Joerg

Once more in the correction thread for Earth Goddesses: Note that this is the cult of the Tusk Riders, a demi-human race of people descended from the Aramites. The Bestiary tells their own version of the history of Dragon Pass, and the claims by the cult that Aram-ya-Udram was the founder of the EWF results from that version of their history. The earliest history of Dragon Pass was printed in the board game White Bear and Red Moon, and that version named the Empire of the Wyrm's Friends as the only predecessor civilization in Dragon Pass. But the EWF was present only for a much shorter period in history. It was the successor of the Theyalan civilization of the Heortlings and other Orlanthi in the region. Naming the earlier history the Empire of Wyrm's Friends was a political fiction bowing to the greatest human empire in the history of the Pass region. Aram ya Udram had a hand in creating that human civilization. Aram was a Silver Age hero, probably born in or before the Greater Darkness, and human representative on the Unity Council in the first century after the Dawn - possibly until 170 S.T. if I recall the availability of the Necklace of Kero Fin correctly. He was one of the lovers of Queen Merngala, the queen who resettled Nochet from the Obsidian Palace where her predecessor Norinel had led the survivors of that city when her husband Kimantor could no longer defend the city (or its outlying farming area) against the monsters. At some point, Aram hunted down Gouger, the God Pig, sent to destroy three cities where the people no longer paid the proper respect to Ernalda. Using a darkness demon Aram had bound earlier, he killed the Earth Avenger that had gone on a rampage of destruction beyond its original task, and from the tusks of that boar the Ivory Plinth was shaped on top of an older low ziggurat. At some point, Aram became the lover of Sorana Tor, the avatar of Kero Fin - possibly as reward for his action against the rampage of the God Pig in her domain, and was gifted (or loaned) the Necklace of Kero Fin. After 170 S.T., Aram was no longer alive. His followers and descendants became the Tusker-boar riding humans of Dragon Pass. A descendant fought in the Battle of Night and Day around 380 S.T., leading the center of the Heortling and Troll forces, with 400 boar-riding warriors. There are no accounts about Palangio's retribution against the Aramite humans. After the liberation of Dragon Pass and the victory over the Bright Empire, civilized Aramites became a warrior elite in the urban culture of the Kingdom of Orlanthland. Tribute from Dara Happa helped fueling the rapid urbanisation of the Dragon Pass Orlanthi. This urban culture predated the discovery/spread of draconic thought and Auld Wyrmish among humans by at least a century, and it was not before 700 S.T. that the first dragonspeaker became a member of the ruling council of Orlanthland. Another three generations later, the dragonspeakers had replaced the traditionalist Orlanthi on the council, and the Kingdom of Orlanthland finally became the EWF. In the Machine Wars of the early 900s, the leading EWF hero was an Aramite by the name of Varankol the Mangler, a Great Living Hero (i.e. a mortal receiving worship by a cult, enabling him to perform greater magics than humanly possible). While not a draconic mystic, Varankol was a citizen of the urban EWF and profited from its accumulation of magical power, aka the Proximate Holy Realm (at the expense of tributary provinces in Peloria and Ralios). When the EWF collapsed in 1042 and the EWF cities were raided by the vengeful Pelorians (Sairdites, Carmanians and Dara Happans), the urban Aramites would have been its best defenders, and possibly bore the brunt of the onslaught. With the magical crops and magically enhanced livestock powered by the draconic magic failing, the enslaved EWF citizens carried off into Peloria were spared a period of famine and deterioration that those left behind were suffering, with many fleeing south into the powerful Hendriki kingdom to escape starvation. The humans who remained in the Pass adapted to the old ways of pastoralism and agriculture, with the once proud cities deteriorating into half-empty fortified towns occupied by farmers managing the surrounding lands. They too acepted the leadership and protection of the Hendriki kings. When the dragonkill struck the invading True Golden Horde, few of the human defenders of Dragon Pass were remaining. The dragons kiled all the humans that remained on the land, but spared those who had been changed by the magics of Remakerela. Among these may have been the Tusk Riders, descendants of Aramite Tusker boar riders, possibly changed in the image of Varankol the Mangler who was said to have had the tusks of his boar implanted after it was killed in the Machine Wars.

While I have some sentimental fondness for King of Sartar and the scholarship it incited, the meat of it is more clearly found in the Sourcebook History of Dragon Pass, the Colymar history in the Colymar Adventure Book from the GM screen, and the Argrath Saga in the prophecies appendix in the Guide. Nobody needs any ambiguity about the date of the demise of King Moirades these days.

The RuneQuest post-mortem stat deterioration is the real problem here - there is 1D3 stat loss per day regardless whether you refrigerate the body or leave it marinating in the sun, and the hit point recronstruction will be taken care of by a Heal Body before the Resurrection is enacted. Heal Body may even re-attach lost arms or limbs pre-resurrection, provided they are available, and should be able to reconstruct any gray matter splattered by that troll maul RAW. Deezola offers Resurrection, but on a one-use base (unless that is about to be changed). Usually the temple would prefer to contract a healer of Erissa or Chalana Arroy if a Resurrection attempt is to be made, or ask a rune lord to attempt a Divine Intervention. IMO the "heal all damage" step might be the critical failure point. How can a dead body respond to a healing magic? Would it be sensible to heal a dead comrade on his way to the CA temple immediately after the combat? Can a three day ripe body benefit from the healing magic? Would the embalmers use heal rather than thread and needle to reconstruct the dead? Will Heal Body cope with straw fillings? With limbs or even necks Glued into place?

Personally, I would place RQ2 Troll Pak before the Guide, possibly even before Cults of RuneQuest Mythology, because it offers an excerpt of all of Glorantha's myths and history from the troll perspective in a very accessible way in Uz Lore.

Orlanth's ethics have no problem with stealing from "not-us", whether alive or dead. Ernalda or rather her mom Asrelia may see this a bit differently (once something has been given over to the Earth, it belongs to the Earth, and if it has been given in holding towards the afterlife of the deceased, Asrelia might be contractually obliged to pursue thieves). My question here is what do the people who bury their dead with ostentatious grave goods expect the deceased to do with the equipment? The Greek obolos for Charon served to allow the deceased to pay the ferryman. The warrior who is cremated or subsequently buried alongside his favourite items doesn't have the physical body to wield or wear any of these items. The items sacrificed this way do follow the deceased into his afterlives (five souls and a spirit - which one gets to carry the stuff? Or does everything go to the afterlife of the deceased's main cult? Are there reusable grave gifts, used in the burial rites but retrieved before "sealing" the tomb? Are there clay figurines of items representing the real thing in the afterlife? Are there Fresco-covered death houses depicting everyday life like the Etruscan tombs, suggesting that the painted stuff becomes available to the dead?

Kargan Tor appears to have fragmented or split up like in crystal refraction into multiple entities as Death was removed from Subere's Vault and applied to Grandfather Mortal. Hence we have Kargzant Lightfore, Karrg Litor, Vivamort (Kargan Tor derelicting on his post on the Spike - an accurate description for the guardian of Subere's Vault going AWOL), and of course Humakt. The copying and multiplying of Death in the Sword Story is another clue towards this.

@scott-martin So are your Gorakiki trolls more the equivalent of Praxian Beast RIders or Pure Horse Pentans than ersatz insect-Hsunchen? Gorakiki the overall herd mother, the aspects the different beast tribes with their two-legged sibling/companions?

What I meant with that different angle is that potato bread is not something common but (like in Japan) a rare foodstuff, the source of Lunar indoctrination through the Teelo Norri soup kitchens. It would be a communion with the Moon, of sorts, rather than just getting hungry bellies filled with starch (and little else of nutritional value if cooked, and potentially poisonous if not cooked).

If you are a practitioner, you might use chips in sacrificial and/or necromantic ways, like in one of Ben Aaronovich's recent offerings in the novels.

For an alternative explanation, there might have been a devastating potato blight in the Storm Age, leaving none in the world of Time. For those who want potatoes for her Redness and Blueness, maybe there are potatoes that are protected against that blight by moonglow. E.g. in the sacred gardens of the Reaching Moon temples, giving that theme of potato bread a different angle. If you want more potatoes, you might take the plot of Jabberwocky and turn it into a massive heroquest. Derobe, enter the underworld, release Gbaji, ride the hummingbird, you know the drill.

Argan Argar is deeply intertwined with the Theyalan or Unity Council. While the deity himself wasn't present for the Unity Battle or I Fought We Won, his son/avatar Ezkankekko (The Only Old One) was, and probably shaped the cult. The Kitori Shadowlords were keeping the books on the Equal Exchange between the survival sites in the Silver Age and the Dawn Age. The act of reading is a magical dedication to the Lord of Knowledge and Literacy. It may be low level, but it is done all over the world. Whether all the literates go to visit a shrine to LM regularly to deposite a certain amount of magic points is a different question. I would not be surprised if some form of offering would be included in certain AA rites, though. There ought to be a hero who developed the writing of Darktongue in darkness. There is a good chance that this entity does receive associate worship in AA rites.

Argan Argar has a literacy requirement for initiates and upward, which means they are lay members of LM almost by default. AA seems to be the go-to cult for troll literacy, and the cult is known to make the best use of trollkin, e.g. with the introduction of the spearkin.

Unless they had the need to pay for mercenary services from normal state coffers. Glorantha is built on myth and fallen civilizations. Esrolia was another solar-dominated patriarchalic place before Orlanth freed Ernalda from Harono, and that civilization may have spread beyond just modern Esrolia.

Does that mean we should drop it?

If we are talking tubers, why not something like topinambur (also called Jerusalem artichoke or earth apple)? The plant is from North America, which is generally a good reason to have it in Glorantha. It looks a bit like small sun flowers, possibly reflecting that "seeded by Lodril" better than the poisonous tomato which is grown for its tubers.

These would be luxuries or contractors for citizens and necessities for visitors and non-citizen residents.

The "thieving Vanchites" are focussing on the sneaky aspects of Orlanth Adventurous, possibly contributing one or two of his general feats. Predating the Lightbringers is a given - they formed up only in the closing parts of the Greater Darkness, even though they show up in Orlanthi Storm Age myths from the start. Any of the mammalian totem deities in the Theyalan belt are aspects of the Storm God, whether the boar of the Entruli, the bear of the Sylilings or the ram of those who would become the Vingkotlings. Or the goat god of the Imtherites. "Pre-dating" has a difficult meaning in Godtime anyway. Orlanth has taken over the Storm King role pretty uncontested, with none of his brothers interested in royal authority (although fiercely competitive for the role of the alpha male). The most spectacular squabbles were between VIngkot and the Grizly god whose body makes up Grizly Peak (a place that should be rich in bronze as a consequence), and later on the pigs vs. rams conflict for Arrowmound. The Jajalarings are maybe the least Storm King animal totem in Peloria. Humakt has wolves as allied totemic beasts, which might be another lost storm tribe with his severing from the Storm Tribe.

The Vanchite ancestral totem is the Raccoon, and they are Orlanthi. Of course there would have been a raccoon aspect of the Storm King, just like the bear.

Hon-eel's twins share their shrines with Daylight, the child of the Most Reverend Horse Mother by Golden Bow, a deity revered by them. While the nomads may dislike Hon-eel for her role in the Night of Horrors, her divine children should be part of their pantheon, too.

Given Belintar's Proximate Holy Realm, I would be astonished not to find a Kargan Tor athletics arena in his City of Wonders. Quite a lot of features from the Celestial Court would have been reflected in Belintar's magical architecture, quite probably with contributions from Panaxles and Sestarto.

Orlanth assisted in the "birth" or rebirth of Oslira when he broke the spine of Sshorg(a) with the Dragonspine. Orlanth is mythically dominant or at least present all the way to Jillaro at least, if only in his ursine or coonish incarnation downriver. Whether this midwifing earns him an associate position is a different question. I have seen suggestions that Orlanth taming Oslira is a mythic equivalent of introducing irrigation in the Orlanthi lowlands on the upper Oslir.

I wonder whether shamans with a spirit community rather than a human community would be feasible.

@Nozbat There is Urvantan in the second scenario of The Smoking Ruins, a centennarian or so Rokari sorcerer with spells, runes, techniques etc. well crafted, and also an opponent from a different sect whose abilities don't quite match his spell collection. Sorana from the pregen characters is an example for a part-time Lhankor Mhy sorcery user (in the Core Rules, some other versions don't give her sorcery).

What do you do with the rest of the harvested grain, linen, or cabbages? We have heard about temple and city granaries. Do farmers keep considerable amounts of their harvests in their homes? When the (French) Catholic Church required the shepherds in the Pyrenees to yield every tenth lamb, there was a great upcry and many shepherds fled into Spanish lands or even switched to Catharism (about half a century after the great Cathar crusade, full well realizing the threat of inquisition), according to that excellent litle book Montaillou. Which means your lambs/piglets/calves get tithed again. For herders tending clan-owned or tribal-owned herd beasts, there is an additional draw from the beasts they raise as dividend to the temple(s). But then, most of the regular slaughter will be done by and in the temple anyway, and only the autumnal culling of the herds adjusting for winter fodder may result in more beasts slaughtered than required by temple services. Richer farmers/herders will specialize in providing specific sacrificial beasts for certain services, like fur color requirements (or auspicious beasts for a rite). Providing sacrificial beasts is a form of status achievement, even for a tenant. Each clan (or grouping of temples) seems to need its own initiate of Waha. That makes home slaughtering a bit problematic, unless Barntar or Ernalda offer the Peaceful Cut, too.

Dara Happa has had gladiatoral games ever since Emperor Elmexdros, with blood (not necessarily lives) shed for the glory of the emperor and his war gods.