jajagappa

I think you can consider that material as a view from a particular time period (e.g. when HW/HQ1 came out) that interpreted the Esrolian matriarchy in very strong gender-differentiated terms. I personally consider that view/material to be obsolete and non-canonical. (You'll note in my Nochet: Adventurer's Guide that 1) I rewrote it; and 2) it is from one specific in-world view.)

I think we've generally strayed far enough from the OP topic, and discussion of Tolkien should be taken to a different thread at this point.

There was a view expressed in the old HW/HQ1 works and incorporated into the HQ Voices material presented at that time that suggested that men were always under the control of women due to flightiness, propensity to violence, or whatever. I'd recommend tossing that view out altogether. As Jeff noted, this is still a Heortling society and I don't think you'll find any strong differentiation at any social level between genders.

I'd describe it more as: women control the business of the House (marriages, alliances, determination of household needs, ensuring access/control of temples, etc.). Both men and women are involved with externally focused business as directed by the House leadership. An eligible man (sage, merchant, warrior, etc.) is married out to another House to help secure alliances, while they marry in other men from other Houses for same purposes. There may be more trust in the women since they are part of the "House" whereas men married into the House may still have loyalties to their House of birth. But male or female might be merchants, sages, etc. The Queen... sort of. Depends on how dominant the queen is. Hendira was Queen of all Esrolia and also Belintar's governor, so she focused foreign policy on 1) Belintar's dictates while he was living, and subsequently 2) keeping the menace of Greymane contained. Samastina is not Queen of Esrolia, just of Nochet and North Esrolia. The Demivierge of Rhigos is recognized as Queen of Rhigos and South Esrolia as of 1625, and several other prominent queens control parts of Esrolia. So there is no central foreign policy. Nominally the Grandmothers' Council of Ezel (made up of all 200 noble Grandmothers) determines policy and direction for Esrolia and chooses a queen to implement that, but that's rather broken down at this point. I would not assume it will be a female general deciding where the army goes. The Queen of the city/region or potentially all Esrolia if united behind one will most likely choose a Champion (Bless Champion spell applies) who will then lead the army. That could be a Wind Lord, a Light Son, even an Axe Maiden depending on circumstance and the queen's inclination.

Yes, they can. And, no, no particular differentiation. As seen in the Nochet: Adventurer's Guide artwork (by Lee O'Connor) we have our Quick Arrows militiawoman. That does not necessarily match/equate though. The Husband-Protectors are that: Protectors - i.e. they can/do fight and lead. One of Hendira's two husbands was the High Admiral. Samastina's field leaders during the siege and at Pennel Ford were: Broyan Volsaxi and then Argrath at the latter. The Most Noble Aunt has theoretical command over the Noble Brothers's Regiments, but the leadership of those units would go to whoever best fits the unit's alignment/needs (not necessarily an Earth worshipper, but would be for the Axe Maidens).

I keep mithril firmly in Middle-earth and outside of Glorantha. What I do think of with something like the wool of cloud sheep is the association with the Air Rune. Since clouds hold lightning, spun cloud wool might well be an energy source for dwarf machines - put it in a jar and watch the sparks dance! Then channel it to a coil of Earth-extracted copper and connect it to... [insert Mostali device name here]

Chaosium posted to the RuneQuest FB here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RuneQuest/permalink/2714371438738838/ It is sad, and her last year seems to have been a very difficult one. Griffin Mountain was probably my favorite product from the early RQ era, and certainly the most used. But I also really enjoyed her Central Casting: Heroes of Legend work - very influential in my RQ games for developing character backstory, as well as in the character background material I've put together for Imther, Heortland, and Nochet.

Exactly! 🙂 In my game, one of the merchant characters decided the dwarfs wanted the hooves of cattle or horses and went dashing off to the butcher's quarter to procure those for trade. The dwarfs determined the delivery as acceptable/meeting the prescribed criteria.

Some items that the dwarfs in my campaign have wanted in trade: clay/dirt/sand - always of specific coloration (and never predictable which one they want) Feathers! - for transmuting into some Sky-related item Firewine? Or Mead! - Bottles of liquid light Stardust or Moondust - gathered from the edge of the glowline Snake skins! - shed remains of dead earth Nail trimmings, crescent shaped! - touches of the Moon Human hair or a myriad collection of teeth - remnants of Grandfather Mortal Ink? - bottles of liquid darkness, prepared from tree galls? Unusual white wool - spun clouds (i.e. air) Human shadows - yes, they will literally cut off/detach your shadow from you The dwarfs always describe such by Runic element and effect/use, never by an ordinary human word. They often have to consult huge translation dictionaries (often on copper plates) to state what they want.

Growth!!!! Blasphemy! Send in the Gobblers to devour this monstrous, abhorrent aberration! No, they would not grow them. Mushrooms are the domain of the black elves - well detailed now in the JC supplement The Voralans Dwarfs are the children of Maker, elves of Grower - the hostility does not end. That is not to say the dwarfs might not send out "harvesters" to collect every instance that had infiltrated a given cavern or the like, and then distill and reduce the collected trash into something they can subsequently can for "real" food. But never, ever "grown". 😉

Only HQG book with Pavis is Gateways to Adventure. It's got a cross-section of the salt mines, but no sewers or tunnels. I really don't recall any sewers/tunnels beyond the Devil's Playground, though.

Glittering post cards!!! Now I want those too! 😮 (And great video showing off Visions of Myth too!)

It's called "atonement" vs "apology". See Mythology, p.51 (or Glorantha Sourcebook p.117), "Orlanth entered boldly, but Yelm treated him with coolness. Orlanth made his bid for friendship; Yelm made his demand for atonement; Orlanth made his demand for recognition; Yelm made his requirement for proof; Orlanth made his promise of the future; Yelm made the demand of trial by combat; Orlanth made his song of Truth. Orlanth then suffered the Requirement for Proof: a searing, burning shower of the acidic hatred of all Orlanth’s foes present. He was scorched and tortured, but as in the Baths of Nelat, he survived. Barely." It's a core tenet of the Lightbringer's story.

I'd picture it sort of like Faerie and our world - it's sort of just around the corner, perhaps behind that tree, or shadow, but when you get there, it's just a bit farther away. Except when the worship ceremonies occur and Belintar happens to visit all the Earth temples simultaneously (because he's a god, just like Ernalda, so he can), then the worlds overlap enough and the inn that overlaps with the Gods World Inn just happens to have Vogarth, or the Jolly Fat Man, or the Trickster visiting that day.... So, it's not really that the gods traipsed around Kethaela, but that Kethaela and the Gods World overlapped sufficiently at times that you might interact with a god outside of the temples/worship ceremonies (i.e. you just happened to be more on the Gods World side that day).

Yes, very much what I picture for that region. The long peninsula is likely similar to more inland Florida with regular thunderstorms, heavy rains, but still solid land. But as you get to outlying areas you get into mangroves and then huge mats of floating grass "islands". Hope you enjoy reading through Nochet when it arrives. As for Heortland - I can't tell you that as it's in Chaosium's hands, not a JC work.

So for a portable glow spot that doesn't diminish, you want a tooth from the Crimson Bat...

Looks like Caladraland and the Manirian coast to me. This type of setting looks like rivers carving through old volcanic rocks, then subsequent sea-level rise hiding the deeper canyons. Note that in Heortland there's really only a few river valleys through the plateau, and until you reach the Bandori River, where the plateau merges with Prax, there aren't any significant south-flowing rivers that might bleed into the Left Arm Islands.

Moon rocks will be covered in the upcoming Lunar cults book. Just checked, though, and they wax/wane with the Red Goddess' phases, too.

As Nick noted above, yes. But also looking at it realistically: Cults - we're expecting Lunar and Solar cults in 2024. Then Darkness, Sea, Spirits, Invisible God, Chaos during 2025-6. Sartar/Dragon Pass - will have gazetteer and possibly core region book in 2024, but some areas already have sufficient detail (Clearwine, Jonstown) to allow solid additions that will likely not be superceded (e.g. the two Clearwine supplements) Great Hero Wars Campaign - will probably cover the overarching arc of the struggle between Argrath and the Lunar Empire. This would probably cover broad events and where, but without local details. Perhaps in 2024-5? Prax/Pavis - presumably will build off the original RQ Classic material with updates for timeline. Perhaps we will see new works in 2025? Nearby regions - Grazelands, Heortland, Tarsh, and Esrolia - will likely get their own region books. In some cases (e.g. Heortland) the manuscripts are in with Chaosium, but unknown time schedule vs. other works. Likely post-2025. Where after that? Lunar Heartland, trolls, aldryami? And by then we're easily 3 years out. So whether you want to look at large cities (as I did with Nochet), peripheral regions (my Imther material, Simon Phipp's Dorastor), or more remote locations (e.g. East Isles, Teshnos, etc.), there's unlikely to be any significant material in the next 3+ years that would invalidate a work if you start from the Guide, the Glorantha Sourcebook, and the available Cults books as your reference points. And even it it did, so what? 🙂 As Nick said very well:

I'd say there are two options: 1) it through Cult Lore that you learn the basic mythic frame. As a Lay Member, you're going to the services, hearing the basic stories, watching the rituals of the priests, and these provide you with an understanding of the Common Rune Spells, or how to draw the god into you to achieve these basic capabilities. 2) when you are initiated you are filled with the essence of the god - you have a moment of one-ness, and that endows you with how the god interacts with the world and how you commune with it. As Rune spells are embracing the god, you're letting the god into you and the god guides you with these basic Rune spells. The latter probably aligns better to the basic Rune spell concept.

Trying to keep up with Jar-eel's youthful exploits ...

We know the name from WBRM: the Fourth Inspiration of Moonson. Now we just need to unearth the fragments!

Serendipity is under-appreciated!

I hope so, too, though it won't be from me (looking at the ever-lengthening backlog: Nochet adventures, Imther East Wilds adventures, Imther Campaign, Vanch??? 🙃)

Made perfect sense then as people were beginning to create works and the map was beginning to fill up. But, yes, Nochet is surprisingly close, and even Rhigos not much farther. Hopefully we'll see more Esrolian works in the near future and can entice more adventurers there. 🙂