Joerg

The Brithini themselves report the union (not marriage) of Earth and Sky, and how the new element filled the space between its parents - pushing up the Sky Dome, and pushing down the earth cube into the seas so that its top surface became about level with the seas, and the first seas like Togaro and Sshorg or Neliom could enter the surface. The Brithini are explicit about the new element's mixed origin, as is shown in the Dawn Age (pre-God Learner) document on rune metals. IMO the answer lies in the cyclical, non-sequential nature of Godtime. Waertag is a deity, and can be around and be reborn. as a child of the son of Aerlit and Warera and a niiad. (I still don't buy the ludoch mother - rather a niiad who shares the same ancestry as Ludocha, possibly a niiad child of Ludocha before her interaction with Diendimos). And that merfolk ancestry can be distributed by the elder.. Malkion Aerlitsson logically was born after the birth of Umath, since Aerlit is a (probably second or third generation) descendant of Umath. He is, however, only one of several manifestations of Malkion, all of whom share traits that Malkion Aerlitsson brought into the Malkion whole. There is also the possibility of interwoven sequences - one mythic sequence may very well run a sequence that jumps around in different ages. The sages are divided whether this indicates a composite myth, echoes of earlier events in later myths, or whether such perceived time travel is a common occurrence.

I wouldn't say that the Gods War bypassed Pamaltela. Sure, coastal Pamaltela saw longer exposure to Chaos than the veldt, but both Kothar and Jolar were subjugated by the Artmali Empire, and experienced the invasions into the Artmali Empire like Desero's horde or Vovisibor. The forests did invade the veldt - the Greenwood of Jolar was destroyed only in the Dawn Age, by internecine aldryami warfare called Aldrya's Woe, but it extended further south than the Taluks that form the accepted border between the southern plains and the jungle north of the mountain chains. In Kothar, the Goblins of Sozganjio or the Chuchwe Marsh can be a problem, too. While there is nothing wrong with the fertility of the earth in central Pamaltela, water is the limiting factor for agriculture and grazing. The Doraddi shaman boats might be related to bringing rain or keeping the rivers alive. Pamaltelan Chaos tends to be huge entities, think Godzilla-sized monsters. In order to combat these, heroquesting appears to be the safest route. Given the later association of the Artmali with Chaos, anti-Artmali quests might be a solution in some cases. The Kresh phenomenon and the Arbennan reaction against their advances are the biggest intra-Doraddi conflict. Everything else get settled by the example of the Meeting Contest. The Kresh themselves use heroquesting magic (and - to Doraddi - forbidden magic) in order to get the materials for their wagons in the largely woodless veldt.

I would have thought Derik and the Pol Joni would open for the Broo Fighters.

I'd like to toss in that "Bronze Age" is anything but limited to the Aegaeis. The Danubian Bronze Age transitioned to Iron Age in the Hallstatt culture (which extended pretty far west, even into Gaul). The Inca culture was Bronze Age, too. It looks like the term "Bronze Age" is about as culturally poisoned in anglophone circles as is the term "Celts", fixating on one single aspect of a much broader reference. Irish culture is among the last things I think of when talking about Celts, and Bronze Age refers to any material culture where bronze was the main material for tools and weapons rather than flint or iron. I am curious why you expect a high concentration of dead air gods around Ernaldela. The Orlanthi held their ground there, and managed to bury their fallen rather than leaving them on the battleground, unlike failed Vadrudi raids (everywhere), Stormfall (far away in the north), the Sword and Helm battle (far away in the north), the fall of the Lastralgortelli or the Jorganostelli (again in the north). Several slain sons of Storm Bull are accounted for in Prax. I can name only two sons of Orlanth as slain in the Gods War - Barntar and Vingkot. Come to think of it, a few scions of Vadrus might be rotting in the area. Ragnaglar, too. Then there is Grizzly Mountain. In and around Sartar we have myths about fire demigods invading and being overcome. If these were descendants of Lodril, their bones would have been of brass. Descendants of Tolat/Shargash would have been somewhat mixed, too - no idea what elemental connection is accurate for Enekos or Dendara, but the planetary sons of Yelm would have been Burtae too if Dendara was Fuel rather than Fire. Thunder Delta may very well have bronze from Umath smashing down there. Orlanth may have left significant amounts of bone at Stormfall. We do have eight unnamed deaths among the companions of Sky River Titan, with Hard Earth not a source of bronze but probably copper. Only: there are no know copper mines near Cliffhome, unless you count Greatway. We have a wealth of dead giants and dragons in Ernaldela. It is true that at the Greater Darkness, few if any of the Storm Brothers were active, but we have no stories about them dying in defense of Ernaldela. We know of a great last stand on the shores of Luathela, as part of the Lightbringers' Quest. Rastagar and Irillo might have been among the participants - this certainly qualifies as a battle no queen of Nochet would want to see her husband to participate in. Saird and Henjarl should have lots of bronze deposits, as should the lowlands north of the Barbarian Belt, where numerous pastoral hordes were entering, then overcome.

Interesting approach. I guess that you have access to the Guide, Revealed Mythologies, and possibly Missing Lands (for the obscure and likely post-canonical "Aftal the Waertagi" fragment)? Pagan literature? The only place where they might have come into contact with pagan literature would likely have been Nochet, perhaps also Kralorela, Fonrit or Melib. Most of their trading contacts would have been illiterate. The Janubian/Poralistor river tribe might have been in contact with Pelandan writings, but cut off from their Sea Dragons, I don't think they would have remained acceptable to their dragon-city dwelling cousins. They would have exchanged stories with the pagans, though, and probably have participated in rites they would have considered friendly. Their domination of the oceans west of Teleos was maintained mainly by their firm alliance with the sea gods of the western Oceans, apparently including an alliance with a Cetoi tribe of the Triolini (orca-folk) that fought alongside them in the Battle of Tanian's Victory and never seen or heard of again afterwards. I have seen speculations that Waertag could have been a reincarnation or aspect of the sorcerer son of Phargon and Mirintha. While the guide states that his mother was a Ludoch mermaid, I wonder where Malkion would have found one of these - his own mother was a niiad, and I find it more likely that Waertag's mother would have been one, too. The Waertagi are one of the six original tribes of Danmalastan, which they soon left for Sramak's River, before even Neliom invaded their lands. The six original tribes of Danmalastan may have predated the birth of Umath - the Malkion son of Aerlit might have been a later incarnation than Malkion father of Waertag, Enroval and the other four founders. Their vessels rely on currents and waves for rapid propulsion. In the Aftal story, they don't row their mundane boats, but paddle them. Dormal stole their secrets, or so they claim. Which might be somewhat true - one key to Dormal's success was encoded in ancient tiles on the floor of the workshop of his collaborator Galaaz, and may have been left from the time when Nochet had a drydock. They don't feel too kindly towards Zzabur, either, I suppose. I disagree on a number of points here. Keeping the various peoples across the seas secret from one another isn't a viable strategy any more. It would take memory removal magic to make this viable again. Maybe later in the Hero Wars. The rest of that bullet point reads like an Arkati mission statement. Arkat once traveled from Brithos to Arolanit on a Waertagi ship. He didn't use their aid for his invasion of Kethaela, though. Dormal wasn't really a Malkioni. His teacher and one of his companions were. He doesn't seem to have grown up in House Delaineo, despite being the son of Valira. He might have been given anonymously into fosterage to local Diroti ship-wrights. Do they really care about the Loskalmi ways, other than that they dare to sail the open seas using the Dormal rites? Malkioni groups aren't called "church" any more. I guess it would the Cult of the Ship and City nowadays among the stranded Waertagi and their Akemite imitators in Sog City, or perhaps the School of the Ship and City. The stranded Waertagi - both in Sog and on the Edrenlin isles, and (if they still exist) possibly the anchored city ships of Aftal's story, aren't necessarily the same as those Waertagi that return from the Underworld. "The goal of trade is to get rich." Is that so? Or is trading their way to ensure that they receive those things from the drylands that they cannot produce on their floating cities? What kind of riches would the Waertagi amass? Gold is fairly useless to them, but is an excellent exchange medium when trading with the drylanders. Sea Metal would be valued, bronze would be an inferior substitute, iron might be desirable, provided it doesn't interfere with their control over the dragons. Deri slaves would be in demand for both their telepathic and their smithing abilities. Human slaves as servants or sacrifices to some of the more unsavory sea gods.

The main metal can be mined from nuggets or refined from ores. It melts comparably low, and can be hammered when cold. It also occurs as gods bones - called bronze when from storm gods, called brass when from volcano gods or mostali. Specially durable long blades can be hammered from gods bones (of any metal, really, but within the limitations of the basic nature of that metal) because these have a layered structure similar to timber or folded steel - growth rings. Basically, you get damascened bronze, a laminate that adds stability and flexibility. Apart from the Copper Sands that resulted from Earthfall, I cannot name a major source for earth metal anywhere on Glorantha. Sources for sky metal (tin) might come associated with star metal (silver), but I don't see a major trade for alloying the stuff with earth metal in order to create bronze or brass. Speaking of alloys, I wonder what Gloranthans make of pewter, if they know about an alloy of sky and darkness metal. I do wonder about sea metal, though. I doubt that Worcha even manifested bones when it was slain, but its allies at Thrinbarri should have left some - but these may have ended up as puddles rather than as solid bones. In a way, the toxic effect of Gloranthan Iron on aldryami can be compared to the terrestrial effect of copper on plants (and female fertility). I doubt that Gloranthan earth-metal has such effects. The toxic effect of Iron or Death Metal on the animist Elder Races might be a side effect on its separation effect - dividing the living from the spirit world.

While getting derivative skills in character creation is a single huge act of computation, how does skill advancement reach through in these considerations? Getting a skill check when climbing not a tree, but a cliffside - will experience reach through to climbing trees? Will you split your experience gain between cliff and climb? Or do you note when you get your check whether it was a success at general climb skill or only thanks to the specialisation? If you increase your botanic knowledge, will that affect your climb (trees)? (And vice versa?) Or just your plant lore (trees)? How and why do you start the specialisation? Is it because you want to carry over some other skill like Plant Lore, Plant Lore (trees)? When your Craft (wood) affects your Plant Lore (trees), does anything of this carry over? (And yes, these cross-influences are not part of a hierarchic tree. They may be quite relevant, though.) Having these specialisations does reflect real life. Using a specific piece of equipment, or one one has spent time attuning to. As an archer, I need familiarity with the bow I take into my hand before being able to be as good as I am with the material I am used to. Same thing whenever I switch to a different set of arrows. When using a stick-like weapon, a slight variation in length and balance affects the ability to hit with the optimal zone or your reaction speed for parries. Weapon maintenance is a craft that doesn't appear on the character sheet, but one that willl alter one's craft ability on related issues (craft metal, wood, leather, gun-powder, energy cell) and helps with unconventional uses of that material (e.g. in traps). Learning languages may create a meta-skill in linguistics that raises the entry level of learning a new language as well as increasing the speed with which a new language is learned.

One in league with the Great Elk Debate of yore?,

Count me intrigued, too. Runed Worlds - apart from the pun with ruined, are there any kind of glyphs (possibly technological ones providing circuits) that pull liminal space "physics" into normal space? A meta-language that speaks to all its inhabitants? As a RQ/Glorantha grognard, I couldn't help thinking "so these are worlds where Fertility meets the Shape Runes." Is FTL tied to liminal space, or does it work outside of that influence, too? Sounds like a huge sandbox to me, which can be explored with the speed of the characters' mobility. Exploration via scenarios is not my favourite way of describing a setting. It gets rather tedious to hunt down that strange detail you remember only partially. Spelling out scenarios and scenario hooks for the setting is fine, but setting information shouldn't be hidden in those niches of scenarios that most parties wouldn't encounter.

I don't think so. How much of this did the Basmoli experience? The men-and-a-half? Modern Prax (i.e. west of Zola Fel) was once a part of Genert's Garden. A special part since Eiritha was buried there. Prax used to be the Redwood savannah east of the Storm Mountains - not really a grazing ground, but a browsing area for different herd beasts (possibly dinosaurs/earth shakers rather than the children of Eiritha), with villages of an agricultural folk that followed Tada as their leader, and fantastic temple towns like Monkey City, Winter City or Ex. The Beast Riders don't really have a memory of this. Some Baboon ancestors might. Beast Riders wouldn't quest into this Godtime sequence. Heortlings and possibly Esrolians (especially Ernaldans researching ancient mysteries) retracing the origin of Vingkot's wives might. The destruction of the Savannah (in winter mode) by Oakfed is another important event without much if any participation of the Beast Riders which sealed the destruction of Prax beyond the grievous wounds to its fertility from Chaos. Doesn't the last breath action of the Storm Bull which aimed the Block to shatter the Devil make the difference between absolute Chaos and the existence of all of Genertela, possibly even all of Glorantha? Storm Bull (just like Tada) was notably absent from Earthfall. His presence there might have made a huge difference. Still - when was Waha born? After Eiritha was buried? After Eiritha sacrificed the Winter Plains to re-ignite the spark of life of Storm Bull I have the very practical reason to have warlocks of the Sartar Magical Union or the Barbarian Horde requiring explorative quests to find new magics, in order to create more magical regiments than just the Eaglebrowns and the Eleven Lights. Looking past the well-known Covenant myths into a greener age is logical, isn't it? I agree that this doesn't affect a beast rider campaign very much. Go raiding following Jaldon, meddle in Heortling affairs, get betrayed, get revenge, rinse and repeat - a small think like the arrival of the Hero Wars doesn't affect this. Possible outcomes of the Hero Wars might. What if the Aldryami reforestation could extend to Prax? A return of the Redwood to the ancestral grazing grounds of the Beast Riders would be a momentous change, and the Beast Riders would most probably research the Oakfed devastation. Questing about the nature of the Torch might make all the difference, with aldryami, beast riders and pure horse folk interested parties here. Then there is Pavis, with its weird reason for its existence, there is Adari, there is Barbarian Town.

Reloading - a silly concept when attack and parry is divorced from simulating every single swish and clang of swords etc. Keeping track of ammunition remains a problem. A combat action will likely eat up more than one missile. Unfortunately, damage doesn't reflect this. Pilum, tomahawk, francisca all are likely to be single items - one thrown attack, then there is no more ammo. A javelineer or spear slinger will carry several javelins, a knife thrower will have more than one throwing blade. Enough for maybe three or four combat actions. Archers, slingers and crossbowmen have a quiver or bag full of ammo that will last for up to a dozen combat actions. Heavy crossbows may be an exception to reloading - no can do on the move.

With Praxians, do you mean the beast rider members of Waha's Covenant, or do you generalize for all the other "parts of Genert and parts of Tada", as you have classified the Golden Age peoples? So, apart from Umath, no birth of Elemental Celestials inside the myths of Genert's Garden? Did you mean to write Flesh Man rather than Grandfather Mortal (later known as Daka Fal)? I'd be interested in your placement of a couple of events in Praxian myth: Larnste seeds the Rockwoods Tada becoming active (being born?) arrival of Seolinthur (first flooding) arrival of Basmol death of Basmol, Tada acquires cloak Tada raises the Shan Shan Brown elves in the Garden arrival of Ragnaglar I wonder about this single piece entry. Sure, it describes the start of the Storm Age - the last of the Contests - and its end. The Storm Age describes an era where the Earth Goddesses were moving in with Orlanth, including Thed (a sister of Eiritha). We see a number of arrivals here, none idyllic. Prax between Kerofinela and the Paps flooded Raging Sea claims all the southern portions of the Garden Flood beaten back by Orlanth and Vingkot Meeting place (Adari) Tada gives twin daughters as wives to Vingkot Genert, Yamsur and the elves fend off the trolls Valind encroaches from the north (clearly before Earthfall) trolls arrive in Shadows Dance to stay Thed, Malia and Ragnaglar give birth to the Devil dismemberment of Hippogriff, taming of Hippoi Moon Broth gains its Lunar connection Men-and-a-Half arrive Earthfall marks the end of the Garden. Genert, Seolinthur and Yamsur slain, the Darkness starts. The Wastes left empty except for Hyena and roaming Chaos, all focus moves to the small part of the Garden west of Zola Fel. Orani's Mistake Ragnaglar slays Tada (before or after the birth of the Devil? Likely after Earthfall, since Genert bemoans the absence of Tada and the Bull) Eternal Battle: Storm Bull thrown down in (soon to be) Dead Place Spike implodes, Block tumbles in from southeast, flatten's Ex before landing on top of the Devil Thanatar beheaded by Hrothmir Rivers change direction to aid Magasta Oakfed devastates what is left of Prax (on the instigation of the Oasis Folk and/or Monkey Kingdom), Redwood retreats to current extent Finally we have a Gray Age Waha born at the Paps (none of the Founders were born there) Protectresses saved Good Canal dug Contest of Eaters and Eaten, Waha's Covenant Beast Riders move into ancestral grazings (cleared by Oakfed)

Star Captains are powerful inhabitants of the sky, either native demigod sky people of the Fire Tribe, or powerful heroes (e.g. Orlanthi) who conquered a place in the Upper World and established themselves as a star. At least four of these returned to the Vingkotlings after Vingkot's Death and assisted remnants of broken tribes, creating successful new ones. .

To me this means that the cultists need to participate in the ritual hunts, with the site where the prey is cornered and slain being the temporary holy place.

According to Dara Happans and others, the Votanki are supposed to be related to the Zarkos yelmalio-worshipping goat breeders. The citadel dwellers have adopted Mralota for their "urban" pig breeding. Pastoralism is as much linked to the fire rune and the earth rune. The Dara Happans bred gazzam, then cattle and horses, the Kestinliddi flightless birds, the Pentans horses and cattle. Sheep are as much linked to the water rune of Heler as they are to the storm rune of Orlanth and Sons. The Balazaring Votanki ended up as non-herding hunters of wild beasts, including potential Praxian mounts (Bison, Sable).

Genert's Garden is mostly a Golden Age story. Some Green Age stuff is associated, but most of it is Golden Age (e.g. Seolinthur entering is a result of the invasion of the Ocean of Terror, an event triggered by the Birth of Umath and re-introducing Change to the Stagnant Empire (again - there are well-documented cases how Brightface usurped rulership from the White Queen in Entekosiad, and RQ Companion describes three victories of Yelm on his ascendance, so there was a period before Yelm from which he struggled into his role as emperor). I have come to the conclusion that "Green Age", the "First Events", can happen well into the Gods War, changing the Cycles to include the consequences of these First Events. Like Death entering the world. Like the Separation of the Living and the Dead (one of the last First Events, starting the Gray Age or Silver Age). Like Waha's Covenant. The Survival Covenant is somewhat exceptional in that the Survival method that led into the Gray Age still continues, but other peoples hunt or slaughter their totem beasts too. Genert revived will lead to the Garden blooming again, restoring it to Golden Age or Early Storm Age splendor. (Nobody wants to go back to a time before the rivers entered the Garden, do they? This is true for basically all of Glorantha, without any exception for the land of Prax. The beasts we slaughter don't rise the next morning! (Whatever next morning means in Godtime...) People having been numerous... Lots of small groups of very different, often bizarre peoples. Like e.g. the Beast Riders. There is human sacrifice for crops (maize rites, Maran Gor rites, Esrolian male sacrifice). Survivalism isn't tied to apocalypses, it follows to ordinary warfare, epidemics, or natural disasters several steps short of an apocalypse. Think of e.g. the consequences of the Black Death, the Irish Potato Famine, or the Thirty Years War. Marsh dwellers, jungle dwellers, people inhabiting tidal flats, mountain dwellers all can claim the same thing - they all survive because of the special knowledge and rites of their culture, and foreigners get claimed by their everyday hazards.

Yes - born in the Garden, in Tada's kingdom (which apparently stretched all the way to the Shan Shan, and south to the slopes of the Spike). The tiny little land now known as the Plains of Prax are what is left after Worcha eating up the southern shores (hence the cliffs above the marshlands), and Chaos and Genert's Death devastating the places east of Zola Fel. It isn't clear what protected modern Prax from the bad results of Earthfall to the extent that makes it appear lush compared to the Wastes. Storm Bull's last stand, Tada's trickery hiding Eiritha from Death and her continuing presence when most other Earth Deities were lost, and the troll victory at the Castle of Lead up in Shadows Dance may all have contributed. Prax, Tada's Kingdom, and Genert's Garden may have been used to describe the same place prior to the Earthfall. And that's only the tribes that survived the Greater Darkness. There are likely others that were lost before Waha's Covenant, and not necessarily to Chaos, but e.g. to the Seas, to the Basmoli, or to the Zaranistangi. Possibly also to the Hyalorings. The Flood Age and the Lesser Darkness saw changes in Genert's Garden which brought strife and death. We know at least one son of the Bull who perished, Orani. I don't mean this as attacks on your position, David, but as a means to find out new interesting facts about the history of Prax, and, as you wrote, new plot hooks. By presenting a different perspective on the place that has been viewed through Beast Nomad eyes mostly, we might find out more about the Garden - like e.g. the sudden appearance of Brown Elves in the early conflicts with the trolls. Clearly they weren't yet asleep then, and the continued presence of Genert may have been a factor in that, as was the continued survival of Flamal at Hrelar Amali before Eurmal and/or Zorak Zoran laid the axe to the primal tree. There must have been attrition of clans, especially for the tribes which emerged as minor at the Covenant and after the Dawn. I wonder whether the Sables were the only tribe with a variant origin that beats your Eirithan Genealogy above, or whether other tribes of the early covenant had similar variant roots, phratries and queens. Impala, Bison and High Llama don't, but we have no idea whether other tribes (including the rhinos, long noses and plains elk) might have had. Likewise, we only have two variant beast rider tribes (ostrich and bolo lizard) emerging from the Greater Darkness and joining the Covenant. Lots of others in a similar shape may have been lost due to their distance from the Storm Bull. Lastly, the Hyalorings... Neither would the various Tada-Shi communities have been much bigger, except possibly for the Sleeping City and the precursor of the Paps and other such high holy places. The Tada-Shi and the Oasis spirits appear to have been allied from before the devastation, much more so than the Beast Riders. Is there any evidence of lost oasis altars in the Wastes? There are other grand ruins in Prax - Monkey Ruins, Winter Ruins, Ex. The Wastes might have other such places with forgotten (but possibly somewhat retrievable) histories, which might help contribute to a reconstruction of Genert. But then, exactly a success of that project might put the Beast Riders or at least their Covenant out of business.

As far as I know, the Beast Riders roamed Genert's Garden in the Storm Age after immigrating from the slopes of the Spike, much like Orlanth led the Durevings and the Ram People north from Dini, and various other herd beast leaders like the Andam Horde or the Bisosae did further west. Eiritha was a lot more mobile before Tada hid her underground when Death walked the lands. There aren't significant reports of interactions between Vingkotlings and Beast Riders, either. There is one single (pre-Vingkotling?) myth, the story where Orlanth used lariat and stick to overcome the bull. Tada was killed in the Lesser Darkness, which overlaps with the Storm Age, but definitely after the arrival of Storm Bull and the Beast Riders. Clearly a part of Tada? Like the Basmoli Berserkers are clearly a part of Basmol? Or the Beast Riders a part of Storm Bull and/or Waha, and of course Eiritha? So they suffer from a similar loss as the Heortlings did during the "Orlanth is Dead" episode 1621-1622, but ongoing. Their survival sites are in Prax, around the place where Tada had buried their ancestress to hide her from Death. Their birth sites where the slopes of the Spike met Genert's Garden were most likely destroyed by Sshorg or Worcha, and their habitat was throughout the Garden. They all followed Storm Bull's call to the Eternal Battle, though, and that's how they ended up in Prax, conveniently close to the Eiritha Hills, which are quite likely located on an ancient site of Ernalda worship of the Tada-Shi. Or do you have ancestral grazing sites for the long noses, the plains elk and other such lost tribes in Prax? I don't see the slightest evidence that the birth sites of the Beast Nomads were where Eiritha was buried. Eiritha is acknowledged even way up in Pent as cattle mother. There are myths which credit Tada with raising the Shan Shan range, too. The Tada-shi weren't necessarily restricted to Prax, either, but that's where they survived, and where their most holy places sit. They were neighbors of the Orlanthi at the end of the Downland migration, and there were marriages between the two peoples who worshipped their common Earth Mother. Possibly including Beren/Redaylde and Orgovalte/Ulanin, followers/descendants of Yamsur. The Praxian savannah may have been home to the Hyalorings before their migration to Saird, rather than the offspring of Storm Bull.

What people tend to overlook - the real Praxians are the Oasis folk. The Beast Riders are immigrants who used to roam a much wider area (slowly re-discovered as The Wastes, parts of them drawn back from the Hidden Greens) and who did not like the ancient Redwood savannah of Prax very much, but tolerated it for the sake of their ancestress Eiritha. If Sandy's idea that the Covenant made the "winners" smarter rather than the "losers" (the grazers) dumber, I am inclined to agree that the Beast Riders have no notion of the value of writing, and never had. The Tada-shi are a different case, though. Are there written versions of elemental languages? I don't really think so. Writing appears to be a human activity. Sure, there are dragonewt plinths with depictions that might be glyphs, and there might be dwarven schedule engines yielding certain types of clacks in certain sequences, but putting language into a type of writing appears to be a human endeavour. (Lhankor Mhy cultists might beg to differ, but given the suspicious of his western origins, his writing and that of the Tadeniti might be the same.)

I would have thought that there is an Oasis Folk complement at the Paps, too, probably serving the 48 Old Ones, and providing a self-replicating population in the place.

The use of water elementals for propulsion was a Waertagi trademark - the biggest ones were called waves, up to Tidal Wave. Here's the question whether the God Forgotten are closer to Malkioni seafarers or closer to the ancient Brithini allies, the Waertagi. The Ludoch will probably be firmly in the Waertagi camp, but the Rightarmers are the first and maybe most dedicated followers of Dormal, and wouldn't be very agreeable to the High Seas taken away from them again. I am far from convinced that getting a bound fire elemental to heat the water would be cheaper. While the God Forgotten don't have any elemental preferences, the availability of such elementals would be limited. The equivalent to an oil lamp array isn't that hard to manufacture, and much less of a risk in a ship with a metal hull. Without a wicker, most oil sorts won't burn.

The Orlanthi might have a similar drive, fueled by the Trickster Fart spell, which might have been the original version of the Slontan precursor of these barges, too. Are these barges turtle-clads, like the fire-barges mentioned in the History of the Heortling Peoples (pp.57, 62)? In my old setting, I had a nation of (RQ) ogres who used seal skin stretched over flat-ribbed metal frames for their ship hulls. I suppose the God Forgotten might also have a few windbag-runners using captured air elementals pushing platfoms surrounded by a leather skirt just above the surface of water or tidal flats.

This is slightly longer than Platon referring to the Thera eruption and tsunami in the Kritias dialogue as Atlantis. No documents older than Platon's are known to refer to Atlantis, so one can assume that Platon took the role of a Grey Sage writing down oral tradition. There is the earth temple at the Paps, however, with its semi-literate priestesshood retelling the stories with the support of cave paintings or similar, possibly in the style of Elusu's story-telling in Prince of Sartar.

Yelmalio is listed among the Noble Brothers (Esrolia p.38), but the Esrolians have a hate relationship after having betrayed a Tharkantus-worshipping king (p.43) whose temple was placed on their lands by the dragonlords without saying pretty please. Seems to be a typical sequence - a queen woos a militarily powerful leader, helps him destroy her enemies, then backstabs the king and his people, and puts all the blame on the dead husband. Anyway, hoplites next to triremes make sense, though not exactly on triremes, especially if the triremes are primarily ramming ships rather than corvus-equipped infantry platforms. Neither are Bronze Age, although they make good visuals if you don't want to look for other iron age cultures.

Bad wording for your criticals - "Rolls of 10, 30, 50, 70 and 90 are criticals" would have been clear, and in about the same number of characters. Agreed, that gives a 1 in 20 chance, and at the same steps. The visual system does provide the same overall probabilities for a very large sample or rolls at every skill level up to 100%. It totally fails for skills above 100%, but given the slow progression once you reach this region, I am cool with having every roll under effective skill minus 100% a special, and every fifth such roll a critical, using the non-visual system, in addition to the benefits from the visual system. I still say that divorcing the roll that determines specials or criticals from the success dice is the easier option for skills under 100%. In RQ and derived systems, crits are specials, so basically you don't have a 20% of you skill percentage chance for non-critical specials, but a 15% chance. How do you model that? Criticals that don't get the effect of specials?