metcalph

Why are we discussing Lunar occupation when your original question was about the Arkati and Ralios? As for the "surely be absolutely seething with intruige", it doesn't look it from Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes, the Sartar Companion or the Coming Storm.

The topic under question is someone joinihg a cult to act as a double agent or fifth columnist. This is completely different from being a Lunar in the service of Argrath.

The problem I have with double agents joining cults is that it's too modern a mindset. If you have a society whose idea of a liberal attitude to crime and punishment is to liberally apply the death penalty, then there isn't much interest in long-term infiltration of an evil cult to find out their nefarious plans - just kill them all as well as people in the wrong place to be certain (c.f. the likely fate of the villagers in Gaumata's Vision). Want to know where the chaotic cult is meeting? For that you have informers (I saw X meeting Y to pray to Z) and witchfindes (including our Storm Bullies).

He might be the ranking Lhankoring within the Colymar Tribe.

The Destroyer's cult looks too brutal for that IMO. His iconography (Guide p376 and 377) portrays him a incarnation of destruction (black sphere, flanged mace) and closer to Zorak Zoran rather than a deceitful agent. The concept might work for a local cult of Arkat the Deceiver but it would not be a common practice as everybody believes the Deceivers to be totally evil. More importantly I don't think the Arkati use Illumination for such political purposes. For them Illumination is a spiritual goal rather than a tool to infiltrate evil cults and bring them to justice. I really don't see much room in Ralios for the worshippers of Zorak Zoran to understand the value of skullduggery. As for the Lightbringers, it would be as likely as Sartarite tolerating someone who joins Lunar cults to betray them from within. I could expect an Arkati to use this reasoning to justify his actions but I don't think people outside the cult would be so convinced.

Might be on the other side of the river from the Old Man Village of the Orlmarth.

It's slightly more complex than that. Instead of the King of Talastar being the overlord over the various tribes such as the Blini, I think it better to say the Blini King is overlord over the other Talastari tribes. Originally the title was held by Opand of Voranel but the Bilini have effectively made the title their own while Lakrene is now subject to Dara Ni (Guide p342)

Cults of Terror paints a different picture. Hahlgrim' and kin had long been oppressed by the Kings of the Bilini. Bolthor in turning to Hahlgrim for help was not appealing to an old friend but to a long detested enemy because he had no other option.

The magic roads (Guide p254) led to High Temple (Caladraland), Pedestal (Esrola), Stygyx Grotto (Shadowland), Durengard (Heortland), Seapolis (Leftarm) and in the vicinity of the Machine Ruins (God Forgot).

That's not what is said in the RuneQuest Glorantha Bestiary. In any case, the source of the magic is irrelevant - I'm describing how it is used by its practitioners. Even so, it can still have the look and feel of rune magic when wielded by its practitioners, no? Assume their is a gloranthan equivalent of Jainism which teaches how to become a Saint. Any magics that it gives a from the worshippers when he is a Saint at some point in the future. Is the magic given by a god or innate? Rather than give a categorical statement that the source of the magic defines its manifestation within the world, I find it wiser to focus on how the worshipper wields such magics. That is why I said Dragon Magic could be modelled with rune points. The Thanatari is said to be in mindlink with the Dragonewt Head (ie he controls it has he does a ghost), not in full spiritual union with it.

Thanatar was not described at length in Lords of Terror. Could you at least go over the source material before asking your questions instead of making other people do it for you?

Reread the description of the major head (Cults of Terror p68).

Dragon Magic does not seem to use a rune pool because Dragonewts are NPCs. A rune pool can however explain their behaviour in using Dragon Magic and would be useful for human casters of Dragon Magic. So the objection isn't as strong as you assume.

If and only if the Thanatari couldn't use his own rune points to power the rune spells of his head.

It depends on what the nature of the major head is like in RQG. The cult wasn't updated thoroughly for Shadows on the Borderland (insufficient time) so the only real reference is the Cults of Terror writeup - which has issues. I could see a ghost being compelled to cast its rune magic but I have reservations about any magic being re-usable under the Thanatari's control.

I think from the weaker versions of the rune spell (ingest scroll and devour book) that the consumed mind should* be treated as a source of information rather than a source of magic. Thus the Atyari would know what the consumed mind knew. *In other words, I know the spell description says otherwise, it's just that I think it makes better sense if it were done this way. As for the original question of a dragonewt head, I think the dragonewt has become polluted and any known dragon magic becomes one-use as any connection with the Cosmic Dragon is burnt off.

The Xin Chi Wan is just outside Sydney according to the map and the page predicts its arrival on the 16th. Likewise the Xin Los Angeles is due the 25th and the Mol Tribute is due the 24th. I think the dates giving by Chaosium include generous allowances made by the Shipping Co. for Things Going Wrong.

Please could you observe some basic common sense and not respond to month old postings? I've already been snapped at because somebody else did something similar and I really don't appreciate being dragged back into a thread that I thought was dead,.

RQ3 p83 (big Book) had the following values for the melting point. Zinc 4D6 Aluminium 6D6 Bronze 8D6 Silver 9D6 Rock, Glass 12D6 Nickel 14D6 Iron 15D6 I'd saw that the softening point is one or two d6 below that point (ie Bronze becomes soft with a heat of 6D6).

You might also want to pay attention to the dates as well. I said my piece over four weeks ago and have not responded since. So take your moralizing elsewhere. If you don't like the topic being extended, response to the person who saw fit to get the last word in.

He is described as Baron of Sanuel on p44 of the Glorantha Sourcebook.

So that's where the Closed-handists are hiding out!

I had better things to do because any convoluted theory to save the text in RuneQuest Companion isn't worth it. No, it's not. There are key differences in the text between trolls and trollkin and the sourcebook. In particular in the text that I cited, the Castle of Black Glass is described as being raised within history whereas the sourcebook merely claims that Argan Argan ruled from it. That does not make it "verbatim" by any sane definition.

The Jerending Clan (King of Sartar p200). Dunno which tribe though.

I was having a squiz at er... Trolls and Trollkn and there's a suprisingly well-fleshed out history of the trolls in there. Most interesting for the thread topic is this: Large parts of it are outdated (The trolls didn't rule Dark Esrolia to the degree implied here) but the idea of a conflict between the Islanders and the Esrolians/Trolls is interesting. I think opposing the trolls were not only the Islanders but the Ludoch and the Waertagi while the westerners may have been the Slontans. Other interpretations are possible however.