Jeff

Ernalda is often associated with Gina Jar. So is Glorantha herself. Gina Jar is the ghost of something important that has been lost and is gone. The Orlanthi give it a feminine identity, but that may have as much to do with the sleeping Earth goddess before the Sacred Time as anything else. In short she's a mystery element in the ceremony. If WE mortals are Flesh Man, Gina Jar is our lost dreams, love and hopes..

Winter wheat is certainly planted in Esrolia, where they say Esrolia sleeps through the winter. You harvest it in early Fire Season. But in Dragon Pass it is rarer, and most say Esrolia dies each winter.

Ernalda goes to sleep/dies every Dark Season, when the fertile earth is covered with snow and frost. You can't grow anything, the leaves are all gone, and grain is nothing but dead stalk. I can see it just outside my office.

Given that this thread has either wandered off to a rather interesting discussion about religion, belief, and its role in the setting - which should be its own thread - or continues to go back to DucksMustDie trolling of the setting, I'm going to just lock this down. Time to create a new thread.

Wow, that is quite the straw man argument.

A less partisan take than Nick gave is that Orlanth and the Young Gods demanded their own place in the cosmos. Yelm said no and so Orlanth challenged Yelm for rule. Orlanth used Death to kill Yelm, and the Air Gods got to make their own domain. Think of this as a repetition of Umath, son of Sky and Earth, tearing his parents apart to make room for himself.

In RuneQuest there are three nearly universal approaches to magic, as well as several less common and rare magic systems. The following are nearly universal: Spirit Magic: Nearly universal, this is the use of spirits to affect the mundane world - healing, blessings, curses, etc. The commonest magic out there and the cheapest to use. Rune Magic: Also nearly universal, this is wielding the power of a god by create a tie between yourself and the god. The most powerful magic out there, but requires that you maintain that link through a cult. Summoning, Commanding, and Binding Spirits: Not really a magic system per se, but worth calling out as an approach of doing magical things. With the sacrifice of 2 or 3 points of POW, you can create a matrix that can house a spirit that can be a magic point reserve, a source of spirit magic spells, or might be something that can be released to do things in the mundane world. Don't underestimate this! Less common: Sorcery: Less widespread and largely confined to the Malkioni, Kralori, Fonritans, and (probably) East Islanders. Sorcerers know that the order of the universe is subject to rigorous metaphysic laws that can be commanded by the magic user. Potentially VERY powerful and flexible, but requires time, study, and copious magic points to be useful. Dwarf maker magic is similar to sorcery, but is not the same. Rare: Dragon Magic: Found only in Dragon Pass, Kralorela, and Maniria. This magic requires spiritual development to be able to draw upon the Infinite and the Nothing to transform reality. Illumination: Not really a magic system per se, but something that allows magic systems to be freed of some of their limitations. Found mainly in the Lunar Empire and Kralorela. Lunar Magic: Illuminated priests of the Lunar Way and associated gods can learn this strange magic that lets them manipulate spirit magic in very powerful ways.

I wrote the comic. It is just one take on the character, and never even got far enough to explore the character past the Cradle scenario. The purpose of the comic was more about Kalin and I playing around with ideas and visuals, that later informed what became RQG. The idea was never that the comic was to become the definitive treatment of the characters. At the time I was playing around with the idea that the Red Goddess was behind the Hero Wars, seeking a way out of the prison that she had put herself in. Argrath, her self-proclaimed Destroyer, would aid her in her Liberation and the rise of the White Moon. If I were to do it again, I would likely present it quite differently. But since people are putting labels on characters based on the comic, here's my take. Argrath's not a sociopath, he's a shaman. Same with Harrek and Jar-eel. They all see into the Otherworld, into the realm of gods and spirits, and all see their paths through the mundane world accordingly.

I enjoy all the main characters in the story and find them all filled with complexities and contradictions - all of these characters are flexible enough to support a variety of interpretations and takes.

Pelorian languages are all strongly base 10. Theyalan languages give a number for each of the days of Sacred Time, so 1-14. 15 gets represented as 1-1, 28 as 1-14, and so on until we get to 210 which gets a new signifier.

I don't view Harrek as being particularly authoritarian at least in the modern sense of things. He leads through raw power and possessed with the divine fury of the White Bear. Bödvar Bjarki, Heracles, Edward Teach, Conan (with Gunda as a Bêlit figure), Gilgamesh, Rostam, etc. He expects to be obeyed by those who follow him, but he hardly has a regime to speak of. The Wolf Pirates are loyal to him because he is the White Bear - he's proven his strength and brings victories, plunder, and wealth. When he announces that he is going to raid, other Wolf Pirates flock to him! This of course is part of the reason that he is such a pillager and plunderer - he generously rewards his followers and allies! Now Harrek doesn't do diplomacy or negotiation. He's not someone who can hold disparate groups together. But he's likely shrewder than people assume.

We (Finn and I) were just reading that (Epic of Gilgamesh) together earlier today (as part his Literature class), and I think perhaps Beat-Pot is a better Enkidu.

As the person who has put together the Dragon Pass Campaign, a few thoughts. We know that a lot of the Hero Wars gets driven by a several key figures: Red Emperor. He's a mortal holding the office of a god. A war leader, a magician, and the head of an empire. He's inescapable in the setting, and baked into the present and the past (or as King of Sartar puts it "Being"). Argrath. A mortal who is on the path to godhood. A magician, a war leader, and someone who is forging a new empire. He's also inescapable in the setting, but of growing relevance in the future (or as King of Sartar puts it, "Becoming"). Then we have three figures who are terrifying beings that are truly part mortal and part god. They smash things up and change the setting. We have: Jar-eel the Razoress, a figure like Babalon, the Scarlet Woman, or Inanna, the living embodiment of both the positive and negative features of civilization and the Lunar Way. She's already present and doing things in the Lunar Empire right now and shows up in Dragon Pass in 1628. Harrek the Berserk, a figure like a savage Heracles, Gilgamesh, Achilles, Conan, etc. He's the living embodiment of wanton savagery and barbarism, but also of fearless heroism. He's already present and doing things at the edge of Dragon Pass right now. Androgeus, the Twins manifested in one body, but in Disorder rather than Harmony. A disruptive figure - strife bringer, avenger of the oppressed, drawn to conflict and perpetuator of it. They are not present yet, but coming. These characters form the Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin, and Mordred figures in the setting. Just like in Pendragon, players rarely want the responsibility of those roles. [Yes there are also other characters like the Feathered Horse Queen, Gunda, Beat-Pot, Jaldon, etc., but they are like Percival, Tristan, Lady of the Lake, Galahad figures.] As a writer, these characters are as baked into the setting as is the Red Moon, Orlanth, or the Lunar Empire. You can decide to dump any or all of them, after all YGWV, but they are present in everything Chaosium publishes, even if a book doesn't mention them. Your player-characters can have stories that weave around these characters, directly interact with them, ignore them, supplement them, or even replace them (if you want to have one of your player-characters become the next Red Emperor, go for it, although that's unlikely to be a path in published products). Present these characters as moral exemplars, villains, whatever - I personally view all of them as heroes, in the classical sense. They straddle the world of men and gods, which usually means they do great AND terrible things.

And here's what Greg and I found over decades of play. Far more players and gamemasters prefer the Pendragon approach, where the players do not have the burden of carrying the setting, but get to do cool things and interact with major figures and then go off and do their thing. Greg and I talked about the "multiple Argraths or one" as part of the Guide to Glorantha, and we both concluded that the approach taken in the old HW material was a failure. The Guide makes it clear that there is one Argrath, and that is the approach taken from there on.

Yes - but they often cover it up as well. Really the origin of the harpies is pretty wide open. Gods Age curse. Rinliddi folk who sided with Chaos in the Greater Darkness or during the Gbaji Wars. Escaped failed EWF experiment. Personally, I give them an ancient Pelorian ancestry. Bird worshipers who were cursed by Chaos.

Good question. The harpies spread disease, are consistently lumped with the creatures of Chaos, and certainly associate with Chaos in Dorastor. But they do not have Chaos features. So what is their origin? The answer is that Gloranthan scholars don't know. The Wind Children resolutely reject the idea that they are kin. Harpies are recorded in Second Age and earlier documents, which means they don't have a connection with the Beast Folk of Dragon Pass. One scholar suggested that they a Beast Folk ancestress and even hypothesised an ancestral goddess (Magra) but this was a scholarly artifice.

There has been a metaplot as to what is going to happen in Dragon Pass since before RuneQuest was a game. The specific events are less important than the four key individuals - the Red Emperor, Jar-eel, Argrath, and Harrek. RuneQuest was written around them (and not vice versa). Now the Hero Wars Campaign presents a "monomyth" of the stories and arranges them in a cohesive fashion. But just as with WBRM, you are welcome to have your own battles and campaigns.

I suppose you could also dump the Red Emperor just as or even more easily. But sure, Pendragon without Arthur, Stormbringer with Elric, Rome without Caesar, or whatever. Personally, I find that dull, but to each their own.

A candidate for chief in an Orlanthi clan must be an Orlanth initiate. They can be initiated to something else as well, but at a very minimum need to be an Orlanth initiate.

I was referring to kangaroos and wallabies. There are opossums in Genertela.

OK thane literally means “Martial Companion,” this denotes a member of the Orlanthi martial aristocracy. Often transliterated as “Lord”. Groups with enough wealth to support a full-time Orlanth (or similar martial cult) cultist with a horse or chariot and all the trappings can have a thane. A thane also is expected to take a leadership role in the local community, leading patrols, forcing off bandits, predators, monsters, etc. Now the Earth Temple doesn't normally do that, as they look to other cults for that, and defend themselves with members of the Babeester Gor cult. But Greenstone might do that for the husband-protector of the High Priestess (or her representative) if she wishes. Now remember that Orlanth Rex gets the backing of Greenstone and all the other key cult leaders. So within the Malani areas, we have two top dogs - the tribal king (the local BIG MAN), and the Prince of Sartar (whom even the local big man is expected to defer to). But Orlanthi politics don't have well defined organisational charts. You have basically two social tiers - tenants/free commoners and the lords/priests (many of whom come out of the tenant/free commoner families). The Orlanth Rex cult sits on top of all of that, but there's a lot of jostling.

There are no kangaroos or wallabies in Prax, the Wastes, Pent, Peloria, Dragon Pass, or the Holy Country. Pretty sure none in the West either. The Lopers are not any sort of known marsupial. Here's the art direction for them: This fast nocturnal quadruped that vaguely resembles a carnivorous halicothere (chalicothere-tb.jpg or eabrchalo.jpg) has the ability to teleport to any location they can see. Lopers are large creature covered with bright-orange-red or crimson fur, occasionally mottled or banded with dull ochre. They are muscular and large, reaching 1 to 1.8 meters high at the shoulder. Their heads are narrow and deep, with large eyes and a flexible neck. They lack tails. It walks and runs with a long bounding stride ("lope" see, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol2ijT6NtA0). Lopers have a series of eyelid-like organs running down their back on either side of their spine. These lids are open when the loper wishes to teleport, revealing a crimson glowing membrane. Lopers can also communicate with each other and their riders with these organs. By varying the lids opened, a loper can create a row of bright spots, a pattern of seemingly moving spots, or simply expose a single dot. Lopers are primarily carnivores, though they also dine with relish on melons, eggs, and fresh carrions. They feed upon live prey of almost any size and type.

Other than error trappings sometimes missing the maximum number of Rune Points and spirit magic a NPC can have, I've not seen a problem here. We used to have the same problem error-trapping RQ3 (just that the limit was INT). The Tusk Riders get around their CHA limits for spirit magic through Death Biding. They torture unfortunates to death, and bind their spirits into their tails or hands using Death Binding. The victim's spirit is trapped and bound, and the Tusk Rider can use the victim's magic points and cast their spirit magic spells, if any. The number of spirits a tusk rider can have is limited to their CHA and not their CHA/3. Unfortunately, I had not written up the current cult when I wrote the GM Adventures booklet. But it really makes no impact on the scenario.

And given that Balazar covers about 50,000 square km, that gives it a population density of a little more than 2.5 people per square kilometer. Or about a quarter of the density of eastern Dragon Pass. That puts it well in the range for complex hunter-gatherer societies (1 to 4 people per square km).

The Guide agrees with Griffin Mountain in most ways. But Greg corrected the population figures, so instead of about 14,000 people as Griffin Mountain would lead you to believe, Balazar has about 130,000. So we can assume that there is somewhere around 200 or so clans, and most maintaining very loose associations with a citadel. Balazar covers a lot of area - more than Sartar, with fewer people.