Joerg

Sounds like a good spell for torturers, too. Not being able to die can be a harsh fate, compare King Vingkot undergoing immolation rather than continue to suffer from his chaos wound. Decay is a form of digestion, and would be a Darkness power rather than Death power. (In fact, applying Death to foodstuff will prevent vermin or molds. Whether it remains nourishing is another question, though.) This may depend on the nature of the venom. Paralyzing venoms are obviously an expression of Stasis. Digesting venoms are Darkness (or Water, if liquefying), and likewise diarrhea-inducing poisons. Anaesthetic venoms might be Death. Smothering poisons that make inhaling worthless (effects of carbon monoxide, cyanides, sulphides, arsenic (oxide), lead acetate) would be what? Inflammatory poisons would be Fire.

The Guide (p.711) mentions Varknathendar as the survival site of the nine Talastaring clans: These appear to be different from the Hagolings. At the time of the Breaking of the Council, the Orlanthi are split into Heortlings (who left) and Talastarings who remained. The Heortling origin of the Dorastan settlers remains unmentioned. The sons of Vingkot invasions pattern nicely to the Dara Happan reports on the loss of Elempur (and possibly Jorganos acquiring the Bow of Yelm) and the victory of Urvairinus (GRoY p.25). I don't see any convincing argument for dissociating these events. There are plenty of non-Vingkotling Orlanthi north of the Vingkotling lands - Sylilan bear people, Vanchite blue deer and raccoon people, Imtherite goat herders. Northwest, we have all those cattle Orlanthi north of the Nidan Mountains. There are plenty "sons of Storm Bull"-like pastoralists on both sides of the Nidan-Western Rockwood range. A lot of them (also) qualify as Hykimi in origin, descending from the One Mountain into the lands of the horticulturalists, creating the old ranchers vs. farmers conflict. Their relation to the Vingkotlings is another question. Sylilans, Imtherites and Vanchites probably were on the dry lands between the Osliran and the Madadan seas, whereas the rest was on the western Greatwood portion of the remaining dry lands. I would place the Hagolings (or their ancestors) on that western dry land. But then, looking at the Dawn Survival sites, the Penentelli of western and Vestantes of southern Aggar According to Heortling Mythology, this was a pass guarded by a pair of mountain giants, and impassable for mortals (though not for the retrieved herds, and neither on their theft by the Enchanter). Odayla's arrow shattered the life crystal of one of those giant guardians. Hedkoranth's Thunderstone beheaded the other giant, then the giant hit by Odayla toppled over in an avalanche that sent the body down as an avalanche of rubble. There is an unnamed twinned sierra east of Soren Mountain, south of Billiz, about straight west of Grizzley Peak (unnamed in the map on p.180 in the Guide) which could be the site of that conflict. Vingkotling-Heortling, at least up to the EWF era. I am not exactly clear what provenance the Old Day Traditionalists overcome by Isgangdrang were (I suspect they were a motley group of refugees from the draconic take-over in Saird and Kerofinela). The settled parts of Aggar appear to be the location of Thrinbarri.

Rereading on the history of the Orlanthi lands of Peloria, I noticed another deity overlooked previously: Senbara, wife of Odayla, worshiped in Cafol (Old, or Larger) (p.321). Clearly an earth goddess: "From here they visit their parents in the Air and under the Earth" Each city of Dara Ni has its own patron deity: Pir in Thubana, Jeru the Staff in Nothium (a god of wine and pleasure), Kistium with its "temple made of water" (presumably to Erinflarth), Suda with its temple of Biselenslib, Everina and (the Manimati entity) Ostodaka whose ribs keep away the river crocodiles. I wonder how the "temple made of water" looks - are these magical walls and roofs made of water? Are they artesian springs arranged in the manner of walls, or alternatively a cunning set of aqueducts constantly leaking out a water curtain to make up those walls? The structure was erected in the Second Age, possibly under the aegis of the EWF.

The origin story of the Talastarings is buried in this story: https://www.glorantha.com/docs/the-missionaries/ Personally, I think they were not directly a Vingkotling tribe but one of the many other pastoralist folks - a splinter of the ram tribe. Not quite Helerings, though.

RQG Bestiary has Vivamorti vampires and Delecti's Dancers in Darkness. Sun County has an ancient vampire in the Old Sun Dome Temple IIRC (select this paragraph to read hidden spoiler text) Cults of Terror/Cults Compendium has the RQ2 Vivamort cult. Read up on Tanisor during the Gbaji Wars (also in the history of Arolanit and Seshnela) and Ramalia. For Nontraya, search this forum for recent threads. P.71 of Fortunate Succession starts laying out the Carmanian dualism mythos, with Idovanus and Ganesatarus sharing the womb of Uleria. On the subject of this dualism, I have started to wonder whether the Fronelan Irensavalist dualism was inherited from the Enjoreli via common Tawari tales about Idovanus vs. Ganesatarus, resulting in Loskalmi Irensaval vs. Makan. Tomaris, the intellectual founder of Irensavalism, was active in the first and possibly second century, after there had been some exchange between bull folk and Malkioni. When Syranthir led his army east, his Irensavalism may have been re-adsorbed by the original dualism between Idovanus and Ganesatarus. This is the Glorantha forum. Where else would you discuss this (outside of a personal blog)?

There are D100 systems which calculate basic skill chance as multiples of attributes, which then are increased by experience. There is just one value, though. Does it have to be the straight ability score? A derivative bonus (or malus) is calculated from basic attributes is common to the D100 systems.

You mean like "The Making of the Storm Tribe"? The "Wooing of Ernalda"?

Yes, exactly. Issaries is the Hsunchen God of the Silver Feet, for instance. And Buserian is as far from being an Orlanthi deity as is Yelm. So, yes, are there other forms of XU that we don't recognize as such? There is potential to look in the way of Malia, for a mythical split. Similar to the separation of Vadrus and Ragnaglar. (Apart from the Initiation of Orlanth, is there any myth which has both of these sons of Umath? Interacting with one another?) Dark comforter, mistress of pregnancy (the perfect midwife), "friendship from afar" with primal Fire. Azerlo does come quite close. KataMoripi might. Edit: and the Aldryami might have her? Ancestral Troll deities are pretty exclusively worshiped by their descendants. While Vaneekara's hurling magic might be useful to other species, I know of no instance where she is worshiped. Jeset might be the most universally worshiped/propitiated ancestral troll deity for his role on the Paths of Silence.

IMO this is really another case of a classical language adjective gone weird. Umbra is Latin for shadow or dark. XU uses that in a vowel-consonant position exchange. There is an Anglicized form, Umber, for the dark brown pigment used by painters. The Indo-European cognates interestingly include "rot, rotten" as meanings - so the term covers lots of what we love about Darkness. And "Umbraism" is hard to pronounce, while "Umbarism" is fairly easy. The Greek term for dark, "skotos", is cognate of Germanic "shadow" or "shade" (German Schatten) and sounds too similar to northern Britain... ZZ and XU aren't exactly troll deities. Like AA and Xentha they are worshiped by the uz, but they aren't among their ancestors, unlike most of their deities. (Aranea, Gorakiki and related beast deities are yet another group of semi-related darkness spirits/deities in the troll pantheon. Finding ZZ elsewhere is easy - the Dara Happans have several cognates of his, lords of their third and fourth hells, and of Alkoth. XU is a lot harder to find, and to dissociate from Malia before her part in the Unholy Trio. She is associated with pain, and overcoming that. Gerra's martyrium resonates with this, but doesn't suggest any identity. Pelorian Umbarism IMO is referring to the Shadow, the blind spot of the Bright Ones, their unknowable. There is a good possibility that Umbarists never achieved any insights into that unknowable, either, other than faith that it held the answers to the failures of the deities of Light. There seems to be some belief in rebirth from Darkness, but that is shared with the Solar and the Lunar religions and of course with the Theyalans.

Two major necromantic entities (Vivamort/Nontraya, Zorak Zoran) are associated with the Underworld, as are the realms of the dead. One problem with the term "necromancy" is that it has plenty interpretations. Communication with the deceased via Axis Mundi or similar means might be regarded as necromancy, as well as interaction with ghosts. Animating dead bodies like apparati, by inserting random (ghoulish) spirits, or by returning a semblance of the previous identity, is another typical effect in necromancy. Draining Life(force) is a necromantic trait. Definitely. And Yargan may only have been the second of the blue people sorcerers. Already King Oronin is likely to have been (or brought) riverine Waertagi with him. The nature of Yargan is less easily recognizable. Yargan was a foe of King Oronin who slew the original King Blue, then sort of inherited the title. This depends on when exactly you place the emergence of Pelanda from Wendaria. Wendaria has all those cute nude folk doing all kinds of First Deeds all over again after being cast out from the functional parent and firstborn son. Not that much in terms of gods-affecting sorcery, though. Lord of the higher energies, possibly more a source of magical energies than of spellcraft. The twin brother of Ganesatarus in the womb of Uleria, according to Fortunate Succession: Carmanian Sources. Basically a necessary pre-read to the Entekosiad. And the Underworld/Darkness/Dead Realms are fairly hostile to the entire concept of sorcery and access to the pure energies. Unless this uses something like the second principle of thermodynamics that says as long as there is a lower level of energies, a flow from the present to the lower level will provide the energy to power magic. YarGan as worshiper of Ganesatarus is a likely candidate to have brought it. It is all very much pre-Arkat. Yes, the faithless guardian of Subere's treasures later known as Vivamort may be a bridge. There is also Brostangius Archmoor, the Hierophant of the Cult of Idovanus, another son of Yolanela, and "seven knights of renown" (Men-of-All of renown?). Guide p.324. And yes, all these boys were born well before 1605. With 10 known sons and probably roundabout a half dozen daughters, it is possible that there are more, younger children (especially among the daughters) which still may have to prove themselves. And how far north? They are the Thunder Delta slingers, with possible paths to Umath even the Orlanthi are ignorant of. While the Char-un come across as a lot less benevolent than Lendarsh and his regime, there is mythical precedent for horse warlord rule in Spol long before Sheng Seleris. Dranz Goloi might be another variant of the horse warlord from the north. Poralistor riverine Waertagi are a possibility. Altinelans are one. Denizens from Valind's Winter Palace are possible. Or a Rathori hero.

I wonder how Hallucinate and dreams interact with one another. Is it possible to enter a dream as a party? Or do dreamers have to meet at dreamside landmarks, as in Wheel of Time? The stairwell that Randolph Carter is using for his entry to the Dreamlands is something I could do very well without... and the nightmare intrusion is something I am a bit unclear about. World of Darkness players might associate this with provoking the Umbra, or the Technocracy through paradox effects. Shamans and other spirit world travelers ought to be able to enter dreams laterally, from the Spirit plane. As dreams usually don't connect to the Ultimate, they leach their magic from adjacent realms - the dreamer and his environs, or the spirit world. Entering a dream would be moving with the flow, leaving it would be against the flow, thus harder. Dragon dreams are different - they do connect with the ultimate. So does draconic meditation. There may be a way to separate from the dream abruptly, possibly causing damage of some kind to everyone affected by this separation (including those remaining dreamside). To a mystic, dreams are a form of entanglement. Both the heroplane and intensely magical places (like the City of Wonders) have been described in psychedelic terms. In order to make the dreamside different, maybe a different approach should be thought up? Most people appear to dream in grayscale. Maybe that old Wizard of Oz trope might be inverted for entering dreamside. When things take on color again, you might be reaching the far side of the dreamside, the Hero Planes, Hell, or other such realms. Insertion there throuh dreaming means that you have at best a hard upstream struggle to return through the dream, but as likely to be lost on the Other Side without (much of) a path to follow. The question is whether dreamers can manifest the world around them after their demand, and whether there is some currency they need to invest to keep their desired features up and running. Dreamside experiences should not carry over magic like hero plane experiences do. They might carry over insights or inspirations, or they might allow transition into a mythic realm which effectly is a hero plane (including all manners of nightmarish hells). If the Ultimate makes dreamside reality fade away, how does dreamside reality interact with Chaos, or with Glamours?

A case could be made for manifested nightmares to be (one-directional) accessways into various hells. Getting out probably requires a form of Shamanic guidance or weaker form of Resurrection rite short of getting a heroquest rescue. I like the idea of Yelm even oppressing the dreams of people. But then, there are far worse imaginable hells than the rather cosy one Yelm conquered in Wonderhome.

The aftermath of the Apple Lane scenario in the RQG Adventure Book gives something like game data for managing a bunch of tenants. Has anybody taken these through a Sacred Season economy yet?

It might be an outdated concept, but there is a possibility that dreams are gateways into Short Worlds, Otherworldly realms that have no direct access to the Source of magic but that feed on reality (and the dreamers) to manifest themselves. As temporary reality, they are expressions of the Illusion rune, and may be collapsed by confrontation to the Ultimate. Revealed Mythologies tells us about the reign of Avanapdur (Lord of Nightmares) in the East as their expression of the Greater Darkness, and of Thella (Theya) who took care of cleaning up the aftermath. Spirits can send messages, and possibly can enable transition into a dream reality. No idea about the actual mechanics involved, though.

The Oronin river, surely? I keep wondering whether the inverted pyramid in the copper tablets in the view from above should have been northwest rather than southwest. (Guide p.115-117)

Sorry, but then the correct Latin would be Quatro-kini. Four-wheeled motorbikes and scantily clad models might be presented together, but rarely with tusks in the mix.

Sharing soup recipes at the campfire? Or are you one of the Silver Horde with their diamond dentistry?

The best opportunity to get some is on the auctions or flea markets at Glorantha-conventions where some may be sold with the convention taking a share in the sales. Ebay requires constant alert not to miss an opportunity... The "buy them all" quest requires quite the monetary sacrifice. I managed to get the Wyrms Footnotes from issue 5, a legit collection of Tales (through subscription and the few reprint (xerox, ring-bound) releases of the first issues) back when supply still was plentiful. The juicy stuff from the Footprints has been expanded in official Chaosium products, now. The Sourcebook has Gods and Goddesses and a more complete Redline History of the Wanes than Footprints ever managed. The mishaps of the Temple of the Wooden Sword were spread out across Footnotes and APAZine contributions, and I haven't yet seen a complete reprint of those. A nice searchable pdf probably would sell moderatel well via the Vault. It gives a quite unexpected Actual Play of part of (?) Greg's Sartar campaign. On the whole, these are collectors' items rather than serious sources nowadays, with plenty of official material available. Some of the scenarios might be extracted for a collection, but quite a few of those authors have fallen out of communication range of the Tribe (the latest such breakdown being the closing of G+), so producing this legitimately is almost impossible. There will be the occasional sale of a significant collection, whether due to moves or more tragic circumstances.

Compared to the hardcover/pdf, the softcover version of King of Sartar had a few differences in Minaryth Blue's "Events of my life", especially for 1630: The softcover version also inserts three years with sacks of Bagnot before it places the Siege of Furthest in 1634 rather than 1632. As you can imagine, having Kallyr active in 1630 created a major headache concerning the mainstream timeline, especially the re-lighting of Sartar's Flame after the Battle of Sword Hill. However, the document doesn't mention any of this, and only attempts to explore the agenda of the author of Composite History of Dragon Pass, and why there are such recurrent discrepancies. The 1626 and 1629 appearances of Moirades remain in the CHDP of the hardcover, and the newly inserted Fazzur piece (a Tarshite source?) has Moirades active at Fazzur's refusal to return to the imperial cause (p.140, IMO the preparations for the Battle of Sword Hill). The Guide agrees with the Tarshite time-line, while all Sartarite sources have Moirades alive and active in 1626. 25 years ago we didn't have a definitive timeline for Moirades. The Guide cemented 1610 and gave us the cause of Moirades' disappearance, introducing his (and Jar-eel's) son Phargentes II. A name which makes the loyalties of the Phargantites in 1625 less clear - were they loyal to Pharandros or to his heroic half-brother by Jar-eel? At age 14 he would have displayed suitably heroic stature already.

Yes, I wrote that. As I state in the introduction, I wasn't able to attend the RQ convention in the US, which dates this to some time between 1994 and 1998, probably tending to the earlier cons. This may have been intended or used for the con booklet.

Yeah, big deal. Two locations come to mind: Altinela, a magical city on the edge of the Earth, with a bridge into heaven, and some Chaos monsters braving the beach often enough to keep the population on its toes, or that miraculous valley inhabited by peaceful broos. Which one is it? But seriously, it's just a week or two since T-Shirt weather. Who would don winter clothing while the sun still lifts above the horizon? I used to work north of the Glacier on the Arctic Circle, although east of the Atlantic.

Quod erat demonstrandum... Je regrette que je ne sais pas rêpondre comme ca, et je ne trouve pas toute les accents. If you already need a parka at this time of the year, where do you hibernate?

You're reading about the wrong barbarians, then. Whether Fafhrd or Conan or Cormac Mac Art or any old Viking serving in Miklagard, these guys were quick to adopt the local lingos when it augmented their access to the local feminity or traders But then, our Bill is only posing as a barbarian. He really is just another nerd stuck somewhere in the vicinity of the Arctic Circle. That's a habitat which breeds Glorantha fans and hard rock bands, and some multilingualism.

Both cases of blue bears are minor subspecies near glaciers. Another sub-species of the black bear unused in Glorantha is the fair-haired spirit bear of the west coast. Their name in the guide is "Orenoar" while the old source text https://www.glorantha.com/docs/hsunchen-peoples-of-genertela names them as Orenrar. Greg could have stumped us with a presence of the Cave Bear or the Short-nosed Bear rather than a blue (moon?) bear, too.

I think that that is a topic of the Hero Wars development in the Empire. There is an agent of the Black Sun active in the Imperial College of Magic, with ties to the world-wide Chaos conspiration and Send Valu. I have to admit that the Black Sun "mysticism" of Ignorance has left me rather uninspired. The most interesting bit about Basko is his mention in RQ Companion's Jonstown Compendium, as the first of three opponents of Yelm (followed by Molandro and Jokbazi). I have taken Molandro to have been the Earth Walker husband/protector of the White Queen. But then, these three opponents may really have been aspects of Yelm that he may have shed.