M Helsdon
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As requested some front views: A variety of helmets displaying Runes. Top to bottom: Three Dara Happan helms: first with no decoration; second with a Solar disk; third with a Truth Rune. Pelorian helmets; first with no decoration; second the helmet of a Lunar soldier displaying the Death and Moon Runes; the third, almost identical to the second is the helm of an Orlanthi Wind Lord with the Mobility Rune prominently displayed. Front and side views of Lunar Full Moon Corps helmets, complete with silver masks. The first is a decorative Parade style; the second is a more practical campaign helm. The Lunar Full Moon Corps masks are derived from Roman Cavalry display helmets, the Sumerian Mask of Warka and the Tales of the Reaching Moon issue 12 cover by Dan Barker.
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If a blow were sufficient to break the teeth, it would also hurt the wearer. And a helmet cannot be repaired in combat (except by using a Repair spell). In Glorantha a Repair spell will mend broken or dented armor, so long as all the pieces are present. In the real world anyone wearing a broken boar's tusk helmet would at best be stunned or concussed. True in our world, but in combat a helmet that fails means the wearer is wounded, or dead. In contrast, a wearer of a bronze helmet would have taken far less damage. In this case, 'superior' means still able to defend themselves. A boar's tusk helmet in both worlds is a prestige item, but not one you'd want to rely upon in combat unless you had nothing better.
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The author seems to have divided a single Jonstown Compendium entry for the purposes of his text. This supposition is further supported by the variation between the papers gathered together in the earlier text and the latest. It can only be supposed that, as with many ancient documents, different versions were preserved, and that the compiler of the later version attempted to impose additional order on the material taken from the Compendium, obtaining the Kings List, interposing other historical entries, before including the description of folk ballads (which the earlier version ignores), as they are not as historical in nature as the Kings List and the subsequent material. The JC entries run: 271852, 271851, 271850, 271852. Instead of retaining the entry order, the author or perhaps a scribe, has attempted to impose a thematic order instead. It is only to be hoped that future archaeological excavations may unearth other versions including new material, which may add additional understanding of this poorly documented and legendary period.
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There is a resemblance (and at one time it was very strong in the source material), I believe, but there's a stronger one with Mesopotamia, and ancient Syria and Iran, with a few bits of Classical Greece thrown in, plus a degree of Byzantium in costume and politics. Regarding Alexander's empire: several of the Diadochi (specifically Seleucus and Ptolemy) founded relatively long-lived dynasties. The Lunar military is far less uniform than the Roman military (even allowing for the variation in auxiliary units), and the use of red by the Romans is in large part a modern invention - there's evidence that most ordinary soldiers wore undyed off-white tunics. This is my opinion - you'd have to ask Jeff or Greg to get the precise terrestrial equivalent(s).
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The latter looks like a partial expansion of the former. If you were to consult the original Jonstown Compendium you'd probably find them all part of a single entry, split by the compiler of the manuscript. There are quite a number of inconsistences and apparent errors in King of Sartar (all intentional). It's an unreliable in-world set of documents, and in some areas is potentially as suspect as reading the Iliad as an accurate historical account of the wars in western Anatolia in the Bronze Age.
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In ancient Europe, and probably various areas of central Genertela, wild boar would not have been uncommon, and were hunted because they were common, and both good eating and a pest to agriculture. It would not take long for the hunters in a region to collect enough for a helmet. Though such a helmet offers more protection than leather, it would not survive many serious blows because the teeth would shatter. A bronze helmet would be superior in every way. At one excavation at Ialysos 195 boar's tusks were found in one deposit, and so it seems that helmets made from them were prestige items - not especially useful in combat. A boar's tusk helmet weighs about 2 pounds/1 kilogram. Ancient bronze helmets range in weight between 1 - 5 kilograms, with 2.2 kilograms a likely average. If Gloranthan bronze is roughly equivalent to ancient terrestrial bronze then a similar distribution is likely.
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Despite a boar's tusk helmet being described in the Iliad as 'unique' representations of them on Mycenaean pottery are common and a number (fragments included) have been excavated. Each helmet required tusks from around forty to fifty boars (or large domesticated pigs).
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A little bit about the origin of E6: “Meriones gave Odysseus a bow, a quiver and a sword, and put a cleverly made leather helmet on his head. On the inside there was a strong lining on interwoven straps, onto which a felt cap had been sewn in. The outside was cleverly adorned all around with rows of white tusks from a shiny-toothed boar, the tusks running in alternate directions in each row” (Homer, Iliad 10.260–5). A boar's tusk helmet appears in an illustration in the Sartar Companion.
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No...(though there was a typo). The order is: The depth, double! This order is used to move from close order to open order. Each alternate file (of eight or ten soldiers) moves to the rear of the file beside it in an orderly fashion. This means that an empty space is created between the remaining files. The alternative would be for every file except the one at the center to shuffle sideways a variable distance, which would be incredibly difficult and dangerous upon the battlefield. The file is the basic unit of a phalanx, with a file leader and a half-file leader, and changes in formation are made by the moving of files. In the formation diagrams above, see states A and B.
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In very approximate terms: Carmania is roughly Sassanid but not nomadic; Dara Happa is roughly Mesopotamian (Assyrian/Babylonian) but with Hellenistic hoplites; Lunar is not quite like any terrestrial template - perhaps a mixture of Mesopotamia and Hellenistic, but with significant differences.
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Most of Kerman Province is sandy desert; it's part of the very hostile desert Alexander marched his army through returning from India. You can find Peloria nearby on some maps of the ancient Persian Empire. No, the Carmanians are Westerners, but with a dualistic religion. They are not related to the Horse Peoples.
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There's intended to be two additional aspects: an evolutionary 'line' from left to right on most rows (with obvious exceptions) and an indication of how designs and features are copied from one region to another. The Pelorian row was initially intended to split and merge between Solar and Storm, but I couldn't find any tidy way to show this. The Saird row was intended to show how a 'Phrygian' style helmet could appear in Glorantha, with the peak evolving from a stylized horse head.
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Sheriff has an Anglo-Saxon origin, much like other Orlanthi terns such as thane or fyrd. As an official (a 'shire reeve') appointed by a king to keep the peace, it fits quite well into tribal Orlanthi culture. 8-)
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[Not canonical but derived from studying illustrations in RQ2, the Guide to Glorantha, etc.] A great variety of helmets are worn in central Genertela; the selection below is not definitive. Whilst certain designs are historically associated with particular regions, this does not denote the territory within which a particular helmet is found. A: Pelandan 1 is knowns as a pseudo-mostali, claimed to be based on the helmets acquired by Daxdarius, and now worn only by gladiators. 2-6 are hoplite helmets, and may be worn by phalanx soldiers across Peloria, Dragon Pass and Prax. B: Dara Happan 1 is a simple bronze cap; 2 adds a cranial ridge; 3-7 a nose-guard and various levels of added protection. C: Pelorian Some are clearly developed from the Pelandan helmets, though others, such as 5 are virtually identical to those worn by some Orlanthi. 10 is decorated with an embossed or incised moustache and beard. D: Saird Related to the Pelorian but 1-5 have a high and forward inclined lobate apex; in 1-2 stylized as a horse’s head. 6-7 are Yelmalion ‘hawk helms’. E ‘Barbarian Belt’ 1-3 are simple ‘pot’ helmets; 4 is more complex; 5 is imposing and the helm of a king or champion; 6 is fashioned from boars’ tusks; 7 is an example of a Grazelander helmet. F: Helmet Furniture A variety of forms of decoration are added to helmets, though usually only heroes, champions and officers so advertise their presence on the battlefield. Such furniture adds to the weight of the helmets and poses the risk of an enemy grasping it, so may be made to be easily detachable. The helmets shown are only examples; such decoration can be added to almost all helmet designs at the whim of the wearer. 1-3 add horse hair crests; 4 has a plume; 5 a feather; 6 horns and is typical of an Uroxi helmet; 7, the Grazelander helmet includes a horse figurine with a tail made of hair. Nose-guards are often styled as Death or Truth Runes.
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Different Worlds #24 AD&D: Pregnancy And Adventure by Colleen A. Bishop (the Mostali issue). Different RPG, but the system shock roll could be translated (into a CON x 5 roll with a failure causing damage depending on the level of failure), as well as the long-term CON results. Your comment was ambiguous...
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Normal birth for a broo is eating its way out...
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Quite possibly.
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Numerous complications, I'm sad to say. Hope your father is okay. I suspect that the costume varies both outside and in, with a different costume for each of the three 'aspects' inside a temple. I believe it is inevitable that the regional costumes will vary. Uleria is a universal goddess, but her 'church' is not unified. I have only the speculations made earlier about the Esrolian costume: nothing canonical. Perhaps the forthcoming Notchet book will provide an answer, or jajagappa will post one here.
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The first question to ask is: which culture do those depictions come from? One thing we often forget is that even in terrestrial cultures, the attributes of a deity could vary widely, even over a relatively small area. Any Classical Greek would consider the generally held views about one of their deities most people could give today both inaccurate and undetailed, even one such as Zeus. The same must be true for Glorantha, where the apparent geographical spread of a name gives the illusion of a uniformity that is unlikely to be valid everywhere. It would be tiresome to use the variant names for Orlanth across the 'Barbarian Belt', but on the other hand such variation indicates the variants in belief. The guide tells us that Orlanth's worship is influenced by the proximity to different holy mountains; almost all the material we have is true for Sartar, but unlikely to be so accurate elsewhere.
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Sorry to hear that. My 82 year old mum had a heart attack in June. Many of these costumes derived from court dress in the Late Roman Empire. Which may be a 'local' style, derived from the fairly strict Yelmalion dress code. The Uleria temple in Pavis is in Sun Town...
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Personally, I take those images as representing deities, not the usual everyday wear of their worshippers. Just as the Masks of the Gods in Pavis:GtA and the associated costumes are divine representations. There, the Goddess of Lust wears only a short cape, anklets and bracelets. [The goddess the Orlanthi identify as Uleria is on the bottom row, second from the right.]
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Bear in mind that many Praxians settled in Peloria in the First Age after the Battle of Argentium Thri’ile : the Sables are the only ones to have survived intact, and were recruited to the Lunar Way in 1275 because of their ancient link to the Twin Stars. The Bison Riders founded dynasties of Sylila and Vanch - In 1349 the Bison Kings of Vanch were defeated by the Conquering Daughter during her Second Daughter’s Road campaign. It is significant that the Lunar Provincial regiment that retains a link to the time of the Bison Kings is the Foot Bison, who fight as light infantry.
