Darius West

On 10/27/2022 at 6:23 PM, PhilHibbs said:

Kristen isn't one of the pregens.

He's a pregen in the Starter Pack I believe, but not in the RQG rules.

On 10/27/2022 at 10:57 PM, mfbrandi said:

Who says slaves lack subtlety? 

It is more of a matter of slaves lacking the means to record and research these things.  Propaganda and brainwashing is extremely effective.  More cultish than cult.  If you don't believe me, ask friendly Mr. Hypnotoad.

19 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

Is there a Gloranthian Periodic Table!?

Yes, they're called Runes.  Everything is made on them.  The God Learners knew about their abilities to form bonds and specific densities etc.  That knowledge was lost when the Gods destroyed the Rune Quest Sight.

I like seeing Kesten Blackblade.  I will generally pick him or Vishi Dun when I play the RQ starting characters at tournaments.  It would be a fine thing if there were go-to models of all the RQ starting characters available on Heroforge.  Then you can start in on the military units of the Hero Wars (hehe nudge nudge).

When running RQ3 I envisaged Invisible Orlanth as a far more recent eventuality.

There were always regional ties to the Orlanth Pantheon due to Castle Blue, but since the Lunar victory at the Battle of Castle Blue, that power has diminished.  Instead of referencing ancient ties to the indigenous religion of Carmania, Invisible Orlanth started as a slave cult.  Conquered Orlanthi, sold as slaves, were maintaining their worship in secret.  This was also being done with the covert connivance of their Noble Carmanian owners, as Orlanthi terrorists could be of immense value in Dart Competitions.

In turn, subjected to a very alien Carmanian worldview, and in order to keep an emergent secret slave army under control, a new hybrid Orlanth/Idovanus cult emerged, pointing out that "you can see through air, ergo, it is invisible, ergo Orlanth is invisible for He is air, ergo Orlanth=Idovanus/Makan."  It is a rudimentary theology at best, but fit for slaves whose only contact with its "mysteries" will likely be receiving some sorcery spells being cast upon them.

This also became the training ground for another Orlanthi mystery however... the Orlanth Murderous subcult of teleporting assassins. MGDV.

Later in the Hero Wars, the Orlanthi diaspora in Carmania have been exploited for their martial prowess and become part of a Mamluk-style slave cavalry employed by the ever treacherous Carmanian nobles, and become cataphracts armed with spears of lightning, after the fashion of the emergent Aeolian Knights who are the "Shock Cavalry" of their society.

I still see little need to gild the lily with a huge exegesis on how Invisible Orlanth has "always been a thing" in Carmania.  It seems incredibly "tacked on", and I am still inclined to treat it like a diaspora slave cult, similar to Voodoo or Early Christianity, that may yet awaken some sleeping local powers of Orlanth long dormant in the region. It just seems like a better fit to me.  Invisible Orlanthi slaves would benefit from "Rightness" caste magic, and would become a tool of intrigue for their masters.  After all, at the end of the day, they're still killing Lunars right?

22 hours ago, EricW said:

Of course sorcery might not always be an advantage. An "Invisible Orlanth" worshipper who starts wielding sorcery in Sartar, where everyone knows sorcery is an evil magic wielded by Lunars, soulless god learners and illuminates, might receive a hostile reaction - especially if there are any Orlanth shaman tradition types around.

I suspect that Argrath and the Sartar Magical Union will change people's perspective on sorcery.  It's only bad when the enemy is doing it to you.  When your sorcerers are doing it to the enemy... not so bad.

On 10/20/2022 at 12:53 PM, Erol of Backford said:

Are there under water projectile weapons in Glorantha? Are there archaic spearguns?

Crossbows can work underwater, as can bows, but not if their strings get soaked to slackness.

On 10/20/2022 at 12:53 PM, Erol of Backford said:

I assume fire spear or sword does work but any damage bonus would be halved?

Popular wisdom suggests that fire generally goes out in water.  You can argue that a fireblade spell is supernaturally hot, and it will bubble away in the water, potentially doing reduced damage.  idk, it would be a house rule.

On 10/20/2022 at 12:53 PM, Erol of Backford said:

Disruption would be fine right?

Yes.

On 10/20/2022 at 12:53 PM, Erol of Backford said:

What about lightening would it become an area effect weapon?

What would happen with a thunderbolt

Yes, they work and become enhanced by an AoE.  Electrical discharge in water is (shocking) potentially capable of killing a lot of people.  They go off like grenades, losing 1d6 per meter from the initial target.  The Storm Gods regularly ravaged the Sea Pantheon, and this is part of why that happened.  I actually knew someone who was struck by lightning and died while swimming.  The people around him were badly shocked and burned, as well as somewhat deafened.

On 10/20/2022 at 12:53 PM, Erol of Backford said:

could sunspear work and if some until how far underwater or to what level of reduced translucency?

Fire and light don't do as well against water.  I'd say sunspear loses 1d6 damage per meter of depth.  It is at best a surface spell imo.

I find hiding in an alley with a sock full of lead sinker, then ambushing and coshing passers by works well. They are really in the C'thulhu mindset when they come to, ducktaped to a chair in a darkened room. (jk)😎

6 hours ago, davecake said:

The Arkati believe that Illuminism allows abuses of the natural order, but not that it is, in itself, an abuse. 
Illuminism takes moral authority away from the gods and back in the hands of man. It is a thus a test, that many fail. But not all. 

Thanks for neatly summarizing what I was trying and failing to say davecake.  Obviously Arkati would be in an invidious position, given their illumination, if they thought illumination was intrinsically a chaotic abuse of the natural order.

On 10/19/2022 at 10:05 AM, coolAlias said:

The Keeper Rulebook has an interesting bit on p207:

One particular published scenario I was thinking of running has a couple of Deep One corpses near an NPC, and it got me wondering: if at least some types of Mythos creatures sometimes leave corpses, wouldn't their bodies eventually end up in a museum somewhere and rob them of some or all of their horror? And in the particular scenario, it feels like the corpses almost completely removes that aspect of the unknown during the subsequent combat.

So to all you Keepers out there: what is your preference? Do your creatures dissolve, leave a corpse, or some mix of both? Are you consistent across scenarios, or do your creatures sometimes dissolve and sometimes leave a corpse depending on what you feel will make for a better atmosphere at the time?

It utterly depends on the creature and its physiology.  There are distinct advantages plot-wise for a GM to having the creatures leave little to no evidence, as you can't take the remains to a lab or a newspaper or the police.  We know specifically that the Mi-go dissolve, and I would imagine that other creatures likely would as well, such as Hunting Horrors, but Deep Ones leave bodies.   Leaving a body to autopsy can destroy the mystery of many of the creatures, but it can also be an opportunity for fresh horror and appalling revelations.  Autopsies reveal weaknesses too.  It is important to keep the body count skewed in the favor of plenty of dead humans.

12 hours ago, Jeff said:

Like all of the Stafford Library, Middle Sea Empire is a notebook and was never intended to be a final word on anything.

And here I was thinking they were kinda canon...

On 9/20/2022 at 3:40 AM, soltakss said:

Aldryami almost certainly have HeroQuests for this.

I'd settle for an Elf Bow that didn't die when a non-Aldryami touched it.

Where does the Atroxic Church fit in all of this?  In HQ Ethilrist is a leader of the Atroxic Church.  I was under the impression that HQ lore was still Glorantha?

On 10/22/2022 at 7:34 AM, hipsterinspace said:

I think the big difference is that Arkat wasn't a Malkioni, he was a Brithini. When you contextualize it with his Hrestolism I think it makes sense, ultimately he was a Hrestoli acting in the service of justice.

Everyone who follows Malkion is a Malkioni.  Brithini are Malkioni.  Hrestoli are Malkioni.  Arkat begins his life as a Malkioni, going from Brithini to betraying them and becoming a Hrestoli before betraying them to become a Pagan.  As a pagan he chooses to worship Humakt, and is sometimes called Humaktson, because of his unbreakable sword.  Clearly joining a pagan cult was seen as opportunism and betrayal by Malkioni.

On 10/22/2022 at 7:34 AM, hipsterinspace said:

As for the bigger question of the pagan gods, they probably contextualize their relationship with the gods differently. Maybe their relationship with the god is more instrumental than it would be for a non-Malkioni, but the big difference seems to be in the understanding of the gods as an emanation of the runes. I'd imagine that for them Humakt isn't a literal divine personage who owns the Death rune, but rather an emanation of the Death rune from primordial Law (Invisible God), which has been mythically personified into the archetype of Humakt.

 I like this idea, but there are problems.  The first one is that Humakt isn't an emanation of the Death Rune, or he would be named in the sorcery spells that use the Death Rune.  Instead, we have the Celestial Court member Kargan Tor named.  Humakt doesn't emanate from the Death Rune, but is an emanation of Umath, that comes to reinforce the Death Rune, (possibly because Umath is a Primordial Breath, and the dead don't breathe, but that's stretching it).  The fact is, every ascended master is seen as a person within Malkionism, and Humakt and other gods will be seen as ascended masters, not runic emanations.

On 10/22/2022 at 9:37 PM, metcalph said:

That's correct.  There's multiple possible answers for that.  One is that Arkat was not a Horali but a Man-of-All worshipping the Invisible God. 

You can only become a Man-of-All if you are a Hrestoli.  When Arkat left the Brithini and joined the Hrestoli it was a betrayal of the Brithini.  When Arkat left the Hrestoli to join the orlanthi it was a betrayal of the Hrestoli because he joined a pagan cult and joined the traditional enemies of the Hrestoli.

On 10/22/2022 at 9:37 PM, metcalph said:

 In any event, you are using an little known event that occurred about at least thousand years ago to determine what Malkioni society must be like now.  

Foundational historical episodes are not forgotten, and serve as a basis for all future events.

On 10/22/2022 at 9:37 PM, metcalph said:

But the Malkioni today don't really have any clue about how Arkat broke faith or why it was received so badly.  makes them irrelevant as the Brithini.   

Perhaps that is true of village idiots, but you are lightly dismissing historical events which occurred to a Grimoire culture where books are all-important and everything important is recorded.  The Hrestoli bemoan Arkat's treachery from when he joined the Orlanthi, just as the Orlanti remember how Arkat betrayed them and became a troll.

On 10/22/2022 at 9:37 PM, metcalph said:

They didn't practice them.  They practiced similar religions but weren't satisfied with what they had.

You misunderstood my question, so let me rephrase it...   If the God Learners had always followed the Orlanth Pantheon, but used a practice of Malkioni Rightness on top of it, why did then need to steal myths from the Orlanthi to hero quest with?  There would be no need to do so.  They would know all the myths already, and had a head start on the Orlanthi because the God Learners knew about hero questing, and few Orlanthi in that period would know about hq-ing at all.

6 hours ago, metcalph said:

Once again you keep harping about the Nobles being "pure malkioni' when I've just been explaining to you they worship the Gods like the other non-Zzaburi.  Their Ancestors are the Big Gods like Orlanth, Magasta and Seshna Liktia.  There is no difference in magic between them and the Horali and the leading Dronars.   All are God worshippers who also practice Rightness.  That's why talk of a Malkioni veneer misunderstands Malkioni society.  The non-Zzaburi don't care about who or what an Invisible God looks like - that's something only the Wizards waste their time with.  All the non-Zzaburi care about is supporting the Wizards in return for their magical support.  The Wizards are part of their society and are likely to cast awesome magical spells for them if asked.  Why would you want to overthrow those guys?  

No, this makes no sense to me.  If this was true, then Arkat wouldn't be considered a Traitor by the Malkioni for joining Humakt.  In fact Arkay would likely have worshipped Humakt for most of his life since becoming a Hrestoli.  Similarly why would there be Orlanthi resistance to missionizing as it says on The Middle Sea Empire pp34-35.  And why would the Malkioni have needed to infiltrate other societies to "God Learn" their hero quests if they already practiced them?  Then on page 38 of The Middle Sea Empire we see that the Emanationists take a very dim view of the "pagans and their spirits", and are encouraged to completely destroy them and their belief systems.  This is an odd comment, considering that the Malkioni have always worshipped the same gods according to some people.  Then on page 41 we see that the God Learners were apparently quite happy about destroying the Pagan Worldview.  How can this be, if they are partaking of it, and allegedly always have?  There are too many things that don't fit the facts. 

This looks like a great big retrofit to me, and a clumsy one at best.

This is not to say that I dislike the idea of Rightness or Caste Magic, but the notion that Pagan gods are routinely worshipped in Malkioni areas seems extremely far fetched when Pagan is unquestionably a pejorative term and the whole idea flies in the face of the existing literature and established lore.

For a start, why would the Westerners essentially piggyback onto the Orlanth pantheon, and not have their own specific deities that they control the institutional structures of?  It makes no sense, given they could literally have built them during the God Learner period, and yet we know that the Orlanth Pantheon existed before time, and the Malkioni don't control it, despite the God Learner period.  Why didn't they follow the Solar Pantheon and its extremely orderly and hierarchical social system, which already mirrors Malkionism in many ways (certainly a lot more than Orlanth and his pantheon does)?  Why not the Earth Pantheon?  I could understand that, for the Dronar class at least.  Or why not a completely different Pantheon based on the abstract concepts of Sorcery?

2 minutes ago, metcalph said:

  Whether being a Priest or Rune Lord of the said cults is compatible with Rightness , I don't know.  

The inference of what has been written above is that yes, you can be a Rune Lord or Rune Priest of a deity, who is considered an Awakened Master, and still get Rightness, assuming you adhere to Caste.

4 minutes ago, metcalph said:

There's no separation and the framework of Malkionism is one that encompasses a whole society and is not a veneer.

When 90% of a population is involved in farming, pastoral, primary industry and artisan activities, and a further 8% is involved in the military, then the 1% Wizards a 1% Nobles are a veneer.  The 2% are also likely the only pure Malkioni in the society that they lead.  This means they need to lead EXTREMELY WELL not to be deposed.  They are a pygmy child riding a Rhino.  Control is an illusion.

9 minutes ago, metcalph said:

Practicing Rightness means believing that society should be ordered among the four castes.  How is overthrowing the masters compatible with that?

Well, for starters, Illuminates cannot be punished by breaking with Rightness, because "who is to say what is right or wrong?".  Illuminates wriggle out of everything. 

The alternative, and more important issue is that you may well lose your rightness from breaking caste and rebelling, but once your bad leaders are gone, you re-establish your caste behavior, and start rebuilding your rightness.  After all, when the peasants revolt, it is actually the Talar who has misruled them who is most likely the one to blame, and who will lose their Rightness.  Most likely when the Castes break down, everyone will start losing their Rightness, whether they follow it or not.  After all, is a Zzaburi who obeys a Talar who is not Right going to be doing the Right thing by following the orders?  Of course not.  Is a warrior who slaughters rebellious peasants following Rightness?  Maybe... Maybe not... 

The way Rightness is described, is takes the form of a social contract that pays magical dividends.  If the contract is broken in small and then larger ways, and then a Caste or a substantial portions thereof breaks away, then the entire system begins to break down, due to the system being intrinsically social and therefore relational, regardless of its logical or legal portions.  Breaches of those relationships create contradictions which destroy Rightness throughout the system.  Every system can be hacked, and a clever rebel can use that to cause the powers that be to make invidious decisions that destroy their Rightness in order to save their power.

On 10/20/2022 at 12:36 AM, Shiningbrow said:

Given there's a place called Arkat's Rest, with a huge Arkat rune on it, in the west side of Nochet, it's not really all that secret ...

Arkat's Rest is where Mularik Ironeye comes from.  He identified Argrath Whitebull as the true incarnation of Arkat in the 3rd Age, now come as the shadow of the Red Goddess to shut down the catastrophe of another illuminism outbreak.  Mularik becomes a long term supporter of Argrath, but ultimately over-reaches himself and grossly abuses Argrath's trust, causing a rebellion due to his misrule in Dragon Pass while Argrath is campaigning in the Lunar Empire proper.  After the God Learner purges of the Dark Empire of Arkat, one of the few places where any Arkati could be found was in the Hero Plane, where they had gone to stop the abuses of the God Learners upon the Mythic landscape of Glorantha.  They are likely still there, and any God Learnerist abuses of the myths are likely to awaken their interest, as they now police the myths.  Sadly, as the Red Moon Goddess was not alive during time, the Arkati didn't know of her existence in order to police her myths and avoid abuses.  The major tenet of the Arkati is that Illuminism is an abuse of the natural order, in much the same way that the Rune Quest Sight (Godlearner special power) is an abuse of the natural order.  You must be an illuminate to become a full Arkati, and all other illuminates are deeply suspect and likely need to be killed, but once you are illuminated you must adhere to strict rules of conduct or your fellow Arkati will understand that you are a Gbaji and will need to destroy you.    

On 10/17/2022 at 5:24 PM, metcalph said:

Except the underclass is not pagan.  They support the wizards and receive guidance and magical support.  They acquire Rightness in their actions which allows them to use Caste Magic, a significaqnt distinction between themselves and people who are not Malkioni. 

So what about the ones who worship Saint Humath, or Saint Urox, or Saint Worlath?  The fact is, they are part of a large and separate Theistic system which only has a veneer of Malkionism separating it from the Orlanth Pantheon.  They may support wizards and gain rightness, but look again, and I see a group of people who could overthrow their Malkioni masters and still practice their caste and gain rightness, post revolution.

3 hours ago, Jose said:

Hi, We are about to begin our campaign (boldhome 1614) and I have questions because one of my players want to be initiated in the Breather Sisters as part of an Orlanth secret resistance movement. Are they goddesses with a spirit cult? Are they the air equivalent to the ernaldan snake daughters or feminine versions of thunder Brothers? 

Thanks

They are secret hidden Mostali air pumps that feed air into underground areas of Boldhome.  They likely take the form of female idols, because why not?  That's a cool design.

On 10/19/2022 at 7:29 PM, radmonger said:

I think the original plan was to train the horses while travelling through wilderness.

Okay, that makes things super risky, as you cannot guarantee everything horses need under such circumstances, try as you might.  It also means trouble, as untrained horses don't deal well with imagined threats, let alone real ones.  Horses have been known to become spooked over a mouse and bolt for miles, even throwing and killing their rider, and those are the supposedly trained ones.

On 10/19/2022 at 7:29 PM, radmonger said:

Certainly there is no spreadsheet entry for stabling fees and fodder.

There is a lovely game called Harn with a very useful supplement called Harn Manor that covers such things. that can be retrofit into most games without any problems.

On 10/19/2022 at 7:29 PM, radmonger said:

You can do anything once as an adventure, and if you succeed, make money from it. But few groups will want to want to run the same adventure over and over again. But you also can't abstract it out assuming success. Otherwise you could just do some calculations to say 'every three months, we clear out a new set of ruins, each netting _this_ much money, which we spend on magic items which allow us to clear out more profitable ruins, and then ...'.

You say this youngling, but you are not yet a grognard.  You have not had your players decide to occupy and rent out a dungeon, or decide that they all want to play Lunar bureaucrats...  This too will come in time...

On 10/19/2022 at 7:29 PM, radmonger said:

If you want earn more than the profession-rules income stably and repeatably, you are going to need land. In this case, land to safely graze and exercise the horses, to grow winter fodder. Which requires you to defend that land, and so provides you with all kinds of obligations and plot hooks.

Agreed.

On 10/19/2022 at 7:29 PM, radmonger said:

You could imagine there being a RQ:G version of Pendragon's Book of the Manor; a full rule system for being a land-owning noble. But most GM's will find it easier to just wing things; take the 'noble' profession income and bump it up or down depending on campaign circumstances.

The RQ:Gcore rules plus RQ:Weapons and Equipment goes a long way towards this without getting too fiddly about the details.  I like the Manage Household skill, as it tells players that while THEY (the player) may have a great idea, their characters may not have the skill to pull it off, management-wise.  To answer other questions, Book of the Manor is a good source, and so is Harn Manor, as it goes into more detail about agronomy.

14 hours ago, Godlearner said:

Right, the real version of Orlanth 😈

No, the tougher, meatier version with all the trimmings, whistles and bells is what I mean.  I have a feeling that not all Orlanthi are created equal.

14 hours ago, Godlearner said:

At least the version which exists in my Glorantha at the location where the game is taking place (closer to Pamaltela than Genertela). Orlanth is just not the answer for what I seek. 

Well, given that we don't presently have info about what the Pamaltelan Orlanth cult (of God Learner origin) actually has access to, in terms of subcults, associated cults, etc.  We don't know how different it is from more typical (setting-wise) Sartar/Heortland Orlanth worship.  That means potentially you can tweak things a bit to fit imo.

16 hours ago, Godlearner said:

Slavery is as much a confinment of ones mind as it is confindment of ones body. In at least my world, Ompalam's Slave Bracelets cannot be overcomed with Strength alone. As to Orlanth, if memory serves since I am too lazy to look it up at the moment, I believe Ompalam had subdued him and he is now a member of of his pantheon.

I think you are making problems for yourself by overthinking things.  Any claims Ompalam makes against Orlanth are likely very geographically limited, and not true in the longer term.  Admittedly they are almost certainly dealing with a watered down and inferior Malkioni version of Orlanth that lacks all the associated cults, subcults and thunder brothers.

11 hours ago, soltakss said:

In a Bronze Age game, horse trainers and traders could become really rich.

However, there are other factors. Why would someone buy from them when there are Grazelanders nearby who sell proper horses? What about the Pol Joni, they have horse traders? Same with Elmali and so on. Who would buy from a two-man outfit, unless they proved themselves as being good horsefolk?

There are many reasons you might buy locally rather than go to the Grazelands or the Pol Joni.

Firstly, travel is dangerous.  You can run into a lot of trouble on your way to Richpost.  Second is price.  Sure, Goldeneyes are the best breed, but they also have an eyewatering price tag.  Now the Elmali or Yelmalio horse breeders are going to form your primary local competition, but really you and they will often be in the same boat politically, and will likely wind up buying stock from each other repeatedly.  As for the Pol Joni, well, that's a long walk into hostile territory to meet up with semi-bandits who might sell you some horses, or they might just rob you and sell you into slavery at Pimper's Block.

20 hours ago, AndrewTBP said:

Never mind the economics!

The Narri clan and the Enhyli clan are going to be really cross with you.

😉

Up to a point.  The Narri and Enhyli clan might become very friendly when they need to replenish their stock after too many raids or some disaster.  Horse breeders understand this issue.

On 10/17/2022 at 2:32 PM, starwarsdrip said:

Get five followers, five warriors to guard them, you're looking at around 820L from the apprentices, and the 220L from the player horse trainer, for a total of 1,040L a year PER PLAYER.

Obviously, these players would have to deal with raids, jealous rivals over their new wealth, and more.

The simple fact of the matter is that being a horse breeder has always been an extremely lucrative profession, and still is today (racehorses are worth millions).  In fact, when the Roman Empire suffered hyperinflation, it was the Equites, who owned country estates where they raised horses, who were best able to weather he financial crisis as they were able to trade their animals to the Army, and provide cavalry service in lieu of tax, creating the basis of the future Feudal system where the Equites became Knights and Lords.  Horse raising is a great way to become rich, but horse trading is synonymous with used car dealerships for trustworthiness.  Big money attracts scammers.

There are issues with the horse market however.

1) Upkeep.

Something my Praxian characters really hate about living and doing business in New Pavis is the cost of agistment for their animals.  They need pasture, regular feeding, exercise, water, combing, veterinary services etc.  Anyone who has ever owned a horse irl knows they are a major financial burden, crudely equivalent to keeping a child in private education. Of course that is for someone who doesn't own land, a water supply, stables, etc.  The fact is, a horse is only an asset when it is sold; normally it is a substantial liability.  Remember that you will likely need to have paid staff to look after your business while you are away adventuring.  Staff are another running expense.  Worse still, can you trust them?

2) Demand.

In a bad economy people cannot afford the upkeep on a horse, much less to buy a new one.  Even food like hay and oats will become unavailable during a famine period like the Great Winter.  Worse still, during times of war, when trade is limited, you may find your own rulers requisitioning your horse stock (this actually happened to my Great Grandpa during WW2, twice no less on the Eastern Front. Eventually Partisans killed him over his last horse.).  This makes horse raising intensely political.  The fact is, a horse trader wants to get a regular contract with the military, because they have a steady demand for horseflesh, whether warhorses or even just pack animals.  The problem is, unless you have cultivated reliable relationships with the people in power, you won't get their protection, but in wartime, if you've chosen the wrong side you'll get looted and go broke.

3) Bad Stock.

The classic problem with horse trading is that you need to be able to tell a good horse from a bad or mediocre one.  You need to be a good judge of an animal's health, their age, their physical characteristics, and their temperament (not something the RQ rules cover).  Most of this will be covered by a Herd skill check.  You also need to make damn sure that the animals aren't stolen property (unless you want the associated complications).  Bad bloodlines can ruin your stock, and wind up cutting your profits immensely.

4) Other Stuff.

Tricksters are a running issue.  They will often find ways to steal livestock and on-sell them illegally.  It's a classic grift.   Obviously broos are a huge issue, as are the diseases they bring.  While crop failure doesn't sound like a problem for a herder, if your feed crop dies, so do your animals unless you take them on the road to greener pastures.  Put simply, agriculture and pastoralism are fraught, and there are dozens of small things that can go wrong between when a foal is born and when you finally get cold silver in your hand for the beast.  Mostly however, raising horses is a great money making venture.

On 10/14/2022 at 4:31 AM, Godlearner said:

Looking for a diety (spirit) associated with Liberation, Freedom or anti sclavery for my campaign. What are the choices? I do not think that a major diety like Orlanth or Humakt works.

One of the main things you will need to do to fight off Ompalam is to destroy his Slave Bracelets.  That requires a strength of 45 according to the old rules.  As Orlanth has Odayla as an associate, Bear's Strength is available to him which double's base Strength.  Orlanth also has all those Mastakos teleport spells for conducting guerilla warfare.  Not to mention that control over weather is a huge advantage in a battle, and thieving is very useful in asymetric warfare. I think you are too quick to dismiss Orlanth. 

By comparison, the Lunars mainly have spells for addling your mind, and madness isn't liberty, but a grim and endless prison.