jeffjerwin

Well the dragon she inhabits, the Dragonspine, is the 'Mover of Heavens'. The Earth connection is perhaps through Kero Fin, the 'Mover of Heaven's' mate.

If she is a Balancer, then, is she some sort of analogue of Natha, who surely has an Earth component? Natha [JagaNatha], of course has some intriguing similarities to Maran Gor, Ana Gor, and Babeester Gor, as a goddess of retribution. Though there is nothing retributive implicit in "granting wishes". So maybe not... (Artmal, dead son of the Blue Moon, also had the Fate rune.) From her location, if she is a Genia Loci, she absolutely would have a draconic aspect, being a component/child of the body of Sh'hakarzeel, the Mover of Heavens, dragon-lover of Kero Fin. Note that Dendrog slew Shalanvar, an Ice Dragon, on her site. This suggests then the draconic illumination of learning the proper interaction with the material and with desire; she is therefore I think a remnant of the choice that all mystics are faced with: Materialism or Spirituality. She represents Materialism, like the Buddhist Māra, embodiment of desire, death, and sensuality. Elemenoria would be from an EWF standpoint an entity they awoke as the embodiment of Sh'hakarzeel's obstacle to enlightenment, whom Orlanth cut out of him so he could unite with the Cosmic Dragon. I think therefore she is not so much evil as a necessary teacher to those mystics who wish to transcend their rootedness in the World. Few do so in that spirit in the Third Age; she is only the 'wish-granter'.

I'm brainstorming on this character, who I was reminded of by the 13G adventure that recently came out (https://escalationfanzine.blogspot.com/2019/05/escalation-special-under-pressure.html) The 'Great Temptress, who can grant any wish for a price'. Sounds amazing! Unfortunately we have same sentence reprinted verbatim in almost every source on her and the Falling Ruins. The Falling Ruins includes of course Dinkat's broken ladder to the Heavens, which seems to be a failed project of the EWF period. Elemenoria would likely also derive from that time... Her name: Elem- is an Esrolian or South Theyalan form of Yelem or Yelm, seen also in the early Nochet queen Elemara. -Oria is likewise a primitive root meaning 'mother', 'earth', 'girl' as seen in the Pelorian Mother Goddess, 'Oria' and in the Theyalan Voria. The people of Ben Bolar, the former name of the Falling Ruins, were Maranites, an Earth culture that worshipped the Shaker and Dancer, mother of the Gazzam. These probably make her origins as linked to the Earth cults, but the 'temptress' and 'wish granting' nature of her power suggest Nysalorean illumination; is she a remnant of the Bright Empire? It's interesting that her primary prefix probably means 'Sun', though it could also have the sense of 'bright'. Why are her gifts so perilous? Does she behave like a Jinniya, literal-minded and malicious? Or does she ask for a part of one's soul or some awful promise, like the faeries, demanding a first-born child? She is evidently immortal and impervious to the dangers of the ruins itself. In any case she would be a Master of the Fate Rune. It would be symmetrical to have her wish granting powers themselves gained through some awful bargain as well, with some other entity. If she is a Faerie/Jinniya like creature, then she is perhaps a pre-Time Nymph, manifesting Desire (wish itself), possibly damaged by Chaos. Or she could be a great spirit, once a bearer of prayers, now trapped on the Earth. The other option is that she is a potent magician from before the Dragonkill, but that is a little too much like Delecti. Elaboration? Contradiction? Misgivings?

Anyone of any gender can partner up, though marriage is usually between males and females, and formal marriage is a clan and bloodline-based affair, not a private thing - quite different from how we might do it; there's usually payments, contractual oaths, and even a duration negotiated. If a Vingan married they probably would do so as equals or with a bedhusband or bedwife, but Vingans often are less oriented towards settling down and having families than other Heortlings. Vinga did bear a child according to at least one myth, but she wasn't necessarily married. I suspect their brothers and sisters may raise any children they have. Now temporary initiation to Vinga is described in several HQ documents for purposes of vengeance or survival, to gain combat magic, and these types of initiations usually preclude any settled life: in fact, it's sometimes done by young widows and bereaved mothers to take part in ritual feuds. Generally speaking Vinga operates very similarly to Orlanth Adventurous. Orlanth Adventurous is the unsettled, bachelor, Orlanth, not the stead-father, chieftain, or protector: he is the thief, the raider, the explorer, and the befriender of strangers. These are also aspects of Vinga. A Vingan can become a king or chieftain, but I suspect the fertility aspect of Orlanth is there undertaken by a proxy, such as a brother or bedhusband.

aren't all the schoolchildren (to the extent that such things exist) lay worshippers of LM? Also, whenever a person needs their lineage recited or the law ascertained, bam, sacrifice to LM...

These are the most interesting cultures to me: 1. The Lunar Way (not so much the Dara Happan Way) 2. The Hsunchen (see my article on the tiger hsunchen back in the day that Trotsky hosted: http://web.archive.org/web/20000304064925/http://members.aol.com/ttrotsky/hsunchen/tigermum.htm) 3. The Kitori 4. Beast Folk in general 5. Pelanda/Doblian (the Entekosiad cultures) The order is mutable. I like cultures that challenge our conceptions of what is true and normal, and have a strong spiritual element, particularly tied to the Green Age. I like cultures that don't value violence per se but are sensible to the world as a otherworldly space. I like these things because I want to find a story I would and my friends would enjoy being a part of, but also one that would face us with challenges in the stories that we would tell.

My thinking is that the wyter of a hero band or better a part of the Sartarite Magical Union could fight and destroy another wyter. Bring a huge group of worshippers to destroy the temple.

"Director and Stage Manager" are clearly rolled into Worship (Deity) for all those priest[esse]s, shamans, and god talkers.

Every Sacred Time the world teeters on the edge of destruction, and the solemn and joyous affirming of the Gods' work, and every person's own small work, towards its survival, is acknowledged, and sets the stage for another rebirth. Also, a screw-up in the sacred time rites is a really bad omen.

Is Shadowy Province a mistake for 'Shadowy Provenance'?

A lot of them died, being more expendable than the Uz matriarchs. By the time the Dawn came, the earlier generations of males had died fighting Chaos and the Hurtplace, and I think the lesser dark trolls were all that were left.

Another comment. The Zin letters zine states that it was once the 'Leave-Alone Ruins', with a strong implication that it was an EWF Site. This is consistent with the rough location of Banamabar in the Second Age maps (though they have flaws, obviously) and the vague statements in Greg's Middle Sea Empire. Banamabar could sit atop another ruin, of course, that of the Snakepipe Hollow civilization destroyed by Chaos during the Greater Darkness. There may be tunnels into the hill below the town which could be connected to the two thieving clans connected to the town in the Griselda stories: they might be tomb/ruin robbers, as adaptable to the Big Rubble as to the vaults under Alone. No doubt severe taboos are supposed to protect the site, but well...

They appear as Dark Orlanthi on p.32, and Alone as a cross between Earth Tarsh and Dark Orlanthi on the same page, which only makes sense if they have the Darkness rune. However... we know that the Nightjumpers also have the Darkness rune and are Troll fighters. It appears that there are two types of advantageous Troll fighters: other Trolls and Darkness peoples (to see in the dark and be sneaky) and Fire types, like Yelmalians. The Darkness rune among the Bachad could also come from intermarriage with the Torkani, of course.

I assume "nestlings" above is a typo for "newtlings", and that has nothing to do with the durulz, who assuredly breed in and around Duck Point like normal.

The City of Alone A compilation of canon and semi-canon for Glorantha. Terarasin founded the city in 1583. In 1621-5 it’s only 38-42 years old, and it was devastated by Harvar in 1611, losing half its population, including many men. Alone was a center of the Righteous Wind Revolt in 1611. In 1405 a battle was fought on the site of the later city between the trolls and the Alda-Chur tribe as they expanded eastward. If the Bachad were former Kitori, they may have fought against the Elmali. The DP Gazetteer reveals that the town is place where pipes, horns, and harps are made. Jessoin, a ‘skald’ is particularly famous for his instruments. An ‘apothecaries’ ring’ is here made up of healing women who gather herbs from the Perilous Hills and Vale of Flowers. A secret hero band called the Burning Wind Women resisted Harvar’s tyranny. They cooperate with the rebellious Tres in the Lost Woods. Eliardo the Plasterer was ‘mayor’ in 1612+ as Harvar’s lackey. In c.1621 there were only 700 people in Alone (WF 15). Most people there were Earth Tarsh or Dark Orlanthi. The Earth Tarsh domination is perhaps greater because of the many dead warriors from 1611 and later troubles, leaving the women in charge. The Zin Letters #3has a vast amount of information about Alone’s Hinterlands and a nice map of the region, and is not widely out of step with canon, though there the Bachad are of Alakoring/Tarshite origin, which is now non-canon. According to that text, Alone was settled by Terarasin after Grizzly Peak with Tarsh Exiles, and consisted at its founding of the following clans or bloodlines: The tree-worshipping and animist Deruvadings, now vanished, also a part of the same migration as the Taravadings and Brynvaldings. These three probably formed a Triaty at one time. The Taravadings, who seem to be unlike the other clans in the region as ‘aboriginals’ who arrived perhaps before the Torkani, possibly from Heortland (this is suggested by the classification of the Bachad), though the border of Dragon Pass to the east was not marked as with the Death Line and Cross Line, so they could be an isolated group of Orlanthi who escaped the Dragonkill and returned via the Adari region. They were a Barntar-worshipping group, and lost their wyter in 1611 during the slaughter. Their rivals were the Odalya worshipping Brynvaldings, a forest hunting clan. They are now a bloodline. The Orgolmani, who in 1611 were wiped out with the Alone warlord Hasberd the Bellows. All the adult men died. From Tarsh, i.e., the Bagnot valley. Yerastori, an Earth/peace clan, who partly survive among the Sarading clan of the Tres. Evidently from Tarsh. WF 15 tells us that the Bachad were Dark Orlanthi and thus of Kitori origin. This is contradicted, however, on page 44 of the same issue! The Tres seem to have coalesced in c.1612 from survivors of the Righteous Wind (see the DP Gazetteer), including clans of the western Far Point. Both the Amad and Bachad were moved from the western fringes of Alone into the hinterlands. The artwork called ‘A Village Near Alone’ appears in Wyrms’ Footprints and in the DP gazetteer. It shows the sloped roofs characteristic of snowy northern Sartar, and the giant-maiming stakes made from tree-trunks. I use the Spanish site called La Mesa de Miranda for a map of the town: http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-z1MAeaXrAQk%2FVPrygbF0QTI%2FAAAAAAAAHYc%2Fv5Wyg6buSzc%2Fs1600%2F11043277_792511187506681_4172175173111480555_o.jpg&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNEKuFnhVfcpvhTPZFEj4q7aroid-A. The family of Griselda of Alone. From Dickinson’s writings (chiefly Meet the Parents) we know that she was born in Alone in 1597 to a family that had emigrated from Pavis, who were connected with the Far Point cult of Lanbril. Her father was named Hereward and her mother was (nicknamed?) Regina. She had for a brother the ill fated Rory/Roderick and an aunt named Harsandra, probably on her father’s side; another aunt was Elfrida, on her mother’s side. Ferdy (‘Ferdinand’) was the child of her mother’s affair or perhaps year marriage to a rival criminal in Alone, who was later to take Griselda’s virginity. Uncle Brand and cousin Belladonna are probably also on her mother’s side through aunt Gunnvara. New Pavis was only founded in 1550, and even if Hereward’s family came from the Old City, they would not have ventured into the Far Point any earlier than 1539, when the Dragonewts Dream opened the walls. Most likely they were early settlers around 1583. This corresponds to the probable conflict after Duke Dorasar’s death in 1579. If Griselda’s father was from Pavis, he might be of mixed Sartarite and Old Pavic origin, possibly low-born (Wolfhead is her distant (second?) cousin through him); her imperious mother, however, is perhaps connected to the rich Dark Orlanthi families of Alone, given Griselda’s obvious Darkness Rune. Ferdy also shows signs of the Darkness rune, stronger than Griselda, through his unnamed father. By the 1630s (The Lady of Alone) the now older Griselda had returned to Alone, where she had taken over the family business. Her cousin Lucilla was by then a Vingan and wanderer. Griselda’s mother, father, and half-brother ‘Furtive’ Ferdie had fallen afoul of Argrath Maniskisson [c.1631?] as wanted criminals and were executed, though that may be also because of their connections to Kallyr.

I suspect the Moon = Female; Sun = Male part of things is older than that. Certainly there was both a Moon and a Sun before Yelm. Entekos is the 'Mother of Moons'. She was the consort and maybe sister of the pre-Yelmic/pre-Brightface embodiment of the Sun/Sky heat/light. Yelmalio is the Cold Sun and is not female, though Yelorna really looks like a female version of him, and sometimes the Sun Daughter takes his place. However, the 7M ritual was successful enough that Antirius is embodied in part by the Red Emperor and Verithurusa was equated with Sedenya. If they had the courage to drown Yelm in the Western Ocean when they were on their quasi Lightbringers Quest, and resurrect the Sun as the Bright Moon, his daughter, mother, and sister, perhaps they would have triumphed completely.

Yeah, sorry. The spelling of this one was wobbly in some of my sources, I apparently used the incorrect one.

I suppose the last is standard Divine Intervention in RQ, which isn't as uncanny, sadly.

That's kind of what I thought. The 'witch' aspect implies some degree of 'left-handedness' in the magic department, but perhaps there's some sort of secret where Yinkin's battles with the spirits also saw him conquering some of them? This sort of semi-shamanism would be hostile, but also invested with some sort of mythic power.

Yes. Overpowered but still relatively ordinary. Harrek is an 18th level 'Warrior', Argrath is a 10th level 'Warrior', Gunda is an 8th level Warrior, Jar-Eel is a 12th level Warrior-priestess, and the Red Emperor is a multi-classed Wizard/Warrior 15/15; Beat Pot is a Warrior 4/Priest 8, and Jaldon is a 8th level Warrior. Relatively weak by modern D&D standards, though their equipment is amazing.

The Earth Witch, the animist or shamanic aspect of the Earth Cult. Worshipped by wise-women across Prax and Central Genertela.

Does any one else recall the crazy stats made for the major NPCs reprinted in Wyrms Footprints? I believe Dave Hargreave did them for his Arduin Grimoire system.

I'm looking to add some people to my group (or possibly join an existing one) in Monterey... a most of my players have less time for gaming these days and I'm interested in getting a RQ game underway. I can't drive long distances because of moderate disability and because I'm a single parent. But I can make it to Seaside or Marina or south to Carmel for a game. I'm also keen to play Cthulhu and KAP and anything else good, but RQ I miss playing these days the most (I most recently ran KAP). I am an experienced GM who has written for game companies, so I'm comfortable running things and making up material but would also enjoy being a player.

If an individual is a 'cat witch' (there are several in the lore) are they simply a rune priest[ess] of Yinkin, or are they likely also a shaman of Sedrodosa (or some other cult?) as well; and if the latter, how best to handle that?

It feels like he should have 'shape earth'/clay type magic too.