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M Helsdon

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  1. M Helsdon
    All true, but the Sartarites learnt a great deal from the dwarves: Saronil learned from them how to build towers, though the dwarves ceased to aid him (and may have killed him) when he used their knowledge to build a temple to Orlanth; his son Jarolar continued his work and was known as the wall-builder. And then there's the cult of Flintnail in Pavis, which accepts human initiates. For that matter, some dwarf cities within mountains have dwarf-built cities on the surface which humans mistake for the entirety. Given the exploits of Sartar, and the building by Saronil and Jarolar, it seems the Sartarites did gain a level of engineering and masonry knowledge from the dwarves.
  2. M Helsdon
    The houses of New Pavis differ a little, as I understand it because of the difference in climate: less rainfall so flat roofs are more likely. I suspect Sartarite architecture isn't just influenced by Esrolian, but by the masonry work Sartar and his descendants obtained from the Mostali. Regarding variations in style elsewhere: I can't say. However, as always the availability of materials and the environment will be a factor. One thing: the rural houses aren't depicted with their surroundings: there are likely to be other barns, sheds and outbuildings, and in many parts of Sartar farmsteads cluster in steadfasts (heavily fortified villages) with twelve foot high ramparts as a defense against the Telmori.
  3. M Helsdon
    Front elevation of three 'Ernalda Houses': Esrolian townhouse, Sartarite townhouse, Sartarite rural house.
  4. M Helsdon
    Oxen are cattle... usually castrated males.
  5. M Helsdon
    The Sartarite rural houses mostly include (the cottar has no oxen, so no stalls) stalls because it's traditional, even in longhouses, to have an area for livestock. Oxen are valuable; without them land can't be sown, and given the Sartarite tendency to cattle raiding, keeping them close is only sensible. I haven't included a livestock area for the urban houses, though some might include stables for horses or other riding animals.
  6. M Helsdon
    The roof: not overly large - see the thatched roofs on the previous page for the size of the roof span. I would hazard that the slope of roofs in Esrolia would be less than in Sartar - less snow. As a model, the Romans could span a roof space (using wood) of up to 30m wide, but that indicates a large and expensive building; ordinary homes would have a much smaller unsupported span. In drawing these, both the Sartarite and Esrolian, I had a relatively small size in mind, with a width no greater than an ordinary Roman house. The interior courtyard actually permits a larger size because the individual roof spans aren't great. The chieftain's hall, on an earlier page, is large and expensive, with its roof approaching the maximum possible for the 'period'. Regarding weight, thatched roofs, if properly made are thick and heavy, at least as heavy as a tiled roof. I've watched a house being thatched, and whilst the individual bales were light enough for a man to carry up a ladder, in total, the thatch is no slight weight. When buildings 'expand' over time there are a number of trends: demolition and rebuilding on a grander scale; the inclusion of other neighboring properties, simply knocking through walls (the irregular layout becomes a feature); a mixture of the two. Based on the ruins of building that grew in that way (the temples at Luxor and Karnak come to mind), an irregular outer edge is likely, with only the entrance façade being tidied up. Away from the street, I would expect large complexes at Nochet to be fairly haphazard. Regarding roof span - wrong period, but it shows what can be achieved: http://www.visitparks.co.uk/places/cressing-temple/ These barns built for the Knights Templar were very large and ornate for the period, but they show the sort of span basic engineering can give.
  7. M Helsdon
    http://www.glorantha.com/nochet-city-of-queens/
  8. M Helsdon
    Last one in this series for now... An Esrolian townhouse. Whilst the general layout is similar to the Sartarite townhouse, there are distinct differences. The main entrance does not directly enter the building but opens onto a vestibule and then the central courtyard. The main doors are directly ahead, with a waiting room for visitors and clients. An audience/feast hall with a raised platform is to the left, and entry to the private portions of the house lie beyond this with an imposing staircase up to the family rooms. Offices and storerooms lie to either side of the corridor leading to the stairs. On the other side of the house are the kitchens, rooms for retainers and storerooms. The upper floor is occupied by the family, with the matriarch having a suite of rooms in the upper left, and other large rooms for other important members of the household. Elsewhere are rooms for children, and chambers for the older sons and daughters. Looking at the latest map of Nochet, many of the Great Houses have a similar layout with a central courtyard, but tend to be rectangular complexes instead of square.
  9. M Helsdon
    On Glorantha, the equinoxes are when the Sun's path precisely bisects the Sun Dome - when the Sun will be directly overhead at noon; in summer the Sun Path heads north and the Sun is bright and days are longer, in winter, south and the Sun is pale and days are short?
  10. M Helsdon
    A selection of rural and urban 'Ernalda Houses': At the top a two storey town house, belonging to a wealthy clan. The courtyard is partially roofed, with a colonnade. The hearth for 'entertaining' is to the right, the family hearth to the left. Rooms for servants and workshops lie at the rear of the house. Two sets of stairs lead to the upper floor: the family stairs on the left, servants' on the right. The family rooms: sleeping accommodation, shrines etc. are on the upper floor. At the bottom, two large houses with an enlarged internal courtyard, a more modest carl's house, and a cottar's cottage. The two storey house has an internal gallery on the upper floor, with windows overlooking the courtyard. I imagine in the Esrolian equivalent the gallery might be on the outer wall.
  11. M Helsdon
    The Sun Path varies with the seasons, so the relative angle of the Sun will vary. Regarding house orientation, I see an alignment north/south, east/west as implicit in an Ernalda House, and living quarters, at least in Genertela, being on the south side to gain maximum warmth.
  12. M Helsdon
    I suspect that houses in an urban setting are likely to be more variable in size and shape: space within the walls is often at a premium and only the wealthy can afford not to be pragmatists about the layout of their houses. Many of the structures at Apple Lane are not homes but halls and barns. In Pavis there are some square houses with central courtyards or light wells, but many buildings are rectangular and divided into apartments and tenements.
  13. M Helsdon
    Seen from above.
  14. M Helsdon
    I should also add that I looked at some house plans for Mycenaean and Minoan houses. Also suspect that a cottar and half-carl's cottage is square, but laid out like a Steadholder's House, but without the barn.
  15. M Helsdon
    Purely my interpretation (and I've made a few changes to Jeff's design) but taking the outline and a few other sources, I come up with the following: A Steadholder's House, or Longhouse. Private habitation and hearth to the left, barn to the right. A Chieftain's Hall, modified slightly to fit into the square template. The 'public' hearth below, with a raised platform to the right, and private partitioned rooms for guests and retainers; the chief's private hearth above, with the chief's quarters and those of his guard. The Chieftains Hall might also be the house of a wealthy farmer. Two twinned longhouses, sharing a common open yard. I doubt the actual layouts would be exactly similar. An 'Ernalda House' with the barns above, a central courtyard (though it might be a roofed space), the 'inner rooms' to the left, including a hearth, private rooms for the family fronted by a platform; the 'outer rooms' to the right, including a hearth and guest chamber. A variant 'Ernalda House' similar to the first, but with the outer hearth below and two other chambers for guests, retainers, etc. I've assumed that in the 'Ernalda Houses' retainers and lesser members of the family sleep in the inner hearth. The variant provides the guards or door keeper with a hearth and so might be more suitable for colder climes. Regarding heat, the animals in the barn will generate warmth, and the hearths will circulate heat for the private rooms.
  16. M Helsdon
    May be of interest... https://www.lessingimages.com/search.asp?a=L&lc=202020204DBC&ln=Museum+fuer+Vorgeschichte%2C+Asparn%2FZaya%2C+Austria&p=1
  17. M Helsdon
    No, The Coming Storm details the Cinsina and especially the Red Cow clan and their neighbors, so it provides a more detailed examination of some people and places mentioned in earlier books. Where there's any apparent discrepancies, regarding house design, I imagine those can be attributed to variation within a culture: pre-modern societies never presented the same monoculture in architecture we are used to.
  18. M Helsdon
    The Coming Storm is fairly rich in depictions of Sartarites, and almost system free. Volume 2 will feature the adventures; Volume 1 has the history, locations and people. In addition to a Thracian/Dacian influence there's a fairly strong Mycenaean one as well.
  19. M Helsdon
    They have illustrated overviews of various settlements, ranging from cities (though most Sartarite cities are more like towns) and villages.
  20. M Helsdon
    Several are shown as semi-maps in Sartar:KoH (Boldhome, Swenstown, Wilmskirk) and Sartar Companion (Jonstown, Runegate) .
  21. M Helsdon
    I don't believe I'm speaking out of turn when I say that Volume 1 of The Coming Storm has finished layout.
  22. M Helsdon
    It depends very much what sort of world you are trying to emulate: if it has any equivalence to Bronze of Iron Age societies then cults and guild-like organizations will be a fact of life.
  23. M Helsdon
    You may be considering the vestiges of Chaos named as the Pre-Dark, which were probably very different from modern Chaos. Glorantha is a tiny bubble of order within Chaos (an island of order is simply one of the many variations of chaos). Once it formed it evolved, the details of which vary depending on the metaphysical tradition you formed, going through an elemental progression and reaching a plateau of stability. There was a slow gradual leak of Chaos into Glorantha, but this was simply a raw material for the expansion and evolution of the cosmos. Then things went wrong, the order started to decay, and some of the entities within Glorantha invited Chaos in - on entering Glorantha much of that Chaos was also corrupted, as it was corrupted, so that it took on forms, personalties and the stability became unstable, with order diminishing. Only the victory in I Fought We Won and similar stands held Chaos back and the introduction of Time returned a semblance of order, replacing disintegration with entropy. But Chaos remains within Glorantha, and the portions which have being and intellect hate the restrictions that order places upon them. Where Chaos lingers it festers and grows. Most Gloranthans realize their deities contributed towards the near end of the world, which is why, for example, the Lightbringers' Quest is so important to the Orlanthi, and why their Sacred Time rituals invite Chaos into their rite - so that it can be defeated. The Red Moon is simply a step in the evolution towards the White Moon, as part of the resurrection of a moon goddess who died before Time.
  24. M Helsdon
    Sartar: KoH and Sartar Companion remain key reference sources though only up to around 1621. The majority of the material remains valid, but of course the political situation is pretty fluid after that. The Coming Storm starts around the same time, but the campaign (in volume 2) runs on to the Dragonrise and beyond.
  25. M Helsdon
    I don't know regarding their re-release, but they mostly predate the Guide to Glorantha when the move towards more accurate pictorial representations picked up speed. The HeroQuest: Glorantha includes a great deal of accurate art, as will The Coming Storm volume 1. The latter is HeroQuest, not RuneQuest, but presents a great deal of systemless background material as well as a wealth of accurate picture references.
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