RHW

Posted this in another thread, but figured I should dump it here as well: Argrath and Elusu are confronted by the Green Dragon. ELUSU: Wa, I got this, Chief. Elusu reaches into her backpack and pulls out a ragged set of green PJs decorated with a cloth tail and tatty leather wings. She puts them on and speaks Wyrmtongue: ELUSU: No kill I! (casts LIE) We all friendlike delicious! The Green Dragon swallows Elusu whole. Argrath hides. Later that day, the Green Dragon defecates, then flies off. Argrath emerges from hiding. Elusu springs out of the enormous pile of poop. ELUSU: It worked! ARGRATH: You tried to say ally which is "tthtththtsspppssspt." But instead you said "ppstthhtsspppssspt" which means delicious. ELUSU: Yeah, in dragon that's pretty much the same thing. ARGRATH: Good point, ally. ELUSU: STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT.

Argrath and Elusu are confronted by the Green Dragon. ELUSU: Wa, I got this, Chief. Elusu reaches into her backpack and pulls out a ragged set of green PJs decorated with a cloth tail and tatty leather wings. She puts them on and speaks Wyrmtongue: ELUSU: No kill I! (cast LIE) We all friendlike delicious! The Green Dragon swallows Elusu whole. Argrath hides. Later that day, the Green Dragon defecates, then flies off. Argrath emerges from hiding. Elusu springs out of the enormous pile of poop. ELUSU: It worked! ARGRATH: You tried to say ally which is tthtththtsspppssspt. But instead you said ppstthhtsspppssspt which means delicious. ELUSU: Yeah, in dragon that's pretty much the same thing. ARGRATH: Good point, ally. ELUSU: STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT.

Bit of a hot button topic, I suspect, but for a Bronze Age society, a fetus probably isn't considered a "living thing." Back then (and still today depending on where you are) a large percentage of pregnancies would have ended in miscarriage, stillbirth, or maternal death. The classical Greeks had numerous superstitions about what caused miscarriage, most of them nonsense, but enough to show it was a bit of an obsession. To this day in parts of PNG, children aren't considered worth naming until they make it a year.* IMG, aborting a broo fetus is S.O.P. for Chalanans. Moreover, in life threatening situations, healers almost certainly end non-viable pregnancies, ogre pregnancies, etc. Mythically, you could argue that ending a pregnancy caused by rape is a cultural imperative, especially for Orlanthi/Ernaldans. Such children might be born as ogres or broos regardless of the species of the father. On the other hand, one interesting thing about Glorantha is that the standard of medical care, because of healing magic, is probably very high. Broken legs or missing limbs, disease, even death, can be overcome. I suspect the infant mortality rate is much lower than it would have been in the Bronze Age, ditto maternal mortality, so Gloranthans might have more emotional attachment to a pregnancy, given the higher chance of success. Like the Romans, the Dara Happans and other highly patriarchal societies might have laws against abortion. Still seems very unlikely most Chalanans (or the goddess herself) would consider terminating a pregnancy as "killing." YGMV. *Or so I was told when I was there.

Illuminated tricksters don't illuminate anyone. They just tell a lot of jokes which either aren't really funny until you think about it a bit, or are really funny... until you think about it a bit. If they make you realize that all creation is just a giant joke and if you can laugh at it, you can do anything, well... it's not their fault if you actually get it. Knock knock. Who's there? Arkat. Arkat who? Arkat Witch! Which witch? Exactly.

Argrath and Elusu at the bar: ARGRATH: Your round. Elusu turns into a Gold Wheel Dancer. ELUSU: Yep. ARGRATH: I mean you buy. Elusu turns back to herself, then kisses a barmaid while simultaneously groping a waiter. ELUSU: Yep. ARGRATH: I mean your shout! ELUSU (drunkenly): Yep, bosh. I'msh out. Elusu vanishes. ARGRATH: You shit. A shit falls on Argrath's head out of nowhere. ELUSU (invisible): Yep.

Elusu holds out her finger. ELUSU: Wa, boss, pull my finger. Argrath pulls her finger. Elusu farts loudly. ELUSU: We just summoned Orlanth Thunderous! Elusu casts hotfoot on the fart. It explodes in a puff of blue flame.* ELUSU: Or maybe it was Shargash? Argrath thinks about that. In the distance, there's a rumble of thunder. ARGRATH: Fuck. ELUSU: I know, right. *Eurmali can light farts on fire with hootfoot. This is known.

INT. GOD LEARNER LAB - DAY Professor Bunsen Honeydew prepares a vial full of glowing fiery red fluid. His assistant Beaker nervously holds a flask full of oily black gunk. HONEYDEW: Now, Beaker, I will pour my vial of Flaming Essence of Shargash into your flask of Congealed Zorak Zorani Wrath, and the resulting concoction will prove that these two Runic Complexes are actually both aspects of Fire Dark Disorder Death Runic Complex Prime. BEAKER: Meep. Meep-meep-meep. HONEYDEW: Fear not, Beaker. For we are Serious Thaumaturgic Investigators fulfilling the Glorious Purpose Directive! The Invisible God is on our side. BEAKER: Meep. Meeeeeeeep. HONEYDEW: And begin! Honeydew pours his vial into Beaker's flask. BEAKER: Meep-meep. The combined ingredients momentarily form a blood red substance which whirls into a small, quickly rotating, dark but intensely hot orb. HONEYDEW: Success! BEAKER: Bye-bye. The orb explodes, blasting Honeydew, Beaker, and the entire lab into oblivion. EXT. OBSERVATION POST - DAY Two Senior Observers (STATLER and WALDORF) wearing protective gear watch a distant fireball blast out from the site of the lab. A massive mushroom cloud rises into the air. STATLER: Problematic. WALDORF (correcting): Very problematic.

On some dusty scroll somewhere in a locked Yuthuppan library, there's a tale about how, when Aether manifested, his inherent magnificence caused an unnamed Darkness Spirit to grow heavy with his child. The Darkness entity fled to the Underworld, where another of her kind helped her give birth to twins. One child was Dark, the other was on Fire. Immediately they set on each other and the victor ate the loser, absorbing his powers. What's never been clear is who ate whom.

It's dumb to say it to their worshippers' faces. So, so dumb.

My dumbest theory is that Shargash and Zorak Zoran are two aspects of the same god, which is why they never appear in the same myth together.

So business as usual for the Lunars?

Forget naming the horse after a turncoat. Name your horse after a Lunar fanatic to show your mastery over them. Besides, who doesn’t want to ride “Beanpot?”

I’d say a ZZ and a Humakti could be forced to work together in the right circumstances. Same patron, same clan, or same war band. Or if they’re facing some existential threat together (Chaos, the Lunars, etc). There’s lots of great fiction where philosophically opposes characters who otherwise might murder each other come together for the common good. “Normally I would kill you and decorate my armor with your entrails, but today, Sword, the fates smile on you. And we will fight for the same cause.” “Today I swear by Humakt to fight by your side, savage. Tomorrow, if Death does not take us, we will discuss this matter again.”

I found this while searching for a map of the Kingdom of Ignorance. I don't know who made it, but accuracy level is high.

Generally if I want the journey to be the adventure, I structure it so that the trip itself is important or unavoidable. So escort the large caravan or guard the dignitary who won't fly or allow himself to be teleported. Scout the route! Find the Questing Beast, herd the herd, that sort of thing. At lower levels, encounter skipping isn't usually a huge issue, since there's not THAT much magic that will let an entire party fly/teleport/run across the world. At higher levels, I always assume the party will skip most of the journey somehow or other, but that's okay. I find journey adventures are best for new characters learning about the world. Higher level characters can just go where the action is.

One thing worth remembering, until they reach a certain power level (and invest in the proper magic) all characters travel as fast or slow as the GM wants. So even if it takes two week to travel from say, Boldhome to Nochet, the GM can always just jump to the arrival in Nochet. Or you can take a dozen sessions for the journey, whatever floats your boat. Odysseus takes a lot longer to travel from point A to B than anyone should, but that's how the gods wanted it. Likewise Dany's dragons fly as fast as the writers want.

To get the thread back to my intent, what are some fun things we can add to or take away from Kralorela to make it less “Fantasy Cathay” and more weird and Gloranthan? REMOVE/AVOID chopsticks, silk (let Teshnos have that), concubines, queues, mandarins, triads, tongs, bound feet, stereotypical art, Fu Manchu mustaches, long long nails, conical hats, junks, boy I wish we could lose the faux Chinese names. ADD Polynesian elements: Hawaiian hats, feathered caps, outriggers, yams, poi, tabu system Indochinese Elements: Architecture and art based on Cambodia or Thailand or Bali, Thai clothing, Hmong hats, Ede matrilineal property rights, curry, mint, hot peppers Mesoamerican elements: Aztec battle gear, step pyramids, Mayan and Aztec art references, chocolate, cacao leaves, Nazca lines, mummies, gold everywhere Draconic elements: Fire! Lizards everywhere, little velociraptors instead of dogs, dragon masks, claw weapons. Nonhumans: Keets are respected and treated as equals, baboons act like regular people, heretical broken dwarves are a large underclass, trollkin slave’s are popular, secret Hsunchen cults maintain old ways, Deep Ones and the Innsmouth look, so many ghouls, zombies as beasts of burden. Military: Way more heavy infantry and armored cavalry than you think. Troll mercenaries bodyguard the exarchs. Dwarven crossbowmen and siege engineers. Religion/Culture: Less filial piety, Emperor worship, and faux Confucianism, more Everyone has a Dragon Soul, Hear it Roar! Social Darwinism! Colonial ambitions! Iconoclastic movements, secret EWF revivalists! Gods have unexpected roles. Zorak Zoran is the main war god, Eurmal is the beloved god of children.

Here are some Kralorelan warriors in their "dragon" armor, made from leather and decorated with feathers. Also another warrior with a Kralorelan dragon, which frequently have feathers.

I agree. I was just putting it nicely.

All good stuff. Just trying to start the discussion and was going from "Dragon" instead of "China" as an inspiration. Also looking to add some of the anachronisms that characterize the Lunars and the Sartarites and make them more interesting, plus some additional cultural elements (Polynesian dress instead of Chinese).

I like this. Anything but chopsticks and rice.

The tea discussion brought up a lot of points about Kralorela that make it an unsatisfying setting for many Glorantha fans: The over-reliance on China for inspiration seems to be the main sticking point. So I thought I'd create a thread for ideas to make Kralorela less "Fantasy China" and more a uniquely Gloranthan place. A few ideas of my own: Attitude: Kralorelans believe they are all dragon spirits incarnating as humans to further their own spiritual awakening. Devote Kralorelans obsess about enhancing their draconic self, which they call their "Egg." They try to emulate dragons in all things, including dress, diet, and ritual behavior. Clothing: Kralorelans tend to wear items that invoke their Draconic heritage. Hats with long central fins are very popular, as are cloaks that look like wings, both feathered and scaled. (See Hawaiian noble hats for examples). Food: Kralorelans eat a lot of roasted meat, heavily charred and spiced with hot peppers. They eat with their hands and tear the meat with their teeth in imitation of their draconic betters. They also like small animals that they can swallow whole, either alive or freshly charred. Favorites include small mice, fish, shrimp, and crickets. Interactions: Kralorelans tend to be quite bellicose and loud in their personal interactions. A dragon takes what she wants! They argue and shout frequently. This is understood as normal to the Kralorelans, but can be quite disconcerting to outsiders. Fire: Kralorelans love fire. Most towns have a central fire pit which is always kept burning, and all homes have a hearth which is likewise always kept at least smoldering. This can strain local resources and contributes to deforestation. Because of this, Kralorelans use very little wood when building or crafting tools, preferring bone, metal, and stone. Wood is for burning! Music: Kralorelans love music, which reminds them of the beautiful multi-octave voices of True Dragons. To replicate the range of dragon sounds, they use large assembles of musicians called orchestras which play a combination of drums, woodwinds, brass, and stringed instruments. Every town has at least one orchestra, and competition between the various bands is intense and can lead to violins. Dancing to the local band is a weekly event for most. The dance which accompanies this sort of music is called FLING (and sometimes this name is given to the music itself). Fling dancers are usually couples and many of the moves are throws or lifts that imitate the aerial maneuvers of dragons. Another popular form of Kralorelan music is ROAR, percussive spoken word recitals sometimes accompanied by discordant music called CLAW. Finally, lately groups of young singer/dancers have become popular. The collectives, either exclusively male or exclusively female, tour from village to village performing tightly choreographed uptempo music focused on love and fighting for respect, drawing from Roar, Claw and Fling. This music is called KAHPOP. Battles: Kralorelans see life as a struggle for dominance and frequently challenge each other to contests to resolve disputes. These contests can take any form, usually decided by the challenged. While combat is not uncommon, often these contests take the form of demonstrations of other skills. Dance-offs, feats of strength, cooking competitions, eating contests, showing martial arts forms, and even flower arranging can all be fields of battle for two disagreeable Kralorelans. Because in the end it's all about... Respect: This is the most important virtue of the Kralorelans and one that must be constantly earned. Respect is earned by winning battles, living a bold draconic life, and by excelling in one's profession. Rivals constantly challenge each other to determine who's the best in a given field. Respect must be seized from the world with your claws and teeth!

Ummm... Yelmalio gives you crappier spells than Elmal and is fake by certain definitions. The problem is in Glorantha if enough sucker— I mean, worshippers pump POW into something it does usually manifest some kind of result. SEE: Nysalor There’s an argument to be made that the Seven Mothers are fake too. The Moon Goddess/Gbaji is real and all their power is derived from their connections to it. If the Moon dies, poof, no more Lunar pantheon.

I think the answer could also be something along the lines of: "Kill whoever said this with fire."

I suspect the Brithini in question would maintain that non-Brithini aren't people, so nothing that one might do to them counts as a crime or a breaking of taboo. It's not sex or rape. It's just using an object for gratification. No worse than tapping, really. Some might argue Gunda's "father" was wrong about this, but it's all a philosophical discussion at that point. But then, I'm pretty sure the Brithini are one of Glorantha's most effed up cultures. They're the Vadeli with pretense, and in some ways, that's worse.