jeffjerwin

I wonder if Vingkot alias Winkot might be considered the human-brother of Yinkin and that some sort of 'folding-in' of an alynx cult accounts for the curious association of Orlanth and Yinkin. (I also think the same root is in Vinga, 'she-Orlanth'). In other words, the alynx god is the brother/companion of Vingkot (or his before-Time antecedent) and of his daughter or sister Vinga. Certainly Vingkot and Orlanth seem like the mortal and immortal halves of a single legend closely connected to the geography and Storm Age peoples of Dragon Pass. This explains in part why alynxes are a Heortling phenomenon rather than a northern or western Orlanthi cult.

See here: http://glorantha.wikia.com/wiki/Forang_Farosh

Dragonewts fail by being too much of some passion: greed... or generosity. Anger or peacefulness... The failure could make no sense to humans. They generally reincarnate as dinosaurs, not humans when this happens. Hence... my recommendation, a magisaur. There's also some weirdness in the EWF (Empire of Wyrm's Friends) that could lead to a human believing they had a dragon origin - but that was 600 years+ earlier. Forang Farosh in Tink is a survivor - actually a ghost possessing someone. The ghost was a EWF bureaucrat. Something like that might be an interesting approach or something you want to explore in the backstory, but, as ever, Your Glorantha Will Vary.

Dragonewts are very strange and there was an article in Wyrm's Footnotes on how to role-play them (mainly as npcs) - WF #14. I would recommend an intelligent dinosaur like a Magisaur, or a defective dragonewt (one who has been separated from the dragon path). There's a cult of Telmor in the old Dorastor book, but I suspect there will be changes from that version in RQ:G.

What kind of chains are strong enough to hold the burning earth?

This would be very handy - a collar of pure lead could perhaps bind Fire and Light cultists... How was Lodril/Veskarthen bound by Argan Argar?

Isn't Ernalda and Earth as plausible an Invisible God as Orlanth? The invisible can also be the 'what you can't see because it's under your feet/nose'. I know I brought up RW tantric/shakti magical traditions, but they could also be understood as 'sorcerous'. There is also the Mostali sorcerous tradition. While dwarves are seen as all male, perhaps it is better to say that they all are genderless and are assumed to be male by the predominately patriarchal Gloranthan cultures. On the other hand, I am biased in terms of the clearly superior paths of the Earth Witch and Imarja mysticism, which may have crowded out a Sorcerous Earth tradition. The language of sorcery is based on manipulation and knowledge, and these are pretty stereotypically masculine approaches to the universe, at least in our world.

I think this language in the rules is obviously causing confusion... 'Species' is just a 'particular class of thing'. I think 'zombie', 'animated skeleton', 'vampire', etc., is what the gift is really calling for. This is a hunch, but reading it as 'type of foe of Humakt' makes more sense. It might even include other types of 'socially dead' people like the Alkothi Sevens. Edit: Joerg and I seem to disagree.

Yes, though of course attacking the head directly is not a particularly safe tactic.

Recipe is in fact the word used historically in the place of 'spell' for magical rituals in medieval/early modern Europe...

Ah, that's right.

The Stone Dragon of Skull Ruins as well. Not sure about the Black Dragon... isn't he hanging with Cragspider?

I've seen some crazy mumbo-jumbo being practiced about dice. (And in all seriousness, magical practices aren't actually all that out-there for gamers. I speak for myself and other people who dabble. RQ is interesting to myself and my friends in part because of this.)

I'm pretty sure all the insane chariot tricks in the Cattle Raid of Cooley work in Glorantha, with enough magic behind them. https://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol5/5_1/karl_5_1.pdf Edit: here's a breakdown of martial feats (Cles). https://www.jstor.org/stable/25512561?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

John Barleycorn: A Ballad Robert Burns 1782 Type: Poem There was three kings into the east, Three kings both great and high, And they hae sworn a solemn oath John Barleycorn should die. They took a plough and plough'd him down, Put clods upon his head, And they hae sworn a solemn oath John Barleycorn was dead. But the cheerful Spring came kindly on, And show'rs began to fall; John Barleycorn got up again, And sore surpris'd them all. The sultry suns of Summer came, And he grew thick and strong; His head weel arm'd wi' pointed spears, That no one should him wrong. The sober Autumn enter'd mild, When he grew wan and pale; His bending joints and drooping head Show'd he began to fail. His colour sicken'd more and more, He faded into age; And then his enemies began To show their deadly rage. They've taen a weapon, long and sharp, And cut him by the knee; Then tied him fast upon a cart, Like a rogue for forgerie. They laid him down upon his back, And cudgell'd him full sore; They hung him up before the storm, And turned him o'er and o'er. They filled up a darksome pit With water to the brim; They heaved in John Barleycorn, There let him sink or swim. They laid him out upon the floor, To work him farther woe; And still, as signs of life appear'd, They toss'd him to and fro. They wasted, o'er a scorching flame, The marrow of his bones; But a miller us'd him worst of all, For he crush'd him between two stones. And they hae taen his very heart's blood, And drank it round and round; And still the more and more they drank, Their joy did more abound. John Barleycorn was a hero bold, Of noble enterprise; For if you do but taste his blood, 'Twill make your courage rise. 'Twill make a man forget his woe; 'Twill heighten all his joy; 'Twill make the widow's heart to sing, Tho' the tear were in her eye. Then let us toast John Barleycorn, Each man a glass in hand; And may his great posterity Ne'er fail in old Scotland!

Barley seeds can go into extended dormancy before germination. Note that Baroshi is in a preserved state of childhood. He might germinate into an even greater god if he's reborn as a star and worshipped...

Siwend was one of the early gods who went with Varanorlanth into Esjenen, the First Land, so if he's identical to Dostal he may come from Dini and the south and be renamed Dostal rather than the other way around. I think Varanorlanth's band is primitive-pre-Vingkotling in origin, when Orlanth is the Wind, Yinkin is his companion, and his mate is Velhara, his half-sister. Also, Baroshi is the godling from Snake-Pipe Hollow, where he's connected both to Maran Gor and Babeester Gor, but his father is clearly a Vingkotling demigod and his mother is an Earth demigoddess. Also, I've theorised elsewhere that the Bouncer at Geo's is a Nandan devotee of Babeester Gor, goddess of beer and justice. PS. Baroshi's head is a barley-seed. He may have something in common with Flamal, Genert and other gods of male Earth.

Are there similar figures outside Genertela (or the Wastes and Dragon Pass)? Because Pamaltela ought to have its own tradition. Or Not? Do the Agimori know the Peaceful Cut? Is Lunar meat taboo among the Praxians and Orlanthi?

Yes. People I game with (and I'm sure that's true of everyone here) are not random. They are already open to and curious about games and pretending to be in a different universe and different cultures. We don't need to police the game for the sensibilities of people who aren't going to want to play in the setting. We can, however, consider the fact that the popular conception of "D&D" style games includes a fair bit of beefcake and inappropriate objectifying* female attire. This has been changing. I think the hobby has stepped well beyond that stereotype, but a person who isn't involved in the hobby could assume it's all the same. *There's a real difference between stripperific attire and art that depicts a Minoan style priestess, of course. The priestess isn't there to be leered at; she's representing a "divine feminine" (as Ellie puts it), and while she is an erotic figure, she's also in command of her environment and 'gazing back' at the viewer.

Every person is different but I am am the only regularly playing guy in my group. No one in my group is offended or taken aback. However: 1. My gamers consist of a philosophy and humanities professor, a playwright, a graduate student in biochemistry, and the student's partner (who is an artist). 2. Everyone in my group knows each other and is a friend outside of gaming. 3. We're all nerds/geeks/goths/weirdos. Know your group! Ask them if they feel ok with non-pornographic nudity or bare-chested women (and men) in an appropriate cultural context. The art is not far off from a National Geographic article on the Minoans. (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2017/09-10/Minoan_Crete/#/slide01_snakegoddess_DA06240D.jpg) It is not meant to be 'Conan and the slavewomen' or some such. PS. I also play RQ with my 9-year-old daughter, but she's a defiant feminist, given that she believes that women should be able to go about without a shirt anyway if it's hot enough, so she doesn't care and is in fact enthusiastic about the art. She wishes the world was more matter-of-fact about this sort of thing.

However long is the most horrifying.

Yes, you're right.

In our world's South Asia, the tantric cults, which are essentially pragmatic and materialist, even though they are also mystic (here-ness), are Earth and female-centered (Shakti), whereas the notion of a universe with a hidden and separate spiritual realm (Dualism) we cannot apprehend is associated with male gods - their mysticism is 'not here-ness'. PS. I think Lunar Way sorcery is closer to the Invisible Goddess = Glorantha herself. Note that Sedenya is present in the here-now, in the actual world, not in a world of abstraction.

Orlanthi/Theyalan peoples were the hinterland people to the Western Sorcerous cultures, hence the interconnection. There's simply more opportunities to have introduced Sorcery into one's worship. The Hsunchen peoples also have been assimilated in part to Western Sorcery in those regions, but their shamanic traditions seem to be less pretentious and remain a peasant or warrior sect rather than a priestly heresy. There are also henotheistic cults in Carmania and other parts of the Lunar Empire, but with the exception of Invisible Orlanth, involve other gods.

Yes, and I've been confronted by it. On the other hand, I also have left jobs because of a pervasive culture of harassment and impunity. So it's easy to see how things get out of whack.