M Helsdon
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One thing very apparent in Glorantha, is that despite the numerous variations in languages, there are often prefixes and suffixes that seem very old, and very common. The most obvious are -ela, meaning 'land of', -os, meaning 'island/coast', -egi, meaning 'people/people of'. There are a few others. Several ancient names, Entruli, Enerali, Enjoreli, include what looks to be an en- prefix, but I cannot fathom any meaning. Are there more?
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Latest. Not sure about the 'magic effect.' May rework. And I did... This is the final sketch for my current project unless chapters grow during the second pass of proofreading, so it may be the final one, as I don't have any other projects planned.
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Thank you. Trying to show that 1st Age Orlanthi weren't the same as those of the 3rd Age. Wanted to show both a level of sophistication and less developed armor.
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Thank you for the comments. Now about half way through the first pass through of proofreading, and realised I needed an illustration... (I had unashamedly used an existing piece from Armies & Enemies but realised it didn't fit.)
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Well, the shaman has been reworked today, the formatting altered to make everything fit, an index generated, so here it is, sans front and back cover. Now just to get approval and do another round of proofreading. There are other things I could have sketched, but I don't want this to turn into a monster like Armies and Enemies, and I am presently out of material/ideas for more text. Not certain what my next project will be - there's insufficient seed material for a similar book on the east of Genertela.
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Latest. Needs a little more work... May be room for one more... Hmm, the sketch does need a few changes but... it is also larger than anticipated as it drives the chapter over another page, so I am going to have to eject something else. Maybe I should remove the horns from the headdress...
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https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com/home/gloranthan-canon/
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Latest. Latest estimate: one more for Ralios. Possibly a few fillers, but most chapters are now full (the Ralios one is as well, but there are five pages without an illustration).
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Latest. Current estimate: two or three more needed for Ralios; one for Seshnela.
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Another Loskalmi Guardian with another variant of armor. Wanted to to show at least two variants, as ancient armies (even the Roman) weren't uniform in equipment or appearance. After adding this to the document, and the inevitable adjusting of existing maps and sketches - with this the Fronela chapter is complete.
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Assessing the chapters: Introduction – complete Cataphracti – complete Swords of the West – complete Western Magic – complete People of the West – complete Seshnela – needs more: one or two sketches Fronela – sketch in progress; will need another Ralios – sketch planned; may need another two Slontos – complete Appendices - complete At present I have drawn 63 new illustrations, and five maps. Present page count: 166.
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The destruction when Slonta 'turned over' would have left most Zistorite relics buried and/or drowned, though the few survivors who fled to what is Ramalia might have taken things with them, and some things might have been cached and forgotten. Ramalia would be a very challenging and dangerous region for any treasure hunting. Most of the ruins where things might have been found will be buried under strata of mud and rock, and most will be underwater. The movement was very important, responsible for various war machines, including the Bronze Turtle Galleys, that were used in the MSE's domination of most of the mortal world but anything that survived was probably used and destroyed in conflicts between the desperate bands of survivors. It might be possible that some things were cached and then forgotten. {Illustration non-canonical - reconstruction of a Zistorite war machine.}
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Latest. An opportunity to draw another hoplite - illustrating one of the sections about the wars in Ralios between the Bright Empire and Arkat.
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Latest. Can't get the shading on the shield arm right, so will have another go this evening when I work on the skin tones again.
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Here's the entire Cataphract chapter - one of the very short chapters - tracing the development of Western heavy cavalry through about 15 centuries. Roughly half are 'historical', the rest modern. I hope tomorrow to start on the last four 'scheduled' sketches, and after that see how many more are needed to banish the Great White Space.
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Another filler. A Medallion of the Sigil of Zzabur This symbol and its variants are one of the most common found in Glorantha, spread by the Middle Sea Empire in the Second Age. It is said that Zzabur initially used this sign as his personal insignia, but later released it to be used first by the zzaburi and later the other castes. The number five is important in Malkioni numerology, and the sigil is a five-pointed star or pentacle inside a circle. Each point of the star is associated with one of the Elements, and the center is often occupied by the Law or Man Rune. The number five also signifies the Man Rune, and various systems connect this Rune with the five senses, the four limbs and head, stages of consciousness, modes of experience, and Elemental origins. The circle signifies the number zero, also important in Malkioni numerology, and the Cosmic Egg which contained all potential within itself. Arrows connecting the points of the stars trace the cosmological progression of the Elements: Darkness, Water, Earth, Fire, and Air, whilst their progression around the circle trace their Elemental superiority. Many people carry small medallions depicting the Sigil, often with their own name or symbol inscribed in the center, though copies bearing the Man Rune are popular. In Seshnela these will be made of the metal now associated with their caste, so horali will bear pendants made of molded bronze. This example was excavated at the site of Segurane III.
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My artwork is, of course, not canonical, but uses illustrations in canonical sources as a starting point. For the West, as Sir Godspeed notes, I tend towards the various Persian Empires, from the Achaemenids to the Sassanids, the Bactrians and Indo-Greeks as a starting point, though for some details I use the Near East. The West certainly has 'knights', but that term describes a cavalryman, and more specifically a noble cavalryman. There's evidence that the Persian 'knights' had their own version of chivalry and heraldry, and a tradition of noble youths being trained within the retinue of a 'knight' but the details are very sparse, and of course these weren't the familiar medieval European chivalry and heraldry... However, wherever you have similar social and martial societies, there are going to be similarities. But: my assessment isn't canonical.
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More swords (fillers). Not much free time for sketching today.
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It is because of attraction. Obviously an expression of Uleria.
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Working on the Armies & Enemies sequel, the draft continues to grow, as more sketches and more text is added. 164 pages (sans index), 120K words. It may seem odd in a book about warfare, but have found it necessary to delve into the cultures, religions, and histories. Although I didn't originally like Seshnela and its fundamentalist Rokari, I now find them interesting, and the tangled tapestry of Ralios, and especially Safelster fascinating. Loskalm, in Fronela is obviously an idealistic utopia in the process of unraveling, and I suspect the reason why Zzabur wanted to sink it... Even the appendix, originally half a page on Western sorcery has grown into a (short) chapter. BUT: The one thing I really wish I had more information about is the Western Script. As always in Glorantha, you can't fully 'get' the culture unless you know something of the religions, and for the West, the written script is fundamental. I have four more sketches 'scheduled', which means I always planned to do them. Then I have to work through and identify where there are too many pages of unbroken text (setting a limit at roughly four) and then which chapters have more than a quarter page of white space at the end, requiring more art. One benefit of the 'style' used in Armies & Enemies and this companion volume is that it uses the artifice of being written centuries or millennia later, so it can debate with itself, offer information and say the source is dubious, and, of course not pretend to be canonical.
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Latest. I may alter some of the shading. The horse was sketched before the recent arthritic flareup... This 'completes' the History of Cataphracts chapter...
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Latest. May need more work on contrast. And another sword.
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It's a Daron; I may be drawing them too large, but am assuming war horses will be towards the upper range in size and strength.
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Latest. Added: horse without rider - I knew some of the 'blanket' would be hidden, but drew it anyway - supposed to show a scene from Jonat's Saga.
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To understand the Bright Empire, you have to know something of the Feldichi, and the ruins and mechanisms they left behind, mysterious, wondrous magical devices, which became the basis of the Bright Empire. Of course in the Third Age no one knows much about the Feldichi, but it is likely their devices cursed both them and ultimately those who used their knowledge. One of their devices, from which Nysalor was born, was the Pseudocosmic Egg - and its name should serve as a warning of what it really was...
