Joerg

Quite a lot of such artifacts could be what we know as "contact relics" from medieval Christian practices. If you look a the story of the Red Sword of Tolat in the Guide, that reads like many of the items in the Godtime myth already are such copies or descendants of the original.

While it acknowledges the depictions of Eurmal e.g. in Agathe Pitie's hidden picture puzzles of Mythology, I think what is missing are the Tvi'lek tentacles with bells on.

Or maybe that return to a happier, earlier phase of the Cosmos is the equivalent of Annihilation of its futures? A looped past that removes itself and its memories from what emerged out of the Greater Darkness?

Not quite. A good amount of Gloranthan lore has been accumulated under the watchful oversight of Truth magic, which admittedly tests the subjective truthfulness of the author rather than providing a Lhankor Mhy Reconstruction magic for each and every bit of data. The study of Chaos (and laterally adjacent matters, including Disorder, Lunar madness or the veil of Darkness) has an intrinsic falsehood. This is the province of Gbaji, which even the Arkati acknowledge as a risk. Tomes like the Book of Drastic Resolution are doing the work of Gbaji (at least when they go into unsupervised distribution outside of sufficiently enlightened AND responsible circles). Corrosion is a force inherent to all of the elements, with rather different outcomes as per element. Storm and Sea corrosion results in different products than Dark corrosion (aka rot), but exposure to Earth provides digestion (rot), too (composting). Exposure to Light and Flame weakens and erodes stuff in yet different ways when it doesn't simply burn them. Moonglow corrodes the mind. Corruption on the other hand goes beyond mere corrosion (which is just a form of Change, of Becoming). Corruption is Unbecoming, losing all defining properties except for corrupting whatever it touches. Not true. The Void is a (hot) vacuum of eternal becoming and instantly unbecoming, not really nothing, but inherently impermanent. Gorp stuff is at least semi-permanent, but non-gorp stuff that gets absorbed by gorp passes through a singularity losing all and every definition it had before. Somewhat ironically, the most solid and ordered stuff is what is weakest against gorp, while the some of most volatile stuff can permanently consume gorp stuff, removing it from the Web of Arachne Solara (or fast-feeding it to Time?). Time itself acts a bit like gorp-stuff (it is after all Kajabor regurgitated), but it hinders itself in consuming Creation, slowing that inevitable process. Creation includes well-ordered Darkness, well-ordered Sea, well-ordered Disorder, well-ordered Storm, even well-ordered Wildfire and well-ordered Celestial sperm. Rock, Metal and Crystal are the only well-ordered components of Creation. Gorp stuff lacks almost all properties. It has some cohesion (which sharp or bludgeoning objects can easily disrupt, though, separating out portions of the bad stuff), it possesses a certain amount of energy enabling it to move (or rather translocate by oozing), and it corrupts stuff that it touches. It is weak towards brine, towards fast-flowing water (energy), and to flame, and Storm can stall it but not really diminish it. Earth and Rock are weak to it. Gorp stuff has no structure - that's the point(lessness) of it. The Void/Silence/Primal Plasma/Prime Mover acts as a contemplation of the balance of Becoming and Unbecoming beyond Creation which may open the way not into the dissolution in the Void but into unity with the Ultimate, the Source of Energies. That's the mystic end game, not mere submission to the Void but surpassing the limits of existence and becoming the Source. The Void (by whichever name you call it) is neutral when kept separate from Creation. Small amounts of Unbecoming can be tolerated and balanced while the well of Creation works enough to replace what gets annihilated. Getting swallowed by Unbecoming separates them from the Ultimate (which is projected onto them by the runes). As far as I can make it out, Chaos can reach out to Atrilith, but gets undone when confronted with the Ultimate - that's how Mashunasan operates. Infection of reality by the Void produces monsters, as can unprepared exposure to the Ultimate. Properly prepared confrontation of and then unity with the Ultimate allows ascension. (Which might be different from Malkioni Ascended Masters who have intellectual unity with the One Mind.) None. Infinity ties to the Ultimate, the Source, the flow of energies (life) through the world. Death/Separation wards existence against annihilation. Chaos denotes the impending loss of connection to the Ultimate, even if it may allow a direct access to its energies through the chaotic features, including stuff like Walktapus or Cave Troll regeneration or Were-beast shape-shifting and immunity to mundane weaponry. Illusion is reality that dissipates in the face of the Ultimate (and/or against the corruption of Time). It is part of reality, but without direct access to the energies sent out into the world by the Ultimate, although Illusion may be fed indirectly by these energies once they have been processed by Life (or possibly once they have been reflected by Moon). in White Bear and Red Moon, the Illusionary Armies of the Puppeteer Troupe are reality, but must not get into the neighborhood of dragons or superheroes (or any other manifestations of Infinity) or be annihilated. I posit if there is a rune for Nothing, it is a blank. There is a rune for the Void, though - for the balance of Becoming and Unbecoming outside of Creation (which can also be read as "before Creation" and even as "after Uncreation"). The Void is a vacuum quantum plasma. It has Zero Point Energy. On the edge of a singularity, it may manifest stuff or energies. Chaos is a drain on the energies from the Source. That's a different (absence of) quality. Earlier we had the statement that Chaos is a scab on exposure to the Void. I disagree - Chaos is a sore and a pustulence, not a scab.

The writings in Drastic:Chaos are the unreliable ravings of a madman (it says so in the publication). Critters with chaotic features such as Walktapi or Dragonsnails and even the Left Hand of the Devil are made up of partially corrupted Creation. Gorp are completely corrupted Creation, reduced to an infectuous plasma. Unlike the Primal Plasma in the Void which is omipotent in its potential, Gorp plasma has lost all potential except to consume Creation into its own sorry state.

The exact point at which the forests became the Deadwood and when they became active again (before Time in case of some Green Elf forests?) remains unclear to me, as well as the recovery of the Winterwood from the Glacier (which had reached the Nidan Mountains during Storm Age according to some maps). It is as if some annual cycle happened both when Yelm was stuck in the skies and when there was almost nothing alive. But maybe that night be explained by people(s) moving to an earlier layer of Godtime? But then could not a majority of Glorantha have fled to happier times, never quite facing the Greater Darkness?

Can you under all circumstances? If you drop your hand into supra-cooled distilled water (say at -4°C, no idea whether that is around 20°F or somewhere) and the water almost instantly freezes, when will you know the difference? if you give a cold water surface a very flat tangential slap, are you sure you know the difference? Our sensory impression of water ice usually is that of the water film on the surface, of the not quite crystalline border region. It is what makes ice slippery. Your haptic impression of an icicle actually is that of liquid (or at least semi-liquid) water on the surface of a solid. (You can of course cool water ice down to the temperature which makes your tongue stuck on it for a bit, that's when you will know the exact difference.) For all of this pedantry, the comparison to your haptic impression of ice might an excellent comparison to identifying Chaos against some other form of unease or even fear. There are situations where your impression can be misleading or not as binary as your cognition might suggest to you.

IMG Gorp don't contain any water or other recognizable element. They are made up of completely corroded (as well as corrosive) Chaos plasma. Like those bits that fall off Cwim or its mini clones when killed/severed. Gorp don't contain acid in the regular sense of something sour that will etch certain materials. Gorp "acid" will dissolve anything solid (for given values of solid, like e.g. human skin) but is ineffective against volatile substances like water, air, moonglow or darkness. But this is countered by the brine of the Baths of Nelat that will sear away all impurities - and Gorp substance is an impurity.

Weirdly enough, me GMing my first RuneQuest campaign (RQ3) was based on Greg Stafford's Viking box for Avalon Hill, with characters in their mid- to end twenties, (more or less) happily married and out of their steads to ensure the community's survival on the edge of hostile neighbors (some vaguely reminiscent of Picts, the others a nation of RuneQuest Ogre sorcerers leaning on the Fomorian myth). Having a set of dependents was natural for the Vikings in the Icelandic sagas, and did not really impede the flow of the campaign with part-time long distance sea travel for trading and raiding, part time domestic troubleshooting or actually pursuing their "civilian" occupations (like e.g. boat builder). I don't remember playing any Ronin-style wanderers, at least not outside of a YT 1300 crew in D6 Star Wars sentenced to pro-bono missions for the Rebellion.

Sounds to me like a side effect of the Plundering of Aron, a myth of the Stormbrothers who collectively returned the Vingkotling livestock lured away by the Enchanter (apparently a Mostali with pied piper magics). Or you look it up on the Well of Daliath: https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com/lake-felster/

A devious sociopath in an elective position will profess to act virtuously much of the time, getting away with murder quite a bit, especially in a society where people bear weapons and monetary fines, bribes or just intimidation can stop criminal persecution. In a fantasy world possibly less so if there is Truth magic to expose their faults even to their most zealous supporters.

The Syphon also was home to one of the fish roads, and that should still be connected to the Nochet terminus at the Golod temple. The Syphon retains the Godtime form of a river - it should not be a flat, listless basin of moving water, but a tendril of water with an outer current pushing uphill, and interior currents that may reach back toward the Heart of the Seas. IMG the Godtime rivers used this interior current to carry off energies and sediments towards the Seas, thereby allowing regular sedimentation effects despite "flowing uphill". Navigating on such a bulge of water might be tricky, as you have to take care to remain on the back of the tendril. Yes, IMG it is brackish saltwater - all rivers were (at least running uphill), although they would collect the rains dropped by Heler and reunite them with the seas. Chaos at the head of the river is the reason why the Syphon retains its direction, continuing to sear away at the Chaos there.

RAW, a priest position requires a small temple to support it. A godtalker can be supported by/supporting a shrine, but the income situation is different.

There is something even less than vacuum to detect. The question is not whether something is Chaos. It is whether something is Not-of-Creation. Something (or rather not-Nothing) alien and out of context. Illumination provides some context to the not-Nothing, possibly making it stand out less. As far as I can find Storm Bull's source of this power, it is from having experienced Death and almost Destruction by the Devil (except for Earthpower). In a way, Gloranthan reality is what is abnormal in the path of the energies emerging from the Source and dispersing into the Void. The Source Is, the Void Isn't, the energies have as little meaning as the matter excreted from the Chaosium (which may be the anomality).

"This creature has a significant association with the dim(inished) side of existence." Also known (and embraced as) Chaos by the Lunar illuminates. As such, illumination does not erase Chaos. As Oddi found out, it is still there, and it still can be killed. The outrage imperative may be gone, but the Bull still demands that Chaos be killed, and the Bull still offers the ability to sense its presence. Its use might need to be re-learned, though. Does Illumination cut the ties to the Storm Bull? Does it eliminate the gifts and geases of Humakt and Yanafal or Yelmalio Antirius Reladivus Kargzant? Does it prevent Divine Intervention, the effects of Madness or Mindblast? No, it doesn't. It can add the ability to recognize illumination (or other form of Enlightenment) in others.

Please go ahead. You might consider a short Jonstown Compendium publication in the future, too.

Also unknown to most is that all Waha Khans can perform this magic, not just the Morokanth. Beware the friendly Bison khan...

I think only members of Waha's Covenant can be subject to this (expensive) spell. And Morokanth don't even like meat that much, they are ritually obliged to eat it. The rune point economy suggests this only happens if the seller pays for the magic to be used. (Which makes me wonder: can a person butchered subject to Alter Creature be contacted as an ancestor?) According to David Scott, Morokanth are a typical intermediary to return ransomees between Praxian parties, as they are known to keep their human-shaped companions healthy.

Alll of that applies to an intermediary sent to you, but not necessarily to an intermediary to ransom someone else from someone else, or returning with ransomees. Are such folk ethically taboo to rob?

Usually the payment will be brought by a neutral messenger (usually of the Issaries cult, possibly Argan Argar or Etyries) who will usually be tasked with returning the ransomed prisoner, too. People in the ransom trade shouldn't ordinarily be targeted, as that would ruin the ransom business for all others involved. Loss of equipment due to captivity is a major issue for players, especially if that equipment includes bound spirits or an attuned crystal. Are there conventions for ransoming back personal or community-owned equipment? Imagine your party in a situation where they need to offer ransom while carrying the Black Spear of the Colymar?

You might need to keep it as collateral. Wolf pirates getting caught may have trouble convincing their captain and crew they are worth their ransom.

Shamans sell spells and spend the income on upkeep of their community. A spell costs about twice the annual income of a freeman. Say four spells sold in a season, 20 spells in a year, twice the freeman income.

Whichever caves open into an active volcano will be flooded by lava during eruptions, and may wash back into the main shaft if there is another exit or when the eruption recedes. Depending on the temperature, lava moves like honey, which may mean that hydraulic equilibrium may take its time and may be prevented by the outer tendrils cooling down enough to solidify, plugging that outlet. An active shaft may be surrounded by a multitude of plugged outlets whose plugs might not be built to hold indefinite pressure, allowing them to open and possibly wash free as hotter magma re-dissolves the plugging material. Since eruptions come hand in hand with tectonic activity, plugs may be shaken loose or the surrounding cavern walls may split, creating new conduits for lava past a plugged lead. Thus you may have underground lava-falls emptying into lakes which may receive or maintain enough heat to avoid "freezing over" for your James Bond or Fu Man Chu villain caves. Or surface structures, like the Sog City Citadel of Brass. Lodrils dive (or Aether's ejaculation) implanted a renewing source of Heat into the womb of Gata, and the fiery seed still sloshes around (if slowly). Waertagi magics have exploded two main shafts (Mt. Ladaral and Mt. Turos). Other volcanoes have fallen dormant, like Solf's mountain in the southern Shan Shan, but still have some remaining heat below (for the smoke). Yet other chambers still have to open, a godling resting in that womb waiting to be awakened. Brass Mostali (and possibly Lead and Copper Mostali too) may know ways to leech on those regions of buried heat. Far from all underground environment needs to be bedrock. Gloranthan clay does not have to be sediment from erosion of exposed bedrock. Goddesses may have organs like the Faceless Statue had - I had a party entering a vein of Eiritha near Old, tracking back the source of a rubble runner molesting their camp site. The Womb of Gata may well have been a huge volume of clay, now partially turned into terracotta after fertilization by Aether. Gloranthan spelunkers down in the deep might be able to dig through fertile soil and approach pools or chambers of magma. Things getting unbearably hot is going to be a good indication what lies beyond. Some of these chambers might still contain some of the pure celestial plasma that Lodril brought down, compressed and as eager to expand as Umath was. This might happen through fissures in case of tectonic activity, which may be a regular, possibly even cyclical event in parts of the Underground.

At the very least, herdmen are not eligible targets of the Thumb Quest. Herdmen and Midget Slashers (troll descendants who lost their Man Rune) now seem to have the Beast Rune. (Which implies eyes, too.) People are made up from all the runes, but they can express only three of those magically through their normal adulthood initiation under HeroQuest: Glorantha rules. They can acquire more through interaction with the Other Side, and they may lose them.

The Sun Dome Temple just south of Karia may have been instituted by Palangion the Iron Vrok, much like the one at Vanntar. The followers of the deity may have kept contact with those in Fronela, or through Maniria, but as Sun Dome Temples go, it is pretty isolated. With the Evil Emperor often equated with Malkion, Ehilm can be a somewhat neutral, aloof sun god. Both Galanin and Ehilm are associated with the urban Safelstrans more than the backwater Orlanthi of Vesmonstran and Delela.