Joerg

I am unaware of any reprint in another language, but then I have no idea about the Spanish or Japanese language fanzines of RuneQuest material. Midkemia Press' 1980 City of Carse: The 1980 pdf version of the City of Karse does not include the nice A3 (or was it A2?) maps that came with the Chaosium version. It has the detail maps of the neighborhood in fairly nice shape - house outlines and entrances, and road quality - and a map in the back how these neighborhoods fit together. It has the advantage of being available for a very low price. The content still is one of the best urban descriptions ever made for fantasy roleplaying, although this version describes the city in its Midkemian context. I first encountered this city in its German translation, fitted into the background of the German Midgard RPG (there is an English language game by this name which has nothing to do with that). I got the Chaosium version in paper, and the Midkemia version as pdf, and once upon a time I had a wiki where I explored the city, with some participation by Light Castle aka Laurent Castellucci. The files should still be on my backup drive. Raymond Feist's Carse is based on a copper plate "aerial view" map of Caernarfon in the 16th century, corrected and adapted for the city's road layout (but not for its elevation profile). While the Edwardian fortified city and castle are clearly medieval in origin, some adaptation in the style of the walls etc. would be hard to differentiate from what we got in RQG for Clearwine and Jonstown. Chaosium is not going to pay royalties or license the city for any future publications on Karse, which is why anything directly based on this product is unlikely to be canonical, or of much use. You couldn't publish any of that in the Jonstown Compendium, for instance. Martin Hawley's Men of the Sea for HeroQuest still has a few references to the Chaosium version of Carse. Those will most likely be gone in any future publication, too. But then, any future Karse is likely to have a citadel, a walled city, and a harbor front. It may very well have spilled out of the original city area enclosed by the citadel-adjacent walls, and have a second set of fortifications following that development. It will have a similar content of guild halls, inns, bath houses, crafters' shops, etc., and quite a bit more maritime activity like shipyards and boat builders' yards. Probably not a large dedicated military shipyard, but probably a small garrison and a depot for Kethaelan navy ships. The expanded city will have overseas folk in their own little enclaves. My Karse has always had a separate fishermen's town, with harborside quarters, boat sheds, net drying meadows, etc., much like the Holm outside of Schleswig's old city center offers, scaled back a millennium or two. And then there is Old Karse, the survival site of the northern Pelaskites with its cyclopean walls and its sanded up river port after the re-direction of the Creek-Stream River.

Mad scientistisrs, when those operate as engineers. There is little Mostali runtime devoted to understanding things, they are compulsive makers. Once they have prototypes, they may fiddle with and twist those.

What makes you think of Karse as not a blue water port? It looks like Tarkalor invested in blue water port facilities as soon as he heard of Dormal's success, probably delegating the project to his cousin Jotisan. The earlier incarnation of Karse further up the estuary when it still was the Creek-Stream River estuary was a blue water port when the God Learners explored the region. (That didn't keep them from adding their own, Lylket, a bit further west below the Shadow Plateau.)

I have handled arrows made for atlatl use - rather slim shafts, similar to arrow shafts for bows, with quite a bit of flexibility. Basically you can harvest these from coppiced hazel at most three years after coppicing. They will require quite a bit of fletching and a sufficiently heavy (but not too heavy) point to fly as intended, but their penetration is similar to that of arrows shot by self-bows, and the effective range isn't that much different either. It is possible to use an atlatl or a leather sling attached to a spear to throw heavier spears that could also be used in hand-to-hand combat, and I have seen experimental archaeology reports using what we would classify as a long spear with those Amentum leather cords at distances similar to pilum range. Missile prices are broken. Javelins and spear-thrower darts in particular. Any hunter-gatherers will create a set of usable spear-like missiles out of raw material for themselves at much less economic cost than raising a mule.

More or less thinly veiled pop culture references are all over canonical Glorantha.

They were introduced to me in the Freeform "How The West Was One", with the family rivalry already in place. Plenty people jumped on what was known about these characters - in a large part from the post-game experiences shared on the Digest and in the convention summary booklets printed as fund-raisers. I know that I did not re-invent the wheel when I built up my vision of Heortland and the Holy Country, and quite a few of these characters were also reused in Rise of Ralios. But then, those write-ups assumed that both these talar families provided high-ranking zzaburi in the Rokari hierarchy. The short write-up of the Rokari in the rule book does allow this - talar families would not be exempt from providing boys for zzaburi education. Whether they would retain their family names and allegiances is a slightly different question, but the general track record of the Rokari suggests some pragmatism. Neither family made it into the Guide of Glorantha, but then they are only second tier families in the Quinpolic League, and the lesser of the five cities receive hardly any description beyond what island they are on and their function as naval and mercantile bases. It is possible to rewrite a setting and defining a new canon where fans have created a network of their own ideas, plot-lines and characters. Disney has demonstrated that with the Star Wars franchise. The result was a new trilogy of Star Wars movies, and a few prequels, and lots of highly interwoven and well-played material relegated to the subordinate status of fan-fiction. The result was a loss of long-time fan engagement alongside a new generation of new viewers, and the new owners being able to avoid re-use of any third party characters. Is that an issue for the future of Glorantha, though?

One possibility is in the same paragraph - Orlaront raises a dragon. Although it is weird that Asborn comes back (again) and Minaryth Purple doesn't. Otherwise, it could have been earlier that year, e.g. in the company of King Broyan, but again, why would Asborn be the one to re-emerge from that pile of corpses? The Battle of Pennel Ford is a distant possibility, but again, that's a mess of thousands of corpses. So probably a way more personal demise - possibly in a duel against a champion of Blackmoor. Standing up for whom? But then, the GM screen package still has him as Thriceborn, after the plantations were burned. Two possibilities feel somewhat plausible - either Minaryth projects a later death back to this event, or the way Asborn dies and returns is kept from common knowledge, but Minaryth is somehow privy to that secret.

The woman from the rogues' gallery in the sourcebook, sent out to make diplomacy to Sharman Ingilli in Prince of Sartar appears to be of High Llama rider stock, although without any noticeable ties to her birth tribe. While I can easily see that a trickster may outlive her welcome with the Orlanthi noble she was bonded by, it takes some chuzpe by a tribal king to allow that individual into her court and questing group during that disgrace. But then, Argrath may have enjoyed burdening Leika with his bad-mouthed sidekick.

Nope, got Pene(ne)'s and Infithe's husbands mixed up.

The ones surviving the Greater Darkness lived on the border of the EWF area of influence, and may actually have been fairly friendly to draconic mystics. The ones in the Shan Shan are Korgatsu worshippers. One thing that the short histories of the EWF gloss over is that for the first eighty years, it was the draconic mystics who were persecuted and killed on sight by the mainstream Orlanthi, maybe not everywhere but in many places. And some may have been sheltered from that persecution by wind children.

The Mostali certainly will have magic to enchant brass, the copper-tin alloy that resulted from Lodril leaping down into the gound and mixing his hot essence with that of the earth. In my Glorantha, much of the bronze dug up is from mountain deities - sons of however Lodril is locally called - killed by Storm Gods or other such foes. If you have to move rock to get at the metal, it is most likely brass. If you can pan it out of heavy sands, a Storm origin is likely for that bronze. I suppose there were plenty of gods who lost and after a while regrew limbs. There are hardly any disabled archetypes among the known pantheons, other than Hippoi, Gerra, Heler (who lost his connection to the Seas) and Humakt (who severed ties and possibly fertility).

The Talastari are probably less civilized than urban Sartar, about as civilized as most of the Colymar, and probably more civilized than the Varmandi. (But then, who in Sartar except for the Telmori or Brangbane is not?) The Old Day Traditionalists so ruthlessly crushed by the EWF leader Isgangdrang came from here, but then those traditionalist Orlanthi of the Second Age were quite civilized and urban, with a strong priesthood, much like their EWF counterparts, just anti-dragon. Their heirs flocked to the banners of Alakoring adopting his style of kingship. Similar to how the Hendriki adopted the Rex rites a little later, in time for carrying them into Esrolia in the Adjustment Wars. Skanthi and Anadikki are the feral type of Orlanthi - some pastoralism, some forest agriculture, a lot hunting and gathering, and a lot raiding or taking tribute for not raiding. The Skanthi appear to continue Penentelli (Vingkotling) customs, inherited from Porscriptor the Cannibal. Like sending initiands naked into the wilderness with nothing but a spear and a knife. to survive and gain small amounts of fame. Talastari and Anadikki are of mostly non-Heortling stock, descendants of other pastoralists that descended into the Foothills of the Rockwood and Nidan mountains some time in the late Golden Age or at latest early in the Storm Age. No idea whether they would be bull Orlanthi like most clans and tribes west of them. There may be some bear worship influencing the Anadikki, as Arakang the Pelorian Bear God (not Odayla in name, but pretty much in function) comes from that region inside the satrapies (mainly Doblian, some Darjiin). The official bear Orlanthi are the ancestors of Jonat in Fronela (surrounded by bull Orlanthi on both sides of the foothills) and the Sylilans.

The pick is a digging tool, so the German term "Hacke" applies. The pick-axes aren't digging tools, which disqualifies the term "Hacke" as far as my understanding goes. The pick-axes depicted appear to be verticallly bladed hand axes, possibly with a slightly heavier blade. All seem to be good combination tools to cut and possibly sharpen logs or poles, but not for shaping planks. (But then, that would be adzes in English.) If these axes have a blunt head or a thorn on the other side, they might be called for the hybrid function - Axthammer or Dorn-Axt. Rather than "groß/klein", I think German would use "schwer/leicht".

Pretty good, although some of the translations are hard. I am not an expert on German terms for ancient weaponry, doing too much of my reading in English language... Still, I added my varying or disagreeing terms in bold italic in the quote above. A few I disagreed with after looking at the accompanying illustration I used strike-through on.

The Pelaskites and the local Ludoch were among those who experienced relief from the Implosion of the Spike, as the seas returned to the dead body (salt desert) of Faralinthor, and the Creek-Stream River re-awakened Choralinthor. Before that, the problem was the absence of water. With the Creek-Stream River rushing into Choralinthor Bay, the Pelaskites would have been among those the least exposed to the initial Chaos rift in the center of the world, but subsequent disintegration of the world would have affected them like it did everybody else. They survived in two places - in the cyclopean walls of Old Karse on the Creek-Stream River estuary, and in the crannogs or stilt houses of the City of Amphibos, the Newtling hero, in the western Choralinthor Bay, alongside the newtlings of the bay. In my project for the region, there is a blue grotto which has a piece of the Blue Moon deep below its water surface.

Of your four theories, this is the only one that somehow floats. Yes, there will have been Praxian raids on now Lunar occupied territory, and the Lunar high command under Euglyptus would certainly have liked to put a stop to that. However, even a stable genius like Euglyptus may have noticed that there is a significant difference between the Praxians and the Pentan nomad raiders in the north - the Praxian have one of their most sacred places just within reach of an expeditionary corps. Take the Paps away from the Praxians, and they will either submit, or concentrate their efforts on regaining that most holy site - either way Euglyptus' province of Sartar would see peace. There is no easy way from the Paps to the Zola Fel River. The Eiritha Hills form a bay where the Paps is nested, and approaching the river via the head acres will involve a turn back north before they can avoid the bogs of the delta. A port site might have been available at Sog's Ruins. The Lunars ignored that. Heortland had been wide open for the taking in 1605 when the main force of the Holy Country was concentrated at the Building Wall Battle, but Euglyptus was unwilling to take the lead of a costly feint while that nobody Fazzur makes the actual conquest and plunder of the eastern route to the sea. It isn't clear whether Fazzur could have taken Karse by storm, but without significant reinforcement from Esrolia, that was on the table. Karse still would not have secured sea access as the Holy Country fleet was still at large, and could easily have blockaded that port, but the rest of Heortland would have been open for overland campaigning, and more and more port sites would have become available. But then, Belintar's presence probably would have made a difference even to Fazzur, had Euglyptus been able to stomach that Provincial's sneering. Still, the 1619 campaign proved that Karse was a realistic target for Lunar ambition, even with strong support from Esrolia against that conquest. (I wonder whether Nochet offered support, though - while Hendira may have seen the Other Way when Fazzur had established himself in Karse, it is possible that she remained neutral during the investment of Karse.) Invading Heortland and God Forgot from Prax is not really an option. While that approach evades several fortified cities and river crossings, it involves several days of approach through uninhabited territory, creating a logistical nightmare. (Barbarian Fort doesn't count.) Plus an open flank towards Prax. Or send adventurers into the Clanking Ruins. Both God Learner and Dwarf secrets available there. The Prince of Sartar comic postulates a Lunar connection for God Forgot while still giving it the Man Rune, but I think the place to look for the Moon Rune is the entire coastal area - the tidal zone.

That's not the case. Fazzur's success in 1605 and subsequent boasting about it earned him demission to Tarsh while the military stable genius Euglyptus remained as the high command.

Interesting. Will the Swedish version still have the character creation and regional information for Dragon Pass, then? The cults of Dragon Pass?

One way I can imagine the transition is as similar to the Stargate effects, only horizontal (i.e. like those bubble effects were created). The terminus is activated, pushing up a huge bubble of air from the water, and then the now shiny surface can be crossed while retaining the subjective medium you started from (unless you exit, in which case you return to the medium you entered from and the magical effect goes away). The other way would be a permanent terminus, something like a waterfall curtain, or an intermediary area of mist or violent spray (or violent bubbling, if you exit from the water side) until you are in the alien medium while retaining your home medium. You might be able to ride the other medium's water creatures or land creatures after transitioning, and it is possible that there are merman caravans offering rides on big enough fish, but otherwise you are limited to your normal mode of traffic - you swim through the air, or you walk or fly through the water while you are on the Fish Road portions. Stuff you carry along is buoyant to the medium it comes from - even an air-filled barrel or amphora needs to be carried, while a strand of kelp will keep being pulled by the current or your motion if you carry it from the water side to the land side. Theoretically, a land dweller could enter a terminus diving in from the sea side and continue swimming through the air, but that land dweller wouldn't be able to breathe the air as he has taken the water environment with him. He might take along trapped air, or use water-breathing magic. Things get interesting once you approach the border region of the fish road while being in the magical environment at a place other than the terminus. Will you lose your magical other environment, and start swimming (really diving) when leaving the protection of the Fish Road? Can you ride a High Llama through a Fish Road, or will its head (and yours) stick out if held upright? Also, the stretch inside the Syphon River is "interesting". Does the water have the necessary depth along the entire course of the Syphon? How does that look at Backford's name-giving ford?

Probably close to zero, as few Sartarite clans would have shaman members, and few shamans would be bound to follow the authority of a clan chieftain. Shamans tend to live outside of those social structures, but lack the clan-equivalent structure of a major cult. IMG many Daka Fal shamans are likely to wander between their client places, attend funerals and are called to bless new-born with ancestral presentation and attention. They may have assistants from and in each of the clans they service, and travel with a small retinue of assistants and temporary pupils aiming to learn a spell or some other ancestral skill, possibly from an ancestor held in this world by the shaman. Where RQG talks about initiation rates, that's initiation to the main deities and some of the rarer cults. I don't know whether Daka Fal is included in those rarer cults, or in the number of people not initiated to the Orlanthi cults. Quite certainly, a large number of those non-cult-initiates will be active lay members of Daka Fal, as well as Orlanth and Ernalda (if only for the food).

In practice, sacrifices to the gods are a way to share the posh food with those in the clan who don't usually have access to it, so it is a very privileged (i.e. cattle-owning) approach to regard the required sacriifices as an economical loss. Abd yes, a portion of the beast slaughtered or the wine offered will be destroyed or spilled as offering to the deity, but its not like an entire bull is cremated - pragmatically, mainly the inedibe stuff and possibly some taboo parts of the beast get burned. Sacrificial worship is a quid-pro-quo approach. Sometimes the worshippers are paying forward, but just as often they are paying back for blessings received. Heort was a shaman, a practitioner of quid-pro-quo on a personal level, eye-to-eye rather than looking upward. And I think he instilled quite a lot of that into his followers, alongside the "looking up" approach of Hantrafal. That may have been part of his trouble with Orlanth, and possibly why he died of the Lightning Bolt. (Or maybe he chose liberation? His personal encounter with the Second Son may have pushed him farther into the mystics' camp than those who just relive the I Fought We Won.)

Everybody in Glorantha will worship their ancestors, but you don't need to be an initiate to do that. People initiating to Daka Fal do so over the chance to join a deity's afterlife. Lay worship of Daka Fal doesn't mean that you don't get to interact with the spirits of your ancestors, it only means that you need a shaman as intermediary - not that different from initiates, who rarely have the magic to not require the shaman's service. The parallels to the Malkioni are quite strong here, the main difference appears to be that the Daka Fal cult in Prax and Orlanthi society doesn't share the same creation myth. There is a gray area where people have divine ancestors. While those aren't really subject to the Daka Fal rites, their lesser incarnations might, or they might be available as spirit cults with a very limited portion of the actual deity's magic. Thunder Rebels suggested that the worship of Orlanth and Ernalda includes an active worship not of individual ancestors, but of the ancestors as a group, with the group collectively giving blessings or punishments for going againsst their precedence. There are cults with a clear ancestor worship element or requirement- Waha, Yelm - beyond the opt-in approach of most cults. Then there is Malkionism, taking Malkion Engr Aerlitsson as their common ancestor.

I suppose it is based on a wiki platform with a very limited team of editors. There is a communication form for suggested improvements, reporting problems in the text, or even just typos. At least mine was taken care of quite promptly, about as fast as a moderated edit would have taken. Once upon a time there was such an online tool, the Buserian interface by Charles Corrigan for a database created mostly by myself, starting as a lexicalic collection of facts with page numbers and tags in ASCII format, supported by some indexing work by others. By the time it went online it had about 30,000 entries, with crosslinks, page numbers, explanatory texts of varying length and quality, and thousands of direct quotations invisible to most of the public (but available to editors and to authors writing for Glorantha). There was a comment function open to the public, and people could become editors (few did). What the tool did not have was an entry level version where short, newbie-friendly answers would shield users from the rabbit-holes of deeper or even diverging information. I should still have the precursor data on an old hard-disk, but the work I put in once the tool was online may have been lost when a migration too many between providers for glorantha.com made the database disappear. The tool had its weaknesses, among those editorial bias (mine, as it started out as my journey to understand the setting), but I was told it was helpful in accumulating Gloranthan knowledge for various projects.

Salt color - I think that pink in the image comes from the algae which grow in saline ponds, and also give flamingos their distinctive color. Ponds which have spirolina (an edible cyanobacterium aka blue alga) might be green instead. Chemical precipitation of dissolved minerals can happen in these evaporation ponds. Ochre might lend some orange accents. Mythically, the Syphon as most of the other rivers in the region is a spawn of the Sshorg current, although orphaned when only Faralinthor and then no body of water kept providing it. I don't think that the Syphon ever took water or power from the Creek-Stream River. The Syphon does take in the local precipitation catchment, though, flowing downhill until it joins the animated body of the river.

You are right. I should have taken this departure from a previously established Gloranthan fact as yet another creative challenge to preserve my playable ideas in the region while adapting to the new circumstances. So, in one of the stations of my quasi-pilgrimage to Nochet with the corpse of the ancient Astrelia priestess I had an encounter where a group of Ergeshi serfs identifies one of the grave goods carried along - a Kimantoring lead mask unearthed in the Pavis Rubble - and become unruly as their Darkness inheritance is abruptly awakened. That mask is part of a set of maguffins for the scenario, and this was an opportunity to make the player characters aware of some of its potential. Without Ergeshi helots, I need something to replace that. Now I probably need to use the spirits or shades of Kitori ancestors left orphaned in the land when the Sun Domers took over to react to the mask, in a non-threatening way. Which is kind of hard if you have shadows forming from the ground and approaching the party... If something has been marked as "work in progress", people adapt it to their Glorantha knowing it might not survive a later editorial or creative process. We had no such warning for that article authored by the two sources for the definitive version of Glorantha.