Jeff

This stuff is all in the Cults Book. I do wish people would not say "Chaosium does this" or "Chaosium does that" Oria is a Grain Goddess - same as "Pelora". Dendara and Ernalda are a strange pair. The God Learners were convinced that Dendara and Ernalda were the same entity, and even managed to transpose worshipers with no ill effects. But they never succeeded in getting either goddess to admit identity with the other. Which gets us to Lodril. Veskarthan is just a localised name for Lodril. Probably just means Big Volcano or even The Vent. But Lodril is also used as the name - and has been since at least the First Age. In the Second Age, Lodril became the preferred name for the god by the Caladralanders. I can imagine that someone from Whitewall might head over to Caladraland, as about "Veskarthan the God of the Vent" and the locals reply "you mean Lodril?"

Although I think this captures the feel better:

Please direct the thread back to topic of the Holy Country, Silver Age Heroes, and Belintar.

Oppressed Ernaldans in a Yelmalion patriarchal theocracy IN PRAX. The Yelmalions in Dragon Pass have the bare-boobied snake cult and probably are as shocked as other Sartarites by the low status of Ernalda in Praxian Sun County.

If you all want to have a discussion about your preferred use of articles and particles in the French language, please create a new thread.

They might often serve as loose auxiliaries and skirmishers (and many do) - but they do not patrol or participate in the muster. They don't have the required equipment to begin with.

Sort of (the Highland Games are a Victorian creation - think more like an informal Greek gymnasia). The militia musters together and learns to fight together. They aren't drilled so much as learn how to gather together in groups, how to fight with sword and shield (this is organised by the Orlanth cult after all), how to march in groups, etc. They have foot races, wrestling matches, boxing, swimming contests, and other athletic competitions. They engage in mock single and group sparring contests, with anywhere from one to ten contestants on a side. The wealthy engage in hunts from horseback or chariot races. The next season, many of these same youth participate in games to honour and please the Earth Goddess. That's your real contests where you might get a wife or husband, or win some prize from the Earth Priestesses!

And meanwhile you also have the women of the community - the priestesses, the wives, the mothers, etc. I suspect that they ululate in support or opposition, and urge on the warriors one way or another. And meanwhile the tribal council are typically some of the most magically powerful members of the community. In short, I can imagine that most assembly meetings are ceremonial, but when they go bad, they go VERY bad. And quickly.

But remember, the assembly always includes hundreds, maybe even thousands of armed militia. And most of the time, they vote by banging their weapons. So they are not a group to take lightly.

So during the reign of King Kallai Rockbuster, the Colymar assembly tended to follow whatever the king wanted. They'd gather, show off their weapons, and cheer on the king. During Leika's first reign, it was more unruly and confrontational. There were more obvious divisions within the assembly, and they were more vocal. Ultimately a faction ended up forcing her out and exiling her in favour of Kallai's son Blackmor. In Leika's second reign she is much more cautious about the assembly and careful coopts it.

Its the Orlanthi so the answer is "it depends." Sometimes the assembly has the real power, sometimes the tribal king has the real power. Sometimes the assembly is raucous and uncontrollable; sometimes it is just a rubber stamp. Sometimes the assembly threatens to kill the leaders; other times they tolerate no dissent. Sometimes the assembly tells the leaders no; more often the assembly and the leaders are in some sort of agreement. Sometimes votes are counted; more often it is based on shouts and spear-waving.

If you assume every free member of the tribe shows up, that's a little over 6100 people. I personally imagine it normally about half that or less.

So if you want to think about what happens at the tribal assembly - you have the militia mustered, led to the assembly place by their chiefs. The militia - along with any other free members of the tribe - meet in assembly with the king and the tribal council, who offer sacrifices to Orlanth Rex and the tribal guardian (wyter). Disputes are raised and resolved, but a big part of what happens is a ceremony showing the connection between the assembled people and their tribal leaders. The assembled people then do their militia service or labor for the benefit of the tribe. What is important is this is the one time of the year all the free members of the tribe can assemble AS the tribe - it is a sort of political ceremony, that reinforces their communal identities as members of the tribe.

That last piece is very important in understanding the dynamics in most tribal assembly.

The most anyone travels to a Tribal Assembly is about 40 km (from Lizard Kicks Inn to Halfort or from the far side of Two Sisters to Clearwine). In most cases, the maximum is around 30 km. In many tribes, pretty much everyone is within 10 km of the assembly place. Even among the Colymar, most attendees travel no more than about 10 km (which means the clans around Clearwine often play a disproportionate role in the assembly). There's also little difference between the tribal assembly and the militia mustering. FIRE SEASON Fire Season is the equivalent of summer. It is mostly warm to hot, and dry, punctuated by afternoon thunderstorms with heavy but brief rains or even hail. Militia Service Able-bodied adults are required to perform labor or military service on behalf of the clan. Service is typically owed to the clan chieftain, who in turn owes it to the tribal king, and on to the Prince. Tribal Assembly Representatives of the clans meet in assembly with their king and tribal council. This coincides with the militia gathering, and the clan militias often attend the assembly.

As an aside, it is less than 100 km from Lake Helby to Highwater.

Chivalrous is short-hand for "Cult of Hrestol". The cult of Hrestoli imposes a stringent code on its initiates and demands that they: 1. Uphold justice and fight injustice. The Hrestoli ultimately must determine what is Just and what is Unjust, and fight for what is Just. This includes an obligation to protect the weak (especially women and children) from the strong, but generally excludes barbarians and the Elder Races; indeed this obligation is often celebrated by fighting monsters or Krjalk. Justice is considered more important than such virtues as Loyalty. 2. Sacrifice oneself for the good of others. A Hrestoli is expected to sacrifice themselves to uphold Justice. 3. It is the responsibility of mortals to make a world they can live in. This creed was formed in the early Dawn Ages when humans were weak and few. Its focus is always towards humans, their survival and later their dominance, rather than on co-existence or cooperation with the rest of the cosmos. So the Trader Princes were Hrestoli Talars, who were sworn to uphold justice, fight injustice, protect the weak, etc. Their interpretation of the code would have included the local barbarians as being within their mandate, but not the trolls. They included Issaries as their ancestor (descendants of Garzeen and Froalar), and have access to the Rune spell Create Neutral Ground.

Yes - and from time to time it is worth reinforcing the scale of Dragon Pass and the Holy Country. So basically, Dragon Pass is about the size of Northern California from the south shore of Lake Tahoe up to the Oregon border. So imagine plenty of refugees fled from the Sacramento Valley to Sacramento and down to places like Stockton or San Francisco, similarly plenty of folk fled from the coast to places like Medford. That's the scale we are operating on. These refugees spend the next two centuries in Esrolia and Heortland - and may not have been the ancestors of the people who returned to resettle Dragon Pass in the 1300s and 1400s. They aren't keeping some giant notebook about the secrets of ancient tribes from a thousand or two thousand years ago. They might have the equivalent of Claudius Ptolemy's Geography, with the names of places from the Second Age, but these are just names, with little attached to it: And so those early settlers might have referred to Ogorvaltesland, Storn, and Selkos - pretty quickly they replaced those names with more useful ones: Balmyr, Colymar, the Far Place.

1. Lots of people came from Maniria. To begin with the Pralori and the Entruli. 2. There might be a local story to that effect, or might not. But I think the more common location for that story is in Dragon Pass or South Peloria.

Joerg greatly overstates the case here. Orlanth (and indeed most others) is viewed like a Greek deity by the Esrolians - powerful but capricious. Your reading of the Esrolian Grandmothers is just plain weird - I guess maybe that is the opinion of some Storm Voices at Wintertop, but is unlikely to be held by anyone in the Holy Country (and few in Sartar). These stories are ancient - the Esrolian Grandmothers are farther away from the Gloranthan NOW as the tales of Alexander and his knights were from Jacques de Longuyon when he wrote about the Nine Worthies. It is a foundational tale, but by 1625 it is mighty garbled. Basically it boils down to - the old kings fought feuded among themselves and endangered everything with their internal fights, and so after the last straw, the Grandmothers took power for their own protection. That's why in Esrolia the Earth Temples rule directly.

A candidate for chief does not need to be from a "noble" family.

I've posted this before, but it is useful to post again: TERMS FOR RULERS RuneQuest uses the closest English words for the titles of Gloranthan leaders. However, these titles do not mean precisely what the English words mean and often have a different etymology and set of associations. In many cases, sex and gender don’t affect the use of a title. Here are some notes that may help to better understand the title and its meaning. These titles are group by language and arranged with the most culturally important term listed first. THEYALAN Chief Theyalan. Literally means “Great One; Most Important; Big Man” and denotes the leader of a kinship group or other community (such as a temple). The most common Theyalan title and sometimes transliterated as “Lord”. Thane Theyalan. Literally means “Martial Companion,” this denotes a member of the Orlanthi martial aristocracy. Often transliterated as “Lord”. King Theyalan. (1) Literally means “Martial Leader of the Assembly” or “Martial Leader of the Council”. Typically denotes the leader of a tribe or a group of tribes with a combined martial and sacral role. Sometimes denotes the leader of city-state (see also, City Rex and Queen below). (2) Husband or consort of a ruling queen. Rex Theyalan. Literally means “(Divinely-sanctioned) Leader.” Denotes the incarnation of Orlanth Rex. Often synonymous with King or Prince, but not always. See also City Rex. City Rex Theyalan. Literally means “City (Divinely-sanctioned) Leader.” This title denotes the leader of a city council or assembly, who typically has a variety of martial and executive responsibilities. Prince Theyalan. Literally means “First; Foremost.” Denotes the ruler of a confederation of tribes or cities. Queen Theyalan. (1) Feminine of the title “king”. (2) Wife or consort of a king. (3) Transliteration of a title that literally mean “Great Mother”; Denotes the head of an Ernalda temple or priestess-ruler of an Esrolian city or group of cities. God-King Theyalan. Title for the divine Ruler of the Sixths of the Holy Country.

Bingo! Nobles are the highest rank. They are leaders of the community. Several ranks of noble exist. The highest is the Sartar dynasty, who are descended from the Founder God. Ranked below that are the Tribal King and the companions of the Prince. The lowest is that of Clan Chief. The nobility of Sartar is tied together in a web of connections centered on the Prince – the Orlanth Rex of the kingdom. Many noble families have ties of marriage or friendship with other noble families. In most clans, only two noble families probably exist: that of the clan chieftain, and that of the chief priestess. Tribal kings, city rexes, and members of the Sartar royal household are also noble and enjoy a higher status than mere clan chiefs. Most chieftains have a life-price of 2000 Lunars, while a tribal king or city rex’s life price is typically around 5000 Lunars. The highest nobility are members of the Sartar Dynasty, those directly descended from the divine Sartar. Their life-price ranges from 2000 L to distant members of that kinship group to as much as 40,000 L for the Prince of Sartar.

Yes. And in the Elf Book Shannon is working on. But with the Wiki, caveat emptor!