Darius West

I disagree Phil. Every religious official, whether Shaman, Priest, God Speaker or Rune Lord is supported by a community. One's position as a religious authority is appointed and ordained by that community, and you work for them. In return you get gear, magic powers and political power. In the case of Waha Shaman-Khans, they serve their Clan. They will be the obvious choice as a replacement for any other Khan presently acting as the Clan's leader, but they can also serve as a subordinate. You have an over-Khan and an under-Khan. Typically the under-khan is the "understudy" and gets the dangerous missions. The under-khan is also expected to be working their way into positions of influence with the warrior societies, and is likely to be given responsibility over raiding parties and potentially over the clan warband on occasion. The over-khan's job is to rule. The over-khan makes and enforces the rules, and keeps the clan coherent and successful. Generally it is the over-khan who leads the clan warband. Ultimately a successful under-khan may win enough followers within the whole tribe, as well as their clan, to get enough followers together to form a clan of their own. A good under-khan doesn't try to poach followers from their own clan to any great degree however. Within an Orlanthi clan, there is potentially more room for more Rune level people, as they have larger resources to draw upon. The difference being that Orlanthi clans have Weaponthanes, and many of them will be Rune Lords, paid for and owning land provided for by the Clan. In terms of tithes, one get to keep magical items, or one's clan gets first rights to purchase them, with the redeemed sum often being counted against one's owing tithe debts. One's tithe falls due in the day after high holy day, if one cannot pay it weekly. Having transitioned to Rune Level, the character is now important. They have a whole clan supporting them financially with land and labor. They may be required to go heroquesting on the clan's behalf. Their adventures will now be directed by the interests of more people than just their own. This is not to suggest that they won't be adventuring anymore, but that the stakes will be higher than their personal survival alone. They are a public property. This is what being a tier 1 hero is like.

Bah ! Death is too good for those little proto-duvets.

Yes, but only on their heads. Some of them wear red wigs. They make for some very funny looking zombies when they get sent to Delecti.

It doesn't matter because Thed foresook her loyalty to the Earth and sinned against it monstrously. Thed is a traitor to the earth, and deserves a traitor's fate, says BBG.

Joerg wrote this so we don't have to. Thanks Joerg. That being said, I think shields are massively important, and needed to be mentioned in more detail. A nice big 16 point shield is the difference between life and death in many cases. Even if you are only wearing cuirboulli, a parry with such a shield will stop 19 points. A broadsword does 4.5+1 +2.5(DB) on average. Add another 5.5 for a slash for a total of 13.5 damage, plus perhaps 4 points of bladesharp if you are lucky for 17.5. On average that shield will stop a special hit from an average weapon. It really matters.

Sartarites have known the bitter taste of defeat and occupation for a generation or more. They know that if they lose, the next occupation will be worse. Their liberty was hard won, and remains more personally and tangibly under imminent threat than that of the average Lunar citizen who pays their taxes, shuts up, loves Big Takanegi, and tries to addle their brain with illumination Newspeak. Command "blemishes" are irrelevant to a people fighting for their freedom and survival.

I would suggest that Thed is Eiritha's sister, and thus is a child of Ernalda and Hykim, like Eiritha.

I don't know how you'd do the "squeeze through tight spaces" mechanic that make Dyskund so immersive but problematic.

Larnsting Magic is not aggressive. Sartar was a Larnsting, and he never drew a weapon or slew anybody. No. Far worse. He CHANGED them. And no, he didn't change them from alive to dead. I get the impression that he might have had a geas against such things. For example, he changed King Brangbane and his remaining followers into ghouls. Now imagine if as a scorpion person you enter an area and your nippers change into fluffy bunnies on the ends of your arms, and your tail turns into a great big hibiscus flower?

LOL, fair enough. I haven't run Rainbow Mounds since 1997. I think I was thinking more of the Dyskund Caves from the Black Broo of Dyskund scenario, which is still a bit of a gold standard for spelunking realism imo. I retract any criticism. I am enjoying watching how your work develops D. Have you ever thought of developing a Praxian mod for Mount and Blade (hint hint 🥺)?

I am very impressed with the way the torchlight falls on the surfaces. I think you have worked hard to give the cave an eerie feeling, and the use of the torchlight works in that way. While I know we are only seeing the mouth of the cave system, I am concerned that the floor is too level for a cave. IRL caves are next to never flat, except when sand or soil has settled somewhere due to water, or perhaps when something odd is happening with limestone deposits, which normally form stalactites or stalagmites, but I'm sure you know this already. I appreciate how much work you've done, I really do. This must have taken many hours. Please persist with it D.

It's okay as a Vegan to eat humans if they consent. Animals can't talk so they can't consent you see. Remember this news story from 2003? Link This is fine for a Lunar Vegan.

Was this written by a Lunar Vegan? 🤣

Hmm, I doubt Arkat was born a superhero. I think he was just good at rolling his ups, especially after his skills went over 100%. 😆 As for your point about Waha doing a great deal but only having very limited rune magic to show for it, I heartily agree. I give Waha Khans the ability to tie special knots that can control hostile elementals, called The Knots That Catch.

Does anyone know where I can get a copy of Nomad Gods btw?

Good decision. About time too. Elmal never went away, and is specifically attacked by Yelmalio in a hero quest as sunny boy lite wanted to steal some of Elmal's fire powers. Elmal is a Thunder Brother too. They are more than just Orlanth subcults.

All we need now is a "Mount and Blade" compatible Prax mod, or equivalent and we could walk around in it.

Something that we haven't discussed before afaik is the fact that during the First and Second Ages, Waha took a physical body in Prax. We are also told that the "Greatest Khan" in Prax at any time is imbued with a portion of Waha's power. Is this the same thing? Or was Pavis and the Faceless Statue's defeat of Waha in the Second Age the defeat of Waha as an actual incarnate superhero? That tale specifically mentions Waha being hamstrung by the Faceless Statue and cured by Pavis, which is hard to do without a physical body to attack It is certainly possible for Waha to be incarnate, given that He is the direct ancestor of many Praxians, and hence can be summoned to possess them via Daka Fal rituals. It can be argued that Waha is a comparatively minor deity, no more powerful than Harrek, Jar-Eel, Androgeus, or Belintar, and thus can become incarnate without affecting the Great Compromise, given that he was potentially alive and incarnate at the Dawning like Androgeus. I am interested in other people's opinions on this.

How does it compare with Bergen in Norway. There is a joke in Bergen that an American was in town and he had been there a while and asked a boy "Hey kid ! When does it stop raining here?" To which the kid replied "I don't know mister, I'm only 12."

Well in Glorantha we might somewhat see the Malkioni treating deities in the fashion of a dumb mana resource, especially in the Second Age. The Godlearners even substantially rewrote some deities because they were crap. Remember, having worshippers, even bad ones, seems to be a net benefit to deities. And for their part, deities seem to be in a sort of Before Time stasis field (see Orlanth and Ernalda being dug up at Whitewall by the Lunars), and their ability to interact with the world is very limited. When you think about it, deities and worshippers are symbiotic to the point where it isn't clear who is parasitizing whom. 🙂

I've been watching 30 Coins with subs. Fun show. I would call it "C'tholic" in flavor.

In the case of Sartarites, it is important also to factor in the value of veterancy. The fact is, that everyone of fighting age in 1626 has lived through Lunar occupation, the Long Winter, the Dragonrise, and quite possibly one or more pitched battles too. Many Sartarites have been living rough as adventurers or something else. Of course the Lunars have this too, but their armies are larger, and there are fewer chances for combat as a result. The number of near-heroes and self funded Rune Lords and Rune Priests is going to make a difference, and not just in the Sartar Magical Union imo. It is all very much like the Praxian thing about being driven into the Wastes to grow stronger.

Hi Ali, I get your point, and I understand that it is referencing the Early Christians. I personally LOVE late roman and "dark ages" history. I also agree that this was part of why the Christians were accused of Atheism. So were Jews in the same period. This was also due to their lack of depiction of their deities. As you say however, the fact that they wouldn't worship at the Emperor Shrines was a big religious and political no-no in the Roman Era. Of course what really upset the Romans was early Christian masochistic seeking after martyrdom. That blew their tiny Roman minds. As to the actual point... Ali, buddy, what if we DO cynically seek to obtain the blessing?😅 That is what I meant by Spiritual Materialism.😬 We literally only worship the deity because of the material benefits that worship provides. This is the PNG model. 🤣

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I agree and would have thought tat was obvious. Lets face it, if you are moving, so is the target effectively. I am curious about how much the accuracy falls off, and whether it maintains or even improves range and force of impact if supported by a running horse underneath the atlatl user. I am thinking about the possibility of a small Praxian warrior society that uses atlatls with javelins, and gets a minor charge boost to DB. (shrug)