How does Chaos interact with the Spirits and within the Spirit World?

[Nicochan]

I'm going to start a long term campaing involving the "awakening" of Gbaji's pieces in Dragon Pass. 

Since our Shaman apprentice is going to become a Shaman as the prologue of the campaign, I would like to find a way to interlace his "awakening" ritual with Gbaji's fist piece awakening. In order to do this I'd like some insight on how Chaos interacts with spirits and the Spirit World: this will be my input to create "my glorantha" in this regards, functionally to the campaing i have in mind.

[David Scott]

So the spirit side of Chaos is represented by Thed (spirit & chaos runes). So there are chaos spirit, chaos vortices, and chaos realms. The most obvious chaos realms will match real world ones, like the Devil's Marsh and Larnste's Footprint. Vortices, more localised chaos spots, perhaps created and fed by a thed shaman. Chaos is already represented in the shamanic initiation by Bad Man who was birthed by Kajaboor. Chaos spirits are easily represented by the current rules, just give them a chaos feature. Thed's not out yet (God of Glorantha), if you have access to any old versions of her cult (Classic Cults of Terror is available, and one of the sample pages is Thed's spirits). Also Thed has Daka Fal as an associate cult and so is an ancestor worship cult and so you can have any flavour of Broo spirit you like.

Mixing Chaos features with spirits can be great fun. Here' my favourite chaos spirit moment from the cover of Cults of Terror.

 

[EricW]

The pieces of Gbaji could be the souls of Gbaji's chief lieutenants. For example Ralzakark could reasonably be seen as a piece of Gbaji who was awakened by the God Learners in the Second Age. So each "awakening" would have terrible consequences; the awakening of Lokamayadon might stop the initiation of new Orlanth initiates, or suppress Orlanth spirits of reprisal. The awakening of Pelangio could cause Yelmalio to be fully integrated into the Lunar way. Each awakening would introduce terrible new powers into the world, and bring the end of the world a step closer.

In the spirit realm such awakenings would cause pandemonium, drastically increased risk of an encounter with powerful chaos adversaries, new traps, hunting parties kidnapping spirits and discorporated shaman souls for use in dreadful chaotic rituals to steal their power, fear, horror, evil omens, a weakening of good powers, increased risk of illumination. The light of the Red Moon would grow stronger, each awakening might increase the number of days when Lunar magic was at full power. Lightbringers and chaos fighters would be at a growing magical disadvantage. Everywhere people in fear would be tempted to turn to chaos, for safety and security, or because they were frightened their rivals had embraced chaos and they needed quick new power to maintain their personal safety.

And there would be a growing risk of encountering Nysalor / Gbaji on the spirit plane. Perhaps even Arkat would make an appearance.

Edited August 7, 2020 by EricW

[Joerg]

Several established Chaos cults weigh in heavy in the spirit world. Thed survives mainly as a Great Spirit, with a hole connecting her to the void of oblivion (and her cult's Horned Man might be the frayed remnants of Ralzakark). Krarsht has two forms of beings as her descendants, the corporeal krarshtkids and the spirit-form krarshtides, with both bearing the taint of Chaos. Thanatar's cult has the mad head ghosts. Malia has Disease Spirits which may be chaotic or just Darkness or (foul) Death.

Nysalor has not been written up in Cults of Terror as a cult using spirits, but as a mystic entity, the Spirit Plane wouldn't have been any more alien to him than the mundane world or any other realm.

Pieces of Gbaji may appear in all realms, too. No reason to grant the Spirit Plane any immunity on this count.