Akhôrahil

We also say ”mail” (from ”maille”) and not ”ring armor”. It’s just how language works - technical terms get imported.

And just to rub it in, a lot more expensive and far worse Move Silently modifier... So worse in every single aspect. It’s hilarious that scale on the abdomen is worse for stealth than scale on chest + abdomen.

The statline for linothorax would work for courbouillie as well? Very similar concept.

Oh, Storm Tribe had a great tidbit, by the way: Babeester Gor is often called "Ura — the Pleasant One". Shades of the Euminides, the "Kindly Ones", because do you really want to offend them?

Interestingly, so did HW, basically splitting those duties up between Babeester Gor as blood-crazed avenger and Erantha Gor (IIRC) picking up much of the temple guardianship. This is part of how it took Babeester Gor to the absolute extremes, resulting in characters that couldn't reasonably be part of a party of adventurers. RQ Babeester Gor is very toned down from the HW version, downright cuddly in comparison.

By the way, Storm Tribe seems to support the notion that you can't really be a part-timer in BG: "Worshippers must become initiates for a one-year trial period, during which aptitudes and attitudes are tested. Afterwards, the worshipper must become a devotee or leave the cult." (Devotee means 60% of time and earnings to the cult, so way above RQs 10% for Inititiates.)

This is post-Christianization? Or did it apply to pagan priests as well?

My impression is that that's not quite how it works in Sartar. Rather, the judge is someone with authority (regular power in the case of the Prince of Sartar, traditional/magical/religious power in the case of someone wielding the Lawstaff), to enforce his legal decisions. Basically, if you go to the Prince, he will make a judgement, and he will (attempt to) enforce it, because he has committed his authority to it and doesn't like to see it challenged. What's the point of going to a judge who can't do that - whatever he says is just an opinion! Similarly, if you defy the wielder of the Lawstaff, bad magical things will probably happen to you, plus you're objectively in the wrong for all to see. Something similar happens in Red Cow, when (spoilers) the Lunars are brought in to end the clan feud. Their decision might be regarded as unfair, but importantly, they can back it up. It's not exactly voluntary to agree to their ruling once it's happened.

That's the idea in Glorantha as well (unsurprisingly, the average person will have a hard time compensating for the death of another average person), but even if your clan is paying (the typical outcome), they need think it's reasonable, and in particular, if it's taken to a judge, it's the judge's idea of what's reasonable that will count. Sure, a judge might decide to be unreasonable and punish a part they dislike, but everyone knows what the going rate is, so there's limited leeway. 10 cows for a black eye or 100 cows for a slain cottar will be clearly and correctly regarded as unreasonable, and you don't get to break tradition and precedence willy-nilly without consequences.

Agree, this makes sense - it's an unusual time. If you're already committed to revenging yourself on the Six-Fingered Man, then BG is the obvious choice. (Or possibly Vinga - I see the difference here as being "revenge at any cost, no matter what" and "revenge with honorable conduct".)

You will for instance see Orlanth's killing of Yelm objectively described as "murder" multiple times in the Guide.

This is not the typical Gloranthan terminology. You will see it referred to specifically as "Secret Murder" in many places.

Well, there's a difference between murder and secret murder, but about the same thing. A secret murder is something you try to hide. On Iceland, it meant not declaring what you had done for the next three steads you passed.

I mean, that banishment by your chief makes all kinds of sense. It was more that the outlawry would be meted out as part of the judgment itself. At least if we go by the Icelandic format, paying the fine specifically means you avoid outlawry. It also has some really weird effects - one major reason to pay wergild is that so you avoid vengeance, but if you then become an outlaw, anyone is free to take whatever vengeance they can on you, so it makes the wergild payment meaningless (from your perspective - it still matters for the clan). Agree - at that point it's not just a civil crime that requires economic compensation, but a breach of How Things Should Be. Possibly even chaotic.

I'm a little surprised at the combination of wergild and outlawry for "regular" murder (I mean, the clan might outlaw someone who is a troublemaker separately, but this makes it seem as though it's part of the punishment, and "regular" murder is often thought of as a civil affair with purely economic consequences, and makes a difference between planned and unplanned actions), although less so in the second point where you're not just killing someone but also violating the natural order. I'm also not sure what to make of this part: "then fifty cows be the price, and five hands of seasons outlawry, or both". Isn't "both" already part of the "and"? It's also interesting that HW clearly assumes that maimings that can't be easily healed are a thing, unlike in RQ-going-by-the-rules where only exceptional injuries can't easily be fully healed. One more difference between the Gloranthas. Love the part about sacred animals!

I don't see BG as temporary either - it's not the easiest things to come back from - but I do think it's often part of a specific vengeance quest. For a woman who was violated and wants to dedicate herself to vengeance, it's the obvious choice. Meanwhile, I see Vingans as more oriented towards community defence - Vinga has this in her myths in a way I don't think BG does. So that was the thought behind the idea - you have done appalling things in absolute pursuit of vengeance, and even now that it's done, there's no turning back from the path of violence. Now what do you do? I imagine that becoming a temple guardian would be a common choice in the situation.

My PCs moved to the Risklands, and I'm allowing a slow drift of points of Language, Customs, Local Knowledge and so on to actually be useful in the new setting (because no-one likes dead skills). Have to remind them of this option every single season, though...

I strongly agree, and I would let PCs transfer their Rune Points when they make a "natural" transition, like Ernalda to Asrelia, anyone to Humakt or Chalana Arroy following the Relife Sickness, that kind of thing. Maybe Ernalda to Vinga or Babeester Gor if it's a natural progression (I would imagine BG is the first inition choice of very few people, and rather triggered by events). Otherwise, it doesn't make sense for anyone to switch - there's such a big sunk cost in Rune Points in older cults.

An interesting BG background could be that you joined for this one vengeance quest, and you finished it, so now what do you do with your life?

One take that wouldn't be even remotely canonical could be where the traditional role for BG cultists - full-time blood-crazed avengers - is filled by the Runelords, while Initiates act as more of a support structure, gathering information and identifying targets, offering material and magical support and backup when the fight happens, putting in some hours each week guarding the temple, putting a smackdown on misbehaving men, and so on. Wanting to support the effort, but mostly going on with their lives, and probably not decorating themselves with actual dried male genitalia.

Sure, and this would be very common, but my point is that it doesn't have to be, ruleswise. You could castrate and revenge in 10% of your time, and be, I don't know, a potter or something for the rest?

I would be all in favour of a system that did this, but it’s tricky to reconcile the things that magic explicitly can do in the hands of the PCs, with a world that works very differently. If healing is trivial for them and they have the same magics as everyone else... (Even just something that meant MPs weren’t basically free would go a long way.)

This makes sense, but now it also strikes me how weird I find a BG cultist who only spends 10% of her time doing BG stuff. It seems like that kind of thing should be all-consuming, not be a side activity. I also can’t even fathom a BG or Humakt Rune-Lord being fertile.

Yeah, okay. Not in my Glorantha though, which still lean more towards the HW/HQ stuff. I also go for optional fertility for Vingans.

I would be very surprised if BG initiates were fertile. The combination of Dark Earth, Death and and the need to stay on mission at all times seems like it would put a stop to that.