Hidden Castles

[GianniVacca]

GtG p325-327

"Castle Blue: The Hidden Castle behind the mists of Lake Oronin is home to a race of magical beings who include Charmain, the divine ancestress who bestowed royal power on the Shahs of Carmania. As with other Hidden Castles, most mortals cannot attain Castle Blue, which is not wholly of this world."

1- Any information about other Hidden Castles? (Castle Blue is the only one mentioned in the Guide)

2- "not wholly of this world" --> what world, then?

(see also Wyrms Footnotes issue No.10, p16)

[Joerg]

The RQ3 era text (e.g. Elder Secrets Box Secrets Book p.11, The Fading Lands) mentioned the Hidden Castles alongside the Hidden Greens, magical pastures that fade into and out of existence in the Wastes, but that term seems to have been re-interpreted now as cyclically fertile areas of the wastes that allow grazing every few years.

The Egg of Erangalos Karastomabor (same source p.10) might be a special case of such fading into and out of reality, too.

After 1616, the City of Wonders effectively became something like a Hidden Castle, and after 1624 possibly even more so.

Edited December 31, 2020 by Joerg

[jajagappa]

30 minutes ago, GianniVacca said:

2- "not wholly of this world" --> what world, then?

The Gods World, of course!  i.e. Castle Blue is outside of Time.

31 minutes ago, GianniVacca said:

1- Any information about other Hidden Castles?

The Hidden Greens of Prax, which fade in and out in the Wastes.  Unlike what Joerg notes, I do think these actually are pieces of the Gods World, too.  (You can find some reference to such in Borderlands, episode 7 as they are enroute to Gonn Orta's Castle.)

 

[soltakss]

Castle Kartolin is a hidden castle, on the edge of Dorastor.

Orathorn Tower may or may not be a hidden castle.

The Hidden Greens are hidden oases, as are the oases in Greydust in the Wastelands, but I am not sure if they count as hidden castles.

 

[metcalph]

Quote

The Hidden Castles were magical places, often of large
expanse, which appear infrequently in Glorantha. Other
examples include the Hidden Greens of otherwise
deserted Prax, ghostly and deadly Kartolin of Ralios,
the City of Rose-Colored Glass in the East, and several
islands.

Glorantha Sourcebook p159

The City of Rose-Coloured Glass is in Teshnos (Hadarastu Valley Guide p433) although its hidden nature is not mentioned there.

[Eff]

The City of the White Moon presumably would also be a Hidden Castle after its disappearance, though there's not much information about said disappearance or how to gain access.