Joerg

The Palantiri aren't really that original - crystal spheres have been used as props by wannabe psychics for centuries. Probably a myth formed from the first magnifying lenses. Given that Arolanit was part of the Middle Sea Empire, I see no reason why the Brithini portion of Akem should have been an exception. Akem appears to have been the homeland of Talor, even though he went on to become the king of Loskalm after his return from Dorastor. Apart from Sog City itself, I see no reason why it should have been a region apart. Skiing elves would be Vronkali. These and green leaves (rather than conifer needles) somehow don't go together well... It is clear that Harrek's army wasn't part of the nascent Kingdom of War. Rathori culture is used to cooperation with the aldryami, no idea how much Harrek retained this stance. The swallow might be the most elegant aerial predator. As a symbol animal, it does have its problems. Here's a suggestions: It is a migratory bird, present in Loskalm only in the summers. Which means it may have been absent during the Ban, but re-appeared after the Thaw. The re-appearance of this bird might have been seen as a sign of a new age of normality and goodness. Summer has returned, and by golly, this brotherhood is going to spread it to all the lands. I found myself confusing it with Thonble in Maniria part of the time. It helps that I vocalize both these lands with a long "e" sound. Given the origin of the wizard order brought to Kerantos I wonder whether Malkionism in Jonatela is Hrestoli Makanism rather than Irensavalism. It does seem to share the doctrine of wizardly celibacy with the Rokari, though - this wasn't the case in the Seshnela of Hrestol's Saga, where a wizard accompanying Hrestol on his first war as a warrior was the son-in-law of the kingdom's supreme wizard Xoranor. Or was blessed with Star Captains.

That was my thought/impression. I'll admit that I missed that reference. I was wondering whether this referred to the Spirit Bear blonde variation of the American Black Bear when I researched the Blue Bear that lives among the Rathori, another such subtype (called Glacier Bear in Wikipedia).

Harrek being kidnapped would be contra-indicative to him killing the designated target rather than simply annihilating his kidnappers when he comes to. IMO he would have to have been ensnared and outwitted with generous doses of sex, drugs and release of mindless violence, perhaps like the legendary hashishimi. (Repeated sets of several dozens virgins worth violating would be reckoned acceptable maintenance cost for a heroquester like Harrek...) Promises of magical power to be taught and raided would keep Harrek in the game for a while, but I guess when he killed Ignifer without getting significant magical power or secrets from this he rage-quit and stomped back to Fronela. ("If killing their emperor remains an empty victory, there isn't anyone in this bloody empire worth the effort." or something like this.)

I guess now it is my turn to say that this isn't such a great deal. Snodal and his companions go on their heroquest and slay the God of the Silver Feet. From the way his band is described, I would guess that it was a band of heroquesters from different parts of Fronela.- Irensavalist Loskalm doesn't sound like it would have had priests, and other city states north of the Janube would have been threatened by the White Bear Empire, too. I am not sure whether Snodal had told them about the map he saw in the Altinelan library, or whether he suggested this joint venture as a strike against the unity of the White Bear Empire. (The latter surely succeeded, beyond expectations...) The mention of his tomb indicates a burial there and not just an empty casket, so we can assume that his body either never left Ease during the quest (which would be possible if the questers started in a way similar to the Orlanthi holy day mountain flight). After slaying the God of the Silver Feet, their return to their bodies probably was as much sabotaged as the land of Fronela. They may have been returned as ghosts, caught in the misty borders between the fragments of Fronela and realizing the effect their deeds had on the land. Their lifeless bodies would have been buried (or cremated, or whichever rite was appropriate). I interpreted this as the Sweet Sea shore belonging to Peloria rather than Fronela. The Sweet Sea has a history of altering the extent of its shores, and maybe this swamp-lands are within the border that the Ban refered to. Another possibility is that the Sweet Sea shrunk when it lost its connection to the adjacent Fronelan lands. The flow of water down the Janube during the Ban brings up an interesting question whether the river really was a continuous water or whether some heroplane river emptied from one misty border into the river bed and left into the misty border on the other side. Did people send messages in a bottle? Did any such messages wind up anywhere? Most interesting here is that apparently this is entirely accepted behavior for Loskalmi nobility and warriors. At the same time, Snodal's professed marital fidelity to a woman that had aged forty years when he himself emerged maybe five years aged since his departure is a major point in the bits of Snodal's saga as offered by the Guide. Marital fidelity is expected. Does this pertain just to the other sex? But then we have no idea about Gundreken's marital status. Could there have been separate dynasties for northern and southern Frontem? The description of Northpoint says: Janerndal revolted in 943, which means that Northpoint was used by the God Learner faction. His might have been the other God Learner dynasty, a rebellion against the decadent Emperors rather than against the God Learner movement. Isefwal is specifically mentioned as having been replaced by Panosket/Southpoint. I am more reminded of Eurmal's Remove Body Part feat. In Fronela Eurmal is seen as the Friend of Man, a cultural hero.

Basic Role- And Adventuring Playing?

Apparently Harrek wandered through the separated parts of Fronela as if the Ban happened to someone else. There is no way he could have entered Jonatela from Rathorela before 1616, yet he was active there before he even went to the Empire. Looking at the map of the Thaw, I think that it doesn't conform to the text in a number of places. Stomble looks as if it opened to Loskalm rather than Jonatela. The Thaw towards Congern's kingdom may be hard to map, but if Stomble was annexed before Okarnia emerged to the rest of Fronela in 1616, the 1616 thaw line should be outside of Stomble. The Thaw of Akem around Sog City contradicts the Thaw date given in the Sog City description. Tracing Harrek's journey through the Ban is pretty hard, given the vaguness of that map. There is no way he could have entered Jonatela, unless Timms is all that he visited. If Harrek emerged in the Arrolian territories out of the mist at the borders, he would have stood out as heroquester extraordinaire. Note that it is the satrap of Darjin, homeland of the moon boats, which hires Harrek. Moon boats, into the Arrolian territories. At some point, Harrek grew restless in Jonatela, despite its internal thawing and opportunities for plunder and heroism, and ended up somewhere where moon boats traveled. The irregularities of the Jonatelan thaw might well be a result of Harrek's presence, too.

Harrek’s timeline appears to be somewhat erratic. Sometime between 1594 and 1607 Harrek roams Jonatela, which still is under the Ban. 1607 he slays the Red Emperor in the service of the Satrap of Darjin, Feathered Eye Woman. 1609 he slays Rathor and binds him into his skin, worn ever since. 1612 he roams around the Kingdom of War. 1615 he leads an army to plunder Sog City. 1616 he leads the fleet of Wolf Pirates against the Holy Country. 1617 he is on Ygg’s Isles, becomes champion of Ygg and leads half the population south, plundering Arolanit and Seshnela, making a short trip to Jrustela (leaving behind some of the Yggites at Ginorth and Gothalos?), and takes up residence at Three Step Isles. 1621 he starts his circumnavigation just in time to take Garrath Sharpsword and his gang over from the Giant’s Cradle. By 1624 he has plundered Teshnos, Teleos, Yanchi, Fonrit and Curustus, has left Hunralki in Pithdaros and joins Broyan for the battle of Pennel Ford, then going on to plunder the remnants of the City of Wonders. 1628 he fights Argrath in the Rightarm Isles, then goes on to plunder Muse Roost. At some point he plunders Boldhome and becomes persona non grata. 1631 he returns to Banamba, adding his own element of destruction to the Chaos Wars between Afadjann and the free Veldang. Some time after Muse Roost he meets Jar-eel in the Battle of Heroes. 1628, before the sacking of Boldhome? I wonder whether all the dates are that well considered, or whether the 1616 raid wasn't checked against his Fronelan dates.

Rathorela during the Ban: Were only the Rathori asleep, or did their hibernation fall onto the other Hsunchen and the 100 k Vronkali?

Akem: I was astonished to see that according to the map Sog City was Thawed only in 1589. The text says it was Thawed in 1582. I'd guess the text wins, and the map might need some re-doing. The Halkomelem tappees get to wear blue. Does this make them some sort of honorary wizard caste? More Fronelan deities: p.215 (Krotnon Bullrider): Orlanth of the Flaming Bolt: interesting feat. Who did he strike down thus? Baklene: besides the already mentioned Drona and the Boar we get Eurmal, the Friend of Men. Sounds like a firebringer cult (and confirmed in Jonatela). Definitely not known in Sartar or thereabouts. The Boar is named Bakan in the Oranor entry, and we get three more names: Oran instead of Drona for the First King, who married Frona, and Ladaral, the quenched volcano god of Sog City. Cedenelists: Zzabur as the bad anthithesis to the Good World. I wonder why this philosophy isn’t mainstream. Molene’s Worlath henotheists: another juicy Malkioni creed that deserves a greater distribution. Tetlor, with a Katharian/Perfecti form of Irensavalism ruling openly. Dalsard and Donaros: two former capitals of eastern Fronela, depopulated by the Ban. Vindoket adds another such city. Given that the cities were empty and not just degenerated, the populations might hide somewhere on the Other Side. The Old Ruins near Gladfield add another bullwhip-and-fedora site for adventuring… Jonatela: Harrek entered long before the Thaw, and before he slew the Polar Bear God. How much bear does he need? More Gods of Fronela Vorthan, the war god of the Red Planet, worshipped in Jonatela. Why not Tolat? That god was well-feared by the Malkioni. Bakan, the Phallic Boar, of Bakanos [p.224], brother of Frona. Ganestos (of Enneserah, p.225), who stole the secret of bronze from the dwarves. Ganesatarus? Eurmal Friend of Men? Meranos: Hykim as father of men, and Eurmal firebringer. Redelos: Redal the Bear, the theist variant of Rathor (one might guess). And the Badalisc, a bad trickster entity. Srodosite: another Malkioni philosophy/heresy. Jonat Big Bear enslaved the Yellow Bear. A precedent for Harrek?

Fronela suffers from a few too well known names from beyond Glorantha. Turandot, priestess in Melekaros in central Fronela: Nessun Dorma? The Persian poem is about a Russian princess, which makes central Fronela more appropriate than Puccini’s Chinese version seems to suggest. I note King Turan II of Jonatela (p.224), so the "Turan-Dokht" (daughter of Turan) might actually work. Fir Bolg in Loskalm? (ok, Firbolks… p.208, Jarinsland) Bishop Hatto’s Mouse Tower (p.212)... But first a few other observations. Ozur Bay is about as wide as the North Sea between East Anglia and Belgium, or Skagerak and Kattegat south of the Oslo Fjord. That's quite a gap for a "continuous" kingdom, and there would have been only the straits (Golden Gate) where naval contact between north and south would have been feasible. And still risking to get under the influence of the Closing. p.201: The Rathori thrived? They slept! If someone in Rathorela thrived, it would have been the aldryami or the minority hsunchen. Unless all of the land slept. p.205: Twin demons of Concord: I learned a new Spanish word: Pendejo. And I hope never to find demons spelled Greoj or Retragmuab in an official Glorantha publication... Gods of Fronela: Plenty of discoveries, starting with Croesa on p.206, apparently worshiped already when Varganthar established his palace there, followed hot on the heels by menhir-building King Drona (in Dorsomon, and further east again, with more details, and without the name but recognizable through his boar companion in Thantom, p.211.) Himtals: an Enjoreli citadel. Like the Enerali and the Pendali, the Enjoreli were city-builders. I wonder whether this is in part an inheritance from Kachisti refugees among their numbers. Combining the folk of King Drona (with their Seshnegi appearance) and the menhirs also mentioned for the Enjoreli along Karmadon Valley, assuming this Kachasti identification of King Drona gets a few more points. The Noyalings of southern Tastolar could have deserved a small boxed text. Semi-nomadic musk ox herders and hunter-gatherers, builders of hill forts (though apparently not of the megalithic tombs of Agnost, which may harken back to King Drona). Skut Island (Alcatraz): Loydam the Green and the six sons of Skut dueled, and apparently all found their death (counting the cairns). Godtime heroes? Spada: is it intentional that the foreign hero Avalor lost the second a in the Fronelan text? His appearance here explains a lot about the abductors of his wife. Into the Wastes… and way beyond. Horned giant guardians/guardian giants: One in Tarins, one in Easval. Anywhere else? Is there a king list for Fronela or at least Loskalm? For the Third Age I found Orvmat, Orval (brother of Snodal), Siglat, Ampral, Gundreken

It is quite possible that everybody will houserule much with this new edition of the rules. Still, we can expect gloranthafied Sorcery rules, gloranthafied Shamanism rules, cult write-ups we haven't had before, and scenarios and bestiaries with both old and new illustrations. Even if a different system gets played, people will want these rules as reference to adjust NPC and monster stats to whatever version they use. We hppe for new blood to pick up these rules and the world. Such players are going to use these rules as their basis, although house-ruling will creep in. So what. Given the way BRP rules work, it will be hard to tell which rules fragments you carried over to which edition - 3 to G or G to 3. For those of us hoping to publish a RQ scenario or two, the new rules will be what our scenario should comply except for non-profit self-publishing on a website.

Going into hibernation unprepared means death, probably slightly postponed by premature awakening and desperate search for some sustenance. In German, zoology has different terms for full hibernation and a much less deep sleep with occasional periods of activity like e.g. squirrels perform, looking up their hidden nuts and acorns under the snow. It is Dark Season -> Storm Season -> Sacred Time -> Sea Season. Going to sleep in Dark Season and waking up for Sacred Season would necessarily mean sleeping through Storm Season. Meteorolicically, waking up in late Storm Season would make sense for short sleepers. Mythically, the seasons do map on the Ages (as per the God Learner Maps plus Green Age), but in inverted sequence: Green Age - Earth Season Golden Age - Fire Season Flood Age - Sea Season (no equivalent) - Sacred Season Storm Age - Storm Season Darkness Age - Dark Season This doesn't offer easy "went to sleep in the Lesser Darkness, awoke at Dawn" conversions. Hibernating beasts or plants would gather as much energy as possible during Earth Season. Plants will have grown their fruit, but might collect some starting capital for next spring. Herbivores will gorge themselves on the fruits (nuts, grains), thinning out the seeds for next growth season. Few warm-blooded carnivores will hibernate as winter offers plenty victims to the cold to scavenge on. Mammals may enter hibernation pregnant. I wonder how the Earth Shakers deal with the cold season. Before we learned that most dinos were basically primitive birds, we would cheerfully have them go into a similar cold apathy as other reptiles, but those covered in fluffy downs might instead huddle like penguins. Some seasonal migration might still go on. Ormsgone Valley might have hot springs thanks to the closeness of Krisa Yar, offering some external source of heat against total shutdown.

and Bear Hsunchen. Some of them for over a century, during the Ban.

I think it is a limitation, as these shamans won't be able to capture enemy non-plant or non-darkness spirits easily. I agree that potentially friendly spirits will be abundant in their home turf.

Except that Christian magic doesn't work with rune cults. Saint cults offer limited forms of Divine Intervention rather than reproducible spells, and the church in general offers blessings and curses pronounced by the clergy. There is of course folk magic, blessings (turned into modern day greetings) like "have a good day" or "bless you" or "may god shelter you", and weak to middling curses ("to hell with you!" "may <supernatural demon of your choice> fetch you!"). Whether or not to assign game effects to such utterances is a design decision for any medieval RQ game in a christian setting. Let's put it the other way around - a Catholic would have a hard time retrieving a saint's blessing from a Calvinist chuch. Calvinists don't receive blessings from saints, but possibly from communal prayer at church. They might use white sorcerous magic for their thrift that comes from guilds - work rites that don't just address material needs. Catholics will have access to these, too. Saints' blessings may be tied to contact reliquiaries, and may have long lasting effects rather than combat-round ones. No idea about the Alternate Earth setting preferences for cult interoperability between Romans and Greeks - probably depends on whether Rome has already conquered the Macedon kingdom or not. Within the Empire, interoperability was high, except for mystery cults. Germanic tribes apparently had a pragmatic relationship with their gods and would abandon a god if another offered better benefits. I don't think there were any mentions of temples to Germanic deities in Cologne, Trier or other Roman cities in that area. (The Danubian part of the Limes was mostly Celtic tribes.) This indicates that they either used old sites outside of the city, or otherwise participated in the Roman temple ceremonies. In Glorantha, all trickster shrines are separate cults, and will initiate almost any trickster of sufficiently bad reputation after an initial test/prank.

I used to be tasked with tracking canon before Moon Design took over Glorantha, working on my index (now lost, at least all the additions since putting it online) , so be assured that I care about canon. The pantheons as presented don't reflect any single practise anywhere in Glorantha. They are outsiders' observations and conjecture, as @David Scott pointed out. And the guide doesn't give us much about the Otherworld reality of Glorantha. There always was meant to be a companion volume to cover that, which Jeff has put tremendous work into already, like in expanding the Prosopedia from measly 16 pages in Gods of Glorantha to a booklet of its own while still being a work in process. So, we are talking about yet unpublished supplements for a yet unpublished game, RQG. I expect those supplements to state that whichever way the cults and deities are presented, these will be either specific instances of a cult in a place and time, or otherwise they will be generalisations with plenty ways of local variation, and hopefully some examples thereof. If a cult accompanies a scenario setting book, I would expect it to offer a fairly accurate representation of the local form of the cult. If it is a general overview for the magic supplement of the game, there are likely to be generalisations. Cults with different runes are a thing. These are called aspects or subcults when you insist on having a greater, overarching structure in an organized religion, such as the Earth Cults of Esrolia. Don't expect such a thing for the storm cults of Orlanth, though. I have called the Orlanthi praxis of specific initiation as pantheistic monotheism before - all the other gods are accepted and worshiped, propitiated or counteracted, but the initiate and devotee will reserve their otherworldly identity for that single cult. Pelorians don't form these exclusive bonds to a single deity. I expect all the various game systems, whether HeroQuest, RuneQuest Glorantha or 13th Age Glorantha, to offer workable player magic for such characters when the publishers get around to cover that region. This may prove something of a rules challenge in both HQG and RQG. And there is a solution to that - limited truth through whichever general perspective the game offers. Your game doesn't have to challenge that truth, or to match it with other limited truths. If you do, you are in the deep morass that you allow the literary expression of Glorantha to be. For a computer game with very limited narrator's response, I'd grant you that. Having been trained as a scientist, I have found that the reward for a solution of a question are further questions. There rarely is the solution for a question. If there is, you start asking why. Let's assume that the Argrath Saga as published in the Guide was used for a campaign. You could stop that campaign at every break, starting with a new part, and have a closure for that game. You cannot avoid hooks for other explorations presented with such a solution, though. Part 7 (p.742) may very well build on the events in the wake of Gebel, the Teshnan hero, searching for the Red Sword and awakening the Veldang of Fonrit, who then revive ancient alliances with Chaos. The runepower spells of the deities in RuneQuest are tied to their feats (or those of their avatars/heroes) and nature in their myths. Less common feats have been described unclearly as heroquest powers rather than spells, but with the improved accessibility of heroquesting since the days of RQ2 I don't think that the new RuneQuest Glorantha will keep them this obscure. The Runes model the nature of the gods. When the gods don't quite conform, there must be some other factors in play - such as different aspects/sons/heroes who bring their own, variant runes into the mix of a god's magic. Basically, there may be runespells associated with a god that don't quite follow from the god's primary runes. Lightning, Sandals of Darkness, Shield of Arran. All very playable rune spells for Orlanth cultists. Explaining Glorantha only through the runes would be a sorcerous game - something the coming edition of RQG supports only peripherally, due to its concentration on Dragon Pass as the setting. Like with the less personally entangled theism of the Pelorians, this sorcerous game is left for future supplements to explore. The guide contains numerous in-world documents. The existence of these in-world documents is canonical. The theses and theories in these documents are options, not necessarily canonical truths. The runes assigned to names dropped in sloppily assembled pantheons aren't much of an issue to me. The mainly vegetarian Morokanth that were described in HQG are much more of a problem for me.

The guide never was intended to provide an introduction to the magic of individual gods. Take for instance the cult of Eurmal, Friend of Men in Fronela. I am fairly convinced that this is quite different from the Dragon Pass treatment of Eurmal with aspects like Killboy or the various dismember, swallow and fart magics, instead I expect a Firebringer aspect, and probably stealing other essential civilisatory stuff from jealous gods or sorcerers. His feats had better involve heavy use of illusion in order to justify his ownership of that rune. A system-less gods book that presents mythos and history and key feats of the deities in connection to local forms of worship is a huge order. There is an updated Prosopaedia easily the size of the RQ3 cults book covering a huge number of deities waiting for its companion volume providing mythos, history and cultural variations. The pantheons provided in the Guide are a very superficial listing. Deities shared between these pantheons will be approached differently. Some places externalize certain feats or magics into a subcult or hero cult, others merge cults that are separate elsewhere into a single cult. Sometimes a cult will just use strange names and pictorial representations of a deity familiar from elsewhere, sometimes two rather similar deities will turn out quite different in their role in society. Compare Alkoth and Trowjang, for instance, or check the deities worshiped in Fonrit for similarities with Dara Happan or Theyalan gods and for big discrepancies. Such different perspectives aren't limited to Glorantha as a setting. For an OSR setting that has grown through literature, take a look at Midkemia. With just about a dozen of major deities, there are strong differences e.g. in the worship of Guis-Wa as hunter and rulership god in Kesh whereas in the Kingdom of the Isles the cult is a reviled one of assassins and little else.

You missed "surrendering" as an option for survival. Not a good idea against single-minded or mindless foes such as storm bull berserkers regarding you as chaotic, but most intelligent opponents will take prisoners.

Sure - the games set in Glorantha should provide entry level information for innocent fun with a single absolute truth. Chaos is a necessary part of the world and a safe source of magic, Orlanth's rebellion has brought everything bad to the world. Praise Yelm and the Red Goddess. (Probably not the single and absolute truth you were thinking of, but valid.) That innocent fun shouldn't bar these same games from allowing deeper explorations for a different kind of fun. If it isn't your kind of fun, don't go there. There are no inconsistencies. There are different cults for a similar or the same divine entity. Compare real world's Islam and Santeria, for instance. Do you have any problems with Orlanth Adenturous vs. Orlanth Thunderous, or are you so used to this that it hasn't struck you as some of the same phenomenon? Greg may have had a commercial career as a game designer, but he has been a world and myth designer for much longer. Glorantha as a game setting is pretty old, but that's not what it originally was made for. King of Sartar is a great piece of fiction, not a game supplement. It is one of the best Gloranthan publications for me. BTW, if you do it to others, it isn't called masturbation, but foreplay, leading to greater enjoyment of playing. I have yet to meet a Glorantha geek who wasn't a gamer, too, and who hasn't produced gameable stuff or provided a platform for gaming in the world.

Without checking my old index, I seem to recall her being mentioned as rice mother in the RQ3 material, either in Gods of Glorantha in the list of Grain Goddesses, or in Genertel Book. It is entirely possible that Neleos was named after "our sea" or its deity. I was thinking of that quote from Hrestol's Saga when I wondered whether Seshnela really was a part of Gennerela or a part of Danmalastan sundered from the mainland by the Neliomi Sea. After all, Ladaral's Mountain appears to be the source of power for Sogolotha Mambrola after the Waertagi imploded it (like they later did Mt. Turos in what became Lake Oronin), and drawing a line from there to Magasta's Pool certainly seems to place Seshneg on the Danmalastan triangle. There was talk of the sunken land bridge to Brithos, too, although that may have been a tradition of the Expulsion Walk instead. That's not a regional name, but simply the female form of Vadel, promoted to the ancestress of the four peoples who preceded the Malkioni in Brithos. Linguistically, I would go for Vadelia if I had to make a regional name out of that personal name. (The Middle Sea Empire offers yet another way to make a regional name from a personal name: (Vyi)Mornastan. - I see that @Tindalos pointed this out already. Damolsten might be just a variant pronunciation of this.) Mostly Fethlon, after the name of the jungle - IIRC the Troll Pak maps had this. Verenela (used in the Hero Wars Introduction to Glorantha) appears to have fallen out of favor. A couple of Eastern names for the greater precedessor like Abzered are offered in Revealed Mythology. Sechkaul is mentioned in the Guide. We get Esra as the barley goddess in Thunder Rebels, with Pelora as wheat goddess and Suchara as rye goddess. Esrola is one of the parthenogenic daughters of Asrelia, one of six according to Esrolia - Land of 10k Goddesses, one of three in Thunder Rebels. There, she is the mother of all grain goddesses rather than Ernalda. In another reckoning, Esrola is a daughter of Ernalda, possibly by Genert. I have seen Pela rather than Pelora for wheat, too - especially sincce Hon-eel managed to associate Pelora with maize. Astonishingly, Pelora doesn't have any rice association, despite the map on p.302 in the Guide.

RQ3 sorcery was fine, except in the Gloranthan context. I used it for outsider characters in my Viking-based fantasy campaign without major difficulties. Only the POW economy that would have supported the huge amounts of enchantments required for a functional high-level sorcerer didn't work out in my campaign. As a Malkioni form of magic, RQ3 sorcery hit all the wrong associations with its familiars.

Medieval Germany - which period? Karolingian Germany/France would be a good companion for early Viking time, Ottonic Germany has its charms, the rise and fall of the Hanseatic League would be my favourite (also because you get to travel to other fun places when not being mired in German affairs). I guess there ought to be some know-how among German players of RQ or other BRP systems. Jeff already researched 30-year-War Germany for the Westfalian Peace freeform, so one could build onto that material.

Welcome to the snake pit. The RQ experience system requires that you succeed at your skill in a meaningful challenge, and then that you "fail" when you check that experience tick. Skill category bonus used to be counted in your favour for both rolls - raising the skill for success, and lowering it for experience gain rolls. It may be harder to get a skill checked at low skill levels, but getting experience from a skill check is extremely likely when your skill is low. Awarding skill failure for a "how not to do it" check should then be balanced by a success roll when contemplating the outcome of a certain action. If you want to be generous, you can award two checks - one for success, one for failure, at least for low skill levels.

There might be a similar hierarchy as for Esrolian houses, with a new wagon becoming a client of the founding one(s). I don't see why they shouldn't have kept their lineage plant identities when they adopted the wagons. The magic for the wagon wood certainly cannot replace a lineage plant. The weird marriage restrictions for certain lineages might have to be re-directed so that only wagon rider lineages become eligible, though. How many Kresh wagons started this new culture?

-ela appears to be the most common way to say "land of", and the continent names Genertela, Pamaltela and Vithela show that it doesn't have to be the land goddess the name is derived from. Umathela certainly isn't named after a goddess, and Seshneg and Frontem are alternative western names for Seshnela and Fronela. No idea where Jrust- came from. Kralorela doesn't really offer a Kralora, but we get Krala as goddess of rice (analogous to Pela and Esra). Pralorela, Rathorela, Luathela, Oroninela, Helerela all are named after male deities (with the caveat that Hsunchen ancestors come with the same stem and a female form as well). There is Keetela aka Ganderland. I have also seen Brithela, Ernaldela, Valindela, and other ad-hoc -ela forms as alternative to other, more usual forms. That said, we have also seen Brillantia for Land of Brilliance, Stygia for the Autarchy, Telmoria in northern Ralios. I think we should leave the land goddess debate over in the Guide Group Read forum. -ket, -wal and probably -sten are city names, and apply also to the city state rural areas. Along with Frontem and Seshneg, it appears that Western likes to end on consonants. See also Danmalastan, Endernef, Zerendel, or male names for westerners. What about my observation that -os usually implies a shore?