John Biles

The God Learners understood that you could take down any god and steal his powers by putting a banana in his or her tailpipe.

I would presume the Lunar version would involve some degree of Lunar triumph.

We never got the Lunar version of the future of the Hero Wars and possibly never will. It would likely be the same thing you don't like, just the other way around. Though it strikes me that the really appropriate thing, given the past, is that Argath kills the REd Goddess, then discovers he screwed the universe and has to find a way to bring her back, which then leads to reconcilliation.

If an equal marriage is the necessity to be a King and not an Emperor, then the Queens of Esrolia are actually Empresses. The highest level of gods are dead or basically gone and don't matter. No one worships them and they're basically out of the story. So while a few Lunars might cry foul, basically Orlanth and his various sub-cults are as complicated as Sedenya and there's not really a problem in that regard. Except he wants to gut her like a trout and she wants to strangle him. And the whole Chaos thing.

Sor-Eel isn't the embodiment of the Harmony Rune; she embodies the *Moon* Rune, which is how she warped Beat Pot Aelwin into her lapdog and how she was able to pull off killing Belintar. And it's how she wrecks Harrek so that he quietly fades away... she traps him in the wax/wane cycle. Unfortunately for her, Death trumps the Moon Rune and her defeat by Harrek opens the way for Argath to kill the Red Moon itself. The God-Egg used to make Nysalor was actually the Orb of Authority and they didn't realize it. Alternately, Nysalor is actually Chicken Boo.

That seems like a good mythic origin. Creating a new Orb probably requires some kind of quest against and victory over Darkness.

Looking at the Glorious Reascent of Yelm: The Orb of Authority and the Scepter of Order were part of the original Imperial regalia. Quoting Page 44: Orb of Authority The Orb of Authority is the great shining orb which hovers over the head of all true emperors and gods. It gives protection and insight, as well as power to rule. The Orb had been lost at the Hill of Gold. The Emperor lost it to the Cruel God, who gave it to the digijelm for safe keeping. Darvedeskorgos, the cousin of Khordavu who was the son of the Captain, regained it. He went to the Hill of Gold and gambled his soul for a chance to regain this. he won, and brought it to the Ten Princes. Scepter of Order This artifact is made of pure gold, and it allows the Emperor to direct the divine regard upon whatever he desires, thereby illuminating it and laying aside all falsehood which deny the Order of Yelm. It had been hidden in Yuthuppa before the city was abandoned. The new settlers did not know it was there. It was not discovered for centuries, and then kept secret. At last this was taken from Yuthuppa by Urvairadatu, who was aided by his wife, Jesentera the daughter of Khormesha, who was a priestess of Naveria. The Hill of Gold seems to be where Emperors go to get their ass kicked. Vanyoramet gets whipped, is forced to eat fungus and rotten food, then gets a mortal wound, despite having Antirius *with him*. The Orb of the Eye had been stolen from him and he tried to get it back - fail. This is page 28. The Orb of the Eye and the Orb of Authority appear to be the same thing.

I don't think there's an official answer. I incline to think the Globe of Authority and the Orb of Sovereignty are probably the same thing. Given they're both connected to unifying Yelmalions. I would suggest that it's hidden in the puzzle canal in Pavis. It is probably an earthly reflection of the Orb of Authority on the Gods' Wall; someone likely Heroquested for that orb and brought it back. Where does any version of the Hill of Gold mention 'the Orb of the Eye'? It's not in Arcane Lore or versions online I've seen.

The Oddessy establishes that she played them off against each other, so she didn't have to marry / sleep with any of them, but she couldn't get rid of them either, until her hubby came home and shot them all.

So basically, Yelm worship is all a sham and there's not really anyone who takes Yelm seriously, they just fake it for public consumption. And Yelm, trapped in the compromise, can't really do anything about it. Which I suppose makes sense after the series of humiliations Dara Happa has endured.

Woo who!

Perhaps this Arkat is the Three Ducks in a Trenchcoat hero mentioned in another post above. Another Dumb Idea: The Kralori Emperors don't take the souls of the dead with them to heaven when they ascend - they EAT them to become Dragons. Everyone involved in the Kralorela religious system is shovelling themselves into the maw of a dragon-wannabe.

Yelm, who isn't a maker, giving a metal disk to Ernalda seems weird to me. Also, paying him off with food seems off. He's Yelm, the ruler of the universe, so you can't just give him a hoagie. (Also, if you do keep Yelm, I'd advise to say he spied her as he was passing through the Sky, so he came down to her. Yelm is not the sort to just show up.) Gustbran, who is connected to the Fire Tribe and to Ernalda/Orlanth strikes me as more the sort of person to solve this problem. Other than that, this is pretty great.

I'm now imagining Elmali basically growing ground cover in the fields, then burning it and plowing the ash into the soil when it's time for the regular sowing. This might connect to some kind of myth of him competing with Flamal to marry Esrola.

I'm now imagining Yelm as being like John Malkovich in the movie Being John Malkovich.

So I read a book on Carthage's history and learned that all the cultures of the Mediterranean had Hercules legends; variations established claims to areas/things/etc. I would expect some of the stories would, in some way, establish claims to places by the Queen he served. Who likely varies some by local traditions. ************* Second though, in terms of beliefs and how you said the lesser sun is worshipped by the Esrolians as Elmal, and how to work the loyal thane theme. Here's the thing - the Earth is *always there*. The sky changes, the suns and planets and lesser suns, etc, come and go. Elmal's marrige to an Earth goddess does two things theologically: 1. It reunites the Sky and the Earth, separated by Umath. 2. You can command solar magics without having to deal with Yelm, who expects to be the boss. Elmal is, in a sense, the Barntar of the Sky, strengthening and supporting the Earth with his element. He goes out during the day, 'works the field', then comes home to his wife at night, as a man should.

Argath vs Nysalor is a battle where neither of them is Gbaji, rather, he used Argath's obsessive mania and Nysalor's utter lack of caring about his worshippers to pit them against each other to lay waste to Glorantha. This was a battlle where the only way Gbaji doesn't win is if they stop fighting. The same applies to the EWF vs the God-Learners and Argath vs. the Red Goddess. None of them were Gbaji, but by ensuring that mortals lay waste to Genertla, they facilitate the eventual victory of Chaos. Also, illumination, while not inherently evil, is probably going to cause you to become a raving lunatic unless it's extremely strictly controlled through monastic discipline. Any illuminate who doesn't retreat from the world will eventually cook up some insane scheme which will make them either a threat or a menace. In my heretical Glorantha, Yelm married one goddess from each element in order to balance his rule. Unfortunately, he lacked an understanding of women and alienated all of them except Dendara. These are all from the Solar perspective in my take on Glorantha: Argan Argar, Son of Yelm and Xentha, God of Twilight and Civilized Trolls, (Darkness, Communications, Motion), was the result of the brief, disastrous marriage between his parents. She was too dark and he was too bright and they both injured each other. But their child could function in both their worlds. Argan led his mother's armies dutifully for revenge on Yelm, but on first seeing his father, realized his error and talked his mother into accepting the hand of peace offered by Yelm. He it was who wrote the peace treaty. And he it is who greets his father on his return from the Underworld and his departure to it, greeting also his mother when she rises from slumber at dusk and returns to bed at dawn. Any who would deal peacefully with Trolls initiate into his cult. Trolls who wish to be civilized do so as well. He is married to Ernalda's sister Esrola, but unlike Ernalda the whore, she is faithful and decent and hard-working like Yelm's wife, Dendara. Dendara the Weaver, the Faithful Wife (Water, Harmony, Plant), was Yelm's choice of a wife from the Water Tribe. He originally married one woman from each tribe, during his first life, in order to bring harmony at the court. He would spend a season with each wife and during that season, the sky would take on her color. But all his wives betrayed him but Dendara, who stood by his side to the end, then remained faithful even after his death. Thus it is that he trusts her and is now married to only her. Likewise, all men must take only one woman as their wife. Dendara's greatest deed was that she inspired Yelm to create humanity with the aid of the Celestial Court, that they might sing the praises of the gods. Dendara is kind to all with only one exception: Ernalda the Bad Wife. While the other wives also betrayed Yelm, only she incited her lover to murder him unjustly. No one may initiate in Dendara's worship who has the Mastery or Earth rune, and only women may initiate to her. Esrola the Bounteous, (Fertility, Motion, Earth), is the elder sister of Ernalda but the younger sister of Maran Gor; when her mother Asriela retired as Queen of the Earth Tribe, she gave her power over fertility and the bounty of the Earth to Esrola. Esrola has a bright sense of humor and while she tends to be mellow and friendly, is as smart as her sister, but faithful and true, unlike the evil whore Ernalda. In Peloria, she is seen as the wife of Argan Argar. Ernalda the Gold-Digging Traitor (Earth, Fertility, Disorder), was the youngest daughter of the Earth goddess Asrelia; she married Yelm as a sign of his rule over the Element of Earth. Unfortunately, she was a lying, thieving, conniving traitor who used her charms to entice the Rebel God Orlanth to murder the Emperor, who refused to hand over his authority to him. She remains theoretically married to Orlanth but is well known to sleep around with any god who catches her eye. Any woman who hopes to exploit a man's wealth, then throw him away prays to Ernalda for help, along with those planning to betray a trust or commit treason. While her husband repented and took up his rightful place in subordination to Yelm, she remains coldly defiant and manipulative, the very eidoleon of a wicked, uncontrolled woman. In the end, one can only pity poor Orlanth for being married to this woman. Xentha, Goddess of the Night Sky and Trolls (Darkness, Disorder, Truth), was Yelm's wife from the Darkness Tribe, but everything went horribly wrong because Yelm's glorious light burned her when she got close to him. He was unwilling to relent and so she fled his palace and declared herself not married. Then she went to the Underworld and bred an army of trolls for revenge. She also gave birth to her son by Yelm, Argan Argar; he would lead her armies on the surface, for he could stand the light due to his mixed parentage! When Yelm died, her forces began to conquer everything and the Great Darkness came. But when Yelm returned, he had learned to temper justice with mercy; instead of destroying her as was his right, he convinced her to marry his brother Dayzatar, whose light did not burn so brightly. Having seen the havoc her children caused, she repented and her eyes were opened to the Truth, enabling her to bear the light. She married Dayzatar and now lives happily with him. Yet her nature could not fully change and the darkness of night brings out disorder in all. But she says it merely reveals the truth. For she says, "Character is what you do in the dark."

The road to power is to be a Lunar. At which point you get illuminated and see Yelm as a sad little man. But in practical terms, you probably don't have time for two cults, so why join the subordinate one? The old Imperial capital is now shattered into three cities in three satrapies. Most satrapies are run by non-Yelmites even if Dara Happa once ruled there. Joining the Lunar churches is a better road to power, especially with Dara Happans stripped of authority over lands they once ruled. But I see your point about Dara Happans having pretty much turned the Lunars into another corrupt empire.

The Dara Happans have a long history of basically throwing Yelm down the stairs and obeying invaders or basically diluting Yelm worship down to nothing. Like supporting creating Nysalor when you already *have a sun god*. Yelmgatha, who overthrew Carmanian rule, then basically set things up for the Red Emperor to take over after him. We can pretty much assume that many of the Yelm worshippers who held on supported Sheng Seleris and then were purged. By now, I would expect the Yelm worshippers to be a broken shell; many of their wives deserting them for the Red Goddess' cult which actually respects them and the Emperor having destroyed many of the remaining families as traitors. The ambitious would leave Yelm behind and pursue the lunar cult as the road of power. To do otherwise is to be second class in the Empire. So only the most cautious, hard-core conservatives, who survived because they saw Sheng Seleris as being as filthy as the Red Goddess and managed to avoid dying at his hands, would still hold to Yelm. That's still a large group. How do they deal with Chaos? Here's the thing. The Empire *controls* Chaos. At least from its perspective. So they must tell themselves that this is tamed, repentant Chaos, which like Orlanth, has submitted to Yelm. I can't imagine a Yelm worshipper *using* Chaos, but he could view it like we view nukes: horrible, but necessary, and really, it's a weapon of last resort.

My understanding is that most Orlanthi don't really have enough academic inclination to do so.

Basically, you can always try to change myths, though the more radical the change, the more likely something blows up in your face. So a myth where Chalanna Arroy takes care of orphans would probably not be too hard to create, because it fits her well. One where Chalanna Arroy is the head of a brothel (where Uralda, Ernalda, Esrolia, Dendara, Kygor Litor, Vinga, Orlanth, Heler, and Humakt get pimped out), though deeply hilarious, would probably require ludicrous resources to create. Too much of the latter is part of why the God-Learners went boom. You make myths by starting a Heroquest, then doing something *different* than the normal myth. Once you blaze a trail, you keep doing it until it gets easier.

This is all heresy that doesn't fit the new model of how Malkionism works, but you may find it interesing: Aeolian Church (This still under Construction A LOT) In the beginning was Makan, the foundation of reality, the mind-which-creates, and Chaos, the sea of endless change. We cannot know and need not care how long Makan dwelt upon his thoughts before making the world. All we know is this. He gazed upon the Chaos; it defied him and he set out to be the master of it. In the First Action, he defined Truth, the First Rune. He applied Truth and banished the lies of Chaos, creating land and sea and sky by forcing endless change into the stability of a single truth. This is the First Action. Then he defined other things and strengthened the basic frame of the world by creation of the Runes, further differentiating everything and laying down the laws by which everything acts. In the Third Action, he breathed into some of his creations, awakening their minds. Some he especially blessed, the Saints, who would guide the others. The Saints gathered all who would follow them and created Danmalstan, the land most blessed of the Creator. The rest remained, creating other kingdoms and tinkering with the power of the runes; some transformed themselves into Elves, Trolls, Dragonnewts and so on. For a time, there was a golden age, and the Saints ascended to dwell with Makan. But without their guidance, the people fell into sin, especially those who followed the foolish Vadel. In other lands, demons entered, calling themselves spirits or gods and swayed others and those who had abandoned their humanity plotted deep plans to make their Rune dominant. Thus the Fourth Action became known as Decline. And then Chaos itself broke into the world, the way opened by foolish men and krjalki. In the Fifth Action, Malkion came, inspired by the Creator, trying to turn the tide of disaster. In their fear, the people called this Destruction but we know its true name. Sacrifice. Malkion let himself be slain to save the world by opening the way to Solace, shaming the gods and spirits and Chaos itself into retreating and giving men hope. Even his slayer, the atheist sorceror Zzabur was so moved, he spent much of his strength returning the Sun to the sky. Even as this happened, Malkion's son Hrestol returned from the Underworld with the Secret of Joy of the Heart, aided by the Lightbringers. But now Zzabur tried to assert that everyone must follow *his* rules. He slew Hrestol who tried to stop him, but not before Hrestol taught many disciples the secret of Joy of the Heart. Some disciples gathered his teachings into the Book of Hrestol, and our founder, Aeolus, added his own Meditations to it. He taught us the art by which we bond to a Patron Saint to protect our souls from the Lies of Vadel and to wield the power of the Invisible God. Now began the Sixth Movement, the Age of Joy of the Heart. Unfortunately, in time, many Malkioni became the corrupt God-Learners, who delved too deeply into the mysteries of Chaos, failing to understand that the author of their 'Abiding Book' was Vadel himself, and so they destroyed themselves and freed the sea to rage against the land again, destroying much of Seshnela and closing the seas to us until Saint Dormal manifested himself and ended the Closing. It is to be noted that Rokar the Prophet was another mask of Vadel, spreading lies and corrupting Seshnela to wickedness. We know this because of his ties to the 'Sharp Abiding Book'. Anything drawn from the Abiding Book is clearly evil. Their efforts to subjugate us bear further witness to this. Further, the Red Emperor now sits in the throne of the Wicked Emperor in the North and seeks to enslave us all. Many fear that the Seventh and final Movement, Apocalypse, is about to begin. Castes In Danmalstan, there was a rigid caste system, but we have found it no longer works. Yet, adherence to certain laws grants the blessing of the creator. Everyone is born into a caste system, but those who dislike their birth rank, or who aspire to become men-of-all may undergo a holy test at age 14 and every 7 years thereafter. Those who pass it may change caste; those who spend at least 7 years of adulthood in every caste may try the test to become men-of-all, our greatest heroes and leaders. They are rare. Perhaps one in 100,000 or less manage to do this and few even try. About one in five hundred who try to change caste die; most fail the test. But you can keep trying if you don't die. The Castes: Governors: The highest caste, they rule over the others. They act as generals in war but do not actually fight. Priests: They study the ways of the Saints and the Grimoires of wizardry. They ensure the people gain the blessings of the Invisible God. Soldiers: Soldiers fight and make and fix weapons. Many soldiers provide support services to the actual front-line soldiers. Makers: Everyone else is a Maker, though some Makers do things like transport goods. They make up the bulk of the population. Magic Every believer must attend weekly church services on RestDay? (day seven). During the service, the faithful pray and read from the Book of Hrestol and the Meditations of Aeolus, experiencing the stories told from it, culminating in the Joy of the Heart, for half the day. The rest of the day is spent in rest and prayer. Part of the service is a divine blessing which augments his or her ability to perform common magic. Anyone who has attended weekly church can also benefit from the blessing radiated by the local Church. This typically focuses around a single rune and is most commonly the Water, Plant, or Earth Runes. At age 14, you undergo a holy rite in which you live out stories of the holy texts and choose a Patron Saint, who will guide you henceforth. You gain a blessing from your Saint and now can learn Common Magic appropriate to your Caste. Everyone learns Common Magic appropriate to their Caste; some join Fraternities and Sororities which teach spell magic appropriate to their caste. The Holy Society of Saint Barnabas, for example, teaches agricultural spell magic to its members. These societies require 30% of your time; their leaders gain even greater power, but 70% of their time is spent on holy activities. Priests have the broadest magical power of the four castes. In the other castes, many never progress beyond Common Magic, but in the Priestly Caste, most do so, for obvious reasons. One who can only do Common Magic is an Acolyte, who assists the Priests and studies the mysteries. After passing a Heroquest, they can move up to Priest status, devoting 30% of their time to devotionals and beginning study of Grimoires, from which they learn spells. Eventually, they can become a Saint-Caller, devoting 70% of their time to holy work and learning to call upon their patron Saint to duplicate their great deeds. The Church The Clergy: Every village has a Shrine to the Invisible God and the Saints. Every village's Shrine is basically independent, though some have more influence than others and they hold Synods periodically where delegates meet and discuss issues of mutual interest. Every village has at least a Priest and a few Acolytes. Most have a Saint-Caller, a Priest, and a few Acolytes. Only the bigger communities have more than one Saint-Caller. Gender: Both men and women can rise to the top in the Church, but it's rare to be a different gender than your chosen Saint. The Saints During the Third Action, the Invisible God especially blessed certain of the new Men with his power, the Saints. They watch over all of us even now; every person has a special bond to one of the Saints. A handful of later people have also been blessed by the Creator with Sainthood. Perhaps even you, one day, if you pray and obey the Creator's laws. (I can post the Saints if people are interested; they're a mixture of adapted Orlanthi gods and Malkioni saints. But this eats up a loooot of space) Wizards There are no schools of wizardry outside the church, but the Church practices wizardry through the orders. Notable Stories / Heroquests I have a lot more of these, but I'm cutting most of them, because, again, space. Esmerelda Sets The Household In Order: It was a quiet day in Storm Season and Esmerelda decided it was time to get things organized before Sacred Time came. The first thing she found was her daughters were busy flirting with boys instead of ensuring the work of the house was done. If the leaders didn't set an example for the people, who would? So she chased off the boys and sent her daughters to organize everything. Then she went to see their Priest, but he was busy trying to help pull a wagon out of a ditch, which was not his job. So she found Saint Uriel and got him to pull the wagon out of the ditch, while the Priest went to go make preparations for Sacred Time and to pray for the people. Then she found her husband, Saint Orlando, and his friends busy getting drunk and partying in the Great Hall instead of patrolling the borders to watch for trouble, for Danmalstan was facing increasing, strange attacks. Once she rousted them to their duties, she turned to see if the costumes had been prepared for Sacred Time, but the costume makers had turned to doing the rites themselves while their Priest was off doing other people's jobs. So she assured them the Priest had returned to his duties, so they could return to theirs. But then a great rainstorm came down because the Makers had bungled the rite. She got the Priest, her Husband Saint Orlando, and one of the Costume Makers. The Costume Maker garbed Saint Orlando as the Great Wind, the Rune of Air, and the Priest prayed to aid the illusion and then he ordered the storm to leave, empowered by her magics, and the storm departed. The sky was clear and blue and beautiful and all things now were in their proper place and playing their proper roles. And so she went to take a well-earned nap. This is used to initiate Priestesses sealed to Esmerelda, to bring order when the community is in chaos, and to aid people in performing their roles in society well. It can also be used to control the Weather. Gerlant's Honorable War: Assigned to defend the borders of Danmalstan during the Lightbringers Quest, he fought honorably, letting nothing turn him aside from his duty. From the North, an army of Ice Trolls tried to break into Danmalstan, but he led the defense against them in the Great Northern Pass, for his honor was shown by his valor. From the South, the Dragon-Boaters tried to bribe him to open the way for them, but he refused, for his honor could not be bought with money. The Beast-Riders invaded, burning and pillaging; he defeated them and accepted their surrender without killing them or enslaving them, for he fought with honor. The Green Amazons tried to bribe him with beautiful women, but his honor could not be overturned by lust. During the Long Night, he needed sleep so badly, but his honor kept him awake. Vadel tempted him to make himself King, but his honor sustained him. And when his strength finally failed him; he fought to the end, buying time for Danmalstan's people to escape. His wife had gone with the Lightbringers, so he could not be healed and he died, but the Invisible God took him up into Solace at that moment, for he had always fought honorably. Now he defends Solace, ensuring nothing can ever taint it. This is used to initiate Priests sealed to Gerlant, to seal honorable deals, and to strengthen Soldiers to fight on in defense of the community. What is Sinful? Vadel introduced the ten corruptions: 1. Disobedience to the Laws of Malkion: Only Makan deserves your worship, but if you have to fake worshiping other gods to avoid being slaughtered, he will understand. Devotion is more important than specific laws. Survival trumps clinging to past ideas, for the dead have no ideas. 2. Deceit: Never lie to fellow believers; never violate a contract or cheat on a mercantile deal. Anyone who threatens your survival does not deserve honesty; tell them what they want to hear. 3. Greed: The accumulation of wealth is fine as long as it is done honestly. Wealth by theft, fraud, violence, and the like is greed and condemned. You must give generously to those in need. 4. Gluttony: Avoid gluttony, so that in rich times you can save up for the lean times. Holy feasts, however, honor the Saints and Invisible God, but should be open to all believers. 5. Theft: Do not steal from any believer or any non-believer who is not at war with you; taking the property of those trying to kill you is only your due. 6. Arrogance: Never hesitate to stoop in order to conquer. Pride only gets you in trouble. 7. Hatred: You have a right of vengeance, yet those who are consumed by anger become monsters. Think carefully and avoid letting it consume your life. In some circumstances, the Officials may authorize you to carry out vengeance and then you should show them the wrath of the Invisible God. 8. Incest: Sex with anyone more closely related to you than second cousin is absolutely forbidden. Those who are married are forbidden to have sex without anyone who is not their spouse; you must be at least sixteen to marry. Unmarried adults are not forbidden to have sex, but must take responsibility for all children produced. 9. Murder: Violence is always an option, but not necessarily the best one. As Esmerelda teaches, If you surrender to your impulses and anger, you will not find the best solution. Murder of members of the community is a deadly sin; killing outsiders is not necessarily a sin, but it's often unwise and shouldn't be the first choice. Especially if it brings trouble on the community. 10. Service to the Devil, Wakboth, who is also known as Nysalor or Gbaji: Pagans claim they dropped a rock on Wakboth, trapping him. You can't pin Wakboth under a rock any more than you could trap a wind or sunlight under a rock. He is an Essence; flesh is a mere garment. He returned as Nysalor, known also as Gbaji, to try to destroy the world in the First Age. In the second age, he tempted the wizards with power and nearly destroyed the world. In the third age, he has come as Shepelkirt the Red Goddess to lead the Pelorians to their doom. Because of him, no mysticism can EVER be trusted. The archetypes of all sin are Wakboth the Devil and his son, Vadel the Fool Who Gazed Into the Abyss. Wakboth is the inner voice of sin within all, the desire to rebel and the lust for power. Vadel is the master of the ways we turn desire into action. Chaos is sin and sin is Chaos; they are one and they have the same fruit: Destruction. By joining the Church and persevering in your faith, you experience the Joy of the Heart which will lead you to Solace on your death. If you stray, you should go to a holy person who will guide you back to the light, assigning you a penance to make up for it. Any sin can be forgiven if you are sincere and do penance (or die in the process of atoning; the Creator knows if you would have finished it in life.) Krjalki (Non-Humans): Anyone can be brought to the light of Malkion and should be! But it is rather hard. That being said, do not needlessly provoke them, for they are powerful and you owe it to your community to not get everyone else killed because you saw a chance to get some silver or some Elf killed your grandfather. You can check out the full version here.

That's kind of a legacy of how most of them, IIRC, started out as Heros in the Glorantha boardgames. There's a CS Lewis quote I couldn't find about how clinging to things will only make them curdle in your hands. I think it's in Perelandra. Russian style nesting dolls would be a good metaphor here, with each layer bigger and fancier than the one inside it; the world grows outwards and upwards, containing the past, but being bigger and more impressive than the previous one. Also, this feels Deist to me (not a criticism). The Divine made the world but it's our job to make it a heaven or hell. You call them sophists later, but they strike me as pragmatists -- you figure out what works and you worry about WHY later. That's how social science operates - observe, then figure out the patterns from what you observed. (Then discover things that don't fit your theory and you cry). And a certain amount of 'our perception is the only reality we can know'. I now have an image of Tolkien shouting at the God-Learners (He hated allegory and wanted people to take stories on their own terms, inside the reality they create. Tolkien is kind of weird because he mixed Post-Modernism and Traditional Catholicism.) Illumination would probably lead to some Trader-Prince trying to turn all of Maniria into a gold coin, anyway. Sophist doesn't strike me quite right, though thinking about how people trained in Greece and Rome to win arguments by understanding how their opponents thought... Anyway, this is an interesting approach. I see it almost as something where sorcery works by changing that shared perception which is the only reality we can know anyway. They don't worry if they're changing the 'real' world, because you can never reach that real world, but you can change the shared world of ideas. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding your ideas.

Most of what Lancelot does is small-scale adventure stuff, though his relationship with Guenevere does drive the collapse of the Kingdom. But there's a long period where basically the PCs can run around having adventures and the NPCs are off having adventures and no one gets overshadowed. He only really drives the plot at the end, where the country blows up after the Grail Quest. In fact, he spends so much time adventuring, it's really easy to set up 'Sir Lancelot is off in York, fighting strangely identical knights, and only you can do the plot thing, as all the Round Table Knights are off adventuring. As compared to Argath, who increasingly dominates everything in Dragon Pass. (Though if your campaign is outside the DP area, Argath could just as well be Mr. Potato-Head Reborn.)

Good use of reskinning. I don't know the original adventure, but this seems fine and you provided guidelines for adjusting to the size of the PC group.