M Helsdon

Axes of Central Genertela These designs are illustrative but not definitive examples. Differences in size, weight and detailed design vary according to the requirements of the customer and the skills and patterns of individual smiths. A: Double-bladed axes typical of Esrolia and the Axe Orlanthi. The one to the left is a ceremonial axe carried in procession by the Guardians of a temple of Esrola. B: Tarshite axes; the two to the left are cheap and basic axes used by Tarsh Exiles whilst the one to the right is of finer quality and decorated with a lion or an alynx. C: A variety of single-headed axes, varying in quality from left to right. D: Foreign designs. From left to right: possibly Fronelan; two Carmanian sagaris; a Lunar sagaris. Note: Mounted warriors may employ weapons similar to C and D, but with longer hafts. [For those interested: these are derived, in part, from Bronze Age Minoan, Anatolian, Near East and Iron Age Persian and Indian designs.]

I'm too busy drawing axes...

Xenoma, a sacred prostitute of the Furthest Uleria temple. There's going to be a distinction between Ulerian sacred prostitutes and non-sacred prostitutes, in terms of social status.

Approximate travel rates, depending on currents. Route Movement River: upstream. 6-12 miles by boat or barge. River: downstream. 18-22 miles by boat or barge. Note that the Nile is not a good example because it is a massive river, wide and relatively deep even in the dry season in north east Africa. Its flow rate was seasonal (before the Aswan Dam was built).

A pair of Humakti show swords. The heroes or demigods depicted are unidentified. [Inspired by the William Church illustration in Cults of Prax.]

An assessment of the Lunar Cycles.

Based on the description of when Wildday 'begins' (coinciding with the Full Moon in Dragon Pass) in the Guide, at sunset.

I find the simplest method is to create the table in Word and then copy-and-pasting retaining the formatting. Note that the 'directions' change over a day as the 'phases' rotate about the Red Moon. Day of the Week Lunar Phase Lunar Phase Lunar Phase Lunar Phase Lunar Phase Lunar Phase Lunar Phase Freezeday Full Moon Full Half Crescent-Going Dying Moon Black Moon Crescent-Coming Empty Half Waterday Full Half Crescent-Going Dying Moon Black Moon Crescent-Coming Empty Half Full Moon Clayday Crescent-Going Dying Moon Black Moon Crescent-Coming Empty Half Full Moon Full Half Windsday Dying Moon Black Moon Crescent-Coming Empty Half Full Moon Full Half Crescent-Going Fireday Black Moon Crescent-Coming Empty Half Full Moon Full Half Crescent-Going Dying Moon Wildday Crescent-Coming Empty Half Full Moon Full Half Crescent-Going Dying Moon Black Moon Godsday Empty Half Full Moon Full Half Crescent-Going Dying Moon Black Moon Crescent-Coming

Her shadow moves. The Guide gives the examples: Day of the Week Lunar Phase in Dragon Pass Lunar Phase in First Blessed Freezeday Crescent-Going Black Moon Waterday Dying Moon Crescent-Coming Clayday Black Moon Empty Half Windsday Crescent-Coming Full Moon Fireday Empty Half Full Half Wildday Full Moon Crescent-Going Godsday Full Half Dying Moon You might be able to travel 20-30 miles a day on a good horse.

An exercise in looking at how 'wide' the phases of the Red Moon are. The lines are not stationary but move (clockwise?) during the day and night. At the distance of Dragon Pass and Prax each phase is hundreds of miles across...

Are you able to make a post without being offensive?

Whilst possibly no longer canon, this diagram might suffice...

Unfortunately, David, I won't be creating another thread on the subject here. If I create any more I'll put them on the other site.

I have decided to terminate posting illustrations to this thread.

No it doesn't. Magasta's Pool flows down to the Primal Water, the child of the River Styx, the Water of Darkness, which lies beneath it, but borders the Underworld. The Styx is the 'river' you have to cross to get to the Lands of the Dead. Except... it doesn't. Please see page 10 of the Guide.

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I was referring to:

No, because the Deep is under the earth (upper world) but not under the Underworld. You are aware that the cube of the Earth floats above the deepest Waters? There's an illustration in the Guide (page 10) which serves to show this. The Deepest Waters are above and lap upon the shores of the Underworlds. Contradictory? Intentionally so. And, when you get beyond the Middle World, perceptions useful there aren't as useful beyond the confines of the Mortal World, so it is entirely feasible for the Primal Water to have a surface upon which cradles and dragonships can float - even though it is in the Waters.

Very little wood in Prax.

My guesses... Probably not. There's circumstantial evidence of Dara Happans using curved swords prior to the ascension of the Red Goddess (illustration in the Guide, page 306 - it seems unlikely that a society as conservative as the Dara Happans would adopt a Lunar fashion). Based on available evidence, a mixture of the three. Given that the kopis form is of Pentan origin and now so widely adopted by the Lunar Empire to become the Lunar sword, the migration of designs does happen. Based on canonical illustrations: yes. This is why I attempted to portray a range of variants. Also, armor and weapons are made by many dispersed smiths working to their own templates. Even in those cultures supporting organized regiments, there is considerable variation in design, for there are no exact patterns. In those where war gear is made by clan smiths there will be an even greater variation. In pre-industrial cultures there's rarely a uniform design. There's certainly a development of styles, but little apparent technological innovation, save by the introduction of new techniques. I presented your question to Isidilian: Changes in Mostali weapons are due to the ongoing repairs to the World Machine as it gradually approaches optimum operation. Mostal was the Maker of all things.

Hi Steve, Thank you for your kind comments. At present I am roughing out a chapter on magic and warfare, which so far ranges from the impact of Divination (and Chronomancy) to the use of greater Elementals. The chapter is far from complete...

http://www.glorantha.com/docs/metals-in-prax/

The sword at the top is made from a High Llama leg bone.

Interesting, thank you. The only sources I could find referred to Forge Bone. I see that I have some more drawing to do.

The Elder Giants that send their children into the underworld are not the giants you might encounter walking around the Surface World. Like dragons (who they apparently fought in lost ages long before Time) humans tend to perceive them in terms of geography. Given their lifespan and presence before Time, their method of birth (the cradles simply appear at the Boathouse) and their nature is entirely alien to that of the mortal races. Compared with these Giants, Gonn Orta is tiny. The Three Little Giant Mountains are the giants who float their babies down the river to the sea; the journey of the baby down the Zola Fel, and subsequently across the Homeward Ocean and down Magasta’s Pool, is now the giant equivalent of giving birth. Magasta's Pool leads down to the Primal Water. Down there, things are a little different: this is the Deep, the Silent, the Still which arose from Darkness and from which the first Earth in turn pushed upwards. It is part of the underworld, but not the Underworld. It laps the Lands of the Dead, 'below it', and is a distinct realm all of its own. Perhaps the life cycle of the Elder Giants follows the Elemental pattern, and they grow upwards to become mountains in the Mortal World. It is doubtful anyone knows, for the lifecycle of these beings appears longer than there has been Time in Glorantha. When the Closing ended sea travel, the Waertagi dragonships also sought refuge below and sailed down Magasta’s Pool to wait upon the Black Ocean, from which they return in the Hero Wars. However, this is not a realm for ordinary humans; even Argrath and his companions were happy to leave the Cradle prior to its descent.