jajagappa

The Land Goddesses are old. I think devolutions of Gata is correct. As Genert and the other Earth father's name them, they become aware of their potential and come into existence. They don't become another, though they might give rise to a daughter who is some part/piece of them and they retire. But otherwise they either continue to exist (e.g. Ketha, Kero Fin), are lost/destroyed (e.g. Envora, Mavora), or in one known instance move (Kylera and her floating land). As for the Goddess Switch, it seems likely that the sorcerers would try to prove that two daughters of an original land goddess both devolve from that land goddess, hence can be swapped for each other. And then things snapped back into place, and one rolled over.

The land, i.e. top surface of the Earth cube, certainly existed. So by the cube coming into existence, so too the manifestation of the land. But I do think these divide and sub-divide. One surface may give way to four quarters to some additional set (and likely not the nice numerical ordering that Yelm or Zzabur or Mostal would prefer). There's no real death in this period, so the land goddesses exist and multiply, but the Dividing Familyland story from the Esrolia book strongly suggests that competing claims over the land increased. Kero Fin created a mountain and the land around was hers. Ketha walked her land and that was hers. Etc. We don't know Envora (Envorela) or Mavora (Mavorela) but those became drowned lands. Were they land goddesses who took Sea lovers, or who were taken and destroyed by the ravaging Sea gods, or who invited chaos to marry and cross their land to the Spike? Other or all? I think it goes to the stories you want to tell.

A theist, a sorcerous, an animist and a mystical approach? Certainly Genert and Pamalt seem to show diffferent approaches to interacting with the world. Why? There must be some aspect to Gata generating at least two if not four distinct male Earth entities and perhaps these were born at the camps at the edges of the Earth cube.

I don't understand the event you are referring to. i.e. Yelm's coup (that is ascension) into position as the Emperor, ending the Green Age and beginning the Golden Age.

We know very little about the division of the surface Earth other than the two continents Genertela and Pamaltela (and their respective male Earth deities Genert and Pamalt), and the fragmentary continents Luathela and Vithela. Vith is Aether, so can't count as an Earth deity of the Green Age, though perhaps that area is where Light first arose and separated from the Earth? Did the rise of male Earth figures in each quarter correspond to a separation of four approaches to the Earth?

This is one of the sections where I'm glad I have the book and not just the pdf to appreciate the double-page map. (Particularly since the map pixelates when zooming in) A huge continent. What's interesting? What are these two black spots? A gigantic crater! A Hellcrack! Then there's the Wastes, an Elf Sea, a Glacier, a Sea of Fog, endless/limitless oceans, lots of islands, a wild land dominated by the Elder Races, a Holy Country shared by merfolk, sorcerers, and trolls (oh my!) ... A good opening to what comes next.

I believe WF#15 falls under the canonical list.

Although as @David Scott notes the only text we have is that Storm Bull slew Ragnaglar, I personally like the idea that it was actually Wakboth who slew and devoured Ragnaglar as his first deed of evil.

I ran RQ2/3 games for 10 years - the potential lethality, which has been in the system since day 1, was never an issue for my players. Being aware of that fact, it was also rare to rush in without some magical support.

Yes, that aspect appeals me the most to me as well.

So we think. Personally, I think the Hero Wars will prove otherwise; and the libraries will either start to take sides and reveal hidden knowledge, or others will ransack some of the temples to gain such lore.

Sounds reasonable - follow your roots!

More great art. I love the map. Interesting forms for the pillar gods - some expected, some not. The contrast of this white pillar god(dess) who looks like Chalana Arroy with the bearded man in the prior chapter, for instance. Which will you encounter when you heroquest there? Who do you encounter at the Gate of Dawn? Vith or this golden goddess? The Luathan with pointy ears (Vulcans in Glorantha? - beings of perfect logic?). How large is Altinela? And Luathela much larger here too. Makes you feel like you should explore these hostile and distant lands. It looks to be a 2nd Age map given that Jrustela is intact and Brithos exists. The Four Otherworlds is another intriguing piece. Nice to see Jajagappa in the central position in the Underworld group. :-) The Sorcerous Plane reflects back to the Cosmology. The Spirit Plane gives a sense of odd amorphousness. And there's my favorite text from the Guide: "Hidden deep underneath the center of the bottom of the lowest Underworld is the Chaosium, the Fount of Chaos, which spews forth both monstrosities and raw unformed “stuff ” into the world."

Again, fantastic art. Love the Kalikos expedition. The God of the White Pillar is wonderful - provides a sense of him being 'broken', yet still struggling at his task. Plus it gives you a great visual of a heroquest in progress. What dangers await? And, of course, the God Learner secret. Overall, the section is more heroquesting than Hero Planes. Useful, but not quite aligning with chapter title.

I love the look of these pages - gives a sense of the type of work a Rokari wizard-priest will be dealing with. The Power Runes and pairings are well-known. Didn't find any surprises there. The Form Rune connections are interesting. Within the outer hexagon we have two triangles: Beast-Plant-Dragonewt and Man-Spirit-Chaos. The first seems like the original forms of Life. The second seem like the those that led to the decline and destruction of the Golden Age. The Mortals that spread and disrupted the original Harmony, the Spirits that arose when Death struck down Grandfather Mortal, and the final Chaos that arose. Nice little Moon crescent in the center. Zzabur's Sigil gives us the elemental progression, plus inner connections across the elements. The final page has varied Conditions. Chaos again, now at the bottom. Infinity at the center. Mastery at the top (the crown). Moon, Magic, and Law filling out the center axis. Interesting to see Moon closest to Chaos. The pairing of Luck and Fate. And Arachne Solara with ownership of Mastery, Magic, Fate, and the Infinite.

He's the son of the God-king Belintar and Valira Delainaeo of Nochet. Many, presumably including Belintar, aided him with plans, ships, and likely some God Learner knowledge to create his ritual.

That theory works for me!

Agree. There's been several times I've been hunting for content that I know is in the Guide only to finally realize it was on these pages and it's not indexed.

Heortling Mythology gives two names: Velhara and Verala. In the Guide, in the Gods Wall entry you can find: "Orogeria, the Great Huntress, Lady of the Wild, and Keeper of Life and Death". Orogeria is also a Blue Moon goddess (though not Annila). The Glorantha Sourcebook notes in regards to the Moon Deities: "ULURDA was the celestial huntress, the Blue Moving Planet that appeared before the Dawn. She appeared in the Celestial Forest and stalked the Sky Bear, which had taken all the stars and animals. Ulurda caught it, but instead of killing it, she tamed it. She released the stars, and went among them in the Sky. Ulurda also lived upon the earth, and she was called Orogeria, the Lady of the Wild, and Keeper of Life and Death. She is associated with the Crescent Come Moon." The last work is closest to a God Learner view so I'd take Ulurda as the God Learner name. Any that pretend to be friendly, but aren't. I don't think they are ever named anywhere else. However, I'd probably draw on the Elmal myths from King of Dragon Pass. See: Elmal Guards the Stead Teller of Lies appears three times (as the Lost Love, the Blind Oracle, and the Empty Emperor) and seems a good choice. It's the Thing With Many Bodies that appears in the Sartar Rising: Orlanth is Dead book.

I'll let @Jeff determine whether he'd like to have that posted at this point or not.

For the river traffic, I think the durulz probably occupy parts of the Rivertown slums, as well as Ferrytown across the Lyksos, though there are certainly some in Nochet itself. Yes, it's much more filled in now. It'll take me a bit to digest and respond to the posts, and probably best done in bits and pieces.

It very much depends on the point in the story. If its a climactic scene, then yes I'd use an Extended Contest for getting through the crowd. Unless there's some obvious thing that can be applied to the crowd (e.g. both characters have armed retinues) to create a Multiple Opponent Penalty, then it would remain a constant difficulty.

There's also extensive clay pits south of the city in Meldektown. You're correct that charcoal is shipped in. I think a lot comes down from the North March from around Arkat's Hold, as does construction timber. Those get offloaded largely in the Backwater Port to avoid lowering/raising the Chain. I do like this idea a lot, and allows for some interesting/useful approaches to water storage at the cisterns. Sounds like something they may have gained from the dwarfs. Yes, I drew on that map to figure out which areas were more likely elevated/lower. Generally, Panaxles' Canal (the more southern of the two which come in from the west) follows part of the old southern river bed (which has been largely filled in due to the 7 tsunamis and Vent's ash flow) rather than crossing it. The lowest part though (called the Trough), marks the main sewer line heading out of the city. Aboveground, that is the path of the Way of the Pillars. I think very few permanent residents in the Antones Estate itself aside from those of the Cult of Antones (and of course Ty Kora Tek's temple). I think most working there live in the Deresagar neighborhood. Love the ghoul hunter and grave swapper ideas! I hadn't really thought about sewers in the Antones Estate, but yes, they have to be there! There's got to be a scenario episode there with your ancestor complaining about you not keeping their 'house' dry. I generally use images from the Etruscan site of Cerveteri for my conception of the Antones Estate. 1200 ST will be around the low point. Post-cataclysm, post-Adjustment Wars. Some trade with the Shadow Plateau and Karse. But it's a period with very rich fertile soils. Probably has doubled in population by 1300 ST just prior to Belintar's arrival. These are my approximate dates for the Reclamation of Tershis. Lots of activity encouraged by Belintar (along with aqueduct and sewer restoration). There's a gap in activity during the period of Rhigos' domination of trade until the ascent of Queen Bruvala. 1330-1340 New temple to Lyksos upriver Lyksos’ Finger reclaimed Belintar’s Wall raised with new gates 1340-1350 Forenes and Poverri’s Seat raised Chain Towers built and the Chain placed across Lyksos Little Embankment constructed 1375-1390 Back of the Chain filled in Serzengala’s Dike made Redweave Run recovered Old wall taken down The Twisting Causeway built 1397-1400 Lyksos makes the New Finger Brolarant’s Flood opens Lyksos’ Mouth Storm Wall resurrected 1460-1470 Goosewalk filled in Tershis marsh raised and dried Some useful thoughts on the arrival of migrants/refugees in this period. I'm sure these would have settled in Sarli around the Grace Temple. Largely subsumed into subsequent Heortling refugee hordes, but I like the idea that some may have other older traditions. Hadn't overly thought about that line. All of these certainly work. Yes, Belintar rebuilt the walls. Love the idea that he summoned Panaxles and Sestarto to do the rebuilding. The Great Rivalry revived! Some lovely conflicts inherent there. Disputes over which aqueduct is better; debates over key projects such as the Walls or revitalized temples; etc. There were some who settled outside the Sacred City even in the aftermath of the Adjustment Wars, but these were effectively 'villages'. Kalava and Old Helamta are the primary examples of these. And there were small communities around the great temples (e.g. Grace Temple, Axe Temple). Tershis arose during the reclamation period. Deresagar probably similar period around the new Esrola Temple and with responsibility to keep the Antones Estate maintained (and in its borders). Many of the Enfranchised Houses emerged to reestablish their 'hereditary' palaces in Nolerian and Dearno. And they brought client families out with them. Mostly Sarli, even though not all Sartarite. These are some of the Sarli Clan Triads [note that some appear in multiple places]: The Three Old Clans: arrived 3 centuries ago following Belintar [note: could well have been fleeing the Grazers] · Calm Waters · Birch Staff · Bronze Scale The Three Rich Clans: are blessed by great wealth (due primarily to control/tolls on the routes out of the Great Market) · Bronze Scale · Fresh Rain · Sunheart The Three Market Clans: noted for their interests in the Great Market (closely associated to the cult of Issaries) · Bronze Scale · Green Pot · Calm Waters Elmal's Triarchy: known for their devotion to Elmal · Sunheart · Vorelm · Eight Spoke The Four Pillars of Grace: blessed by proximity to Grace Temple (closely associated to the cult of Ernalda) · Five Rings · Urvarestra · Blue Eyes · Vorelm There are others, most more recent and of Sartarite or Heortland origin.

One of my favorite old works! Like the old RQ Cities book too. Naturally the aqueducts have bronze grill-type gates to let water in and keep people, animals, and large debris out. And likely have other magical wardings. Of course there are passageways under the docks and the sewer outflows (particularly down in Backside) do not have such gates. Well, maybe not for an Enfranchised House, but there are lots of client houses who are very 'turf' conscious and closely guard the privileges of their house and neighborhood. The worst area for such is between Green Rest in Tershis and Northside in Sarli. Izork's Cross is the most notorious for street gangs to fight over. The rivalry between House Petralaeo and the Black Crab clan is already strong. Btw, one fact about Sarli - it's cisterns are not connected to the river, but are large catchments for rain (and water coming down from Storm Hill). Most houses in Sarli also keep rain barrels and small cisterns in the event of drought, but don't have the capacity that the large aqueduct/cistern system has.

Applicable either way. My players use it regularly against difficult foes with very high resistance. And it can go the other way too. No. Whoever goes first rolls against the 3W resistance. Whoever attacks second would roll against a resistance of 20. That's not a situation where I would use such a contest. In that case, I'd most likely use a Group Simple Contest against the single resistance where they together need to achieve a victory to get through. It's a legitimate tactic for PC's to use and often critical in their success. Often Assists are not an option (e.g. when there are more foes than PC's). Defensive actions are good for a single PC to use to hold off multiple foes while others gang up on a single tough opponent.