JRE

Just as a note, Runequest fits better with the Conan books, rather than comic and film. So Conan wears armour, uses a shield often, and only part of the time has to fight almost naked, mainly because someone interrupted him in an intimate moment... And you need to be quite skilled to be able to fight against several enemies at the same time, though it is easier in this edition than in the previous ones. Magic makes it easier, but also boosts enemies.

I have said this before, but I see socially Glorantha has more in common with the XXth century than the real Bronze Age, and one of the key factors for this is low infant mortality (magic), effective anticonception (magic, herbs, alchemy...) and high carrying capacity when you are not wasting community magic in war magics, weather magics, or other magics. That is not often shown as spells, but I am sure they are there, built on the framework of spells we know, such as Pregnancy and Blass Pregnancy, and are the focus on normal temple magic. That is also why humans recover extremely fast from terrible catastrophes. That also allows women or men that do not wish to have kids to do so without becoming social outcasts, as long as they have an accepted role.

Just to break expectations, according to the Guide, Seshnela is a densely populated rice growing area, who uses a lot of spices and meat, fish and dairy. Pretty sure the Nolos exiles use even more spices than your typical seshnegi. Tea growing and dairy surely brings also a chai drinking culture. Fonrit is also a good alternative, with population, spices and rice, as well as plenty of reasons to emigrate out to find a better life. Teshnos was isolated for centuries and the population does not seem much given to leave, except possibly some adventurous people from Melib. To have a foreign food presence it helps if there is a sizeable population moving out of the region, both to have an initial customer base to offer traditional food, and enough cooks to have some adapting to the pañate of the new area. The exception would be big metropolis, where something new and exotic may work for novelty alone.

I would also link it to the Lady of the Wild or, obviously, Odayla. A curse for a selfish hunter that does not share. Or someone who kills another hunter in the fury of the hunt. It might even be a blessing for an Odaylan hermit living in a cave, but maybe not to his or her descendants.

To dumb thing down, I posted this in a now locked thread, but I feel it fits better here anyway. I have edited it a bit as rereading I had some further insights. One of the common threads in our sources is that the leader of the Lightbringer's Quest (LBQ) is surprised by the end result, even if they are succesful and get what they want. As it was also discussed with Kallyr's short LBQ in the Gloranthan Sourcebook, a succesful LBQ strengthens the Cosmos and the Compromise, besides whatever the quester is looking for. But it is a gamble, because a failed one weakens the heroquesters, the Cosmos and the Compromise. Which makes me think that Argrath's big LBQ actually failed. And my own take is that he failed it deliberately in order to go further. By engaging in creative heroquesting in Hell, he missed the setting of grievances and the peace between sun and storm, and even worse, missed the Compromise. That could also explain the high body count among his companions, lost when he abandoned them in Hell. So although I am quite sure it was not anything he wanted specifically, he opened the way for the Monster Empire, and probably did it even further when he realized that despite his expectations Sheng did not destroy the Moon, just took it over, so then he had to take him out as well.

I see Humakti initiates as mainly of two kinds. Professional soldiers, who I agree have little interest or opportunity to do ironsmithing, just doing their tithes and learning the magic that helps them in combat. But you also have the fanatics, those who already know they are walking the path of Humakt. Whose whole life is bent to become a Sword of Humakt. And iron is the metal of death. They are those that devote the time, and even spend extra if they can. They are the ones that take those looted Lunar scimitars and reforge them as swords, even if they cannot enchant them yet and will not be allowed to use them. Because when they become Swords they will no longer have much time for this. So all temples will have a smithy, even if it is only for reforging captured weapons, repairing weapons and armor and crafting new ones for the Swords. Just looking at the Sword requirements, IMG almost all Humakti temples will have one or several initiates that have chosen the Smith path for Sword status. And they are probably the ones most likely, barring poor POW rolls, to actually make it. Once they are Swords I am sure they will be welcome in most temples, as it benefits the whole temple having a skilled smith. What is more likely to be a skilled armorsmith and weaponsmith? A Humakti temple smith serving two hundred professional warriors, or a clan smith, servicing 20 or 30 full time warriors and three hundred amateurs? A Gustbran smith in Jonstown may well be an iron master, but most will not, and outside such a big town most smiths will have very limited experience with iron. Each Humakti temple (but almost no shrine) will have several iron panoplies, with the required maintenance, and will probably be one of the first places anyone willing to sell iron items will stop. It is unwise to extrapolate the world from the rules, but among the Orlanthi, most cults have Enchant Iron, but only, as far as I know, only Humakt has Craft Iron or Bronze. We know from the advances that Gustbran will have the metal Crafts, but that still leaves Humakt as the most likely to have Iron to train with, but that may change with the Storm and Earth cult books.

I had not thought about cold, as I expected the sea would soften things in terms of weather. But you know best the Ketahelan weather. As for Civil War, I was thinking of Red Earth vs Old Earth, as I still think Red Earth is Earth with some Lunar overtones and not Lunar with some Earth overtones. But I am sure the Lunars, Greymane and the Wolf Pirates kill their share of people too. Being allied with the Merfolk may well mean the difference between life and death in the bay.

I agree. You should stack some INT in Range, depending on how you intend to use the spell, as leaving the range cancels the spell. That is also a way to escape a killing active spell, if you have the time or the speed.

That includes two years of civil war with religious civil war overtones, and strong foreign intervention, so it not clear how much is hunger driven, as those are the bloodiest. Ernalda's fertility will not have helped much as the full return is in Sea season 1624. Compared to that, Sartar was unusually peaceful during that period, probably what Tatius wanted, to keep the Reaching Moon Temple project moving forward. I strongly support making the Winter as hard as you need, but not really terrible except for those clans who are not friends of the Lunars or the Tribal kings and without local heroes willing to do extraordinary feats. As for magic, I consider that the rulebook spells just are a small part of the actual magic, with much more magic that is not formulaic. So anyone that goes to an Ernaldan fertility ritual just after Ernalda's return is very likely to end pregnant, and with my reading of the Pregnancy spell, that may well include men and post menopause women. And "all" (an Orlanthi all) those pregnancies will be light, and carried to term. Crops will grow plentiful and fast, cattle will have multiple healthy births, while the grass grows overnight so there is always enough. Do not quantify it, it is Magic, the accumulated magic of several years released in one powerful go. No problem if you combine accelerate Growth, bless whatever, and anything you need to show this is a magical world.

Just to mix things up a bit, I would have Kralorelans using sorcery, among other magics, and it being their own development and not an import of the False Dragon Ring, though they probably coopted local sorcerers into their plot. I base this mainly on the presence of "tame" dwarves around Kralorela, which would be the source of the knowledge, as well as integrating it into the Imperial system. That would make it use the main system but with a different bent and interacting with all the other magics. That also justifies having Vormaini sorcery without having to depend on the Jrusteli. However, with sorcery only barely sketched I will not dare to propose what are the differences between East and West, though I agree most users will be more similar to Lhankhor Mhy sages with a narrow set of spells (sea and ship magics, while others have long term personal enhancements).

I do not see the Teleono as organized enough to have a specific exile place. If we trust the 524 map, there are no significative settlements or points of interest, but it is close enough not to have been isolated by the closing. So if I found myself there, and this is not even IMG, but what I would do if I gamed in Teleos, I would assume it and the small island besides it are taboo, or they would be part of Teleos, even if they were not before the Closing. That means the Teleonos do not acknowledge the island, do not travel to it, or discuss it. That would fit with it being the Jrusteli base from where they controlled Teleos and suppressed the Rainbow Fleets. There were plenty of Jrusteli in Teleos when the Closing hit, and nobody knows what happened to them, or will talk. The color curse disappears when Harrek enslaves the Emerald Frog and leaves with it. And we know that Harrek is actively seeking and plundering Jrusteli artifacts and ruins. So it would make sense that it is a Jrusteli remnant of some kind, possibly a way to keep the Teleos natives divided and not collaborating as in the past, as the Rainbow fleets of the Second Age would mean there were sailors of all the colors in them. So yes, Jrusteli remnants, but if you go before Harrek, the Emerald Frog, also known by the ominous moniker, Eater of Souls, is still there, and considering the many foreigners around, was enough to avoid them settling in the island. After Harrek, the ruins are probably less defended, but you have all the foreigner power players interested in the island, and probably the Teleonos adapting to the new situation. And all possibly lookingfor adventurers to brave the many perils of the Jrusteli ruins. The big question, without the unifying spirit carelessly killed by the God Learners, will the Teleono rediscover the collaboration that made them a power able to make life difficult to the Jrusteli? Or will open war among the Colors shatter the island? Finally, for the name, I think it is a Haragalan name, as no pre-Closing name would have survived and they are the main sea power in Teleos. It is named as such because they used it to punish rebellious crews and unruly prisoners by abandoning them in the island, at the mercy of the Eater of Souls. Even without the Frog, they may still use it as a dumping place of slaves and prisoners, knowing that without a ship escape is impossible. PC characters taken captive by pirates may adventure there unwillingly, giving a good entry point to "Adventures in Teleos".

One of the common threads hinted above is that the leader of the LBQ is surprised by the end result, even if they are succesful and get what they want. As it was also discussed with Kallyr's short LBQ, a succesful LBQ strengthens the Cosmos and the Compromise, besides whatever the quester is looking for. But it is a gamble, because a failed one weakens the heroquesters, the Cosmos and the Compromise. Which makes me think that Argrath's LBQ actually failed. And my own take is that he failed it deliberately in order to go further. By engaging in creative heroquesting in Hell, he missed the setting of grievances and the peace between sun and storm, and even worse, missed the Compromise. So although I am quite sure it was not anything he wanted specifically, he opened the way for the Monster Empire, and probably did it even further when he realized that despite his expectations Sheng did not destroy the Moon, just took it over, so he had to take him out as well. I know that I tend to present Argrath as a manipulating overlord, because that is how I see him, and how he acts from an Orlanthi point of view (all Emperors are bad, and Argrath is clearly an Emperor), but he is also a genius with a purpose, and he achieves that purpose, no matter what gets broken in the process.

Thanks for the Burroughs McNeill link. Suddenly many things about Glorantha make more sense. This could be Dorastor, or the monster Empire, but I will just go with the Godtime itself.

The problem for these calculations is Magic, as Glorantha is not earth. The positive impact may be much higher than doubling the birth rate in the joyful years after the return of Orlanth and Ernalda, and the surge of fertility magics that come with it. Another factor, for me, is religious festivals, which mean that women without partners, but also post-menopause women and even men (though that will be rare), depending on your reading of the Pregnancy spell, may become pregnant when Fertility magic runs high. I would also expect many youth being initiated earlier, which among the orlanthi also means becoming adults and having sex earlier, together with two year groups that were not initiated properly due to the main gods absence. It may well be possible that the numbers of towns remain constant as the hungry clansmen flock to them while the countryside depopulates. The Sartarites avoided most conflict during the first two years after the return of Orlanth (1624-1626), probably because they were too weak to interfere with the Reaching Moon temple, so most of the extra deaths were among the Hendrikei, the Praxians, the Tarshites and the Grazelanders. So I would expect those groups to be weaker comparatively. Also, the Dragonrise killed most of the Lunar sympathizers in Sartar, so conflict was clearly diminished. The next two battles (Dangerford and Queens) are comparatively small affairs because both sides have been bled white, one side by the Winter and the other by the Dragonrise. As for actual death tally, my opinion is that it is left deliberately ambiguous, specially if you wish to play through those years. If you like a grimdark game, you may kill half the clan and have people starving wherever the PCs go. You can have bandits and outlaws stealing the meagre crops and bloody fights for the last living cow. If you prefer a Sartar forever game, you may have the temples opening reserves and magical sources of nourishment (such as Geos's) and have players organizing expeditions to obtain food from other parts of Glorantha or finding other alternative resources, heroquests to increase the fishing in the River-Creek, or agreements with Uz to feed the clan with giant grubs. Make the players part of the solution and the reason why there are so few deaths. Or you may even could have a Lunar game, convincing the authorities to bring loads of rice from the Oslir to Sartar, to show the barbarians the benefits of the Empire. If you play during the years, it should be one of the main drivers for adventure that period. Or you can do as we do, and the players (who are not Ernalda or Orlanth cultists) move to Safelster, though in this case the siege of Nochet was the main driver for the change. If you just skip them as past history, it lets you kill anyone you prefer death, and probably create all kinds of adventure hooks for later, from those who accepted the Lunars' rice being ostracized or persecuted by other clans, to the consequences of cannibalism among the Orlanthi (ogres) and making new enemies and friends, depending on who helped and who raided their neighbours.

Of course, this is more philosophical speculation than actual game affecting ideas. Changing KoS needs players of demigod status, and that is not the kind of game I enjoy, except as a one off. There are periods of peace, and periods of dominance of one or the other factions, extending decades. And the Monster Empire may be a century or more in the future, depending on which chronology Chaosium decides to support. Counting from RQG publication, we are 5 years later and we just have some non-official modules discussing 2027-2028. We still do not have an official date for the Battle of the Queens / Kallyr's death, though we have it for Argrath's lighting the Flame of Sartar. More practical for games, mainly because we can expect to see parts of this in our lives... We "know" Argenteus will be sacrificed in 1628 and after that there will be a false emperor that is unable to pass the ten tests, and loses Tarsh, Holay and Saird to Sartar. The West Marches break up from the Empire at some point and I suppose become Carmania once again. This Lunar weakness lasts a decade. Great playing period if you are interested in exploring other parts of Glorantha (Dara Happa? Carmania? The Janube? Imther?) without much Lunar interference, and also interesting playing Lunars in the defensive with plenty of powerful heroes but without Moonson or the Bat. The following decade the pendulum swings and we have Phargentes the younger rebuilding the Empire and beating everyone, possibly for a decade or more. So strong that a desperate Argrath has to bring back Sheng Seleris in a double hard LBQ to take him out. A good period to have Lunars travelling all over Glorantha acting like the global policeman. Ans I seriously do not see games started in the 1620s going beyond Argrath's LBQ. The world has changed too much. We will need a new baseline.

Craft Bronze and Craft Iron are both Humakt Cult Skills and among the skills useful in becoming a Sword, so it is an intrinsic part of the Cult, unlike Orlanth, who has the Enchant Iron but no metallurgy by himself, as that is what Gustbran is for. Taking Humakt's cutting off family, IMG he does not rely on them, doing all things important to the cult on their own, and of course that includes crafting and enchanting swords. I always have Humakti initiates at a forge as one of the ways to become one with their blade, by crafting one and understanding it. And for those humakti that abandon their family and community for the sword, being able to maintain your armor and weapons is important. So more typical for wandering swords and mercenaries than swordthanes, as those still have the support of their community. I do not like the current metal enchantment rules, where it is the object and not the metal what is enchanted, though it make sense for those flighty Wind Lords who just have someone else make their toys and then enchant them.

Indeed Omelas is a great reference for those followers of the Lunar way that leave the Empire, disgusted. That was really my message, that most of the horrors of the Lunar Empire are not intrinsic or foreordained in the new way, only enabled by it, and the real pushing force is the Empire and its requirement, as all empires, for resource extraction from the periphery to the center. Created as a reaction to an empire, coopting an ancestral imperial culture, and facing a man whose ambition made him a demigod, ambition to become emperor of Kralorela, and of anything else he can reach, it is not a big surprise than rather than breaking up the Old Carmanian Empire, they doubled down on it. I find it meaningful that one of the pregenerated characters in RQG is just such, a true believer of the Lunar way, disaffected with the way it is irregularly distributed, how the Empire acts.

I had to check, so Quaggas are estimated to be from 125 to 135 cm tall at the shoulder, which is clearly in the pony category, as Wikipedia indicates the critical point between a pony and a horse is a height of 147 cm. All zebras, with the exception of the rare Imperial or Grevy zebra (sounds good for the EWF) are clearly in the pony size, and even the Imperials are quite light horse sized (less than 16 hands). Looking for this I was pleasantly surprised when the "Zebroid" wikipedia entry references Glorantha for the Pavis fertile horse zebra hybrids and the infertile cavalry zebras.

Reading the description in the Red Book, I would say it is clearly compatible with the different extra body attacks and even enhancements such as Chomp, so if it works on my Antlers after I grow them, because they are a natural weapon, I assume it would still work if I also add Transform Self and become an elk. That is why it specifies it is a full body spell. Considering the spirit magic foci, it makes sense to cast it before the Transform Self, or other major change such as a Transform Head. Correspondingly, and it is a difference with Bladesharp and Bludgeon, it still works even if someone cuts my hands off (if I somehow can keep fighting, of course), compared to breaking up a weapon.

People see teleology when I see teleonomy, even if for many, they are the same. Rather than suppose the exploitative Lunars are an intentional consequence of the Lunar Way, it is the Empire which forces that only those able to adapt and justify imperial exploitation stay among the ruling classes, with the rest being pushed out, darted out, or just leaving it in disgust. I suppose many of those "soft" Lunars will be found all over Glorantha, sharing a doctrine of understanding and compassion before being forgotten by the history books, though I hope not by those that met them. In the same way, those that remain in the time of the Monster Empire are those adapted and justifying its internal exploitation, its new reality, and the deliberate breaking of physical and moral principles. Those that did not adapt either joined its enemies or were the first on the sacrifice altar. But that was not an intrinsic feature of the Lunar way, but a combination of the potential of the way with the strictures of the Solar way, the even harsher pressure of the neo solar Seleris imperialism and the self-reinforcing rebellion of the Storm cultists refusing to change their ways of life, manipulated by a foolish genius or a genial fool into recreating the past to deny the future. At the end all lose. The Lunar way is lost along the way, unless some portion of it survives somewhere in the Janube valley, replaced by the dog god eats dog god reality of the Monster Empire that empties of content both the Sun and the Moon till they may well be one the same, the Red orb. Sheng is lost again, and probably anything related to him is purged, almost as fully as the God Learners were. And the conservative Storm is forced to change, even if they refuse to acknowledge it, till they are just a parody of their enemies with a storm overtone.

Sedenya is just a phase of the moon, nothing more, painful but necessary, to achieve the objective of bringing the White Moon, which shines now over us, and getting rid of the God time, the Compromise and the old gods once and for all. Argrath did quite well to keep the project going. Now, is the Fourth Age Sun Yelm or the Blood Sun, pushed into true light by the seas of blood brought by the end of the Third Age?

If we accept the old lore that Arkat was illuminated by the elves of Brithos, it should be a rune in opposition to the other two. It would be neat if the missing rune was Arkat's, though it is no secret. We know that the opposition to Death is Life, and that would be too easy. But what is the opposition to Law? Arkat is, for the West, an enemy of logic, a breaker of Laws, all they despise (and aspire to become, too). And it has the same simmetry as the Law Triangle, or the Illusion rune. The triple truth contained in illusion. The truth we know, the truth we feel and the truth that is, that we can never know. Which brings the Arkati illumination method of really believing two opposite truths at the same time. To be Arkat you need to first find three opposite truths, and then believe them simultaneously. Or find three Pamalts. That would work too. And what you get when you put one inside the other?

As descendants of a mountain and probably a God's War remnant, I would have them long lived. Most large criatures are, so I do not expect them to be an exception. Overpopulation is mentioned as one of the reasons for wandering as well, and that fits with longevity.

He is right. If there is no other rightful inheritor, it is not usurpation... And Sheng made sure there were none. But I am sure there are plenty of former Lunars in the Temples of the Reaching Storm, integrated in the Argrath NeoOrlanth cult that claim they have a better right to the title. Just because an ancestor was an Imperial bastard.

My own theory is that Ralzakark has usurped both Solar and Lunar legitimacy, so he is functionally Moonson, with the support of what remains of Yelm's and the Red Moon's cult after Sheng. I am sure Ralzakark claims to be the one that finished Sheng, rather than Argrath, and he may well be partially right, as Argrath commanding Yara Aranis still grates me. Argrath may have supported Ral's legitimacy as a way to get an ally against Sheng. Damned boys and their lack of foresight.