Joerg

If it has a trunk and tusks, it can be found in or around Fonrit, but mastodons and mammoths are (also) native to northern Fronela. Archaic and less archaic rhinos are quite at home in both Pamaltela and (the woolly variant) in northern Fronela, too (provided it wasn't hunted to extinction by the trolls). The killer pig isn't necessary for Glorantha, we have enough over-sized Tusker boars to populate our semi-wilds. No idea whether there are giant sloths anywhere in Glorantha, and hardly any idea where to look for humped camels. The older, marine fossils are found wherever you have marine sediment - IMO these sediments formed before the Earth broke out of the waters, much like mother of pearl, on a more than continent wide scale. While the Earth Cube was (concentrated) food to the Sea Tribe, depleted debris settled down as sandstone or chalky sediments. Benthic marine organisms would have accreted more of that stuff, also on the flanks and below, and later on in the cracks.

We know mushroom-based drinks of the dark elves. Are there teas with psychotropic or simply bedazzling properties, too, beyond the standard caffeine bush enjoyed in Seshnela and Kralorela? Beers and ales and meads are made from a mash that isn't that different from stewing tea leaves or ground coffee beans, only given some time and the right conditions to ferment. I wonder whether the Gloranthans have a concept of alcohol as being the intoxicant inside beer and wine, and whether they cultivate yeasts or just are lucky to have natural yeasts (or "spirits acting like yeast") on some of their ingredients. (A similar question can be asked about breads - there are plenty of ways for making bread-like grain products without yeasts.) The "Burned Wine" mentioned for the Sartarites doesn't really identify the substance, nor does it tell what fermentation material exactly was put into the still. Giving the dredges a go before feeding them to the swine would be the economic way to go, unless inebriated hogs are part of a traditional festival, sooth-saying or similar. Speaking of wines, there are white wines made from the liquid extracted in the mashing of the wine, and red wines made from fermenting the entire pulp. Which are produced where? Clearwine sounds like a white wine to me. Wines made from other fruit than grapes might offer such a choice, too. But then, most players will only be interested in the results, and how they get served. Is there a culture mixing moderatly heated malty beer and milk? Reading about the maize beer reminded me of the special kick of the Elkoi beer described in Griffin Mountain. Are such side effects still in?

In that case, that's just an aspect of the deity. Really. And if you need to branch off another deity from the list, why LM and not Irrippi Ontor? The name (and original function) of the deity is "sacrificer of cows", the priest. Writing comes as an afterthought, and starts with record-keeping (counting) the tax and harvest. Star-seeing is a special subcult, or possibly hero cult grown big. But yes, Buserian the scribe or archivist is the mask of Lhankor Mhy the scribe, but not the Lightbringer, and neither the Lawspeaker - that's the province of Yelm alone. Buserian the tallymaster, bull sacrificer etc. has a number of other functions not shared by Lhankor Mhy in Esrolia or the far west. Much like the flensing knife isn't standard Lhankor Mhy equipment, either, even though taking off the skin of living enemies for magical writing material is a well-beloved custom among the magical scribes of the West. Makes me wonder why we get Shargash when we have Zorak Zoran. I recognize the pressure of limited space in a printed product, but I really think that we would fare significantly better if we said "these are distinct deities, but in this list of myths we cannot say whether the one or the other is the original actor." The same myths do of course lead to the same magics, so from a spellbook approach (only) this makes sense. In the "Mythos and History" section, the differences should be pointed out, and limitations of the other ones. Elmal doesn't get Sunspear. Buserian doesn't get Lightbringer associated magics. The dragonslaying for the waters (Enkoshons, Aroka, Barntar's Daga quest) is a shared myth between Orlanth, Vadrus and Barntar, and while Barntar might be presented as an aspect of Orlanth, Vadrus is harder to place there. Is Odayla different from Orlanth, Arakang or Rathor, or just the same? IMO both cases are true. Some magic and myth is shared, other parts are unique to a specific aspect and not available to similar entities. The advanced quester or researcher may know how to use or exploit such parallel drifts to switch paths while questing. Some of the standard quests like the LBQ likely have incorporated such sideway switches into their mainstream version.

The Shaker Temple definitely is a holy site to Maran Gor, but it also sits at the foot of Kerofin Mountain, and serves as a kind of "low temple" to the mountain itself. The Necklace of Kero Fin was first mentioned being worn by Aram ya Udram, the leader of the Aramite boar riders of the Ivory Plinth, and human representative on the First Council. Maybe the goddess can. The Hero Wars era book Storm Tribe does present Ana Gor, the aspect of human sacrifice, and makes it subservient to any number of cults that require human sacrifice. Sorana Tor is (among other things) a representative of Ana Gor, at least in her role in the Illaro dynasty.

Traumatic experiences have a way of recurring that is hard to block. Whether those memories remain unchanged, and whether the heroquesting efforts so far influenced that timeless moment, I cannot say, but a mistress race ancestress will surely remember that burning in their collective wombs.

Sorana Tor as dynastic founder is an incarnation of Kero Fin, IMO. All she is wearing is the Necklace of Kero Fin. But Maran has always been a mother goddess, right next to Kyger Litor on the affection scale. That said, she deeply cared about her offspring, the Earth Shakers, and went to the Dark Side as a consequence of their extermination. She might still have appeared as a child. Compare the children of Salinarg, Harsaltar and his younger sisters, forming the Household of Death. I am not quite clear how much the "Child Prodigy" line of kings of the Illaro dynasty still is canonical. The one or two times I discussed this with Greg he was serious about baby boys radiating divine/royal power.

Basically, I made it up. Annilla cult, RQ3 Troll Gods. All of the Elder Giants have a Blue Moon connection. The reason the Cradles are sent down the Pool is to meet the Ancestress. The Storm Age was an age of blue planets (and/or moons) populating the sky, and three years into the Cradle's journey, there is a new blue planet in the sky. While not Annilla's Blue Moon, this event will be significant to any blue moon worshipper, and might bring other restitution projects onto the agenda. She might very well be a preparation for the appearance of the White Moon, or even more appropriate, the Invisible Moon talked about in King of Sartar, possibly providing a body for that incarnation of Lunar power. At least, that could be the insight that Argrath passed on to Anderida. "The Pass Giant said that his daughter would be the Moon to Come. Do not hinder her passage."

Chiming in on this rather RQ-mechanical discussion: If your Red Cow character has gained the "Hate Chief Broddi" passion for some previous hostile interaction between these two, will that person register as an enemy of Broddi every time the spell is cast, or does it only register when said character is prepped and ready to perform a kinslaying? In my reading of said spell, it reacts to "killing intent". The two guardsmen half-dozing before the entrance to the holiest section of the temple aren't enemies as long as they are blissfully unaware of the breaking and entering party. Two other guardsmen already in pursuit of the party on the other hand are actively inimical. Yet another group of guards waking up to an alarm chime stepping up prepared to take on any intruder might register as they radiate a general readiness to get violent with everyone out of their place. In the case of the Disease Master detected by the Arroyan, the person might be glossed over by the spell as long as he doesn't mean to harm the Arroyan personally, but any disease he carries might register on the Arroyan enemy radar.

The giant baby is an incarnation of the Blue Moon Goddess. AFAIK she is the first female giant reported in a cradle. Killing or obstructing this Blue Moon mission might have weakened the Lunar Way. On the other hand, raising the baby in Glamour might have been something to the greater glory of both moons.

I am not sold. Trolls think that this was D'Wargon, the Womb Biter. The wound is way worse than mere deception. Gbaji is a human concept, possibly brought to the awareness of the uz through Arkat, but a secondary one. The uz wouldn't have cared whether Arkat was Gbaji or not, as long as he ended Womb Biter. If you look at what he left behind in Dorastor, you could easily identify Arkat as the true Chaos monster in the conflict. Talor's curse on the Telmori is little better. Nysalor is too bright, and amoral. Good or evil? Most of Glorantha is of the mindset that doing evil to your foes is doing good. I just doubt that the trolls really care about Gbaji. They have their beef with the Bright One. They don't really care much about Arkat's previous cause against the Bright Empire, all they care about is that he led the fight against the Bright (and therefore evil) Empire.

Smugglers could be in the province of an otherwise immaculate trade god, possibly one not directly from around here - i.e. Issaries. Finding a path where there should be none, free trade with no respect for arbitrary regulations, all of that may be an imperial crime or high treason, but it is all within the mandate of the free trader. The thief and burglar could be some form of Orlanth - bypassing the court protocol several times to disturb the peace of the Emperor, absconding with his concubine. Probably came in secret for trysts before he slew the emperor, too. Another great catch-all for the Lunar underbelly are the mobs of Lunar zealots from the lowest tiers of society who follow agitators. Such mobs existed even before the Goddess - several such are mentioned in the Fortunate Succession, often in connection with Illuminated wisdom dispersed (and diluted) to the crowd. While the Anabaptists of Münster are an incident from the turn of the medieval world to the modern world, the entire event had some Old Testament feel to it, also in the punishments for the leaders. Lunar cities have been on the brink of such outbreaks quite often. It is not just the White Moonies who attract weird crowds, the Blood Sun might, too. Add in some Victor Hugo's Paris (Notre Dame de Paris, Les Miserables), again not really period appropriate, but very human stories, hence quite timeless.

While it may be nitpicking, but I am not quite convinced that it was Gbaji who cursed Kyger Litor - that was Nysalor, the Bright One, all on his own, without any need for Chaos. Basically, he used the "Eaten by the Father of Lies" myth known to the Elmal cult since before the Dawn, with the twist that the Black Eater survived the experience (unlike the Father of Lies). That's straightforward Light/Fire vs. Darkness. Burnt from without - Uzko. Burnt from without and within - Enlo. But. Chaos. Broken Compromise. Yadda. Where? Nysalor was a demigod, much like other god emperors (e.g. Takenegi, Sheng, Godunya, Belintar, the Only Old One). Undeniably there was Chaos radiating out from the Bright Empire, later on. And there was Chaos radiating back, borne by Arkat and Talor, and presumably others, too. But none of that manifests at the Battle of Night and Day. That's straightforward Runic hybris like illustrated in the Argrath centerfold in Prince of Sartar: http://www.princeofsartar.com/comic/99-change/

Even if neither you nor any of your ancestors was at the Battle of Night and Day, the womb-biting was shared by the Dozaki trolls, as was the coalescence into the Black Eater. So - there was a battle, against nasty men of fire. There was a way too bright entity that got swallowed, and that then tore out of the womb damaging Korasting's fertility. That entity is D'Wargon, the Womb Biter. Reason for the battle? None needed, nasty fire humans. Name of the foe? Irrelevant. The Black Eater's Darksense image (potentially with a blind spot at Nysalor) of the battle events is available in the Time-less moment, and can be re-lived by the curious and masochistic.

Yeah I knew these enitities but they are second age ones rather than BEFORE Ernalda married Orlanth Silver Age heroes rather than deities, and of mixed storm and earth origin. Humans, mainly.

Welcome on board. At least some of us will discuss everything, and then some...

If it breathes, it is eligible to worship Orlanth used to be the criterion back in the days. That's not really a sexed criterion last time I checked. The great mother goddess has "if it has given birth, it is defiitely eligible" as her criterion. The inability to give birth needn't be an absolute exclusion criterion, but will make acceptance into the cult much harder. Orlanth's duties are a lot softer - he isn't required to fertilize Ernalda (although when that happens, it brings forth special powers), but to provide reasonable protection and material support. Nothing there really requires male reproductive organs. Yes, the peer pressure in a Bronze-Ageish society would be immense, but rebelling against just that sort of pressure is Orlanth's playbook. (And to some extent, Yelmalio's, too, which explains the few canonical Light Ladies).

An R-map of the clans is pretty impossible - while we have some canonical coverage for the Colymar and the Cinsina and some of their immediate neighbors, I don't think we ever saw say a canonical list of Sambarri, Aranwyth, Kheldon or Locaem clans. One simple way to create a map would be to track the clans of origin for the wives (or uxorilocal husbands) of all clans you know. It would tell you which clans either have good relations so that they would prefer to marry off their sisters there, or which have strained relationships which just might be improved by exchanging marriage partners. Exclusive marriage relationships like the remaining one from the Runegate Triaty do throw something of a spanner into this, but that goes for political relationships with clans other than the marriage partner, too. Mapping out the relationships between the 24 tribes would be quite a piece of work already. While fairly often the relationship might be "too distant to matter", this alone creates a huge set of possible relationships. Multiplying the number of participants by six (for a median number of clans in the tribe, give or take one or two) would create orders of magnitude more potential relationships.

What I have been doing (narratively, not yet in RQG but in older versions of RQ, and in HQ) is to treat certain mythic interactions as patterns that may impose themselves on the quest. In that method, it doesn't really matter whether the other myth is just a different look at the happenings of the ones the player party has been experiencing up to that point or whether it is just a superficially appropriate entry from some fluff they brought or accidentally triggered. A sort of derailing railroading, maybe. It takes something like the identity challenge in Morden Defends the Camp to keep on track and to shake off the distraction, or it takes a well-versed heroquester seeing a chance to hop on that new potential and use it to further the goals of the questers (or a personal goal that was included into the total of the quest goals). (A bit like taking Heracles along on the Argonaut journey. You know he is going to be an asset, but you also know you have no way to keep him on your quest for the whole length of it when it comes to his personal challenges. Well, player characters can be like that, too, although they might be more easily brought back into the fold once they achieved their personal goal. Provided the leadership of the quest leader suffices. But then, if the quest is community-based and sponsored, there is a strong element of "executive producers giving dictates to the writing room", to take a parallel from what I learned about how TV series like The Expanse are produced.) At times, questers might find themselves entering a scene on the wrong side, or with a significant twist making it appear that way. This doesn't have to happen in every quest. If it is a simple quest to gain some standard magic, deviation from a myth as written isn't really required. But then, unless the story isn't yet well known to the players, there is little reason to play it out, either. In inverse logic, when the devious GM starts stepping the players step by step through a well known quest everybody knows in their sleep, players might get attentive to what exactly they are doing, and look out for the weirdness to happen. The even more devious but somehow stumped GM might then claim that their precautions spoiled his surprise that may not have been that hot, and stick to the original story. If you play in a living world sandbox where the players have rivals with similar (and on occasion, mutually exclusive) goals, letting those rivals take roles in certain encounters, whether clearly identifiable or just barely hinted at, will be good for keeping your narrative resource list smaller, and for having an idea what those rivals are about to do, and whether or rather when it impacts the player character community, and how. This is of course a lot more fun if the adventures or misadventures of the other party get played out, too. Like two or more GMs communicating about their games if they manage to run them somewhat in lockstep, or perhaps having some game among themselves.

At least the male dark troll (Whiteye?) in the original rainbow mounds scenario had a cave troll female partner and litters of trollkin, if my memory doesn't lead me astray.

But then the Leviathan in Sandy's Gods War and the serpentine expressions of Earth deities could be mistaken for dragons, as well.

P.190, "First Fire Day" (a boxed section).

What do they receive in trade?

Veskarthan and his sons. Veskarthan was half earth after his merger with that foe he wrestled, and his sons were half earth by their ancestry. Thunder Rebels lists the handmaidens of Ernalda and their lowfire husbands. Earthwalkers are known. Tada was one. Whether Molandro is associated with Esrolia is unknown - he is mentioned as second in a line of three foes of Yelm Ascendant, the first being Basko (whose Blood Sun manifestation appears to be a recent addition to sky cult practices in Dara Happa), the last being Jokbazi, who apparently was listed as a fifth hell ruler at some point. Esrolia - Land of 10,000 Goddesses starts off with Harono as the Emperor. Some mythographers might claim that only with the fiery injection of the celestial semen fatherhood and the necessity of males began to figure, but that leaves the way older interaction between the gender-fluid sea and the female earth or earth reproducing unto itself aside. God Learner monomyth canon has Umath as the first Burta (mixed element) birth. It certainly became the signature one, leaving all other such firsts (thinking of the Wild Man of Kralori myth here) as weaker incidents of this cosmic scale mingling. But we do have transitional entities, like e.g. the River Edzaroun (formerly known as Styx) preceding the birth of the Waters of the World. From her ancestry, Styx would be a Darkness Srvuali, a devolved instance of Nakala. From her nature and behavior, she is a Water entity for the Underworld, in a place that preceded the presence of water. In "The Monomyth According to Joerg" theory, there was an age when both Sky and Air were there but not yet conceptualized after the Earth Cube had pierced the Upper End of the Seas and had a surface all to itself. This would be Creation Age according to the few God Learner Monomyth events presented for such a primal period, and possibly setting for the Dragons vs. Giants myths hinted at in RQ3 Gods of Glorantha and the RQ3 Troll Gods Annilla cult. The concept of fathers was not yet conceptualized, either. Larnste caused the birth/growth of Kero Fin by placing a seed deep in the land. One possibility (and a concrete belief among the Beast Riders) is that the Earth Gods were giants.

Actually, I doubt that, strongly. Possession of the Rock Gizzard is the only good point about enlo as slaves, as feeding them doesn't cut deeply into your normal budget of food. On a related topic, I would bet that when you cut open a tusk rider, you won't find even vestigial rock digestion that a mixed ancestry certainly would have produced. And neither in the Ergeshi slave population of Sun Dome County - the human shape of the Kitori should never have had this feature. One possible way for the enlo population of Chen Durel persisting without immediate degeneration could be an unusually high proportion of "superior trollkin", aka multiple birth uzko deprived of the usual nurture for dark trolls and condemned to remain developmentally stunted from that lack. I have similar suspicions about Neep Trollsbane. And if failure to nurture slightly defective or multiple birth Dark Trolls results in superior trollkin, second (or further) generation trollkin litters experiencing nurture from a trollkin mother might fare significantly better than their inheritance would allow than first generation trollkin litters with neglect by a dark troll mother.

No, trolls aren't defined by participating in the D'Wargon or Womb-Biter moment, but by the much older self-perception through or with the Hellmother and the Man Rune. Do trolls far away from the event learn the name Nysalor or Gbaji? Other than through contact with oversea travellers, I doubt it. D'Wargon or Womb-Biter (IMO the translation from Darktongue) on the other hand does describe the experience and the interaction with the foe. Do they characterize it as Chaos or Fire? IMO neither. It is just evil for being what it is. Rather than people, I would speak of ancestral lines. Moorgarki's jungle trolls were cut off from participation through the theft of their Cold powers, breaking the direct link to KL and only affording it through Moorgarki. These true-breeding SIZ 9-10 enlo basically are a success of heroquesting, possibly by unknown enlo mothers, possibly an offshoot of the quest that erroneously caused the multiple enlo effect. True-breeding enlo mothers were not hit by the womb-biter curse, while still-birthing or freak-birthing enlo mothers suffered from it. The Tarmo trolls are the result of the original exodus from burnt Wonderhome, AFAIK. Moorgarki led a portion of them against the south and was badly hurt, then found refuge with other foes of the fire-folk in the south. Not sure about the source, but I seem to recall a project of the Tarmo trolls to use the enlo-free jungle troll strain as fathers to breed an enlo-free population, and succeeding in returning an ancestral, IIRC horned form that has been reproduced a few dozen times or so and appears to breed true. That's independent from the All Genertelan (and presumably also Jrustelan) Feed The Great Mother project laying the foundations for a new race of dark men to supersede the Uzko and their Enlo descendants. Which bears the question how all the blood lines of mothers feel about the perspective of no longer having descendants to promote their spirits closer to the Great Ancestress. From what Greg and Jeff hinted at, this won't be a secret like the Great Troll creation quest. Uzko will no longer receive special magical support to prevent enlo births, and enlo true births will suffer too, so all of uzkodom is doomed to degenerate to unviable enlo within very few generations, then disappear. Cave trolls might persist somewhat longer.