jajagappa

From an old postcard clearly sent from a temple of Ernalda Serpent Mother in Esrolia, probably Nochet or Ezel.

I was comfortable with the RQG Quickstart, and know there's various things being updated, so I'm not planning on doing so. (I don't recall adding any specific house rules when I ran RQ3 either.)

And a Lunar Empire map. Often forget I have that set lurking around in some map tube. All superseded by the Guide of course.

No, I just looked through my copy, and the pdf does not appear to have the map.

A shamanic dream vision - even there you can't escape the ducks!

A figure from the Spirit World, perhaps an ancestral spirit? Origin unknown.

A propitiatory statue of a hollri or other ice demon. Maybe from Thrice-Blessed or the Kingdom of Ignorance.

A decorative sculpture of a malasp - perhaps from Fonrit?

This Sable Rider mask turned up in Montreal - maybe took a wrong turn from the Hungry Plateau.

Check out Kalin's pictures of Mularik here: http://jenxrodwell.tumblr.com/image/128558209560 and: http://jenxrodwell.tumblr.com/image/122178895800

Can't say specifically why that title/name not liked, but don't believe it is coming forward. Which I think just means they were one of the heavy adopters of the Lunar cults or Yelmalio or both. But the clan has not been overly elaborated on.

Catching up on this thread, so some of these comments will be out-of-sequence. Imarja is the principle of the Divine Feminine (or Feminine All perhaps). She is not a queen, and not married to Rastagar. Nor is she Chaos. The stories of her strongly suggest Illumination, though. It certainly means an understanding of Chaos. Doesn't necessarily mean rapport or use of Chaos. In fact, can mean an ability to discern why not to use Chaos. I think you're conflating Imarja with the Grandmothers here. Broyan does not take on the status of "heir of Rastagar". He takes on the status/role of Vingkot himself, and of the divine blood/lineage of Vingkot. Verenmars in Saird towards the end of the Second Age did so as well. The role is the "son of Orlanth" and the "divine king". The only way to gain and wield the Helm and Sword are to prove the divine blood (and conversely the only way to prove he has the divine blood is to find and wield the Helm and Sword). Yes, Rastagar screwed up. The Orlanthi will tell it one way - he was betrayed. The Esrolians another - in his overweening pride he led his men into disaster. His spouse is the Queen of Nochet/Esrolia. She is Ernalda's manifestation. And Ernalda can curse as well as bless. Rastagar failed in his duty to protect his queen. Interesting. I wouldn't read too much into the naming (the Heortling names are nowhere near as developed as the DH names) as many things that sound similar, just sound similar, but don't relate. The idea is quite workable as an alternate myth, though. Yes, I like that aspect too. Agree. Irillo is the Good Defender. He does not take up kingship, but clearly is and remains the champion and defender of Nochet. And the distributor of fire (in some ways very Promethean, but more likely to see what damage it does). Considering that the Irillo Defenders are the militia of Nochet, i.e. equivalent to the fyrd, Rastagar calling upon these folk to fight doesn't make Irillo the warlord or champion for Rastagar. But Irillo may eventually take that role when he finds his way back to Nochet after Rastagar's disaster. One reason the Grandmothers/Ernalda would curse Rastagar is that he drew too deeply upon these folk rather than simply taking the thanes to fight. Agree that there is a sacrificial aspect to Imarja, but often as not it is self-sacrifice of Imarja, not the expression of Ana Gor. I'm not convinced of this association. And Orana is the opposite of Ana Gor. Orana is the embodiment of Life. The Necklace of Enlivenment that she wears represents that (it is not a symbol of queenship or sovereignty) and makes Orana closer to Uleria in concept among the Esrolians. This is not Rastagar and his queen. This might be more equivalent to Vingkot and the Summer Wife. But it also only appears to have been a Year Marriage with the one set of children. Samastina is off with Argrath the next year, so she's playing her own game and not continuing the dalliance with Broyan. Probably conflating too many things here. Orana as one of the Six Sisters (in that line of thought), suggests an Earth Goddess daughter of Asrelia that is sometimes distinct from Ernalda, and sometimes separate, but not of any line from Imarja (other than being female). And so the seeds of Ernalda's jealousy are planted, to emerge as a curse that will strike down the future generation when they grow too proud. I did not explore the On Jorri in my Saird works. Whether they come from there, or have an earth lineage is unclear. The known Earth remnant folk are the Nalda Bin, the “Stick Farmers” and the Aranto Viv, the “Axe People”. And there are the folk who likely followed Molandro and those who followed Illavan, both destroyed in the rise of the Emperor. But they are not related to any Holayans per se who are an amalgam of Pure Horse remnants mixed with more modern Orlanthi. I like this thought. Love it! Sounds like I'll have to bring that name into my game as well. :-)

B&G, as well as the varied "Saints" (and "barons") are now non-canonical, though certainly parts of it do fit with canon. Mularik is a westerner from beyond Maniria. They are sometimes known as the Spear Tribe, but I don't recall seeing any reference to being Lodril worshippers (certainly not in the canonical sources).

I thought it was supposed to occur on the Plateau of Statues where he is inspired by the giant statues' teeth.

Same as noted on G+: GtG p.733 map indicates Argrath liberates Pavis in 1624. It has to be after Seaseason since Argrath is in Esrolia fighting at the Battle of Pennel Ford. Plus he has to meet the White Bull and summon Jaldon.Glorantha Sourcebook p.77 also says "In 1624, Argrath summoned Jaldon Goldentooth and together they cleansed Prax of the Lunar Empire".I'm fairly certain from unpublished material that the Siege/Sack of Pavis occurs in Stormseason, but I don't have anything more precise.In 1625, Argrath and Jaldon march against the Lunars in Dragon Pass, I believe in Seaseason, but are defeated and driven back.

Well, I have run the Quickstart, and based on that experience alone, I now put RQG at the top of my list as favorite RQ version. :-) And, yes, I used RQ2, migrated to RQ3 and ran the latter for 10 years, so well versed in both. I did (and it did have some interesting concepts), and it was a pain (and one of my players was very into playing Carmanian sorcerers and we spent a lot of time working through it).

Quite agree with you there. Much as stretch goals are nice and add to the value of the final product, many people running kickstarters seriously underestimate the impact of those on delivery. And I'm happy that RQG will not be kickstarted. There's really a lot of cool ideas in it from the use of runes, to ideas for rune magics, to heroquesting in the Argrath era, to scenario ideas that I plan to leverage in RQG.

I'd say it verges to the latter given that I, and every other backer, have the full text pdf. Yes, we all want to have the final published version out the door, but doesn't make it "vaporware".

No, you use one for the Companion, and then the companion gets a species/occupation ability plus two additional abilities (plus points applied to those abilities). However, this is one place where I've occasionally added a House Rule as I feel it overly encourages the player to take a companion and 'punishes' those who don't. One option is that instead of 5 abilities, you get to choose 7. If you choose a companion, then that's 1 ability. If you add abilities to the companion, you get less for yourself. And then the available points can be spread across any of the abilities whether self or companion.

I definitely do! That image is Swenstown for me now.

You might consider posting this one in the RQ Forum instead, otherwise responses may derail the focus here on Balazar.

The look certainly fits the location (as well as the traditions of Sartar the builder). The Swenstown layout (as in SKoH) definitely needs some updating to reflect this, but I'd definitely draw on this to reflect the city.

Based on my running of the Quickstart, I was very pleased with handling of combat (especially compared to RQ3 which I ran for years).

I'd certainly expect they can be. But will they be the active human Earth Twins, or part of the magical guardians/powers of them? I'd expect the latter. Of course! It's a magically powerful lineage: 1) Pyjeemseb m. Hon-eel (who is daughter of Red Emperor & grand-daughter of the Red Moon) 2) Phoronestes (b. 1491, d.1535) m. Kana-Telsor (who is from one of the 5 Great Families, granddaughter of the Red Emperor and Valare Addi). And yes, they would have been involved in the raising of Philigos and Phargentes. 3) Phargentes (b. ~1514, d.1579) m. daughter of a FHQ (yes, probably one of Yoristina's children). Effectively he and is brother are Lunar Heartlanders. From some discussion notes, picture the brothers with bright red hair, coiled and oiled beards, golden skin, and no tattoos. 4) Moirades (b. 1558, d.1610) m. Harsta (daughter of Illaro Blacktooth, sister of Fazzur) -> one son, Pharandos (b.1582) m. Virkala Tor, aka Riches Without Tears (gt-granddaughter of Yoristina via Vorala Tor, Mother of Lands, and Sorana, Splendid Among the Proud) -> one daughter, Inkarne (b.1605) w. Jar-eel (daughter of the Red Emperor & grand-daughter of the Red Moon) -> one son, Phargentes (b.1611) It's unclear whether this is true or not. There are no other references at this point placing Estal Donge as Pharandos' sister. However, she could be a child via concubine, or one conveniently ignored in particular sources. I placed the arrival of Holaya into Saird/Holay during the Verenmars period. Verenmars befriends her and builds her a temple in Mirin's Cross, but does not marry her. His great-grandson Yusando releases the Stallion that arrives at Lake Invaress and marks the spot where the temple to the Horse Goddess is founded. Verenmars marries "Riyesta the Earth Mother" - the Green Woman rather than the Red Woman - and who may have been Queen at Heruvernalda.

Yes, perhaps they are called forth from wherever they reside. However, the fact that Varstapoor has dates noted on p.99 (1368-1375) of seven years strongly suggests that he was a sacrificial king and might not be able to be brought back. It's equally possible that we have a new pair of Earth Twins. One possibility is that Samastina gives birth to Argrath's twins in early 1625, and it's possible that Samastina owes them to the Shaker Temple. If so, they'd be 13 in 1638 - young but certainly old enough given powerful magics.