Joerg

I don't see Arkatism as a strong movement in Fronela at any time. Talor's ecstatic Joywould have been sought after, possibly leading to the dualism of Irensavalism, with Darkness/Underworld and the material world receiving a bad reputation while Light nd (magical) Energy as per Zzaburite mythology and a more personified yet still invisible and untouchable, not immanent god beyond the demiurge readily associated with Yelm Idovanus by Syranhir's refugees..

Brithini society (including the continental colonies that would become the Malkioni) was ruled by fear - fear of old age, fear of death. That fear would overcome any lesser urges like curiosity or ambition outside of the licit. There was the weak promise of Solace after dissolution of the Self, and the memetic "survival" as an ancestor whose descendants would keep one's memorial (being remembered by others) alive. (There might be something to be discuvered discussing the Malkioni burial or "Book of the Dead" practices, and comparing those to the murals accompanying e.g. Egyptian burials, only without maintaining the actual material body.) It might be fair to say that Hrestol expanding across these caste definitions was born out of fear, too, although the official line is that Hrestol experienced a revelation from Malkion. Not in an abstract way, but as an experience of a dialogue (think Plato's writings) with Malkion in person expounding on the new ideal way to deal with the problems of life inside Time, and (initally more urgently) staying alive in the struggle against the Pendali. Hrestol's decision to assassinate Ifttala may have been born out of rather low emotion, the frustration of being thwarted at destroying the fleeing forces besieging the city whose talar had (accidentally?) killed the king (warlord) of a neighboring Pendali kingdom (tribe) in the courtship contests for the daughter of one of the Pendali nobles (commanders of a lesser ket fortress). In an athletic contest of wrestling (???). Hrestol led the relief forces and routed the besiegers, but when rushing after the Pendali to slaughter them from behind the earth turned against his forces, causing casualties too. Hrestol rationalized his hurt pride and was willing to sacrifice himself to achieve his goal to take away that advantage from the Pendali. (Compared with Arkat's struggles, the early history of the rulers of Frowal and its expansion over the entire peninsula is pretty petty at times, even when demigods get involved. And the role of women in that is fairly limited, along the lines you find in Arthurian stories, as damsels in varying degrees of distress or rarely as sorceresses/witches, or as pagan priestesses.) Hrestol's leadership in that battle was already as a man-of-all, the only one who had achieved that rank through study and vigil, repeating a whiff of his initial revelation. A few of his companions starting with Faralz (a horali) and a few talars commanding the satellite settlemens of Frowal may have begun their education back then. Malkioni from other settlements like Hrestol's cousin Yadmov actively condemned that breach of caste law. (Yadmov would change his mind soon afterwards and became one of the first men-of-all in history, and the first from his father's colony Neleoswal). The Seshnegi Hrestolism after Hrestol's departure has been published only in one fragment on the Well of Daliath, the Seshnela King List. While the Second Age entries were revisited and annotated by Greg in the Stafford Library book "Middle Sea Empire", the Dawn Age list did not receive such a treatment, although there are a few more details for the Gbaji Wars period. Hrestols exile brought him into a semi-autonomous part of Brithos, where he was accepted as a talar and son-in-law ruler of a satellite town on the condition that he abandoned his caste-defying man-of-all ways, which he did in deed, if not by conviction, but when it came to decide between the (unjust and petty) commands of the Brithini nobility or saving the life of his friend Faralz (who had slain the petty Brithini talar and consensually abducted his bride from the bloodily disrupted wedding ceremony) he chose friendship over caste obedience. (Unfortunately, Greg's detailed narration ends at this point, and I have only seen annotated chronicles of what happened in Seshnela afterwards, and nothing about what went on in Brithos, the Vadeli Isles, or Fronela beyond the two paragraphs in Middle Sea Empire). The Hrestolism of Fronela is based on Hrestol's ascension to become king and unifier of those colonies against the Enjoreli Boll People threat, after his experiences as Vadeli judge. We learn about a new disciple from that period, Tomaris, although I have no idea whether Tomaris was actually a companion of Hrestol or a posthumous disciple and chronicler like S(/P)aulus. Hrestol arrives here and seems to start out as a farmer, picking up the other professions of the castes as need arose. (And emulating King Drona's example, I suppose, the Farmer King who came from the West (before the Kachasti?) with his boar companion.) And then he abdicates, having found his spiritual development hampered by these achievements, starting anew. (This time without his wife and children?) And runs afoul of the Sog City Brithini (or their hirelings), and gets his martyrdom (emulating Malkion the Sacrifice in a quite truncated story), passing on in (or even into) Joy. (And body...) And I am not sure whether Hrestol followed the path of the Man-of-All in this third approach, or whether he wrestled with the experience of Joy directly. Fronelan Hrestolism grew out of all three of these Man-of-All or "Contemplationo of Joy" approaches, presumably with the second approach creating the practical forms of Dawn Age Fronelan Malkionism, and the Seshnelan influences coming in periodically as the power of Seshnela (and later its succesor colony Jrustela) waxed and waned. Early Third Age Fronelan Hrestolism was created under the influence of Halwal, the Makanist dissident sorcerer who had been passed over as head of orthodox Makanist Hrestolism and who set off on a pilgrimage with just one companion riding two donkeys in a manner similar to Hrestol's third approach to Joy. Interestingly, Halwal's complaints about the mistakes of the God Learners don't seem to address the Malkioneranist dabbling with deities and Godtime at all - from the looks of it, Halwal's position and those of his rivals towards outgrowths like the Zistorites, the Umathelan God Learner mass gradiations or the Slontan experiments (never mind the False Dragon Ring weirdness east of Eest) appears to be hte same. Halwal's involvement in Fronelan matters starts with the rebellion of the Fronelan resistance against the Adalla usurpators who had become a dynasty by this time, in its third or fourth generation. Halwal collects foes of the Adallas, including the weird Irensavalists whose mundane leader succeeded the Adallas as king, but also barbarian allies, nonstandard monastiic wizards (and possibly Man-of-All monks?), and presumably Makanists who were political rivals suppressed by Adalla nepotism. Halwal dabbles in Irensavalism (becoming revered as an Ascended Master for him rescuing the suppressed lore and explaining it, presumably adding to the canon), but judging from his later Ralian activities, embracing all kinds of non-orthodox Malkioni philosophies in search for (his) greater truth. And after succeeding in placing an Irensavalist on the Fronelan throne, independent from the Seshnegi king and high wizard, he goes on to foment trouble in Ralios, researching Arkatism, a form of Malkionism declared a heresy by the pettiness of Nralar the Old. Overall, the major developments of Malkionism appear to grow out of human weakness and pettiness. Hrestol's decision to slay Ifttala after his pursuit was blocked by powerful earth magic. The Serpent King mission to claim the land of their divine ancestress Seshna Likita with Ylream dead/going underground in the process of dying after a simliar failed move of self-aggrandizement repeated by his grandson, ending Ylream's male lineage Nralar enraged that the Autarch (ruling a much greater realm) wouldn't pay him tribute Halwal's rage quit over being passed over as head of the orthodox wizards And don't get me started about the Enerali-descended ruler of Rindland who adopted the fringe monastic philosophy of Rokarism over orthodox Seshnegi Hrestolism. Irensavalist dualism must have been fairly widespread alongside traditonal Hrestolism when the Adalla dynasty used their Seshnegi orthodox connections to forcibly convert Frontem into Seshnegi mainstream Malkionism as per the Return To Rightness definition. Starting with a series of descendants of Gerlan.t and Nralar, but later replaced by a dynasty descended from Damol (and thereby from Yadmov Neleosson and Fenela Froalarsdaughter, and from Aerlit Kolate) that may have brought back pre-Gerlant notions. A portion of Syranthir's followers were Irensavalists, with a wide array of other magical traditions (probably including hill barbarian bull worshippers) arriving at Lake Oronin and taking over from the Spolite regime of terror. I don't think that Talor the Laughing Warrior was an Irensavalist, even though he was an avatar of Joy. Talor's kingship re-defined Fronelan Malkionism the same way Gerlant's did in Seshnela. While Talor and Gerlant reportedly had a cordial relationship with one another ruling their fringe kingdoms while Arkat meditated in his Autarchy in a role comparable to that of Belintar in the Holy Country, each rebuilt their kingdom from the ravages of the Gbaji Wars, with Talor having to deal with a much more recent mess than Gerlant whose kingdom had been liberated for good more than thirty years before the conquest of Dorastor. Talor's exposure to Arkat would have been rather short and recent, unlike Gerlant's who rode by his side throughout most of his campaigns as an Orlanthi/Humakti avatar, and probably even after he became a troll. I think that Talor only ever met the man that emerged from the ruins of the City of Miracles, across the battlefield receiving Arkat's curse (or his separation from his chaotic nature) after Nysalor's death. Talor's main teachigs about Arkat would have come via Harmast Barefoot and his Lightbringer companions. Talor's kingdom was separated from Gerlant's by the sea route (dominated by the Waertagi, and subject to Vadeli interference) and by the land route across Erontree Forest and through Arolanit. While individuals may have carried philosophies across (think about all the damage the monk Patricius left behind in Ireland, destroying possibly more of the bardic/druidic inheritancce than Caesar or his successors), there is no indication that Bertalor's Ecclesiastical Council would have had any influence on Talor's heirs even if it had taken place rather than providing the stage for the assassination of the last direct heir of Gerlant wearing the serpent crown and wielding the flamesword. But by then the philosophical discourse had long become the subject of popular debate in wealthy and peaceful Jrustela rather than conflict-torn Seshnela or still recovering Fronela. Another, much weaker influence on Fronelan Malkionism might have come from Jonat's Seshnegi monastery, but that would have been localized further east, and probably had a stronger influence in Carmania than it ever had in Loskalm. With Talor's efforts cleaning up whatever came out of the Gates of Banir finished, the common cause between the Hykimi and the coastal Malkioni had disappeared, and it could be replaced by the White Bear Empire long before that empire and the kingdom of Loskalm came into conflict. The Janubian metropolises shared the contact and trade via the riverine Waertagi as their main trait, with at best henotheist Orlanthi as the main influence. The Carmanian bull shahs had little in common with the Irensavalists of Loskalm but would have had influence on the Talsardian etc. bull kingdoms along the upper Janube that managed to unify the Janubian cities somewhat. Halwal's bull barbarian allies remained on the edges of Malkioni Loskalm, in place for Hrestol to gather aid against the White Bear Empire and to participate in the Syndics' godslaying venture. Theomachies mark the start of most important Malkioni developments. Ifttala at the Dawn, Nysalor at the onset of the Seoond Age, Serpent Form Froalar marking the end of Seshnela proper, and the God of the Silver Feet starting Siglat's Loskalm. Snodal's deed was the first written by Greg, even though it is the most recent in Glornthan history. So, not just human pettiness, but also hybris and nuclear options taken. Quite similar to the career of a certain storm god, really.

Your uncle may very well be the male on the stead while your father was away serving a prince, guarding a caravan, or herding on the high pastures. Being there for an afternoon may start the fascination and lead to a switch in "chosen godfather". Limiting these to the actual progenitors might be misleading about the society, but probably sells more easily to players and GMs raised in such an environment.

I wonder how you glossed over me pairing Gandalf with Sauron, another villain who came and aided civilizations before, and again and again. Anoher lesser deity, or demigod.

A slight addendum on "parents were": these "parents" can (IMO more often than not should) be part of the extended family rather than your biological parents, up to and including patrons of your biological parents taking an interest (fostering). Also, temple orphans are quite likely to have a priestly upbringing because they grow up at a temple. They may take a hit in the wealth outcome for that, and may end up having to replace "Love (family)" with "loyalty temple". One of the best known temple orphans was Palashee, king of Tarsh before Phargentes.

There are RQ2 stats in one of the Wyrm's Footnotes. She has a short HQ2 write-up in the Old Wind description in Sartar Companion, but no "four weapons" diagram like the HQ1 NPCs. She is a minuscule bundle of charisma who has consistently been able to talk her followers into idiotically bad situations.

Killing Harrek once is not a problem as he is known to have at least one backdoor out of Hell, regardless of what happens to his mortal shell and its fluffy wrapping. In the boardgame the main question after killing any of the capital H Heroes was whether they would be back in time for the current scenario/military campaign, or not. Heroic return also trumps being eaten by the Bat or the Hydra in the board game. Think of them as recurring nigh-indestructible villains who may happen to be allied to your side at times. Like Yoda and Obi-Wan, Gandalf and Sauron, Merlin and Skiros, or Elric/Corum/Jerry. Gods and other such entities have emanations or avatars that may very well have such stats. The Crimson Bat is one such case. Your character is similar to the trollkin facing of Rune Lord Rurik. Roll your crit to the head (or whatever sufficiently vulnerable), and get your one strike kill, with a wooden spoon if need be. Maybe collect enough plot armor for your character to get there. Plot armor = Heroquest gifts/powers (or chaotic features), heroic identification of himself or of his opponent from the identity challenge - which is what "calls him out, saying he is full of it" can be understood to mean. Frame the bearskin as a rug, and Harrek might be a lot less full of power and divine aura. Make his followers loathe him somewhat, and another weakness will crop up in his present fighting form, a set of RQ stats with somewhat less incredible numbers.

The Loskalmi army is composed of Guardians and Men-of-All, yes - because by taking up weapons for king and country, you show your responsibility to the community and the country. But where does the Guide say that serving in the army (or navy) is the only way for a guardian to serve the community? A guardian is the equivalent of an Orlanthi carl (or freeman if you prefer the dialect of Blandistan). Fairly competent in martial matters, but few are likely to be able to train others. I stand by my claim that Guardians are commoners taking an active role in the communities, similar to the Jonstown city militia. Commoner doesn't imply pitchfork. Think Swiss Army (of any period since the Rütli-Schwur) rather than Frankenstein-style rabble. The kind of volunteers from which the Papal guard was and is recruited. The concept of mastering the four castes to become a Man-of-All makes it inevitable for dronars or zzaburs or talars to pick up warriors weapons alongside commoners' tools or writing utensils. Malkion spoke to Hrestol to reveal that those old ways are no longer working in the world inside Time. Like allowing a Talar to care for his own horse or to prepare a meal. There also has to be an underbelly of Loskalmi society (and Malkioni society in general) which has people trained in weapons or magic outside of the control of the state, i.e. outside of the Guardians. While an individual serves in the army, that is a standing occupation, but if Plato's republic applies, then the Guardians are supposed to have their commoner livelihood alongside their volunteer time. Something like the volunteer fire-fighter forces in Germany outside of major cities (and even in suburbs of such cities). I agree that there are plenty Loskalmi who are useless at wielding any military weapon (other than the axe). Much like there are civilians inept at handling a gun in modern countries without mandatory military service. There will be guardians barely better than that, though not in the regular army after a certain period of service. Hrestoli society used to encourage people of all castes to engage in pursuit of logic and the emanations / laws of the Invisible God. The God Learner movement resulting in the Abiding Book was a popular movement in Jrustela engaging in the philosophical debates, across the castes

Bronze, small quantities of iron from Seshnela, wine, dyes, Teshnan produce traded for Kethaelan goods. Dosakayo is a trading hub to the east and south and will provide other goods than those produced in the Holy Country to pass onward. The Quinpolic league probably has little to offer in terms of trade goods for Kralorela other than iron, as many of their luxury products appear to have been introduced to the Tanier Valley and estuary as transplants from Teshnos and Kralorela in the Second Age. I don't think that anybody exporting silk has ever accepted wool in payment. Do you mean males captured by the Marazi? Sure, Esrolia sounds like a market for tamed males. Not in high volume, though. Tea is grown both in Kralorela and Tanisor. While there may be prestigious cultivation regions, I don't think tea can have the same impact on post-Opening overseas trade that it had on the initial Jrusteli one. High quality ceramics and glass are always an option, but while e.g. the Dutch exported ceramics in Europe, they don't appear to have carried any as a trade good to Batavia (now Jakarta) or onward. Statuary made from specific minerals might be good, but again Kralorela is too much like Cathay in having achieved cultural perfection to imagine jade imports rather than exports of second-rate ware. Pavis had one major export - artifacts from the Second Age, including Cradle items and copies thereof. Its main imports always were food, but mainly from regional sources, and small amounts of luxuries, most of those via Karse and Sartar prior to 1602, I suppose, and hardly any after the Lunar conquests as the Princes of Sartar were no more. Feroda was unusable after the Closing, and too haunted for a trading place, which is why Tolkazzi settled for the location at Corflu instead. In that case you could have an overseas partner of the Corflu venture returning a year or two delayed, only to find the successor of the venture disappeared into the Wastes due to delivery of a hyena skin. And then the wolf pirates appear in unprecedented numbers, and Fazzur captures Karse.

No worries, I made that up as a possible in-world reply to your conundrum.

AFAICT, Zzabur has retreated to his own tower somewhere in the center of Brithos, where all the magical energies generated by the cities and populations gather, after his ill-fated bid to inherit the rulership of Brithos after the short civil war triggered by Faralz and Hrestol in 7 ST. He supposedly was the pinnacle in the wizards' efforts to cause the Sunstop, receiving magics from the Genertelan colonies as well. Gbaji's grasping shadow never came beyond the Neliomi Sea, although individual missionaries/Riddlers might have. The magical disease that ravaged Seshnela did not plague Brithos, as far as we know, and neither the foes of Talor. Arkat might have gotten a blessing or glimpse of Zzabur when the expeditionary force to Arolanit was sent off in Brithos. After his mother returned with him from the Aldryami forest, he may have been judged under the eyes of Zzabur, too, but that's the closest contact I can make out for Zzabur with the other protagonist of the Gbaji Wars. Sending that army was plenty involvement. There was no further big magical rite that broke the hold of the Bright Empire other than its internal consumption in the fight against Arkat. We know little about the fallout from the Sunstop in the rest of the world for the subsequent 75 years. In Umathela, the Lascerdans died out, the Doraddi sent out the Pithdarans who got lost in time, and Kralorela continued as before until the False Dragon's Ring arrived there.

IMO Hrestol's revelation of Joy was what made him devise the path of the Man-of-All, as a vehicle and road to repeat that experience. (That, and a desperate need for a magical warrior class in the struggle against the Pendali whose lion-magics and earth magics made them superior in that vendetta of early Dawn Age Seshnela.) The henosis with the Invisible God has been the initiatory experience that marks the graduation to the Man-of-All status ever since the second person (IIRC Faralz, a horali companion of Hrestol) in Malkioni history achieved that lofty rank. Hrestol's (Seshnelan) revelation brought forth the book of chivalry (in older terminology) which laid out the requirements of attaining the Man-of-All status. Possibly as a physical document handed over to the Talar Hrestol in his revelation, possibly written by him during his experience/ordeal, possibly dictated by him to a zzaburi scribe or written down by himself as part of his Talar caste training under his father's first sorcerer. Other than the weird decision of the Rokari heresy to combine the talar caste with the man-of-all function and status (slightly less weird if you consider that for more than a millennium, most talars worth that name had graduated to Man-of-All status as a matter of policy), there is no Malkioni group where something like man-of-all status is an automatic reward of birth. Hrestol himself had already experienced Joy once before he finished his "mastery" of all four castes. His role at his father's court had given him already the full education of a talar, probably as part of him achieving adulthood. After his revelation by/intellectual unity with Malkion (both as his Ascended great-grandfather and as the emanation of the Invisible God?) Hrestol set out to master the other castes, which included mastery of sword and lance from the Horal caste (a noteworthy feat as his swordsmanship was second to only few of his contemporary Malkioni or Brithini). Undergoing a vigil contemplating on his achievements in all four castes, Hrestol succeeded in achieving henosis again, and thus fortified he set out to assassinate the Pendali ancestress. This applies only to Loskalm after the Syndics' Ban. Prior to the Ban, Loskalmi were as linealist as the Castle Coast refugees from Rokari supremacy or the hidden linealist Hrestoli families in southern Tanisor, the Quinpolic League, and Pithdaros. There is no Guardian caste. Guardians are members of the Commoner caste who have taken on voluntary duties for their communities, which include military service, peacekeeping and mediatory involvement in disputes. Probably tax collection and similar functions, too. One might say that in Siglat's Loskalm, the Guardians were those who had mastered the Commoner Caste and became (possible) trainees for the Man-of-All path. There should be plenty Guardians who have no ambition or hope of achieving the Man-of-All status but who are content to serve their communities in the slightly elevated form of the community volunteer. Whoever has both the ambition and the talent to achieve more in Loskalm will undergo the full training to become a man-of-all rather than just the immediate training to be able to perform as a Guardian in whichever function he needs to fill (which includes military service for the vast majority of Guardians). From the "life of Hrestol" section in Middle Sea Empire, there is a possibility that already during Hrestol's lifetime the men-of-all in Frontem were different from those prototype ones he left behind in Seshneg, as Hrestol had renounced all of his achievements and started anew when arriving in what would become Loskalm, leading the emancipation of those colonies from the Enjoreli bull people. (His Loskalmi disciple Tomaris appears to have been less of a warrior than Faralz, possibly a zzaburi instead. We know that Tomaris is counted among the Ascended Masters, but not all Ascended Masters need to be Men-of-All - I am fairly certain that Halwal never became a man-of-all, yet he has that Ascended Master status, too.) In Malkioni sects with a hereditary zzabur caste, not every member of a zzabur caste will be a full wizard, and not every member of the horal caste will be a fully trained soldier. In Serpent King Seshnela, it looks like that a generation after Hrestol, all ruling talars were also men-of-all, and many above-average Horali achieved that status too. Also, once a non-talar had achieved the rank of man-of-all, he could receive a Talar's office as a local ruler, like Faralz did upon his conquest of a Pendali fortress-town. It looks like at least some of the leading zzaburi also achieved the rank of man-of-all. A local ruler was expected to be the military leader, too - a position that does not include fighting by yourself, but leading from the front required the skills of a man-of-all, and leaders leading from the front achieved the results in the struggles with the Pendali. A wizard seems to need to have undergone a state of unity with the runes he mastered, which isn't quite the same as henosis with the Invisible God, but on the other hand not that dissimilar. Inasmuch as that he has enough of a basic proficiency with weapons to have passed the Man-of-All graduation - can wield sword, spear and shield with some confidence, can ride a horse. At least IMG even the idealist New Hrestoli of Loskalm are pragmatic enough not to let a talent for wizardry dig latrines or serve as cavalry soldier beyond a mandatory minimal service. They will be selected for magical duties under wizards, effectively an apprenticehood masked as squirehood, or even trained in regimental magics. I disagree with this conclusion. To be granted that rank, one must have had a glimpse of henosis. Much of the subsequent soul-searching of a man-of-all will be to repeat and expand that experience. A Guardian is not a Horali warrior. In practice, the rank and file of the Loskalmi army is made up by Guardians, yes. Those who serve permanently are trainee men-of-all. The Loskalmi man-of-all replaces the Horali caste as having mastered all of the warriors requirements. There can be professional fighters among the Guardians whose combat abilities exceed those of a majority of the men-of-all but who lack ability or ambition to master e.g. the Loskalmi law code or business arithmetics (as part of the Talar requirements) or advanced literacy and basic Logic (as part of the zzaburi requirements). (There might even be a few unfortunate Guardians stuck in that state because they fail to master animal care even though their knowledge of Loskalmi law and swordsmanship is excellent.) No more than 15k, if the army is the main destination for graduates. One out of 200-500 (away from my numbers, as my computer requires repair or replacement). That's fairly high if you compare them with illuminates. And it is abysmally low if you compare them with initiates, or even rune levels. The Heortling male initiatory experience of the Secret of the Star Heart may not be Joy, but it is a similar transcendent experience that is an adulthood requirement. First time experience should be at the end of the vigil that comes with Man-of-All graduation, although there may be blessed individuals who experience Joy prior to that ordeal, or even without having joined the Guardians. Most Ascended Masters apparently receive that appellation posthumously. Under the old Three Separate Worlds concept, these were people who left an original impression or node on the "saint" plane, people who founded a philosophical school or order. Joy is Unity with the Invisible God, not Complete Unity. Men-of-All and other recipients of Joy have seen the Light, but the Ascended Masters have passed through it to that higher level of cognition on a permanent base. So yes, experiencing Joy is a single moment recognizing the potential of Insight that there is. Ascending means gaining the insight rather than just recognizing it. The recipient of the revelation of Joy has that blessing. The Man-of-All is someone who quests to repeat his experience of Joy. The Ascended Master supposedly has a surefire method to repeat the experience. The Man-of-All is (supposed to be) on a quest to experience Joy again (and again, and again). IMG the Man-of-All is the not yet reliably Joyful mounted warrior/hedge wizard/apprentice wizard of the New Hrestoli sect. Has seen the grail from afar, but has yet to find it again. May find fortification in the past experience, or may find a way to experience again.

Possibly that, although any hero with some self-esteem will acquire a hyal Goldeneye horse from the Grazers one way or another, sooner or later. There were dissident Grazerland horse folk who chose life in Prax over following the Feathered Horse Queen, and those would have brought their ponies as breeding stock. Then there were those Goldeneyes taken in raids from the Grazers by Derik and his Tarshite allies, and probably quite a few lesser Grazelander horses. As far as MGWV is concerned, pure-breed Goldeneyes are as rare among Grazelander herds as War Zebras are among the zebra herds of Pavis, and earlier on among the herds of the Pure Horse Folk of Prax. While these Pure Horse People who were invited to Prax were Pentans who followed the ways of Hyalor, they were (mostly) not descended from the Hyalorings who ruled over Darjiin shortly after the Dawn and then provided the third emperor of the horse warlord "dynasty" enthroned by the Jenarong rites. Sered horses are the typical Pelorian and Pentan horse breed. There may be lineages with Goldeneye or possibly Vuanso ancestry in Pent or Char-un Erigia, too. You pick above-average horses as warhorses, and otherwise make do with what you've got. Which AFAICT has been the case throughout the history of mounted warfare. Excellent question, really. Mythically, this is almost like raiding for a bride, one from a different tribe. Normally not encouraged (unless you bring her back as a slave). And even while another tribe's raided herd beasts tend to end up as a roast for the raiders, and practically never as a mount (excepting Unicorn tribe women without the tribal beast, or their husbands/male lovers who joined that tribe), though as beasts of burden they may last longer. On a grand scale (that of the Nomad Gods boardgame), raiding a herd unattended by warrior/herders summons the Protectress, a dreadfully powerful combat form of Eiritha that will need to be overcome or likely destroy your raiding party. On a roleplaying game scale, unattended herds only happen after disastrous stampedes or similar mishaps. Otherwise, there are bound to be herders in charge of protecting a clan's herd that is following their alpha cow. And since keeping all beasts together will denude even the richest pasture rather quickly, the herds are likely to split into smaller groups when not on a migratory trek, spreading out across the available pasture. The herder-to-herdbeast ratio probably is greater than 20 per herder (as suggested for Sartarite cattle herders), possibly rather in the region of 50 per herder (as suggested for Sartarite shepherds). Praxian herders are mounted as a rule. They probably have outrider scouts looking out for raiders, which need to be avoided or fooled, or in case of doubt subdued with such force not causing major warfare. The big challenge may be to out-herd the herders who are kin to the herd beasts, and that's where my comparison wiht bridal raiding comes into play. Demonstrate the weakness of the assigned guardians of the herd, and get the part of the herd you want to take over moving in the direction you want without causing a panic, and ideally also without alerting any not-subdued native herders. Life in Prax is harsh enough already without making raiding genocidal. That said, you don't raid the clan village on the move, but an outlying smaller group of beasts with a small number of more or less alert guardians. People captured alive may be taken for ransom or - should there be no ransom forthcoming - as slaves. But raiding for slaves may be done without aiming at raiding herd beasts. Most of the Pol Joni will have Praxian ancestors by now, as the formation of the tribe included a great number of outlaws from the other Praxian tribes upon foundation, giving them a second chance at a life as protectors of a family rather than lives around outlaws' camp fires. There is no specific hatred against any of the Beast Rider tribes (other than personal grudges). At least as per earlier descriptions, zebra riders breed cavalry zebras - infertile crossbreeds of war zebra stallions and horses that fulfill the "not a horse" trope. As such, the Pavisite zebra kings have always kept their pure horse kin nearby, and remained on good terms with them. The nomadic Zebra tribe that formed around Joria, the human-shaped daughter of Joraz Kyrem and the Zebra mother who became Most Respected Elder at the Paps, may have abstained from that practice, at least while residing at the Paps. (These details have been leaked by David Scott in Episode 9 of the God Learners podcast.) There is a certain irony in having the Pol Joni as followers of Jaldon Toothmaker in the WBRM / Dragon Pass board game, as the tribe was founded on the feat of laying Jaldon to a longer (temporary) rest. The Pol Joni tribe was formed before 1440 (the death of King Yanasdros of Tarsh), as that worthy aided Derik in stealing the magical breeding bull from the Opili nation Pentans that had been previously pushed back into Jarst and Garsting at the Battle of Quintus Vale, and without a tribe in Prax Derek had little need for a breeding bull. The mixed breed of Pentan steppe cattle and Sartarite upland cattle makes a welcome addition to the catalogue of herd beasts to be raided for in Prax, and can deal with the chaparral at least during the fertile season(s) quite well (better than the horses in any case). Few yet, and fewer for RQG canon, and few for direct perusal. The RQ2 Pavis box and King of Sartar are the two major sources I have used for years, with some extra info in other sources that add color (like that orange-skinned Storm Bull (IIRC) hero from that tribe). The Sartar history in the Sourcebook gives a text slightly different from that in the Sartar section of the Composite History of Dragon Pass in King of Sartar. Martin Helsdon's Armies and Enemies of Dragon Pass gives a good tribal synopsis. Other than that, lots of fan speculation and occasional fanzine publication, and a number of unfinished or cancelled publications. The sequels for Valley of Plenty would have dealt with the Pol Joni, but sadly even the (great) first offering of that series has been pulled from the Jonstown Compendium. Sarah Newton's project detailing Barbarian Town for RQG has been delayed indefitely. And even if there was a finished manuscript in the hands of Chaosium, we would have to wait for that for at least a year, if the progress of Robin Laws's Pavis books is an indicator.

"Any husband of one of my daughters is a husband of mine, for I am the Fertile Earth, as are they for their aspects."

Basically what I could find in the sources available at the time, canonical as well as non-canonical like How the West Was One, and using every little shred of informaton. Possibly a YGWV romp, but too many later releases of canon to be useful today, I'm afraid. Not yet. When I do, I might put in on Jonstown Compendium, but it is quite old-school RQ3 as it stands.

Zebra Fort in Old Pavis may have such - Joraz Kyrem was victorious against Paragua, and he or one of his heirs wrestled off one arm of Thog the avenging giant. I don't quite know why the Pure Horse folk who re-settled to the Good and Better Place in Prax had such magics, but maybe they got them occasionally plundering cradles before the Jrusteli took over that business and captured all the cradles.

Not canonical, but the small chivalrous order of St. Ehilm that I wrote into Jansholm might be "it". The Balazar citadel architecture for their Yelmalio temples is actually the sign of a fairly prosperous or at least powerful expression of Yelmalio presence. The Trilus one failed to survive the end of that lineage of Balazar's descendants by much, the Elkoi one is overshadowed by the Lunar presence, and in Dykene it loses to the exotic giant vrok hawk roosts in memorability. Mercenary halls may have a pompous shrine with a gilt cupola, and "tribal" temples to all associates of Ernalda and Orlanth may have structures above the Lightfore altars symbolizing the sun dome in the sky, too.

Being able to host such parties or merge with those is a tool of spycraft, too...

Pamalt and formerly Genert. with Tada acting as defender, too. And Baroshi. The deaths of Genert and Tada and Baroshi hidden leaves a gap that the husband protectors like Argan Argarstep in to fill. If you take the options in Sandy Petersen's Gods War game as canon, there can be a Chaos husband protector, too - anything is more acceptable than hungry Death (Nontraya/Vivamort/Zorak Zoran) or Oblivion.

Yes, that timelessness of the Making Gods essay made it almost useless as any event not tied to a member of the House of Sartar or Monrogh could have happened any time between Argentium Thri'ile and the Lunar invasion. The identification of Jarosar as the victim of Solar treachery is not that obvious, either, and neither can Tarkalor's activities in the Kitori conflict be dated with much confidence. About the only date I am fairly confident about is a joint visit of the heirs of Sartar (possibly even including Onelisin) at the Big Rubble in 1539 or 1540, following the Dragonewts Dream and the release of the troll seal on Old Pavis. While Old Man Sartar was out there at Badside by 1490, forging a peace between the Pol Joni and the Paps tribes, this is when his heirs and their followers get to meet the Zola Fel Yelmalians inside the Rubble and down at the Sun Dome. Is there a history of Zola Fel templars being hired by the Kingdom of Sartar? Or even earlier by Twins dynasty Tarsh (who had their own templars in Goldedge)? IMO it isn't the cult which has the warriors, but the temples and the shrines that serve as recruitment and hiring places. The Templars are mercenaries who predominantly are initiated to Yelmalio, but who include non-initiates (to Yelmalio, that is) as well, with birthplaces all over southern and central Genertela. The Yelmalio mercenary bands are trained to temple doctrine and leech off the templar reputation even if their only tenuous connection to a sun dome temple are their officers, and perhaps a few veterans' initiation places.

Illustrated with portraits, e.g. by Kalin or Katrin. Take our money, please...

With passions and rules for despair for certain passion or rune mishaps we have something like Sanity effects, as far as I am concerned. CoC SAN is an ablative protection against the existential horror that our mundane world isn't all there is to reality. For a Gloranthan, the proper reaction would be "boring, we know that already!". Initiation rites take care of that insight, at least for Heortling male adulthood rites this is made explicit.

Low ceilings and narrow passages are a great incitive not to use a slashing weapon with reach. Longer spears include some quarterstaff actions as combat options, at least with me as GM. Shortening the grip can increase the weapon strike rank but reduce the disadvantage against enemies closing in, which I would handle with situational modifiers off the cuff. Their real strength other than striking first when charging (or being charged) is that you can strike from behind cover or fortification, reducing the area the enemy can hit you in (at least with distance attacks). How do you treat cover (e.g. by buildings) when making distance attacks? Does the D20 decide whether 30 points of stone wall are added to the armor of the location, or do you use a modified hit location table and a situational modifier for a smaller target?

A Fear passion can be used to incite bravery, although I would say except against the primary source of the passion. Fear of one opponent can incite bravery against someone blocking a way away from the fearsome enemy.

Villains definitely do, just like their minions are willing to go to some length to give them resurrection, or in case of doubt necromantic contact with the spirit of the deceased to allow them a vengeful rest. I also use something like passions to decide on breaking points for the opposition, like loyalty to (or fear of) the villain.