jajagappa

If you go to the Spirit Magic chapter there are some points there that are salient and I think reflect "how" it happens: [spirit magic] concerns communication with the spirits that reside in the natural energy currents of the world To cast a spirit magic spell, the caster concentrates upon the spirits they have a focus with and temporarily alters the spiritual energy currents to create an effect Rune cults can teach any spirit magic spell known to their Rune Masters learning a new spell takes one week of work... Nothing else in the way of learning may be done during this week As the specialists in communicating with the Spirit World, shamans can teach any listed spirit magic spell Each point of spirit magic requires 1 point of CHA (which is same that you need to bind spirits) spirit magic spells require a focus. The focus serves as a reminder and token of the spell So what does this all translate to? Rune Masters of the cult summon cult spirits that know the spell and learns how to communicate with and draw upon its magical energy The week of work includes: the summoning of the spirit by the Rune Master (costs 1RP and that establishes what the cult charges in goods or service) instructing the student on how to interact with the student (I.e. apply their CHA) instructing the student in how to focus upon the "right" object to make the connection with the spirit establishing the permanence of the focus (tattooing, inscribing in object, or whatever) 'testing' that the focus works to open the channel to the spirit and its energy 'testing' that the student can draw upon the spiritual energy and apply her personal energy (MP) to cast the spell For a Rune Master to teach something "new" or "unknown", she will need to research temple or other archives to find what cult spirit might know it - this is likely a higher cost Summon Cult Spirit as the spirit must be explicitly named - or has to go to a shaman to find/locate such a spirit and learn how to interact with it (including how to summon it again) Or else the Rune Master may find/learn something on a heroquest or through an associated cult Anyway, that's my rough take on the process.

Agree. This works quite well with Cinsina (and to a lesser extent Maboder, Culbrea, and Dinacoli) and Colymar where we have considerable details. If you have TotRM #18, you can add in some for the Lismelder as well. Dundealos, of course, have a major bad event in 1618.

Correct. And Lunars would generally want to use it on Wildday/Full Moon to get maximum benefit. There will be locations that are useful/relevant though - Moonbroth in Prax is an obvious one. It wouldn't surprise me if some place in Snakepipe Hollow works just fine. Or, you could carry a portable Moonstone with you to serve as altar/focus for a 'location' benefit. Lunar army units would have their standard to serve the same purpose.

Yes, that seems reasonable, and helps define the Kitori.

I've noted elsewhere that that is a carryover from RQ2.

I think it gets more complicated than that. You can see the antagonism between Queen Hendira (Norinel) and Jolerta (Delaeos) in the Prince of Sartar comic. Queen Norina's successor is Queen Imarjira (Delaeos). The Belintar who ascends in 1550 is Imarjira's brother, also of House Delaeos. However, there is still a Reverend Grandmother in Nochet at this time who is the former Queen Brengala (Norinel). So in Nochet, there is an active feud between Norinel and Delaeos (the origin of the Red Earth/Old Earth factions present through Queen Hendira's reign). The House of Sartar gets pulled into this feud due to the love of Sarotar for Arkilia (GS p.22 "Sarotar loved Arkillia, called “the Sad Lady” in the play, the daughter of Queen Norina of Esrolia). So Arkilia is House Norinel. Sarotar is killed by the other suitors (quite possibly including Imarjira's brother, the eventual Belintar), but since Arkilia is Queen Norina's daughter, the suitors cannot be Norinel. Therefore, when "Sarotar’s brother and cousin took bloody vengeance against his murderer", they are either targeting House Delaeos, or some third house (either House Oranaeo or Evaeo; House Delainaeo is busy with planning for Dormal). Figuring the House of Sartar target a third house (who was trying to increase their odds of having a future queen), then House Delaeos nicely steps in to become Belintar (since the brother is clearly not killed in the reprisal) and Imarjira finagles the Queenship. Presumably, Imarjira and Belintar are then working to gain some alliance with House of Sartar. If House Norinel, though, goes to ally the Kitori, and Imarjira is clearly hostile to Houes Norinel, then maneuvering Tarkalor to destroy the Kitori would fit. As Imarjira is forced to abdicate in 1564, there's probably been a turnover in Belintar somewhat before that point, leaving Imarjira vulnerable, though she lives until 1603 so still has considerable power. House Delainaeo is in ascendancy from 1564 until 1610, and get incredibly wealthy following Dormal's expeditions. I don't think any of that necessarily negates the Trollkiller results, but may mean there's more going on beneath the surface in Esrolia and through the Holy Country.

A good example is the Salt Mines covered in Pavis: Gateway to Adventure. There the slaves are largely in a place they can't get out of readily. They've likely used up all their stored Rune Magic, can't get anywhere to replenish, and spirit magic doesn't last long enough to do much good. For the slave farms like that in Colymar lands, right in the middle of Orlanthi territory, I'd probably use a combination of non-magical chains to limit movement (running away), drugs to suppress magical focus/concentration, and maybe a slave collar for a rune priest/lord. Damage their spirit magic foci in some way as well. They certainly could be rescued, but there will be hindrances (and pursuit).

Drugs. There have got to be herbs, mushroom, or other drugs that cut one off from the ability to focus on casting spirit magic or achieve a connection to the gods. I picture something like "forkroot" from the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. It's by far the easiest approach as you can keep a larger populace disconnected from their magic than via expensive enchantments (e.g. slave bracelets/collars) or expensive unenchanted iron. Of course, there may also be magics/sorcery which can achieve such effects too and may be useful in initially capturing a slave. E.g. a sorcery spell might require: Separate + Man + Magic as the technique and runes to employ. You could increase duration to prolong for a day or so, but probably gets too draining to do for long if you have a lot of slaves.

Yes. Tied in with the original release of King of Sartar ~1992. I believe Greg did so in attempting to answer the question as to who the Orlanthi thought of as the Sun. See: http://www.glorantha.com/docs/the-birth-of-elmal/ Starting with King of Sartar, but more specifically with the subsequent Glorious ReAscent of Yelm and Entekosiad, all of these helped raise the consideration that the God Learner view is not everything, that there are multiple facets to the myths. However, they don't (and shouldn't) create two deities that are similar but polar opposites. That is part of the consideration of Elmal/Yelmalio now. First real view into their thoughts is with Cults of Terror, so a long time ago. However, Greg's earliest writings were of the far west and I believe included the Middle Sea Empire from which the God Learners came.

Yes. Queen Leika of the Colymar for instance. They are the same. The Chieftain of the clan becomes Chief Priest of the clan by becoming Orlanth Rex.

That's the thing - it's really fertile ground for an entire campaign. Will the Sun Dome Count, post-Dragonrise, bring about a reconciliation or unification with the Elmali? Will the Elmali find a new path to prove they are more or greater than Yelmalio, while not just some cast-off of the Emperor? What part might the Grazers and their Yu-Kargzant and Kargzant figures play in this story? All this could play out under the nose of Argrath and the Hero Wars.

I just pulled the current and latest revised version from Backerkit and it still shows the issue as attached (and presume it's the one that Steve notes). Did you get your pdf off Backerkit or off the Chaosium site?

Personally I've enjoyed the continuity through the covers and RQG interiors of Vasana, Harmast, and company.

I agree, and I also think the discussion in this thread emphasizes that. This religious strife creates an interesting and different tension in-game, and I think the God Learner viewing loses something interesting in both myth and MGF.

And Alda-Chur. And consequently strong influence in the Far Point.

A nice look to a Sartarite stead house and cottar's cottage. Hopefully the pair of misspellings ('dinning area' and 'Posal') can be corrected in the art work for the Tin Inn.

Just head off to Yuthuppa! No, not volcanic, but still in the midst of winter, the earth beneath the frozen surface is still warm compared to the air above. I'm sure the peasants dig down into the sod to make their homes. Remember that by the time you've reached Yuthuppa, you have winters like in St.Paul/Minneapolis (though mitigated a bit in recent years by the Kalikos Expeditions).

From SKoH, the difference is whether you are of independent means (a Carl) or dependent on others (a Cottar). Like the distinction in our modern world between a farmer and a farmhand (or a tenant farmer). It is largely wealth (and wergild) based. If you've become wealthy enough to have a stead, a herd, and weapons, and dependents, you've risen to the level of a carl. SKoH p.16 notes: "Freemen, or Carls, are worth 25 cattle. Any one with a stead, a herd of 42 cattle, a full plow and plow team, and hands enough to harvest it, as long as he has weapons as well." Cottars are worth 10 cows. They have a plow and team but "living either in a relative’s hall or in a small cottage. You help a carl to work the lands the clan has apportioned to him, for which the carl gifts you with a share of the farm’s produce" Many herders and hunters will fall under the label of Cottar.

You've got two 19s. Suggest changing 15-17 to be 15-16, adjust 18-19 to 17-18, and you should be all set. Suggest Loyalty (Earth Temple) instead. Add in the standard Crimson Bat text: "Your ancestor’s soul no longer exists." Otherwise, looks good! I particularly liked the addition of "their children had purple blood or were left-handed afterwards".

But there is nothing between at that point, so it's hardly 'sinking low'. Light rests upon the Earth in the earliest myths and only subsequently withdraws. Likely he is both. Or they are both Brightface. The Vithelans for one. Vith=Aether. Then all the Luxites - all the children of the Sky Dome who filled the heavens with light (or bathed and lived in the light of Aether). But the fact is that the Fire did go Low and entered the Earth. Lodril is there, in the Earth. You either accept the reality and justify rulership over him by the Purity of the Light, or sever kinship with Fire/Lodril which you probably don't want to do.

He doesn't need to be present in the Mundane World. More likely he's a Hell Wind given who is mother is, so I'd put him in the Underworld or in the Spirit Plane (or both since they run together). If my PC's were on a quest in Hell, I'd characterize as them suddenly hearing sounds of thunderous moaning, getting closer and closer, before a black whirlwind of deafening proportions is upon them.

Some useful ideas from the Pavis HQG book p.39-40: "In 1539, the unusual event called the Dragonewts’ Dream took place. At that time all of the living dragonewts of Dragon Pass crawled into their ancient cities, sealed and booby trapped them, and disappeared from view. Then, in numbers far greater than those of living Dragonewts, there appeared phantasmal images of Dragonewts, generally dressed in antique costume, going about a silent and mysterious ritual. In some cases, they caused other portions of their phantom reality to appear as well, such as the Pyramid of Caran, which has sporadically appeared ever since." Did the ancestor attempt to enter a sealed city to plunder it? Perhaps their soul/spirit was trapped and lost, and only the body returned to the clan. "It was possible to interfere with the ghostly creatures, but such attempts almost always led to severe retaliation by the apparitions. In those occasions where a ritual was entirely disrupted or destroyed by external forces, the Dragonewts always made at least one more try to perform it again.... Among other events forced by the Dragonewt’s Dream was the opening of Pavis. The magically-sealed doors hampered the easy passage of the Dragonewt ghosts, and when the defenses of the Wyvern Gate were breached by spectral Dragonewt magic, there was a terrible battle with the defensive spells and spirits, which destroyed the phantom Dragonewt procession. A second procession destroyed the gate’s remaining defenders, and the ghosts continued on to the ruins of the ancient Dragonewt temple, built there during the heyday of the Empire of the Wyrm’s Friends. The ruins were spiritually erected for the occasion, and the ghosts completed their ceremony. Two more processions appeared later and performed the same ritual, and for a final time, the ghosts marched around the perimeter of the ruins hissing a song which is still heard by people on occasion." Did the ancestor attempt to protect a sacred clan space which lay close to a dragonewt site? Perhaps physically or mentally scarred? Did the ancestor hear the song of the dragonewts and become enamored of it? Gain Love(dragonewt song)? Also some interesting stuff in Glorantha Sourcebook p.183: "These phantom dragonewts were utterly indifferent to their present surroundings, passing right through solid buildings and walls as if they were not there. Their presence often disrupted local religious or magical rites, but nothing could be done to interfere with their ghostly performances. The Red Emperor sent observers to witness the Dream, and learned that the objective of the dream was to repopulate Dara Happa with the dragonewts. He spent 6/23 preparing the Emperor’s Reply, a huge recounting of the Origins of the World that omitted the dragons from it. It was performed at Sacred Time, and as a result, the Dream stopped and no repopulation occurred. After making his reply, the Red Emperor substituted corn women for humans in the Hon-eel planting rites, to the shock and surprise of many old priestesshoods. When the protests continued, the Red Emperor released the Crimson Bat, until the Bat Feeders killed them all." Possible that Tarsh and the Hon-eel cult there is affected by the Emperor's Response. Could have that as an item for Lunar Tarsh specifically - e.g. If Lunar Tarsh, then go to the Emperor's Response. If the ancestor was bolstered by the Red Emperor's magic then gain Loyalty (Red Emperor). Or killed by the Crimson Bat in the aftermath (we know where that leads). Also did the dragonewts disrupt a ritual the ancestor participated in? If so, did that bring on a Random Cause of Death? Or did it result in the priests/priestesses getting killed and the ancestor became endowed with some magical aftereffect - maybe they took up the role of priest/priestess, changing their children's destinies; or maybe they gained an unusual Rune (+10% in Moon, or Dark, or Water, or Beast)? Or they went insane - confined to the Mishap House.

Since there isn't a spot for or usage of the Dragonewt rune for humans, I'll suggest instead: Gain Speak Auld Wyrmish +5%. Could add to Reputation too (as known to be cursed). Another possibility: Gain Unusual Draconic tattoo (which persists through the generations) or Gain Dragon Magic (Dragon's Claw). You might think about breaking out 20 Witnessed a dream dragon rise. Gain Fear (Dragons).

I like it! Sounds like something I'll have to adopt in my game.

Of course! She's only once removed from Gata the Primal Earth which is the Earth lozenge as a whole.