Sir_Godspeed

The overall point is that this is a scenario (or scenarios, depending) that we have built from several different sources, and pretty esoteric ones at that. It's something that's really cool to find out once you dig into the material, but I'm not sure if it can be presented to newcomers as "this is what happened".

Allegedly.

Scrooge is drawn from the same basic visual design, personality traits and narrative as Donald Duck, so I'm gonna say it was "klos enuf". I remember being told that Greg put them in there at the behest of a friend, but I have no idea whether that's hearsay or not. Not that it really matters.

This might be one of those questions that are so ingrained into the setting that they either have been entirely overlooked (like whether Durulz lay eggs, apparently), or been overthought so drastically that there is 40-odd page mailing list debate somewhere that delves into it ad nauseam. But, simply put, the Orlanthi seem to have a fondness for blue pigment for tattoing and probably other stuff. Do the Orlanthi forage woad flowers? Or do they do something else? Not a terribly deep question, but sometimes it's nice to ask the mundane things (unless, of course this is an age-old debate to put the Yelmalio-Elmal controversy to shame ).

Welp, this is definitely going to be one of those "try to hang on" threads for me. Not that I don't love this critical theory-laden metatextual analysis stuff.

The "Ogres regard themselves as True People" reminds me of this article from the SCP Foundation. It's delighfully creep. http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1788 A voice-acted version for those so inclined:

Without sounding too cocksure: no. The rituals described above are expressively Theyalan/Orlanthi, and probably not universal to all Orlanthi either. Variations are inevitable, and once you leave the Orlanthi altogether, things are probably going to look radically different. I think the general gist of these kinds of rituals is this: - The order of the universe (both the material and the social, they are effectively the same, ie. cosmos) comes under threat. - Members of the in-group participate to a lesser or greater degree to preserve this order. - The borders between the God Time and Time becomes weakened. - Something extraordinary is done to reaffirm the order of the universe/society (cosmos). - Celebration of the continution of the order (and by extension, life, love, each other, the in-group celebrates itself, including its ancestors and deities/patron spirits, etc.) Not necessarily in that order. Notice that Theyalan (Orlanthi, and arguably Uz, Praxian, some elves, dwarves, merfolk, etc.) are very explicit in denoting Chaos as the Big Bad and the existential thread to the cosmos. Other cultures, such as the Pelorians or Malkioni do not really see things this way. "orthodox" Pelorians (ie. Dara Happan-influenced Peloria) focuses more on rebellion and insubordination as the Great Evil (I suspect Lodrili commoners might see things somewhat differently, there is room for subaltern views here), whereas the Malkioni (except the Brithini) appear to see the egos of the Erasanchula (their term for Gloranthan gods) as the leading cause of the troubles that nearly destroyed the universe, until Malkion sacrificed himself in order to save the Cosmos. We know even less about Kralorelan, East Isles and Pamaltelan rituals, unless I've missed some zine article or something. That being said, the Doraddi do have a cultural worldview that emphasizes individual heroics and adventurist fellowships that isn't totally different from the Orlanthi (although significantly less glorifying of warfare, imho). Pamalt's Neclace is very similar to Orlanth's Ring, and Pamalt as the guy who isn't best at anything, but the one who knows how to bring together all the best ones, is very reminiscent of what Orlanth does for the Storm Tribe. In terms of specific mythic events that the Doraddi could draw on, there is Pamalt's refuation of foreigners from the north (whether Chaotic or not), the destruction of the Chaos-infested remnants of the Artmali Empire through the Firefall, where Pamalt grabs the Sky Dome and tilts it so that some of the celestial fire drowns and cleanses the south, and the subsequent taming of this fire into the form of the Bomonoi (fire beings that inhabit the southern desert). There's probably more, and even possibly some "crescendo"-myth/ritual that is the equivalent of the Light/Lifebringer's quest, but I'm not quite sure what that would be. This is all greatly generalized, and based on my personal interpretation.

The species concept seems pretty useless in Glorantha. I mean, does all this mean that Storm Age Helerings weren't human? Durevings? Artmali? It starts getting pretty pointless pretty quickly, and we essentially end up applying an etic/non-diegetic concept (human in s naturalistic sense) to an emic/diegetic perspective.

It's possible that whichever version of Ralzakark is the Ruler becomes, or simply is the unicorn broo, through some weird, pseudo-Jungian gestalt entity archetype business. If we were in The Elder Scrolls universe, I would have used the "Enantiomorph" term, but it's really weird and obscure.

Wait, Agimori aren't human? Did you mean Agitori (the immortal ones)? Although I agree with the overarching point that we know cannibalism occurs (trolls and trollkin, and in the extended "sapient-eating-sapient", trolls eating humans, elves and dwarves too) without this appearing to be Chaos-inducing in itself. I doubt we'll reach any consensus on the degree to which Glorantha as a Physical and Moral Cosmos has objective boundaries across all sapient species and cultures. It's too vague, imho.

Back when Bronze was making its way up into Northern Europe, flint-knappers actually tried to compete with the new luxury material for a while, developing increasingly sophisticated techniques to imitate bronze daggers and even sabre-like swords (albeit probably ceremonial ones). Some of the flint daggers border on short thrusting swords in length, at least by bronze age standards. https://www.khm.uio.no/english/research/collections/objects/a-dagger-ahead-of-its-time.html The situation in Glorantha may or may not be conducive to this sort of thing. Balazari elites have probably access to Bronze, and Bronze isn't usually an alloy in Glorantha and so can be treated more like iron from an economic and logistical point of view - this might mean that flint knappers might not see the point in trying to emulate metallic weapons. But then on the other hand, Balazari flint knappers have had bronze-wielding neighbors for a long time, and so they've certainly had time and opportunity to develop. Throw in some ancestral magic to reduce breakage* or what have you, and they might potentially be competitive in this local environment. (*or, inspired by Thor putting his goats together after eating them to ressurect them, perhaps some Balazaring flint-deity allows a warrior to "Mend Flint Tool" after a confrontation where it breaks.... just throwing ideas out there.) Lastly, there is of course always the Rule of Cool, which should not be forgotten.

Rinliddi will rise again, yeehaw!

True, but the French translator apparently got it from a Syrian author, so the point more or less still stands (unless the Frenchman's diary was forged).

It's not like this is a unique thing. Aladdin is set in China, but has Sultans and Viziers and morning prayer to the Abrahamic God. Unless you subscribe to the view that it's set in Muslim Xinjiang, then it really is just an example of people in one place setting strange events in somewhere else sufficiently distant.

For a RW example of people who did absolutely horrifically monstrous things that at the same time many in this thread would probably find it hard to discount as complete monsters in and of themselves, just look to European colonialists and the transatlantic slave trade. The difference, I suppose, is that the Europeans were preoccupied with justifying their acts with reference to their God, whereas Vadeli... don't? Or do the Vadeli believe in an Invisible God that they either are spiting, or perhaps worshipping in the "only real way"? If they really are the Anti-Brithini, then I suppose they don't really anthropomorphize the cosmos at all, and are only preoccupied with gaming the Laws. Which I suppose in itself can be used as a justification for why they are free to use other sapient beings as cattle and fuel - they aren't even capable of knowing how the world works, so why care?

I'm guessing different rules for different kinds of entities, perhaps even societies. If we go down this route, perhaps the most important thing is not the physical act itself, but that it is a sexual act of procreation considered deeply by wrong one or more of the parties involved. Also, we might say that some extra sorcerous ritual is involved or something, to explain why succubi aren't a staple of Genertela as well (afaik).

Return with Ernalda, eh? Interesting.

Alternatively, he could be wearing the sword in a slung under his belly/chest.

Well, the Pelorians (Or was it Nochet Lhankor Mhy Sages?) certainly seem to think so, equating the descent of TarnGatHa and downwards with the emanationist ideas of Aether, Yelm, and so forth. Being a foreign interpretation it's obviously not reliable. It'd be interesting to see how the Kralorelans themselves - at various points in time - saw these beings. Comparisons to still-Vithelan East Isles would be interesting too. Vith may be compared to Yelm (or was it Aether? I forget), but his depiction in Revealed Mythologies gives him a dark side too. If this is a depiction from Time, then that could be explained as the sun during night or something, but if from before, then it might not be so easily translateable, especially since Vith is explicitly depicted as a god that both practices mysticism himself, and accepts theistic offerings from his lower kin. The degree to which early Kralorelans held similar or related beliefs, and the degree to which some of that has survived the Draconization of Kralorela could be fertile ground of creativity, but then again we hardly know much about the East Isles deeper lore either. Speculation: The Kralorelan "Draconization" is their equivalent of I Fought We Won, the survival secret (this might be incompatible with how Kralorelan sources seem to almost ignore the Darkness though).

If I remember correctly, the original inspiration for the Ducks was straight up foul-tempered cartoon ducks like Daffy and Donald, hence why the cartoony look has stayed. I really like your rendition though, not necessarily just because it's more realistic, but playing with the anthropomorphic traits and making them more forward-leaning reminds me of serious attempts at speculative evolution for sapient birds or sapient dinosaurs, the best of which generally incorporate that posture. Not sure if this is digital or not, but great "inking" anyways.

I suppose prisoners of war could be sent to the Risklands instead of becoming slaves. And their extended families as well. It's hardly unknown in the RW to migrate defeated populations for political or military means.

Honestly, I really love that the Ducks are considered Orlanthi. Sure, odd Orlanthi, but Orlanthi enough nonetheless. To an orthodox Heortling Sartarite, their web-footed neighbors are (arguably) part of the in-group, whereas Sun-worshippers of Peloria are the enemy. It mirrors some real-life ethnic identities (exaggerated, of course, since we only have one sapient species in the RW), where group-boundaries cross what might seem to be the most "logical" barriers to an outsiders.

Sure, but having Durulz society based on rapey males is... iffy. Weird biology though? Sure.

There are a good deal of Bull-themed deities that seem to come via the Janubia drainage basin up to Western Peloria (eg. Pelanda). Bisos appears to be one of these. Does that make him Storm Bull? Hard to say, I'd say he might be an.... "Uroxid". A relative or comes from the same pre-Time archetype as him, depending on your view of how the God Time worked. I'm not sure if there are any canonical answers though, or how reliable those answers would be, given the sources.

A teacher once told me to read sentences backwards through the paragraphs, as that makes mistakes easier to spot. If you just read it in a linear fashion, it's easier to fall into the flow of the text and miss mistakes. I've only had mixed success with the method myself, but maybe it could help you.