Pavis & Big Rubble Companion: The Directors' Cut Relaunch

[Bill235081]

I am now having fun imagining the Sacred Time rituals being carried out on a captured rhino. The rituals are spiritually sophisticated and laborious, but to the untrained eye look like painting stripes on the rhino.

"Hey, why are you riding a rhino?"

"This is no rhino, mate. This here is a genuine war zebra - here look at the stripes!" 

[mfbrandi]

2 hours ago, Bill235081 said:

"This is no rhino, mate. This here is a genuine war zebra - here look at the stripes!"

[Kloster]

Ah yes, the gloire. Nice zebra.

[Akhôrahil]

[mfbrandi]

7 minutes ago, Akhôrahil said:

Is there a Morokanth secret lurking in that joke?

Edited May 18, 2023 by mfbrandi

[PhilHibbs]

AI generated zebrhino:

It also came up with this at the same time:

Edited May 18, 2023 by PhilHibbs

[mfbrandi]

15 minutes ago, PhilHibbs said:

When people say chaos creatures are tormented, I guess this is what they have in mind. Still, paint some stripes on it and the Transmaniacon MC Storm Bullies will leave it alone to dread its next egestion.

[Ian A. Thomson]

I know I've said it before, but I I'm sure I will keep doing so from time to time

The time taken to recreate the series has proved staggeringly way beyond what I imagined it would take to get it all out again. My gratitude for collaborators is beyond words. There would be no series without you folks!!

Just now I opened my messages up and received a fantastic work in progress-sample from one volunteer/collaborator and a basic formatted article from another

Meaning I can crack on with the revisions, art-direction/editing and layout, and continue to see Vol. 03 taking shape

On that note, if anyone following this thread has the passing thought: "Hmm, I could do a couple of hours of some basic proofing or stats or something' so as to get my name in the credits of one of these fine books."... Please drop me a line

Every little bit helps. I'm currently working on Vols. 03-05 simultaneously as they are all connected and so there is huge amounts of stuff I'd love a spot of help with

(Those who have already offered, I'm at the point of being able to send more bits out in the next few days.)

[Ian A. Thomson]

15 hours ago, mfbrandi said:

When people say chaos creatures are tormented, I guess this is what they have in mind. Still, paint some stripes on it and the Transmaniacon MC Storm Bullies will leave it alone to dread its next egestion.

These animals are champion-level hysterical!! :)

If there's any more traction though, they deserve their own Weird Praxian Animals thread

Edited May 19, 2023 by Ian A. Thomson

[g33k]

On 5/18/2023 at 4:06 AM, PhilHibbs said:

...

It also came up with this at the same time:

The famous Pushmi-Pokeyu.
Mount for the (very) minor Praxian tribe currently chief'ed by the Khan of Harmony, Does-Little.

There may be hazia involved.

 

Edited May 19, 2023 by g33k
typo

[Ian A. Thomson]

Fabian has just uploaded to Drivethrurpg the latest (probably final) version of Vol. 02

The previews haven't changed yet when I refresh the page, but the date of last upload suddenly says 'today' so it should be there as a new version for everyone who already has it...

With the following change notes:

• FANTASTIC new colored geographical map of the Real City by artist Roy Duffy
• Corrections & slight revisions to the Real Inn article
• Minor revisions to the Real City article
• Added borders to a few images to make 'em look more zippy! :)
• Handful of other corrections/alterations
• Plus a new Handout PDF: printable game-aid map of the series' larger version of the Big Rubble, for Players to scribble all over (EDIT - now confirmed to be there; thanks Jason)

Edited May 23, 2023 by Ian A. Thomson

[Jason Farrell]

The map handout is there. 🙂

[Ian A. Thomson]

Had a search through material and online, but can't find the canoninical date (or range of potential dates) for the attempted Wedding of Pavis. Instead of searching further I'm going back to editing articles for Vol. 03 and putting images into layout etc.

Hoping in the meantime that helpful folk here on the group can point me at appropriate references or cut and paste snippets here. Thanks very much :)

(Yes, I've reached that stage in basic layout of future volumes, where I'm putting everything in basic chronological order and looking to balance out gaps in the timeline of the campaign.)

Just got a first draft cover back from Dario that is probably Vol. 5 or 6

and thought of an awesome book title for what will likely be 6 or 7 :)

[7Tigers]

It seems there has been a 1997 German RQ-Con freeform about the Wedding:
http://glorantha.steff.in/digests/GloranthaDigest/vol05/0703.html
May be there was a booklet at the time with more info?

[Nick Brooke]

The RuneQuest Effect prevents us saying anything definitive about the Lunar Empire's extremely clever plan to marry Pavis to the Red Goddess, because any campaign that touches on it will have done its own thing. But it's reasonable to say that the classic Pavis campaign is set between 1615 and 1620 (ish), and there's no suggestion the recalcitrant Pavic priesthood has succumbed to Tala Errio's blandishments by the time of the Cradle.

As for when it started: if you read my bit in Tales of the Sun County Militia, you'll know Pavis was likely a second choice, but the Empire's (and the Red Count's) plans to marry Yelmalio into the Lunar pantheon were already well under way when they were thwarted by Solanthos' coup in 1613. Probably Lord Belvani helped prepare the ground for this when he was Sun County's Ambassador to the Lunar Empire (sic), before the Red Moon first came to Prax. Remember, though, that he might have consciously been stitching Varthanis II up, even then. He's tricky like that.

I don't remember a booklet for the Pavic freeform (like the ones we got for Heroes of Wisdom and Rise of Ralios). I suppose the setting was better known to RuneQuest and Glorantha fans than either the Jonstown Library or the Safelstran city-states.

[Graeme P]

On his website (in the part where he has a timeline of Prax scenarios) Soltakss has the first Proclamation in Sacred time 1620 and the second occurring in Sea Season after the Cradle scenario.  Not sure what his source was though.

No actual wedding though.  Maybe the True Dragon ate the guest list?

Edited May 24, 2023 by Graeme P

[Ian A. Thomson]

Thanks folks. That assists me to recall what little I 'knew' from chats with others about their ideas

So it looks like 1622 (as I have put in my timeline at the start of Vol. 01) is good

Or if I need the flexibility then 1623 maybe

My biggest timing challenge is that back then, Greg was OK with me having Raus as an interim acting Governor for a few seasons after Sor-Eel gets kicked out, so I'm going to retain that even though its been officially discarded now. Too good an opportunity to have three very different Lunar Governors feature in the campaign

Hmm, maybe I can write in the arrival of the new guy as part of the push around the Wedding: 'Just get it done'

With Raus seen as way too conciliatory to the Pavis Cult (as well of course of never really having been acceptable in the position anyway, except short term)

Boris von Encorth (sp?)

Edited May 26, 2023 by Ian A. Thomson

[jajagappa]

14 hours ago, Ian A. Thomson said:

So it looks like 1622 (as I have put in my timeline at the start of Vol. 01) is good

Or if I need the flexibility then 1623 maybe

The issue with 1622 (at least through Earthseason is the Windstop, which affected the entire Zola Fel valley.

Perhaps that was the planned celebration (as part of the Extra New Moon Year), but the disaster of the Great Winter (and drought - see MOB's writings on this period in Sun County) forces them to push out to 1623?

[jajagappa]

14 hours ago, Ian A. Thomson said:

Boris von Encorth (sp?)

You mean Halcyon Var Enkorth?

[Ian A. Thomson]

8 hours ago, jajagappa said:

You mean Halcyon Var Enkorth?

No, Halcyon Var Johnson :)

[soltakss]

On 5/24/2023 at 6:49 AM, Ian A. Thomson said:

Had a search through material and online, but can't find the canoninical date (or range of potential dates) for the attempted Wedding of Pavis. Instead of searching further I'm going back to editing articles for Vol. 03 and putting images into layout etc.

Hoping in the meantime that helpful folk here on the group can point me at appropriate references or cut and paste snippets here. Thanks very much 🙂

The Wedding of Pavis is tricky to date, as it didn't happen!

However, I would say that it would have been planned for 1623 or 1624. Harrek defeats the Lunars at Pennel Ford and then they are concentrating on the Temple of the Reaching Moon, so would be focused on that.

Maybe it should be on the Seven Mothers' High Holy Day, Godday of Disorder week in Dark Season.

On 5/24/2023 at 10:23 AM, Graeme P said:

On his website (in the part where he has a timeline of Prax scenarios) Soltakss has the first Proclamation in Sacred time 1620 and the second occurring in Sea Season after the Cradle scenario.  Not sure what his source was though.

I think I based those on fitting in the events with other scenarios that were dated but happened after that. 

On 5/26/2023 at 5:59 PM, jajagappa said:

The issue with 1622 (at least through Earthseason is the Windstop, which affected the entire Zola Fel valley.

Perhaps that was the planned celebration (as part of the Extra New Moon Year), but the disaster of the Great Winter (and drought - see MOB's writings on this period in Sun County) forces them to push out to 1623?

That makes a lot of sense, so Godday of Disorder week in Dark Season 1623 might be a good date. Of course, the Adventurers should disrupt it before it happens, or could support it and stop pesky Adventurers from disrupting it.

[AlHazred]

On 5/26/2023 at 9:55 PM, Ian A. Thomson said:

No, Halcyon Var Johnson 🙂

Halcyon "The Flint" Var Johnson?

 

[Joerg]

On 5/17/2023 at 3:14 AM, svensson said:

Looking VERY forward to it, @Ian A. Thomson!

I also want to say that I like the cover illustration. The zebras look like... well, zebras and Percheron destriers with stripes on them. I've tried to explain to players that zebras are 'about 1/3 again the size of pony' and they keep insisting that they can go 'quatro a' quatro' with Bison Tribe lancer and win. Hopefully a picture showing characters actually mounted on zebras will disabuse them of that notion.

Praxian wild zebras are the size of the quagga. War Zebras are transformed Hyal horses, retaining the size of the Goldeneyes. Cavalry Zebras (infertile crossbreeds from breeding with Pol Joni-sourced mares, rather than cavalry-trained pure strain "War" Zebras) vary in size depending on the breed and size of the mares. These crossbreeds might be only partially striped, like the extinct South African quagga.

There might be lesser fertile zebra crossbreeds from crossing Joraz Kyrem's original breed with wild Praxian zebras. If so, the nomadic Zebra tribe might be more likely to breed these, although they might also trade them with the urban 

 

[JRE]

I had to check, so Quaggas are estimated to be from 125 to 135 cm tall at the shoulder, which is clearly in the pony category, as Wikipedia indicates the critical point between a pony and a horse is a height of 147 cm. All zebras, with the exception of the rare Imperial or Grevy zebra (sounds good for the EWF) are clearly in the pony size, and even the Imperials are quite light horse sized (less than 16 hands). 

Looking for this I was pleasantly surprised when the "Zebroid" wikipedia entry references Glorantha for the Pavis fertile horse zebra hybrids and the infertile cavalry zebras. 

Edited June 6, 2023 by JRE
Errata

[Ian A. Thomson]

Taking a break from Vol. 03 (which is going very well) to work on the Rough Guide to Pavis City, which will be Vol 05 or 06 most likely

 

Edited June 14, 2023 by Ian A. Thomson
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