Jeff

Belintar is a god, not a superhero. Greg held that from 1444 on, so was Sheng Seleris. But then again, the very term "superhero" is an artifice of WBRM. If we made a boardgames set in 1313, would we have Belintar be a CF 20 counter? Would Sheng Seleris or Garangordos? I am not sure they would be. All I know for certain is that Greg imagined that Androgeus, Argrath, Arkat, Jar-eel, Harrek, and Yanafal Tarnils could be expressed that way.

Starting from scratch in 2018, we have published Glorantha Sourcebook (2018), RuneQuest (2018), Bestiary (2018), GM Adventures Pack (2018), Smoking Ruins (2019), Pegasus Plateau (2020), Red Book of Magic (2020), Starter Set (2021), and Weapons and Equipment (2022). We now have the Prosopaedia (2023), Lightbringers (2023), Earth Goddesses (2023), and Mythology (2023). That comes out to a little over two RQ books a year on average, despite having our printing and logistics system completely disrupted in 2020-2021. I expect it to ramp up to around four+ a year, now that we have the pipeline properly fed. Shiningbrow is welcome to hold me "for trial" for whatever he thinks I should have done. But to keep to the lawyerly metaphor, I am inclined to move for dismissal for failure to state a claim.

My short list of Gloranthan superheroes are basically: Androgeus, Arkat, Harrek, Jar-eel, and Yanafal Tarnils. A good argument can be made that Errinoru was a superhero as well. However, in general I use the term hero for both heroes and superheroes because the latter term always conjures up images of people in spandex and capes.

I'll muddy this up a little bit. The best definition of a Gloranthan superhero is: So Argrath is a hero to the Orlanthi and Praxians, the Red Emperor is a hero to the Lunars, Jaldon to the Praxians, and so on. But Harrek, Jar-eel, and Androgeus are feared throughout the world. They are the personification of a million dreams (or nightmares) rolled Ito one body. Now in at least one ending of the Hero Wars, Argrath becomes a superhero in the end and has his apotheosis. But the Argrath of 1655 is not the Argrath of 1625 or even 1645.

I don't particularly mind ignoring WF 15 - I am not sure I have even used it as a reference in many a year. It was a vehicle to get some short material out during a time when we had few other options. I personally think I got plenty of things wrong - and since then, I have written the Guide to Glorantha, RQG, the Solar cults book, the Guide to Dragon Pass, and the Sartar Book - all of which are more to the point and far better sources.

Herd-Men have the Beast Rune not the Man Rune.

Correct.

One huge problem with the whole King of Dragon Pass Elmal narrative is that game skipped the breakdown of the Sartarite Elmal cult, their embrace of Yelm, and the civil war among the Sartarites. The view of Elmal as Orlanth's thane collapsed under pressure, until Monrogh showed that Orlanth's thane is part of Yelmalio. And Yelmalio has had centuries of worship among the Pelorian hill tribes and was even recognised in Prax.

Positing Elmal as a totally different entity from Yelmalio creates all sorts of cosmological headaches. The easiest way of looking at Elmal is he is the abridged version of Yelmalio. Same with Kargzant. Same entity but not all is connected. Like the relationship between Orlanth Adventurous and Orlanth, Pole Star and Polaris or White Princess and Inora.

Yeah, I imagine in Alda-Chur and Alone there is a significant minority who speak Sartarite as their main language. Most people speak Sartarite as a secondary language, although for the last decade or so a growing number speak New Pelorian. Of course that number will likely drop in 1627.

The text of BRP Universal Game Engine is available for use under the ORC. Obviously, no rights are given to anything not in the BRP book, and no rights are given to use any trademarks, trade dress, or art - but if you want to use the Sanity mechanics (based on what is in BRP), go for it! Same thing with augments, passions, etc. For material not in the BRP book, you need to either create it yourself, or use stuff that is public domain. Or get a license from the owner of the IP.

Now Alone is different from Alda-Chur. They are refugees from Old Tarsh, who were granted land and protection by Prince Terasarin. For their 20 years of independence, they were extremely loyal to the Sartar Dynasty but had no particular ties to the Alda-Churi. The Alone settlers speak Old Tarshite and really hate the Lunar Empire. Of course in Alda-Chur and Alone, Sartarite is spoken by many people as a prestige language.

The most obvious difference is going to be linguistic. The folk in the Far Place speak Tarshite as their home language, which is barely mutually intelligible with Sartarite. It does not have the strong Esrolian influence that Sartarite has. There's also a different history at play. Although Alda-Chur was long allied with the Sartar Dynasty, they were autonomous until the 1580s. They have their own identity outside of the Sartar Dynasty- like Texas, Bavaria, Wales, or Scotland. Maran Gor is more important among them, and they have their own Yelmalion tribe outside of the Sun Dome Temple.

You are welcome to have your Glorantha be what you want. But that is not how it is going to be presented in the Sartar Book.

It is not a shame. The Thunder Brothers are a collection of storm gods numbering between three and sixty, usually led by Vinga. They likely have names like Thunder, Lightning, Wind, Sandstorm, Noise, Hail, etc. Those names do not have cults - they don't really have individual identities, although if you squint sometimes you can see a cult behind one of the names but that is us being God Learners.

Huh?

Our mistake! We accidentally posted that a little too early. It is taken down until it is ready.

It is Thursday 6 April right now as far as I am concerned.

Of the books I am most excited to release, that is definitely the Mythology Book. There's so much there, and I consider it the definitely take on Glorantha mythology, and what it all means.

By administrator I mean someone who administers territory or a city - part of the Lunar ruling elite.

Lokarnos' cult are the Teamsters of Genertela. Not merchants, not traders, not administrators.

Reason for Continued Existence Lokarnos is the god of the wheel, a magical token he created to honor Yelm. Through cleverness, he made carts and wagons and loaded them with goods to help his betters. He is worshiped by teamsters, bullwhackers, carters, sutlers, and others who drive wheeled vehicles pulled by oxen, horses, or other draft animals. Despite being a solar cult, Lokarnos is welcomed in civilized Orlanthi lands and in the lands of the Earth goddesses. Social/Political Position and Power Lokarnos is a god of common workers, and his cult does not rule or command, nor does it have a great cosmic role to play. However, in some areas, his cult members effectively control the transport of goods, and thus, the cult’s importance often exceeds its official sway. Where it can, the cult asserts authority over wagons and carts, requiring that drivers be at least lay members of Lokarnos. The cult makes no such claim over chariots. The Lunar army relies on the wagons of the Lokarnos cult to move its baggage train. The quartermasters of the army are members of the cult. Particular Likes and Dislikes The cult is very friendly with Issaries and other mercantile orders such as Etyries. When an Issaries merchant wishes to haul goods in a cart or wagon, he will seek out a Lokarnos wagoner. Similarly, when a Lokarnos wagoner wants to sell goods, he will seek out an Issaries merchant. This friendship does not extend to Darkness cults; the Lokarnos wagoners are unfriendly to Argan Argar and other Darkness deities.

Outside of Alda-Chur there are about 500 Seven Mothers initiates in the Princeros, about the same among the Vantaros, and about 100 among the Tovtaros.

There's about 500 Seven Mothers initiates in Alda-Chur (not including the Lunar soldiers), another 1100 initiates among the surrounding tribes. Some of these initiates are transplants from Lunar Tarsh, others are people who have joined the cult since 1602, and especially since 1613 or so. Remember that from 1610-1625, the city of Alda-Chur was ruled by a local tyrant who installed himself with the aid of the soldiers of the Yelmalio cult and the Vantaros Tribe. The Provincial Government viewed Harvar Ironfist as a useful tool.

The heat comes from Lodril, the Fire Within the Earth. Where Lodril is present, there will be heat within the Earth. When Lodril is summoned, he comes in a great explosion of heat and fiery rock. Although most material phenomena in Glorantha appear similar to our world - things fall towards the Earth, we need to breathe air to live, if you smelt tin and copper you get bronze, etc. - they don't have the same reasons as on our world. And in many cases, trying to apply our physics to understand Glorantha is just a mistake. The world IS flat, the sky IS a dome, the Red Moon just hovers in place, etc. Might as well ask what is the physics that apply to when I fly in a dream.