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M Helsdon

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Everything posted by M Helsdon

  1. The best source, so far as I am aware, is the Glorantha Sourcebook. I don't believe the other Sisters feature in the Earth Goddess book. https://www.chaosium.com/the-glorantha-sourcebook-pdf/
  2. Several cities have such entities as protectors, the most famous being Orlanth's birthplace, Whitewall, where Garan the Low Star, married Serias. One of the gates of Storos is guarded by another Star God.
  3. God Learner contact with Peloria was limited by their enemies, the EWF, sitting astride the main route north.
  4. It's interesting looking at the map of roads in Esrolia; I suspect that some of the Manirian Road is actually by river, and its final stretch is via the Gorphing River, or at least follows her river valley. In what I believe is one of Greg's maps, the river is navigable (by boats, barges?) for a long way to the west, even further upstream than Kithma. Whilst a road does follow the river for some distance, river trade is, at least downstream, faster and cheaper than carrying goods on mule back. I would expect goods to then be transhipped to Nochet and to Karse.
  5. True, but the goods will travel via Rhigos and be subject to tolls there.... It's likely that there's one of the 52 Tombs of Castelain at Rhigos.
  6. The Guide to Glorantha weather chapter includes maps that show sailing routes.
  7. True, but Rhigos is the eastern terminus of the Manirian Road and once surpassed Nochet in size and wealth.
  8. The Manirian Road runs from the cities of Safelster, the caravans gathering at Drom, to Rhigos in Esrolia.
  9. The majority of the Missing Lands material is in the Guide to Glorantha.
  10. If you read it carefully, 'when the Long Night ended and the Dawn had begun' that's the Grey Age before the Dawn. See the description of the Ages in the Guide to Glorantha.
  11. In the ancient world, tenants worked land in two different relationships with the landowner: A fixed annual payment to be made. If the harvest was poor the tenant could be pushed into debt because they might not be able to make the payment; if the harvest was good, the tenant enjoyed the excess. Debt often led to people becoming debt slaves. A percentage payment to be made according to the harvest. Less risk for the tenant if the harvest was poor, but less profit if the harvest was good. The tenant could also indulge in other activities such as 'cottage industries' and hunting.
  12. For centuries, not millennia. Aram used a Darkness demon to help defeat Gouger but his people didn't worship the demon until long after his death.
  13. Both the Guide to Glorantha and The History of the Heortling People place the Ivory Plinth as a site at the Dawn, so Arim slew Gouger before the Dawn, and the Arimites were riding tuskers before Time began. The Arimites became half-trolls much later. [THotHP has a half-troll king riding a tusker also called Gouger, but much much smaller than the child of Maran Gor killed by Arim Ya Udram.]
  14. Peloria as a term in biology derives from Latin (a modern form) and from the Greek word pelōros, meaning 'monstrous'. Just saying.....
  15. Given that the Queen will be deriving no small part of her income from port dues and duties, bear in mind that most smuggling will take place outside the port. For Nochet clandestine meetings between merchant tubs and reed boats and punts will occur south of the city where the marshy isles and twisting muddy channels will offer ideal hiding places for those boats to lurk, hide, load and unload.
  16. I've been examining old documents by Greg Stafford shared with me by various people when I was writing Armies and Enemies of Dragon Pass. I will delete this post if requested as it contains Chaosium IP. There are two describing horses. One is dated to 1997. An earlier one, a text file, probably from earlier in the 90s, says: The Galana is the most common horse breed in Dragon Pass, Kethaela, Maniria, Ralios, and Talastar. This tough big-headed horse is used to swiftly pull chariots over uneven ground, with only the largest suitable as cavalry mounts. They are named for Galana the Sun-goddess and Galanin the noble ancestor of the Sun Horse-worshiping Galanini clans of the Enerali tribes of central Ralios. At the Dawn the Enerali chiefs fought from chariots pulled by their ponies, sacred to their horse deity. They had survived the Great Darkness by following the sacred herds. Elsewhere, the Galanini clans were extinguished during the Darkness, though their horse herds survived throughout Orlanthi lands and were placed under the protection of Orlanth’s thane Elmal and his wife Redalda the Horse Goddess. The Galana ponies of the East Wilds of Ralios are smaller than their cousins elsewhere, but share the same attributes: small ears, a fine muzzle, a flat nose, long neck and small hooves, suited to rough and stony ground. The mane and tail are long and wavy. This breed can graze on shrubs, leaves and grasses. The Galana are dun to brown, usually with tails and manes darker than their coat. The cattle-herding Pol-Joni entered Prax two centuries ago, securing their place in the Battle of Denzis Water. Despite not being included in the Survival Covenant, their horses (and cattle) have partially adapted to the harsh conditions of Prax, requiring only two thirds of the fodder and water of those elsewhere. The horses of the Pol-Joni are primarily a hardy subtype of the Galana, through mixed with other breeds. They have a strong, well-muscled body, a broad chest and powerful, rounded hindquarters. A piebald coat is common: usually a mixture of white or pale gold, and brown. Much of this information is summarized in RuneQuest Glorantha Bestiary published in 2018, but long predates it. Obviously, this is no longer fully canonical. Redaylda's husband is now recognized as either Hyalor or his son Beren.
  17. Yes, Darius, I know, but it still doesn't change the fact that the basic design and components didn't change very much in form or usage. They are basically a two-wheeled car pulled by two or more horses. There were very few 'military shock chariot(s)' as chariots were ineffective against disciplined formations. Even the Seleucid scythed chariots weren't militarily very useful. There are only two recorded instances when similar 'shock chariots' had any impact: once when the Persians were pursuing the Ten Thousand in 399 BC and at Amnias in 89 BC. Military chariots were either battlefield taxis or missile platforms, useful in scattering an already disordered enemy (and that's what happened when Pharnabazus caught up with the Ten Thousand - and his force was almost entirely cavalry). And not used in any military context for obvious reasons. A racing chariot with its single occupant was not a military chariot or used over battlefield terrain.
  18. The basic components remained constant, even early chariots had suspension. Chariots rarely worked as shock weapons and scythed wheels were not very practical. The Ur 'chariot' was more a battle cart or wagon (the four wheels make it a very different vehicle). For very good reasons.... It's not a very wise thing to do. It was claimed to help them use their body weight to control their horses in a race; whilst there's many things that are inaccurate in Ben Hur, the chariot race shows what happens when things go wrong. The actors and stunt men did not lash their reins around their bodies. Just watch what happens when Messala has his reins lashed around his arms, and then imagine how much worse having them around his waist would be. Lots about chariots in: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/296535/The-Armies-and-Enemies-of-Dragon-Pass? Illustrations by Angus McBride of a Sumerian battle cart, Assyrian heavy chariot, Egyptian chariot, British chariot, Seleucid scythed chariot....
  19. Chariot technology didn't change very much between the Bronze and Iron Age, and nor did the techniques of driving them. The only significant difference was the bands of iron that held the circle of the wheel together; earlier sinew or bronze was used for the tires.
  20. An early Greg document I have where he wrote about units in White Bear and Red Moon refers to chariots, including artillery chariots later given to Dara Happa. And of course, RQ3 Sun County refers to the Sun Domer's chariot regiment destroyed in the Dragonkill and their remaining ceremonial chariot.
  21. RQ3 Monster Coliseum had chariot rules.
  22. https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/MoonDesign
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