Joerg

My previous go-to source for population densities in pre-industrial societies was the World chapter of RQ3 DeLuxe edition, describing the radius of land uses around a typical agricultural settlement in a mainly non-hostile environment. A 100 inhabitants hamlet would have a 2.5 km radius out into the agriculturally used wildlands (pig herding, lumber etc.), and you can place seven of these inside one standard 8km map hex. If you cut down on the wildlands, you can fit up to 30 such hamlets inside a hex (for places like the Nile delta or the Esrolian mesopotamia). Alternatively, you can string such hamlets along a river valley, with the wildlands slightly further away from the line of hamlets, covering the same 6 Km2 area (using your calculation above and a broad thumb). This "every five km a hamlet" or in case of doubt some accumulation of inhabitants in bigger fortified villages seems to work out for the Roman Empire, Iron Age, and all the way past the Renaissance. This doesn't take factors like soil exhaustion into account, but then I agree that fertility magic plus quite a bit of top-class soil makes such considerations go away. Following your example, I have started to look for sources, and one of my first search results looks quite promising: A DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF LATE BRONZE AGE CANAAN: ANCIENT POPULATION ESTIMATES AND INSIGHTS THROUGH ARCHAEOLOGY That phd thesis gives an insight into calculation methods for archaeological sites, and the great variability of the results. (The use of population density per hectare of settlement area leads to confusingly high numbers in the text...) Barges don't play much of a role between Furthest and Karse, as Jeff recently explained. And the merchant vessels aren't that different between Bronze Age Canaan and early Hanseatic League, much like farmers' housing hasn't made any revolutionary innovations between the Neolithic and the 18th century. The wagons use bronze age technology, which was fairly advanced for the chariots, except that the horses were yoked rather than having a breast harness. Ox carts don't seem to have seen much in the way of technological upgrades after spoked wheels were introduced. I don't see how Iron Age pottery would have been superior to that of the Bronze Age vessels found in the shipwrecks in Mediterranean. Are you thinking about standardized mass production? Looks to me like the Palaces on Crete already had something like that. I still don't buy into your "population level is at a sustainable high" argument. Comparing modern day Sartar to Sartar at the height of its wealth (Terasarin's reign, profiting from the Opening) to Sartar in 1621, I would assume a decline in population of 30k to 60k in Old Sartar. (And the carrying capacity of the land would have been even greater in the Second Age, already without the special draconic grains available from the Third Council creation of the Proximate Holy Realm, if you look at the city density in the Second Age maps recently provided by Jeff - at least as high as for Malkonwal, maybe approaching that of modern Esrolia.) We don't have the post-1625 census yet, although I expect that to arrive with the Sartar campaign book(s). The Windstop and the expulsion of the Lunars will have reduced the 1621 numbers again. As a consequence, I don't think that arable land is a limiter for population growth of Old Sartar since the conquest.

Which population densities are we comparing, though? Dragon Pass offers us the trade nexus of a Silk Road, compared with loess soil from the Glacier grinding up the Pelorian topsoil in a quality and quantity mainly found in the Ukraine, a climate significantly less continental than the Ukraine, a lot richer in metals than the Karpathians (who traded away their metal with the rest of Europe), and yet lagging behind the population density and soil use following the Gbaji Wars when the density of urban population was comparable to Mesopotamia in one of its more humid periods, but without the need for huge public waterworks or irrigation, and neither dependent on the annual floodings of the Nile caused by the Monsoons. While the climate doesn't allow two harvests like in Sri Lanka or the Nile Delta, the greater Pass region offers a cold Meditarranean climate with much better soil than any Mediterranean culture other than the Nile Delta had to offer. Comparisons with the Copper Age Tripolye-Cucuteni culture in a period of more clement climate would be fair, only advanced beyond that technology. Glorantha is a post-apocalyptic Bronze Age, too. Pre-apocalyptic Golden Age magic can be reconstructed or imitated, and even be re-established by means of the Proximate Holy Realm as built by Belintar and still lingering. I disagree with your assessment of population growth. The population of Sartar has diminished since Jarolar's reign. Tarsh east of the Dragonspine was depopulated by Phargentes. The Opening of the Seas has brought twice the size of the Colymar population into Nochet and Karse. The Lunar conquest sent refugees south and east (Pavis County). Warfare, enslavement and terror campaigns have depopulated significant ranges in eastern and southern Sartar. The depopulation and land falling fallow is not quite as bad as after the Great Plague, but there are swaths of arable land currently unmanaged. Not in the direct neighborhood of Jonstown, maybe, but further east, such as the former Maboder lands or the area around the Dragonrise (even with the scar left behind by the dragon). 1550ish had the Elmali rebellion, followed by the exodus that re-settled Vanntar. Even without enslaved Kitori, the farming there is good, and temple mercenary service brings in luxuries. The wars against Phargentes and Moirades - mostly fought in Old Tarsh territory - did create a constant need of fighters to refresh battle losses, quite often with high casualties (deaths of Jarolar, Jarosar, Tarkalor). Under Terasarin, Alda-chur was added, alongside with refugees from the Bush Range. The 1590 victory would have had casualties, too - still outside of Old Sartar. Add to this the bad neighbors in parts of Sartar - the Upland Marsh, Brangbane's forest, and despite the Pol Joni screen occasional Praxian raids. Peaceful, to some extent yes, but hardly demilitarized. Jarolar fought the Lunar Tarshites twice, and was disastrously killed the second time. Jarosar fought them, and was betrayed (on the battlefield). Tarkalor probably had battlefield exchanges with Phargentes, too, after returning from the Volsaxi stage. His contest with Phargentes for FHQ3 may have been easier on Sartarite losses, but Grizzly Peak became a death trap for the Sartarite forces. The professional warrior class is recruited in a large part from the Freemen (previously known as Carls), ambitious sons and some daughters taking service with prominent leaders (the Sartar dynasty, city rexes, outstanding tribal kings like Hofstaring) becoming professional warriors through that service, or joining up with mercenary groups of various size (like Thane Dronlan's daughter). There is also the draw to Belintar's Holy Country with its heroquesting for wannabe heroes, whether royals, thanes, or ordinary folk seeking aggrandizement or wealth. And, to a lesser extent, an equipment run beforehand into the Pavis rubble. Or gainful service as caravan guards, all the way into Lunar Tarsh or to the Sea. And, once established as mercenaries, the Lunar Empire might become an employer on its borders, too - Pentan nomads, unfriendly Chaos, or provincial rebels alongside bandits and the worst criminals, tax defaulters. Or special forces experience in the Dart Competitions. A prince providing peace, wealth, and an opportunity for glory (outside of Sartar), and at the same time a bigger piece of the cake that is up for re-distribution after the Lunar appropriations. Rather than infanticide, disease striking during famine. People of all ages died to unintended exposure. The WIndstop would have seen pregnancies carried over into the bad times. It lasted four seasons, less than a pregnancy term. The following regular winter without much of a harvest (some hay might have been made) and only diminished wind magic may have seen bad conditions to raise children (newborn or otherwise), but by then there was a distinct need to regrow lost population, so whoever thought they had the means would have tried to get offspring. Heroic affairs: Given the sexual nature of a whole range of support and sorvereignty rites, I would expect Argrath to enact quite the series of "for the ritual" marriages, fathering little successors to those clans and groups that pledge to him, and probably relying on such blood bonds for drawing in support.

That is a case of an extraordinary degree of mobilization, but it doesn't exclude any other woman from dyeing her hair and joining the warband. Kallyr herself is a mother... The typical Vingan defender has a more personal stake, though, IMO - there is no reason why a mother should not dye her hair if the manfolk has been eliminated, captured etc. Right, marriages between clans of the tribe would be fairly common, so for the tribal allegiance birth clan and marriage clan doesn't matter. These women are temporary companions, or possibly take on Argrath as a temporary companion. Having talked to the player of Samastina in Jeff's HeroQuest campaign (that created the examples in HeroQuest Glorantha), I learned of at least one temporary marriage or the ritual equivalent thereof resulting in children. (2, IIRC.) Leika is unlikely to have pursued a dalliance with Argrath, her claim to sovereignty is Orlanth rather than Ernalda, but there may very well be other powerful earth priestesses or ritual stand-ins for the Earth Goddess that had Argrath's children, like that Garhound harvest queen. The Feathered Horse Queen is of course pre-eminent among these, but there is space for other priestesses of important earth temples, other than Entarios. Possibly a number of herd Eiritha priestesses doing the White Bull. Entarios is special in that she accompanies Argrath on at least one major experimental quest. The quests that Argrath shared with Inkarne or Samastina may have been less of an experimental character and more of the affirmative "follow the story" type, although with an experimental quester like Argrath who is bound to have accumulated a set of recurring heroquest opponents weirdness is to be expected. The female count on the LBQ team is 2 if you count Ginna Jar and assume that Eurmal hung on to his dick. Supporters and hangers-on aren't listed, other than Mastakos for the first stretch towards Ralios. The pre-Cradle cotery of questers in the Rubble remains fairly anonymous, and so does the distribution between a participant and a supporter role among Argrath's companions from that time.

Orlanthi society has an outlet for surplus population, adventuring. People are encouraged to go wandering, especially childless adults. King of Sartar speaks of Wanderlore travelers. And that needn't be limited to part-time warriors. Another "expatriat" status is gained by taking service in a leader's household or organisation. That can be a temple, as many leaders double as god-talkers or priests. Food productivity in normal years is sufficient to support cities and elites while building up reserves for bad years. Overpopulation appears to be rare. Mortality in bad years is somewhat higher, and may hit landless clan members first. Breeding for a specific war doesn't sound very Orlanthi to me. Breeding for war readiness, sure. One form of population control are marriage arrangements. While a lack of marriage status doesn't prevent sexual activity and conception, the exogamous nature of Orlanthi clans sort of limits the access to casual partners. Children grow up with the grandparent(s) who provide the seat of the marriage, or in case of unmarried women, the maternal grandparents if she lives with her clan. In Esrolia, land ownership appears to be concentrated in the Enfranchised Houses, who then lease out land to client houses. At least that is how Nochet appears to work. (Not that that is much different from the Earth Temples in Sartar being the ultimate land-owning authority, acknowledged by the clans holding the land in the form of tithes by their client Earth temples.) Land allocation for agricultural production is overseen by the clan leader - chiefs in Sartar, Grandmothers in Esrolia. There is always some productive land left fallow. Population increase may lead to less productive land being made arable. In our real world, such pioneering generally leads to a generation of poverty and possibly famine, depending on the productivity of the land, However, there is something like a temporary fertility for land left as pasture, often enough to last for a generation before the soil is exhausted. Once that happens, migration ensues - whether within the lands claimed by the clan, or longer range migration. These more marginal areas probably tend to be managed by tenants rather than free farmers. Childless widows only? Child rearing is a community job. Quite a few mothers will have little to do with the daily lives of their older children (say above five years old), as those will be overseen as age groups by a small number of adults. Possibly unmarried daughters of the household. Childless widows may return to their birth clans. Their status in the marriage clan wouldn't usualy be that high if they haven't given their in-laws descendants. Defender women would include mothers of weaned children, at least in populous households. Then there is the case of divorced women, or participants in past temporary marriages. Temporary marriages may break the patrilocal or matrilocal preference of the culture, possibly resulting in a couple in a serial temporary marriage to have children at both sets of grandparents' households. Practitioners of temporary marriages with multiple partners may have offspring from marriages in several clans, or in multiple households of a primary marriage clan if the clan comes out of a triaty-like relationship. There will be mothers living in different places from their children as the result of marriages which ended, whether in divorce or simply because the duration ended. Argrath does have female companions in the shape of temporary wives raising his children. Samastina for instance, who appears to have taken him as a ritual companion resulting in one or more pregnancies. While raising his children, her adventuring is somewhat limited, and she will have other partners as fathers for her children, too. These relationships will result in support on his heroquests - possibly a factor in how Harmast Barefoot was so successful as heroquesters, as he had multiple mothers of his children who would give support at some point in his quests. (Which makes me wonder whether Harmast would have had multiple "love family" passions? Greg's semi-finished novel was titled "Ten Women Well Loved"...)

That's quite harsh on the herd man who loses its mate(), parents, and offspring by the rite, and must no longer feel that kind of attachment. And it is even harder on the awakened sable antelope, impala, high llama or bison all of a sudden having no more mates around them.

The secret lore of the cult is only part of the skill Cult Lore, as far as I am concerned. Also, a lot of rote knowledge becomes loaded with secret by the initiatory experience.

Yes. And their grandparents include Hykim and Mikyh, next to Umath and the Earth Mother (which may have been Ernalda, or one of the two previous generations). Their appearance is the opposite of that of the Lammasu Storm Brothers in Glorantha: The Gods War, minus the wings (which they might be able to manifest in a Storm context). Yes, there is a number of manifestations possible. The appearance on the counters of Nomad Gods is just the convention that we have after the Covenant, freezing that part beast part human pairing according to the results of the Covenant split, which makes the Morokanth stand out as the contrary couple. Except that their appearance on those counters almost matches (especially the Bison one, but the other tribes other than the Morokanth follow that pattern). No hooves for the Founders, although that is already speculation given the detail on those counters. The Khan gets the same appearance, which is obviously not quite the case in real life, but may match his Other Side appearance. This appearance shows the similarities between Storm Bull's get and Ragnaglar's. The morphic contribution of the Good Shepherd is interesting, as is this individual in general. Probably the inventor/archetype of pastoralism, with only a rebirth or two among the Storm Brothers (Varnaval, Voriof), possibly a follower of Tada. Possibly Grandfather Mortal.

Trainee Candidate or, for learning Cult Lore: Lay Member in good standing.

About the appreaance of the Morokanth Founder and Protectress: pre-Covenant, I would have expected a minotaur build (male human body, herbivore head) for the Founder and the female herbivore body, human head shape for the Protectress, unless the Morokanth were expected to cheat in the Covenant already when Storm Bull met Eiritha. That mixup of body types must be a consequence of the Covenant. But then, ur-ancestral body shape may not have been an issue at all prior to the Covenant.

My calculation gives me between 60 and 70 generatons since the Covenant, possibly more for herdmen. That's about as long ago as Merovech from us, or as Aeneas for Augustus. Kinship and shared individual ancestors may reach back a dozen generations in a few cases, but usually a lot less. The primal ancestors, aka the first generation since Founder and Protectress, are probably again as many generations back, upon entry of the Founders into Genert's Garden from the Slopes of the Spike. Those would be equidistant for two- and four-legs, agreed. But 13h cousins? That would imply a common ancestor around the time of the Battle of Alavan Argay, or one of the miraculous births by Eiritha or the high priestess resultng in a mixed litter of two- and fourlegged children. Aren't those supposed to be rare? There was a "recent" one when Joraz Kyrem sired a girl and a zebra on Zebra Mother, about 30 generations ago. Different tribe, though..

Don't the rules say that the secondary cult receives its percentage from what is left after the first cult has taken its share? Thus Sora: 50% income and 10% time Issaries, 5% (0.5*10%) income and 9% (0.9*1%) time Yelmalio (or possibly the other way around, depending on which affiliation takes precedence), with complete fulfillment a voluntary show of dedication? Otherwise Londra of Londros, Sword of Humakt and Associate Priest (god talker) of Orlanth at Old Wind Temple becomes a bit difficult to handle. Humakt: 90% time, 90% income, Orlanth: 5% time, 5% income, or, if she has taken an official role at the temple, Orlanth: 50% time, 50% income, Humakt 45% time, 45% income. In either case she has 5% discretionary time and income she may allocate to either cult or use in a different way.

An Awakened Herd Man still is short of immediate ancestors, making a Daka Fal membership difficult, as well as the relationship to the tribal ancestors - the awakened herd person will have to go back to Morokanth Eiritha and Morokanth Founder to find common ancestors with the other people in the Morokanth tribe. Adoption will solve that, to some extent. A Herd Person awakened by a non-Morokanth khan or shaman of Waha might be adopted into that magician's clan and tribe. In case of a female, her children will be part of the clan anyway, even if she only enjoys slave status. Awakening a herd woman into such a role would be seen as kinky, I suppose. Yes. However, if your awakened Herd Person remains among the Morokanth, other than ritual marriages with Eiritha or Waha priesthood, what partners would they have? Herd People with bound spirits or familiars, or "slaves" or captives waiting to be ransomed may be the limitation of their social circumstances, while animal-minded herdmen are abundant. Getting an allied spirit in a herd person of the opposite sex might be one way, but that is all manners of kinky, too. Becoming a khan or shaman of Waha and slowly converting your herd family into Awakened Herd People would be heroic, and probably anger the ancestors, and possibly the tribal deities, too. And makes him a "Morokanth Rider" person? Possibly an an Altered Morokanth? Sounds like the start of a heroic journey similar to bringing back the fire powers to a Sun Dome Temple...

The 1987 movie Pathfinder is quite high on my list.

Norayeep and Morag? The two named cases of enslaved Praxians were sold to outsiders (the slave merchant at Pimper's Block), by their Praxian captors. Praxians don't really feel kinship to people from the other tribes, except for those who they share a warrior brotherhood or magical society with. Norayeep was an initiate or possibly even godtalker of Eiritha, yet she was sold off like a piece of chattel property. Also, (much like her historical parallel Sacagawea) nobody protested her slave status at Narmeed Whirlvishbane's wedding. (Her access to Biturian's gifting may have had something to do with that, but still...) An Awakened beast from an other tribe may well be enslaved and sold off just to humiliate the tribe and clan that failed to protect their sacred person. Does this imply that she gived birth to herdmen from the other tribes as well? Note that the existence as a herd beast is a blessing of Eiritha rather than a curse. Only the herd people will be able to graze the spirit fodder of the Chaparral, even herdmen (though those still need meat in addition to their grazing).

It would take a cotery of especially vindictive Waha khans to subject enough Morokanth to the opposite of Awaken Beast in order to create a small herd. And then enough awakened Herdmen to care for that herd... Also, the Awakening (or the reverse) might have to be performed on all offspring of both groups (unless either mate with Praxian Minotaurs).

There is a chaotic snake-person in one of the RQ3 Renaissance scenarios.

Awakened Herdmen probably still lust for herdmen rather than normal humans, who they still might regard as performing besiality, however consensual that might be.

Because I won't bother to roll a 1000% 25 m radius area attack at strike ranks 1, 5 and 9 with 20d6 damage, or similarly overpowered way to simulate stuff that Jar-eel on Steroids does e.g. in the Prince of Sartar comic, singlehandedly slaughtering half the slave army. Yes, this might still offer a rules-lawyering niche to avoid such a fate, and I might have to add that this area is the equivalent of being engulfed by a Lune, and possibly some other bad stuff that there are RuneQuest rules for. "Approach her and die." "Your blood evaporates as you are stunned by her deadly beauty." When I lay out those effects of Jar-eel at her deadliest, and you still want your character to enter that radius of death at that moment, those are my conditions. Or don't, fight another day when ritual preparation etc. is on your side rather than hers. If you come as five-armed, 12m tall Orlanth, different rules apply, obviously. Harrek can send feedback along a super-powered Sunspear, even beyond the battlefield of Pennel to the New Lunar Temple in Sartar. That isn't covered by any RuneQuest rules as published, and doesn't need to be published because those were a singular event in his career (and that of the sun priests). Superheroes cheat for the sake of the narrative, as per the WBRM/Dragon Pass rules. It takes massive effort and a lot of luck to stop them with anything but other cheat methods (such as sacrificing a True Dragon alliance). RuneQuest is but one set of simulation conventions for the setting. If you want to modify the setting to fit your rules, that's your right. I don't think the current design team supports rules that let you rules-lawyer major antagonists through gaps in the GM's shield against such approaches. Cue Thor's Hammer debate...

Jar-eel has enough divinity that you may only face an aspect or avatar of the heroine, a lesser clone that might be overcome. That allows a certain spectrum from "nigh impossible to hit let alone kill" (aka "solvable with sword trance 20+ plus truesword plus boon of Kargan Tor 20+") to "roll POWx1 to detemine whether you get to roll for an attack before you die/DI, and better roll a crit to do a little damage." She is well versed in the Underworld and knows ways back even if her body is destroyed or missing a heart. Talk about laying her to rest only after you killed her body a couple of times. I've never seen Arduin rules, but there is a scenario for high levels of lvl 8 upwards, and Jar-eel is double that.

The Spike continued through the center of the. Earth Cube and the heart of the Seas into the lowest basement of Darkness, getting wider as one descended. The Sea Portion was still water, described in the Missing Lands origin myth of the waters from Darkness. The myth was also part of the Work in Progress Book of Drastic Resolution: Volume Water. Lots of weird, never heard before names of water entities, probably not to surface again. The Darkness foundations of the Spike might have survived with less damage than the part that pierced the Earth Cube. Magasta's Pool connects the Surface waters with those of Hell - presumably parts of the River Styx, possibly flooding after the implosion of the Spike. The missing bits in the center of the four fragments of the Earth Cube probably extend significantly farther than the volume formerly occupied by the Spike. As that edifice imploded, material from the Earth Cube that may have remained higher up when Umath pushed Gata down at his birth might have tumbled into the void that expanded in the center of the Cosmos. Other portions were pulled over to the Curustus Range by the effects of the Magnetic Mountain. Although in the center of the Surface World, the watery slopes of the Whirlpool are part of the Outer World, where the rules of the normal Inner World fade out of importance. If you visit Godtime, you can still visit the Spike, the settlements in the high valleys of its foothills, or the pristine elf forest prior to Umath's Birth, on a sheer pillar. The Celestial Court would have been where the lower ranges of the Sky Dome intersected with the tip of the Spike, even above the White Elf Forest that covered the tio of the Spike. For those of you who might wonder why a Spike would be a tool for the World Machine, other than the axis on which the Sky Dome rotation pivoted: A spike reaching up out of a flat surface used to be a desktop filing aid where any loose piece of paper could be deposited on the spike, creating a flawless sedimentation record of those sheets. Used among others by newspaper editors.

Before he performed taxydermy on his ancestral deity Harrek had already crossed the Syndics Ban borders before they were thawing, and he had killed the Red Emperor as a Dart Competitor. In waking years Harrek was 24 when he got his coat, but the 95 years of hibernation may have been spent heroquesting rather than sleeping, at least in part. I would take it as a given that Harrek "cheated" or exploited a (possibly hitherto unknown or taboo) weakness of the White Bear God when he ripped the bear skin off his ancestor, based on an insight only someone brought up as a Rathori and then forced to think far outside of that culture could have come up with. But YGWV. Hardly. It takes the special, deeply trusted insight, which only someone born and raised as a Rathori can have. And then the cynicism of a Lunar Dart competitor (something that Jar-eel admittedly has in vast amounts). Any human? No chance. Echoes of JFK's speech about the moon landing project... According to the rules of the world, yes. According to the current set of rules of RQG, undefined. According to the rules of your table - GM's decision. Harmast Barefoot, a really insignificant cottar who could make it rain from having sex in a field. Avivath, a street sweeper.

The sky dome is a perfect hemisphere, and the peak of the Spike touched it. With about 12 000 km from edge to edge, the Spike would have to have been about 6 000 km high. The experience of ascending the Spike may have yielded different heights or elevations. Already at 10 km height, mundane measurements cease to matter.

Entire rebellions were about the definition of income. The book Montaillou shows a conflict where the church claimed a tithe in the form of every tenth lamb born to a herd of sheep, whittling away the substance of the herds as herd renewal wasn't allowed to go un-taxed. Or taking the seedstock for next year into account for the tithes - ruinous if your farming yields barely more than what you need to sow again. There is a good practical reason for taxing a hide rather than actual income - it allows "expenses deducted" taxation and tithing. When I look at the standard of living and I compare that with prices for food and shelter, I come to the conclusion that the bare minimum for survival is exempt from taxation or from income calculations. The standard of living expenses are what remains after the necessities for luxuries (such as meat for food) and ostentation. This may not be what the designers aimed at, or it may fit their idea, but that's how the economy in my games roll. Your daily food will be what your community or your hosts will offer you, plus whatever you personally add, whether from luxuries you bought, stuff you hunted or foraged, or durable stuff you carry as part of your community fare while you travel. Want a decent meal in the poor farmers' hovel you stay for the night? Purchase some livestock for sacrifice at the altar, add some salt or spices to your offering, and share the meat with the community. No, you did not impose that on your hosts, you just made a pious offering that happens to be available to feed the guests, nothing for the hosts to be ashamed of.

It may take a certain level of knowing your mythology, but sometimes a constellation of protagonists and antagonists may be reminiscent of a myth you know, and your (or their) perception of what is going on may shift. In heroquesting territory, there is a concept called identity challenge, where you can take on the powers of a deity by declaring yourself as such. This also works on your opponents, you can use taunts to identify them as a certain mythical opponent (which usually will be received as an insult, but might on occasion be taken up by a genre-savvy oppnent willing to outsmart you). Once an identification sets in, new vulnerabilities and abilities may show up. In full hero plane mode, the identity challenge may already decide the outcome of a certain scene, or define the field of challenge (such as forcing a fighter to come into a contest of strength rather than weapons). Greg Staffords short story "Morden Defends the Camp" has a couple of such confrontations, with the protagonist being clever as well as tough.

People are over-crediting the Jrusteli for technological advances. True, the Zistorites did bring a few more mechanisms into the fold of Mostali-rip-off designs commonly used by sorcerers and natural philosophers, but much of that was based on magic rather than mechanics. Stirrups aren't something I would credit the Jrusteli with. They may have come into contact with those when dealing with the Pure Horse Folk of Prax. They may have adopted them quickly throughout their empire, though. I have seen people claiming General Kastok's successes in cavalry battles against the Pentans attributed to the introduction of stirrups. WRT keeping things weird, I like to create some sense of things being normal, including things we aren't used from other settings (including our own reality). And going beyond that weirdness when things get more magical, or when the players tread the borderland regions of the Hero Plane (usually not a geographical border but one of magical influences and rituals).