metcalph

The figure for the Heartlands Illuminates is from the AH Gods of Glorantha. If 1% of the population is illuminated and 10% of the same population live in the cities, then it is more likely the proportion of urban illuminates is 10%. This seems plausible to me.

The magically powerful slaves that don't have the connections to get them busted out of slavery or for someone to kick a fuss when they go missing in transit? I'm having a hard time seeing that. If you mean high POW slaves with little magic then the resulting head's slightly better than a magic crystal. But a political prisoner like Duke Raus is going to be missed no matter if not by the corrupt officials that were paid to look the other way then by his kin. So I'm really don't think this as a viable pathway to become powerful. It's possible that a Thanatari will acquire a caravan of slaves to be transported but I think it more likely the Thanatari will disappear with the lot to digest at leisure rather than chance a fuss at the other end.

Purchased slaves are unlikely to be worth the effort of a severed head. The Thanatari acquires power from others who have it. Ralzakark is only one demigod. I'm talking about a temple of illuminated Thanatari - groups of people. If they all have radical freedom, how would they be expected to act in a the same way or even share the same goals?

Kinda doubt that. Hiding the taint is not an automatic feature of illumination and even when you learned how to, the physical effects of a chaotic feature (such as a third arm or broo's horns) can't be hidden - they won't just register as chaotic, that's all. Now you could explain all this way within the Empire as a Chaos Gift but IMO you are still going to be ostracized.

The way you describe how they think and act (supporting the empire rather than their god) doesn't strike me as interesting. Being evil and a Thanatari is not the problem - avoiding detection in a civilized society is. No matter how illuminated you are is not going to save you from the authorities should you walk around with heads on your bely. You really have to define systematically evil because I really don't see it as being compatible with illumination. Even the one example of systematic illumination that you have offered up so far (Ralzakar's sword broos) can be better explained with a severe geas. No, I'm pointing out that handwaving people as illuminated so they can collectively behave as stereotypical powergamers or what have you misses the point about what being Illuminated should actually be. A Tahnatari that consumed someone's mind and ended up worshipping Chalana Arroy (someone's explanation for the Wild Healer) better encapsulates what Illumination is like. It's madness mixed in with doubt on a cosmic scale.

You are just saying the supposed Thanatari in the Empire are all illuminated (for the benefits) but still act evil. How could anybody (even themselves) tell whether they were illuminated or not?

What's the point in making the Thanatari illuminated then? It sounds like you are just reasoning from the roolz more than anything else.

I have a lot of doubt over a cult of Thanatar active in Carmania and find the idea that Thanatari can keep themselves clean by being illuminated to be absurd - nobody suggests it for worshippers of other chaotic cults.

The Bat is heavily controlled - Thanatar is not.

Krarsht certainly would be present in the Empire but I have serious doubts about Thanatar. Some people have suggested Atyar as a corrupt belief within the cult of the Knowledge God which would work but the actual taking of heads in the Empire is kinda farfetched IMO.

There's about three or four known places that could be visited: Senbar, Red Hair Place, Orathorn and Hard Rule Only. Senbar is an evil place full of Huan To and lies far to the north of the trade route. Only madmen and Lunars would consider making a visit there. Red Hair Place is well-known. Visiting Orathorn requires a large detour. It's much easier I think to visit the place through Gonn Orta's Pass. Hard Rule Only is a city or place that once existed circa 1250 ST and looks like it was actually on the route. Given the age in which it appears, it's possible it may have something to do with Sheng Seleris. If so, I think it became the basis for Sheng's New Star and only a hole in the ground is now visible.

I think that's likely something that slipped through the editing process. The other example given of a Discorporate Spirit is a Ghost which has a strict definition compared to the vagueness inherent in demon. Sorcery generally wasn't meant to have catchall categories. Given that the original demons are from the Munchrooms (Trollpak p196), I would have made it a specifc demon species rather than imply all demons are like this. Underworld Demon is still far too broad a category for my liking. Greg once wrote about the Red Emperor being able to summon demons from the "Four-horned family" etc. I think that's the type of a specificity should be aimed for in a sorcery spell.

Generally summon demon is too broad a sorcery spell. It should be limited to a specific class of demon such as the Hollri (ice Demons) RQB p184 or Nyctalope p169.

In the actual text, I get the sense is "I can't be arsed finding out who came next - go bother somebody else"

Heort's genealogy is also given in King of Sartar: Which has many of the same names. I suspect the differences are that the KoS has been "cleaned up".

They could be foot-soldiers as they are recruited from the Vendref rather than the Grazers. Hiia's cult is described as having However the swords-only tradition among his worshippers is not totally established because there's also this: Rather than Hiia being a Humakti subcult, I think it probable that the Vendref worship Hiia and supplement it with Humakt worship whereas they could do so for other warrior deities (ie Hiia with Yanafal, Hiia with Storm Bull etc)

So people prefer worshipping Orlanth than Odayla. I'm not seeing this as a problem. Odaylans are anti-social types rather than good decent farmers. The only thing that stops them having a bad reputation is the presence of Storm Bull.

If Yelmalio losing his fire to Zorak Zoran means that his worshippers can not use fire magics, what does losing his weapons to Orlanth mean? But Ernalda provides Strength and Vigor while Aldrya and Yelorna provides Speedart and Multimissile. All three will be present at the Sun Dome temple in Sun County. What Yelm provides and whether he is also there is unclear. Since there is no categorical prohibition on Bladesharp (which I'm not sure is useful for spears) or Protection, it doesn't follow that Yelmalions won't have it. But IMO standing in formation with a big pike trumps most spirit magics that their opponents have.

It is an in-Gloranthan answer in that it is one that could be made by a Gloranthan.

An in-glorantha answer might look like this. Yelmalio is associated with the faraway Sky which has been separated from the Earth by Storm. To bring themselves closer to the Light, the Yelmalion must use Truth, not in the sense of factual knowledge, but in austere knowledge of mystical wisdom. The real question is not why Yelmalio is weaker than Orlanth but why Yelamlio is weaker than Humakt. Death, sadly, is stronger than Light.

Wooden.

Odayla is (or has become) a bear. You don't see bears hunting with bows and arrows, do you?

I don't think he was ever written up as one. On an individual level in Cults of Prax - Yelmalio sucks compared to Humakt, Orlanth, Storm Bull, Zorak Zoran and even the Seven Mothers. That's because being a warrior adventurer is not what Yelmalio is about - it's about stoic survival with the full knowledge that you'll never be as good as the others. The Sun Dome's strength lies in that their stocisim makes them awesomely suited to pike, even though they have no special magic for such warfare. And with pike in decent numbers, the other's emphasis on individual might is no longer a winning strategy.

Think it's a thinko for True Sword. But Humakt already had that as far as back as Cults of Prax.

You can use Kargan in your glorantha if you want to but the Storm Tribe is no longer canonical for a host of reasons.