Groovetronic

Dumbest Theory - Argrath and Jar-Eel are both the Red Emperor in disguise, because shenanigans and illumination 😛

As an aside, Cults of Terror states that Illumination "...rids the chaotic being of the hatred which rules their lives." Thinking has somewhat changed regarding Illumination over the years, because in the 2018 Gods of Glorantha Gencon preview, Illumination is now a skill, and allows the Illuminant to ignore the behavior checks required of characters who have a Rune over 80%. So, a Broo with 90% in the Chaos rune who is also an Illuminant can make an Illumination skill check to ignore the Chaos impulse to ruin, destroy and commit perversion. Illumination can be just as liberating for Broo as it can be for Humans. This hasn't been officially published yet and YGWV, but it seems to track with the Lore.

Argrath and Jar-Eel are the same person in different costumes.

I love Argrath's answer to this. No, Chaos is the doom of Glorantha, and Gbaji always lies. http://www.princeofsartar.com/comic/98-time/ If Yelm had not sought to steal the Earth, Chaos would never have entered the world. Yelm the Illuminant is the most terrifying chaos god. Universal authority belongs only to the celestial court, which was stolen. YGWV.

I'm looking forward with great anticipation to the actual published Arkat cult!

Now yer giving me sniffles, man! 🙂

Im starting Company of the Dragon. Reach out to me over private message.

Player characters are more heroic, obviously. A PC who could qualify to be a Ring member is something I don't have a problem with. Also, becoming a Runemaster is literally *giving up your life to your god*. There may be many people who are politically powerful and essential members of their communities who don't want to become holy people and step into the realm of myth quite yet.

I'm considering that for my Glorantha that I want rarer Rune Lords. I'm thinking that for my Glorantha that having 5 90% skills should be unusual, even for chieftains. I like the idea that a clan ring should be mostly Initiates with 1 member (usually the clan priest) being a runemaster. This is obviously my Gloranatha. I like the idea that most of the Clan Ring has skills in the neighborhood of 75% and that folks have 90% have that because they are prodigies or they have decades of experience.

Well, for my Glorantha, Yelmalio will be treated as a Dara Happan invader cult imposed by the bright Empire during the reign of Palangio that never left, and that now exists only because it provides high caliber mercenary troops. Elmal has a place in a player character Orlanthi clan, and Yelmalio does not. Yelmalio is an NPC cult for standard clan-based dragon pass games with a typical Orlanth chieftain. Yelmalio is a Stranger and an invader. This is different in places like New Pavis, for example, where PCs can come from different communities and where Yelmalio has a nearby community presence. Nostalgia for classic RQ2 is not enough to declare that Yelmalio is the default, King of Dragon Pass had it right and is MGF for me. YGWV.

And as good Lunars and Dara Happans we know that entities that do not appear on the God's Wall are either transitory, false, or incorrectly named. Praise Yelm!

Hello, Chris Bell here. Thank you everyone who has supported Simon and I in the creation and promotion of this book. Also thank you deeply to everyone who has purchased. Simon provided the layout, art and heroquest essays, I did the actual myths. Simon has been a terrific partner and I thank him for this opportunity. I hope that this product helps make your Gloranthas and Glorantha games richer and more fun. Also, buy the rest of Simon's works, they're amazing!

I'm interested in what powers these aspects of Arkat can provide to PCs, and whether or not they can be worshipped by non-Illuminants.

When I met Greg Stafford at GenCon '99, the most disappointing thing he said to me was, "I have no interest in other people's Gloranthas." Well, I do. For one, the fate of my Glorantha and the gods of my setting will not be that of the gods as detailed in King of Sartar. What are your heretical Gloranthas and 4th age outcomes? Does Sheng win? Does the Glowline encompass both of the continents and the Red Goddess rule benevolently over all? One idea I am playing with is a Harshax setting, where outlawed, renegade scholars try desperately to bring back the magic of the gods while on the run from the agents of the Harshax, before Wakboth returns. Another is where the Throne of Yelm is won by an Osliran Illuminant who passes the 10 tests, and Yelm the Thief is cast down, the Red Goddess is now white, and an Azure Empress who incarnates the ruling powers of Oslira sits on the throne of Peloria in splendor and power. A third is where when Sheng Seleris returns, he does so because Argrath sacrificed himself to teach Sheng a draconic lesson he can not refute, and Sheng goes on to become Glorantha's Buddha, and the Red Emperor becomes his greatest disciplie. Share with me your heretical Gloranthas and 4th age visions.

In regards to the 90% tithe requirement, also remember that the temple sees to a full priests needs. Need a new suit of bronze plate commissioned, and a new horse? The temple has you covered. Gifts to impress that local chief? Done. Jewelry and clothing as befits your station? Covered. But any gifts you receive go to the cult and your community. You get a 500L reward for that daring rescue? 450L goes into temple fund and you get to keep 50L for expenses. Also, remember, as a Priest, you have real power. Need an initiate bodyguard? Done. Need bodies for that worship ceremony you want to enact? As long as the high priest agrees, you got em. Need access to the clan's magic resources? Make a reasonable request and you'll probably get it. The downside? You have to play politics. This is why some Priests request demotion and go take care of a small shrine as an Acolyte. With power comes responsibilities.

I wouldnt say so, because of the time requirements. It sounds like what's possible is for initiates of Elmal to become Priests of Elmal, with the 90% time requirement, and become associate priests of Orlanth, under the standard rules. Its a little unusual but Orlanth and Elmal are both in the Storm Tribe and at least in my games allied cults. As for Lhankor Mhy, being a full priest requires a full time commitment - those PCs are going to have to make a choice.

I shared this on Facebook, but here goes - Jar-Eel the Razoress and Argrath are the same person. Note how Jar-Eel always has a breastplate on to conceal that White Bull Mark. Argrath is just Jar Eel without makeup and different jewelery

It occurs to me that they may be connected to another undead sorcerer, Delecti. Refugees from the Dragonkill, maybe?

Imarja supplies common, undifferentiated magic for the Earth pantheon and I can see her providing this. For my games, Imarja is the common source of Spirit Magic, especially non-combat spirit magic, in Esrolia, usually learnable through the Ernalda cult. YGMV. In my Glorantha, there are hundreds of spirit magic spells that are useful for daily life but have no applicability towards adventuring like spells that keep quills sharp, variations on The Peaceful Cut, Food Song, fixed MP spells that grant flat bonuses to craft skills, and other things. For a butcher who trades in many different animals, I can see one version of Peaceful Cult gained through Eiritha/Ernalda would do it. You wouldn't need a different version of Peaceful Cut for each animal - Praxians prove this since their Peaceful Cut works not only on all Praxian herd animals but also on regular cattle and outlander herd beasts. Foundchild's Peaceful Cut works on any animal. I presume Peaceful Cut is a nearly-universal kind of spell taught by a number of cults.

The only issue is that you have to stab someone with the weapon. Not that the Uroxi would mind - "That Humakt, he's alright!" I'd even extend it to members of particular cults, or Oath Breakers, because this is Humakt we are talking. Humakt would not grant it versus most Storm Tribe cults (Orlanth is his chieftain) but certainly versus any other pantheon. Lunars, Solar Panthean, Magasta's Brood, Troll deities, Mostali - all fair game for the master of Death. I'd even have weapons capable of being blessed to hit and destroy the MP of ghosts and other incorporeal undead. Sending the undead back to hell is Humakt's purview!

Lets look at the myths. Let's take a butcher in Nochet, for example: He probably worships Imarja and maybe Issaries/Garzeen or Ernalda/Uralda. Through Imarja and Ernalda/Uralda he probably does know the Peaceful Cut so that the souls of any cows he butchers can go back to the Cow Mother. This would IMO be a spell that would be cast while making the appropriate Craft (Butcher) roll. Anyone involved in animal slaughtering would be taught by their cult their variant of the peaceful cut - rites to send the soul of the animal back to it's goddess/ancestors/etc. Yes, I keep Peaceful Cut as a spell and have it rolled like one, so it can be affected by Ritual Practices, Meditation and Augments.

To be clear, I presume that if I am in Orlanth Adventurous and later join Orlanth Thunderous, I use my Orlanth rune pool for both subcults. Later, when I become a Priest, I join Yinkin as an associated cult. I am now in addition to being a Rune Priest of Orlanth (who is in the Thunderous and Adventurous subcults), I am also a God-Talker of Yinkin. I can use my single Rune Point pool for all the spells I learn from all these cults. However, for my Yinkin magic, I may only use the spells that I sacrifice for which are available to Associate Priests. Is this right? My cousin Torvald, on the other hand, is an Initiate of Humakt. He also initiates into Elmal. While the two cults are not at odds (and indeed, have a certain degree of admiration for each other), Torvald must develop separate Rune Point pools for each of these deities. However, he also has access to the entire array of rune magic which is available to Initiates of these respective cults. This is different from being an Associate Priest, who enters the new cult by way of their original deity's presence in the new cult's myths. In a way, being an Initiate is a deeper commitment than being an Associate Priest. Eventually, Torvald will have to decide which cult he will commit his life too when he becomes a full Priest or Rune Lord. He may even have to leave the other cult if the time or social requirements become too overwhelming, and may receive a visit from the cult Spirits of Retribution of the forsworn cult if his other cult doesn't include the other deity as an Associate Priest. I'd personally allow an Initiate to transfer to Associate Priest status when they become full Priests of their home cult. So, say if I started as a dual initiate (Orlanth Adventurous and Yinkin), when I become a Storm Voice I'd also be an Associate Priest of Yinkin, presuming I kept up my time and worship commitments if they wanted. But a choice would need to be made because they'd lose spells not available to Associate Priests. This would be the price to pay for the merging and easier restoration of the rune pools. I'd also let a full Priest keep their separate initiate status, but then they'd have to juggle holy days and separate rune pool restoration.