Great Sacred Mountains of Orlanth

[soltakss]

Page 296 of the Guide to Glorantha mentions the Great Sacred Mountains of Orlanth.

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The Storm God Orlanth is manifest atop his Great Sacred Mountains, and he is most easily and directly spoken with there. Worshipers within a radius of nearly 650 miles from either Kero Fin or Top of the World, for example, may magically commune with the god atop those mountains each High Holy Day worship ceremony. Those within a radius of approximately 165 miles of a Great Sacred Mountain can converse with the god on every seasonal holy day. Those within a radius of nearly 100 miles of a Sacred Mountain can contact the god each Windsday. Otherwise, temples must be built and consecrated beyond these regions.  

What does this mean in practice?

Does it mean that Orlanth worshippers within these areas can do the following without needing a Temple:

• Perform a worship ceremony
• Attend Holy Day rites
• Spend POW to gain new Rune Points/Runespells
• Regain Runespells
• Use Divination

 

[Loïc]

I do indeed understand this page as you do. But with the restrictions of "each High Holy Day", "every seasonal holy day" and "each Windsday". And still the worshipper must be accepted, as such by the god, that is his faith must be true (through his roleplay...), and the worshipper's goal must be legitimate according to the god... I would be as inflexible as the god himself about these prerequisites...

I'm interested in reading other replies!

[Nick Brooke]

Define "Temple." We'll take it from there.

[David Scott]

1 hour ago, soltakss said:

Does it mean that Orlanth worshippers within these areas can do the following without needing a Temple

The maps are based on a hand drawn map of Greg's that shows which mountain they fly to (and how long took) on Holy days. The areas are just where storm worship occurs naturally under the influence of the holy mountains. So go to your local worshiping site, then fly to the mountain with your mates.

[soltakss]

11 minutes ago, Nick Brooke said:

Define "Temple."

From RQG p 283:

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A temple is the home of a deity, existing simultaneously in the Gods World and the Middle World of mortals. A temple is a holy place consecrated to and protected by a deity, and served by the cult.

Also

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Functions of a Temple

• Worship: At a temple, cult members regularly meet to worship the deity. A priest or other holy person of the religion leads the ceremonies. Sacred objects used in worship are usually kept on the premises.
• Replenish Rune Points: Cult members that have spent their Rune points may regain some or all of them by participating in worship at the temple. 
• Gain Access to Rune Spells: When an adventurer sacrifices a point of characteristic POW at the temple, the adventurer may gain access to a special cult Rune spell available to that temple, including associate cults. A subcult must be joined before subcult spells can be gained.
• Learn Spirit Magic: Cult spirit magic can be learned at a temple.
• Temple Defense: The deity worshiped defends its home. A temple can defend itself with magic, even without the presence of priests or worshipers, with guardian spirits called wyters, or other means of magical defense.
• Temple Resources: Temples often possess great wealth, including cult artifacts, votive gifts, coin, cultivated lands, and herds of livestock.

 

 

12 minutes ago, Nick Brooke said:

We'll take it from there.

Go on, then! 😀

[Nick Brooke]

1 hour ago, soltakss said:

Go on, then! 😀

OK, I don't for one minute think you're suggesting that places where those things happen don't exist within 100 miles or so of a sacred mountain, so I have to wonder what you are suggesting.

[soltakss]

I am just wondering if anyone within those distances can do things without using a Temple.

So, if you are 90 miles away from Thunder Mountain, for example, do you need to go to a Temple to regain rune points?

Does it mean that you don;lt need a temple to do Temple-related things on those days, or does it mean you can just contact Orlanth more easily on those days, but that doesn't actually mean anything?

1 hour ago, David Scott said:

The maps are based on a hand drawn map of Greg's that shows which mountain they fly to (and how long took) on Holy days. The areas are just where storm worship occurs naturally under the influence of the holy mountains. So go to your local worshiping site, then fly to the mountain with your mates.

This probably means that contacting Orlanth without using a Temple doesn't mean anything.

The reason i asked is that I am finishing up Secrets of Dorastor and and drawing a map showing the Great sacred Mountains of Orlanth and, lookee here, Dorastor is slap bang in the middle of a lot of them. If Dorastor wasn't a cursed, evil chaos nest, it would be a sacred place to Orlanth.

[Tindalos]

I imagine one important part of it is the weakness between the worlds there.

It's said that one could climb Thunder Mountain and from the peak you can speak with Orlanth (D:LoD 103). In the myth of Hantrafal the First God-Talker, he could originally do that from the local hill, before sacrifices were necessary to reach gods. (BoHM 124)

If all these mountain tops act as kind of natural temples to Orlanth (certainly RQ:G 285 mentions that rural temples are built on sacred hills and mountains) providing a useful fallback to anyone who can't go to another one. Pilgrims, outlaws, and foreigners may all approach the mountain to recover rune points, although few are likely to climb the mountain themselves.

Those who do would be able to effectively have a free usage of Divination, by shouting to Orlanth (or the local deity, such as Kolat on Mount Doktados) and hoping he hears.

[jajagappa]

1 hour ago, soltakss said:

I am just wondering if anyone within those distances can do things without using a Temple.

No, I don't believe so (still need temple, shrine, or sanctified ground).

1 hour ago, soltakss said:

if you are 90 miles away from Thunder Mountain, for example, do you need to go to a Temple to regain rune points?

Yes.

1 hour ago, soltakss said:

does it mean you can just contact Orlanth more easily on those days, but that doesn't actually mean anything?

As David noted, it has to do with which sacred place on the Other Side you fly or ascend to when communing with the god (i.e. where will Storm Home be).  And that will affect where you start a given Heroquest from (and possibly how much magic you carry into the quest, or how many "retainers" you have assisting in the quest, or how many "revelers" there are at Orlanth's Hall, etc.).

[Rob Darvall]

12 hours ago, soltakss said:

If Dorastor wasn't a cursed, evil chaos nest, it would be a sacred place to Orlanth.

Given Ragnaglar's place in the pantheon, maybe it is a sacred place to Orlanth. Just a negative one.

[g33k]

If you are looking for game-mechanical Runequest-y d100 "what does this mean," I suggest this text is key:

Quote

... he is most easily and directly spoken with there ...

This suggests to me a bonus on the Worship skill, and greater likelihood of successful Worship rolls.

I'd probably throw the recovery of an extra Rune Point (per range 650/165/100 mi's) into the mix, too, but that's just me.

[French Desperate WindChild]

to keep the balance with other cults, and also follow the "words", I would only consider that speak to the god is "give any information to the god" , "ask any question to the god " (= divination without temple) , invoke Orlanth power (bonus to passion roll if you succeed orate or worship before ?)

[soltakss]

Right, I am mapping these out, so they fit the style of the other maps in Dorastor. i have the mountain ranges and the sacred Peaks of Orlanth, but when I look at the areas of effect on p 297 of the Guide to Glorantha, I noticed that they differ from my measured radius. On close inspection, it looks as though they are diameters not radii.

So, on a Windsday, you get the benefit in a circle of diameter 100 miles, not a radius of 100 miles.

[Joerg]

16 hours ago, soltakss said:

Right, I am mapping these out, so they fit the style of the other maps in Dorastor. i have the mountain ranges and the sacred Peaks of Orlanth, but when I look at the areas of effect on p 297 of the Guide to Glorantha, I noticed that they differ from my measured radius. On close inspection, it looks as though they are diameters not radii.

So, on a Windsday, you get the benefit in a circle of diameter 100 miles, not a radius of 100 miles.

Kilometers, miles, what's the difference? 😇

[Christoph Kohring]

19 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Kilometers, miles, what's the difference? 😇

"Key miles" anyone?!! 😎