John Biles

Given the Runes don't exist outside the context of Glorantha itself, a return to Chaos can't really fit with the Harmony rune, which is clearly about order and structure, not about ceasing to exist or Chaos. The law cannot order you to destroy the law. (Also, the way the Harmony rune is described in the latest Runequest has nothing to do with returning to previous states.)

I think he didn't convey Cambell's vision well - the life affirming ones say 'life has some bad things, but that's not a reason to reject the world, rather, you have to live in it instead of living for some other world to come'. Healing a body is not about synthesis. IT is, in fact, about returning to the pre-problem state as much as you can. The essence of being a doctor is not synthesis, it's about returning to the synthesis. If you had cancer, would you want to accomodate the tumor?

Uleria is the last of the old major gods left standing; all the rest died in various ways, from Ratslaff having Eurmal explode out of his head to Umath being killed by Jagrekriand. The gods of the celestial court died at the hands of each other, the forces of Chaos, exploding heads, and many other deaths as the world sank into darkness after Yelm's death. I expect Uleria survived by manifesting among her worshippers in the little pockets of stability which survived in the Darkness and using her magic to ensure they could grow food and eat even in the dark.

Argath is the equivalent of Arkat and Arkat would shove anything into the meatgrinder to get an advantage. Given the Telmori wiped out the Maboder, it can easily be depicted as justice for their crimes *and* everyone hates them. I can think of why Sartar would not want the Telemori initiating to Orlanth - the Telmori are Hsunchen and initiating to Orlanth basically would mean the beginning of the end of the Telmori and their special abilities. Sartar created ways for groups to cooperate without losing their essential nature and the Telmori worship spirits and becoming Orlanthi means moving away from being Hsunchen.

The 1700s???? How did that work?

The Telmori who turn into wolves on Wildday were cursed by Talor for serving Nysalor, who he thought was chaos-tainted (that Nysalor was Gbaji, in fact). That's why the Sartarites think they are Chaotic, though a lot of that comes down to 'they're really good at killing our livestock and us'. I'm pretty sure that the Telmori *did* guard Temertain. At least at first. Argath is not a modern hero, he's an engine of destruction. (He's certainly not a man of peace like Sartar was.)

The Telmori are in the way of Argath's supporters in Sartar - they're a society which is hard to keep under control and can do huge damage to his supporters. And Argath's solution to things is basically murder.

Very few Orlanthi actually pursue the adventuring life as a permanent thing. Very few become Wind Lords. Becoming a Wind Lord is not even vaguely on par with being an ordinary Orlanthi. You are part of the elite, the few, the Wind Lords. A Lunar doesn't stop being a Lunar if they are let into Sedenya's personal cult. Which is what you seem to be saying.

I think that's kind of stretching it. Here's the thing. Worshipping Sedenya directly isn't like your clan initiating you into Orlanth and you then spend your life herding cows and every so often either going on a raid or fighting one. It's like becoming a Wind Lord. Becoming a Larnste. Or something else which the vast majority of people don't aspire to and which basically precludes the normal lifestyle. Or even just becoming the head of a cult for a tribe.

Some notes on my own image of Kralorela Hum Chang has a somewhat different culture than the mainland; this is the fruit of climate differences, having a huge access to the ocean and, well, problems with merpeople. The inhabitants of Hum Chang have a recurring problem with killing and eating merfolk, who understandablly respond by trying to kill everyone on the island every so often, unleashing sea monsters, etc. Why is it a problem? It's a sin. A huge sin. A soul-damning sin. A soul-damning sin that done right, gives you magical power. Lots of it. And the God-Learners went somewhat crazy on this because, well, that's how they roll. And now it's impossible to permanently root out - telling people not to do it just insures some people do it. Do it too much and you eventually become a horrible monster, then have to be killed. But how much is too much? Now the island is at war with the sea. The Suam Chow is safe most of the time, but the other side of the island has stern enough problems that one of the Exarchs is the General of the War Against the Sea. This became a more urgent problem when the Emperor took up residence on the island, though thankfully on the Suam Chow side. Women and Men on Hum Chang paint their faces white if they can afford it, because air dominates over water. Many take the Oath of Denial of Water, drinking only heated drinks, bathing only in heated water, and so on. (Water dominates fire, but heated water is water losing that battle, showing it cannot defeat those most vulnerable to it.) Those born in Water Season must take the Oath of Denial of Water or are thrown into the ocean on fear they will betray everyone. Potatoes: One of the eight sins of the Kingdom of Ignorance. Potatoes and Mushrooms (another one of the eight sins) are seen as children of the Dark Sun, growing outside the direct light of the sun and thus tainted by evil. So of course, everyone who wants to be a rebel eats black market potatoes and mushrooms and both are popular in Black Lantern establishments. Black Lantern: Black Lantern districts are where people go to do all the things Kralorelan society forbids, from eating potatoes and mushrooms to prostitution to drugs to reading forbidden literature. The light of the black lantern can only be seen by those with the Darkness Rune or by those who have been initiated. (First time visitors will need a mentor.) Officially, these districts are crushed as soon as possible. In practice as long as what happens under the Black Lantern stays under the Black Lantern, little is done, because without them, discontent and stress builds up and things like riots, conspiracies and rebellions explode. This functions as Bread and Circuses for Kralorela. A God=Learner might observe that the Veiled Mistress of Pleasure who the districts serve rather resembles Uleria, though some stories about her sound more like Eurmal. Poster Campaigns: An ancient tradition of Kralorela is when local Archons or the Exarchs declare a poster campaign, a contest to create art which expresses some kind of idea; winning posters are copied and plastered everywhere. They are designed so even the illiterate can get the gist. Poster campaigns may range in scale from a neighborhood to a province to the entire nation, though anything beyond a single city is not common and anything above a province is something remembered for decades. Discontent is often expressed in this manner when suddenly dozens to hundreds of posters on a theme appear to protest against some Archon or Exarch's actions.

The point of the healer slaughter is that Eurmal saves some of the healers by turning the blood of the dead into beer and getting BG drunk to the point of collapse.

AHH! Okay, I did not understand Erol's reply.

Sword World is the dominant fantasy game in Japan; it evolved from BECMI era D&D.

They're honest about stealing your cows and sheep, though.

The blood is in Dorastor, so it likely is now part of a Chaos monster. And I'm sure that hauling a piece of a dead god who corrupted people and died in Dorastor will be 100% safe and fun! Certainly no angry Arkati or other lunatics would want to take it themselves.

Accused of Thanatari over what??? The advantage Yelmalions have is that they make great phalanxes, while Elmali are horsemen. Each has its uses.

This is from my Blue Moon Empire project Troll Heresy The Blue Moon Trolls always had an important place for Annila, the Blue Moon Goddess, unlike most trolls. The formation of the Empire and the Goddess walking among them and providing a home for many trolls under the islands of her Moon, where the sun cannot touch them, has led the Blue Moon Trolls into full blown heresy. Trolls initiated to her cult can live comfortably underwater, and the light of the Blue Moon during the day protects them from the Sun. (Conveniently, the Blue Moon sets when the Sun sets). They now see Annila as the supreme mother of Trollkind and Kygor Litor as her daughter, while Nysalor is seen as, basically, evil incarnate, too evil even to be eaten. And Trolls will eat Chaos creatures. One of the central goals of the cult is to obliterate Nysalor; the deepest enemy of the cult are the Nysalorean Riddlers who show up like outbreaks of plague. According to cult tradition, Arkat tore off Nysalor's arms and legs, then forced him to eat his own genitals, then chopped his torso into four pieces, then cracked his skull open and ground his brains into powder. So there are ten pieces of Nysalor, though one piece is powder in a jar. Unfortunately, he hauled them all off to Stygia and when that fell, the pieces were scattered. The cult has found five of the pieces and keeps them at hidden, widely separated locations - they have the skull, the upper right piece of the torso, the left arm (found by Sheng Seleris, recovered when he was slain), the brain powder, and the lower left piece of the torso. The case of Sheng Seleris revealed something horrible - a person missing the appropriate part can graft a chunk of Nysalor to their body and gain some of his power. Someone bringing a chunk of Nysalor to the Blue Moon Trolls would be greatly rewarded. Blue Moon Trolls are not immune to the curse on Trollkind, but those initiated to the Blue Moon only give birth to trollkin in one of three births instead of half the time. They believe they can end it entirely if they can ever get their hands on all of Nysalor's remains.

Nelat's Bath has many uses.

I believe the Elmal version of Hill of Gold is where he and Orlanth first become friends. Since Elmal doesn't lose the fire rune, I expect this enables him to kick Zorak Zoran's ass and then Orlanth probably sleeps with Inora since that's Orlanth's main non-combat job.

Mere speculation. Yelm having to marry his own female aspect after Ernalda left him amuses me as a thought.

Elmal married Redalda, Goddess of Horses, in the Foreigner's Wedding. However, he and Heler also have a rivalry over the hand of Esrola, who they both want.

Thought - Dendara is Yelm's female aspect and the mother of the Gold Wheel Dancers, but with her chained to Yelm, they can't exist as a separate thing. The creation of Nysalor was the final killing blow to her people and his death came too late.

High on drugs.

The earth element emerged from the waters, but left some of its essence behind in the oceans when it did.

Being eaten by Krarsht means your essence is processed into more Krarshtkids to go eat more people to make more Krarshtkids.