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Jeff

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Everything posted by Jeff

  1. Most banditry in Sartar is socially sanctioned. Robbery, cattle theft, extortion, etc. Most "bandits" are going to be Orlanth Adventurous bands. After Kallyr is proclaimed Prince, they need to be careful about robbing folk on the royal roads, but there are going to be bands that ignore that proscription or are even tolerated by the new Prince. There are also a few Lanbril rings in Sartar - for example the High Roaders are footboards that operate on the Royal Roads. There are those who operate outside of clan and temple, or are actually Praxians operating inside of Sartar. That's going to be Storm Bull, Waha, and Gagarth. Of those Gagarth is the worst. Finally there are those non-human bandits - dark trolls and trollkin, bachelor centaurs, spiritually maladjusted dragonewts, etc. Some of the more organized bandit gangs are: · The Red Knives: These bandits are believed to be based in Tarsh, but they range from Western Sartar to the Grazelands. · The Moon-Busters: These bandits operate throughout the Far Place and attack Lunar caravans and supply trains. They are believed to be from Giant’s Walk. · Nightwood Trolls: This gang of dark trolls and trollkin are from the Troll Woods. They plague South Sartar and Sun Dome County. · Dragonbeak Gang: This gang of dragonewt brigands can be found anywhere in Dragon Pass. They have crested dragonewts as scouts, and demi-bird riding beaked dragonewts provide the heavy muscle. Their base is unknown. · The Wild Ones: This gang can be found throughout East Sartar and the verge with Prax. They are believed to be a Pol-Joni group and are as notorious as rustlers as they are as highwaymen.
  2. Not to be a party pooper, but I don't think "ideology" plays that much of a role in most Gloranthan societies. People have personal connections - clan, tribe, temples, individuals, etc. - and initiatory experiences. So if I am an initiate of Orlanth, I have had an initiatory experience and I have have a personal connection with the god Orlanth. He's my patron and I can wield some of his power. Now the Orlanth cult has its likes and dislikes, but these are going to be tied to my initiatory experience, the deeds of the god (some of which I have witnessed and experienced), and the history of the cult. The Lunar Empire is not particularly ideological. It is the worldly domain of the Red Goddess, entrusted to the Red Emperor - her son and head of the Yelm cult. At the very apex of most Lunar cults are the Red Goddess initiates, who are Illuminated but the overwhelming majority of Lunars are not Illuminated. Most are just Seven Mothers initiates, who have had an experience that COULD lead them on the path to Illumination, but usually does not. Most people offer lay member worship to the Red Emperor as the god-emperor, and are loyal to him because he is the god-emperor. This stuff is not terribly abstract - that initiatory experience is EXPERIENCED not taught. My kinship ties are family, reinforced by ritual and events, and not some political party manifesto. Now ideology no doubt plays a role in Lhankor Mhy arguments and in internecine Malkioni disputes, although I suspect even there personal loyalties play a bigger role than people might think.
  3. Most cattle raiding is done by young Orlanth Adventurous initiates during their ordeal period after initiation. They steal cattle - and try to avoid combat and starting feuds. You have these bands at the edge of clan or tribal lands. Think the Indo-European *kóryos. The tribal militia assembles each Fire Season. This coincides with the tribal assembly. Militia members participate in athletic competitions and mock sparring contests to learn how to fight or to maintain their military training. In the past there might be semi-ritualistic battles with another tribe over control of a sacred place or whatever. Since 1622, the militia was more likely to engage in banditry and rebellion against the Lunar occupiers. Starting 1625, the militia is now expected to follow the Prince into war.
  4. OK, a few points. Orlanthi society has four basic social classes: Noble. Standard of Living-wise this is just wealthy freeman, BUT all nobles have illustrious kin that give them a higher status. They are descended (or related) to tribal kings, heroes, Rune Masters, embodied spirits, etc. For the community to accept your claim of being noble, you need to be able to present yourself as noble, and that means a noble standard of living. As a practical matter, most chieftains come from kinship groups that are already noble or are closely tied to nobles. And almost all tribal kings fall into this category. The highest nobility in Sartar are members of the Sartar dynasty, who have the divine charisma that comes from that family connection. Free. That's most people. You are not going to see the word "Carl" in any RQ books. Free people can be comparatively poor or rich, but as long as they can support themselves and their family without needing to become someone else's dependent, they have the status of "free". They need to be able to support themselves, own their own weapons, etc. They are the default for how Orlanthi society imagines itself. Semi-free. That's people who are dependent upon another family group for support. Tenant farmers are the most common - this is crop-sharing. You are not going to see the word "Cottar" in any RQ books. The "semi-free" are like discounted "free" people. They are theoretically the same, except the semi-free get less respect, are expected to loyally support their patrons in all community matters, etc. Slaves. People who have no community rights or privileges, whether they are viewed as property or not. There aren't many slaves in most Orlanthi societies, and those few are mainly prisoners captured in war who have not been ransomed. You aren't going to see the word "thrall" in RQ books.
  5. Again, if you read the Mythology book that is hardly the reason people hate/fear the God Learners. They are condemned for crimes far more serious than mutilating everyone's favorite stories to fit an understandable narrative structure.
  6. False on both accounts actually. And if you are familiar with Boy King/GPC you should probably be aware that neither Greg nor I view detailing the major events in a setting in time as well as space being something that restricts players from doing their thing. In the contrary, I tend to think it facilitates players being more dynamic in the setting rather than the reverse.
  7. Personally, I view it as the opposite. It is an essential book to understanding the setting. It is the decoder ring to get the interplay between mortals and gods in Glorantha (which to me is THE defining feature of the setting). But to each their own.
  8. She's not ignored. She's one of the longer subcults in the series. She rated an additional Loic piece in the Lightbringers book. BUT Vinga is a martial AND female incarnation of Orlanth and that really covers it. Take any Orlanth myth and it can have Vinga, as she is he.
  9. Well Greg and I decided to not use most of this stuff. So for us it wasn't there to use.
  10. Oh I think the Gloranthan West has more than its share of Neoplatonic mystics (as well as more down to earth Platonists and Aristotleans).
  11. And yet if you look at RQG (which I wrote first), you see that Vasana rides a bison and Harmast has zebras.
  12. She's got about 1000 or more cultists in all of Sartar, but she's got plenty of shrines and minor temples. I think thanks to the strong ties to Prax, her rites and name is what is used in Sartar.
  13. Eiritha is really common in Sartar. She's got shrines in most Earth Temples and even a few minor temples.
  14. Big picture. Sartar has long, deep ties with Prax. Most Praxian herd animals can be found throughout Dragon Pass (and in much of Peloria for that matter). The bison in particular is often used as a meat animal and as a riding animal by many Sartarites. Like in the RW, bison can breed with domestic cattle, and I suspect many (most?) cattle in Sartar are probably beefalo.
  15. Interestingly, a bison can run faster than a horse and jump higher as well. I suspect horses are faster over long distances, but in the short run, a bison can run down a horse.
  16. And this key. Arkat was a man of action - he's Kshatriya not Brahmin. He knows his duty and carries it out, regardless of how many dharmic eggs need to be broken.
  17. You'd be wrong. The reason for allowing Malkioni to have Rune magic is in Glorantha the gods and spirits are a fact (we can come up with plenty of interpretations as to what they mean, but they ARE). The Malkioni are humanists and materialists, and blame the gods for the near-destruction of the cosmos. Still the gods can be useful, and in the most important Malkioni myths, men directly interacted with the gods. The Malkioni philosophers believe that this world belongs to mortal humans, and thus subjugating oneself to a god is dangerous and foolish. The gods are trapped by the Compromise, forever repeating the events of the God-Time and their followers fall into that trap. At the same time, sorcery is a difficult intellectual and spiritual undertaking that requires specialisation and only a small fraction of the population is ever able to become competent with it. Not only that, but the Malkioni of the First and Second Ages conquered many non-Malkioni peoples, who continued to worship their gods and spirits.
  18. At the end of the day, Rikard tried to carve out a new principality in Heortland. Keep the Orlanthi happy with muscular justice and a willingness to take direct action. Keep the Esvularing happy by keeping them as scribes, administrators, etc. Try to keep everyone happy by staying aloof from sectarian matters. Attract Malkioni mercenaries by giving the principality a good name that rings a bell. And it is easy to maintain the forms - you've got the king and chiefs (talars), priests and wizards (zzaburi), warriors and thanes (horals), and farmers, herders, and crafters.
  19. Nochet does not need to import grain from outside of the Holy Country. Esrolia supplies more than enough grain for Nochet, Rhigos, and the City of Wonders (before it was destroyed). Additionally, I doubt the sea-borne grain trade is all that important. Remember, humans only found a way to bypass the Closing in 1580 - only 45 years ago! If you are a sailor, there's a good chance your grandparents - maybe even your parents - remember when the seas were Opened. As I wrote last year on the RQ Facebook site: It is approximately 4250 kilometers from the Holy Country to Pamaltela, although most sailors travel clockwise around the Homeward Ocean, taking about 3 weeks to get to Maslo, give or take a few days. To put that in context, the distances involved are significantly less than crossing the Atlantic from continental Europe to the Caribbean or North America. However, such travel is neither easy nor routine - the Closing of the Seas was overcome a little more than 40 years ago. For comparison, Columbus' first voyage to the Caribbean was in 1492; 40 years later Pizarro sacked Cuzco. However, our Genertela explorers and traders do not enjoy a significant military, technological, or magical advantage over the civilizations of Pamaltela. We generally get merchant entrepots rather than conquests. That being said, piracy is a great concern, and the Wolf Pirates are now numerous and strong enough to seize places by force. In places like Nochet, Handra, Noloswal, and Dosakayo, trade with Pamaltela (and other overseas lands) is an important part of life and exotic fashions, spices, and other luxuries are going to be known and easily found (albeit expensive). Nochet has had more than a generation of such trade, and the other big Genertelan ports are catching up. In Boldhome or Furthest, such trade is rarer and more sporadic, but it is present. Issaries caravans do bring overseas goods over Dragon Pass and into the Lunar Empire, with huge profits. Within the Lunar Heartlands, Pamaltela is a distant imaginary fairytale.
  20. I actually think Mob's analogy with the Genoese and Venetians is good - I just think that they are Nochet, and not the Western cities.
  21. Yeah, but with Nochet they kind of invented oversea trade in the 1580s and I suspect you are far more likely to see the opposite - Nochet merchants given the monopoly over overseas trade. In fact we know that is how it works in Melib, and maybe even Kralorela.
  22. Writing this today, I doubt we'd say that the founder of sea-trade at its height and center of the sailor cult would give monopoly over sea-going trade to foreign barbarians. Nochet is more Genoa or Venice than it is Constantinople.
  23. So it is probably worth starting from what is actually published about Rikard the Tiger-Hearted in the Guide to Glorantha: King Rikard the Tiger-Hearted: This redoubtable adventurer, freebooter, and heretical Hrestoli exile from Tanisor briefly became King of Malkonwal by conquering the various Orlanthi tribes of southern Heortland, taking advantage of their terrible disorder after the loss of both Belintar and the governor of Heortland. Few of the Orlanthi favored the foreign conqueror, and he was recently defeated and captured in battle by the Lunar Provincial Army. Fazzur Wideread offered Rikard the kingship, but rather than accept Rikard destroyed his crown and went into hiding. His current whereabouts are unknown. And elsewhere in that chapter: That same year (1617), the foreign mercenary captain Rikard the Tiger-Hearted proclaimed himself “King of Malkonwal” with the aid of the Esvularings. Once king, Rikard defeated a rebellion by the Uroxi Bullmen of the Footprint and he and Broyan fought a series of indecisive skirmishes. So what we know is that he was a Hrestoli, not a Rokari - a heretic that was exiled from Tanisor and became an adventurer and freebooter, and then exploited the disorder of 1616 to carve out a new (and very short-lived) kingdom with the support of the Esvularings. The Aeolians, despite being no more than about 10% of the population, had prospered under Belintar's rule and feared the instability of Orlanthi tribalism and Lunar conquest - and so they were amendable to having Rikard and his followers as a strong-man protector. But without the Esvularing support, Rikard would have gotten nowhere. The Storm Bull cultists of the Footprint quarrelled with Rikard (less a theological quarrel and more the fact that the Storm Bull cult are violent fanatics who care only about fighting whatever is in the Footprint - making them an obvious threat to the nascent kingdom), and Rikard dispersed their camps (which of course meant that the Print was no longer sufficiently guarded). He quarrelled with the chief of Whitewall who was making his own bid for tribal leadership. And most importantly, he was defeated in battle in 1620 by the Lunar Army and captured. And that was the end of his kingdom. He failed the Esvularings and actually brought about exactly what they feared - I don't expect there is any nostalgia for his return. If we now look at Heortland in the post-Dragonrise era, there is a political vacuum after the death of King Broyan (who was the leading figure 1621-1625). Scorpionmen bands ravage the villages and towns around the Print. Whitewall looks to the Sartarites for leadership. The Wolf Pirates are able to raid and plunder at will.
  24. I hate to disappoint folk but Rikard falls into the Roussel de Bailleul category. Rikard was a mercenary and adventurer who took advantage of the collapse the Holy Country to carve out his own little principality, which he enthusiastically called the Kingdom of Malkonwal (after the legendary city founded by Malkion after his expulsion from Brithos). His rule lasted from 1617-1620 and I strongly doubt it established deep roots. I seriously doubt that there are folk just waiting for his return five years later. Rikard can be an inspiration for players who want to carve out their own kingdoms, like some sort of Proto-Conan. An inspiration and a cautionary tale. Things in the Holy Country are pretty unstable for years, and there will be principalities to carve out of Tarsh and the Lunar Provinces.
  25. Funny that. I find it far easier to search our FB Group than BRP Central.
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