' services are bound to cost less than hiring folk just for a single service. There are other costs, as having a retainer is a long term expense that goes into pension territory. On the other hand, a person who has retainers will in all likelihood also have retired retainers to take care of, or their dependents in case those retainers lost their lives during service. Maybe it's a zero sum difference in the end, but creating possible story elements for players and GMs to exploit. (And I love "building" style games, whether in role-playing or in computer games.)

So Verithurusa did not rise again after giving birth to Umath's child? The Lunar goddess turned red before she became corpse blue.