JonL

It's a shame that there's no secret god of thieves who infiltrates other gods' myths through impersonating side-characters. Their followers would be super helpful for this sort of thing, if it were worth their while.

Also known as, "Inglorious Mallards."

Another ELo10kG observation: In describing Pelangio's occupation, the writer says that if he had come as a petitioner rather than a conqueror, he would have been welcomed. When the Third Age Yelmalions do just that, they are.

I'll note that any descendant of a King of Dragon Pass and a Feathered Horse Queen has Yelmic lineage through the latter.

I imagine it's largely a matter of personality and temperament, along with how they feel about their particular community. Some guys join the Army right out of high-school to get a ticket out of their home town and never look back. Others put down deep roots in their home town. Neither is objectively right or wrong.

Elmal tradition as such almost had to have come South into Kethalia with the Vingkotlings (who had themselves gained it when they integrated the Hyalorings). ELo10kG shows the earliest local conception of Sky there as Harono, Good King of the Sky people, who is slain by Orlanth when the Vingotlings come. Unlike the northern conceptions of Yelm though, he was neither a Bad nor Good Emperor. After initial moves to conquer the realm and marry the Queen, he acknowledges her virtue and becomes an allied protector. Orlanth slaying him does not start the Gods War though. That comes when a hubristic trio perverts Imarja's worship lessons and sacrifices Her to themselves to become Immortals. ELo10kG also has two Dawn narratives. One has the Sun as the Egg of the reborn Imarja. The other has Asrelia waking up from a death slumber and telling Ernalda to start a fire and wake everyone else. Ernalda rouses Veskarthen, who thaws and awakens Elmal, who wakes his daughter and bids her to open the door to Asrelia's hut (Theya as Elmal's daughter? I like it.). When Elmal emerges, the Sun rises. So already there's starting to be some importing of Vingkotling (or even proto-Heortling) ideas and myths mingling with the Imarja-centered traditions. Second Age accounts include both an explicitly pro-Elmali & anti-Yelmalion account of an EWF invasion we mentioned above, as well as an account of a three-day massacre of Nochet's God Learners led by one Kestenelmal. Interestingly, Tharkantus/Yelmalio is described as being the son of the White Light, a phrase previously used to describe Palangio and Nysalor, respectively. By the Third Age Elmal is counted as one of Ernalda's pantheon in the Temple of Thirteen, but the description of the Noble Brothers Temples includes both Nolerianmar, “son of Elmal," and Yelmalio named as-such. To my eye, that points to an inflection point where Monroghist Sun Domers have begun to be welcomed into the fold alongside the longstanding local Elmali Little Sun tradition, in contrast to the grudge described in the EWF Sun Domer recounting. Elmal in Esrolia likely looks quite different than we got in the HQ books or video games though. None of the mentions of Elmal describe a connection or allegiance to Orlanth, though I imagine Heortland's Elmal tradition looks more like the Loyal Thane that was eventually re-imported to Dragon Pass. Now, ELo10kG is explicitly a semi-source like all the Stafford Library works; a compilation of ideas as they existed when they were written. Chaosium is clearly approaching Little Sun stuff differently in new works than what you'll find therein. Even knowing that though, it's the best picture of the Esrolian perspectives on this stuff that we have at present.

Do you think Vantar might be the same place as "Vanx" mentioned in E:Lo10kG's account of an EWF-era Yelmalion incursion? (I initially thought Vanx to Vanch, but that's a bit more of a trek.)

I'd expect most of the Yelmalions in Esrolia to be Sun Dome mercenaries garrisoning the noble houses holdings where they face a hostile frontier, along with the consular/shrine community in Little Vantar. Along with that you'd have "Yelmalion" adherents of the local traditions. Their relationship with the Monroghists is probably quite varied, depending on local circumstances. Esrolia wasn't part of the conditions and events that led to the success of Monrogh's movement in Sartar. On the one hand, that means that local Elmali weren't magically swept up in the revelation en masse thanks to supporting Monrogh's heroquest. OTOH, it wasn't something that they had to take a side on or dig in to reject either. The Holy Country is already pretty darn heterodox and pluralistic, so Sun Domers showing up with their variation on the Little Sun tradition wouldn't necessarily be a hostile takeover or schismatic situation. I'm reminded of how Catholic parishes in US cities that cater to different immigrant communities have varying traditions, favorite saint feasts, art, and so on, but don't regard one another as separate sects either. I imagine there's some cross-pollination in play as well, as the Sun Domers bling and swagger attracts locals who find such appealing, while integrating themselves into Esrolian rites and social structures requires some adaptation on the Sun Domers' part as well.

Fellow enthusiasts of the more complex Elmal/Yelmalio relationship of years gone by will find things to enjoy in Esrolia: The Land of Ten Thousand Goddesses.

The royal standing army reporting to regional governors disbanding and mostly hiring on with various noble houses' private forces isn't functionally all that different if everyone hangs together and cooperates for the common good. That is, of course, an "if" the size of the Block. Time for an Argan Argar champion to crash the marriage contest (perhaps taking advantage of a Yelmalion having shouldered out the local Elmali), win Esrola's hand, and unleash the Unity magic!

Expanding on this, welcoming Yelmalions makes some sense in the face of a growing population of Orlanthi immigrants fleeing Lunar-occupied Sartar and the perceived threat of Broyan's rise. Playing Heler and Elmal factions off against one another is great until a rising Orlanth faction threatens to unite them. Having an Orlanth-antagonistic Sky faction around, especially one whose loyalty they can outright purchase, starts to look appealing. (I think the Red Earth faction's cozying up to the Lunars followed similar reasoning, at least in part.)

What I would imagine and expect... * Elmal was known there of old, probably as far back as the late Storm Age, see the Heler v Elmal annual competition for Esrola's hand tradition. It will not have been super prominent during the Only Old One's reign though. * Proto-Yelmalio worship in the form of Daysanerus arrives with Palangio during the Bright Empire occupation. They likely walk all over the local Elmali holy sites and show that Elmal and Daysanerus are not different through the wonders of Illumination, but their dominance is brief. Arkat shows up with an army, wrecks them, and gets cozy with the Darkness. * God Learners and EWF probably both had people in Nochet poking around for obscure Little Sun lore to support their competing projects, including the EWF's revival of the Sun Domes (which would eventually be turned against them). * In the last century, Esrolia was not subjected to Lunar/Pelorian religious imperialism the way that northern Sartar was, nor were the local Elmali ritually contributing to Monrogh's heroquest. As such, Monrogh's revelation did not become their new reality as it did for so many to the North. As Esrolia was friendly to the Kitori, Sun Dome County was not a welcome development, but the Grandmothers are pragmatic. "The Goddess has many husbands." * The Yelmalion revivalists from Vantar probably showed up expecting to supplant/absorb the local Elmali as they had in Sartar (and see what ancient cool Daysanerus stuff they could find there), but were less successful than they were accustomed, being outside the immediate influence of Monrogh's quest (to say nothing of the cult's male chauvinist streak). The Grandmothers are always happy to have another masculine faction set in rivalry against others though (especially against Orlanthi), so they help Little Vantar happen. Note that the map has Esrola's temple in Kimantor's Plaza though, and Hendira had Troll bodyguards. Belintar may be gone, but the tradition of keeping the various elemental factions in balance is not entirely dead.

Thanks, Rick. I maybe overreacted a bit reading the above "Oh, I guess I'll have to delete all this HQ stuff I wrote so that I can publish it." (paraphrased). I know y'all are trying your best with this stuff, and I'm by no means trying to encourage some sort of malicious compliance behaviour. I'll leave you with this to consider on those terms though, intended entirely as constructive criticism for whenever you next update them: If the intent is for JC to be solely for Glorantha works, the QWSRD is prohibited from use for such, and the "no other terms" language in the license might conflict there even if you were to open up to other settings (To y'all's credit, the "I want to..." chart on the licensing page does reflect this correctly). I get that you're kindly aiming to leave the door open for anyone to use the updated QW mechanics until such time as you have an actual QWG or core book to sell them, and as you point out, you aren't in the business of playing "gotcha" with your licensees, but it is something to think about.

<waves in rare soul> While I'll enjoy a few hours of RQ a couple times a year, I'm mainly a HQ guy. I'd be much more into buying it separately than as part of a three volume hardback set for a game i don't play very often.

As written, that's "You must use one of these approved rulesets, including the one that's a toolkit framework for making your own rulesets." - I mean, I suppose I shouldn't complain because it's better for potential authors, but I don't think that's how they actually want this to work. What's particularly confusing about this is that you could functionally implement HW/HQ1-style mechanics using the QuestWorlds SRD v.1 (the first public release), with ease. Later versions go in some new directions evolving towards what will appear in the upcoming QW core book, but the early iterations were very much in a space of providing a toolkit that represented a superset of the previous editions from which you could use whichever pieces make sense for your game. It already puts stuff like AP bidding that HQ2 dropped back on the table. Referring to or quoting things specifically from HW or HQ1 that aren't replicated in the SRD would still be off limits, but as written your own implementation of things in the older style should be OK. (Unless it's not. 🤷‍♂️)

I'm glad to read this. The perimeter & # of troops dynamics were something that previously short-circuited making an effective fortification that didn't resemble Constantinople.

I expect prolonged sieges in Glorantha frequently end with magic providing an out-of-context solution to the usual stalemate. The Crimson Bat shows up. Jaldon eats his way through the walls. Belintar turns a picket line into a Hadrian's Wall-scale fortification. Of course if both sides have enough resources, things can escalate to Castle Blue scale madness. This does provide an incentive for each side to perhaps try to break things up via storm/sally before the opposition marshals sufficient resources to escalate to epic-level conflict. If Sun Dome Templars besieging a Castle of Lead escalates to the level where amped-up champions heroforming Yelmalio and Zorak Zoran get into a grudge match before the gates, there's a decent chance there won't be much left of the battlefield for the victors to claim.

Are you strong and popular enough to fend off a rival claim from a cousin who would usurp your lands and titles on the pretense that your lineage is illegitimate? If so, then it's legitimate.

Strong Amway/Scientology energy.

VeVe's specific model is a bit unusual. They are sitting on a very large pile of OMI tokens, a digital currency created by their parent company. When you buy gems in-app with regular money, they don't sell you any OMI as such, but they do set aside the equivalent value in OMI from their reserve to cover any transactions you make. When you use those gems to buy something, they use the reserved OMI to process the blockchain transaction. The more OMI get tied up in VeVe purchases (as buyers have no easy way at present to sell their purchases on outside of VeVe's marketplace), the fewer remain in circulation overall - which they think is going to raise the value of OMI over time. Somehow. Many VeVe enthusiasts seem to also hold OMI independently, hoping to ride along with its hoped-for eventual rise. tl,dr; VeVe gems aren't crypto-currency exactly, but more like a bank-note or store gift-card backed by crypto-currency.

A kicker on the efficiency claims though: VeVe is not wrong that their use of the ImmutableX blockchain is many times more efficient than transacting directly with the Etherium chain would be. They effectively use IX as an intermediate store and then regularly batch many (low power) IX transactions into a single (high power) Etherium transaction. Perhaps whatever offsets they buy to offset that energy use are actually sufficient to counter the impact of these transactions. There still remains a significant externalized impact: the expansion of the Etherium chain itself. Even if VeVe is meaningfully offsetting their own power use, the batches of data they regularly add to the end of the Etherium chain make every other Etherium transaction that anyone ever makes thereafter that much bigger, and thus more compute/power intensive. While it's good that VeVe minimizes their Etherium transactions, nothing they can do can reduce the impact of their additions on Etherium as-a-whole's ever increasing hunger for electricity.

A big part of the unwitting-ness is engineered by outfits like VeVe doing their best to present an image of a greener more legitimately operated marketplace for folks like Disney or Chaosium to have a plausibly ok partner with whom to answer the call of the easy money. And I'm not prepared to say that anyone I've just named is acting in bad faith. I expect that Chaosium sincerely accepted VeVe's attestations as valid redress for the many problems with NFTs, and in that light looked at the partnership as similar to what they do with Red Bubble. Hopefully they're continuing to listen and learn as well.

The prices keep going up because demand continues to exceed supply even as the supply increases. Of course since there aren't many things you can directly purchase with it, the demand is driven largely by money laundering, black market transactions, tax evasion, ransomware payoffs, and (more recently) NFTs. I do believe that Dash and McCoy were sincere in their efforts to make something analogous to signed & numbered print runs or limited edition LPs in the digital media space when they came up with the concept. Many of the people who built that up into the current mess were absolutely looking to gin up demand for their hard-to-liquidate assets though.

The tokens themselves are unique (barring a forked blockchain) and cannot be divided. However what Bernwyn was getting at is that there is no guarantee that there aren't any number of other NFTs containing links to identical files, or even to the exact same file. If disclosed this can be entirely legitimate, like having a run of signed and numbered prints. Or it can not be, as the marketplace is infested with bad actors and there is no meaningful oversight.

Yeah, that video is a masterpiece. The Atlantic published an essay last April by Anil Dash, one of the people who came up with the NFT concept some years back, that could be summarized as, "This dumpster fire is not what we were trying to enable. Please, just stop."