Jeff

Yelmalio was born when Yelm was murdered by Orlanth, as a blindingly bright glare of magnificence which radiated from Yelm like light from the sun. He became known as the Little Sun or “Yelmalio”, although he has been given many other names and titles.

The Feathered Horse Queen is the peer of the Prince of Sartar and the Red Emperor for that matter, and is a named unit on the WBRM board.

Which is how you apparently get to be in the "Super Secret Insider Club" - show up to an event that someone promoted.

An idea that Greg quickly abandoned.

It isn't.

There are places in Glorantha where the magical geography facilitates bringing the God Time into the mundane world. In all of Sartar, the Lunars determined that this was a place of raw power, and not associated with any Orlanthi cult. A place of raw power, undefined (and unknown) by the local Orlanthi, the Lunars concluded they could use this place to transform Dragon Pass. They did this by recreating the Perfect Sky in ceremony, reversing the As Above, So Below and using the power of the place to establish a correlation between what went on in the ceremony and what that meant in the heavens and God Time. This was a big ritual and Tatius carried some of the Emperor's power as he served as his Proxy in the rites. A group of Orlanthi hero questers infiltrated the ceremony and appeared AT THE WRONG TIME. Orlanth's Ring emerged on the wrong day and time from the Stormgate and cut its way through the ceremony. The Lunars could not simply send troops to stop it without breaking the ceremony, they could not move outside of their roles without breaking the ceremony, and the Orlanthi were tougher than expected. They cut a spiral through the grounds, and stars fell from the heavens and planets were disrupted. Then when the Orlanthi got to where the Star Dragon's head would be, ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE. A True Dragon awakened. I do not think anyone planned this, except perhaps Orlaront Dragonfriend. The Dragon devoured the ceremony, the priests and heroes, and even several of the Orlanthi hero questers. It is known that Kallyr and the Sartarite leaders were horrified by this, although Argrath White Bull welcomed it and seemed to have some expectation of this or something like it (he had tried to attack the Temple grounds the previous season with his nomad army but was rebuffed at Hender's Ruins).

As an aside, I usually describe Orlanth's hall as a megaron or something the palace of Philip II. Gods feasting amongst heroes.

I think at this point the Sartarites are easier to explain as their own thing than try to say they are like so and so. For example, with my players who know nothing about Glorantha, I say, "They are an ancient world warrior culture, with feuding tribes and caravan cities. Hospitality and honour are very important to them, and they hate being ruled by outsiders, although they are very loyal to their warlord Prince (who they claim is descended from a founder god). Their main gods are a Storm God and an Earth Goddess, and have lots of minor deities, most of which share in the myths and stories of their main two gods." Some might visualise Kafiristan of the Man Who Would Be King, or they might think of Thrace and Macedon, Vedic India, or even ancient Slavic cultures (I have one campaign where all the players are Polish). But that's just for visualisation - they know it is actually none of the above.

As much fun as discussing how the Byzantines and Ottomans dealt with royal claimants, we've gone far off topic.

And assassins did wipe most of the claimants out. All of the descendants of Tarkalor (which would represent the main lineage of the family) were killed. It was bad enough that the only adult family member able to claim the throne after Terasarin's death was a second cousin through a lesser wife (that would be Salinarg). It was so bad that when the Colymar went hunting for an heir in 1613, the only one they could find was another second cousin of Salinarg's. By 1625, there are only a handful of descendants alive. Two of those known are Kallyr (grandfather was the brother of Prince Jarosar), and Argrath (great-great-grandmother was the sister of Prince Jarolar). These are slender reeds indeed, but are enough for the magic to work.

You all are welcome to do what you want with your Glorantha in your games, etc. But in forthcoming publications and licensed material, the rulers of Sartar are well-defined. And it is assumed there is a single leader named Argrath, assisted by many companions and friends, who led Sartar in the Hero Wars, just as there was a single leader named Alexander who, assisted by many companions and friends, led Macedon in the conquest of the Persian Empire.

The cult also sponsors gladiatorial games as a form of human sacrifice. That is permissible to the Red Emperor (particularly the current Mask).

I suspect it is worse than that Nick. The average Lunar scribe (because that is what a bureaucrat is) is an Irrippi Ontor initiate (or maybe a Seven Mothers initiate in the Provinces), and not a Red Goddess initiate. There's a top tier of illuminated priests and Rune Lords that spout all sorts of mystical Lunar gibberish and the scribes dutiful try to reproduce it (although plenty of errors creep in as the scribes edit things that are obviously wrong or make no sense). Jeff

So if I was a traveler from elsewhere and came to Esrolia, what I would first notice is that it is packed with people. And I'd notice Nochet, which makes Boldhome and Furthest look like villagers.

Looking at what percentage of the people in Esrolia live in cities as opposed to villages as opposed to having your mind blown by the size of Nochet and the many other cities bigger than Boldhome is probably a mistake. Nochet has as many people as Sartar. And there are another four cities in Esrolia as big as Boldhome. All in an area about the same size as Sartar.

As a further aside, if you want to talk about how much food can be carried by animals for how far, and you aren't referencing Donald Engels, then you are just spitballing.

As an aside, the assumptions about urbanisation rates in this thread are contradicted by quite a few archaeologists of the Near East. See Millar's The Roman Near East, Leick's The Babylonian World, Bryce's Ancient Syria, Liverani's The Ancient Near East: History, Society, and Economy. By some accounts, the city of Rome alone may have been between 10% and 20% of the total population of Roman Italy (that number is probably high, but not because it would make Rome too big to be supported, but rather that the area enclosed by the walls of Rome was too small for that many people). There is a huge danger over-relying on Northern European or Medieval points of comparison. Boldhome gets most of its grain from the Killard and Toena valleys, as well as from the lands around Swenstown. Praxian animals, of which there is a seemingly limitless supply of, is a major part of the diet in Boldhome. And as Nick has pointed out, Boldhome is serviced by a paved road system that makes wagon transport far easier than you might imagine.

Also, I've been doing a lot of reading into settlement patterns in the Ancient World. 20%+ urbanisation happened in quite a few places, particularly along the Silk Road during the Hellenistic period. Maybe the problem is assuming that Sartar is "a pretty rural place" is wrong. The original WBRM game should make it clear that Sartar is at least as urban than Tarsh (and probably more urban given its geography).

Watch the White Bull campaign on the Chaosium YouTube channel and you can get a feel for how bad that went!

Nope.

There is a problem with the use of the word "election". Orlanth was "acclaimed" leader of the gods by those gods present. He presented himself, the assembled agreed to make him leader and swore oaths, made pledges, etc. The Orlanthi do not really have "elections" like modern Western democracies. Orlanth had to fight to maintain his position, as other gods regularly challenged his right to lead the gods.

The Prince's representative in the city is the City Rex ("mayor"). The first City Rex was Wilms, who was appointed by Sartar himself with the approval of the tribes. Traditionally, a Prince would appoint a friend or companion (with the approval of the City Ring). The City Rex would be the Prince's proxy - he or she would lead the militia, lead the Ring, and collect taxes and tolls for the Prince. Under the Lunar Occupation the city assembly was allowed to pick their own Rex, subject to Lunar approval. The Rex and City Ring were stripped of most substantive powers (those powers were delegated to Lunar appointed administrators), and if anyone disappointed the Lunar Occupation, they could just be killed. Kallyr tried to revive the old system, appointing a new Rex in Jonstown (Orngerin). When he died in the LBQ, the City Ring chose Joh Mith, who was approved by Kallyr (she had bigger problems and couldn't afford a fight as her personal rule was in a crisis).

Leika is going to need to find some other way to lead the tribes around the Quivin Mountains than as "Prince of Sartar". And that is a huge problem. She has no tie to the royal house - and has few close ties by blood or marriage to the other tribes. So she is not going to be "Sartar Rex" - the head of the Sartar cult and tender of the flame, because she is not a descendant of Sartar. The Colymar are largely autonomous from the other tribes - they aren't tied into a city and are deeply mistrusted by the Malani, Lismelder, and Locaem tribes. So she has her work cut out for her.

He is communication with Darkness. Which is also Harmony with Darkness.

This is actually how the Cults Book entry for Issaries reads: RUNIC ASSOCIATIONS The Runes of Issaries are Movement and Harmony. Together these are often expressed as “Issaries” or “Communication,” a Rune unknown or unused except in trade functions. Other than Issaries, few spirits have it, save those who took or otherwise obtained it from him.