Akhôrahil

Isn’t that exactly what they need? It’s external logic that’s optional.

Oh, I was thinking the former as I wrote the post - I'm certain both that this has happened and that there are stories about how poorly it goes (in order to make parents agree to the social norm of killing them). The second, not so much (I think it lessens it if Chaos is something you can just live with), although I could instead see the story of getting tainted and having to hurry against all odds to get it cleansed before it corrupts you (this is possible but super difficult, it seems), or seeking a glorious death in battle to spare your clan from your monstrosity. I still think the norm is Chaos = Kill, and for good reasons!

I think a distinction should be drawn between God-Talkers on one side (as they mostly support themselves and it’s not a drain on the clan if you allow people who can support it to get the rank), and ”full” Rune-levels like Priests and Rune-lords who have to be supported from the scarce resources available for specialists. If we go with the common system of temples to Orlanth, Ernalda and some third cult, you will need a minimum of three full Rune-levels, possibly up to the double, and with some (a handful?) God-talkers thrown in for good measure (among both thanes and well-off Free men and women). Being a God-talker isn’t a massive deal in the RQG rules, after all (the way it was in RQ3).

I’m not sure what an ”awakened Moon rune” means in an RQ context (in HQ, it would presumably mean at least having a Moon rune keyword (and probably being part way to Sevening), which means you’re using Moon-based magic - compare with how in tCS your initiation can get hijacked by Cacodemon). The games model the world in different ways, and it reasonably can’t be just having a rating in the Moon rune in RQ - The World Is Made Of Everything, so even a staunch traditionalist could hardly argue (within the RQ context where Moon is a proper Rune, rather than a debatable one as in HQ) that the mere presence of Moon is an abomination (the way a Chaos rune would be). I can’t imagine anyone making a huge fuss about a moderate elemental Rune rating, whether it’s Moon among the Orlanthi or a Yelmalion having some percentage in Darkness. Perhaps not ideal, but it’s far too common to do anything about. Pethaps it’s Illumination, assuming you somehow picked it up during initiation and it’s detectable. Perhaps it’s a Moon rune of 80+%, something that would be rare coming straight out of Initiation. I’m not sure - it may not even have an analogue. The closest thing to the HQ interpretation would be if you somehow emerged from initiation with access to Lunar magic, but that’s not how the system usually works. And yeah, I totally believe that people born with or coming out of initiation with a Chaos rune get killed then and there, even if they haven’t done anything wrong. With or without Storm Bulls present.

Possibly your RQG Household Guardian counts?

One cold wind I could potentially see is what we call ”blowing needles” here, when a strong wind picks up ice crystals and blows them around in a painful manner. Not nearly as bad as a sandstorm, but same basic idea.

And a nice, dry, flowy hair.

Agree, you can see this in the Four Winds of Pent. It's easy to see how this could be associated with the fertility aspect, too.

Storm Bull is associated with the Desert Wind, which makes sense within the Dragon Pass/Prax/Wastes area (and even Pent, where he's the South Rage Wind, as it borders on the Wastes to the south). But presumably he's not identified with desert winds in areas where he's still worshiped but there are hundreds or thousands of miles to the nearest desert (like Fronela or the Pelorian highlands), because that myth wouldn't carry a lot of immediacy. So what do you think he is associated with there? A destructive wind surely, but blizzards and hailstorms are probably already taken by the Winter/Cold gods. Whirlwinds? A biting North Wind?

Is this writing for a forthcoming product?

I like how this is a home-grown crisis, with their own decisions and culture now playing out the logic.

I believe the point is that TC really would love to give himself over to the Land, but he knows what will happen in the real world if he lets up his self-discipline - he will get sloppy with his medical condition, and then he will rot away. So he has to distance himself, and he does it by being an asshole, but in turn he hates himself for that. I mean, it’s not any less whiny because of it, but he kinda has his reasons.

Likely both pull from Nietzsche's distinction between the Apollonian and the Dionysian.

Thomas Covenant needs to be played by a player who really doesn’t want to be there and adamantly rejects the entire premise of the game.

I mean, just ask them!

I think there was a small amount of rep involved and a bonus to the Income roll. Also, since she managed to crit two public Worship (Ernalda) rolls in a row when arriving in the new community on top of this and she's just loaded with Rune Points and helps out with these giant Bless Crop spells for the neighbours, a lot of people are convinced she's particularly holy and are pushing for a priestesshood for her.

Whenever the text says that someone in Glorantha "revealed" something about the mythology, it's a euphemism for "made stuff up and got people to agree".

Fun story - I had one of the PCs roll Manage Household for Ancestor Day, and as usual with these things, she critted it. So afterwards, the Ancestors went about complaining in other steads how this isn’t as good as that nice lady’s and so on.

It’s like with corruption drives in China today - it’s not that whoever got punished wasn’t corrupt, I’m sure they were, but it was never the reason. Similarly, Roman corruption trials were only about punishing someone particular, or sometimes punishing extraordinarily excessive or damaging corruption by a governor when it rose to be a national problem. That there would be corruption was an absolute given - it’s baked into the system. Mark Galeotti has argued that it’s by design that it’s impossible to do anything in Russia without breaking corruption laws - that way, you can always find a reason when you want to punish someone, even though the vast majority goes unpunished.

The rare Slime Cow, Dorastor.

Yeah, we know the Short LBQ takes 14 days external time, right? Full LBQ takes a lot longer going by Argrath, I believe?

The Sourcebook is a good start. The Guide maybe isn’t the best start (it’s more like an encyclopedia, great for reference but perhaps not something you just read through as an introduction), but you’re going to want it anyway. I’m a huge fan of Storm Tribe and Thunder Rebels on the HW/HQ side and think The Eleven Lights is one of the best Glorantha creations of all time, but be aware they’re no longer considered canonical, in case that matters for you.

My positions: 1. This only matters for Otherside heroquests. 2. While big-T Time doesn't exist within the Otherside, subjective time is going to feel much the same. 3. Time will pass in the mundane world, potentially a lot. Not sure how, or if it all, it maps to the time spent subjectively within the HeroQuest.

Just push shields for a bit and hope no-one gets hurt?

I meant for economic upkeep. And since you get your Rune Point anyway, it’s a not any load on PCs, who will be building up their Rune Points regardless. PCs can be expected to pick up any subcult available - there’s little reason not to.