metcalph

Something I wrote about the Abiding Book some time back.

There are only two magical societies that do so - the Vadeli and the Brithini. Neither of who are particularly powerful/ Every other Malkioni (Loskalmi, Seshnegi, Carmanians etc) has reached a philosophical compromise between ideals and reality. I have a feeling that the Flamesword is our old friend, the Fireblade spirit magic, rather than a sorcery spell or Saintly magic. The Red Book of Magic may reveal more. But here, you are inferring that the average Malkioni is much like the heroes of old. Meriatan is a sorcerous user and quite a good one but I doubt that same is true for Ethilrist and Gerlant. That's true and they don't IMO. They cast buffs on the Hrestoli before they enter the HeroQuests so the latter become little gods on the battlefield when they come out.

HeroQuest and Hero Wars simplify the magic rather than create a crunchy RQ-style of grittiness. Saying that Black Horse County is a functioning sorcerous society because it was one in Hero Wars isn't that compelling. More to the point, Greg's thinking that only sorcerors/wizards actually cast sorcery and everybody else used lesser magic. Everybody else then (me included) was a bit too wedded to sorcery being a parallel magic system in its own right (ie even the commoners used sorcery) and keep muddying the waters to make that work.

Another idea I had involved Seseine. In giving her a highly treasured thing of value (a head of an enemy, a magic tome etc), she can confer a spell or ability of the caster's desire. In RQG, I would handle this as a gift/geas situation,(along the lines of Yelmalio or Humakt) with the geas being required sacrifices every holy day. She has greater versitility in providing such gifts because they're powered by chaos and the supplicant's own desires. Thus if one wanted to be good at swords or have access to a love spell, Seseine will provide in return for suitable sacrifices.

A possible Archidomides timeline. 908 ST - Archidomides leads the Kareeshtuan City-States to revolt and chases off a Middle Sea Empire Fleet in doing so Guide p553 955 ST- Closing smites Kareeshtu. 956 ST - The Pillars of Water arise. Archidomides flees. Where does he flee to? It just so happens that there's a God Learner fleet in Koraru Bay active around this time (Guide p565) which gets into a pissing contest with Dumanaba. Where was it based? Goan has extensive middle sea fortifications but seems a bit out of Koraru Bay to me. Then again there is an Ikdaz Priesthood that rules the city providing a possible link with Archidomides. Another possibility is Yarbur. 1077 ST - Invisible Fleet sinks God Learner Fleet. Archidomides sent to Hell. 1319 ST - Yranian Leapers take power in Fonrit. Unknown Date: Yranian Leapers resurrect Archidomides at Tondiji to help them build their fleet. 1331 ST - Yranian Leapers disappear. Archidomides left in power in Kareeshtu. Empire building begins.

I don't think you can mix the magics freely. Fonrit does have sorcerors but to be any good they have to be rather aloof from other forms of magic like sorcerors every where else. If you want a street level magician who curses others for a fee, then they would have a mixture of spirit magic (disrupt, befuddle), chaotic magics (probably Primal Chaos for the ability to control unintelligent chaotic creatures) and secret spirit cults (like Black Fang or the Sunset Society). That said, the Fonritans probably have adapted Worship Invisible God into a source of cheap magic points for the rulers and their magicians. Funnily enough I don't see Thanatar in Fonrit as he is a mixture of a Kralori (possibly Eastern Isles) and Orlanthi cults. If you want the severed heads motif, then there's Seseine. Fonrit would be fertile ground for Thanatari if they reached there but I don't see them doing so in the Imperial Age and there isn't much opportunity during the Closing. I think of the spell as having two forms. The cast version which functions like a temporal rune spell and the ritual version which creates a lifelong enchantment.

I think Archidomides' immortality stems from his city being in the Gods World rather than any undead magics as such. If he was the Middle Sea Empire governor, then he probably was driven from power by the Invasion of Water and took control once again in the aftermath of the collapse of the Yranian Empire. I'm not sure Delecti is comparable (I've a sneaking suspicion that he is in fact Surnestor (an Archduke of Slontos who was caught by the EWF and converted) in that Archidomides has a vast empire bowing to his will while Delecti has an undead filled swamp with ducks for neighbours.

One could always reason "If Chaos is a necessary part of the Cosmos then my hatred of Chaos is also necessary".

Some indication of how to handle Vampire Magic may come with the Red Book of Magic's impending release. Currently I figure it's something along the lines of using victim's blood to replenish runepoints. The RQ3 vampire that you mention was actually created using the cult writeup in RQ2. The situation for vampires in RQ3 was at the time of writing unsettled (and continued to remain so). The main cult of vampires in and around Dragon Pass is Nontraya, who basically commands the uliving army (zombies, skeletons et). Other vampiric traditions may be destruction of the soul (based on some cryptic hints about Pelanda) and so forth. Given RQG's sorcery rules, I don't think sorcery is viable as a drop-in replacement for the lost spirit and rune magics. A vampire might still know sorcery but he would only cast big spells to protect himself, boost weapons, gain magic points etc and not as a versatile source of combat magic.

Kinda in speculation here but my interpretation of the Unholy Trio letting chaos into Glorantha, the unholy trio is not Thed, Ragnaglar and Malia as gods but the plants creating a conjunction that dangerously destabilises the Sky Dome "once every six hundred years". In Pelorian sources those plants are the Blue Moon, Wagon and Black Dendara. This conjection happened with some regularity in the Storm Age leading to frequent musterings against Chaos until one pretty bad defeat at Storm fall. That also explains why there is a confusion about when Vingkot was killed. The world does not seem Chaotic in th aftermath of his death as opposed to Stormfall where eveything turns to hell.

http://www.geocities.ws/rqsummaries/rules/humaktheart.html

No, it isn't. Seven Mothers is explicitly a cult of the borderlands. The description of the Seven Mothers cult as a superficiality is quite a burn.

Just because the Hrestoli use rune magics for the most part does not make them weaker or magically powerful. If you want to snarl and rant, go elsewhere. The Hrestoli aren't a church but a philosophical school. There's nothing morally wrong on cheating on other people's heroquests.

Doesn't say sorcerously powerful, does it? What I said is compatible with traditional descriptions of Loskalm. Jeff's comments here on this site. Nothing has been published.

Hrestoli warriors while being of a philosophical frame of mind do not use sorcery for battle. They use instead what has been called "practical god-learning", using heroquests to gain access to rune magic. They cheat on these heroquests by having sorcerors buff them up beforehand. Black Horse warriors are simple worshippers of Hrestol as a God/Hero rather than philosophers. Ethilrist is different but too arrogant to explain himself. The Vadeli would come the closest in using sorcery for most purposes but they have never been strong and only prosper where others are weak or misled. That is incorrect. There are whole societies in which sorcery use dominates. But the battlefield is one area in which they are weak and they make many compromises in order to survive. They clashed with the Carmanians whose use of magic is similar to that any many western countries and far less heteredox than thought.

More like Istes and Yothenara/Majadan and Erdires. They represent the original twins and their much faded stasus (on the Gods Wall they aren't even stars!) is a sign of how far the world has become removed from creation.

I kinda doubt this. The Flintnail cult is one of stonemasons, not ironworking. The other suggested blacksmith placings I have no problem with.

I think that what Hrestol became a Saint Master for and the Rune Magics that one can obtain from him are different things. This really riffs upon what Jeff said about practical God-Learning (for the Loskalmi). Instead of worshipping the Gods, the Brithini would have rune paths in which they acquire Rune Magic to be better fighters. But there were some places they couldn't go without losing their way (and dying of old age). Hrestol with his contact with the Invisible God on the other hand was able to go down Darker Paths and get stronger magics. So while the truths that he teaches is admirable to the Malkioni, the magics that he obtained in using those truths is far less praiseworthy (and played up by the Rokari and the God Learners to defame the knights Men-of-All) One could worship Hrestol to obtain those magics (which would be decidedly unmalkioni) and something practiced only by barbarians. The more orthodox route, which Ethilrist would IMO pursue, would be to follow in the path of Hrestol and gain the same magics that he did on his quest.

The Praxians use knot-writing, cf Tales of the Reaching Moon #15 (or may be it was #14?)

Ethilrist with Darksword

All the Eurmali in Sartar who know the Lie spell emphatically and convincingly deny the existence of this alleged shrine.

Could we, like, move on from archaeological discussion about the Iron Age?

I imagine the Andins are a mixture of conventional elder wilds races (Dwarves, Trolls, Gargogyles etc) with their mythologies transformed into being the servants of Keltari.. The Dwarves for example are most numerous in Jakamath which they share uneasily with trolls but pockets of them can be found on the surface world. They are less mechanically inclined than their western brethern being focused instead on metallurgy and the making of stone slaves.. The trolls occupy numerous islands which they shad with shadows and only go forward to raid other islands under the cover of darkness. chaotic creatures such as vampires and walktapus are tolerated (pretty much like the Uz tolerate the cave trolls) but kept under control. Keltari is I think the Vithelan equivalent of Molandro (RQ Companion p43) or Kagardu (Entkosiad p39). He is a relic of the Green Age and opposed to the Light of Vith and others. As such, he has become associated with Darkness and the Underworld.

The actual quote is: Not that they were never interested in getting involved in human affairs before 1625 but that the Dragonrise marked a new phase of their involvement in human affairs. The human hunts happen when the Dragonewts feel a need for human flesh AFAIK.

The outside steps of the Temple of New Pavis look like a likely place for old people to trip and fall. Just saying...