Sir_Godspeed

That's pretty doable, actually, given the existence of the Serpent Beast Dancers in Ralios.

Glorantha isn't really all that linguistically deep or rigid, and phonemes are a little all over the place. You'll mostly be going by gut-feeling. Trolls names seem to often be comprised of single-syllable vowel elements surrounded by consonants, like Boztakang, Gash, Gore, Zorak Zoran, etc. This gives their names a sort-of straightforward feel, maybe simple or perhaps even crass. Sounds like b, g, d, k, g, ng, z, etc. appear to be fairly common, as does simple names in English (ie. in whatever human language is commonly spoken around them). (Old) Pavisites would be originally drawn from Dragon Pass Orlanthi, so I assume they'd have similar names to Sartarites, perhaps with some minor linguistic shift. New Pavisites would be even more similar. Pure Horse People are likely outliers in Dragon Pass, with their own flair to their names. It seems like Greg used the approach of using a lot of English to render names, (ie. White Bull, etc.) possibly drawing on traditions of translating Native American names into English instead of rendering them in their native languages. This might apply to many Pure Horse People, but clearly not all, at least if we look at the names of some of the Feathered Horse Queens. I can't comment on some of the other, less explored groups around the Mirrorsea. I assume most of them have loosely similar name traditions, mostly because of their closely shared history, but we know that the Malkioni (Aeolians and probably others) preserve some names that seem to draw on Malkioni mythology. But I'm guessing the fisherfolk of the Rightarm Isles, the people of Esrolia, the Heortlanders, the Sartarites and possibly the Caladralanders all have loosely similar name traditions, due to loosely shared mythologies and interconnected history (especially so for Sartarites and Heortlanders, but also Esrolians). Orlanthi names are a little all over the place, but many draw on pseudo-Germanic roots (the -rik suffix, for example), but this is more for aesthetics than any deep lingustic reason. My impression is that almost everything goes, so long as you keep the phonemes mostly English-adjacent (so no clicking sounds for a Heortlander, for example). There is one phoneme that seems mostly invented for Orlanthi in particular, and that's the -nth suffix. I'm not aware if it occurs elswhere. -nt might be a variant. Orlanth, Orlaront, etc. But yeah, no comprehensive list of sounds or elements to draw from, I believe.

I believe the Guide has something approximating encounter tables. Ranked by commonness and not by dice though.

Explaining weather in column with no vertically distinct air pressure is fairly easy: the air is, as all things in Glorantha, animate. Vast air beings, like Orlanth, Valind, Urox and many more, move through the airs (or rather, ARE the airs), creating prevailing air currents and the effects thereof. Basically, the same way sea currents are explained in Glorantha.

I get your point, and that's probably how a lot of people in-universe see it, if they're aware of both terms, but I think it's basically like distinguishing between the fire in your hearth and the fire burning down the house. Essentially, they're both fire, but context shapes what they do and how we view it. I've made this particular comparison before: Chaos/Void is a bit like the radiation from the sun in the RW. Without it life would be impossible and no living thing on Earth could exist. But the sun itself is so utterly, terrifyingly, incomprehensibly dangerous and all-destroying that it could snuff out all life in an instant if parameters change only infinitesimally. And it WILL do so... eventually.

There's a thing in some video games where they let you play as really powerful characters in the beginning as a prologue, wrecking house and taking names, but then either take it away, or have those characters die, and reveal that you're ACTUALLY playing as someone who needs to level up from scratch. Could be a kinda interesting thing to attempt at a table, provided everyone is into it. Admittedly, video games are more hard-scripted than tabletop, of course.

A swaddling cloth? A literal baby? Some sort of item to amuse or soothe (or discipline) a child? Well, Aldrya, basically, but she's more about forests and trees and not so much herbs and vegetables, I think. The Grain Goddesses are for the fields, not so much the garden as well, I think.

Now THIS is interesting. I wonder whether he referred to tattooing itself (if so, that's news to me! Maybe associated with Zzaburi skin-writing?) or whether he's talking about the graphical representations of the Runes, which makes a lot of sense.

Oooh, I don't hate that! Other alternatives include Voria, who as a pre-adult girl could serve some kind of general helping or attending role. I'm trying to think of specific domestic/household duties that need to be done. So far we've got food and drink, warmth, clothesmaking and cloth repair, treasure keeping (and presumably keeping a domestic tally/ledger, if only mentally) and general physical labor. These roles are obviously a bit arbitrary, or rather, the delineation of them is a bit arbitrary, but here's some roles I can think of: - Watching young children (already mentioned above) (Possibly overlapping or encompassing) with wetnurse roles - Lightning the oil lamps and keeping the oil stocked. - Cleaning, washing, sweeping. - Protecting the door (not in a military or armed sense, more in a chaperone or outward-face kinda role, if that makes sense.), mirroring keeping the strongbox. - Butchering. Possibly already included in "preparing the food", though I can't help thinking Maran would fit here in some sense. - There are some other roles I was considering, like a body-painter or storyteller or tutor, but these are so situational.

The "print quality" on that one looks retro. I dig it.

Question: when discussing the age of these texts, does Jeff refer to in-universe or RW age? Does the "eras" refer to something like where Greg lived when he wrote them?

In areas where there isn't an equivalent wind, we might find that people double down on the cattle aspect, or perhaps just attribute him a more general lordship of the winds, much like Dragon Pass Orlanthi attribute a more general lordship over wind to Orlanth.

Found an example:

wet 'n' dry, makes sense.

I seem to vaguely recall Jeff posting references for Vingkotling/Dawn Age cyclopean architecture, second age EWF/Orlanthland architecture, and modern Orlanthi architecture at some point, possibly in one of the threads discussing what Orlanthi steads/halls look like (and discussing the idea of the Ernaldan squarehouse which has more or less been canonized as the default Orlanthi dwelling nowadays). As for inspiration: I recently read the graphic novels Conquering Armies and Arn by Jean-Pierre Dionnet and Jean-Claude Gal. The artwork by Gal straddles an incredibly fascinating line between historical and fantastical. It's fantasy, but it's the sort of thing that makes you think that it's from some plausibly alternate history, if that makes sense. I believe the same style is used in a graphic novel called Diosamante. It's not spot on for Dragon Pass (the areas they tell stories from tend to be drier), but there is a mix of rock-cut and masonry on the one hand, and fantastical shapes and proportions on the other hand, which gives the buildings a kind of semi-organic look to them, which I think isn't a bad approximation for humans influenced by Dragonewts. If you're really interested, I'd suggest looking them up, or at least googling a bit around.

Is this really correct? As far as I understand, there is such a variation in degree of Heroquests that generalizing them like this might be reductive. Holy Time rituals are often This World heroests, aren't they? And as you said, initiation rituals are effectively mini-heroquests. A full-on Other Side heroquest that is supposed to heavily influence the world, like say the Kalikos Expedition (maybe?), or god forbid the Lightbringer Quest, I totally agree are mind-bogglingly terrifying and the stuff of legends to most people.

What' the story with Broadview Inn? It seems a bit distant from the road, and a steep climb up from it. Is it due to religious or defensive reasons, maybe?

Vadeli and Brithini REALLY remind me of Eldar and Dark Eldar from 40k. I wonder if the GW guys took direct inspiration, or whether they both draw on similar archetypes (ie. one side practices self-denial, the other full indulgence).

Maybe in Arrolia? Carmania?

Grandfather Mortal, or rather, the Man Rune archetype, and the First Mortal (ie first individual to die) archetype, has tons of different names across the lozenge. I believe the Orlanthi of Dragon Pass call him Darhudan. The Dara Happans might associate him with Murharzarm. Sometimes they're a woman, sometimes they're twins, and sometimes they're couple. Sometimes all of the above. I'm not sure why "Daka Fal" (apparently the Praxian term) ended up as the default, I'm assuming (and am prepared to be lectured otherwise) that it's mostly a relic of Prax being the location for lots of RPG material in the formative years of the setting. (Sidenote: Perhaps there's a retcon where Darhudan as a name is considered and archaicism and most Orlanthi have now adopted the name Daka Fal, much like we've been informed that most Caladralanders and Orlanthi do not use the term Veskarthan anymore, but have adopted Lodril as a common name for the volcano god.) Overall, there seems to be an understanding that this Man Rune Progenitor was the first to experience Death, and then set up shop in the Underworld to help those who came later, becoming the Judge (or perhaps more accurately, the organizer) of the Dead. However, this connection/co-identification is probably not universal, and is probably a bit of a God Learner inference (as noted above). I'm not even sure all cultures HAVE a specific "judge" of the dead. Dara Happa has Bijiif, I guess, which might serve as a kind of underworld-Murharzarm (ostensibly a portion of Yelm, but that might effectively be the same thing), but they have others too, iirc. And who knows what the Kralori have. Trolls have an interesting topsy-turvy version where the event where Grandfather Mortal dies is where is INTRODUCED to Darkness and then fathers the Mistress Troll race through Kyger Litor. ie. his death is the trigger for his fertility here. But then that sorta reverse thing is pretty typical of Uz, who after all have a very different origin than most others.

I strongly, strongly suggest reading the Glorantha Sourcebook before reading any of the Stafford Library books. It will save you a ton of headaches. Unless you enjoy the headaches, which I admit I kinda did, but hey. I also strongly suggest reading the Prince of Sartar Webcomic, which is still, in my opinion, the ultimate entry-point to Glorantha. Reading it in conjunction with the Sourcebook will provide a really solid footing. As an actual narrative piece of media, it feels a lot more concrete and grounded, and easy to follow than most other Glorantha media. The artwork also helps giving you a mental image of both how mundane and mystical stuff looks. After those two you're honestly mostly equipped to look into anything. The Guide provides a bird's eye view of the world, with lots of big-picture stuff, but don't get too bogged down in the minutiae the first time you read it. Much of it is more geared towards being a handy reference source. It has great sections on all the widespread culture groups and non-human races, as well as overviews of the geographical regions, and a bunch of other stuff. The King of Sartar book is the start of the esoterica, and it should prime you for how history in Glorantha is deliberately obtuse, conflicting and unresolved. The rest of the Stafford Library kinda follows that ethos, to varying degrees (at least the ones I've read, I haven't gotten all of them yet.). The keywords are narrative bias and subjectivity. Once you grok that, any inconsistencies are more like fun mysteries than anything to be frustrated by. I can't speak to the others, as I am unfortunately not much of a gamer.

Did Darsen extent that far south? The map below seems to show Darsen being located a bit further north. Wouldn't it make more sense if the area was just part of western Vonlath (ie. the surrounding tribute-lands of Raibanth)? (On a slightly related note, this map shows Naveria as a region, which I didn't think was a thing after the Dawn) (Map at the bottom of the page, I couldn't link it directly, for some reason) https://glorantha.fandom.com/wiki/Peloria

Yeah, that's what I've seen too. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, I just expect there to be some, uh, I don't know - pattern, symmetry, or whatever, when deities are closely linked and with very similar roles. Being a constellation is all fine and well, but I *want* there to be something more that ties her and Lightfore together if they're to appear together so often. I realize that this is mostly on me, though.

Yelmalio is identified with the wider "Cold Sun" archetype (and so is more or less an analogue to Elmal, Antirius and Kargzant). He's the light that remains when the heat is gone, ie. the sun in winter, the memory of the light that stayed during the Darkness, and perhaps more specifically the Yellow Planet/Lightfore of course (a star/planet that is perhaps the closest we get to something resembling the RW moon in Glorantha, ie. a mobile, relatively bright object in the night sky which does not emit any heat). I have never quite seen any good examples of how Yelorna fits into that. I'm tempted to simply see her as yet another example of the Cold Sun / Lightfore archetype, however, this does raise some questions as to why she appears to appear ALONG other Cold Sun deities as opposed to supplant or be supplanted by them (ie. I don't think we tend to see a lot of gods whose portfolio is basically the exact same thing in stable coexistance within the same cultures a lot, but I might be wrong). Perhaps there is a bit of Hipprogriff/Gamara/Redalda to her. Perhaps Yelorna and Yelmalio, where they appear together, split the Cold Sun role in respective spheres (possibly a bit like how some of the Sartarite/Heortling Elmal's sphere is separated into the minor deity Anatyr). I don't know. Further discussion is probably better taken to the Glorantha forum, as it is bound to get esoteric, and I know the Mods dislike the neckbeards convoluting perfectly straightforward texts with confusing and potentially alienating deeplore, lol.

hhhhWHAT?