MHanretty

I couldn’t see any entry for the Dragon Emperor/Sun Dragon of Dara Happa in the 2nd age, unless I’ve missed this.

Gold Wheel Dancers are described as “One of the races of Dragon in the Dawn Age”. Is this new? I’ve never seen them described as such, unless there is a missing word and it should read “One of the races of Dragon Pass in the Dawn Age”. Even so, you could make some hay out that typo…

The most obvious suggestion would be Sandy Petersen - he did a fantastic podcast once with yog-sothtoth.com but goodness how you could reach him. He seems a very busy man at the best of times.

I really enjoyed this episode (and its predecessor), Ludo. Thank you for putting it together. I know it's low-hanging fruit, but might we see similar episodes for Cults of Prax and Cults of Terror? As formative to the medium as the former is, I've always found it strange that the first major overview of Glorantha mythology focused on Prax, instead of Dragon Pass, considering how Sartar became the default setting for most Gloranthan materials. It would be good to be able to place these books in their original historical context, i.e. have more insight into the setting's early days from a publisher standpoint (I know there's been a recent episode on how Glorantha was experienced by players back in the early days).

Thank you. So, in older tellings, the Lightbringers met Kajabor rather than Wakboth. I wonder if the variation of the LBQ, with Wakboth as The Devil, was written to inject a real-world sort of ambiguity to the story which, as Nick points out, is typical of authentic mythology. Alternatively, did it come from a genuine mix-up or even an attempt to streamline the concept of the Devil in Gloranthan materials? Either way, I’m glad it exists.

Nick’s answered that question just above your post. Out of curiosity, when were the details of The Lightbringers Quest (and the Compromise) first published?

There are accounts of Kajabor being the form of the devil caught in the Arachne Solara’s net, with his appearance in the underworld due his defeat and death at the hands of Wakboth. I don’t know if that account is a real-world or in-universe post-hoc explanation, which accounts for Wakboth being trapped under the Block, but it works nicely either way.

Ah. This is the distinction I was after. I think I understand now. It does seem like there's a fair bit of grey area where one could commit an act (a crime?) of novelty but argue - in a legalistic way - that a pre-existing myth was still being honoured and replicated. An immediate thought came to mind of heroquesting to the Golden Age, to argue your case before the Celestial Court but, of course, the CC had already ceased to be when the Compromise was made. (Unless they were part of Yelm/Bijif's entourage in Hell, I suppose... ) The events at Castle Blue always struck me more as a "Might makes right" situation than anthing else but I suppose the Orlanthi tribes can't really argue with that - unless there are tribes that don't accept the provision that "Violence is always an option".

I’m not sure I understand the distinction. Why did Palangio incarnating Daysenerus break the Cosmic Compromise?

On the topic of the Compromise, I’ve always been unclear on how heroforming doesn’t seem to be considered a violation. How do the Orlanthi, in particular, square incarnating a deity within Time as something other than a wholesale breaking of the rules? Just the usual barbarian hypocrisy?

Was the original Red Emperor (Doskalos/Scarlet Warlord) the biological son of the goddess or was he adopted to fulfil the role of emperor? Were the Egi assembled before the event of the battle at Castle Blue or did Doskalos originally enjoy an existence independent of the Egi?

So, from what I’m reading here, any non-fragmentary fiction projects are unlikely at the moment. That’s fair. Disappointing but fair, if there’s no budget for commissioning fiction from established writers (which seems to be the norm).

I would probably need Jeff to answer this (or at least someone within Chaosium) but the majority of the people who post in this forum are probably aware of the homebound Arkat’s Saga and Harmast’s Saga collections currently listed on eBay, yes? They’re advertised as being akin to Stafford Library books in that they’re mostly fragments. Are these likely to be made public? Do Chaosium have their own copies from Greg or would these have to be privately purchased and then authorisation from the Stafford estate procured before they could be sold online? Or would it make more sense for the current owners of the HeroQuest and RuneQuest lines to ignore these and push ahead in a new direction, should the opportunity arise for fiction set in Glorantha to be published?

First off, apologies if this topic is verboten - I have created this thread purely out of curiosity, not as a way of hectoring Chaosium staff, who I believe are doing a bang-up (and often thankless) job since the reorganisation a few years back. With that out of the way, I am aware of several incomplete works of Glorantha fiction, all of which sound fascinating. Greg Stafford's Arkat's Saga, Harmast's Saga and Jeff's own Prince of Satar webcomic. While the former will remain incomplete - and the latter on hiatus presumably until at least 2021, given Jeff's dance card - will Chasoium ever commission other stories set in Glorantha as part of the Chaosium fiction line? Is it feasible that Penelope Love's The Widow's Tale could be reprinted by Chaosium? More broadly, could fiction ever be considered a part of the overall strategy for bringing new people into the game line (as is the case with Games Workshop and WotC)? Was the expanded and revised King of Sartar considered a commercial success? In the current environment, is supporting a fiction line for a single setting even viable? I'm extremely curious but plainly ignorant to the business side of the hobby, so any answers on this subject would be revelatory.

As a newcomer to this setting, I never fail to be baffled by the strength of feeling the Elmal/Yelmalio issue causes. That's absolutely not a criticism, by the way, it is a genuine sense of confusion (and maybe a little alienation) at the level of emotion the subject stirs amongst the learned. Also, as a neophyte, the fact that this hasn't been explored to exhaustion within officially published materials is surprising. An entire campaign focusing on a struggling Elmali clan during the Yemalio takeover seems entirely plausible as a microcosm of the Solar/Storm conflict that underpins Sartar (and, for better or worse, the most visible part of the setting). If I had the talent, I'd construct a scenario focused on a young Elmali heroquesting to prove Elmal is Yelmalio post-Hill of Gold, satisfied more in his domesticity and household duties than he ever was as an ascetic in his youth. To spice things up further, said Elmali could be disturbed by clues he encounters in the Heroplane that suggest Orlanth's return to the stead post-LBQ may have ultimately unsettled Elmal and caused him to reconsider eternity as "merely" a thane; maybe the true Yelmalio is older than the protagonist of either the Hill of Gold or Elmal Guards the Stead, having shed his personality (and thereby his insecurities) to exist solely as the post-Dawn personification of the Light Rune. Or maybe the simultaneity of Godtime makes it equally possible the depersonalised Yelmalio is the "youngest" incarnation of the Little Son, immediately after emanating from Yelm (Antirius?). I dunno, maybe that goes too far and shows up my ignorance of Dara Happan mythology. I do think that making the Y/Elmal/io controversy a more visible issue within the published materials might make the issue less fraughtwithin the fandom - if it's treated as a fundamentally contentious part of Orlanthi culture, it might, paradoxically, make differing opinions within the fandom more acceptable?