Akhôrahil

Economically and politically, this makes a lot more sense, too - the initial advance is into already lunarized areas, and the Janube is such a better way to the sea that it’s not even a contest. The drive into Dragon Pass mostly makes sense from a magical and religious perspective - it’s how the struggle against Orlanth was supposed to be won. (And of course there’s the fact that the Ban didn’t allow a proper westward expansion for the longest time.)

Talastar is also mostly pacified, at least until Oddi. The economy is bad, the Lunars get some taxes, the Orlanthi get to worship as long as they don’t cause any trouble, Talastar makes for a buffer against a Ralzakark, and after White Shirt Day, the Lunars can tell themselves the whole place is Lunarized and technically part of the empire. Outside of religious fervour, there is little reason to fight for either side. Post-Oddi, I have no idea.

One strong theory is that the Good Empire is the breakaway Lunar provinces. Those are both the best part of the empire and small enough that they can be balanced against Argrath’s significant power block (perhaps not perfectly, but enough that both sides could have an interest in peace). We will presumably never know how it would have gone had they tried it. (The Good Empire as Glorantha’s version of the Gallic Empire?)

I think the extremely partisan source would have gone out of its way to mention that...

You don’t think being King of Dragon Pass helps with fighting the Lunars? The political power that brings is why he does it. Supposedly yes? Not all conflicts end in total extermination of one side. Not while they were winning, unsurprisingly. The Good Empire strikes me as a reasonable partner for drawing up a peace with, though.

Wrong, and then wrong a second time. Recipients gets a POW vs. POW as per the standard rule, and it's Rune Master (i.e. God-Talker, Rune-Lord, or Rune Priest), not just Rune-Lord. (There probably should be exceptions for sorcerers and shamans as well, but there isn't). It does raise the question of how you resist your own spells in cases like this... always 50%? The case assumes that you’re a Rune-level yourself, or that your pals are, or that you raise your counterspells, or that you do something funky about ranges (you walk away until the preferred targets are close to the range limit and the party members are outside). Getting in one of these should be very doable. (Also, "the GM might stop your shenanigans by fiat" is assumed in all of these egregious munchkinnery discussions, so is not much of an objection.)

Peace is another spell along those lines - it takes all non-Rune Levels whose POW you overcome out of the fight, leaving you free to slaughter them (I would imagine they’re allowed to run away, though). (Obvious caveats about cult restrictions.)

Accelerating upwards? Better hope it doesn't hit anything after accelerating by 1 g for 1625 years!

Because it's down, sheesh! 🙂 (I wish I could go with the Greeks and say that you're pulled towards the center of the Earth Cube, but this wouldn't make sense in the way it does for a spherical world, and also, you couldn't fall into Hell in this case. Plus Hell would be upside-down, which while hilarious, isn't supported.)

So Voltron, only with broos instead?

Ralzakark. Just the other Ralzakark.

But his being a broo informs all he does. Ralzakark wants to emulate Ragnaglar. He wants to rape Glorantha. His broo-ness is his driving force. To me, it’s like saying it doesn’t matter that Jar-eel is a Lunar.

I do imagine he follows a personal code - you can probably trust his word. Most of the time. It’s just that this code also allows all kinds of atrocities. (Which isn’t exactly unique among honor codes, it must be added...)

“Having valuable lands close by”?

I think this is the best answer. Spirit Magic is very generalized, and designed to focus on a rules-based effect rather than on how exactly it comes about. For instance, Bladesharp can’t just make the blade sharper - apart from all the other questions that arise about sharpness, you wouldn’t receive a bonus to hit from having a really sharp weapon. A sloth spirit might make you lazy with your action, a time spirit might contract time for you, a spider spirit might hinder your movements using webbing, an earth elemental might grab at your feet. This seems really productive, too - it means the GM gets to describe what happens in each case, and that can only be a good thing!

Kalasmas the Settler who settled Dorastor in 114 and formed the Dorastans (D:LoD pp5-6), and presumably many of the other settlers, were Stravuli, and hence traced decent to the Vingkotlings. Vyrope, who discovered Dorasta's Cleft and formed the line of priestesses there, was his grand-daughter. Her consort found Ironbreaker. It seems likely to assume that the farmers of Dorasta's shrine are the descendants of this people. Already in 180, the Second Council moved to Dorastor, so at that point we probably get a huge big mix of peoples, united more by shared culture than descent. It was a real powerhouse long before Nysalor. And the Poisonthorn Elves were there since the Dawn.

If you’re quick, you could kill whoever is trying to Lightbringer Summon you before they’re done recitating. Then it doesn’t count, right? Right?

I believe the standard take on mysticism has moved from its own fourth type of magic (as in HW), to something that can be practiced within each of the big three. At least, this is what Robin Laws tells me. So the things you mention would not be ”improper” mysticism, merely more outwards. This can still be true under the above scheme. We know that the Kralori higher-ups are unimpressed with The Path of Immanent Mastery, believing (correctly, I would say) that it produces stunted excuses for dragons (they only keep them around because they’re practical). I would imagine that they would also be less than impressed with the way the Lunars churn out quickly mass-produced Illuminates with a lean towards madness. It seems like self-discipline and decades of meditation would produce a better class of Illuminates than hitting people with Riddles.

This also seems like the natural MGF decision.

Ralzakark-with-the-Scorpion-Arm is the original Ralzakark. He heroquested to achieve Broo perfection, which kinda worked... it just turned out that the Unicorn Emperor it produced wasn't him, and he was still himself. Now they're locked into opposition. D'oh! (This actually would explain a few things, such as Scorpionarm’s claim and Unicorn Emperor’s dismissive attitude, and their issues with each other.)

Ralzakark is presented as a Broo by word-of-god (i.e. Sandy) in sources. "Ralzakark, King of the Broos. The Regal Broo is head of the most sophisticated culture in Dorastor." (and no, this is "generic" Ralzakark, not just the Unicorn Emperor, who gets a sub-header). Also, three of four listed forms are Broo (assuming Vostasador the Replicator wouldn't be a non-Broo leader of a Broo tribe), while the fourth seems to be just some magical construct.

What was the Talastari kingship like? Was it a one-off affair with the Lunars attempting to sponsor Opand of Voraneel before that went down in flames, or did it have a precedent in history? Opand is referred to as "first King of Talastar", so that seems to indicate that there were no Talastari kings before him (also supported with Talastar being designated as a Tribal area), and it's also referred to as "the short-lived kingdom" in the Guide. When Bolthor is referred to (Guide) as "Bolthor Brighteyes, the king of the Talastari" (vol. 1) as well as "King Bolthor of Talastar" (vol 2), does this imply that he claims (successfully?) the kingship of Talastar, or merely that as king of the Bilini he's by far the most important of the Talastari tribal kings? (Also, is there a difference between the Bilini tribe and the Bilinings, or is it just a word change over time?)

One of the cool things about Ravana is how honorable he is, even as an enemy. I feel a giant discussion could be had about whether Ralzakark is (not here, though).

It drives me crazy that we have only some vague ideas (from LoT, p. 11) what happens after this. Oddi kills Ralzakark, and then years later kills him again (”final death”, which is difficult to reconcile with Ralzakark later running the Monster Empire). After this, Talastar seems to disappear from history, and I don’t think we have any idea when, where or even why Ralzakark with the Scorpion Arm fights Argrath and Harrek (where in the chronology would this fit?). Also, the Oddi conversation has one important element that might be missed - you can be Illuminated without realising it (at least for a while).

First, not all of them dedicate their entire existence to it. Second, while I’m sure they would like to see the LE destroyed, their real priority is their freedom from it (I don’t imagine Kallyr’s goal was to bring it down, for instance). Very few would think destroying the world to bring the Lunars down with it would be a great idea.