Jeff

The Seven Mothers has a strong movement towards proselytization, and there are somewhat less than 12,000 Seven Mothers initiates in all of Esrolia. That number may sound impressive but it is a statistical blip in Esrolia (about 1% of the population). The biggest concentration of them are in Nochet, where there are some 1600 Seven Mothers initiates (for comparison, Sartar has over 5000 Seven Mothers initiates, including some 900 in Boldhome). The rest of the Seven Mothers cultists are primarily rural and associated with the Red Earth faction. Their patronage by Queen Hendira (1610-1622) made them political and socially important beyond their numbers, but Samastina (1622-) has curtailed their privileges and suppressed them in the wake of the Battle of Pennel Ford (1624).

Most communities in Glorantha - be they cities or tribes - have their own guardian or tutelary deity. These range wildly in form and power - for example, the tutelary deity of Boldhome is the god Sartar Rex, while the guardians of Wilmskirk, Jonstown, etc., are the spirits of Sartar's companions (and still serve Sartar/Orlanth Rex). Meanwhile in Pavis, the city god is the deified Second Age founder.In Furthest, the new city founded by Hon-eel and Phoronestes has a Lunar guardian. Glamour has a Lunar spirit named Glamour, invoked by the Red Emperor as his First Inspiration when he founded the city. Meanwhile, some ancient cities nave the ruling deities as their patrons. In Whitewall, the city guardian is Orlanth the Unfettered. Nochet's goddess is a local version of Ernalda, who is the tutelary deity for Esrolia. Alkoth's guardian is Alkor, a son (or incarnation) of Shargash, and Raibanth is Raibamus, a son (or incarnation) of Yelm or Murharzarm.

There is already a means by which Lunar Illuminates can twist around spirit magic, and I suspect that there is a heavy tie between Jakaleel shamans and the Red Goddess cult. But that's not sorcery. If you want to have your own mash-up of Jakaleel and sorcery and whatever in your game, go for it. But Jakaleel's approach to magic is radically different from Irrippi Ontor's rationalism.

Sor-eel the Short kept the Orlanth temple open in New Pavis, but installed a priest who was widely considered to be Illuminated. Although the cult was suppressed by the invaders, the political clout of Orlanth's priests allowed some of them to remain in the city despite the repression. When Sor-eel was removed in 1621 (some say through the influence of Tatius the Bright), he was replaced by Halcyon var Enkorth, who had served with success as a Lunar legate to the barbarian king of Elkoi (and who had ties to the powerful Assiday family of Raibanth). From 1621 to 1624, Governor Halcyon was more aggressive in his suppression of the Orlanth cult in Pavis, and made active use of Gim Gim the Grim and the Moon Masks to suppress the cult. However, in 1624, Argrath and his nomad army defeated the Lunars and seized the city, at which point Orlanth Rex became the ruling cult (in contrast with Pavis which remained the city god).

I think John Medway (long time Glorantha-phile) is still in Portland. It's been many years since I was there regularly. If you are on Facebook, ask on the RuneQuest group as there are quite a few people from Portland in that group.

During the Windstop, initiates of Orlanth and Ernalda within the affected area could not use their Rune Point pools to those gods and subcults of those gods. That includes Orlanth Adventurous, Rex, Thunderous, and Vinga. Tatius the Bright expected that it would cause the Orlanth cult to collapse, but instead, Orlanth's associates stepped into the gap. Chalana Arroy, Eurmal, Issaries, Lhankor Mhy, Storm Bull, Maran Gor, Babeester Gor, Grain Goddesses, and many others (including friendly cults such as Humakt) took on a greater social and magical prominence during that year. When the Windstop ended, the respect for the Orlanth and Ernalda cults actually rose as their importance in maintaining the cosmos was made more vivid.

If you as a GM are worried about the players abusing this, then just have the Light spell readily available.

And although Pavis was not part of the Empire of the Wyrms Friends, it was closely allied. Like Pergamon with Rome or how many Greek city-states were not technically part of the Hellenistic kingdoms, but were closely allied.

Glorantha has many famed cities that predate the Dawn - Alkoth, Raibanth, Yuthuppa, Nochet, etc. But founding your own city is also a path to godhood as shown by such demigods as Froalar, Pavis, the Red Emperor, Belintar, Hon-eel, and of course Sartar. Of all of these, Sartar the Citybuilder was the most prolific - like Alexander or Seleucus, Sartar founded multiple cities (five in total), and his heirs founded two more. We have accounts for how Sartar and Dorastor founded their cities. They consulted the gods, laid out the sacred boundaries and identified where the main temples would be. Sartar and his heirs were knowledgeable in city planning - their cities were built around a plan, with clearly defined districts, roads, and markets (the so-called "Jrusteli method"). Imagine this is like Alexander or Seleucus consulting scholars learned in the methods of Hippodamus when they laid out their cities. In fact, accounts of the founding of Hellenistic cities are filled with ideas that might inspire Gloranthan ideas. For example, when Seleucus founded Seleucia: "Seleucus asked the Babylonian priests which day would be best to found the city. The priest calculated the day, but, wanting the founding to fail, told Seleucus a different date. The plot failed however, because when the correct day came, Seleucus' soldiers spontaneously started building the city. When questioned, the priests admitted their deed." I could imagine a similar story being told of Furthest's founding!

Also it should be kept in mind that it is only about 200 km from Boldhome to Pavis. That's a long way, but hardly the middle of nowhere.

This was a period of expansion and opportunity, a time of magical exploration and experimentation. And founding a city is one of the ways (both in Glorantha and in the real world) of achieving greatness. Pavis managed to combine both of those. And contrary to Pavis being in the middle of nowhere - Robcradle, a Jrusteli ruin, was surrounded by rich alluvial lands, perfect for settlement and farming. If Lord Pavis could defeat the Praxians, he could build a great settlement in what had been desert. The romantic vision of "making the desert bloom" has motivated many from Isaiah 35 to Bugsy Siegel and Howard Hughes. There were of course specifics of what Lord Pavis hoped to do (unify mortals, uncover Jrusteli secrets, etc), but all fall within that old exhortation to civilise the wilderness.

As an aside, Greg and I talked about this a LOT from 2010 until his untimely death. And the whole "Green Age" Pavis plot line is something Greg wanted us to move away from.

Jakaleel is not a sorcery cult (that's Irrippi Ontor). The witch-priests of Jakaleel are shamans. Pretty much nothing from the ILH-1 and 2 books are being carried into RQ.

For what it is worth, I almost always play Theatre of the Mind. You certainly can play RQG with a battle map, but I've never been much of a battle map guy (and I've been gaming over 40 years).

When talking about the various Hsunchen or Hykimi people, let's start here: "Through the Golden Age, most of the world had taken shape, especially the division between gods and lesser beings. The gods and spirits were able to change their form, but mortals were not. At first life was wonderful and perfect, but eventually many mortals lost contact with their animal selves, thereby losing touch with Nature and succumbing to the vices of agriculture, politics, war, priests, and wizards. Those people were doomed, for all those things proved useless in the Gods War. When Death came into the world, the remaining people followed the Horned Man and found Hykim and Mikyh again in the Spirit World. Hykim and Mikyh taught their descendants how to survive in the world, how to be reborn again, and what new ceremonies were needed to preserve the world." The Hsunchen believe that after death, their souls are reborn into their own tribe, failing to distinguish between the human and animal members. Death rituals reflect this belief but vary greatly from tribe to tribe. That's the key similarity among all the Hsunchen peoples - they do not distinguish between the human and the animal members of their tribe. An Uncoling herder recognises the reindeer he herds as members of the same tribe as him, distinct from all outsiders. Sure the reindeer has a different function within the tribe, different duties and expectations, but they are of the same family. The reindeer is kin in a way that the inhabitants of Easval or Zoria are not. When that herder dies, he expects he may be reborn as a reindeer. Now a Loskalmi scholar might look at the Uncoling as consisting of a bunch of humans and their reindeer herds, and on a material level they would be right. We have some 300,000 Uncolings between Loskalm and Rathorela. They survive as pastoral nomads who assemble for rituals and trade. And so on. That understanding is correct but limited. The Uncoling know the full truth - they are they people who have remained in contact with their animal selves. They and the reindeer are the same people. The reindeer offer themselves for their kin - they agree that some number must be sacrificed so that the tribe may continue. When a reindeer is to be killed, its kin come to it, ask it for its sacrifice, and thank it for its offering. It is slain with the Peaceful Cut and its kin weep and celebrate, and no part of the offering is wasted. Meat is eaten, fur and hide used, and even the bones are used as tools. All Uncoling know that they too have made that same offering in a past incarnation and will again in the future. This is the cycle of life-death-life, the way of the Uncoling.

My apologies for my testiness. To get things back to the original post - Etyries is not much of a cult in Esrolia. No doubt there are shrines and even temples to her, but that is for the benefit of visiting merchants from Peloria. She is recognized as Issaries' Lunar daughter, but few natives follow her. Her cult, the Seven Mothers, and plenty of others (like Calyx, Magasta, Invisible God, Eagle Vulture, etc) all fall into the category of Other Cults - which admittedly in Esrolia is a big number. But still Etyries is a rounding error, hidden inside the Issaries cult (who has over 45,000 worshipers in Esrolia!).

And my objection is that you jumped from a small minor art detail to "hey there is a red-skinned goddess in that scene in an Orlanth and Ernalda temple" to "that must be Etyries" to "this must be in Esrolia where they have incorporated Etyries into the Ernalda cult". Don't assume Red always equals Lunar. Red is also Shargash's color, Zorak Zoran's color, and also just an easy color for painting. Any more than you should always assume a blue-skinned figure is Orlanth or a green-skinned figure is Ernalda.

I'm sorry but as the person who commissioned the art and wrote the art commission, I can tell you precisely what the piece is about. This piece takes place inside of a temple to the Orlanthi gods. Vasana and Yanioth are offering libations of wine or blood and prayers to the cult images of Orlanth and Ernalda. Around are smaller idols of other Orlanthi gods. Other worshipers (perhaps including Harmast and Sorala) can be seen with their arms raised in prayer. Other cult idols Smaller idols (between 10 and 20 cm tall) of lesser gods are also in the shrine. They include: Babeester Gor. See attached reference. This statue is about 10 cm tall and made of bronze. Maran Gor. See attached reference. This statue is about 20 cm tall and made of black stone. Chalana Arroy. See attached reference. This statue is about 15 cm and made of terracotta that has been painted white. Eurmal. See attached reference. This statue is about 10 cm tall and made of bronze. Issaries. See attached reference. This statue is about 15 cm tall and made of teracotta and painted, Lhankor Mhy. See attached reference. This statue is about 10 cm tall and made of terracotta and painted. And so your red-skinned "goddess" is not Etyries, but is Issaries. My objection is that people need to get out of the idea that whenever they see something red, we must be indicating something Lunar. There are plenty of red-hued deities and spirits in Glorantha, just as there are plenty of blue, black, and green-hued ones. Not every green-skinned deity is an Earth deity after all.

I can see why a visitor might think so. Sartarites no doubt don't make the same mistakes as gamers and don't assume that every red-skinned thing is a Lunar.

Not all red-skinned goddesses are Lunar, and in this case it definitely is not.

That's not our approach at all. Draconic philosophy is not a mere switch of a Rune, but a radical rethinking of the cosmos and your role in it. Here is a fantastically helpful essay from Greg on draconic philosophy: Before attempting to understand what motivates a dragonewt it is necessary to first clear your mind of all previous notions you may have. Try to accept apparent paradoxes in their philosophy. Begin your understanding of them anew. Dragonewt thinkers consider their species to be an accident of creation, but a fortunate one which was inevitable. Both the strength and weakness of the dragonewt race is their fragile bodies and the finite experiences they can learn each lifetime. Dragonewt existence consists of a many-life struggle to acquire and then master a number of physical, emotional, and magical characteristics. Doing so will make the individual one with a dragon or, in more mundane terms, into a dragon itself. A side effect of this spiritual growth is the accumulation of magical powers. These can be viewed as being akin to spells, though they are acquired differently from Rune magic, spirit magic, or sorcery. The progression of dragonewts through each body stage is gained by allowing the consciousness and experiences of the spirit to pass from body to body. When the mind and current body have acquired sufficient development the next hatching will be of the next body stage. There are often minor body changes in each lifetime. This occurs because the unhatched, and soulless, body developing in the egg will adjust itself to house the powers being developed by the body living elsewhere. Thus all dragonewts of a single type may present different characteristics within their subtype. The dragonewts believe that the object of this life series is for them to pass on to become great and infinite dragons. This fact is undeniable to them and proven every passing day. As they pass from stage to stage they become increasingly more powerful. A seeming irony of their life is that the dragonewt regresses, become weaker and less suited for advancement every time that they use their powers. Each use of their immense magics gets the dragonewt more and more enmeshed in the problems of existence by creating debts which must be paid before passing onto perfect draconic being. The dragonewt concept of honor is critical to understanding them. Honor to a dragonewt implies the right way to live, as determined by his personal understanding of the universe at that time. Each stage of dragonewt existence is expected to experience and participate in certain thought modes and thereby gain responsibility for their actions in that realm. When certain categories have been fulfilled the individual passes on to the next plateau of development. If a dragonewt dies dishonorably then he will remain dead a number of days before rebirth. When he is reborn, his physical and magical abilities will have diminished. Shamed dragonewts are thus stuck with stunted personalities and abilities which mark their failures until worked out over several lifetimes. Dragonewt honor is determined by whether or not the dragonewt is responsible for his actions in that range of emotional experience and whether or not he failed to control himself. If he did control himself (i.e. thought and decided properly on the right action) then it was an honorable thing. However, if he reacted emotionally then his actions were not honorable even if the results of his actions were correct. Dishonorable (emotional) reactions are likely to result in more entanglements, so lifetimes are spent in clearing up the mistakes of a century ago.

As of the current year (1625)? Yes. The Wolf Pirates - basically a sea army that follows Harrek the Berserk around - are based at Threestep Island. There are small fleets of Wolf Pirates harassing shipping and local communities around the Mirrorsea Bay. And when Harrek leads the main fleet, his warriors are able to plunder cities and temples.

Let's roll this back a bit. One of the clear distinctions made in the Compromise is that Chaos is not of this world. The deities and powers of the world had touched it, and were still afraid of it, and their continued existence required that they remain apart from Chaos. Chaos became the enemy which must be fought and suppressed. With one enemy recognized by everyone, the squabbling deities found a common theme for unity. That statement is attributed to the God Learners, but could be said by any Dawn Age Orlanthi, trolls, aldryami, mostali, Malkioni, Praxians, and Yelmites. In the late First Age, the Sun stopped in the sky and Nysalor was born. Nysalor taught that Chaos is, in itself, neither evil nor inimical. His followers used this knowledge - called Illumination - to use Chaos to further their goals. As we all know, a terrible war followed, Nysalor was torn into pieces and his cult scattered. Centuries later, the Red Goddess met and overcame Arachne Solara and Nysalor on her great Goddess Quest. She returned from the Underworld with a Chaos god called the Crimson Bat and used Chaos to destroy her foes. She now teaches Nysalor's path to Illumination and by its faith, the Lunar Empire must accept Chaos in philosophy. The Crimson Bat is an example of how this can be done, as may be the vampire regiment rumored to be training in the mountains of Peloria. Yet many Lunar heroes gained fame by killing Vivamort cultists or smashing the slave heads of Thanatar. The awareness of the educated or sensitive concerning the proximity of Chaos makes them acutely aware of their dire responsibilities. The teachings of the Red Goddess, though passionate and fierce, strongly admonishes against certain temptations. The Lunar Way in no way condones the worship of Chaos entities which follow the ways of Gbaji and fall into moral depravity. The religion and state do not forbid it, either, as required by their philosophy. The rulers are adroit at manipulating the results if people do fall into the way of the Chaos gods. Lunar history contains lessons of generals and priests gone bad and point them out as bad examples. The world hates the Empire because it includes Chaos within its worship. This is a clear and necessary stand for the old gods to have, for their very existence is based upon the fighting of Chaos. But the Red Goddess, born inside Time, has other options, and wisely uses them to maintain her power among the gods of the cosmos. Her secrets are woven into Balance and Time, resulting in the Lunar cycles laid upon the surface of the world. The Lunar religion is one of unendurable freedom compared to most of the religions and societies of its time. Inner secrets reveal the immense dangers of such freedom, and Lunar disasters of over-experimentation sometimes are noted. But to attain such cosmic freedom it is necessary to include a worshipful understanding of the Chaotic bondage of mindlessness and the Void. Such concepts, though, are alien to most trained minds of the world, and proven ways of life and religion do not bend easily in the face of novelty. The Lunars, of course, consider this rigidity to be ignorance and imbalance. It is unnecessary for Lunars to be exposed to gruesome Chaotic things, and warnings spread throughout their teachings admonish the unprepared to stay off those dismal paths. The more awful manifestations of Chaos, such as the Crimson Bat, are no more loved by loyal Lunar citizens than they are by the Empire’s enemies. But Chaotic elements are tolerated officially, and rather than knowing nothing but fear toward such monsters, Lunar citizens have the questionable surety of the words of government and religion that such horrors can be controlled.

The new material is SUBSTANTIALLY different from Ian's old material that was published by Tradetalk. The underlying mythology is very different.

I suggest checking out this old essay from Greg. It is about the Dwarves, but works for all the Elder Races. Dwarf Lore All the intelligent creatures of Glorantha have secret powers unavailable to other beings of their world. These species-oriented powers are especially prominent among the Elder Races, who view each other's abilities as diabolic and utterly mysterious. For example, trolls have a sonar sense whose origins and properties are unknown to the other races. Thus trolls are able to perform certain feats which are quite beyond the understanding and power of elves, dwarfs, or humans. No normal person of any other species would try to acquire these alien powers. What sane elf would ever want to be troll-like? The dwarfs are no exception. They, the Makers, have tools beyond the understanding of other races. This is called dwarf magic. It is mysterious and diabolic in nature, intended to harm the world and make dwarfs dominant. Trolls, elves, dragonewts, and the lesser Elder Races know of these strange, secret magics, and what they can do. They have deep respect and fear of them, and they know clearly that they must ever avoid their taint. Humans, always inquisitive and never as restricted as the Elder Races, have often plundered the secrets of the Mostali and stolen many of their abilities. They have learned little of true knowledge, while ransacking the garbage can of the great dwarf Machine, but it was noticeable, and the dwarfs are now wise to the deception, and avoid all humans if they can. Many dwarf items of great magical power are quite familiar to us, who live outside of Glorantha. It is easy for us to say, "He pulls out a double-barreled flintlock and levels it at you." This will certainly instill immediate respect among the characters, even if they have no idea what damage a gun will do in the game. But is that instant recognition what a role-playing situation calls for? When I play role-playing games, one of the enjoyable parts of the experience is to role-play these inquisitive (or simply stupid) adventurers through a world which is quite new to them. I, the player, usually know much more than that wary player character stalking down that nicely swept cement road in the wilderness. He, poor old Tostig, has seen wide clean roads before and is busy spouting off his great knowledge of how this is just like the great Seshnegi roads which he saw in the far west. "There is no need for extra caution" he says confidently, "These are all long since abandoned." Fortunately for the party, no one believes Tostig (as usual) and they detect the party of dwarfs hiding beside the road, up ahead. "Impossible" proclaims Tostig. "There have been no dwarfs in this land for centuries. Their reign was too terrible, and humans, elves, and trolls united to destroy every vestige of their evil civilization." Despite his confidence, Tostig finds it useful to dismount and join his companions in a defensive position. There is no need for me to relate the abuse which the other player-characters heap upon Tostig's hard-earned knowledge. But Tostig is one to quickly reaffirm his current certainty through immediate experience. Declaims Tostig, "Well, when they were here last they were all terrible. Every one of them was in iron and never missed his target. They can sling tiny thunderstones over a half-mile in distance. Half of them are only engines, full of tiny pieces which mimic a man's innards and can take no injury or wound. They all have extra spirits. Magic potions are always being used by Mostali, and they can mix up to six in one drinking. Even though wearing iron, they make no noise, can sometimes sense your thoughts, and are known to eat flesh of any type." All this is fact, Tostig assures everyone, for he is well-read and widely traveled. This is all quite important for our defense, after all. "We should probably attack first. They never tell the truth. Don't trust a Mostali peace signal. Sometimes their sign language is completely opposite ours. It happened that way to King Amaling in Seshnela..." So what about this babble? Some of it is true, some is not. Most of it is half-true. Which is which? I know, for at the moment I am the world's authority on Mostali. Should I tell my fellow players about it now? "They probably have metal gargoyles flying overhead. They often use stone gnomes to burrow tunnels under their foes, so search underground with your spirits. Giant moles and shrews are their slaves, big enough to take a horse. Dwarfs never take prisoners and scorn ransom. Dwarfs hate all humans because people kidnapped Quicksilver, their god, long ago." To role-play Tostig, I must not reveal what is truth and what is falsehood. Tostig's knowledge is what is being played, and to do otherwise would betray the spirit of the game. Whatever the outcome of the current encounter, the other characters will have gained a certain amount of knowledge as well. When it is time for them to meet dwarfs again, later, they can draw upon their previous experience and act accordingly. "That is one of their Great Exploders! I am aiming for his head." However, Jorgard the leader has already cast a Glue spell on Tostig's crossbow, and he stands and makes the Issaries signal for peaceful greeting. The dwarf responds, and a peaceful encounter continues. With his share of the treasure traded for, Tostig, ever the bookworm, secures an ancient manuscript on Mostali and begins educating himself once more. Next time, he says, he won't be fooled. So, when the dwarf lifts his hand with some machinery in it, you should describe the tool in Gloranthan terms. It is unlikely that many have ever seen any intact Mostali equipment, and many manuscripts and stories have distorted and twisted drawings, descriptions, or facts. Don't tell the players what it is, even if they ask. Say something like, "It is about as big as a watermelon, made out of metal, and has three moving parts. If you look closely, you see a small glowing light on one side and a silver chain hanging from it. What is your statement of intent?" Thus will dwarf magic show itself: a thing of mystery and uncertainty.