Joerg

While that is true, I am still waiting for some of the semi-sorcerous cult descriptions to make sense of how RQG intends to cover spells like Open Seas for non-sorcerers, or how the special magics of Pavis and Flintnail are supposed to work under that regime. Outside of RQG, there might be more room for "misapplied sorcery". Unless one makes use of the Open Seas precedent. RQG has the Meditation skill, which would be useful for oriental martial arts (other than the RQ3 "do double damage with natural weapons" interpretation). Effectively gifts and taboos, or gifts and geases. Charm-makers and charm-users is basically where I see eastern Gloranthan sorcery. Vormain has gained a little depth in Revealed Mythologies and the Guide compared to that dry statement, but there are certain parallels which still apply. Ninja's kami have become the Guide's joserui. Overall, I see Vormain not as a parallel to Japan, but as the highland refuge of Imperial Vithela after Govmeranen got drowned, a continuation of that solar empire. Whether it has a warrior caste with similar concepts of honor as the Tokugawa shogunate or earlier Samurai may remain open to debate. Ninja acknowledges its "this is how you take concepts from various eras in Japan's history for your alternate Japan roleplaying" approach, outlining some of the preceding conditions. Without much serious study of Japanese history in detail, I would let the excellent Land of Ninja box (or book, in the Games Workshop edition) linger as an option to pull some local color while trying to offer some keet and antigod weirdness as the main theme. If you say viridian, that's just fancy speak for green, similar to use of the greek terms for the elements (stygian, aeolian, chthonic...) is just fancy language, too. As far as I am concerned, Vormaino "color magic" is just a form of synesthesia when experiencing the magic, The colors lean on adjacent runes, so in the end we have a runic classification of Vormain magic hiding behind a rainbow. The question remains whether the Vormain archetypes who rule over the colors offer rune magic as per RQG cults or whether they offer some knowledge-based system of charms powered by something different than rune point pools. (Although the concepts of charms as animism, "something you have", is valid, too. Something between Battle Magic and Sorcery requiring pieces of hieroglyph calligraphy to activate. Putting variants of the Gloranthan runes and possibly sorcerous techniques together like Kanji might look cool. Ninja's ki skills: So some sallvaging Land of Ninja would be tolerable? The West being the lands of the Spike, possibly around it into Viymorni lands where people friendly to the Mostali lived. Alchemy as sorcery: is this one of the Three Worlds concepts to be ditched, or could there be some use for this in RQG? In HQG/QWG there is no reason not to have it. Other than the Path of Immanent Mastery (which seems to have served as an ersatz-Inhuman King while Godunya gathered his magic elsewhere) we have no clue about what magics the FDR used. "Imitations of native rites" is a heroquesting technique rather than sorcery. Valkaro and his converts practice a - possibly cleansed, de-God Leanered - form of western sorcery and society, i.e. something based on Hrestolism. Whether they denounce the Seshnegi (or Fronelan) brand of Hrestolism or not isn't specified. For all its apparent benevolence, this Valkarist experiment could be a long-term Vadeli project. We just don't know. IMO Martalak and his Sheradpara brothers and Vith's court are more relevant to Vormain than to the rest of the East Isles. Vormain retains a pan-insular imperial superstructure the other (powerful) island confederations lack. Or the Mostali at Magnetic Mountain, and what they may have received from Zzabur via the Viymorni. Or possibly the Waertagi in the Neliomi Sea. Martalak is one of the anti-gods, too, like Babadi (Octamonist Mostali). Eastern use of antigods is more pragmatic than say Praxian use of broos. Several are admirable to the Easterners if they acknowledge Vithelan civilized mores - Herespur, Kahar, Harantara, and others.

For my little sandbox in the tidal zone I have schools of Ludoch managing human fisherfolk and schools keeping certain parts of the bay free from their fishing. The latter aren't really hostile unless someone comes poaching in their reserves. The latter wouldn't be of much help, and only the local fisherfolk can reliably make the distinction based on pod markings etc.

The Mirrorsea doesn't normally freeze over, and did not in the Godtime (by virtue of having been dried up before the Great Winter arrived). The Rozgali current would not have been hampered by the Windstop, bringing decently warm water into the coastal areas. While not exactly a hot pool like on Iceland or in Japan, the water would emit mists or fog, which (without any wind) would have remained more or less stationary. The tidal areas might have been an exception, as those would cool down significantly at low tide and then reheated to above-zero (Celsius) as the warm(ish) tides ran in. The fisherfolk might remember this time as the reign of Iphara, possibly with some demonic infestation of the unmoving fog.

This is all some corrolary my greater strange theory (on Mostal, the World Machine) that I inflicted on Ludo in our latest podcast episode (which should cover at least part of my recent whereabouts). So, the weird theory is that the World Machine really is a self-replicating engine seeding the Void with a universe, then growing up a set of daughter universes to see the Void elsewhere. Eight ancient castes for the primal matter (Rock), the first four undifferentiated elements (Darkness, Water, Earth, Sky with their respective metals lead, quicksilver, copper and tin) and the three differentiated forms from Sky (brass aka alloyed copper and tin, silver, gold). Somehow, the brass step was polluted with Disorder, allowing the Grower to override the replication protocol, diverting Creation from the Chaosium into the pregnancy of Earth, stunting the growth of the Cosmic Eggs (IMO eight distributed evenly around the Spike), and ending it entirely when the eruption of Storm sent the World Machine and its protocols akilter. Minor other problems cascaded out of control, too, resulting in the Greater Darkness and the Restart In Time. There are no records for the other seven pseudocosmic eggs, but the one found by the Feldichi got experimented with by the Second Council, and its programming overlapped with the re-written routines of the still functional parts of the World Machine and caused a short re-lapse into the Golden Age cyclical stasis until the new programming took over again. With the Young Elementals escaped from the egg, further replication of this World Machine seems unlikely.

No. The cyclone is a rotating system, and over a set of full rotations the spiral will have touched everywhere on a radius from the eye with the same coverage if you accumulate the presence. Orlanth's Ring (a spiral on a spiralling path) might not quite be as balanced. The antics of the World Storm when the Doldrums suddenly restart in the center after having wandered off far into the West may have been caused by the Sunstop - the missing distance might be used to calculate how much the years were shortened by that transgression.

I don't expect the Malkioni methods of spellcraft to be used in Eastern sorcery one-on-one. RQ3 Elder Secrets suggested using (the campaign and the extra rules of) RQ3 Land of Ninja for Vormain. While RQ3 sorcery has since been abandoned as a model for Glorantha (and despite attempts made with Arlaten and the Coders in Strangers of Prax, or perhaps because of Arlaten, with good cause), the Mandala-based sorcery for Land of Ninja might be salvaged a bit. (Not so sure about the Ki Skills as mystical abilities, but why not?)

Not sure about the lines (those may have died out in the later stages of the Gbaji Wawrs) but IMG certainly the "textbooks".

The name might date back before the Closing, when Teleos was a notorious pirate stronghold. Possibly a penal colony by the Middle Sea Empire? That would invite artifact hunts.

As in Kralorela, knowledge-based magic should be prevalent in the East. When he still adamantly held on to the Three Different Worlds model, Greg pronounced that Martial Arts abilities might be modeled as sorcery. Manga-Daoist-like wards might be an option.

Storm gains symmetry through movement, absolute point symmetry over Time. The birth of Umath necessitated the birth of Time?

The confederation cities attracted refugees from the famine and saw some increase in resident numbers. The rural outback would have lost population.

The Pavis breeding essentially was the continuation of Second Council breeding program.

There are a few God Learner reports on the treasures taken at Robcradle (or Cradlesnatch Island). Do these report weird golden artifacts for every cradle?

The mating had at least one descendent, Seri-phy-Ranor, a member of the Dorastan Ring, or its secretary.

Praxian wild zebras are the size of the quagga. War Zebras are transformed Hyal horses, retaining the size of the Goldeneyes. Cavalry Zebras (infertile crossbreeds from breeding with Pol Joni-sourced mares, rather than cavalry-trained pure strain "War" Zebras) vary in size depending on the breed and size of the mares. These crossbreeds might be only partially striped, like the extinct South African quagga. There might be lesser fertile zebra crossbreeds from crossing Joraz Kyrem's original breed with wild Praxian zebras. If so, the nomadic Zebra tribe might be more likely to breed these, although they might also trade them with the urban

This might be spoiler-worthy:

The role of heralds may be fulfilled by Zebra Tribe em-issaries hired for the occasion. There is some saying about peace coming in black and white...

From our most recent episode my stance on Ralzakark in the fourth century: He was very much the very civilized unicorn-headed guy in the City of Miracles operating this ancient technology, a good conversationalist, possibly a good dancer.

Not quite fair. What triggered the Dragonkill was the threat to destroy all the dragonewt eggs in the Pass. A veritable genocide (on the resident Orlanthi as well).

There is a facebook group for the purpose of bringing creators (writers, artists, editors) together: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3300536396630881/ If you don't want facebook to have your data, register with a separate email identity and use anonymous browsing, The group has good traffic and lots of posts worth revisiting.

At that point in the game, there is a good chance that both Argrath's magicians and Ralzakark's magicians do so, too. The previous mainstay of Surface World uzdom, the Dark Trolls, are about to make their last grand stand before they all get obsolete. I don't know how much new troll births are regarded as a chance for re-incarnation of lost dead mistress or dark trolls, and whether and how trollkin figure in this set-up. With the multiple births of enlo, practically every ancestor runs the risk of being reborn as an enlo... The new type of troll recently brought into the world by the efforts of the swarm will take time to become important. If you look at the Gbaji Wars, the Curse of Kin struck in 378, but adoption of massed trollkin doesn't seem to happen before Arkat's duel with Nysalor. They are certainly the major part of troll military in the disaster against the Yelmalions at Mirin's Cross in the early 600s. Great Trolls entered the picture in the early 800s, and became a significant military asset by the time of the Machine Wars. The new superior type of surface trolls may be just about entering military age at this time, born from Mistress Race mothers breeding with the new magical method. There won't be many, yet.

Idle thought for the day: Will Accelerate Growth increase water consumption? How sustainable would that be in semi-arid or arid conditions?

It would have been Flamal who caused the cycles, but that was before the aldryami (trees) were forced to make such a decision whether to go to the long sleep or take sleep in the short cycles and stand guarrd through the long night. Flamal is so primal that it probably has features that could turn into either form and function. Eston is presumably the forest destroyed across High Wyrm Pass mentioned in the Guide p.191, sending the Elder Wilds aldryami into a diaspora. I doubt an unprotected Great Tree could have survived that ire.

repeated castings of Heal Body might even offer repeat experiences of that torture.

Yes, I failed to find it where I remembered RQ2 to have it. Cult structure or at least cult roles are generalized, earlier in the chapter. The cult comes rather late, after the rules for shamans, and my pdf is not searchable (yet). But I was speaking of the mythology of the Storm Bull, which is in quite glorious detail in the Nomad Gods rules, at least a year before RuneQuest was first published. Wyrm's Footnotes arrived at the Storm pantheon rather late with the Gods and Goddesses series (now reprinted in the Sourcebook). The name Orlanth fails to show up in the board games. While a deity may have little if any free will, they will have an agenda defined by their myths in Godtime, and a nature. Elemental deities have physical representations in the Middle World (or nearby, like the Sky World). The deity is as much a resource as they can be an obstacle. A certain personhood of deities seems to be acknowledged even by the Brithini philosophers, who talk about the False Gods (false or fallen Erasanchula, according to Zzabur's unpronounceable technical terms) as misguided powerful rune people. And yes, the application of the god's power is subject to the caster's will (and ability/affinity). Using runic identification as the trigger has lowered the casting chance for Rune Magic again (surefire in RQ2 IIRC, 95% success in RQ3, rune rating in RQG).