JRE

The RW anthropologists would be more equivalent to illuminates than God Learners, though I am sure some GLs (the most succesful ones) were closet illuminates. They can take roles, but they see more sides, though maybe not all sides, as that depends on your knowledge being complete As said above, I also think that your knowledge limits what rioles you can take. No spontaneous heroquest will allow a typical orlanthi to follow the draconic version of Orlanth and Aroka. Your own knowledge limits your options, and your powers too. An orlanthi initiate may play several roles, though shallowly. A Orlanth Rex Rune Lord will have difficulties being anything but Orlanth as a leader. That actually helps MGF, as PCs may be weird enough to take key roles in clan or tribe heroquests, because they are more flexible than the clan ring.

For centuries in our world alcohol was the standard treatment for PTSD. The standard alcohol rations in armies and navies meant most people entering battle were inebriated. I expect that to happen also in Glorantha, and professional combatants to medicate often. Or to mutiny or refuse to fight if lacking wine/mead/beer.

I agree with the idea that race applies only to clear species, such as Uz, mostali or aldryami. IMG genetics does not work, so if you have red hair, it is likely because you have some fire affinity, or a fiery temper, or your mother loved peaches while she was pregnant, or some of the dye of her Vingan days passed on to you. You are one of us, or you are a tolerated neighbour, or you are a stranger, and your appeareance is not the key factor. Someone mentioned the Romans. For them, the two signifying characteristics of status were language and clothes, to which we can add in Glorantha religious signs, which not only means runes but other religious signs, such as serpent tattoos or ritual scars. And reputation, which may reach much further than you think. I also expect that magic ritual and elemental links change the appearance. A Kitori will be darker than his neighbours, some Orlanthi are blue without woad, some Lunars sport red skin. But even with red skin people will first listen to how you speak, see how you dress, and ask what you say of your ancestry. Even something like "I was hit by Lunar magic when they took back Alda Chur, and I have been this color since", will be accepted if the rest fits. Or "I was washed by my parents blood when they were murdered by X, I will be that color till I fulfill my revenge." That second one would fit better if you are known (reputation) as a great enemy of X.

Yes, that is what I meant. When I say Babeester Gor is barren, that does not mean that her worshippers are, but the prototypical BG devotee (Death 90+) will have problems, and probably little interest in bearing a child. But it is not set in stone, and a great story could come from that, such as an Axe Maiden that is the last of her clan, so she wants to bear children out of clan loyalty, but without weakening her link with BG. One way is to search for powerful Uleria magics, the right partner, and finding someone to raise up the kid(s). Another way is getting drunk, banging an Eurmali, trust that disorder brings the unexpected, and unloading the end result on your Ernaldan sisters that already have broods of their own. Considering that 96+ is a failure and 01-05 a success, I consider all those extremes as 100. Still in the RQ: G conversion process.

It is a matter of interpretation, but I see the high runic affinities with actual effects on the character's life. Of course there are ways to overcome it, and a high enough life can overcome death. But that goes really into legendary territory. That is why events such as Sartar's household of Death horrified normal orlanthi, because devoting yourself to death so completely meant the end of Sartar's line, except for tenuous distant relatives, as it actually happened. So IMG a Humakti that wants to raise a family really needs to lower the death rune affinity / increase life rune. You cannot have your cake and eat it. Unless you are an illuminate and able to sustain high runic affinities to both life and death, or course. Mechanistically, I would say a 90% Death affinity means you are five times less likely to be fertile than an average person. But once you get into the 100% you are a walking embodyment of death, and it is bound to change things. 0% Life. To me that says it all. It may be I am old fashioned from the time the Life rune was called Fertility, but I think it has to be reinforced that Babeester Gor cultists are not women warriors with cool magic. They are the tool of the Earth to punish those that hurt them, and who have sacrificed everything they were (including their life giving ability) for the power to kill, maim and mutilate, and survive long enough to do it again and again. Glorantha's magic is not just a series of spells, but other effects that show the magic inherent in the setting. A BG cultist cannot keep a pet, or have a plant survive only with her care. Small animals appear dead around her, grass whithers if she sleeps on it, and I would go as far as saying that cheese or beer cannot be made when a rune lord is in the house.

I agree, and I believe that is a big part of what the GLs were after, that the Gods cannot choose, and they just act machine-like when the right buttons are pressed. What broke the GLs is that other people can heroquest to reconfigure their gods, so the button now does something different, and there are certain mechanisms, embodied in Arachne Solara, that act to prevent excessive tampering. There may well be psychological barriers that keep an Orlanthi from actually using a Ragnaglarg spell matrix, or a Sunspear from a Yelmite Truestone, and that may well be represented by requiring failed "Love Orlanth" and "Loyalty Temple" checks, but the barrier is in the character's mind, not in the magic.

I like that the Earth cults take the classical feminine triad (Maiden, Mother, Crone) and separate them in life and death deities. So Babeester Gor is the Death Maiden, which I think is why she is at times called a maiden, and the confusion about her virginal nature. I would take maiden as not having given birth, rather than the Christian patriarchy obsession with virginity. The death association makes BG, in my opinion, barren, as Maran Gor is barren too, though she had children. I actually expect BG worshippers to have active sex lives, just not what your typical male orlanthi would appreciate. A worshipper getting pregnant is a sign that her death rune affinity is not high enough, and I would expect it is possible only in special circumstances for rune level characters, using strong life magic. As the child cannot be the worshipper's, it becomes the Temple's. I suppose there are some worshippers that change from BG to Ernalda, and keep their children, embracing life. It would make a nice back history and a twist for an axe wielding Ernaldan priestess, though I would expect the death magic cannot be used unless she reverts to Maran Gor, or later to Ty Kora Tek.

A good use for Remove (Penis). The problem will be getting it back.

Spontaneous heroquests should be fun, and usually because the players realise it, not the GM, unless it is the planned plot. If your Uz players meet a Yelmalio rune lord, left wounded but alive at the top of a hill by an Orlanthi wind lord, that is clearly done in purpose by the GM. Gloranthaphiles may well recognize the parallels, but unless you are cursed with God learnerish players, most players will just think "easy enemy" and if they are in the right mind set, "Food and a traditional enemy to beat up, Zorak Zoran will be pleased with me." So the GM should point it out and then take it as a HQ. The other possibility is player initiated. A group of Uz sneak on a bunch of Yelmalions that have just beaten back an attack by orlanthi bandits on a road slope, and are starting to heal up and reform, and ideally a Zorak zorani says: "Hey, that is like the myth we replayed in the holy day when I got ignite. Maybe we can beat them easy and get Zorak Zoran's help ". Depending on my mood and how it fits with all the rest of the game, I may say: - No, they have won and it is not a hill, but you can still have your ambush. - Well, it is similar, roll your ZZ passion and if you succeed you have double bonus and your companions are inspired with a single bonus from your passion, but you cannot kill beaten enemies, though you can still rob them. Otherwise the myth may punish you. If they win, the ZZ will probably get some benefit, either now, or in the next holy day. - You feel Zorak Zoran filling you with his anger and strength, and you notice one of the goldilocks is shining from within, and you recognize he is your enemy. The Zorak Zoran Yelmalio conflict becomes the most important, though the others still get enemies to beat. Results depend on how close to the myth things go.

An important aspect of Gods, IMG, is that they do not have will any more. Humakt cannot choose to accept or reject an initiate. If the initiate fulfills the requirements and the officiating priest, who represents the God and does have free will, agrees, they are in. Changing the requirements, or changing the apparent will of the God can be done by heroes, who exchange some of their free will with power from the God, allowing the unchanging to change. Illumination frees your will, and make the will exchanges evident to the illuminated, but they still happen. I play that an illuminate is still bound by their geas, but not so tightly, so they can ignore them, but while they ignore them, they lose also the benefits. Their advantage is that they can reassume the geas and then renew the benefits when they need them. They can choose to be a devout Humakti, and reap the benefits, and then stop being one, and be friendly with Delecti. Because the God has not say on this, is a force without will. I also play that illumination affects the soul, not the body. So you do not detect as chaotic, but if your arm transformed into a tentacle, it continues to be a tentacle, and the Uroxi will at least chop it, and usually your head afterwards, no matter what Sense Chaos is telling her. Taken to the extreme, Sedenya used up all her will to become the Red Moon in the sky. But she is illuminated, so in theory she could stop being the Moon and recover her will, but that would mean the constituent matter of the moon would fall down, and all who draw power from her would lose it. Not something you can unmake more than once. But she could change, and maybe she does in the future, when the Red Moon is no longer needed. Or if someone convinces her it is the right choice. I also would contend that when Arkat faced Nysalor, both abandoned their own power personas, so they really were the same, knowledgeable illuminates doing what they thought was best. They saw things could not continue that way, so they changed. Who left the meeting alive is impossible to say, though we know that they assumed Arkat's power and image. Possibly because it still had some will left to change and adapt into the New Age, while Nysalor had used up all of his, so he could not change his role into the Second Age. I expect that most illuminates face a choice, one or several times in their lives. Power against freedom. Non-illuminates do not have the choice, as the path of more power, less freedom, is one way for them.

I have always played that all the different ways to illumination, whether Draconic, Arkati, Lunar, Hermit or any other, take you to the same place. So the effect in the Chaos tainted is not the point, just a side effect of discovering there are no absolutes, it all depends on your point of view, and that you can actually change that point of view. In my view you are not redeemed, you just realize you are not defined by Chaos, and it can be ignored if you want. And because this is Glorantha, if you ignore your inner Chaos, the others will not notice it either.

Going that way, Earth does not care about invertebrates (darkness) or fish (water), as they are not their children. But all earth goddesses should have a reptilian, feathered-beaked and mammalian form. The feathers are not so typical among the Storm, people, mammal supremacists, though the Feathered Horse Queen shows it can exist, and it should be typical among solars and some horse people. The Orlanthi are mostly familiar with reptilian and mammalian, obviously, and the Dinosaur link of the Earthshaker Temple reinforces it Is there some secret Lunar project to mate Moon with Earth and see what kind of beasts appear?

If I really wanted to use Bullpen, I would consider it to be just the fortified camp built by Uroxi as they gather for a Larnste footprint foray. The name says it all. Location will be variable depending on who are the first ones to arrive and set up an Urox shrine, as the others just accrete around it. No fixed location, it only lasts a season, and does not rise every year, as it depends on the availability of Uroxi. You cannot reuse the shrines as the Scorpion men end up always destroying and fouling them. If your pet project is not in the canon, work around it, make it attractive, and it may be canon some day.

To summarize, as it does not look like a dumb theory any more. Maran, before she became Gor, was a fertility goddess in Dragon Pass and had her entanglements with the Earth Dragon, or the Brown Dragon, or maybe any Dragon she could tangle with. As fertile earth, she had children, the dinos, Some of them followed more like their father(s), and were nurtured by the Dragon(s), included nests and eggs. During the Gods War her non-draconic children were killed, while the draconic survived. In her pain she adopted the Gor and changed Life for Death. However once in time the Dragonewts that fail the stringent path to rightness revert back to beasts. Maran Gor is now barren, but she is still their mother, and cares and protects them. As an aside, there may have been a Dinosaur or a failing Dragonewt hero involved, as this seems a change that took place after the Compromise. I would expect Maran Gor to appear as a tempttress to Dragonewts so they take the easy way... New Wyrmish is a Dragonewt / Dinosaur hero, working either to reconcile both, or just looking for a different path than dragonhood. And doing their best to increase the number of Dinosaurs. And it is an good excuse to reuse Ladygolem's image that started it all...

Even if it remains a mundane event, Uz attacking Yelmalians on a hill, after they have been beaten and robbed by Orlanthi should get big skill bonuses (if both sides are aware of the mythic connection) as the Yelmalians are mythically bound to lose, and the Uz are bound to let them live. If the connection is done, I would expect the Yelmalians to lose Rune points (temporarily if they are PCs) and the Uz get one use rune points for light magic. But they get to live, so it may be the Yelmalians who initiate the mythic connection. Better crippled than eaten.

I would say that it is interesting that both the largest concentration of Dragonewts and the most famous Maran Gor temple are so close, so there may well have been a strong Godtime connection. What if the Dragons started educating Maran children, and some became Dragonewts? Something like the EWF but with dinosaurs rather than humans. The non-draconic dinosaurs died out in the God's war, and torn by the betrayal of her children, she took death rather than life as her power. Now she takes back all those dragonewts that slide back into emotion, and she herself becomes an embodyment of strong emotion (Anger, Pride, Lust, but also Love, Mercy and Generosity...) in opposition to the draconic Right way. Dragons having the infinity rune and being outside Time makes the dragon children theory suspect. And if you are a skeptic, it might put the dragonewts destroying the EWF on a different light, as not wanting to share their position with the Dragons with those upstart humans...

For propitiation I would expect you have to create frost somewhere else, and that way your own crops will be protected to the extent you hurt others. That would fit with having access to Frost, but possibly you can have rituals so the frost that should strike your field strikes the neighbors instead. Cold deities tend to be unfriendly, so any protection would be at the expense of others. It also makes you bad neighbors...

Not could, but should. Unless you lack critical people, and then the next year will be a tough one. One of the drivers for joining tribes or even tribe confederations (cities and countries in other parts of Glorantha) is that you can more realiably access that magic, and it is easier to tackle more complex reenactments. A clan on its own may be able to reenact a few myths, and maybe have enough prominent people to go for one. So they have to choose a focus, such as war, bless crops or bless animals (echoes of King of Dragon Pass). In a tribe you may have a ritual in the clan, but you also join and benefit fom the tribal one(s). That piles up, if you add confederation and even country, and why wrecking that magic is a basic tactic of the Empire. All of that assuming the ritual succeeds. Poor magic, human error or external interference (which may just be your envious neighbors) can spoil the Sacred Time and that hurts the magic the whole year. That also makes the rituals connect. If you run the arming of Orlanth to prepare the clan for war, your intended enemies may be forced to appear in the ritual as enemies. Or you may want peace but find you are cast as enemies by others.

I would say that most Gloranthans would try to avoid involuntary heroplane identification, and even have some rituals to avoid assuming improperly god or hero aspects. However the Lunar elite and now Argrath and his companions (following Arkat's playbook) try to exploit this, looking for opportunities to reinforce the myths they want, and perverting those of their enemies. If you look into a Heroplane, the Heroplane looks back into you. If you play up an event and make it heroic, an opposing hero may choose / be forced to intervene. That does not mean that Jar-Eel will appear as the opponent (unless you are an important enemy of the Empire), but you could get more than you expected, as in the Broo / Storm Bull example above. That also allows to present potential opponents, or recurring villains, as death in the hero plane means a penalty but not usually an actual death unless that is the point of the heroquest. It may even be a bonus if that is the myth you are reenacting... My own pet theory about King of Sartar is that the excess magical abuse of the Hero Wars end up breaking the Heroplane/Mundane connection, but that is many years in the future.

Thinking a bit more, I would expect plenty of worked crystals (polished, set as gems, or integrated in objects) come from the Second age and those two big exploiters of the divine, the Jrusteli and the EWF. So you can still have split crystals or a nice polished pommel stone. Just blame the typical scapegoats, as known crystals will be treasured and transferred through the centuries.

I agree, and it shows how little action poor Nandan gets that I had forgotten him. I assume that as Vingans still are gendered in the literature as she/her, Nandans are he/him. I realized the answer to my question "What Orlanthi culture in Glorantha is peaceful?" is Ernaldans. And I assume Nandans will be more frequent among them.

I would expect that to be some secret technique of Mostali or godless sorcerers. It is a divine remnant, a relic of a dead god, and you know some dead gods return. So theists would probably consider that sacrilege. For balance reasons I would expect you lose some points in the exchange, with the risk of ruining it all with your disrespect/missed skill roll. However, if you could reliably identify the donor of the crystal, then for certain cults breaking up or destroying the crystal could be a meritorious action.

I would say it is subjective. In the Orlanthi version Yelm speaks Firespeech, and Orlanth Stormspeech, but they understand each other. As people usually ignore translators, it might be fun to have an expanded heroquest where Entekos translates Orlanth words to Yelm, and Issaries Yelm's words to Orlanth. I would expect in Solar versions Yelm does not speak, but his commands are automatically understood, while Orlanth speaks a barbarian gibberish. Who cares what such an upstart says? I do not expect any dialogue in the Uz version of Hill of Gold, and the others will just have an Orlanth monologue and a Yelmalio/Elmal monologue. Unlike some of the comments above, I believe the temples actually use language as a way to control heroquesting, as they control the teaching of those languages, including learning the right responses by rote for lay initiates, and deeper knowledge as you progress in the cult. I still remember (RQ3?) that Thelayan gave a small percentage of Stormspeech, probably what you learnt at the temple by extrapolating the ritual responses. And it explains how the pantheon languages do not drift, because you refresh them in the ceremonies. However I am not sure if the Orlanthi in Ralios speak the same Stormspeech as in Dragon Pass or Aggar, but the transplant of travellers like Arkat or Harmast have me almost convinced it is the same language, an echo of the Godplane.

I would say it depends on how deep the heroquest is, how formulaic you are playing it, and how much supporting cast you have. This is all open to interpretation, and this is my own. If this is a Sacred Time event with your community, the people you interact with will all be part of the community, so you may well manage with Thelayan, as it is a common ground among all of you, including the opponents. They know what they should do and probably help you a bit, hint if you get stuck, etc. If you are doing it on your own, or a small group, then you will be interacting with pure hero plane personalities and they will be less tolerant of deviations, and it is likely you really need that stormspeech to understand Orlanth Rex, unlike your chieftain that you would probably understand all right in the example above. Some interpretations is that the missing roles are filled not by pure myth entities, but questers from other places and times, so language and expectations of the role may differ. Another reason why it is easier to have all main roles filled, just in case. As you go deeper, there is more of the Hero plane and less of your chieftain, so once again knowing stormspeech becomes more important. În the case of community it is likely you, just in case, learn the stormspeech (or whatever language applies) words of your role by rote, till you are good enough to understand them and speak them better, and that is another reason why stepping outside of the boundaries of myth is so risky, because you may lack the right words, and the right language. I would interpret that if you are close to the role you take, such as an Issaries trader taking the role of Issaries, divine inspiration may guide you in the right direction, even if you get stuck, as the player may not be as close to the role as the character, but that should be used sparingly. I always play heroquests as almost normal play, so yes, you better be good at fighting if you will embody Humakt, or you may end up playing a different role, and you will always change to be closer to your role. Which opens the question to who takes the role of Vadrus, or (shudder) Ragnaglar. If you are not satisfactory, the Hero plane will fill up the missing role, and that can mean a tougher or easier quest, usually easier if you are doing a well known quest, and tougher in unknown ground. Usually the consequences are quite easy to fathom and the problem is how much change, abilities or powers to add. This mechanistic details is why people are waiting anxiously for official HQ rules. We have no RQ:G mechanism yet, though there were some systems in HQ and HW. Meanwhile I think most veterans have been improvising for years, so you will get a lot of different replies. Just think of an Orlanth Rex quester that is found to be unsuitable to be leader and is forced to act as a weaponthane. If the quest Rex is someone else from the clan, you have already a potential leadership conflict and a character change for both. If you get an impersonal Rex, or a foreigner Rex, then you better follow the myth right, or any deviation may mean failure. However, the benefit (except for the failed Rex) would be higher in case of success, although with unintended consequences. So the acting Rex, is succesful, will come out a better leader, though the details will vary.

Considering progression, and even fun, if you are a male character wishing to go deeper in the Ernaldan mysteries, either you have already announced a reversal, or you must be thinking about it. Or just to play a peacebringer outside Issaries or Chalana Arroy. In internal conflicts I assume that would make you a non-combatant, which always makes parley easier. Among traditional Orlanthi, I would assume male Ernaldan initiates are really Barntar's. You need to be female to go deeper. I do not see Barntar as a Vinga equivalent, an entry point for reverse gender cultists, so that would mean there is a missing link, or that they are very rare, as Vinga probably is among peaceful Orlanthi, if they exist somewhere in Glorantha...