jeffjerwin

Argrath is called 'Arkat' on the Takenegi Stela in the back of the GtG. There are others too. AgartuSay, for instance.

Clearly the durulz is the one Gonn Orta is looking for.

Interestingly, I've discovered that the unpublished sections of Anaxial's Roster associated the were foxes with Raccoon Dogs ('Vuskarasas'), which are rather different in East Asian folklore... Raccoon dogs, who I used to live near in Japan, are not really the thieves and seducers that kitsune are. I much prefer the red fox association. Elurae are believed in canon texts to be the descendants of the Lady of the Wild, and the folkloric fox shapeshifter can also speak as a fox, not just in human form. I, of course, came up before with the awful suggestion that Eurmal is Elmal's shadow/Other. And that the firestealer therefore is the spark of the Sun... E L M A L E R M A L One is the opposite of the other: traditional versus innovative; loyal versus betrayer; brother versus outlaw... Eurmal ~ Kazkurtum We all know Eurmal is the fire bringer, the arsonist, and the Friend of Man (hearth starter)... We all know Elmal is the fire carrier, the protector of the hearth, Lightfore, Lightface... (whose wife slept with Eurmal) Hence Red Fox has a bit of 'Fire' in her/him, along with Earth, and Darkness.

More notes: From Anaxial's Roster. We learn that 'Red Fox' was a shape of Trickster and his lover was a 'Dara Happan princess' whom he turned also into a fox. (...note that the Handsome Grinner [Air/Movement] mask from the Pavis book for HQ is given a beard of red fox fur). This Trickster is probably not Rakenveg (despite his fire associations), as that trickster is a hare, a fox prey animal. [GRAoY] For this reason I suspect that 'Red Fox' is a Trickster god associated with a Dara Happan-adjacent culture, and we can perhaps exclude him from Pelanda, where Rakenveg is also situated in semi-canon material. In fact this 'trickster fox' may be a transformed form of Orlanth himself; 'fox' clans are common among the Orlanthi (I notice a few among the Hyalorings as well in Six Ages). Fox burrows are Earth burrows, and of course Ernalda, in a round-about away, could be said to be a Dara Happan princess, as a slave-wife of the Emperor. In Arinae legend, Orogeria resurrected Vixen, who could change her coat with the seasons [Illusion rune], and was the most cunning of all beasts, after she was slain by her consort, Kenstrata, and her litter after her resurrection were blue. They could never be caught afterwards. (Kenstrata later slew and ate his son by Orogeria in the form of a deer. [Entekosiad]) Orogeria's resurrection of Blue Fox/Ulurda and her equation with the fox is probably a variation on a similar story. Inora turned herself and a lover into white foxes and are the ancestors of that breed.

How Vixen taught Yinkin to be lazy One evening Vixen was walking past the Storm Village's barn. "I see you" said Yinkin. "What are you doing?" she said. "I am keeping watch." Yinkin walked along the boundary. "You are wasting your time" said Vixen. "I wasn't doing nothing." Yinkin hissed. "This is important". Vixen yipped with laughter. "Let me show you something." She turned into a woman. "Oh." said Yinkin. Much later Yinkin was feeling more relaxed. "You need to take it easy," said Vixen. "My brother depends on me," said Yinkin. "Not really." said Vixen. "You just like to think so. If you conserved your strength, your feats would be more special, not less." "Also" she said, "the inside of the barn here is much warmer and cozier than the edge of the tula. And there are delicious mice." "True" "And it is the prerogative of heroes to rest. You never know what dreams you might have missed!" He was already asleep. The next time she stopped by to inspect the barn she saw him napping. Good thing too, because she had to get lunch back to the den. Such tasty little ducklings!

The name 'Jajagappa' sounds a bit like a jackal or fox noise. Definitely some sort of canine vocalisation.

More Vulpine notes. 'Ulurdum' - a now vanished planet - was also called Blue Fox. Ulurda is/was 'Blue Vixen'. Thus at one time there was a celestial fox pair. Ulurda was claimed as an identity of Rufelza, the Red Moon, by herself as Blue Moon. (http://www.glorantha.com/docs/the-orogeria-moon/) Now, there are thematic similarities between the Moon Goddess and the fox goddess - certainly she is crafty, desirable, and autonomous of other divinities. Orogeria is a goddess of survival and finding things, which are of course, fox-like. Now, in our world, at least in East Asia, there are said to be foxes living on the moon. Kitsune are even said to be able to mimic a second moon in the night sky. This may be associated with the Buddhist Jataka stories: the moon-dwelling jackal of South Asia was 'translated' into a fox-spirit (much as the nagas were translated into dragons). Were-Jackals are, according to Sandy Peterson, also a sort not-Hsunchen, much like the Elurae; Jackals are also associated with death and the underworld. [Arcane Lore, Forgotten Secrets ? - not sure] Now, Orogeria has been identified in the Guide as a form of the Lady of the Wild, who is also the mother of the Elurae (curious, no...? considering who Velhara's brother is). Hence one wonders if the partial dissolution of the Blue Moon and the current 'dislocation' of the Elurae across Genertela are connected. I am moreover reminded of the flying foxes, an interesting type of bat.

Well, they don't actually 'do' anything historical. Mostly they mess around and steal things from humans. The really clever stuff is probably covered up, though, by embarrassed Men.

Thank you. There will be more. The shape changing seems like the sort of power from 'before beasts and men were something different' (Green Age). This is no doubt how they can be 'adopted' into Beast Valley. Maybe they showed up after the Dragonkill. One possibility is that a group came west with Sheng Seleris...? I could see also one following Godunya into Dragon Pass during his exile.

Incidentally, my 9-year-old wants to run RQ for me. I am entirely approving, of course, and my Elurae Trickster is probably going to end up as my character. She has chosen Fronela as it has reindeer people and fjords. I look forward to causing confusion and disorder in Loskalm. We will probably place the time in the vague past (post-EWF/early Lunar period). Are there some Fox-legends about Fronela? Some apocryphal material placed fox-Hsunchen in the area, but that seems to have been discarded by the time of Anaxial's Roster, where all the fox-people are Elurae. Edit: Jamie Revell's Book of Glorious Joy has a mention of 'Curious Fox', a strange species of fox in Loskalm. I personally can't imagine a more lovely way to disrupt Loskalmi perfectionism than having a fox-trickster wander about.

They are, however, mentioned in King of Sartar, the Sartar Companion, and several other 'mostly or nearly entirely canonical' sources.

Seshnela is the oldest parts of the mythology. See here: http://www.staffordcodex.com/overview/ And here: http://www.glorantha.com/the-discovery-of-glorantha/

King Chicken's Golden Egg. At the top of the sky was a house full of birds. The snootiest and loudest was King Chicken. In the centre of his coop was a Golden Egg which was so bright it made the sky and the whole world gleam. Vixen decided that the golden egg looked delicious. When the world was young no one had sharp teeth, so we had to chew things a lot. Also nothing went away when we ate them, because all of it grew on trees. Even meat and voles! The first time Vixen went into the palace she looked around a bit, but King Chicken attacked her, saying she was 'impure' and 'not wanted'. In the trouble she caught her tail in the brightness and fell back towards the ground, the fire burning like a falling star. She landed in the First Forest and ran to Tree Man, but the fire burned him up. Tree Man screamed in agony and started to fall apart, but Wild Man took the charcoal to make the first fire. After that the trees wouldn't give food to Vixen or anyone else who liked juicy flesh. So we had to bite it off. Vixen had to sharpen her teeth with a hard stone, so she could do that. After a while other creatures learned that trick, and Vixen was too small to fight them. She hid in the loving Deep Earth. But she was still hungry. So she came to the coop dressed as a pedlar with a basket of delicious grubs she had gotten from Deep Earth. They made her tummy rumble but she wanted the Golden Egg. When King Chicken saw the grubs writhing in the basket, his tummy rumbled too, so he dove into the basket, swallowing up the squirming things. Vixen snapped his neck with her sharpened jaws and seized the Golden Egg. It tasted like something we cannot describe, because nothing else has been so good since. The world was darkening and Vixen sprang back to the Deep Earth, laughing, because she loved the dimness and the wonderful cleverness she had done. She used to be a lot duller, but she became the color of red flame after. Every twilight we praise our mother now.

NB. Fire-stealing is an accident, according to my Elurae. Vixen/Vuskarasa caught her tail on fire when she was investigating the Sky Palace (possibly after eating King Chicken's golden egg), and ran outside. Her tail caught the trees on fire, including Tree-man. Ever since, her feet and the tip of her tail were singed. Wild-man found the burning tree man and made a hearth. He claimed to have found fire himself, but what he wanted with it is a mystery. And This is why you should be wary of such things, cub.

Now I am attempting to work out the 'history' of the Elurae. (see my comments on Sit Here...) There's a 1-page article in Tradetalk cut from Anaxial's Roster, which seems to derive them from Kralorela. They're represented as theists in the text, and are Beast-men, not Hsunchen. In the Book of Heortling Mythology they are one of the children of Velhara the Lady of the Wild, along with the other Beast Men. Foxes are of course closely associated with Eurmal in Heortling legend. Are they descended from Ebe the Wild Man from before he had a human mate? Did they arrive during the EWF along with the other Beast Men as part of a magical experiment? Most likely, these questions are academic, since the Elurae don't care. However, I'm still curious. Also, do they have the propensity for extreme longevity that mythical were foxes do? [In the RW, were foxes are in Chinese and Japanese mythology simply foxes who became quasi-Taoist immortals, and their sexual practices are in order to take Qi, which extends their lifespans.] Note also that Elusu, the Trickster who served Argrath, has the same Elu- root in her name. It may mean 'red, fiery' (viz. Elmal) and reference the typical color of their fur..., or it may simply mean 'fox'.

Keep in mind that the actual hard labor in Vanntar is done by former Kitori slaves. This opens up the County to have a larger standing army than normal.

I am coming up with some Trickster stories for my game, told by my Elura. "How Vixen ate King Chicken's Egg" (how Trickster killed the Sun) "How Vixen met Big Fart" (How Eurmal gave Orlanth Death) "When Vixen burned her tail" (Trickster steals Fire) "How Vixen learned to Sing" "Why humans are stupid" "Raven and Vixen quarrel" "Vixen teaches Yinkin how to be Lazy" "When Vixen learned how to look like a Man" "Vixen looks small and cute" (Sit Down story)

Eurmal stole/traded for his gigantic ass from Issaries, I think.

My suspicion is that binding a Trickster within the Clan is sometimes a necessity (Lightbringers' Quest) and sometimes an inevitability. Killing the Trickster is the other path... but I'm certain that wrecks just as much havoc. A Trickster is like a chronic disease. You either accommodate it or excise it... but you can't ignore it.

Then the location of the two armies may reflect 'one' of the sites - possibly the best known one to the Hendriki.

Except, of course, it defines the single point where Eurmal was 'stopped'. Of course, Eurmal is always impossible. It also needs to be findable so that Orlanthi can bind their Tricksters. This isn't hero quest magic but instead pragmatic, clan harmony magic. I suppose there may be makeshift versions scattered about for that reason, but there is still likely an approximate location...

For a famous shrine, Sit Here seems to be awfully elusive. Our main clue is that the imprint of Eurmal's buttocks made the two vales where Heort and Ezkankekko mustered their armies (obviously before I Fought We Won). Now IFWW was in or next to the Shadow Plateau, which suggests that Eurmal's seat was somewhere nearby... I have a vague sense it should be the Neutral Hills/Vusvan area, given there's a long line of hills that might mark Eurmal's imprint also... and neutrality does somewhat suggest the Lack of Disorder aspect. Does anyone else have a suggestion?

I've been playing Six Ages, and it's quite noticeable that 'Little Sun' and 'Elmal' are different gods, though they are brothers... Also Bijif is the 'shadow soul' of the Sun - he's the Sun turned inside out: tyranny, arbitrary rule, and hunger (mindless fire). There's also Nysalor, who has part of Yelm's soul, as well. [not in Six Ages [yet]] The Heortlings believe that - as far as I interpret it - that Elmal is the Friend-Sun as opposed to the Tyrant-Sun. When Orlanth stretched out his hand in friendship, this allowed the part of Elmal that had joined the Storm Tribe and become their brother to also be a part of the Sun. The Sun that rose at the Dawn united in part with his scattered kin and shares with them (in a sense the Sun may be said to be the circling fiery steading of the Fire Tribe); of course, Elmal is only a part of the Sun and there are still some hostile aspects, but the Sun of the mountains is basically a friend of the Heortlings, and so is, essentially, Elmal. That is the part of the Sun that looks towards the highlands and answers their prayers. The lowland sun and waste sun have other directions they look in and are not so friendly, but Elmal can intercede with them. [This is very much my own reading]

Note that Chalanna Arroy healed the "blindness" of Yelmalio (his own prideful brightness) and he became Elmal. Every injury has a metaphorical psychic/emotional counterpart. The vendetta that keeps the two sides fighting is itself a shared wound that resists healing: the anger/vengeance spirits act as an infection. CA needs to show the two sides that the original state of harmony existed, and that it was better. They have forgotten what is like to not be sick.

Note that Lightfore/Elmal/Yelmalio is preferable to the Aldryami to the 'scorching sun' capability (not necessarily primary identity mind you) of the unified Sun. Light and Warmth, not Fiery Blazing... (though the Sun Aldryami might disagree). I have a pet theory that even Argan Argar (shadow/coolness) has a role in the Elvish notion of paradise, but his Plant cult is unrecognisable to trolls or humans.