Jon Hunter

Cheers again, Interesting comment, can unpick what i think you mean by it. The tone of Glorantha is lighter and more 'moral' The world and the game has a positive and liberal view of sex and but doesn't want to be overly sexualised Grim sexual events usually have in world consequences If you are going to 'go there' do it for a reason, do it with taste, come back quickly have i read between the lines right there ? Jon

OK two new posts; The first is an Alternative Itinerary I put together for Joh Miths in my Campaign. http://www.backtobalazar.com/jo-miths-caravan-itinerary/ The 2nd is an editable format of the Gloranthan Calendar http://www.backtobalazar.com/gloranthan-calendar-editable-file/

Cheers Jeff, That sums the positive liberal view of sexuality and this prostitution which has been prevalent with Glorantha. It doesn't touch on some of the ropier areas I was enquiring about. Rape and slavery are both things which at least in some Gloranthan cultures are seen as chaotic behaviour. So are there laws, morals and norms that forbid the sexual exploration of slaves within Gloranthan societies? I can see the Orlanthi having big problems with the sexual exploitation of thralls. I can worshipper as Yelm, having different moral issues with it around class and what is 'becoming'. I'm not sure on the Lunars, or that they have many different and contradictory views. Or would it been seen as chaotic behaviour in some cultures but not in others? That leads me to a big question is the definition of chaos consistent across Glorantha?

No its not horror, imho its silly gross out stuff that glorifies the perversion. Horror is worth doing when it resonates with the evil that men do. If I go to the gross in my games i'm hoping to pull the best out of my players in response. In a sense create some Pathos in the game. We may have different definitions of fun. We hit the realms of snuff and necrophilia 'for a laugh'. Not my thing even if its fantasy, and jest. Imho I think there needs to be reason to go there. If we want to be impressed by the cleverness of how gross we can be, well that does nothing for me. In fact it repulses me. But if we want to face the evil that men do in fantasy situation, where its easier to deal with and face and respond to, that maybe a worthwhile reason for a game going there.

Cheers Jeff, I like to look at expanding the name lists out in ways that reflect real world languages groups and look like a language group of names. For my Balazaring list I plundered slavic because i thought it was interesting, and reflected the published names, added some published name prefixes and stems and created a hybrid that serves my purposes, and feels believable, though there do seem to be some duffers on my list. http://www.backtobalazar.com/balazaring-names/ I want to do the same, just so i create NPC's with believable and Cultural names, and hopefully my players hear a name and can guess the culture. Or at least have it feel right. Unfortunately when writing NPCs you don't want to names duplicate even though that would be common in a culture so id want a longer name list. I can see the empire having a large range of different naming conventions and groups. At least; Dara Happen Pelorian Provinces - with variations Carmathian and something different from the arcos river basin and i like the imperial names idea from the imperial handbook Any ideas of what real world sources to plunder and inspire that at least wont Jar?

I like deep down and dirty, but i use that for horror not cheap gags. If you go back to my original question it was whether Cyriel using Balazaring slaves as prostitutes to service lunar troops fitted with a more liberal and positive view of prostitution that Gloranthas had to date. Thats grim stuff why because it reflects some grim realities in our world. My position is that Glorantha to date has had a broadly positive and liberated view of prostitution, and hasn't dealt with the grimier side. After this discussion i'm absolutely convinced about how i need to write it, grim dirty, horrible, abusive and with a degree of social comment, and if that deviates from cannon sod it.

hmmm this found a low I wasnt aiming or

Looking at the names used in many official sources so far, Latin is a big factor, I think its something that is being written out if possible, but its definitley there in RQ2 and 3 era lunar names.

Ok I have stated a Lunar patrol that is a bunch or pregens but they could be used as NPC's http://www.backtobalazar.com/detailed-lunar-patrol/ Enjoy.

There is a queue? One of the major plots my players are picking up on is why is this man doing this ? Joh Miths expedition into Balazar only makes sense if you tie Gon Ortas castle in.

Has anything ever been listed which looks at Lunar Names in depth? I can see some ealry roman influences but they seem to have been toned down now, are there nay other sources of real world cultures to pilfer from?

"The speed of travelling on the river depended on the direction of the journey, the strength of the wind and the current, the boat and its crew. Generally, one did not travel on the Nile in the dark. Nitocris covered the distance between Sais in the Delta and Thebes in about 16 days [14]. Herodotus needed 9 days to reach Thebes from Heliopolis, a distance of about 630 km. Pliny travelled upriver from Juliopolis on the Mediterranean coast to Thebes in 12 days [13]. In antiquity, the average speed sailing up-river was between 40 and 70 kms per day [12]."

Ancient cultures such as Egypt had significant river travel, which its safe to assume went both ways. I think you could assume that big slow rivers are easy enough with sale and oars.

Its one of those things that will definitely lead to player engagement with one of my groups of players, who just happen to be coder agents, who have been sent into replace the canon lunar officials after a coder clean up. It's definitely a sub plot I want to exploit at some point. I'm used to playing WOD where 'icky' is part of the game and horror isn't always about monsters in the closet. Its just seemed to jar with the treatment of prostitution to date in Glorantha. I guess we are now living and looking at a world that was created in the 70's, and we see some things differently than was common then.

Another Post - Just adding three more backgrounds to WOD:Glorantha. http://www.backtobalazar.com/wod-glorantha-three-new-backgrounds/ I should hopefully go through another short spurt of writing so I have some more npcs and background stuff to drop in soon.

An odd one I know, I got half away through writing up Cyriels organisation in Elkoi and I had decide he ran a number of girls to 'service' the troops rotated through Elkoi. Looking at his other trades, and the situation it was going to be a bit grim. Slaves and captured Balazaring girls, abusive, harsh and something to appal the pc's. A tone and view of prostitution that would resemble the film 'The whistleblower' However I paused because my players didn't pursue there dealings with Cyriel, but also comparing this to the fleeting mentions of prostitution and the worship of Uleria produced so far I felt it was almost 'ungloranthan'. What do I mean by that? Well it feels like prostitution as far I have encountered it to date in Glorantha has always been seen as consensual, part of cult worship and even venerated in some circles. In the truth a liberal Utopian view of prostitution, far removed from indentured servitude, modern slavery and forced labour. Have these themes been explored and debated before? Have other people dealt with this in their games?

I think the point Dave is making is right heros often break or 'redefine' rules, though i think his example of lunar and chaos is highly flawed. However if you obsess over the example you could loose sight of a great point.

I think we need to allow space for hyperbole in names and legends, and not treat them as either necessarily true or literal if they are true. If troll tribes 'swarmed through it' one would suggest its a difficult passage for humans but not one requiring special magics. In my game, its a high pass, open only in limited seasons. With snow and ice demons in dark and storm season(maybe - have to check Jo Miths itinerary ). Wryms are occasionally seen flying near the pass and there is an association, but they do not dwell near due to the lack of prey and the poor weather. Scenario wise id use it as an players against the mountain/weather scenario. It maybe a place to drop in some wind child interaction as well, if they travel that far west. I see them as a situated further east but its one of the few places which pcs will visit where wind children and humans could sensibly interact Greatway waste pipes are an interesting idea, but did the mostali make a design error or did they once plan to make the pass easier for human travelers? A great post by the way

Its a move away from en excellent post ... so if we go to far off this one lets start a new thread. But I think its one of real world given concepts which is very alien to most Gloranthan cultures. The myths of of EWF and God Learnism would have created a resistance to progress in very many cultures. New is not better, new is dangerous, wrong and risky.

Ok I've got some interesting questions here? Some I think i have the answer too but her we go anyway. Did curved sword come to Peloria with the Lunars or were they common before ? Is weapon choice and design in primarily Glorantha theological, practical or cultural ? has weapon usage and design migrated through Glorantha like in the real world ? Is there room for significant local deviation and variation for martial norms of a people group? Is the concept of the technological development of weapons truly Gloranthan? Why do the race most associated with the stasis rune have the most advanced technology?

I have always seen the elf sea as a lake with incoming and outgoing water flow, and part of the wider arcos river system.

Never an issue

My joking apart this would be representative of one of many forms of illuminated thinking which in part reconciles what others would see as chaos as part of the cosmos. The truth of the matter ... shrugs .... its beyond me.

sounds like illuminated nonsense to me...........

Any hints at key differences apart from obvious lack of lunars ?