Sir_Godspeed

Phwoah. I feel like a dog that has bit onto the rear bumper of a car. I am following. But barely. Where does all of this leave the Beastmen that reside in Old Seshnela post-Quake? Are they recent immigrants of the Modern Age, or were they always there? Are they animal-totemism taken to an extreme through some kind of atavism? Or do they actually originate from EWF like the ones in Kerofinela?

I strongly suspect the same. It's also thematically quite satisfying. The Vadeli aren't some horrific exception/alien to the Western mindset: they're its logic taken to its end. And the Brithini really don't want anyone to know that. (It also fits with the general RW observation that closely related, but schismatic groups tend to be the most despised).

I could be wrong, but isn't the zzaburi celibacy requirement worded less along the lines of precluding intercourse and more along the lines of never spilling one's seed? (Also making masturbation taboo). This is purely from reading some debates online prior to joining this forum, and I admit they might've been joking around (or just plain wrong).

I suppose it is kind of assumed that "Brithini philosopher" automatically means a zzaburi - but could it be a member of a different caste? Dronars deal physical labor and applied work, after all. A "natural philosopher" of [insert stripe] could be one of them. Admittedly, I am leaning towards a zzaburi as well, just airing the possibility. That does make the rape not only a breach of endogamy though, and a crime, but also a breach of celibacy. Was he TRYING to go for a trifecta? An outcast of some kind?

ZOMBIE CRABS!

This is going out into some grognard water I am ill-equipped to talk about, but also wasn't there some kind of fundamental Purification Rune that the Zistorites were attempting to prove existed, but then it didn't after all? And then the Purification Rune might later be attached to the Moon Rune? I've seen it referenced in various discussions online, but never quite ventured deep into it.

I didn't mean to imply "stuffy", by "matron", but "woman in her prime age who is a head of a household". Sorry, I am aware that the term carries negative connotations in vernacular English.

The word "matronly" comes to mind. If it's a woman (which I assume to the reference to Oria) then maybe a large, decorated apron? Hair put up in some manner, befitting an adult, married woman engaged in serious work. Might have certain ritual accoutrements which are based off practical tools: keys, distaff (hence magic wand), basket/pot, etc. If I'm way off, pardon me.

That seems entirely like what you'd see in Glorantha. In the Descent from the Great Mountain story in Heortling Mythology, Orlanth's and Ernalda's households leave the Spike, but they are not yet mentioned as having been married, and yet we get mentions of their children, Barntar, Voriof and Vingkot, among others. You can probably work out a chronology for this sort of thing, but I think that's missing the greater point of God Time mystery.

I believe this has been posted on this forum before, in some other context, but this always struck me as some kind of performance a Dara Happan noble might commission for a gathering at his residence, but really, it would probably fit anywhere in Central Genertela, and would probably be somewhat archaic by the Third Age. Here's a non-vocal piece, ostensibly a religious hymn: Just to be clear, I don't want to discourage people from using more modern and familiar music in their vision of Glorantha (or more modern and familiar music as mood-setters), but I think these pieces serve a decent role of conveying ways in which Glorantha probably is both pleasant and weirdly alien to us, through the "odd" sounds of the instruments, and the progression in the melody, which doesn't quite fit with how modern audiences instinctively "know" chord progression to go, if that makes sense.

Do we really need any challenges? Isn't it more fun to just shop ideas and references around? I look forward to reading the post in its entirety though, the Galanini are very interesting.

I was randomly thinking of space-fillers for you the other day, and I was wondering you've ever drawn for example a city wall (either before or after battle), a camp of tents (from the side), some other war-related landscape piece? I also considered a detail-drawing of an Orlanthi lower arm - detailing various tattoos, but maybe mixed with bracelets and charms, perhaps even Lunar ones, to highlight elements of syncretization. No idea if that's up your alley, but just leaving it here.

That's the issue with attributing such notions (fakeness and realness) to real-life beliefs. Is John Frum any less real that the Son of Man? Or Rama? I think this thread perhaps more accurately deals with, to some degree, what we would call intentional shams, perhaps. In Glorantha even the initially unreal can manifest in the Otherworld if reinforced enough - to my knowledge - whereas in the real world we sort of have the opposite problem, in that if we discount one belief system based on lack of evidence, they all really should be discounted. That's where I think the intentionality of founder/leadership becomes important. I mean, the Cult of Immortality mentioned above *worked* - but its intentions were entirely selfish, and served no higher cosmic purpose or role, so perhaps most closely resembles what we would call a "fake" religion - irrespectively of the existence or nonexistence of its target deity. Maybe I'm overthinking it, or moving the goalposts.

Sounds very similar to what Avanapdur (or rather, whoever created him) were up to.

Well, as long as we're mentioning real world examples, there's always John Frum, who is perhaps less of a god and more of a millenarian, Messianic entity. As for Glorantha: isn't Aurelion & twin "fake", or at the very least manufactured/altered?

Don't worry, @Bill the barbarian, I think everyone ends up being corrected/informed/supplemented here, it's basically inevitable with the sheer amount of published material that's out there - including obscure stuff like old mailing lists, convention-only pamphlets, zines and personal discussions that only a few've been privy to.

Yeah, both representations work, really. Might have one Heortling and one Esrolian, with different mythical interpretations, for example.

If we stick with the Minoan representations, I believe they are believed to show women vaulting the bull, which is partially why I'd like to see it as an Ernaldan ritual. Plus, it doesn't hurt to give the ladies/Earth more daring and action-filled stuff to do.

I was about to say. I kind of see Bull Leaping as some kind of Esrolian "Earth Masters Storm" ritual.

She might prefer an axe. The world is messier than rulebook implications indicate.

Wow! I was going to say it was the Red Emperor himself in his armor, because damn!

As @Ian Absentia pointed out, different forms of exercise (and diet) creates different kinds of musculative, but overall you're right of course. The body is usually best off being well-hydrated and having a layer of fat both for energy reserves as well as to use for dampening, as it reduced tissue damage (bruising, etc.). Keep in mind that sustaining such enormous bulk is very costly, calorie-wise, so a professional soldier or adventurer of some kind of likely to go through periods of relative glut and emaciation. For comparation, people can look up pictures of say, native Amazonian or Papua-New Guinean hunter-gatherers, who sometimes appear to have rounded bellies, but rather spindly arms and legs. Then, when using said arms and legs, you suddenly see surprisingly toned and bulky muscles appearing. Those are shaped by a lifetime of navigating difficulties in many different forms, including getting enough food, so the body settles in shapes we might not immediately associate with power. I've seen some shapes like this in old photographs of European farmers too. Strength hides in a wide variety of forms. Which, to end this little ramble, is why it's so good to have those different shapes represented in our art, such as here.

The pot and helmet are probably weighing the spear down at that angle. They are too far out and the angle is too horizontal for the weight to just transfer seamlessly in a semi-vertical fashion. It's fine though, it's not a huge deal. I do like that they gave her proper proportions. Her arms are buff, but not "body-builder"-toned, because those are working muscles, not the idealized, aesthetisized muscled of a BB model who's been dehydrating themsleves to gain definition. It's also relaxed. Same for her gut. Obviously the plate is hiding the interior, but the impression that we get across is of a fairly bulky waist, that of someone with a lot of core strength, and the kind of muscle mass built up from, again, working muscles rather than idealized "amazonian" narrow waists.

Makes a lot of sense. There's a lot of anthropological texts on how sports are, at least partially, subliminated warfare. In the Orlanthi case, kite-flying is subliminated Storm-control, or possibly even Flying Duels or something. Doesn't hurt that it's artful and fun as well, of course. Specific kites may be symbolic of specific ancestors, or spirits. Hell, someone particularly powerful might even bind a spirit to a kite for all I know. The mix of different kites might serve as some kind of divining ritual, with a competitive side giving boons to whoever's the winner.

Cheers, that's really cool! Now that I think about it, birchbark fibres might be usable for something like this, if it's strong enough.