Tindalos

The quote's in the Book of Heortling Mythology, along with a much lengthier description of what the spirit can do.

Oh true enough. I wouldn't think it would be common charm anyway, and certainly never intended to imply they were. Morokanth thumbs are mentioned Pavis: Gateway to Adventure, as an NPC has one; so we know they exist. I'm just saying that in HQ terms, I'd treat them as a charm. (In a purely mechanical point of view, having it as a charm might be a worse option than just taking a morokanth retainer to do your manual work, since you'd then have to deal with the thumb's taboo. Such is the price of thumbs.) Edit: Ah yes, Mr. Greatness. His thumb helps make him stand out, because he uses it to show off: writing his own name, arm-wrestling strangers, holding things, or even just wriggling it about. This is a perfect example of why I like the thumbs, but would prefer them to be kept rare. They're a distinctive feature.

Well, why not? If you've got a wooden leg, why not invite a spirit to live in it that could grant you running magic? People use magic all the time to grant them abilities they lack, or enhance abilities they do have. From acting like your god to walk on the winds, through calling upon a fish spirit to swim faster, or commanding the runes to let you walk across the water. Why wouldn't the Morokanth find spirits that could aid them with tasks that require hands to do so? Morokanthi bagpipes is such a terrifying idea. I love it.

I'd say Morokanth Thumbs would be a good example of a charm. As long as you obey the taboo, the spirit holds the thumb to your hoof, and the spirit aids you with your attempt to do fine manipulation.

Of course as David has mentioned, most Praxians don't slaughter their own herds. They're a sign of wealth, and essential for living on the plains. Still, there's also plenty of other products you can get from an animal without eating it. Their pelts can be used to make string and rope (You might even find a Morokanth's prized herdman with long braided hair, just so that it can be cut off and used as rope when needed) Their cows can also be milked. With the limited water of the wastes, milk will be a valuable resource, and when fermented into kumis is also a good aid to relaxation. Their hide can be turned into leather for tents, loincloths, shields, and belts. Their bones can be used to make various tools, including pins, weapon hafts, spearheads. Their teeth could also be set into a scourge to make it even more painful. Their fat can be rendered into tallow, and then combined with ashes to make soap. (Which could be used as a pomade for a Morokanth's hide, or to keep the aforementioned prized herdmen's hair in good condition.) Their organs can also be turned into waterskins. Of course, some of these can also apply to non-Morokanthi Praxians, since they're more likely to slaughter herdmen.

I personally wouldn't link eating meat with darkness. Darkness' connection is with hunger itself, and indeed many of its manifestations (fungi and insects) eat plants primarily. With regard to the Morokanth, I'd say that their Darkness connection isn't about their diet, but about their attitudes and actions. Take, for example, Waha's Covenant. Among the Praxians, it is a burden to eat meat. It has to be cooked to make safe, it requires slaughtering a valuable herd beast, and the beasts need protecting. The Morokanth instead made a deal with Waha so that they can eat the fertile provender of Prax, straight off the ground. And to do this they placed the burden of meat-eating onto their herds! To the Praxians, this shows duplicitous nature, willing to cheat their way out restrictions; it shows their cruelty, to burden their herds with a penalty they would not accept themselves; and it shows their hunger, that they would do anything to fill their bellies with grass. On the other hand, this is who the Morokanth are. They may be sneaky, cruel, and greedy, but they're still members of the Covenant. The other Praxians understand this, and also know that they do care for their herds, in their own way. It also means that the herdmen are going to be butchered first by any other Praxian, because feeding them is too much work, so any raid on Morokanth herds tends to be for immediate food, or to rescue slaves.

Especially given the presence of the Solar Draconic Emperor in the Gods' War game.

I'd be tempted to also draw a link to Niti Fer a Waha, described in much the same way, just for a neighbouring area (As it's a demonic imp of Pent.) The name alone raises some interesting possibilities.

Given the mythology of Pocharngo features him being torn to pieces, it's quite possible. Maybe his stomach or something similar.

True enough, and I like the names myself, so I'm happy to use them. But I can understand using terrestrial names, just like using trolls instead of Uz.

It generally creates distinction without difference. You'll end up with things that look like Impala, behave like Impala, but are called Ornarl. And while that's a perfectly good name in Praxian, it can be confusing for outsiders (like players) to keep track of.

IMG, drama (that is, the acting out of events which are not true for entertainment) is an invention of the Lunar Empire, and one of the secrets of the goddess. In part this is a practical restriction for other cultures. After all, acting out the deeds of gods and heroes can bring about a connection to the Otherside and the invocation of great powers. Who knows what would happen if you started invoking stories which never happened? To the Lunars, however, being and non-being are two sides of the All. Possibilities, what might have happened but what never did, are all just as valid for performance as what actually did. And in this way, it is another example of the Lunar power of Glamour.

So presumably something similar to the "defaults to 1/(fraction)" rule for languages within the same family? With things such as Nysalor's Bight Empire, modern Dara Happan may have picked up a lot of loanwords and developments from Theyalan languages, enough to make modern speakers have trouble with early to predawn documents, which would be written in a form of Dara Happan more akin to the Firespeech.

IMG, this comes down to a matter of perspective. Different nations, peoples, families, and tribes will have gods with differing names but similar attributes. Are these the same gods wearing different masks, or different gods fulfilling the same archetype? Ultimately, it makes little difference. Knowledge priests will debate it, perform Truth contests, and find evidence for both sides. And still life goes on. The crops get harvested the same, no matter the name they use.

Just wanting to mention that it seems that Yu actually means Imperial, as in Imperial Kargzant/Yu-Kargzant. Likewise, Yuth/Yuthu-, from Yuthuppa and Yuthubars, likely means "Imperial Spirit," and thus god.

As Jeff said, the Cold Sun is just cold compared to the sun of the Golden Age. It's weaker but that doesn't mean freezing. After all, the sun during the winter may not be as warm as it is in the summer, but it certainly helps get rid of the chill of a winter's night.

I'm not sure it's even that much. The numbers given in Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes is 1000 Elmali to 3000 Yelmalians. I imagine the Sun Domers like to think of themselves as those who are Right, and the Elmali are just those who were left.

Could I suggest the addition of a Play by Post forum? This could function both as a place where games may be held, and also for advertising and locating games held elsewhere.

Given that according to the guide, "Most Orlanthi say the Sun is Elmal, a thane of Orlanth," (Pg 646) the followers of the Good Sun/Sun of Life/Friendly Sun would still be Elmali. It's just that the Orlanthi recognise that the Sun got back its lifegiving powers when Yelm came back to life and acknowledge Orlanth. Until then it was the sun of the Great Darkness, on top of Kero Fin. But now Elmal's father has returned, Elmal can use his powers (The Torch of Life) for Orlanth's benefit.

A Pamaltelan version is mentioned briefly in Revealed Mythologies: "During the Artmali Period, Varama-by-another-name acted out of pride and fell." Which is noted to be a lesser sun god, who inherited Kendalamar(the original Sun God of the Doraddi)'s position after he died. The Artmali Period is around the same time sequence as the Storm Age or Lesser Darkness. To respond to Ali the Helering's mention of the Chen Durelite suns, the Solar Storm's enlightenment and disappearance, and the appearance of the Blood Sun, could also be an example of this basic myth structure. To play a different type of God Learner, these little suns seem much like ways of describing/justifying the limited powers of fire and sun in the darkness. "Our Sun is remote/hurt/the son of the old sun/with us/a monstrous being fed with blood."

I believe they're meaning the Dara Happan Sacred Alphabet on page 103/104, which has the suffixes.

Interestingly, going back to Cults of Prax, it says "Humakt worshippers are never Ressurected." With resurrected capitalized, unlike other uses of the word. It's quite possible that this reference is specifically talking about the Resurrection spell, and not all forms of coming back from the dead (although being neither Stafford or Perrin, I can't be sure.) Other resurrection spells are mentioned as existing, they're just not as easy or foolproof (such as the Eirithan Seal Spirit spell,) and it may be feasible that there would exist those which would work on Humakti.

This of course brings out a wonderful possibility. It is said in the Seven Mothers cult write up (for instance Pavis:GtA pg 400) that the Seven Mothers holy days are held on the Full Moon days (Wildday for Pavis and Dragon Pass,) and the Guide's calendars list the holy days there as being Lunar rather than just the Seven Mothers. So perhaps in the Silver Shadow, every day is a Holy Day, and a time of celebration at the immanence and imminence of the Red Goddess. The Red Emperor's great parties are held to celebrate his mother, as a part of these glorious days.

I admit I was assuming the slightly more civilized forms, the bands of broo that "What do you want? Shut up - What the Broo Shaman says" was written about, Ogres, and such -- and assuming that knowledge would drift from these groups to the more savage variety (along with a kind of instinctual knowledge of the bogs)

I agree, I've really been enjoying seeing the illustrations here, and it will be a shame to see them go. Unless of course this is signalling the completion of your magnum opus, which would be very good news indeed.