Ask Jeff! Glorantha Lore questions

[Jeff]

1 hour ago, Kloster said:

Thanks for the info.

Also Tin (Sky) plus Copper (Earth) makes Bronze (Air). The connection is obvious.

[Richard S.]

Does Dara Happa acknowledge/have the Golden Bow subcult of Yelm?

[Jeff]

20 minutes ago, Richard S. said:

Does Dara Happa acknowledge/have the Golden Bow subcult of Yelm?

What does that mean? Of course they acknowledge the existence of that cult among the Pure Horse People. Do they participate in it? It is a weird Horse Barbarian thing - like drinking mare's milk or herding horses. Not appropriate for civilised people, any more than civilised people worship Ares as a sword or castrate themselves in the name of Artemis. 

[Jeff]

On 7/28/2020 at 11:31 AM, Paid a bod yn dwp said:

Jeff,

Could you give a quick snap shot of western culture in Glorantha? Since RQ3 Boxed Glorantha set I’ve found it difficult to visualise the culture in terms of an ancient bronze age world. I presume it’s not a medieval world of knights in shinning armour as was hinted at in the RQ3 boxed Glorantha set? How similar or different are they from the look of the Sartarites we’ve seen so well conceptualised in RQG?  Are there any real earth analogies that can help explain their look?  

A quick snapshot? The West is the realm of the humanists, who view the world as a natural process understandable, conquerable, and usable by conscious manipulation by mortals. That conscious manipulation is sorcery, which does not rely on god or spirit for its effectiveness. A part of that world-view is that human society itself should be logically organised (think Plato's "Republic" or "Laws" or the discussions of what the castes are supposed to do in the Mahabharata) - most Westerners have concluded that a system of castes is the only rational means to organize human society.

The so-called "knights" are people who lead/guide/protect the community because they are capable of understanding the needs of all the castes. They follow a strict moral code (often translated as "chivalry") and counter-balance the ethical solipsism so common among the magic-using caste. They are traditionally mounted, hence they get called "knights", but that kind of is backwards. They have a code that could be roughly summarised as:

1. Be a good follower of Malkion's laws.

2. Defend the entire community of Malkioni followers.

3. Respect and defend those weaker than you.

4. Love your homeland and obey its rulers.

5. Do not show fear before your enemy.

6. Do not lie and remain faithful to your word.

7. Be generous and give largess to everyone.

8. Always be the champion of the Right and the Good against Injustice and Evil.

How does that translate into costume and gear? Well the Westerners are basically a Bronze Age people - although Seshnela and Loskalm both have access to iron thanks to the dwarves (whom they don't trust and do fear - so just because they have access doesn't mean that iron is particularly common). Most folk are farmers, but they have a significant urban population of crafters, labourers, and so on, with smaller groups of professional warriors, and even smaller groups of nobles and wizards at the top. 

Edited September 11, 2020 by Jeff

[Paid a bod yn dwp]

2 hours ago, Jeff said:

A quick snapshot? The West is the realm of the humanists, who view the world as a natural process understandable, conquerable, and usable by conscious manipulation by mortals. That conscious manipulation is sorcery, which does not rely on god or spirit for its effectiveness. A part of that world-view is that human society itself should be logically organised (think Plato's "Republic" or "Laws" or the discussions of what the castes are supposed to do in the Mahabharata) - most Westerners have concluded that a system of castes is the only rational means to organize human society.

The so-called "knights" are people who lead/guide/protect the community because they are capable of understanding the needs of all the castes. They follow a strict moral code (often translated as "chivalry") and counter-balance the ethical solipsism so common among the magic-using caste. They are traditionally mounted, hence they get called "knights", but that kind of is backwards. They have a code that could be roughly summarised as:

1. Be a good follower of Malkion's laws.

2. Defend the entire community of Malkioni followers.

3. Respect and defend those weaker than you.

4. Love your homeland and obey its rulers.

5. Do not show fear before your enemy.

6. Do not lie and remain faithful to your word.

7. Be generous and give largess to everyone.

8. Always be the champion of the Right and the Good against Injustice and Evil.

How does that translate into costume and gear? Well the Westerners are basically a Bronze Age people - although Seshnela and Loskalm both have access to iron thanks to the dwarves (whom they don't trust and do fear - so just because they have access doesn't mean that iron is particularly common). Most folk are farmers, but they have a significant urban population of crafters, labourers, and so on, with smaller groups of professional warriors, and even smaller groups of nobles and wizards at the top. 

Thanks Jeff, that’s really clear.  I’m keen to see how you conceptualise the look of the people and architecture of the West in future RQG books. Don’t suppose there are any concept sketches available to see?  

[Jeff]

3 hours ago, Jeff said:

A quick snapshot? The West is the realm of the humanists, who view the world as a natural process understandable, conquerable, and usable by conscious manipulation by mortals. That conscious manipulation is sorcery, which does not rely on god or spirit for its effectiveness. A part of that world-view is that human society itself should be logically organised (think Plato's "Republic" or "Laws" or the discussions of what the castes are supposed to do in the Mahabharata) - most Westerners have concluded that a system of castes is the only rational means to organize human society.

The so-called "knights" are people who lead/guide/protect the community because they are capable of understanding the needs of all the castes. They follow a strict moral code (often translated as "chivalry") and counter-balance the ethical solipsism so common among the magic-using caste. They are traditionally mounted, hence they get called "knights", but that kind of is backwards. They have a code that could be roughly summarised as:

1. Be a good follower of Malkion's laws.

2. Defend the entire community of Malkioni followers.

3. Respect and defend those weaker than you.

4. Love your homeland and obey its rulers.

5. Do not show fear before your enemy.

6. Do not lie and remain faithful to your word.

7. Be generous and give largess to everyone.

8. Always be the champion of the Right and the Good against Injustice and Evil.

How does that translate into costume and gear? Well the Westerners are basically a Bronze Age people - although Seshnela and Loskalm both have access to iron thanks to the dwarves (whom they don't trust and do fear - so just because they have access doesn't mean that iron is particularly common). Most folk are farmers, but they have a significant urban population of crafters, labourers, and so on, with smaller groups of professional warriors, and even smaller groups of nobles and wizards at the top. 

And of course, the knights (or "Men-of-All") are suppressed by Rokarism, as they view Hrestol as having made a series of errors that ultimately resulted in the God Learners and the corruption of the Middle Sea Empire.

[Puckohue]

In the GM Screen Pack's Adventure book it says (p. 30) that "Nameless" was a member of the "Battalion of the Wooden Sword". Is that just another name for the "Temple of the Wooden Sword", or is there some other reason not to call it "temple"?

[Scotty]

11 hours ago, Hijabg said:

Posting my question from July again since it never got an answer (I hope there are no rules against such reposts):

On 4/20/2020 at 10:51 AM, Jeff said:

if I find it interesting, I'll answer it. If not, I'll either ignore it or explain why I don't find it interesting or useful to answer.

 

[coffeemancer]

what are Gagarth's runes?

[Scorus]

MInaryth Blue's life history in King of Sartar is highly acanonical! Is he an Eurmal? A God Learner spy? Simply insane? Or does he know something we don't...

[scott-martin]

How continuous are accounts of Cragspider's residency at Aranea Kad? 

[AndreJarosch]

On 9/28/2020 at 2:10 AM, Scorus said:

MInaryth Blue's life history in King of Sartar is highly acanonical! Is he an Eurmal? A God Learner spy? Simply insane? Or does he know something we don't...

What do you mean with this. 
Please elaborate. 

[Scorus]

33 minutes ago, AndreJarosch said:

What do you mean with this. 
Please elaborate. 

"Events of My Life" by Minaryth Blue, page 211-3 of King of Sartar. The timeline of his post-1625 life does not match up to the canon: Kallyr lights the flame and lives until 1630, Harrek sacks Boldhome, etc.

Given that he lives at the same time and is from the same clan as Minaryth Purple, I'm guessing that it is a parody.

[AndreJarosch]

18 minutes ago, Scorus said:

"Events of My Life" by Minaryth Blue, page 211-3 of King of Sartar. The timeline of his post-1625 life does not match up to the canon: Kallyr lights the flame and lives until 1630, Harrek sacks Boldhome, etc.

Given that he lives at the same time and is from the same clan as Minaryth Purple, I'm guessing that it is a parody.

You read the wrong edition!

If you read one of the "EWF -Editions" (purple book with wyrm on the cover = EWF war banner) please note it is outdated (it was published in 1992 by Chaosium Inc./1999 by Issaries Inc.). 

Please do yourself a favour and buy the corrected hardcover book version by Chaosium from 2015. There you have the correct "Events of my Life" (and  a lot of footnotes, that clarify a lot of things, PLUS an additional - formally lost - chapter). 

[Scorus]

10 minutes ago, AndreJarosch said:

You read the wrong edition!

If you read one of the "EWF -Editions" (purple book with wyrm on the cover = EWF war banner) please note it is outdated (it was published in 1992 by Chaosium Inc./1999 by Issaries Inc.). 

Please do yourself a favour and buy the corrected hardcover book version by Chaosium from 2015. There you have the correct "Events of my Life" (and  a lot of footnotes, that clarify a lot of things, PLUS an additional - formally lost - chapter). 

Oh! The only edition I have is the one I bought in 1992! I'll get the new one, though it sounds like someone is trying to bury the truth!

[AndreJarosch]

1 minute ago, Scorus said:

Oh! The only edition I have is the one I bought in 1992! I'll get the new one, though it sounds like someone is trying to bury the truth!

It only corrected some mistakes. 

I see it like this: 
In the 4th (or 5th) age a scholar compiled "The King of Sartar", and rewrote the parts he didn´t liked, anbd published it in the logo and colours of the EWF. 
Later on another scholar reconstructed the true texts, added the lost chapter, and anottated the book with footnotes. 
THAT is the version i trust. 

[Stephen L]

22 hours ago, Scorus said:

The only edition I have is the one I bought in 1992! I'll get the new one

Yes indeed, corrected, with excellent maps, but by far and away the best thing about the new edition is that *it is bound*  You can open it without the pages falling out!