Akhôrahil

In Sweden, a "masarin" is a kind of sugar-glazed baked good. This makes reading the Fonrit section hilarious at times.

The Lunarization of Sartar is uniquely oppressive, isn't it, even compared to the Lunarization of the (Orlanthi-majority) Provinces? Obviously that process was often harsh at times, but there was nothing like the threat of a complete genocide of an entire country like with the Windstop.

Yes, I always associate the Lunars with the scimitar (or more technically, tulwars and the like) or sabre style of sword, bending backwards with an edge optimized for slicing, which works particularly well on horseback. While a kukri and similar forward-sloping blades are optimized for chopping, which isn't the same thing.

I'm assuming the Khopesh is cognate with Kopis, even though they're quite different weapons?

The cover made me think of something. Harrek is wielding a kukri—where would he have picked it up? Which culture(s) use kukris? My immediate guess would be Teshnos, as it's Glorantha's fantasy India.

Say no more! That explains everything!

1. I assume that Harrek would be a bad king, yes. Psycho-killers typically don't make great rulers. 2. The history of Sartar is (perhaps surprisingly) not to any large extent one about aggressive external wars. Sartar himself is a builder and a peace-maker. In fact, parts of King of Sartar can be read as a comparison between Sartar and Argrath, where Argrath comes out looking awful. Sartar solves the Telmori problem through diplomacy. Argrath solves the Telmori problem through wholesale genocide and butchering the corpses for magic. 3. As a Vingan, Kallyr's hair is dyed, surely? While you're right about gingers, supposedly you don't lose your soul when you dye your hair red?

I mean, so far it isn't more mundane, and if anything the Hero Wars are more epic and cataclysmic than the ends of the first two ages. But the Fourth Age will be more mundane, just as the Hesiod imagined that his own time was more mundane than the Heroic Age. We get to see some Fourth Age stuff in King of Sartar.

Hmm... if anything, the Age of Heroes under this model would have the First through Third ages, as the Third Age ends with Hero Wars, the banishing of the gods, and the start of a more mundane world. I don't quite believe that your model is the main inspiration, but it's worth noticing that the late Bronze Age before the Late Bronze Age Collapse would correspond with Hesiod's Age of Heroes.

Once more though, this is leading to an exploding number of threads (and there will be far, far more soon enough). I suggest sub-forum, if for no other reason than not to clutter up the "main" forum.

Astronomy?

I think a lot of people would sympathize with liberating Sartar, especially after the Lunars misbehaved so spectacularly there (the Windstop, just for the worst atrocity). Everyone likes Kallyr, the chief architect of this. But Argrath is exactly as much of a ruthless, genocidal empire-builder as the worst of the Lunars, and without any of positive qualities of someone like Jar-Eel. In what world does placing Harrek (of all people!) as king of Sartar constitute "liberation" (doubly so as he had recently killed Kallyr)?

Argrath is a decidely unpleasant person, with absolutely no concern about the devastation the wreaks around him. The people he associates with, like Harrek and Sheng Seleris, are among the worst people in the world. He's one of the primary causes of breaking the world, and is in all likelihood responsible for more deaths than any other single person of the Third Age. It only because we see him through ridiculously biased sources that this isn't immediately obvious, and quite frankly he doesn't look too good even in them. A world shaped in the image of Jar-Eel would have been vastly preferable to the one shaped by Argrath, Harrek and Sheng Seleris.

The ground in the Doraddi picture is covered with grass.

It is cool to see just how close, but not perfectly so, the images stick to the art direction.

That's what I gathered upon first read. It still makes for a decidedly odd image text, when it contradicts the actual image.

You take two poles, connect them in some way to form a frame, put a load on them, and drag them behind you by holding the upper ends while the lower ends drag on the ground. It's not exactly efficient, but it beats carrying the load, especially as you have to bring the poles with you anyway. That's my reading, at least. (When used with dogs or horses, this kind of dragging solution is called a travois. For a human-use variant, see: http://www.backcountrychronicles.com/travois-game-drag/ )

"The Guide is a view of Glorantha from 30000 feet" From the top of Kero Fin, then? :-)

Oh, and the Vingan painting is lovely. Even with its "female armor" of dubious protective worth. The sleeve style tattoos are nice. What's the metal of her bracelet? I wonder what the (supposedly Lhankor Mhy) Law-speaker thinks of the head-taking - it's a touchy subject...

A look at the pictures. They are all really nice! Hsunchen: Very much a Sami look to the outfits of the Uncoling, as we would expect. Both of the outfits are fairly similar-looking, though - almost too similar for two different tribes, in fact, although we shouldn't be surprised that similar material factors drive similar manufacture. Among the things I Iike: The Bear snowshoes. The rune tags - those make a lot of sense, as it's going to be hard to get runes on fur, and they look amazing (prominent Bear runes on the Rathoring). The snow-goggles on the Uncoling - I didn't notice those until I looked closer this time! The Rathoring has found, just like Harrek did, that you look silly in a bear-head-hat if you keep the jaw part. The text piece starts the trend that we, oddly enough, get what I assume was the description given to the artist, which always diverges at several points from the actual image. (Among others, the Rathoring isn't wearing his snow boots, and I'm fairly confident those aren't snake ribs the Uncoling is wearing.) Doraddi: You can tell that the Kresh are traders, as the woman has access to exotic things like fabrics. The runes are... embroidered, it looks like? This being Glorantha, I'm almost surprised that the belt is decorated with something other than runes, but it makes a nice contrast. The Arbennan's scarification comes through nicely. Note also the Air runes in his earpieces. The metal spearhead must be worth a fortune. Does he have a moustache, or is that just shadowing? Baobabs (?) in the background. The vegetation they're standing on looks suspiciously like grass... Praxian: The image is very evocative, but one has to wonder if it wouldn't have been better to have someone more representative in them? The queen is obviously of very high rank, and that can't be her everyday outfit. The warrior has exceptional metal equipment for a Praxian (the text says leather, but that's clearly metal, and I've already told about my misgivings about the oversized spearhead and axehead elsewhere). At least one regular Praxian would have been welcome, with more typical clothing and equipment. This said, it all looks great. Unlike in earlier examples of runic wear, the Queen's leather skirt now looks like the runes are painted. Wings and horns on the hat - certainly no minimalism here! I love how the dagger grip forms a moon crescent. Not sure why the warriors has that odd second little pony-tail at the top of his head. I wonder if his helmet (he just took it off for the picture, right, surely he has one, having full armor but no helmet would be insane?) fits over that hairstyle. No tattoos on the warrior, and in fact very little in the way of runes at all, only a few smaller Air runes (including earpieces, once more). Water would be more common among the High Llamas, but there's nothing weird about an Air-aspected guy. Orlanthi: The trend of high status people continue, in a way I'm starting to increasingly mislike - we haven't had an average Joe since the Doraddi Walker. That said, the Esroalian hair set-up looks equal parts cool and ridiculous. Bare feet makes excellent sense. Being bare-breasted is apparently not mandatory. Standard Ernalda rune-set, plus Illusion. The heavy Lunar influence on Aggar shows nicely on the Thane (at least if we imagine the Lunars as Roman-style, which perhaps we shouldn't). The pattern on his tabard seems like it's woven, which again is a nice touch, showing how we're seeing technology increases as this chapter continues. He must have a shield in order for that sword to work (and also for Weapontake), but I guess he left it out of the picture - it's not something you carry around in everyday use, anyway. Standard Orlanth rune-set, prominently displayed. When the Lunars ban Orlanth worship, is it only in Sartar, or throughout the Empire? Or is it just that the locals don't care and the Lunars don't enforce it? What's that thing in the background, and why does the symbol re-occur on the Thane's chestpiece?

Supposedly, it's some kind of ceremonial, non-mounted garb, and not the everyday outfit? I had an issue with the weapons instead - they're very much "fantasy weapons". Both the axehead and the spearhead are huge! And the triple spikes at the back don't seem to serve any obvious purpose (a single spike is for armor-piercing).

That's the problem with Sacred Kingship - you put someone in power who wants nothing better than to make sure it doesn't happen...

Speaking of the picture, should we think of the warrior as a particularly successful one? His gear is loads better than I'd expect of the average guy.

If the tattoos had to be hand-made, it would be a lot harder to keep Sartar runes secret, and there might even be wariness about literally marking someone for death at the hands of the Lunars with it.

I thought this section was... bland. It does give a good overview about things you would have to know in order to play in Doraddi society, but unlike the Orlanthi and Praxian sections, after reading it I ask myself "so what would you do as Doraddi character?" without having an answer. The combination of extreme conservatism and a fairly harmonious and peaceful society doesn't make for a lot of adventuring bait. Later on, we get both area descriptions and hints at the Hero Wars (I'm sure the New Artmali Empire is going to be well received...), but for now, the section isn't very grabby. And while it's probably just a matter of limited source material, the Doraddi culture seems extremely monolithic for something that spans an entire continent.