Squaredeal Sten

I agree with you. It is also unlikely that the average freeman can define sorcery, let alone explain its advantages, disadvantages, and requirements. I even question whether the majority of LM initiates can explain those things though if they haven't taken Sorcery 101 they may still have gotten a basic briefing before they chose which track to study upon initiation. Of course it is also possible that those with INT below 15 did not get the briefing. It all depends on how much testing and evaluation the lay members get, and how closely the cult guards its knowledge.

In RQG you also don't have to be a rune lord to get some sorcery. Sorcery is one of the tracks a Lhankor Mhy initiate can take at initiation and before age 21. Per RQG page 298: With a list of sorceery spells which can be taken in character generation.

On the other hand there is room in my own imagination for an alternate path to initiation into Aldrya: I see the cruelty of the Lyger Litor initiation as something that goes with the cruelty aspect of the Darkness rune. So I don't feel that it must be present in the Aldryami initiation. The plant rune can follow a different model. After all the elves and trolls are not brothers under the bark. What are the emotional and behavioral aspects of the Plant rune? What are the implications of joining Aldrya? Besides adopting a very long term view (the forest lasts much longer than any individual or even any individual tree) I see another possible implication as becoming part of the forest. Other more authoritative people have identified the Plant rune with being "Quiet. Healthy, Grounded" for NPC characterization. Aldrya also has the Fertility Rune. " Sexual. Nurturing. Warm." Can we make something out of that combination? Also, from the Cult Compendium, page 193, "Candidates for initiation must choose to join either Elder Sister or Elf cult.. Both are open to any initiate.' But Elder Suster requires an empathy for plants "rarely" found in any human. Initiates of the Elf cult must take a working part in the Elf society" and must serve in defense of the forest. I can envision a human initiate to Aldrya as forsaking human society, living in and protecting the woods, and adopting one of the elvish occupations such as assisting the Gardeners. I can also see the human initiate gradually becoming an elf, perhaps on the seasonal model, that is being planted or rooted at the beginning of Dark season and growing leaves or other Elf like features in Sea Season.

oxbow lake here. I am familiar with the word billabong but didn't know that was its meaning.

True, I think tbeCompromise said "do what they have always done" or words to that effect. But the gods won't take new initiatives within Time.

Gods are confined to the godtime / gods plane. Per the Great Compromise. They operate only indirectly in Time, with mortals using the gods' powers. Except chaotic post Compromise ones like the Red Goddess. Spirits operate within Time and operate directly.

I found it: Glorantha Sourcebook page 205. ",,,became a Hero when he killed and bound his people's God. The White Bear..."

It is in the Well of Daliath, search for "Wolf Pirates", Oct. 22, 2020 posting. It has counts by nationality, keep scrolling down and you will find cults. Also some detail.on Ygg. The cult still exists. 20% of Wolf Pirates worship Ygg.

Is it your impression that the White Bear is just a spirit, or is it a god, evev a minor god? IiRC there is a written reference to it as a god. I will try to reference that.

The Wolf Pirates' variety of ethnicities and cults should confer advantages in combat, as it makes it hard to anticipate what is coming. They should be the Swiss Army Knife of enemies.

I think of mermaids and selkies as oceanic beings. After all the mer in mermaids seems to come from Mare in Latin. But my adventure is/ was on an inland body if water.

Search for "water meadow".https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-a-water-meadow.html But these would seem to be anachronistic for Arthurian times.

It strikes me that because Harrek is a Hero with a Capital H, or maybe a superhero since he wears a god's pelt, That some of the Wolf Pirates may actually worship him. Sacrificing MPs. And even POW. And that he may teach them magic, for example the Berserker rune spell. This would help explain the Wolf Pirates' military success. And it would fit Harrek's reputation. In tbe absence of more detail on the Wolf Pirates, my Glorantha is varying that way. What do you think?

Naiads, like dryads, shape their bodies at wll from their basic material: in their case water. Or, at will, don't display bodies at all. So the "man rune" shape is a choice. Maybe a fashion? A shape they can put on for man rune visitors. Who are, after all, the most common intelligent beings a river or lake spirit will interact with in Time. What shapes they may have used most before Time is an interesting subject but not material to the adventure.

IMHO the local naiad is not the result of a purpose to interact with humans. The naiad exists because of the principle that everything that moves must have a spirit to enable it to do so. The rivers originally flowed upward from the sea, and when they formed in the gods age humans may not even have been around. As there were no human witnesses, we cannot account exactly for the formation of any body of water, but it must all proceed from the water rune and that rune's original owner among the gods.

Seems to me the Beast Folk run to species modified to a human posture and intelligence. But the harpies, at least the Greek harpies, had other features too.

So what I did was have their prospective boat captain say in addition to salary he wanted 2L for a sacrifice to the naiad of the lake. They accepted that, he held a ceremony on arrival at the lake, weighted a lamb and tossed it overboard. The naiad waved. And they won't get a monster encounter. Speaking of which the Bestiary is light on water monsters, so I adapted one from an American lake legend. I've got to say, there isn't much variety in legendary lake monsters. Most run to variations on sea serpents, or to ghosts of suicides and drownings. Regardless of culture, from North America to Russia.

Then let Issaries send a dream to guide his next adventure.

You have not said whether the Adventurer is a member of the Issaries cult, even a lay member. That makes a difference, at least to me. But this was a genuine honest and pious act, and Issaries values honesty. I would be inclined to give a dream from the god, either giving information or an opportunity , say that a merchant is hiring or another suitable game play opportunity. Or maybe a re-roll on Insight or another Issaries cult skill. Consider the value of the coins vs. the example sacrifices on RQiG. . And you will probably see they are equivalent to an augment to Worship. Throw in an attaboy fior honesty and spontaneity. But this will probably not sum to the value of magic. That gives you a feeling for the scale of reward in a world in which after all religion is transactional.

It strikes me that the human Aldrya initiate would get Loyakty(forest) as well as devotion to Aldrya. Indeed, he might have to demonstrate that loyalty before initiation. Not just a die roll, but through behavior, adventure material.

There is a Shape Metal rune spell which, as I read it, allows doing exactly that. I'm not sure that is has to be heated though, will re read. / I did - and its last sentence is "Even if the metal is at its melting point, the user takes no damage.". Red book of magic page 78.

Not as I recall. That's for later, as a Kl Rune Lord (Kaarg's Son) has to eat a relative periodically. Thats in RQ3 Troll Gods and also RQ2 Cults of Prax. There is an example in Trollpack in which the RL NPC periodically imports a trollkin from distant family. Or, of course, there is periodically feasting on an elf - but that's not a "make you", it's a treat. Uz counterpart to boutique doughnuts. Or is that eating a Mostali? YGMV. Obviously a human (or more accurately formerly human) rune lord in the Kyger Litor cult would have fewer sources of related trollkin so the ambitious initiate should plan to marry an Uz in whose family the Curse of Kin runs deep. This will require the GM to research Uz courtship. The details might be unsuitable for younger audiences, at least without careful wording. Looks like a specialized adventure publication opportunity to me. My first RQ2 character was a human Kyger Litor initiate, long ago - about 1980. It's been a while since I reviewed the details.

This has considerable parallels to the process fir human initiation into the cult of Kyger Litor. Except for the crime in step 3.

A tribal wyter would imply a common loyalty passion. So the king and high priestess would have reason to cooperate. That said, you can still have individuals who don't get along and want theirs to be the premier department. A conflict like that should begin to erode the wyter when their subordinates take sides. This looks like material for game play.

So the Kyrenia's turning radius would be larger in relation to its length, with only the dual steering oars turning it.