M Helsdon

These probably depict replica shields carried by members of Jannisor's Hero Cult, when no Lunars are around...? Lunar parade shield...

Hoplite and phalangite phalanxes fought in different ways; hoplites used a one-handed spear and so stood front-on; phalangites used a two-handed spear and so stood in a side-ways stance with their left shoulder facing towards the front of the phalanx, their shields were much smaller than those of a hoplite, with about two thirds the diameter. Hoplite shields were roughly three feet in diameter; phalangite shields roughly two feet in diameter. Hoplite shields were held using a hand grip and a forearm cylinder; phalangites had no arm free to hold a shield, and so their shield was suspended from a strap. The weapon used dictated the stance of its user, and the frontage they occupied in the battle-line. The hoplite shield was also much heavier, but given the weight of a phalangite's pike, they carried an equivalent weight of arms and armor. This is supported by archaeological finds. In Glorantha, it means that Solar and Lunar phalanxes fight in a different way to Sun Dome phalanxes.

Latest shields... Anyone familiar with Bronze/Iron Age shields may recognize the origin of a few... In Glorantha: a hoplite shield from one of the Stonewall Regiments; a phalangite shield from one of the Sun Dome temples; two 'Star Captain' shields (which is closer to the legendary Brighteye is open to debate); three ornate Barbarian Belt shields (the last displaying a ram's head). All drawn more-or-less to scale.

Hmm, you may be correct. However, the illustration on page 336 shows no eye, just a shield boss. Back to the drawing board.

Examining Dan Barker's excellent illustration of Jannisor, I've attempted to recreate his shield Brighteye. However, I cannot determine whether the shield has eight or nine points... First of a sequence of Gloranthan shield designs. The versions to left and right are covered with leather; the middle shield has a thin layer of metal with grooves to deflect strikes with spear or sword.

My own personal thoughts... Innovation Most of the cultures of central Genertela are innately conservative, wary of innovation and change after the disasters of the Second Age. Even worshippers of deities personifying Change are subject to the boundaries of their gods' actions. This dogmatism relates not only to arms and armor but to tactics as well. The older a regiment is, the more unwilling its soldiers and officers are to deviate in the slightest from received tradition. Tribal warbands are similarly constrained to fighting in the ways their ancestors did; a warrior might obtain a metal sword instead of one edged with stone or bone, a shield faced with bronze instead of wood or hide, but the way they fight does not change. Ancient regiments like the Stonewall Phalanxes would rather riot than change the pace they march at – adherence to tradition is why we have survived! Fighters may even carry equipment and weapons they cannot use, because their presence is required for ancient battle-rites and formulae to be effective. Newer regiments, such as those raised by Hon-eel are far more flexible (though their magic is usually weaker than the units over a thousand years old). But after over a hundred years, even those regiments become increasingly hide-bound. Fazzur Wideread, widely regarded as the greatest general of the period, fully utilizes ancient writings. An avid scholar in his youth, he is extraordinarily well-read, having read antique military treatises and modern Lunar battle manuals such as the Light of Action. Much of his genius comes, not from inventing new maneuvers and ploys, but in utilizing and combining old tactics and stratagems in novel ways. Lunar regiments are the most flexible, as the Moon is Change within Time, but even they become conventional and traditionalist as time passes. It requires a heroquest by a Hero to modify their accustomed ways. A case in point is the use of stirrups; these are widely used by the nomads of Pent and the Wastelands, but their adoption by others is slow and piecemeal; their use is alien to many cavalry gods. Thus, some of the newer Lunar cavalry regiments use stirrups (or an individual may have successfully heroquested to obtain them) but many older regiments cannot. The great Dara Happan hero-general Kastokus quested for, and implemented many changes in his cavalry army in the Second Age, which may have included the use of stirrups. However, his revolutionary innovations were anathema to the deeply reactionary culture of the Imperial Court, and undoubtedly contributed to his political fall, and to his execution. Most of his new insights were lost.

Ernalda is such a major goddess, that the local most important god is probably her husband, almost everywhere, with a few exceptions, such as lowland Peloria. [As I know a very hard-working sheep farmer in Ceredigion, despite being English, I don't do sheep jokes... 8-) ]

II-13. Alfostios The Cooper. He carries a saw, with a barrel beside him. Good catch.

Very true, but this art is recent, and I'm assuming that if it broke canon Jeff would have had the artist cover the barrels with boxes or bales. Barrels are fairly ancient tech. Herodotus mentions palm-wood casks - now, those weren't exactly barrels in form or construction; the Egyptians had open-ended casks even earlier, but the first true barrels date back quite a way. Our bronze wouldn't, but Gloranthan bronze seems to have distinct qualities. On one of the Facebook groups there's a fairly lively debate going on about stirrups, and cavalry rode and fought with lances and kontos centuries before the stirrup was introduced.

Purely my understanding.... Osentalka was the name given as part of the 'God Project' - 'The Perfect One', a title rather than a name. Nysalor is simply one of his names. No idea, but the number seven reoccurs in Gloranthan myth - the Seven Lightbringers, the Seven Mothers, almost as though the Seven Mothers were attempting to heroquest the Seven Lightbringers, and did or got something else. It sounds very much like one of the descriptions of the deeper Underworld. Chariots are usually Solar vehicles, even though other gods have them. Orlanth took just about every other Elemental weapon, and he may have taken/copied Yelm's chariot as well, especially as Elmal is sometimes the Sun Stallion pulling Orlanth's chariot. A very tangled web of mythology.

Here's the recent Swenstown picture I was thinking of... Barrels, bales, baskets...

What is astonishing, is that relatively early dynasty Egyptians were making lathe-turned stoneware, dishes and bowls. Those made of alabaster aren't too surprising, it's a very soft stone. But other vessels are made of basalt and granite. The amount of time and effort required is daunting, but I believe workshops have been excavated, and some tomb decorations show the process. To lathe the harder stones, you need a hard stone bit, probably frequently replaced, and sand used to provide an abrasive. Some of the bits, made of quartzite, which is harder than granite, have been excavated. Fortunately, quartzite can be found in usefully shaped pieces, meaning they didn't have to have anything harder to shape it. I suspect that some Gloranthan cultures have this technology, but not all.

Glass beads and faience date back a very long way, but actual glass vessels are probably out, unless of dwarven manufacture. Barrels - a moot point, given that I believe some appear in recent illustrations. A basic lathe dates back to around the 13th century BC in Egypt, with evidence of use in Assyria and Greece. The slow potters wheel goes back at least to the 45th century BC, and the fast potters wheel to the 30th BC, so it depends upon what you define a potter's wheel to be. Spinning wheel - concur. Rotary quern - depends how you define it, but some have been found with La Tène style ornamentation. Yesterday I was writing something on this topic... Purely my personal assumptions (and aspects of the Blood Games are based upon Etruscan funeral 'games') Funeral Games In victory, the death of heroes and champions are often marked by funeral games including various contests, and feasting. A valiant death in battle may be remembered for generations, with their family and community regularly leaving offerings. The site of their burning or burial may even become the focus of a hero cult. If the body of the fallen warrior was recovered, among the Orlanthi and urban Dara Happans it is burned upon a pyre. Some Orlanthi prefer the ashes to be blown away by the winds, but others, like the Dara Happans, collect the ashes and bones and inter them in funerary urns. The Dara Happans mark the death of nobles with gladiatorial Blood Games, the slain gladiators burned to accompany and serve the fallen aristocrat in death. Blood Games are often cruel, with blindfolded naked prisoners armed with clubs forced to fight fierce dogs which symbolize Jajagappa the Catcher of Souls.

As the entire Earth in Glorantha is composed of Gata and other goddesses, a single piece of earth might hold a very very tiny and weak spirit, with little magical power, no intellect or consciousness, but with magical potential. No, through the roof of the dome during services (see Sun County page 25). If you are not an initiate and are inside with the congregation, whether you can see the Sun or not is the least of your problems. The domes of Domanand were shattered, not melted, so the mechanism of their destruction is unclear.

On the human scale, the Gloranthan cosmos seems to work much as our Bronze Age/early Iron Age ancestors believed their world worked. They knew the rule of thumb rules for building structures that wouldn't fall down (and some Mesopotamian law codes had pretty dire penalties for a builder whose work fell down and injured or killed someone) but also knew it was necessary to make sacrifices and bury figurines of the gods to supplement the purely physical construction. So a Gloranthan human will use both sets of 'rules', the 'physical' and the 'magical', though even in Third Age Glorantha the distinction between the two is blurred, because everything has a spirit - even a mud brick. Sun Dome domes are innately magical because the congregation inside can see the Sun through the solid dome. And the domes aren't indestructible, as the many ruined domes at Mirin's Cross demonstrate. In our world corbelled domes go back to the Bronze Age, with the Treasury of Atreus perhaps the best known. The Persians also inherited dome building from Mesopotamia, and they invented the squinch, though they didn't build impressive domes until the late Iron Age. The interior of the Treasury of Atreus:

My understanding is that it's a matter of scale. The point where powerful spirits are gods, and minor gods are spirits is very blurred. As a deity with temples, priests and worshippers, Pavis is the 'god' and community 'spirit' and guardian for his city. As the founder of his city, his worship is necessary for its continued survival. For a really powerful city god, there's Tondiji down in Pamaltela with cults that are major religions elsewhere, such as Orlanth, Ikadz, Malkion, Ompalam, Pamalt, and Varama the Sun all subservient to him in his great temple.

Black Galley The unireme Black Galleys of the trolls of the Jrusteli Islands are both traders and raiders, and may be encountered almost anywhere. A galley has 24 rowing benches to a side, each with three oarsmen, with two steering oars aft. It has three masts. The vessel is named for the black pitch which coats its hull. Many at the oars are undead, capable of rowing almost indefinitely, until they fall apart. When the chained slave rowers die, they continue to serve at the oars as undead. A galley has a crew of five officers, 20 sailors, and up to 144 rowers Accommodation for passengers is either on the rowing benches or in deckhouses at the stern and bow. During the day, the trolls rig the sails as a tarpaulin to keep off the worst of the sun, preferring to sail at night. Black Galley Length 138 ft. Beam 24 ft. outrigger 17 ft. hull Draught 6 ft. Speed Knots Duration Sail: 3-8 Night Oars: Maximum 9 20 minutes Cruise 4-5 Indefinitely

Curiously, I am also using Bronze Age wrecks, and cargo manifests... Where does it state that grain is a cargo that Esrolia ships overseas? There's considerable difference between riverine barges and sea transport. Grain is missing from the list of Holy Country exports on page 470 of the Guide. You'd better inform the archaeologists studying Bronze Age Ugarit and Byblos... And then there's the Uluburun shipwreck, constructed from timber not far from those cities, or no further than Cyprus. See above. Actually, Joerg, I've made use not only of the text in the Guide, but also the pictures there, the pictures in the Gloranthan Sourcebook, and Kalin's art for the King of Sartar comic. This will come as a great shock to the marine archaeologists working on the wrecks in the English Channel, as the finds support the tin trade with the Mediterranean. I would never have guessed. Uh huh. But not to me. Please read the list of the Holy Country exports in the Guide. Just the material in the Guide, HeroQuest Glorantha and the comic... There's quite a detailed description of an Esrolian trireme in HeroQuest: Glorantha, and the close similarity to a Greek trireme is apparent. That's on Earth, not on Glorantha. Tidal beaching in the Mediterranean wasn't so reliant upon tides because they have a very low amplitude. See the illustrations in the Glorantha Sourcebook. They have an uncanny resemblance to Phoenician biremes as depicted by the Assyrians. Because the terrestrial equivalents were built using the carvel method. To distinguish them from the Western (and Northern) clinker-built ships. Because it was fun. Cf HeroQuest: Glorantha. The Greeks didn't obtain ship-building from the Egyptians. Um, Jeff seems to have defined the ships in the artwork and also noted that there was access to ancient designs. Um, no. A classic bireme and trireme aren't significantly different in size and space available; a trireme added an extra level of rowers in the outriggers with no appreciable increase in length. It therefore had a third again the motive power in combat, outclassing biremes, which is why they subsequently fulfilled lesser roles. After the trireme, there was an arms race for every larger ships with more oars, so that the quadrireme replaced the trireme, and then even larger ships appeared, culminating in Ptolemy's mad '40' which had 4,000 rowers - utterly impractical, if only because it would have taken many hours for the crew to board the ship. It was a demonstration of power and wealth, and never fought. The Romans and the Carthaginians fought their wars using quinqueremes (the Romans used a few triremes in the 1st Punic War as well), and other large ships. The Roman ships stationed in Britain and the Continent included triremes and biremes, modified with higher sides and bows to cope with conditions in the North Sea and Channel. Terminus Est.

Where? Pretty much covered by bales. This would be too much micro-management and detail for the topic. US measurements are used in most modern Glorantha books. I carefully translate everything from metric... to inches, feet, yards, pounds.

With the probability that this is entirely or partially, wrong, I've endeavored to define ships, based on material in the Guide, Sourcebook and King of Sartar comic: Trireme The characteristic warship of the southern Genertelan coasts is the trireme. Its construction involves a carvel-built shell of planks held together with pegged mortise-and-tenon joints forming the hull built up from the keel and stem- and stern-posts, the internal ribbing then fitted to this hull to reinforce it. Four to six heavy ropes are stretched from stem to stern to strengthen the hull; these are slacked off or removed when the vessel is out of the water and put on and placed under tension just before the trireme goes into the water again. Twisting these cables to the proper tension requires the efforts of a team of sailors. Holy Country ships use pitch from the Shadow Plateau applied to the hull to make it watertight. This gives it the distinctive black color, though the upper parts are often brightly painted. A trireme has three banks of oars, the lowest bank (the hold-rowers) emerging from oar-ports through leather sleeves to hinder the taking on of water, the middle bank (the thwart-rowers) from under the outrigger, and the upper bank (the stool-rowers) fixed to rowlocks through the outrigger extending beyond the side of the hull. Each oar is rowed by one oarsman, sitting on a leather cushion. The oars of the stool-rowers, being the furthest from the water, are slanted down at the steepest angle. As the only one able to see the oars striking the water, a stool-rower is responsible for synchronizing the oars of the two rowers below him. There are 27 oarsmen each side at the lowest level, 27 either side at the middle level, and 31 on each side at the top level (where there is room for two additional rowers, fore and aft, where the hull is shallowest). The oarsmen are rarely armed. A light deck, to port and starboard, protects the upper bank of oarsmen, and provides fighting platforms running fore and aft. This fighting deck is often protected with a bulwark hung with shields. Holy Country naval tactics emphasize ram attacks which favor speed and maneuver. Boarding the enemy with heavily-armed troops is a secondary tactic. Ten to twenty marines are the usual complement, with the rest of the deck crew consisting of the captain, a helmsman using two steering-oars by means of a transverse tiller, a bow officer, shipwright, and the bosun who commands the oarsmen, a drummer or flute player, a signaler, and deckhands to handle the sails. The number of marines is low because too many people moving on deck threatens the vessel’s stability on the open sea and reduces the efficiency of the rowers. Some are stationed in the stern and act as bodyguards for the captain and helmsman. Others are at the prow to act as boarders. In calmer sheltered waters, such as Choralinthor Bay, the number of marines aboard might be increased to as many as forty, though risking a reduction in speed. Other navies, less adept at ramming, emphasize grappling and boarding. Their triremes are of heavier construction and carry more marines. Normally the ship makes use of a main square sail rigged from the main yard amidships for propulsion, and a smaller ‘boat’ sail at the prow to aid steering. Warships lower their mast and sails before going into battle. Ships are protected by magical guardians worshiped by the crew. Trireme Length 120 ft. Beam 18 ft. outriggers 13 ft. hull Draught 3 ft. Speed Knots Duration Sail: 3-7 Daylight Oars: Maximum 9 20 minutes Fast Cruise 4-5 3 hours Slow Cruise 3 9 hours Logistics: Warships Warships have very specific requirements for rope, timber and canvas. Whilst basic repairs can be carried out with the supplies and tools carried aboard, stowage space is limited. A trireme, for example, generally carries no more than thirty spare oars. Any significant damage or maintenance must be carried out ashore, often with the vessel out of the water. Supplies for the crew are also limited, with only food and water for a few days carried. Triremes put into shore for the crew’s midday meal (if feasible) and at night. A trireme crew requires around 560 lbs. of food and nearly a 100 gallons of water a day. As these vessels are built for speed, not carrying capacity, they can only remain at sea for a limited time. Both triremes and penteconters are of a sufficiently light build that they can be drawn up on a convenient beach. These vessels often require a reinforced keelplank to prevent pebbled and rocky beaches wearing through the keel. Warships are reliant upon supply ships or bases for longer periods. Land bases in proximity of the fleet is essential. For the Wolf Pirates, since 1605, the Three Step Islands have proven suitable for their raids on the coasts of the Solkathi and Rozgali Seas. Bireme In addition to the sea-going trireme, the Holy Country fleet included biremes. These vessels have two banks of oars, and a single sail and mast, lowered before combat, and a cutwater which can be used as a ram, attached to the hull by bronze nails. This permits the ram to become detached if it becomes embedded in an enemy ship. The elevated upper-works running the length of the ship are mounted on stanchions above the oarsmen and include screens and shields to protect the archers and priests who are the principal armament of the ship. This superstructure gives the marines an advantage in height, but also makes the vessel susceptible to crosswinds, hindering its maneuverability and making it vulnerable to capsizing. As a result, their use is restricted to the calm waters of Mirrorsea Bay. Bireme Length 70 ft. Beam 11 ft. Draught 3 ft. Speed Knots Duration Sail: 2-5 Daylight Oars: Maximum 6 20 minutes Fast Cruise 3-4 2 hours Slow Cruise 2 4 hours Penteconter The characteristic ship of the Wolf Pirates is a fast and narrow clinker-built fifty-oared sailing ship used for ramming and boarding. In clinker construction, the keel is laid down first, with a heavy shaped keelson above it, and the raked stem- and stern-posts attached, with a pointed forefoot sheathed in bronze as a ram. Vertical ribs are added, and then the shell of overlapping plank strakes, starting from the keelson and working upwards, fixed with bronze rivets and later caulked with tarred wool. Crossbeams brace the structure and are used as benches for the single bank of oarsmen. Twenty-five rowlocks are attached to each gunwale by wooden pegs. Each oar is worked by one rower. A rail along the gunwale is a common feature. High planked half-decks fore and aft provide fighting platforms protected by latticework panels. Limited storage space lies beneath them, including ladders stowed save when beaching the craft. Some of these wolfships have a central gangway running fore and aft, but leaving the oarsmen’s heads exposed. The mast is set in a socket in the keelson, with a single square sail rigged from the yardarm; the sail is furled immediately prior to battle. These ships are very fast with the wind behind them; they are designed to operate under oars and sail. Some penteconters are uniremes with a single level of rowers, but their great length makes them unsuitable for the open seas. Ships become increasingly fragile and unstable the greater the length-to-beam ratio. Wolf Pirate vessels are biremes, with two banks of oars on each side; the lowest bank (the bench-rowers) of 14 oars and above them the upper bank (the beam-rowers) of 11 oars. This layout gives them speed, acceleration and rate of turning superior to an ordinary penteconter. They approach merchant vessels under sail and oars, at twice the maximum speed of a merchant ship. Nearing their victim, the beam-rowers ship their oars, furl the sail, and act as reinforcements for the boarding party. The use of sails and oars also permits the penteconter to outrun warships when it has the wind behind it. The vessel is steered by a large deep rudder at the starboard aft side. In addition to the fifty oarsmen, who are all armed, the deck crew consist of the captain, helmsman, bow officer, shipwright, champion and the bosun. Two or three warriors may also be aboard to be ready to lead a boarding action. Pirates usually have diverse weapons and armor, according to personal preference and wealth. The helmsman is equipped with a long spear, which they use to protect the ship when beached or to aid the warriors in the first stages of a boarding action. Wolf Pirate penteconters are protected by fierce magical figureheads on the prow (typically a demonic wolf), the magical guardians and protectors of the ship, worshiped by the crew. These galleys are capable of remarkably quick bursts of speed and rapid maneuvers. Battle tactics are customarily ramming and holding fast to the enemy vessel and then boarding – with the number of warrior rowers giving a numerical advantage. When conducting a raid, a penteconter is beached stern-first to permit a quick getaway. Penteconter (‘bireme’) Length 70 ft. Beam 10 ft. Draught 2.5 ft. Speed Knots Duration Sail: 3-7 Daylight Sail and oars: 9-10 20 minutes Oars: Maximum 9 15 minutes Cruise 4-5 2 hours Merchantman The merchant ships of the southern coast of Genertela are oval in shape, of carvel construction, and propelled by sail. The vessels are partially or completely decked, with a hold below carrying a cargo of approximately 74,800 lbs. usually carried in bales, barrels and amphorae. Some merchant ships are much larger, but only a rich House can afford to build and maintain them. Most merchantmen carry only a single square sail; some have a foremast carrying a smaller foresail, often used to aid steering. Lacking a keel, the sails can only be used when the winds are favorable. Esrolian ships may have a curved sternpost in the shape of a goose, the sacred bird of Imarja, the source of the Four Esrolian Virtues. The ship has a flat bottom, to allow the ship to be grounded at low tide for loading and unloading, when a harbor is not available. The stability of the vessel is enhanced with magic. The hull is usually lined with black pitch and a very thin sheets of lead to provide protection from worms and other marine creatures. This permits the ship to stay in the water throughout the sailing season, unlike a warship, but increases its weight and reduces its maximum speed. These ships are often used as support and supply for trireme squadrons. The ship is guided with two steering-oars with a transverse tiller. It may carry oars for use when the sea is smooth and there is no wind, but carrying enough oarsmen to propel the ship at any speed is uneconomical. The crew numbers six or seven, including the captain. Most of these ships include a small shrine to Dormal at the bow or stern. Roundship Length 40 ft. Beam 11 ft. Draught 4-6 ft. Speed Knots Duration Sail: 2-5 Daylight

It depends upon the amount of cargo, what it was, and how many people were involved. If you take a fairly standard merchant tub, carrying 74,800 lbs. of cargo and assume 'standard' cargo types: Logistics: Cargo Ship and barge cargo is transported in bales, sacks, and amphorae all no larger than one or two men can lift, and barrels which can be rolled by two men. These are the basic 'units' of cargo. Amphorae and barrels come in a variety of sizes. Bales, sacks and amphorae are of a size that they can be carried by a ship, boat, cart, donkey or mule. By volume, a standard cargo amphora holds around 6 gallons and a full amphora (containing olive oil, or wine) weighs around 110 lbs., around half of which is the material of the container. The additional weight of an amphora makes it unsuitable for transporting water and cheap wine over land (an empty amphora weighs 50 to 60 lbs.). Instead, leather water skins or bottles are used. A standard barrel holds approximately 38 gallons, weighing about 317 lbs. Wooden barrels bound together with metal hoops are stronger than fired clay, weigh far less and can be turned on their side and rolled. Barrels cannot be easily transported on pack animals but can be loaded onto carts and wagons. Bales and sacks weigh around 70 lbs. If you decide how many of the crew and how many shore-side helpers there are, you can roughly calculate the load/unload time.

The Babylonians did division by multiplying a number by its inverse, something their use of the sexagesimal system may have helped, with math texts going back a very long time.

The illustrations in the Guide and the Glorantha Sourcebook all show spoked wheels, which isn't surprising as the spoked wheel dates back to the 20th century BC!

Curious. The Hanseatic Cog did not exist in the Bronze Age, or the early Iron Age. No Viking knorrs or longships in the Bronze Age, or early Iron Age... What grain ship? Are you referring to the Roman grain ships? If so, there were none in the Bronze Age or early Iron Age. Large quantities of grain were not moved by merchant ship, until Roman times. From the evidence of Bronze Age and early Iron Age wrecks, some grain was transported, but not in enormous quantities. Captains of the period needed to know of safe shelters every ten miles or so. Merchant ships tended to load fresh water wherever available and wherever they traded. You seem to have lost sight of the fact this thread is about the same merchant ships used by the Phoenicians and Greeks, and in Glorantha by Esolia. I've listed timber; marble however was not transported in large quantities in the Bronze Age or early Iron Age. Fascinating, no doubt, but irrelevant here. Actually, in Maniria as in the rest of Glorantha, and in our Bronze Age and early Iron Age, long distance trade caters to expensive necessities, such as metals, and expensive prestige items for the elite. This is detailed in the Guide, pages 469-470. There is no major trade in foodstuffs, save prestige items such as spices. Even short distance trade in foodstuffs is limited; there are major risks in transporting grains by sea, as in bulk it can settle, affecting the stability of the ship, and there's a danger of dust explosions. Even if transported in sacks it can shift, and if it gets wet can swell, endangering the integrity of the vessel, as the increasing volume can push at the hull, causing it to split. There were numerous harbors in Bronze Age Crete. They are where traders would trade, not the palaces. For example, the Minoan center of Palekastro was close to the sheltered beach/harbor of Chiona. Many miles from any coastline... Firstly, there are no massive Roman giant grain-barge sized ships carrying grain at sea in Glorantha. Secondly, the use of small vessels is part of the Bronze Age/Early Iron Age feel of Glorantha. There are no human bulk traders. Where, precisely, is this stated? The reality is that seafarers need safe stopping (and potential trading places) every ten miles or so along a coastline, in the event of bad weather. These square-sailed ships must either shelter (near shore) or run (on the open seas). Grain barges are large (and there probably aren't any in Glorantha, save on rivers, and in our ancient history, the largest barges weren't larger than these small trade ships). None of the human ships of Genertela are very large. Except the Mediterranean is the model for most Genertelan ships - even a Wolf Pirate penteconter is more like a Hemiolia than a longship or any other Baltic vessel (other than probably in construction). Glorantha has tides, albeit fairly slow ones. Getting in close enough to shore to load and unload without harbor facilities. Most of these vessels are too small to carry skiffs or lighters. You are fixating on ships carrying significant amounts of cargo, when in the actual Bronze and early Iron Age, most merchant ships were small. Same goes for human ships along the southern coasts of Genertela. There are no large ships, no anachronistic xebecs or cogs. You need to read about actual sites. Examples are Mount Batten, St. Michaels Mount, Burgh Island, Hengistbury Head, and the Erme esturary. Hengistbury Head, for example, despite being a wide beach with a headland, was a major port in the Bronze Age and in the Iron Age for the tin trade and for importing wine from the Continent even before the Romans arrived to do a hostile takeover. Yes, a major trade port with no quayside. YGWV, but it doesn't define the realities of Bronze and Early Iron Age trade, or the trade patterns detailed in the Guide.

One major reason for limiting the strangeness, at least in human cultures, is that it makes the setting less accessible to newcomers. Whilst it is 'cool' that most metals are derived from the bones of dead gods, and iron was manufactured by dwarves and is now mined where large quantities of Iron Mostali and Iron Constructs died, it doesn't detract from the fact that these metals are recognizable. Weird magical technologies should mostly be kept to the 'periphery' - non-humans, ancient civilizations, powerful entities etc. for both accessibility and mystery. The use of metals (wherever they come from), stone, leather, bone are all relatively mundane (even if they are sometimes worked with low-level magics). Glorantha is a world where magic is (mostly imperceptibly) winding down with every Age, as magic decays in the face of entropy. The Magic Goes Away meme. With the Hero Wars there are going to be massive magical cataclysms, as the pre-Time disasters reoccur on a 'smaller' scale, much as in Greek Myth, the Trojan War resembled the actual Dark Age in the Mediterranean that swept away most of the great powers of the Bronze Age.