Jeff

Arkat has been dead and gone for 1200 years. He has no widespread cult, only a few shadowy groups of which wildly inaccurate tales are whispered. I've posted this before, but I'll do it again. Whenever I try to understand Glorantha's history - I position myself at the time of Alexander the Greek and look backwards. Present year 162710 years ago - Lunar Empire invades Hendrikiland25 years ago - Boldhome falls to the Lunar Empire50 years ago - Battle of Grizzly Peak100 years ago - Apotheosis of Sartar300 years ago - Belintar unites Holy Country500 years ago - the Dragonkill War (1120)1000 years ago- the Kingdom of Dragon Pass. After this came the EWF.1500 years ago - the Second Council. The Theyalans dominate Genertela and war with the Pelorian horse people.2000 years ago - I Fought, We Won, and the Unity Battle. After this, came the Heortling kingdom, which lasted about 800 years (until Gbaji destroyed it).2500 years ago - The Chaos Age, which lasted until the Unity Battle.3000 years ago - the Ice Age5000 years ago - the Vingkotlings10,000 years ago - Orlanth kills YelmCompare this to a Greek at the time of Alexander (330 BC)10 years ago - Philip founds Philippopolis 25 years ago - the Sacred War50 years ago - Battle of Leuctra (371 BC)100 years ago - start of the Peloponnesian War300 years ago - fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire500 years ago - the neo-Assyrian Empire1000 years ago - the Trojan War1500 years ago - height of Babylon2000 years ago - Sargon and the Akkadian Empire2500 years ago - Gilgamesh is king of Uruk3000 years ago - Menes units Egypt (first dynasty)5000 years ago - Neolithic cities like Catal Huyuk and Jericho10,000 years ago - beginning of Neolithic age So Arkat's Wars are going to be viewed in 1625 something like how Alexander's Greeks viewed the time of Heracles. It will be filled with contradictions and inconsistencies. In some stories, Arkat is a mighty hero who defeats Gbaji atop the Tower of Justice or defeats the hated Palangio the Iron Vrok and his army of Dara Happens In other stories, Arkat is a troll monster who leads an army of man-eating demons and trolls to destroy everyone and everything in his path, and forces men to submit to the trolls. In others, he is a tragic atheist or humanist who refuses the Lightbringers and chooses to embrace hate and darkness. In others, he fights himself - each wound inflicted upon Gbaji causes him to bleed and suffer. These stories are not put into any sort of canonical order or cycle - there's lots of Arkat stories. Many scholars scoff at their diversity.

He was. A pretty tenuous connection that goes through Saronil's daughter. Kallyr's is closer to the House, going through a bastard of Jarolar.

If you aren't the Red Goddess's son, you aren't the Red Emperor. And only the Red Emperor can rule the Lunar Empire. You can become the Orlanth Rex of a tribe if all the priests agree, but the Orlanth Rex of Sartar is above all the tribes. Which is a tremendous source of authority and power.

Argrath must be able to claim that lineage (as did Kallyr) if he wants to be able to be Prince of Sartar. And being Prince of Sartar means he gets to be the head of the Orlanth Rex cult, but to have that position he must be a descendant of Sartar, or the magic won't work. Maybe a new political structure could be created, but that's easier said than done.

Are you familiar with the Sartar High Council scenario, reprinted in Wyrms Footprints? Beneva Chan and Kallai Rockbuster both passionately dislike Kallyr. And remember, Beneva is the most influential Earth Priestess in Sartar. Others such as Hofstaring, Gringle, Garaystar, and Vamastal were at least suspicious of her (but had other rivalries that were greater than that suspicion). Kallyr herself was described as "haughty and volatile, and easily goes into fits of shouting and accusation. She will state that her loyalty to the nation of Sartar is unquestionable, but she will not allow it to be ruined by a band of fools and cowards." If Starbrow's Rebellion succeeded, all of that would likely be forgotten. But it failed, and Beneva Chan and Kallai Rockbuster were exiled. The Colymar tribal leaders never forgave Starbrow. Many important Earth Priestesses never forgave her. And many others, such as the Culbrea, lost much because of Starbrow. In short, she inspires great loyalty among her followers, but has few allies and many who dislike her for very personal reasons.

A lot of Sartarites consider her a villain, starting with many of the members of the Sartarite High Council.

The official version is that Kallyr is dead at the end of the Battle of Queens and Resurrect spells all fail. Her corpse is brought to Boldhome where it lays in state. It does not decay, so her followers hope she might just get up, even though the seven days pass. But Kallyr does not return and even her supporters cannot contact her spirit. Eventually her body is burned, although it causes a near riot between tribes. None of the other tribal leaders are acceptable to the others, and none are strong enough to force the others to accept them, and so the Interregnum begins.

Orlanth restored the Grand Order and was able to continue existing, along with the rest of the gods. I'd say it was a success.

But if all I want to do is be Death Destroyer of Worlds, then of course I'd go for Humakt. Or maybe Babeester Gor. If what I really want is a collection of tricks, I'd go with Eurmal (a stunningly useful cult when you are in a jam you can't fight your way out of) or Donandar (Harmonize, Group Dance and Illusions, oh my!). Or if I want to use the Darkness to my advantage, there's always Argan Argar. Dark Walk, Create Shadow, and Darkness Elementals, not to mention that nasty surprise of Suppress Lodril. Every cult has its use. Not every cult is equally useful.

And the Red Goddess - not only are her initiates already ILLUMINATED Rune Masters in another cult, but she has her own special magic system. And has so many associates with everything from Chaos Feature to Shield to Glowspot to Terrify Horse (another stunningly useful spell against people riding horses).

Yelm is also VERY powerful. Sunspear, Fire Elementals, Shield, Surehot, plus with Yelm Imperator you get Resurrect! Plus so many associated cults - Heal Body, Clear Sight, Fear, and you can even become a Red Goddess initiate! And if I was on the waters, Magasta is terrifying. These are the Greater Gods of Glorantha, so of course they are the most powerful and useful cults. Orlanth and Ernalda are worshiped from the Zola Fel valley to the borders of Loskalm. Yelm is the ruling god for most of Peloria, as well as Pent, Teshnos, parts of Fronela and Ralios, and elsewhere.

Sorry look at Earth Shield and Dark Walk. Earth Shield, aka Shield of Arran, is an incredibly wonderful spell according to my players.

Not a lot of room for magic in Orlanth? Geez. Orlanth has probably the broadest range of useful magic in the game. Air Elementals, Increase Wind, Thunderbolt, Windwarp for Thunderous,, Lightning, Fly, Mist Cloud, Shield, Leap, Shield of Arran, Sandals of Darkness, Leap, and Wind Words (along long-distance communication). From Rune Masters there are special enchants. Then add their associates - Charisma, Heal Body, etc. Thunderbolt is one of the deadliest spells in the game (3D6 directly to hit points, no need to overcome POW and armor does not protect), and is stackable! Lightning is not quite as good, but at high Rune point expenditures it is incredibly deadly (and doesn't need specific atmospheric conditions). Air Elementals are beasts! Ernalda is incredibly powerful as well. She's not a combat character, but so what. I watched an Ernaldan take down a band of Tusk Riders with an Earth elemental and a few castings of Command Pig. Charisma, Inviolable, Arouse Passion - all are great in games with non-combat dimensions. In comparison Humakt and Storm Bull are much more narrowly useful cults. Yelmalio is most useful when you need to fight the Darkness. But neither are as broadly useful as Orlanth or Ernalda.

That's much closer to the mark.

Robin Laws and I have been working on two books set in Pavis and the Big Rubble, set in 1625-1627. The city has undergone an awful lot of changes.

As an aside the Cult of the Black Fang does not have rune lords. It has "Leaders" with very specific requirements, but not a CHA requirement.

I'm not sure the Orlanthi viewed the world as becoming overly light. I think they were concerned that like Lokamayadon had tried to usurp Orlanth, the Heortling Kingdom had been suppressed, their traditional freedoms had been replaced with slavery, and stories of Chaos grew harder and harder to ignore. The trolls on the other hand saw it as such - as did Arkat.

Why? That sounds like the sort of rear vision theorising that comes long after the fact.

Yeah, I don't think people appreciate the depth of Arkat's betrayal. He rejected the Light (making the Lightbringers' name a mockery), betrayed Humakt to Zoran Zoran, and then betrayed humanity itself to the trolls. But the Grand Order was able to be restored - Nysalor was destroyed by his Shadow. The Broken Council was overthrown, and for a while at least, mortals stopped trying to create their own new gods.

Heartlanders sent to the Provinces are going to be trying to stabilise the situation in the Provinces. By 1627, Aggar is in full rebellion, much of Vanch and Imther are in rebellion, parts of Holay are effectively independent, and Tarsh is divided between King Pharandros and Fazzur Wideread. You have a lot going on. The tempo speeds up faster when news comes in1628 that the Red Emperor is coming to Tarsh, along with Jar-eel the Razoress. Schemes, plots, and manouevres - and then the Battle of Heroes. To the shock of everyone, the rebels counter everything the Lunar Army traditionally uses to win its battles - magicians, cavalry, and even a monstrous god-monster who can take down Jar-eel. The battle is a rout and the Red Emperor needs bodyguards to get him rapidly to Mirin's Cross and then Glamour. And then the real campaign begins.

Harmast did not undertake his Lightbringers Quest seeking to resurrect Arkat. In his own words, "In the thirty-third year of my life, because of the many wrongs which I had done to women, and because of the savage oppression delivered upon my people, and because of my desire to heal the errors of my life, I chose to attempt a pilgrimage to Redemption Edge, where Orlanth, our God had righted the errors of his own life. No one had made this entire journey before, but with the assistance of my servants and my friends, I determined to attempt it , or die trying. The trip to the edge of the world is lengthy and difficult. It took us years to prepare and even then I thought myself ill equipped. Only the urgency of our need drove us to undertakeit this way, and I believe that greater preparations would ensure easier success." Harmast emphasised that he was undertaking the journey to regain "the Grand Order" - with no mention of Arkat at all. In fact, I am not even sure Harmast planned to go as deep as he did (his quest failed in the Forest of Wonders and he was lost in the God World). But in the end, he (and his new companions) did regain the Grand Order, unreleashing a torrent of pent-up energies, releasing suppressed gods and spirits, and emboldening many peoples to wage war against Nysalor-Gbaji, against the Broken Council and the Bright Empire, and against hated oppressors. It just happened that the vehicle for this was the return of Arkat to the world.

Of course it is the Second Age where everything gets all mixed up.

FIRST AGE At the Dawn the Elk People, the children of Pralor, were the residents here. Their population was thin at first, but the relative ease of the Dawn Age allowed for population expansion in all directions. Clans and families migrated in all directions until they came into conflict with neighboring peoples. The traditional foes lived to the south and were called the Entruli. These were a branch of the Mraloti, or boar-folk, who had survived the Darkness in relative strength and delivered their civilization to their cousins after the sun rose. Thus, the Entruli ruled all of the peoples to the south. The Entruli valued their civilization highly and looked with contempt on their neighbors. They coveted the lands inland from their civilization, and were happy to combat the Elk People for it. The Pralori, in their turn, were glad to gain the wealth of civilization through plunder rather than work. Thus, the region quickly reverted to the combats and troubles off the Darkness, as if nothing had changed since the Gods War. In the year 97, the Entruli did what the Pralori could never do. Their ruler broke an ancient taboo which angered the gods. A great flood came rushing upon the land, drowning everything in its way and destroying the land. Only the capital, Porluftha, escaped because a Kolat clung madly to the buildings and held firm as the water washed over him. The city and its ancient inhabitants were preserved in a great air bubble undersea, lost to the outside world, undiscovered for many years. Without their traditional dynasty, the Entruli treated each other like foes. The Pralori plundered often, the Entruli destroyed each other’s strongholds, and it seemed as if a powerful Elk person would become leader here easily. Instead, there came a leader who was related to the old Entruli dynasty. He and his tribe came from the Shadowlands, where the Only Old One ruled over a nation of trolls and subject populations. A time had come when the Only Old One offered many of his subjects their freedom if they left his lands, or else commanded them to accept his rule. The leader was named Lalmor, and his tribe were the Vathmai. He united the Entruli, helped them rebuild their strongholds, and led them to a great victory in driving off the Pralori. He arrived in 115, was finished with his victories by 122, and died in 138. King Lalmor’s arrival was more than simply a unification of the Entruli peoples. He brought a new religion with him, and he was also aided by many inhuman peoples. Lalmor came from Dragon Pass, where the Unity Council had been formed and where they worshiped the world-saving Lightbringers. Lalmor brought worship of Orlanth and his pantheon. With these new cults he was clearly ascendant. When the Lightbringer missionaries left the coastal Entruli lands and moved to enlighten the Pralori they were, in general, well received. The Pralori recognized the superiority of the new gods over their own animistic spirits. It did not unify the tribe, not did it split it. The Lightbringers faith did not ensure the unity of the Entruli. After the death of Lalmor in 122 the Entruli heirs divided his lands into several kingdoms. Some were coastal and thrived upon the increasing sea-trade borne by the ship-living Waertagi race which ruled the surface waters. Some were buffer states between the coastal cities and the inland barbarians. Others were barbarian kingdoms living in woods and plains. The Entruli and Pralori mixed in many places, blurring their original tribes and creating peoples who did not worship the animal gods Entru or Mralota or Pralor. These nations took the names of their kingdoms, such as the Ramalians and Wenelians and Manirians. In Pralorela the people continued to be called that ancient name through the whole period. The Pralori first contacted the cult of Nysalor when missionaries from the north brought word and gifts of their new god. Like many places in the world, Pralorela was being swept by an awful plague which devastated the people. The Nysalor missionaries could heal it, and they could also cure many other ills. The Pralori were quick to adapt to the cult, and its subsidiary gods. The Nysalorean Pralori united under the religion, and they also chose to worship the gods who were friendly to Nysalor. Thus, the cult of Yelm gained an ascendancy among the Pralori which it had not enjoyed before. Some allies, most adventurous mercenaries, were gained from norther peoples from Ralios. The Yelmite Pralori attacked the southern kingdoms, and there began another long and terrible war. Some of the Vathmai nations also embraced Nysalor, and the Pralori claim that these southerners were the first to use the Dark Side of their god to gain their own ends. This is discounted by most scholars, but it is certain that this whole region was embroiled in an increasingly difficult and vile war. One instance is recorded of a Nysalorean army meeting a Gbaji army on the field, and in the fight everyone was killed except the priests of both cults. Pralori armies aided Tanisor, a leading nation of Ralios, when they fought against Arkat, an enemy invader from a distant land. The Pralori army, like so many others, was crushed. Eventually the forces of Gbaji the Deceiver gained the upper hand. Many Chaos creatures, especially the vile broos, were increasing in the land. People seeking a decent way of life were driven to a smaller and smaller region. Kaxtorplose, the sacred city of the demigod Kaxtor, was one of the last places which remained untainted by Chaos as the wars raged. Thus Ralios fell to the cleansing armies of Arkat but the Pralori and Entruli were all but devoured. Arkat’s cleansing scourge went far and wide. He arrived in Pralorela by land and sea, in Waertagi ships carrying Seshnegi and Brithini troops, and in great columns of Lightbringer barbarians from Ralios who follow the Unbreakable Sword. They concentrated on relieving Kaxtorplose, and then on liberating the centers of coastal population. Some Pralori, huddled among the refugees of Kaxtorplose, agreed to help convert their people away from the evil god. They were aided by the remnants of the coastal population in this. Their main gods were the Lightbringers, who refused all contact with the gods of Light and of Chaos, and also the religion of Malkion in its Brithini and Seshnegi form. The cleansing of Pralorela was never as complete as anyone wished. When Arkat slew Gbaji in 450 and ended the cosmic battle, this land was still plagued. The natives did their best, but the broos could always find refuge in the marshes, and the natives were never dominant enough to force a final solution. The region became popular for all peoples seeking Chaos to destroy, and who had the time and courage to search the treacherous marsh. Many Pralori were proud to be among those hunters over the generations, and they were also experts at marsh survival and so gained great local fame and riches. The end of the First Age saw the region little-changed from the Dawn. The people were slightly more educated in the ways of the cosmos and new gods were worshiped. They owned some manufactured goods, plundered from the coast and handed down over the generations, but they had no great cities of their own, nor any inspired leaders to lift them from their squalor. But the people were not unhappy, and lived good lives when they were not harassed by enemies.

You are totally running in different groups than me, including at every convention I've ever been to, on-line games, one-shots, etc. At least one Orlanth cultist is pretty much always a given, unless the game is set in the Lunar Heartlands or in some weird exotic location like Brithos or Kingdom of Ignorance.