Nevermet

And it's time for more of my babblings about Maniria. This time, I'm turning my attention to the mysterious, the weird... the Dragonewts of Ryzel. What we know about them is... pretty limited: They have been there since they marched with Palangio the Iron Vrok into Maniria (History of the heortling people) It appears they remained after Palangio left There are approximately 8,000 Dragonewts in Ryzel (I forgot to add this before) They have their own Inhuman King (many sources) They hunt humans in Ryzel, but nowhere else (Guide) They have absorbed a few Slontan ruins into their territory since the flood, such as Gualal and Hermat (Guide) They trade insects used to make a brilliant red dye to the Trader Princes of Jubal in exchange for something that humans find eccentric or even humiliating (Guide) They use Newtlings as slaves (Guide) There is a famous tailed priest named New Wyrmish who is rather disgraced among the Dragonewts, but is very open to humans There MIGHT be communication to Dragon Pass newts ....And that's it. Literally, that's it. That's... not a lot. If a game was set in Jubal or Kaxtorplose (or anywhere in Nimistor, or in Handra), there would need to be a lot added. I was planning on writing some interpretation and filling gaps, but I'll do that tomorrow. Night.

I assume there's a dumb theory or two in trying to equate the illiteracy plague and the Cult of Silence?

It involves Castelein. At least for me 🤣

Mmm... feast... How are your players thinking about what's going on? Not just, like, are they having fun, but where do they see things going, are they really focusing on any traits of their characters, etc.

I have nothing to add yet, but thank you, this is great. All of it. I will be citing all of this as I try to think through more about Maniria, especially the time before Dormal where the Manirian Road was at its most profitable.

Oh, the New Coast and the Poison Shore are rich mosaics of horror.

Shh! The Dara Happans will hear you!

I would double down on (a version of) postmodernism, and look for hope in the local. How does the community associated with the PCs struggle to survive the everything

I'm still reading, but I have nothing worth saying to anything, sadly. I also haven't had time to dig through some of the Stafford Library, but I want to. I am especially curious about illumination in the Entekosiad, as I like Pelandan history & myth more han Dara Happan (I'm odd)

Depending on some details or one's perspective, that's potentially more terrifying than oblivion.

I suspect the Low Temple would have blueprints for Zistorite machines, and perhaps some small devices. Large things would have been left behind as they escaped the Flood. As for Highwater, I think anything they had would have been appropriated by Trader Princes long ago. I imagine most of the Trader Prince Cities would have a "Chamber of Wonders" where they present fascinating artifacts from across the world. I'd imagine more than one has a Zistorite device in them. Of course, there's always the possibility that something is buried beneath Highwater... or is Highwater. "Saved from the Flood by their faith" takes on a different meaning when one's faith is embodied by sorcerous super-tech. I can't imagine Kaxtorplose was ever that into Zistor, as it has always been too genuinely reverent toward Earth deities for me to think that they could get behind Zistorism. The Dragonewts violently claim Gualal and other ruins west of Kaxtorplose as their own and let no humans near them. Zistorite artifacts may be part of why. Or part of why humans want to get there. As for Ramalia... yeah, they have mechanical horrors, along with their boar horrors, feudal horrors, sorcerous horrors, tapping horrors, Zorak Zoran horrors... I keep trying to get my players to get involved in a Ramalian resistance movement and they keep refusing. As for an extant population still practicing something that can be identified as Zistorite, I doubt it (though there are likely some strange versions of Malkionism in isolated communities along the New Coast.

I Live to Serve I look forward to hearing what ACTUALLY happened

And when it does, the effects will be udderly horrible!

Man... we really need to step up those PSAs about Chaos Cows

A wyvern was poisoned?!?! ....i should go

I've updated the list with schools from the Well of Daliath. I don't know what else I have to ask about illumination, nevermind insights.

This is a picture of Nantahala Lake in North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I feel this is what the Manirian Highlands look like before one gets to the Mislari.

As for Aron and Wonderwood... I need to read more before I post, cuz I got no clue.

Yep. Tallcastle is probably not the hottest place, though I doubt anything is dry there, ever.

I've definitely wondered about what the Helering / Entruling version of the Plundering of Aron looks like, and I've toyed with the idea that Aron was in what is now Maniria before the Dawn. And in terms of climate, I view Maniria as very much the Gulf Coast of the United States: very warm, very humid, very much a wooded environment, etc.

Also, I'll get through the Well stuff tomorrow. I'm behind on several projects

I think that a Gloranthan hero of sufficient power, regardless of illumination, is inevitably going to be seen as a bit of an inhuman monster by somebody. Glorantha as a setting can be seen as going all in on the quote from Firefly, "It's my estimation that every man ever got a statue made of him was one kind of a son of a bitch or another." In this discussion, illumination is one path to power, and as such, Mal's maxim applies. But it's less about the metaphysics and more about the power.

I LOVE this. I will eventually get around to making a Manirian Scratchpad more about Manirian religion, and trying to emphasize the role of Heler will be important.

In a previous publication (Blood over Gold), Nimistor was the name of the river after the Tigronior merged with the Merbuli, and the entire river valley was called the Nimistori river. The Guide reorganized a lot of names in Maniria. As I understand it, and I may be wrong, Nimistori is now a cultural subcategory of the Manirian Tribes that exist within the Tigronior river system, which includes the Tigronior, Darkel, Mislari, Noronior, Skontor, and Trader RIvers. I assume Nimistor is a founding hero of some kind. I also assume that "Ronior" / "Ranior" is the core river, with "No-" meaning "upper" and "Tig" meaning "Lower" As for Traxlera... Yeah, there's nothing currently published, and to my knowledge it's a name that did not exist before the Guide (but I'm not 100% sure on that). So... it's undefined. Currently, IMG, it is a "failed Tallcastle." The Manirians of Traxlera never managed to develop the fortifications one finds in Legros, or the traditions of co-existence found in Yolanda. As a result, they were always a little more precarious than some other Northern Manirian communities, because they never institutionalized stable relations with the Aldryami. Then the Opening happened, and the political implosion the occurred in Nimistor left the Traxlerans to fend for themselves, and there were several devastating battles and a forced migration out of the valley and the upper reaches of the Noranior Valley by most of the human populace. This is why, again IMG, Nimistor is the most politically fractured of the Manirian groups.

A better answer would start with... defeat Nysalor, at least for Arkat? for 3rd Age Ralians, perhaps "Help return Arkat to the world?"