Jump to content

Which Son of the Sun do the Ostrich People Worship?


Darius West

Recommended Posts

I remember a fanzine article that named Surio as the aspect of Yelmalio worshipped by the Ostrich folk, not sure if this was an 'official' article or just fan written though. Memory is not what it was but the title 'Many Suns comes to mind'.

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Ostrich People number about 1,000 individuals, so let's assume about 650 are initiates of a cult. They revere Ostrich Mother, Waha, Foundchild, and Yelmalio. But these cults are tiny:

Ostrich Mother - 250 members. That's a minor temple.

Waha -160 members. That's a minor temple if they really try. Otherwise it is a shrine.

Foundchild - 80 members. A shrine.

Yelmalio - 70 members. Probably not even a shrine. They end up going somewhere else for their main ceremonies. 

 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Jeff said:

The Ostrich People number about 1,000 individuals, so let's assume about 650 are initiates of a cult. They revere Ostrich Mother, Waha, Foundchild, and Yelmalio. But these cults are tiny:

Ostrich Mother - 250 members. That's a minor temple.

Waha -160 members. That's a minor temple if they really try. Otherwise it is a shrine.

Foundchild - 80 members. A shrine.

Yelmalio - 70 members. Probably not even a shrine. They end up going somewhere else for their main ceremonies. 

Remember that the Ostrich leadership can pay for lay memberships to make up the numbers for small cults that are important to the clan or tribe.  It's a very useful work-around.

As to the Ostrich tribe members having to traverse Prax on a seasonal basis to get to Sun County for worship, I think that is less likely than them recruiting "Yelmalio" cultists from other "friendly" clans of other tribes to make up their numbers.

I always imagined the Ostrich version of "Yelmalio" to be more of an eccentric semi-shamanic plains warrior society with weird ancient roots to the Ratite Empire rather than anything approaching a typical Sun Dome hoplite shrine anyhow.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Exubae said:

I remember a fanzine article that named Surio as the aspect of Yelmalio worshipped by the Ostrich folk, not sure if this was an 'official' article or just fan written though. Memory is not what it was but the title 'Many Suns comes to mind'.

That was in Codex #3 (1995) Lies With Truth, or more ruminations on the nature of the Sun God and Truth after reading the glorious ReAscent of Yelm, by Martin Crim. It had other names for Yelmalio too, all by the author.

 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1

-----

Search the Glorantha Resource Site: https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com. Search the Glorantha mailing list archives: https://glorantha.steff.in/digests/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Exubae said:

I remember a fanzine article that named Surio as the aspect of Yelmalio worshipped by the Ostrich folk, not sure if this was an 'official' article or just fan written though. Memory is not what it was but the title 'Many Suns comes to mind'.

 

3 hours ago, David Scott said:

That was in Codex #3 (1995) Lies With Truth, or more ruminations on the nature of the Sun God and Truth after reading the glorious ReAscent of Yelm, by Martin Crim. It had other names for Yelmalio too, all by the author.

 

Thanks for the info gentlefolk.  I have access to both Codex#3 and the Glorious Reascent.  Having reviewed the article in Codex #3 Martin Crim identifies the Ratite/Riskest Empire aviary rider god Veng by name and suggests the name "Khim" for their Yelmalio, not Surio, as suggested. I am inclined to think that if that is the precedent, and the only reference in any literature alluding to the name of the Ostrich Yelmalio, why not call him Khim?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, soltakss said:

Because life is too short.

Your life may vary, of course.

I plan to live a good long while.  I also like to add regional details into my Glorantha, rather than homogenizing everything down to a lowest common denominator like a God Learner.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
On 6/30/2022 at 12:44 PM, David Scott said:

They follow the same Yelmalio that all Praxian Animal nomads follow. Just use the Yelmalio cult in the Core Rules. Obviously as they are mounted, don't choose Pike as a cult skill, so they don't learn the combined pike and shield. Everything else works just the same. If you want to be an Ostrich Tribe warrior, you'd choose:

  • Homeland Base Passions (page 27)
  • Choosing Your Elemental Runes (45), I use Earth +10% (Ostrich Mother's mother is the Earth)
  • Homeland Characteristic Modifiers (page 53), just use Impala Riders as they are also pygmies.
  • Homeland Cultural Skill Bonuses (page 60) doesn't include Ostrich riders, but these are the same for all Praxians:
  • Ride (Ostrich) +35% Customs (Ostrich Tribe) (25) Herd +30% Peaceful Cut +15% Spirit Combat +20%, Dagger +05% (as Impala) then it's down to weapons (4 slots): Boomerang +20% (From HQG), Blowpipe +10% (from Khan of Khans), Short sword +10% (seemed a sensible pick like impalas), Small Shield +10% (from the Nomad Gods Counter).
  • Occupation: Light Cavalry (page 73). For Light Cavalry I usually choose Composite Bow, 1H Weapon (pick type) - Pick Long Spear, Small Shield. Note that 1 H Long spear covers Lance too.
  • Cult: Yelmalio (page 308). Cult Skills: Battle, Bow, Celestial Lore, Cult Lore (Yelmalio), Listen, Long Spear, Pike, Scan, Search, Speak (Firespeech), Worship (Yelmalio).

There's no problem with becoming a Rune Lord as A candidate must have 90% in Bow or Javelin, Scan, and any Spear skill, plus 90% in two of the following abilities: Battle, Honor, Listen, Move Quietly, or Search.

Note that in upcoming Cults of Glorantha, the Cult Starting Skill, Sing +10%, becomes Sing +10% or Ride (horse) +10%. In this case just change to Ride (ostrich) +10%.

The only real change from normal Ostrich riders and Yelmalion Ostrich riders, is that they don't usually use boomerangs and blowpipes, which of course make them slightly odd to other Ostrich riders. However I suspect that most would keep them as secondary weapons.

In my Prax the Praxians have no Rune Priests, only Rune Lords (Light Khans). There's only about 90 Ostrich Yelmalions and a single Light Khan. As with all Praxian Yemalions, they hold the Sun domes sacred.

A long time ago I ran a Yelmalion campaign, made up of Sun Dome Sartar (RQ2 cult write up), Sun County (RQ3 write ups), Ostrich folk Yelmalions (Heroes v2 #01). There are slight differences in the write ups that made for excellent gaming fun.

 

The Praxian starting skills in the book are fecking awful, I'm not sure why there is such a discrepancy in skill points given out, are they all held back in school or something?
I've never understood why some cultures are less skilled than others in some editions of RQ. Bias in a way that makes no sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Orlanthatemyhamster said:

The Praxian starting skills in the book are fecking awful, I'm not sure why there is such a discrepancy in skill points given out, are they all held back in school or something?
I've never understood why some cultures are less skilled than others in some editions of RQ. Bias in a way that makes no sense.

On cultural skills, the Praxians and the Grazelanders win the contest. Frex, we get:
Sartarites 75

Lunar Tarsh 85

Old Tarsh 75

Esrolians 90

Grazelands 95

Praxians 120 (!)

Now the Grazelanders and Praxians get a BIG bonus to their Ride and Herd to make sure that they are able to do that (Ride is +35 and Herd is +30). The Esrolians get are better at farming and trade talk than anyone else, plus get a few points in skills that reflect their urban culture.

The Sartarites get a LOT of points in weapon skills, but that is largely because they get a broader range of cultural weapons. None get more than a +15%. The Praxians have a narrower band of cultural weapons, and again none are more than +15%.

So if we look at a Bison Rider, they get a total of 175 points. A Sartarite gets only 165. 

But whatever, you are welcome to complain all you wish.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...