M Helsdon

Nothing at present.

Well, the Yggites certainly sail and captain ships, and they worship Ygg, a Storm God, though apparently many later turn to Orlanth. Hmm, both the Prince of Sartar comic and HeroQuest Glorantha show Esrolian ships, both triremes and biremes, with Esrolian crews, though doubtless most of their oarsmen are Islanders, and they undoubtedly carry Dormal worshippers. Unlike smaller rivers, some of the rivers of Glorantha are enormous, virtually long narrow seas. If you have sailed on the lower Nile or a similar river, you get a very different impression to sailing on an ordinary river. As my cousin's in-laws said, when walking along a river in England 'that's not a river - it's a stream!' and if you have seen the Yamuna, a mere tributary of the Ganges, you will appreciate the difference. The Oslir, the Janube, the Lower Tanier are very wide, for much of their flow, a mile or two wide, no choke-holds, and sailed by vessels not similar to sea craft, including penteconters. The Tigris has always been more demanding than the Euphrates for river traffic, but there was considerable traffic even in Assyrian times, and of course, the Assyrians claimed to have conquered Cyprus, using Phoenician ships. However, even the Euphrates isn't the Janube... I wouldn't be so sure... I'm sorry - I don't understand what you are saying here. Hmm, the Esrolians seem to be very much into the sea trade, including warships and merchant vessels. Based on the sources, they also supply officers and marines. I suspect you are underestimating the cultural impact of the great rivers, especially in Peloria, Fronela, Ralios, and Seshnela. I suspect that the problem arises from your narrow interpretation of The Orlanthi are <take any naval raiding culture engaging in cattle herding and non-irrigation farming> without ships. Mycenean, Sea People, Saxon, Viking, Slav, Baltic, Barbary Corsair, Kilikians, Scoti, Veneti... Whilst there are elements of these cultures in the subset of Orlanthi cultures found in Dragon Pass, it excludes others, such as the Thracians, Dacians, Hittites (though they also claimed to have ruled at least part of Cyprus - without a sea-going tradition), the Celtiberians, etc. No Gloranthan culture maps exactly onto any terrestrial culture.

In the non-canonical JC 'Men of the West' mention is made of how the Mammoth War Society of Seshnela treasures the ivory relics of its Martial Beast, and how it has to procure mammoth hides and tusks from merchants...

Just been sketching Gloranthan graffiti, and mentioned to the recipient that I'd used a pad and ink, and was asked what application Ink is... I suddenly feel very old, but then I draw using tech that isn't that different to that used by an Ancient Egyptian scribe.

Well, it's now Copper on DriveThruRPG. Am a little surprised as the West is probably a niche of a niche. Not certain there will be another in this series, as for other regions my available information is basically the Guide and perhaps one or two of the Stafford Library books, so less easy to work in, without copying. In comparison, the center of Genertela had masses of sources, and the West, whilst less developed, isn't short of 'seed' material. Other regions, for my purposes, far less so.

Well, the Esrolians are Orlanthi: they have ships, some of the largest humans have before the Waertagi come back. Some of the Janube valley Orlanthi probably have ships. The Orlanthi of southern Peloria have ships, on the Oslir. The Orlanthi of Ralios have ships on the Upper Tanier. The Umathelans have ships. Some of those use ships for trading, war, and probably raiding.

I wonder if the usage came in when the term Theyalans started to be used, which in-world is a God Learner term, and it wouldn't be used by 'those who worship the Pantheon of Orlanth and the Lightbringers' because they don't seem to worship Theya themselves?

Wyrms Footnotes 15 is perhaps the best source. https://www.chaosium.com/wyrms-footnotes-15-pdf/

There are a number of makes of potentially useful figures. Personally, I see Parthian and Sassanid cataphracts as a reasonably close fit, and there are a number of manufacturers. Sarmatians, Bactrians, as well.

Zzabur wrote the Blue, Red, and Brown Books, among others.

I don't believe there were constant thunderstorms, just constant battering winds that just stop at the interface, as the currents of air will converge and get compressed together, so wind speeds will increase the closer you get to the boundary. Gloranthan physics isn't the same as terrestrial physics, but thunderstorms need warm air to rise and cool, and that isn't what is happening, though it might in places as cold and warm air mixes; instead the winds aren't rising up, they just vanish.

Thank you. Before I started, I was a little cool on the West, but the further you dig the more interesting it becomes. Be warned that whilst it is based on canon, some old (some very old) material was used, though that is often flagged in some way, and the rest was... made up. Thank you. I am very surprised.

They aren't canonical...

Thank you.

Now up for sale. Men of the West The timeless appeal of the legends of the Hero Wars has resulted in an enduring interest in the period. Surviving texts, supplemented by archaeological evidence, are used here as the basis of this reconstruction of the combatants of the initial phases of that world-shattering conflict. This volume is a companion to The Armies and Enemies of Dragon Pass. Many mercenaries and adventurers from the West have been drawn to the conflict in Dragon Pass. Their homelands of Seshnela, Fronela, and Ralios are also fighting their own Hero Wars. Seshnela strives to impose the ambition of One God, One King, One Empire on the divided city-states and kingdoms of Ralios, where many look to the long-prophesied return of the hero Arkat for their salvation. In Fronela the idealists of Loskalm must confront the bloodthirsty armies of the Kingdom of War raging across the land bringing destruction and death. And there are yet more threats and perils. This book presents details of the warriors, soldiers and mercenaries fighting during opening periods of the Hero Wars, their arms and armor, their ships, their cultures, histories and organization, terrain, the battlefields on which they fought, their fortifications, their magic, and their religions. Army Lists provide details of some of the regiments which fought in these epic conflicts, supplemented by numerous illustrations of the participants. Warning: adult themes - some aspects of Bronze Age warfare may be distressing. There is also a description of Gloranthan sorcery. Note: The Armies and Enemies of Dragon Pass provides details of arms and armor, formations and many other things useful to the reader. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/325525/Men-of-the-West?src=newest_community

Am going to put in an order for preview hardcopies in an hour or so. And ordered. With the index, it works out at 182 pages plus covers. Tomorrow I will create the PDF for DriveThruRPG.

Star Trek, the Original Series, was an extended Malkioni heroquest, led by the Talar Kirk, wearing gold, his zzaburi wizard Spock, wearing blue, and numerous red-shirted horali...

Tar seems to mean high, so Tarumath is 'High Storm'; Tarsh probably means the 'Heights'. Tars elsewhere, such as Seshnela seem to come from another language family, probably Pralori.

Just starting the third pass of proofreading.

Well, Esrolia is almost an anagram of Israel, just an extra 'o'.

Initial mock-up of front cover. Font isn't the one I will use. This is very plain compared with other JC publications.

Yes, that was my thought.

There are also the egi who contribute to the persona of the Red Emperor. I'm afraid that I suspect that -i, -ia and also -ling are terrestrial translations of a Gloranthan term.

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?

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.