Sir_Godspeed

Heh heh.

Ooh, I like the subtle part where Humakt is given Death from Eurmal.

Inora's picture is amazing, absolutely love it. I kinda love how overly dramatic Aram is as well. He's got a flair for the theatrical!

These have also been shared on Instagram, for anyone who's on there.

That's the French term for the God Learners, right?

I knew there was a Pentan horse goddess, but I couldn't remember what she was called. Isn't she also kinda the Pentans' women's goddess (ie. a bit like Ernalda/Eirithia/Oria, etc.)

Worship of the goddess GamarA survived with the Jenarong though, so she can't be all gone? It's a fair point where exactly the "horseness" of Kargzant comes from, though.

There are a bunch of various giant monsters roaming the Pamaltelan savannah, the Guide mentions some of them briefly (iirc there's at least one hydra, and goo monster or a monster that turns everything into goo or something, I might be misremembering, my stomach's been acting up lately.) My impression is that Pamaltela is basically geared more towards individual/heroband heroics and cunning than the impending large-scale wars we see north of the mountains and in Genertela (the Kresh/reforestation notwithstanding), so fighting giant monsters goes well along with that.

In Celestial lore, there is a constellation (or star?) by the same name, and it is generally associated with a narrative of a young Yelm or one of the Lightfore deities (Kargzant, etc.) (or both). It's also associated with the turning of the year - the turning of the skies gradually retelling the narrative as it cycles. My sky lore is very basic, so I have no idea if this is relevant, or entirely correct, though.

Wouldn't that absolutely tank the gold value regionally though? Or is the fact that you're putting it directly to a construction project that otherwise wouldn't have been completed helping stabilize it?

As you mention those German references, and although this is not really appropriate for the era, I do long for a picture of a Humakti doing this: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/end-him-rightly

True! Glorantha is, uh, "mundanely supernatural", after all.

Wait, what? Ooooooooohhh....

It kinda seems like people are using different definitions of martial arts in this thread, which results in people talking past each other. 1) Martial arts as any codified training regime for combat, with or without weapons 2) Martial arts as any codifed training regime for UNARMED combat, or, somewhat expanded, with tools generally not considered lethal weapons. 3) Martial Arts as a specific game mechanic of RQ. These are all different things, so it's probably good if a clear definition is established for the purposes of the discussion. For the purposes of this discussion, I think it's kinda implied that there is a need for some sort of supernatural element. How else would the PC be useful in combat situations? (Unless RQ is just super-confident in grappling and kicking for some reason).

After reading some, I thought the rooster makes sense. It's a bird, so there's the Sky/Fire thing, but it's capabilities of flight is very limited (albeit not entirely absent), it is closely associated with farm life, which makes it fitting for PELORIA at least, although perhaps not other regions, and while it does not closely tie into plowing agriculture, it does fit very well with both rice agriculture and gardening/horticulture, the kind that Caladralanders might practice. It also tends to perch on high spots, much like a volcano rises above a plain, and it rules it's flock in the same way Lodril at his best is a family father or a village headman. Polygyny is also already baked into it, as is the virility (beyond English-language puns, I mean). I honestly can imagine a Pelorial Lodrilite village head wearing a stole or crown of cockerel feathers in a Lodrilite dance or ritual, it's the kind of decoration that they'd have readily available, and the animal is prestigious enough that it can be set apart. Many roosters also have that bright red comb, which can be symbolic of fire, and of course they crow to mark the sunrise (or, at least they stereotypically do, they crow for lots of other reasons as well), which might be symbolically interpreted as Lodril praising, hailing, or, hell, if you want a Lodrilite take on it, urging his brother to rise. One of the other reasons roosters crow is for warning, and they are known to fight to protect their flock, and those are traits that Lodril does have, even if they're mostly dormant in lowland Peloria. I can envision cockfighting being a pastime in Peloria among peasant communities, maybe a bit like in Bali, possibly with a mix of mundane and spiritual implications (entrail diviniation from the losing rooster?). Some roosters also have bright red plumage, or black plumage. Either can be interpreted as related to fire, with the second one being symbolic for ash, possibly as a mark of Lodril "claiming" the bird. That's the kind of stuff you make little origin myths about ("Lodril brings Oria fowl for the feast" or something like that. The bird turns out to be foul-tempered, and burnt from his touch, but Lodril keeps it around and it turns out it has its uses, or something along those lines.) Anyway, just spitballing.

My initial hunch was that Belintar-as-God is not breaching the Compromise because he is essentially coopting the position of the Only Old One. He satisfies the requirements for a position that was instituted before Time (ie. the divine ruler of Kethaela) and "the Compromise" (not really a force in itself, but you get my point) doesn't recognize any appreciable difference. This, however, doesn't explain the powers and feats he did before killing the OOO, admittedly.

It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.

That's fairly apt, as most of Tamil Nadu lies in the rainshadow of the Western Ghats, with Kerala being wetter - except during the east-Indian monsoon season (I'm not an expert on this, so I could be a bit off). Regardless, just offering it as a visual/general inspiration for anyone reading this. They're both broad, largely flat lands with rivers criss-crossing them, high levels of development, densely populated, with a focus on regional cities and highly sedentary village communities, and more or less semi-tropic in climate. There are obviously significant differences, but hey!

Makes sense. Our earlier discussion of urbanization in Sartar missed the non-human component, perhaps? On another note, ever since spending time in India, I subconsciously associate Esrolia with the riverine lowlands of Tamil Nadu. A bit different climate, but otherwise pretty similar I think.

Contrary to popular British beliefs, the UK is very much European.

Belintar's governance of the Holy Country sounds a little bit like the Achaemenid system. Iirc, they kept native rulers in place of the satrapies, with native power structures and traditions, but also added in a imperially appointed military governor to maintain the local garrison forces (of course conveniently reducing the power of the satrap), as well as a kind of financial "comptroller" to oversee tribute and such (possibly multiple ones, including census officers, I forget). Now, regardless, Belintar has the benefit of being a literal god of a pseudo-immortal nature, so he can afford to be a little more hands-off. Some of this makes me wonder: - How big is Kethaela, again? Isn't it about the size of England or Southern California or something? That would make it roughly similar to something like the Bronze Age "empires" in southern Mesopotamia, which is pretty fitting, I suppose. - The cult of Belintar very much sounds like an aristocratic thing, with inductees being so because they have some kind of political or leadership role. Were there ever mass/popular movements dedicated to Belintar? Was there some esoteric or "countersocial" tradition of poets and musicians or whatever going off to the City of Miracles to check out the living god's powers?

There's Grant Morrison's 18 Days, which is a sci-fi-fantasy comic book retelling of the Mahabharata. I'd recommend the art book for main inspiration, since the art there is really impressive. The actual comic series based on the art book is a lot less flashy, which is understandable, but can be a bit of a let down. Yes, the layered esoteric lore is a definitely inspired by Glorantha. More directly, TES has its own version of the Compromise, although it's not presented as post-Apocalyptic the same way Glorantha is. More blatantly, one of those living gods is sometimes referred to as the Lord of the Middle Air (although he's no wind god, it's more of a symbolic thing), and the slogan "I AM AND I ARE ALL WE" pops up in some lore from outside the games, as a nod to the Lunars. Something similar to Gloranthan Illumination appears as well, called CHIM (which in-universe is an archaic term for "Royalty", iirc), though you can also argue that both of these are inspired by real-life Buddhistic powers. There's a few more, but that's enough right now. Ken Rolston is the guy who brought the Glorantha inspiration into Elder Scrolls, I think. Michael Kirkbride was the guy who really went deep down the esoteric rabbit hole in a Greg-ian fashion, though.

Yes! Prophet is amazing! Particularly the first trade volume.

For much the same reason, although it's quite a different game, I'll mention Kenshi. EDIT: And of course my perennial favorite, Morrowind, which is in part inspired by Glorantha (although you have to squint a little to see it.) I'll also throw in the graphic novel for the movie Noah. Which is a lot more visually and conceptually interesting than the movie turned out to be, imho. It really does feel like a desperate survival story from the Greater Darkness (which makes sense given the similar source material, but still). The sense of a tired, overused, dying world is very palpable, and could be greatly inspiring for a Heroquest, as is the manic nature of the divinely-driven Noah, who is, as most holy men, not entirely sympathetic.

I'd argue it's worth checking out the video game Hades as well. And, hell, the most recent God of War has a certain Heroquest-y quality to it. And Kratos is pretty Harrek-like (albeit reluctantly in this one).