metcalph

He was rude and I fail to see how my first response was "not helpful" even going so far as to quote the relevant section of the RQ Companion that you suggested he look at. But when someone asks to explain the Ignorants after previously talking about Herespur, one gets the feeling of being jerked around for amusement.

What references have you read? Where are you getting the Blood Sun name from? What I said was fairly basic information in the Guide but you haven't read that.

I give up,

I'm not sure I see what your problem is. I get an Aztec vibe. Greg intended an Aztec vibe (ToTRM #7 letters). As for the Cryptic Verses of the Yellow Calender, I assume the mention of the Blood Sun therein are actually references of the Red Moon and the Lunar Empire. Shargash is related to the Solar Storm IMO (or to be more technical, both are seen as Gods of the same planet).

Yelmalio is not an associate of the cult of Yelm in the core rules.

Yelmalions think the Hill of Gold was a good thing for the same reason that Christians think the Crucifixion was a good thing. Yelmalio isn't going to change to please the likes of people who think he should have good magic.

That's what the gifts and geases for. Edit: Yelmalio's magics sucks compared to others because he lost the good magics when he lost his heat.

Even since Cults of Prax the Cults have been unequal for PCs. Waha is only allowed one point of healing which hampers his worshippers in a fight (which was worse in RQ2 since they didn't have easy access to Heal Wound). Cults are intentionally unequal and that they are unsuitable for PCs is not a problem..

He is however an excellent soldier cult (and has been described as such since Cults of Prax) that does wicked phalanxes. That a hoplite does not do well fighting by himself makes Yelmalio an inferior cult for PCs but it does not make him a useless cult for gloranthans. After all a hoplite fighting in a phalanx will have a longer life expectancy than most PCs.

You want a competitive Elmali? Go to the Penyans and ask to worship Jolaty. It will hurt but then you can kick arse from Pelorian to Vormain.

The Hyalorings of Nivorah are horse-riders (cf Fortunate Succession p85 where Vuranostum is listed as a Horse Emperor). The Chariot Emperors come from what is now the Elf Sea, up the Arcos River and into Dara Happa from the north (Jenarong and his offspring are depicted as chariot riders).

There's nothing to stop ex-PHP from worshipping Beren as an Ancestor *after* they have settled among the Hendriki.

Pure Horse Tribe in the Wastelands. All that's needed is three clans moving from Prax to Kethaela sometime in the Imperial Age (before the tribe itself was destroyed). Edit: Or Part of Pure Horse Army invading Dragon Pass as part of the True Golden Horde makes a hard turn left in order to survive and ends up among the Hendriki.

Vile slander. They are initiates.

The main quest is the Seven Steps of the Goddess (HeroQuest Glorantha p182).in which the Lunar seeks to emulate the stages of the goddess through life in order to become illuminated.

They use elephants according to the Guide. They were conquered by Sheng and so would know of mounted warriors. However elephants are clearly better.

You can have austerities with practically any magic cf Yelmalio's geases. That it gives of a mystical vibe doesn't mean we have to crate a magic system out of whole cloth for it as I explained in the post you are responding to. I made the Venform school animism because that is what Greg wrote about them in myth of Venform in Revealed Mythologies.

Pretty much all gloranthans use spirit magic. The main exceptions are wierdo wizards wanting a clear head. As for the rest, well it's complicated. What follows is my opinion only. Dream Magic exists but we don't have rules for it. One possibility is that people use dream magic as a mini-HeroQuest, Success means they gain rune magic that is associated with their dreams (use runic affinities as a proxy) and suffer curses from the Nightmares that they have (based on whatever their weakest runic affinity is). They cannot do this alone but rely on the intercession of the Dream Seers for which there is a school in Ferendalo, one of the Haragalan Isles. There is a schism of Dream Magicians called the Waking Magicians who seek to use dreams as a source of magic in the waking world. They can make dreams a reality, either by calling summoning dreamwraiths or creating objects made of dreamstuff. They are sorcerers concerned with the study of the Magic Rune. They have several issues with the ordinary practice of dream magic but the text in Revealed Mythologies is rather opaque and saddled with Greg's misthinking about mysticism at the time. The Waking Magicians seek to overthrow the Eastern Isles and widely seen as evil. Sorcery exists in the Eastern Isles. Sorcery has been around since the Golden Age and is widely associated with the God Martalak, the patron of sorcerers, alchemists, enchanters and charm-makers, In the Imperial Age, they were transformed by the arrival of renegade wizards from the God Learners and are now an Earthseasque school based at the Isle of Ambovombe to the north. Another branch of Eastern Isles sorcery is the already mentioned Waking Magicians. Finally there are the Sages who use sorcery, not for the purposes of doing magic on the world, but for preparing the mind and soul for the various states of consciousness to reach Durapdur etc. Even though their magic is sorcery, they would be pretty startled to be described as such. Myticism exists in the Eastern Isles. There is no mystical magic and all existing forms of magic can be identified as spells, feats and charms. What mysticism is used for is preparing the soul for higher states of existence. Some powerful rule-bending magics may be available at certain states but they are almost accidental by-products of enlightened awareness. The main forms of mysticism are the worship of the High Gods such as Atrilith or Vith. and the meditative approach of the Sages. Martial Arts exists in the Eastern Isles. There's been a lot of sound and fury abotu Martial Artists being a form of mystical magic but I no longer believe that to be tenable. Instead I think their magics would be best constructed within RQ:G as being a combination of spirit magics, sorcery or rune magic. The Martial Artists of the Eastern Isles are two or three forms.. The first is the Venform school which involves spirits. There are two branches the Kamboli school (which is present in Janeta) whereby one indulges in various practices (sex, alcohol abuse etc) to strengthen the spirit and do potent magic. The other is the Sivoli school in which one refrains from various practices (sex, alcohol etc) to be strengthen the spirit even more and do even more potent magic. Because of what Greg wrote about them, I feel their magics should be the equivalent of Shamanic Abilities - not that such martial artists are shamans but they obtain geases and gifts in a similar fashion. The second or third (depending on whether you count the Sivoli/Kamboli as one school or two involves the worship of Kabalt. I personally think it's a rune cult dedicated to the manifestation of the God Kabalt within the Cosmos. But Kabalt is normally capable of existence within the world as akin to a flash of lightening or Satori. The worshippers of Kabalt seek to experience Kabalt and once that is done, they may use their fists or weapons to make others experience Kabalt. For the uninitiated, it is a devastating experience more hurtful than its method of delivery. Eastern Isles martial arts, IMO, is more focussed on achieving contact than damage (although there's a valid reason for them to be skilled in dodges and parries).

Orlanth has many incarnations or associated mountains - Kero Fin, Quivin, Top of the World etc. It is possible that what may be lawful and proper in one place (oe the Land around Kero Fin) may be considered evil in another (ie in Fronela). These are clashes of the Incarnations rather than clashes of the supreme God. Divination will not help because it only goes to the local manifestation. To get the true answer, one must go deeper which probably means illumination and Ugly still ends up killed. As for the excommunication, Ugly loses the magic that he acquired from his birth community. He does not lose the strange magic that he has acquired. If there was a magic that was known by both the community and the strange place, he keeps it.

The Guide lists the following cults and sects worshipped in the Haragalan Isles Thella, the Dream Seers at Orvandil, Ferendalo Hensarava, archer god in Luma, Haragala Kamboli - Indulged in at Janeta. Karkal the God of the Fire and War - worshipped in Champaya and Luma, Haragala Marinali the Healing Goddess at Manjusor, Haragala Lumavoxoran at Nemalipaya, Haragala Order of the Rising Sun - Sunscope makers in Luma, Haragala. Said to be derived from Teshnos. Shark and Crocodile - who fight for water supremacy at Chaiya, Haragala Other God such as the Avanparloth and the Parloth would be known and not regarded as foreign, but that don't have a big presence here. In the nearby Shorenti Isles, the following gods are worshipped Vith, Supreme Being at Avaroma. Enzeriath, at Aravaty, whose local manifestation is a dragon(?) Avanadan at Vergutomy. Being a pirate, Vela would best be a follower of Henserava. Being a merchant, she would best be a follower of Volendaru (the Rich Twin in charge of Mineral Wealth and Money)

The limit of INT 13 is for learning masteries. If you don't know the rune or technique then the cost of the spell is quadrupled (RQ:G p386). But the only slow people who would be casting sorcery would be the dwarves.

The actual rule is three generations within a God or another Emperor. Khordavu was descended from Avivath, an incarnation of Antirius. Jenarong's geanlogy is cited was being from Starlight Wanderer. While the specific genealogy of Jenarong is probably wrong (Plentonius appears to be citing tribes as ancestors), other horse nomad Kings in that area were descended from Kargzant (Lenshi and Lendarshi mentioned in the Entekosiad).

There is an Empress according to one ruler list. Maleloa the Queen (Fortunate Succession p80 and p88), although she's a Spolite Empiress.

IMO COMMONER: Nobody learns sorcery. GUARDIAN: People are taught a ritual on how to contact the Hidden Mover. This involves INT+POW on d100 (same as for learning a new Rune of technique RQ:G p284). Success confers knowledge of the Magic Rune (in the sense of communication between worlds). Success means your eleigble for practical God-Learning and are taught a few sorcery spells to strengthen your contact with the Hidden Mover. One such spell is Medispection (mentioned in the Middle Sea Empire). Drain Soul, a magic rune spell that was part of the Hrestoli College spells in Avalon Hill's Gods of Glorantha is probably another - I suspect it's a spell to drain oneself or another of impure energies to aid in contact with the Hidden Mover. No other sorcery is permitted as sorcery in general is believed to proceed from Makan, the evil demiurge. It's possible to use the sorcery spells on is permitted for combat purposes (cf Drain Soul) but more conservative Hrestoli will frown on this. WIZARD: People with medispection and two other spells at 75% (say), one becomes eligible to be a wizard. All forms of sorcery are now permissible as one is now trusted enough not to turn into a God Learner by studying them.

Rokari Wizard to a commoner who dared to ask this question: Perish the thought, imprudent scum! Same Rokari Wizard talking to another wizard about his encounter with a Horali: So there I was minding my own business when the Hsunchen walked in...