jajagappa

Of course these all work perfectly well in the context of the mainline Glorantha history, too. I used a variant of the Crack with a dwarf-caused Earthquake in my old Imther campaign.

Yes, it is golden (or perhaps white) light above.

As Jeff noted "If you decide you want to permanently kill off one of the five main figures in the setting, you need to decide what that means." In this context, what I'd do though is think of each of these main figures almost as Forces of Nature. What would it mean to the world to kill Death or kill the Air? Harrek is a force of destruction, sometimes directed, sometimes seemingly by chance. He is also what was called in the old boardgames a "superhero", meaning he's got a lot of his soul invested in the God's World and knows how to return from Death. And he has heroquesting companions. Gunda is one of these and his best friend. Any of these might interpose themselves in the attempt to take out Harrek, or simply be the one in the wrong spot. Or perhaps the attempt kills the White Bear, not Harrek, since the White Bear is almost always with Harrek. But, if Harrek is taken out, what might happen? The White Bear (a god in its own right) is liberated. Does one of the other Wolf Pirates take on its visage? Or is it freed to return to Fronela and the Rathori? Perhaps it allies with Valind, Himile, and other deities of the ice to bring the Glacier back across the world. Gunda, Harrek's best friend, is enraged and initiates a Dance of Death, and leads Humakt's Choosers of the Dead (noted above in one of Jeff's posts) against the PC's Or Gunda sends off on a Godquest to resurrect Harrek, or free him from the bonds of the Infinite The Wolf Pirates probably break apart - some follow Gunda, some join Argrath, others go off on their own, maybe some join Harrek's killer (if they promise booty and glory). Probably helps the Holy Country at the immediate level, but maybe Gunda returns with something worse, and targeted at all the PC's love... And maybe there are those who take up Harrek's role in Laskal, far to the south across the oceans? Instead of Harrek leading the fight against Chaos, someone there takes up or resurrects the powers of the Bat Goddess of Death, and now the Lunar Empire has a greater ally far to the south, someone who leads a fleet to conquer the Holy Country. The Powers of Destruction fall elsewhere. Maybe someone from the merfolk following Wachaza, or a troll of Zorak Zoran, or an Alkothi follower of Shargash, takes up the "mantle" of Harrek. Destruction does not prove to be eradicated, but shifts to another focal point or "icon". (The last note on "icon" references ideas from the 13th Age RPG where there are a set of figures, "icons", that are the prominent leaders that influence the actions across the world. Harrek certainly fits into this model, but his absence creates a vacuum that someone is likely to fill.) (I think @Eff noted a lot of other relevant thoughts above too)

Very sobering? Here's the Trickster, playing pranks, doing whatever he wants, preaching that all of life's a joke or an illusion, and suddenly finds that everything he thought is True, and beneath it all is just... Chaos. They might just find themselves paralyzed, or unable to invoke any magic, or unable to see the joy and fun in anything they did anymore. It's still an Infinite Loop, and they are now equally bound to it and bored by it. Unless they can find the Creator... and kill them. Or find the Chaosium, the well at the deepest place in the Underworld where Chaos seeps in... and perhaps plug it up, or open it wider. Or they find themselves compelled to spread the Truth of Illumination so that everyone is equally miserable and the gods are revealed for the shams they are.

Now that could really blow a few character's minds! And think of the poor Orlanthi who suddenly realizes that the old windbag who's been busy giving him advice all these years might be something more....

That's what happens when you play with Trickster! 😉 Don't say I didn't warn you! He probably discovered that the world was created in the mind of someone named Greg. Cool! Nothing like some bureaucrats to set off Babeester Gor... That sounds like a wonderfully fun session! And what could possibly go wrong at this point?!

Which must bring a fair amount of wealth to the Volsaxi lands and Whitewall. A lot of that probably goes to Smithstone to forge into bronze goods. Lunars probably took advantage of that while camped outside of Whitewall to keep their soldiers' weapons and armors repaired. Easy to mine if the trolls let you! Probably helps the Orlmarth clan build some wealth.

Jeff provided these insights on Facebook to mining in Dragon Pass and surrounding lands: This is a tentative summary of the main mining sources of metals in Dragon Pass and the Holy Country. Bronze and copper are primarily locally sourced. Although some tin, silver, gold, and aluminum are locally mined, much of the supply is imported from elsewhere. Nearly all iron is imported - either from the dwarfs or from Seshnela. Note that any metal can be bought from the Dwarf Mine, although their prices are always much higher than from human merchants (on the other hand, they always have supplies). Bronze Bronze can be directly mined from Gods Age battlefields where the storm gods fought and fell. Although they can be almost anywhere in the Dragon Pass area, such deposits are rare and very valuable. it is usually easier and cheaper to alloy copper and tin. Mining sources: Red Hill Destor's Hills, Finovan Hills - sometimes called the Bronze Hills. Where many minor Storm gods fell fighting against the invasion of the Water Gods. Copper Copper is a common metal in the Dragon Pass area. Most copper is alloyed with small amounts of tin to create bronze, although some is used without alloying. Dragon Pass and the Holy Country are net exporters of copper. Mining sources: Barastaros Hills - sometimes called the Copper Hills (large) Thorab's Hill (large) Dwarf Mine (unknown) Indigo Mountains (small) Sharl Plains (small) Tin Tin is an uncommon metal, However, there are several small deposits of Tin in Dragon Pass. Tin is also imported from the Lunar Heartlands and Teshnos. Mining sources: Starfire Ridge (small) Auroch Hills (small) Dwarf Cliff (small) Dwarf Mine (unknown) Solung Plateau (small) Falling Hills (small) Gold Gold is a very rare metal and in high demand. Dragon Pass imports most of its gold from the Lunar Heartlands or from Teshnos. Mining sources: Guardian Hills (small) Dwarf Mine (unknown) Falling Hills (small) Silver Silver is a rare metal and in high demand. Dragon Pass imports most of its silver from the Lunar Heartlands. Mining sources: Guardian Hills (small) Falling Hills (medium) Dwarf Mine (unknown) Lead Lead is a common metal in Dragon Pass. The Lead Hills are the main source of lead, and it is extremely easy to mine there. Mining sources: Lead Hills (large) Dwarf Mine (unknown) Aluminum Aluminum is a rare metal. Dragon Pass imports most of its aluminum from the seas in the form of Quicksilver. Mining sources: Indigo Mountains (small) Dwarf Mine (unknown)

I think there are several options. Cult Lore for your god is one. I'd let Devotion to your god or Meditation be options where you seek through prayer or meditation to understand the ways of your god. Divination spell of course is also an option. Other Lores may provide clues. Underworld Lore, Celestial Lore, Spirit Lore, perhaps even Animal or Plant Lore might suggest the interaction of the various world "forces" (aka gods). And then you can find documents, particularly in various Temples of Knowledge, but also in the palaces of Kings and Princes (King Gormoral of Vanch is known for his library) and in various temples (e.g. Sun Dome temples have the ritual scrolls and books for Yelmalio). Obviously some of these are very limited or restricted (and may be why you'd like a thief or trickster in your company???). But obtaining such a document and making a successful R/W roll on the language used should give you some information to work with.

Finished Episode 29. It is the recap of their Sacred Time quest. From an RQG perspective, it delineates how Hero Points will work (like Rune points, but your tie to the God Time), and the benefits from gaining them. Also, the challenge of getting them back! (You need people to at least worship the deeds YOU did, if not yourself, and you need to set up a place where they can do that.) Good stuff!

I would simply use Rune and Passion inspirations - that gets augments to skills, skill categories, etc. and seems to fit in well with the idea of petty magic. You can describe the "inspiration"/augment as almost any sort of magic ("I try to summon up my Fireeye to help see through the mists").

I think the precedent is that they do not learn spirit magic until they are adults in published material. (That is roughly the 15-16 coming of age point. Then they learn more of this while they prepare for cult initiation at some point in the next couple years. Depends on the spell, but yes, use of magic might attract attention of things (spirits, demons, etc.) that can detect magic use.

Could be associated cults or subcults. Rune spells don't necessarily have to be in a main cult to be presented.

Two possibilities I can think of. First, from the Esrolia book there is Sestarto the Artist (p.34): Sestarto the Artist shaped the Landscape to create Ageless Beauty. He made the Farfalls, the Dance Scene of Painted Valleys, the Three Faces of the Crags, and the Walls of Veseularin. His sculptures became more and more realistic as he worked... Second from the Sourcebook in the Redline History there is Iphigios the Crafter (p.167): the craft god, Iphigios, came to the city [Jillaro] and constructed a beautiful statue of the Satrapess [i.e. Hwarin Dalthippa] in ivory and gold... Also Iphigios noted in the Guide (p.321): Atop a broad acropolis spreads the Temple of the Conquering Daughter, built by the sculptor Iphigios in the Third Wane with a distinctive colonnade of red, white, and black marble, which established the architectural style for South Peloria for centuries to come.

Now if only he could manage to get his Rune points back... 😜

That seems likely. Beyond the reference noted above, I've not seen these titles used or referenced. The Red Destroyer suggests the role that Jar-eel used to sneak in and kill Belintar though. And the High Priests of the Great Runes are likely the Governors of the Sixths. Presumably the Constant Guard is the leader of the unit of that name that defends the City of Wonders.

Have fun with that! Now who's going to have the campaign where the PC's are responsible for bringing Androgeus to Dragon Pass?

Probably not as the Kitori fall into the Heortland region rather than Sartar (at least not beyond mentions such as noted above). But the Kitori are likely to have secret, "dark" trails that allow them to pass between the Troll Woods and the Shadow Plateau, as well as trails to the north. They may simply pass along these by night, or perhaps there are other more magical trails.

The Ansil are one of the WBRM/DP units. There's a different take on them in Martin Helsdon's Armies and Enemies of Dragon Pass. They are certainly a unit of the Barbarian Horde, but may or may not be Pol-Joni. Yes, they are.

Actually he hangs himself, and unfortunately Orlanth cuts him down and "saves" him. Eurmal gets his revenge in the Underworld. But maybe somewhere there he finds that maybe it might matter (or finds that he can actually do something different - or so he thinks). (Of course, everyone thinks that Arachne Solara gives birth to Time because she ate the Devil. Eurmal knows the Truth of that one! 😉 )

There's a story there: How the Infinite Fell Down (or Over)!

Or is driven mad by the vision (much like Flesh Man).... This could be the natural outcome of being driven mad - an insane devotion to the idea of ending it all... because it just NEVER ENDS!!! (Think of the movie Groundhog Day, stuck in an infinite loop, and always waking up again at the same point.) I might play up more of the absurdity of the infinite - particularly as something to torment the Trickster with so that he may in fact want (or desperately want) to get rid of the Infinity Rune. But it just clings to him, drawing all sorts of unwanted attention (spirits flock to him trying to get a piece of the infinite, gods ambush him trying to get it, etc.). It may even loop him into the Great Compromise even if he was planning something else (like cutting it up so he could at last escape).

Jeff added a few other notes in the Comments that I think provide some additional useful thoughts: **And that is a canonical text that I just gave to a writer working on this material. >So as of 1625, it makes sense to speak of the Yelmalio cult in Sartar, most of which is focused on the Sun Dome Temple as their religious center. This cult is inter-tribal. There is a small group centered on Runegate that still puts Yelmalio into a tribal cult structure, but otherwise, most Yelmalio cultists that live outside of Sun Dome County look to the Sun Dome temple for militia duties, religious ceremonies, etc. >The bulk of the 250 Yelmalio cultists around Runegate belong to the Enyhli Clan, but the Narri have a fair number as well. >the cultists around Runegate worship Yelmalio as an associate of Orlanth Rex. They don't use the pike, they ride horses, etc. As described in the cult writeup. The Yelm cultists were a faction that reached its peak probably around 1565. I think their numbers ceased to grow after Monrogh's movement was embraced by the rest of the Elmali, and eventually they mostly died out. The Pol-Joni and Dundealos worship Yelmalio, but in the Praxian manner.

And another really interesting post from Jeff on Facebook, this time about the deep background history of the Sun Dome Temple. As part of a project, I have put together a deep background history of the Sun Dome Temple in Sartar that is likely mostly unknown even to the Yelmalio cult. So this stands outside of Glorantha as a secret (but correct) history - but I think it might be of use to folk trying to make sense of the history of the Yelmalio cult in Sartar. A History of the Sun Dome Temple in Dragon Pass At the Dawn (1600 years ago) this was the center of solar worship in Dragon Pass, where Lightfore and the restored Sun were worshiped together by the Heortlings under the name of Elmal. Later in the First Age, the Sons of the Sun and later the Dara Happans proved that the returned Sun was a separate god - the Golden Age Imperial Sun Yelm. The Elmal cult acknowledged this (they had to because the Dara Happans proved they were right in magical contests and challenges). The Elmal cult shifted its focus to Lightfore who remains even when the Sun is dead. The Cold Sun, the Frontier Sun, etc - but the most popular name was the Little Sun - Yelmalio. During the Broken Council, Yelmalio was largely loyal to the Broken Council and aided Nysalor in fighting the Heortlings and Trolls at the battle of Night and Day. The Broken Council built a great golden sun dome here after the Battle of Night and Day. Yelmalio was given rule over the former Heortling tribal lands and fought against Arkat and his trolls in the Gbaji Wars. The great golden sun dome was destroyed, but if you look right and squint, you can sometimes still see its mirage. Fast forward a few centuries. The Orlanthi overthrew the trolls Arkat placed as overlords of Dragon Pass with the aid of the Yelmalio cult and gave this site to the cult, who built a new Sun Dome temple (think the Second Temple in Jerusalem). The Yelmalio cult were important allies of the Empire of the Wyrms Friends, and Sun Dome Temples were built along the frontier of the Empire (this is the origin of the temple in Prax as an aside). A network of temples extended from Fronela to Ralios to Garsting and Prax. The temple in Dragon Pass was one of the two main temples (the other was at what is now Mirin's Cross). But the Empire of the Wyrms Friends collapsed, and the Yelmalio cult suffered. Sun Dome Temples lost contact with each (this is the beginning of the Testing of Solitude in Prax). Some temples allied with the True Golden Horde to assault the Dragon's Nest, resulting in the Dragonkill War. The Sun Dome Temple in Dragon Pass was razed - like every other human settlement in Dragon Pass. One of the two central temples lost, and the cult in turmoil, the Yelmalio cult in South Peloria persisted but continued its decline and disunity. In Kethaela, a small cult in Heortland continued to worship in the Dawn Age style, protected by the Only Old One and the Hendriki Tribe. They worshiped Lightfore and the Sun together as Elmal (but drew their magic from Lightfore). After Belintar killed the Only Old One in 1318, many of these cultists migrated into Dragon Pass to practice in their traditional ways rather than accept Belintar's magical changes. This is the same impulse that caused many Orlanthi to migrate into Dragon Pass. The Elmali found the ruins of "their" temple and it became an important cult center, although they lacked the resources to rebuild the dome or much else (another cult center was Runegate). The temple was thus rebuilt as a Sun Temple, without a dome. As the settlers formed into tribes, the Elmal cult began to take on extra-tribal characteristics. Initiates from different tribes would gather at the Sun Temple to worship together instead of worshiping merely at the tribal level (a similar thing was happening with some of the other Lightbringer cults, but they resolved it differently). For about two centuries this slow change continued. But during the reign of Saronil, the Elmal cult came under increasing influence from the Yelm cult of the lowlands. Lunar missionaries were sent to reveal the secrets that had been hidden from the Elmal cult by the Orlanthi and the Only Old One. This resulted in rapid changes and social explosion, Some switched their worship to Yelm the Sun (although continuing to call the subject of their worship Elmal) and fought with the House of Sartar. Monrogh Lanterns was convinced that Elmal was NOT the imperial Sun, but was the light that remained after Yelm was killed. He brought back Yelmalio, and his movement spread like wildfire through the remaining Elmali and to the surviving Sun Dome Temples of the Yelmalio cult. At the same time the trolls of the Troll Woods were raiding throughout southern Sartar and Hendrikiland. They blocked off the trade route between Karse and Wilmskirk, collecting high tolls from those who wanted to pass to the south - this diminished the wealth of the Sartarite princes, who were locked in increasingly external conflict with the Lunar Empire and internal dissension with the Elmal cultists. Tarkalor solved both problems. He allied with the Yelmalio cult and together they defeated the trolls of the Troll Woods. When Tarkalor became Prince of Sartar, he granted possession of the Sun Temple to Monrogh Lantern and built them the grand Sun Dome Temple using Sartarite stonemasons. Tarkalor paid for a gold dome and other signs of his support. After Tarkalor died in 1582, the Yelmalio cult was independent (their loyalty was to Tarkalor personally) but remained friendly with Terarsarin and Salinarg, although I doubt they got huge endowments from the increasingly beleaguered princes.

I think the story of how Eurmal saved the healers from Babeester Gor has a lot of resonance here with the coming of Harrek. This short version from the Babeester Gor writeup in Sartar Companion (p.250): "[Babeester] remained celibate, ruthless, murderous, unsociable, and terrifying. She painted her face and lower limbs black, and other colors for specific tasks. She was merciless and cruel. Once she slew so many defenseless residents of Healing Valley that she waded breast-deep in the gore, drinking the blood of victory and slaughter. Eurmal saved some of the healers when he turned the blood to beer, which Babeester Gor drank to blissful oblivion." There's likely a good heroquest link between Esrolia and the Healing Valley. And what better than a glorious drinking bout to forget where you put an Infinity Rune?