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aumshantih

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Everything posted by aumshantih

  1. Namaste folks: After several years away from Glorantha, I can feel another exploration calling to me. However, I find myself in a predictament. While I respect the newest version of RuneQuest, it's just not my thing. My last three or so forays into Glorantha have been done using HeroQuest, which while has yielded some great stories, hasn't really scratched my gamist urges. I've been playing a bit of Forged in the Dark games lately, and have fallen in love with the system. Before I spent a ton of time hacking it to make it work for Glorantha, I figured I would ask around to see if anyone else has attempted such a thing. The campaign that is current occupying my imagination is about the Lunars and the Kalikos Icebreaker expeditions, and how things get complicated. (It may or may not be a parable about present the climate change situation we find ourselves in.) "We Are All Us!"
  2. Namaste folks: A friend of mine in my localish gaming group was able to dig up an original copy, and we've had some good times playing it. Is there any news about when it might be republished?
  3. Look at all those Death runes! Do we all get to dissolve into glowing red Lunar gorp?
  4. There is a modern (2019) Chinese television series based on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investiture_of_the_Gods_(2019_TV_series) I started watching it here. https://www.amazon.com/Investiture-of-the-Gods/dp/B07SRHCNQY Unsure of the quality of the adaption, but it's something to look into.
  5. Ah yes, the infamous Brithini spleenpendix. It atrophies immediately when exposed to Error, and no one has been successful at regaining such an elusive organ.* * Do not believe the Red Vadeli surgeon's lies about being able to transfer a spleenpendix from a living Brithini into a new owner.
  6. If Genert was able to survive and withstand Chaos, I suspect Genertela would be a lot more like Pamaltela. Genert would have some equivalent of Pamalt's Necklace - a collection of deities / Majestic Spirits allied with him. I'm unsure if they'd be as animistic in nature, given The North quadrants generally theistic bent to things. Relations between Genert's Group and other large pantheons would be complex. Yelm's pantheon would likely be hostile. The West would be very different - unsure if Frona or Seshna would bend to the will of the Malkioni sorcerers as easily as they did. Kralorela would likely maintain is draconic independence. Teshnos would likely be better integrated into central Genertelan culture. Not sure what would happen to Orlanth in this situation - a Lightbringer's quest would likely still be necessary to bring back the Sun, but I could see it being organized by Genert and his children instead of Mr. Sun-Killer himself. As for what happens during History - I mean, it's all upside down and topsy turvy. Is there a need for a Nysalor project when you've got big daddy Genert right there? And who knows what would happen in the second age with the God-Learners and the EWF?
  7. The most flexible Illumination rules are in Heroquest Glorantha, though not many concrete examples are provided. Connecting it to the Infinity Rune + another Rune is an elegant solution, and allows for all different styles and schools of illuminants. I'm finding it particularly useful for my Vithelan game, where the various great mystics are associated with several Runes.
  8. "Terthinus, the King of the Malasp merfolk, found a terrible new god at the bottom of the ocean floor. He took it back to his people, and fell worship was done to it. They prayed that all of the wealth of the air dwellers who skimmed across the surface of the seas would fall into their lands. This prayer was granted, after a fashion." One of several parallel explanations on the Closing discovered by my Vithelan heroes, based on snippets in the Guide and "Men of the Sea". Any idea what it is? A strange side effect of Zzabur's spell? The sunken remnants of the Boat Planet? Or something else entirely?
  9. I can't agree with this more. This is a fantastic thread, and would have been helpful when I was running my game in Fronela. Currently, I'm running a Vithelan game, and I remember coming across this from Revealed Mythologies. Vit. Malkioni name of the pagan “god” of the East, Vith. Vit was one of the Early Rebels, and with his powers managed to capture the sun. Zzabur’s Great Blast knocked Vit down; the sun was released from his grip, and rose to make the Dawning. Which is super curious, as there isn't really any mention of this happening in the Vithelan mythos in Revealed Mythology. It is widely acknowledged that Vithela experienced the Great Darkness in a very different way than much of the rest of Glorantha, and this line in particular stands out. Perhaps Vith employed mystical Refutation and, at least from the perspective of his children, stopped the Sun from dying.
  10. ... wow I have been doing this exercise myself as I continue my explorations of Vithela. Herespur is known as the "Traitor" or the "Liar", which is sort of mirror-universe-Humakt. But then again, Oorsu Sara makes a lot of sense as mirror-universe-Orlanth, now I just want the Vithelan POV be akin to classic Star Trek Mirror Universe episodes, complete with bad facial hair.
  11. YGWV, but in my game, it was always blessed Mairnali, come from the furthest East, who saw the chaos and disharmony the Antigod Oorsu Sara / Orlanth brought to the world, and sought out a way to Heal it. Chalana's outright pacifism always struck me as a highly mystical refutation of violence.
  12. A myth from Vithela, from the Creation Cycle The First Planet and the First Star, or How Kendarmin was made First was Sound. Next was Music. Last was Dance. Korudel, the First Sound, became fascinated with Oorduren. The Final Dancer, who, despite the tumult of creation, remained motionless and Still. The Other Sounds, Musicians and Dancers whirled about, joyously continuing the act of Creation. But Oorduren stood in Stillness. So Korudel, gazed down upon them. They gazed down at them for 10^10 years attempting to discern their motives. Korudel’s great gaze was so strong, that it burnt a hole through the Firmament of the Sky. The first hole in firmament became Kendarmin, the Pole Planet, Celestial Sage, the Parloth Who Knows. (Truth / Law) For another eternity, Kendarmin applied his gaze down upon Ooduren the Sage. Creation moved tumultuously, gloriously unfolding between the great dualities that danced and made music to the cosmic sounds. Through it all, Ooduren stood at the Center, unmoved. Kendarmin realized that within Oorduren’s Stillness was Freedom, and in that moment, knew Liberation. He uttered the first Word. “Tanye!”, and with it, became the Second Sage. Korudel opened another eye to gaze at what their son had realized.
  13. Your Vithela will vary, but our intrepid heroes have discovered the Tanyen name of the Blue Moon is "Watalbu". (In "Revealed Mythologies", Watalbu is the last listed child of Vith and Gebkeran, and no details are provided about them in the in Glossary..) After exploring the ruins of Artmali Brutalist architecture, they have come across the dread realization: աǟȶǟʟɮʊ ɨֆ աǟȶƈɦɨռɢ
  14. I've been continuing my explorations of this in my game, as the heroes are now heading to the Sky Dome for their first "real" HeroQuest. My current interest is in what the Vithelans might think of the Blue Moon. It's runic associations (Water / Moon / Darkness), seem to imply that its firmly an Adpara / antigod, but its place in the heavens implies that it has some claim to Parloth or Sheradpara status.
  15. For inspiration for Kralorela and Vithela, I highly recommend this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havoc_in_Heaven Really, "Journey to the West" could be a fantastic Gloranthan resource.
  16. *sigh* While I'm sure Alexander's Hellenic influence greatly shaped a lot of things in India, various martial arts were documented in the Epics that took place far before he showed up. The Sanskrit term "śastra-vidyā" - weapon-knowledge- was used as a catch all category for various martial arts. While wrestling was a very popular sport practiced by the Kshaitrya-caste, actual unarmed combat wasn't really much of a thing. The bow, the sword, the mace, the discus, the spear - all these weapons had vidyā's devoted to them. In Glorantha - well, the Vithelans are the major culture that has martial arts as a fundamental part of their mythology, deities and practices. (I include the Kralori, Vormaino, and Teshnans as a part of Vithelan culture, though they have all gone their own way.)
  17. The many islands of Vithela likely have the best martial artists in Glorantha. Sadly, Vithela is tragically under-explored, but I'm hoping to fix that.
  18. Could you elaborate more on any of these?
  19. Thanks Ian. I'll give it a look over. For the game I'm running, we've mostly used HQ2, with the following changes: Moved from d20 to d10. Halved numbers, and its worked fairly well. Instead of Hero Points, we've given out Rune Points. Every session, each hero gets 3 random runes from the approved list. These can be used as Hero Points as usual, but if they are used in challenge in accordance to the Rune, the Hero also earns 1 XP towards an ability used in that contest. Here's a link, if you'd like to look at it in more detail: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aZbsmLrPE-xieRKTRtwzOTGXTnxQDp2dYUmy8mVEzns/edit#heading=h.pqj4p9ixf5zv
  20. That's a real shame about it not being more freely available. I'd love to see other rules systems for Glorantha, and John Wick has written some great ones over the years.
  21. And now for something completely different: In the game I am running currently, we are looking at the Theft / Unequal Exchange Rune from the perspective of the Thief Antigodess of Vithela. "But Bandan was not foolish enough to depend on those armies alone. He made the Terrible Sacrifice, which is of living beings, and made Sedsaru come and obey him. He then made her invisible, and sent her into the gods’ own resplendent city of delight. It was so beautiful that she was almost tempted away from her mission, but in the end she stole only the Singing Conch Shell. She gave it, then, to Great Keltari, and went back to Bandan to beg for another chance to enter the gods’ city in secret." - from "The Keltari War, or the End of the High God Cycle, or, How the Islands were Made." Sedsaru. Vithelan antigod of theft, worshipped by Vithelans who steal, and also widely honored in a mango harvest festival. She is one of the Adpara, and was once instrumental in helping Keltari conquer the gods. - from "Revealed Mythologies" There are some interesting parallels we can make if we put on our God Learner hats. Again theft / the trickster are linked to "the terrible sacrifice" - the discovery of Death. Unsure where the mango festival comes in, but I have some ideas abrewing.
  22. I must say, this round of artwork was breath-taking. After many years away, I have found myself exploring Glorantha again, for a mixture of old and new players. Having such resources available to share has been a delight.
  23. Namaste all: My explorations of Vithela continue to proceed apace. We've been trying to introduce players to the elements of the world via centering each session around telling one or more myths, each one thematically resonant with a story theme or a character's backstory. This upcoming session involves introducing the Vithelan Sky World, and discussing which of the Parloth live there. I'm going to collate things between Revealed Mythologies and the appendix A of the Guide, and ask some questions here. My first question - which star corresponds to Tanye, goddess of Speech? Here's my first pass at correspondences, using the order listed in Appendix A of the Guide for sanity reasons. Many things are blank, and things with question marks are my correspondences, rather than found in either the Guide or Revealed Mythologies. Celestial Areas Celestial City - The Palace of the Parloth, Throne of Vith, Govmeranen, and so on. Celestial Forest Celestial Desert - Bits of this section were cast down during the Demigods Cycle. Celestial River - Watery Antigods invaded using this path during the Gods Cycle. Celestial Marsh Celestial Bodies The Sun - Maluraya, Viceroy of Day Sunpath Planets Entekos - Mitenkos, the Nourisher Lightfore - Sentharu, the Steward Lokarnos - Lomarthalonos, the Server Mastakos - Ombalavor, the Lover Southpath Planets Artia Shargash - Unvoreth, the Guardian Twinstars - The Rich Twins? Moons Red Moon Blue Streak Stars Dayzatar’s Eye Ourania Polestar - Kendarmin, the Sage Youth Constellations Arkat Bagog - Keltari? Dragon - Dogsalu, the Dragon Hunt - Hensarava, the Archer Lorion - Prosandara, Mother of Animals Sword Stars Tree - Yothbedta, Mother of Plants? Whisperers Seasonal Constellations Ice Palace Pamalt’s Spear Jumpers Kalikos - Mendoroko, Entertainer of Midnight Rausa - Ferenthomenta, Entertainer of the Evening Theya - Deshelda, Entertainer of the Morning (Erindamus) - Fothamaroko, Entertainer of Midday Special Phenomena Boat Planet - Finzalvo, the Fisherman? Dark Spot - Sheng Seleris? Jugger Kalikan Lights Lonely Cry Lost Rocks One Night Wish Orlanth’s Ring - Farsanrana, Viceroy of Night Sky Storm Stormgate
  24. There are bits in Revealed Mythologies and elsewhere that "Vith grabbed and held onto the Sun", which is probably Zzaburi propaganda, but that might explain the lack of Uz in Vithela. That makes a lot of sense, as Darkness and Water seem to be critical "Antigod" aligned elements. Eh, it seems like RQG has doubled down on "ALL ORLANTHI ALL THE TIME", and I for one have little interest in exploring that, nor it's overly complex system. I think there is a Anaxial's Annex reference for Andini's, but it's woefully lacking. Dogsalu / Hakka was summoned or created by the three sons of Vith, Ombardaru the Priest, Festanur the Shaman and Martalak the Sorceror. I wouldn't say Dogsalu is directly descended from any of the Avanparloth. I think similarly to many other Creation age myths, the Dragon arrives Out Of Someplace Mysterious. Another key draconic figure is Govmeranen, the Celestial King, son of Yothenera and Dogsalu. But certainly not all Vithelan deities have connections to Dogsalu, or would necessarily be considered draconic. Draconic mysticism is a valid path, but the three great mystics of Vithela have little, if any, connection to them. Yeah, big ix-nay on draconifying all the things. I guess it's fine for non-enlightened antigods like Orlanth and Ernalda. (It seems like they need the help!) The Collison of Worlds theory is what makes the most sense to me. It's a shame they have moved away from it - and seem to be mildly God-Learn-ing all the things as well, which is disappointing.
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