Enter a Podcast of Wonder

[Nick Brooke]

1 hour ago, Joerg said:

These last years, there have been two annual Gloranthaphile conventions in Germany, Eternal Convention at Whitsun weekend, and Fabian's successor convention Kraken usually a week before Spiel, Essen in a palais in the middle of nowhere in Brandenburg. Both are quite international.

I have never heard that there were any singalong events at the Kraken. Are there?

(I had other reasons not to attend, mind you, of which the organisers are well aware)

[Joerg]

1 minute ago, Nick Brooke said:

I have never heard that there were any singalong events at the Kraken. Are there?

Not as parts of the schedule, at least. The location is even closer to the neighbors than Castle Stahleck, but it has a nice old chapel which might contain the worst of the audible impact. The crowd is somewhat different, too, although there is a certain overlap.

Both conventions are hubs and centers of the international Glorantha community in Germany (it helps that both Jeff and Jason are residing over here). The early days when the German RuneQuest and Glorantha community met in isolation ended in 1995 with the convention near Berlin - possibly also the last one (for a while) which did not have a Singalong. You were there...

Having two such conventions is both a luxury and a strain on free time, effort and in the end money - a convention weekend costs me about as much as a short week of discounted holidays on the Mediterranean. (Not that I have been on the Mediterranean nearly as often as on one or both of these conventions.) They do promote the concept of the Glorantha tribe in a very personal way, though, and feel a lot different than a corner of RQ or Glorantha games on a larger convention. The UK has Continuum to provide a similar platform biennially, France used to have Chimeriades, and I think the Kalikos society of Finland has some sort of invitation conventions alongside their activites on Ropecon. Down Under has a similar convention. There was a short hype in North American RuneQuest conventions in the middle and late nineties, but that petered out rather quickly and has not been revived yet, unlike the Australian one.

 

Kraken has changed a little from the original concept, I think. As a three-day event, it has a rather tight schedule again. Capped at 120 participants or so (I think about 80 resident on site, the rest nearby) it is a little smaller than Eternal Con at Stahleck. Accommodation on site is a bit nicer than the youth hostel vibe at Stahleck, and it has all-inclusive catering. Both events have become generation-spanning.

 

Filk-wise, one experiment I would like to do one of these days would be to have an actual choir with separate voicings (if I remember what I learned about that in high school, or from band experience), possibly aided by some instruments, to study and perform Gloranthan-themed filk, or possibly even original music and lyrics. You know, like, in-tune, in rhythm, that is as fun to listen to as it is to participate in. (Our delivery of the Rhapsody intro may have been amongst the better-sounding ones, as the key factor in the Sing-alongs is enthusiasm.)

[Joerg]

 

Our intrepid explorers are moving stealthily through the hills. Well, as stealthy as you can move with two dozen lowing cattle taking exception to being led away from the rest of their herd, and a perfectly fine pasture they had been grazing on. Our explorers have a slightly haunted look – they scan about to anticipate any trouble that fate, the entity with the two runes G and M, might throw at them, now that they have managed to first discourage and then mislead their pursuers, the former (they hope) owners of this bunch of four-legged items of wealth and renown that insist to mark their trail with the unmistakable round and squelchy droppings of theirs.

How could it come to this? To learn more, tune in to windwords.fm, and enjoy yet another look at the possibly most played martial experience for young characters in Orlanthi society.

 

[BrentS]

More great work, guys. The cattle raiding feature was great. When you discussed the possibility of meeting raiders returning with your own cattle mid-way while you were returning with theirs, I was immediately reminded of a scene in Lonesome Dove (book and series)....different genre, identical situation, great story. The reason for the cattle raid in that story is another possible Gloranthan story driver......beefing up the herds (sorry, pun intended 😝) for a planned clan migration (forced out, mythic mandate, etc).

You touched on this but I felt the inter-clan raiding among Orlanthi Heortling clans was a social pressure relief valve. A non-lethal cultural tradition to vent hostilities and energy and to give youths military experience in a low danger situation.....somewhat like aspects of the American First Nations' practice of counting coup. In more desperate circumstances, such as resource scarce Prax or higher levels of inter-clan tension, then certainly raids could develop into more serious and lethal exercises.

 

Brent.

[Austin]

13 hours ago, Joerg said:

To learn more, tune in to windwords.fm, and enjoy yet another look at the possibly most played martial experience for young characters in Orlanthi society.

Thanks for the episode . It was a fun listen! It'd be great to have some more support for playing younger/inexperienced adventurers in RQG to interact with these elements. To be fair, though, I haven't gotten to read Six Seasons in Sartar yet.

I also appreciate that you keep highlighting the JC, both others and myself. It's wonderful to see all the great stuff churning out.

On Heortlings, I'm cheered that it had such a positive response. It took a wee bit more than 2 hours to pump out . In case you need fodder for the Rumors table, I do plan to do a follow-up, Nomads of Prax. I don't know exactly when. Putting Heortlings together was more mentally draining than I'd expected, which is part of why the most recent MOTM, Petty Spirits, is on the light side.

On Treasures Vol 1, "storyful" was absolutely my goal! One of my favorite RQ volumes is the Gloranthan Classics book Borderlands & Beyond, and its reprint of Plunder is a heavy inspiration for me. There's also a lot of "DNA" from the D&D 3.5 book Weapons of Legacy, which is also a more flavorful take on magic items. My goal was for Treasures to be, in a way, an introduction to Glorantha's mythology in the same way Plunder was for me when I first read it. Lots of cool magic items, of course, but also a way to introduce random stories in a gaming-friendly way.

If you want another Rumor, I'll share that I'm pretty sure what the theme for Volume 2 will be . I haven't started work on it yet, and I don't plan to for a while, but my brain has started the imaginative groundwork. May be some more information this winter.

[Joerg]

5 hours ago, Crel said:

It was a fun listen! It'd be great to have some more support for playing younger/inexperienced adventurers in RQG to interact with these elements.

A "Wind Words guide to cattle raiding" maybe?

I think that the episode reflects the different conceptions of cattle raiding of the three of us, and I have little doubt that anybody here on the forum has other points they might wish to emphasize or just to be made known. So if you disagree with some of the points we made, or even worse if you think we missed some of those points which are essential to your conception, please share them here.

We put quite a bit of preparation into this episode to find at least some common ground to stand on, going as far as to run an audio-only session of the second scenario from the GM Screen Adventure Book in the wee hours between me coming home from work and falling asleep. And we're not done with cattle, yet..

[Austin]

12 minutes ago, Joerg said:

"Wind Words guide to cattle raiding"

That's definitely something I'd pick up on the JC .

My intent wasn't to say that I felt your take on cattle raiding was flawed or incomplete, but rather that RQG doesn't currently have the tools to play 17/18 year old new adults on their first raid.

[Bill the barbarian]

10 hours ago, BrentS said:

More great work, guys.

Thanks Brent S that is really nice of you. 

 

10 hours ago, BrentS said:

When you discussed the possibility of meeting raiders returning with your own cattle mid-way while you were returning with theirs, I was immediately reminded of a scene in Lonesome Dove (book and series).

Well, we tried for thinking outside of the box and I feel we succeeded at a couple of points, but I really liked the idea of turn about being fair play that Joerg pitched. I believe that got a great reaction from Ludo as well. 

 

10 hours ago, BrentS said:

You touched on this but I felt the inter-clan raiding among Orlanthi Heortling clans was a social pressure relief valve.

I like to think we had this as a focus point for our thinking thorough out much of the ‘cast. If it did not appear apparent I can only blame the depth of what many think to be a simple task—raiding cattle. We cut a substantial amount of material and we could have actually added without too much effort. 

 

8 hours ago, Crel said:

Thanks for the episode . It was a fun listen! It'd be great to have some more support for playing younger/inexperienced adventurers in RQG to interact with these elements. To be fair, though, I haven't gotten to read Six Seasons in Sartar yet.

 

Oh, I am sure you have a allied ear for that a possibility on the 'cast’s crew...

8 hours ago, Crel said:

I also appreciate that you keep highlighting the JC, both others and myself. It's wonderful to see all the great stuff churning out.

 

This was s decision we made early to be part of the community as opposed to aloof from it. That is the main reason we celebrate our hobbyist brethren! We are all... how’s that go...UZ?

 

8 hours ago, Crel said:

On Heortlings, I'm cheered that it had such a positive response. It took a wee bit more than 2 hours to pump out

And you wondered why my editing got behind in May... Ye GODS, I am only mortal!

 

8 hours ago, Crel said:

In case you need fodder for the Rumors table, I do plan to do a follow-up, Nomads of Prax. 

8 hours ago, Crel said:

If you want another Rumor, I'll share that I'm pretty sure what the theme for Volume 2 will be .

Unfortunately, I think you covered that one already  oops!

 

3 hours ago, Joerg said:

I think that the episode reflects the different conceptions of cattle raiding of the three of us, and I have little doubt that anybody here on the forum has other points they might wish to emphasize or just to be made known. So if you disagree with some of the points we made, or even worse if you think we missed some of those points which are essential to your conception, please share them here.

Yep, as the man said...

We had a dozen more scenarios, but we made our point. It’s your turn.. Ideas, anyone? How do you get cattle or stop others from getting cattle in yer games?

 

[Lordabdul]

Episode 6 of Wind Words is finally out! In this episode, we have a few notable announcements and changes: a Gloranthan talent show (which you already might know about), a newsletter (also mentioned on BRP), and a news & rumours section with a slightly different format as a result. Later, we go back on the road in Prax, catching up where we had last left Biturian Varosh. Tagging along with his caravan we visit The Paps, Tourney Altar, and Moonbroth... all great opportunities to discuss heroquesting, atypical characters, and the horrible secrets of the Red Goddess.

You can get Episode 6 of Wind Words here from our website, but if you're subscribed to our podcast, you probably already have it waiting on your smartphone!

[Austin]

Enjoyed the episode! Quick note on POD/Electrum - those of us who were already in the POD process didn't lose approval when the policy change was made, which is why Treasures became available on POD, and why Dregs of Clearwine was able to release simultaneously on PDF & POD. Moving forward I doubt there will be any more simultaneous releases, unless someone makes a book the Chaosium folks really want a hard copy of right away.

[BrentS]

Another enjoyable episode, thank gents. More Biturian Varosh did make me very happy 🙂.

 

The episode at the Paps is one that always fascinated me and raised many questions. Why did the sacred Earth ritual impose risk of a Darkness assault? Why Darkness rather than Chaos? Why would morokanth be involved, betraying their oath to the Covenant and their devotion to Eiritha? Where did the trolls come from, given the implication that there were tunnels leading deeper from the Paps, suggesting a much more complex situation than a well circumscribed centre of Earth worship?

 

I really like your suggestion that the ritual was in some way an aspect of heroquesting, meaning that the role of the morokanth was a ritual one, helping to reenact some part of Eiritha’s sacred mythology, just as as you pointed out that ancient peoples would often have members of their society take the part of protagonists in sacred ritual. In this case they would have been symbolic enemies, not real ones, even if the conflict was bloody and dangerous and anything but symbolic. Viewed in this way the morokanth would have been paying the greatest homage and devotion to Eiritha, including the sacrifice of their own lives. Nice.

 

However, I think there is more to the story, as this episode does not seem to have been a predictable part of the ceremony and took the worshiping Praxians by surprise. In the end I am content to consider that there are deeper levels of mythic subtlety than mortals can understand or rationalise, and this is one example. I am sure Greg Stafford drew from First Nations’ beliefs and ritual, as you suggested, but this excerpt from Biturian’s journal always reminded me of the Eleusinian mysteries, in its focus on chthonic deities and deep cultic mysteries revealed to initiates but hidden from outsiders.

 

Looking forward to more. Keep up the good work.

 

Brent.

Edited August 10, 2020 by BrentS
Typos

[BrentS]

Following on from this, I had always wondered who wrote the excerpts from the travels of Biturian Varosh. I assumed it must be Greg Stafford as they exhibit a deep understanding of the mythos and tone of Glorantha, an understanding that probably only he possessed at this early stage in the development of the world.

What did impress me at the time, and still today, is the quality of the writing. I'm not going to suggest it's Shakepeare, but it does have literary value. I admit to being something of a literary snob and was even more so when I was younger. While some fantasy writers had literary chops in my totally biased opinion (Peake, Bradbury, Tolkein, Le Guin) I set a pretty low bar for other genre writing and particularly roleplaying game writing......which is not to say I didn't enjoy it but I had different expectations. Assuming it was Greg penning Biturian's travels, I actually rated the quality of the writing above most fantasy and certainly gaming work, which is part of what drew me to it. Greg wrote a huge amount of background and historical material, which we are fortunate to have access to, but I know his first efforts at engaging with Glorantha had been through fiction. Given this snippet of writing quality, I think it's a shame we don't have access to more of Greg's fiction work. I wonder what has become of those early manuscripts rejected by publishers.

 

Brent.

Edited August 10, 2020 by BrentS

[Bill the barbarian]

 

Welcome to Episode OO7 of Wind Words

"Grandpapa, tell me ‘bout tha wildings ‘gain… tellmetellmetellmeeEEEEEE" (the last syllable rose to an utterly impossibly loud and piercing wail).

"Not sugar today, dear? Are you sure? You always ask about sugar?"

She opined, “like sugah”… much more quietly and reflectively then before. 

Too late did his gambit for silence begin, the chant had now been picked up by her brothers and her older cousin, a chant of "tell me, tell me, tell me”, in glorious multiple part “disharmony”. Her older sister picked up a pot and a ladle and led a little parade around the large Earth-shaped room, comprising all of the children, while beating a cadence to keep pace. Well, it was an "Orlanthi All" as the baby—who’s eyes were wide as saucers—took in the chaos from his bed of pillows and kittens, and lay silent for the first time in hours.

Mom stood in the doorway, unseen by all; a war being waged twixt a smirk and a scowl (the scowl was losing) on her careworn face. 

"Wildings, again Dad"?

“Aye, what else, she’s even near forgot about   s...u...g...a...h...”, he signed, using the Issaries Runes.

“Then, if we are to have peace and sleep and not have all the household spirits scared away, be about it quick now!”…

“Aye my Chieftain, Prince of my heart. Thane of my household, aye, I shall be about it immediately!“

“NOW CHILDREN”, he boomed, “it is time to tell you about Hara Dinorthsdottir and King Dinorth..." 

“NO. THE WILDLINGS!” the children chorused.

“Ith ith about The Wildlingth” the older sister asserted, drawing herself up trying to look much more “initiated” than she was (she was still three years away from her day), which was hard to do, what with her lisp due to a missing pair of front teeth, and her valiant attempts to hide a rather large ladle behind her back all while rocking back and forth on the pot on which she stood, to make her even taller…

“Now Hara (obviously the king's favourite child)”, continued the old man, restarting the tale again, “had the Blue Jay clan tula memorized by the age of 5 and she and her closest friends…” started Grandpa…

“DID THEY HAVE SUGA…”

“THE WILDLINGS”

“SILENCE”

"BANGBANGBANGBANG”

“TELL ME ‘BOUT SPYS AND BOOTIFUL PRINCES”

”AN COOL WEAPONS”

Mom took one last look in disbelief, shook her head, then turned and left the disorder behind, making her way down the flower-lined path to the Women’s’ Lodge. She stopped to pull a few weeds by the path’s side, swerved to avoid the loudly peeping goslings that aimed themselves arrow-like straight at her, with hopes of treats filling their one-thought minds. Finally resting at the portal to the Lodge, chuckling and sweeping an errant strand of hair from her brow, she idly wondered if she had any willow bark left…

Thanks for listening to the rantings of an ol' grognard blowhard. Now, to learn more about the authors and creators of the king’s daughter, The Wildlings, and the Valley of Plenty listen to Wind Words: Episode 007 where we interview the wonderful Carpenters of Troupe Games fame and chat about much, much more! May I suggest a trip to windwords.fm to listen or subscribe to our podcast, find out about our contest, Glorantha Has Talent? read or subscribe to Wind Whispers or if you have already subscribed, simply lay back in your bed of pillows and kittens and the podcast will come to you. It’s magic, innit?

If you write your own stories, or filk songs or what have you… why don’t you record an audio file of your 3 minute gems and then take a trip to Glorantha Has Talent? on BRP central or windwords.fm/blog to see our rules, our guides and how to enter your Magnum Opuses into a contest to win great honour, prestige, prizes and maybe even the Hammer of the Gods!

Cheers!

[BrentS]

I'm not sure where else to post this and it's not directly podcast related but I'm loving the Wind Whispers newsletter. What a great way to keep those of us short on time up to speed about what's happening with the real world goings on for our favourite fantasy world. My favourite bits are the snippets of archaeological / historical / curiosity stories that have Gloranthan parallels at the end of each newsletter. A real pleasure to discover Wind Whispers #`10 in my inbox this morning and browse it with my morning brew.

Thanks so much.

 

Brent.

 

P.S. I was curious if hot beverages were drunk in Glorantha. Coffee is far too recent a discovery in our world to have Bronze Age associations but I could see it having ritual application in Glorantha as a stimulant that brings the shaman closer to the spirit world or prepares the heroquester (now Questworlder? 😒) for entry into the Hero Plane. I was intrigued listening to a lecture series on the Ottoman Empire recently to hear a snippet of information about the discovery of coffee....certainly apocryphal but the story has all the humble yet mythic qualities that one would associate with Gloranthan myth.....

https://allthatsinteresting.com/kaldi-coffee

I can imagine Biturian packing some of these rare, exotic beans in his red leather satchel next to the sugar, although best not to mention the goats when dealing with Orlanthi. 

Edited September 29, 2020 by BrentS

[Bill the barbarian]

1 hour ago, BrentS said:

'm not sure where else to post this and it's not directly podcast related but I'm loving the Wind Whispers newsletter.

Rest assured  you are in the right place. 

 

1 hour ago, BrentS said:

My favourite bits are the snippets of archaeological / historical / curiosity stories that have Gloranthan parallels at the end of each newsletter. A real pleasure to discover Wind Whispers #`10 in my inbox this morning and browse it with my morning brew.

Yes, this is my fave as well. The rest is informational and needed but I like something with teeth, a little meat. And using it in game is always possible.

 

1 hour ago, BrentS said:

P.S. I was curious if hot beverages were drunk in Glorantha.

I would think infusing leaves, herbs, fruits, drugs and spices has been done forever. And I would think that shortly after cooking was invented someone discovered that infusions were easier and faster in hot liquids. 

 

1 hour ago, BrentS said:

Coffee is far too recent a discovery in our world to have Bronze Age associations

Not sure I would use our world's timeline take on discovery to have much weight here, but having been around the fora for a while I am sure I will get disagreement on this. My take is all you need (as best I understand it) is a herder watching his goats (I will admit this could be hard) getting frisky munching on berries on a hill. 

 

Edited September 29, 2020 by Bill the barbarian

[Joerg]

9 hours ago, BrentS said:

P.S. I was curious if hot beverages were drunk in Glorantha. Coffee is far too recent a discovery in our world to have Bronze Age associations but I could see it having ritual application in Glorantha as a stimulant that brings the shaman closer to the spirit world or prepares the heroquester (now Questworlder? 😒) for entry into the Hero Plane. I was intrigued listening to a lecture series on the Ottoman Empire recently to hear a snippet of information about the discovery of coffee....certainly apocryphal but the story has all the humble yet mythic qualities that one would associate with Gloranthan myth.....

https://allthatsinteresting.com/kaldi-coffee

I can imagine Biturian packing some of these rare, exotic beans in his red leather satchel next to the sugar, although best not to mention the goats when dealing with Orlanthi. 

In Glorantha, the discovery could have been made by Yinkin, or some civets. Kopi Luwak might be common in Teshnos or Elamle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_luwak

Eurmal would of course be the first entity to brew a hot drink from that...

 

 

[BrentS]

4 minutes ago, Joerg said:

In Glorantha, the discovery could have been made by Yinkin, or some civets. Kopi Luwak might be common in Teshnos or Elamle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_luwak

Eurmal would of course be the first entity to brew a hot drink from that...

 

 

I've drunk wild luwak coffee and still have a sachet of the beans I brought back from our last trip to Bali. I have to say I was a little disappointed....it tasted like coffee flavoured coffee. I didn't have a transcendent experience, didn't meet my animal totem, luwak or otherwise. My wife won't touch it. 🤪

 

Brent.

[soltakss]

11 hours ago, BrentS said:

Coffee is far too recent a discovery in our world to have Bronze Age associations but I could see it having ritual application in Glorantha as a stimulant that brings the shaman closer to the spirit world or prepares the heroquester (now Questworlder? 😒) for entry into the Hero Plane. I

HeroQuestor.

I thought that coffee was earlier, but seems to be 15th century. 

Tea, on the other hand, was consumed in the Bronze age and cultivated before then, probably.

According to wikipedia, chocolate was used from c1750BC with many peoples drinking it as a beverage, so that is Bronze Age.

 

[BrentS]

1 hour ago, soltakss said:

HeroQuestor.

I thought that coffee was earlier, but seems to be 15th century. 

Tea, on the other hand, was consumed in the Bronze age and cultivated before then, probably.

According to wikipedia, chocolate was used from c1750BC with many peoples drinking it as a beverage, so that is Bronze Age.

 

I thought chocolate was Central American in origin, last of the world's six cradles of civilisation. Which would be the Olmec, from about 1500 BC. Giant heads, chilli and chocolate.....and I think chocolate definitely qualifies a people as civilised, no matter what your criteria are 😀

 

Brent.

[soltakss]

I have spun out a separate thread for Hot Drinks of Glorantha.

[Sir_Godspeed]

12 hours ago, soltakss said:

HeroQuestor.

 

Sidenote, but I've always thought internal capital letters look so artificial and goofy. Think I'm gonna stick to "Heroquester" myself, even if it's not strictly canon.

[Lordabdul]

23 hours ago, BrentS said:

I'm not sure where else to post this and it's not directly podcast related but I'm loving the Wind Whispers newsletter.

Thanks for the praise Brent! Very much appreciated.

[Lordabdul]

11 minutes ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

Sidenote, but I've always thought internal capital letters look so artificial and goofy. Think I'm gonna stick to "Heroquester" myself, even if it's not strictly canon.

Yep.

HQG writes it "Heroquest" or "heroquest" depending on the page. Personally I go all lowercase ("heroquest", "heroquester").

[jrutila]

In the Finnish Glorantha podcast world we released our eighth episode. We started to go through, none other than, King of Sartar book. It will span to multiple episodes, so this first one was about the Composite History of Dragon Pass.

[Lordabdul]

10 hours ago, jrutila said:

It will span to multiple episodes, so this first one was about the Composite History of Dragon Pass.

That's awesome! Similar to the concept of the Biturian Varosh episodes of Wind Words, but with a much more complex material to discuss   I'm surprised you were even able to fit the Composite History of Dragon Pass in one episode. I'm sure @Joerg could discuss the first page across 3 episodes