Some questions about Zoo in the Right Arm Islands.

[Agentorange]

The Guide to Glorantha tells us that God Learner sorcerers brought the animals from around the world to this place, that the God learners are gone but the animals continue to thrive on the island.so........

What kind of animals did they bring ?
How many of each kind ? ( presumably enough to stop inbreeding......)
Do they roam free on the entire island ? is there a city or town , maybe a bit like the resort in the Jurassic world films ?
Have all the animals survived, or has the natural pecking order asserted itself and some have become prey to others ?
If there were only single examples, have they died out, or have their life spans been magically extended in some fashion whilst they remain on the island ?
 

[David Scott]

Zoo or Zoopolis as it was known has a reference in History of the Heortling Peoples. Have a look at Pete Nash talking about a Bestiary product in 2012, A Tiger? In Africa?

Basically, Zoopolis was built by Semeren of Malkonwal and stocked by Danakil from his world wide trip. It's a huge ruined complex. Basically put in those wonders you need from the Bestiary... I'd run it like the areas of Westworld, including underground worlds for the Darkness creatures. It's only about 25x5 miles in size so perhaps only five different areas and one underneath: IceWorld, JungleWorld, DesertWorld, WaterWorld, etc.

[EricW]

16 minutes ago, David Scott said:

Zoo or Zoopolis as it was known has a reference in History of the Heortling Peoples. Have a look at Pete Nash talking about a Bestiary product in 2012, A Tiger? In Africa?

Basically, Zoopolis was built by Semeren of Malkonwal and stocked by Danakil from his world wide trip. It's a huge ruined complex. Basically put in those wonders you need from the Bestiary... I'd run it like the areas of Westworld, including underground worlds for the Darkness creatures. It's only about 25x5 miles in size so perhaps only five different areas and one underneath: IceWorld, JungleWorld, DesertWorld, WaterWorld, etc.

Or Logan's Run - bits of the zoo breaking down through long neglect, going dark, turning really dangerous, and PCs trapped, following clues to find a working exit.

[Agentorange]

I originally envisaged a Jurassic world sort of thing, but then moved closer to what David is suggesting with age old magic allowing for different climates and environments. I don't have History of the heortling peoples so the GTG is the only reference I've got.

And it's not clear from that whether the Zoo covers the entire island - or only part of it and the animals have escaped outside. It doesn't say if there's a human habitation on the island ( thus my thought about the resort in Jurassic world ) I guess that's all to the good....because we can make up whatever we like 😁

Edited February 25, 2023 by Agentorange

[Erol of Backford]

12 hours ago, David Scott said:

It's only about 25x5 miles in size so perhaps only five different areas and one underneath: IceWorld, JungleWorld, DesertWorld, WaterWorld, etc.

Did they have Chaos World, Demon World or Undead World?

11 hours ago, EricW said:

Or Logan's Run - bits of the zoo breaking down through long neglect, going dark, turning really dangerous, and PCs trapped, following clues to find a working exit.

Makes me think of an old anomaly scenario with another game system that we happily converted to Rune Quest - Glorantha! There were some God Learner/Feldichi Devices from ages past along with many strange beasts, not necessarily chaos that mutated or were unique or could have easily been released at Zoo?

Zoo: God Learner sorcerers imported numerous creatures from around the world to this island. The God Learners died, but the creatures remained and thrived. (GtG)

 

Edited February 25, 2023 by Erol of Backford

[Erol of Backford]

Where are Stitched Ruins (as I recall its not the same as Zoo  even though it was called Stitched Zoo?) and did Delecti do an internship there? Does anyone recall a source or did I dream that?

[David Scott]

11 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

Where are Stitched Ruins (as I recall its not the same as Zoo  even though it was called Stitched Zoo?) and did Delecti do an internship there? Does anyone recall a source or did I dream that?

The (Stitched) Zoo ruins can be see on the Northern Sartar map (Starter Set, bottom left-hand edge), below the EWF ruins of Voss Varainu, on the right bank of the Creek-Stream. They can also be seen on the Smoking Ruins map, page 11, below Centaur Ford, but are both just named Ruins.

As for Delecti and the Stitched Zoo, Forang Forash met Delecti in Voss Varainu, but that's about it (see WF#15, Delecti article). If you need his backstory, I'd either make it up or base it on Robin Law's take in Mongoose's Glorantha Second Age (page 32) which does seem to confirm some of Forang Forash's wilder discounted statements. This one of the few Mongoose books I have any faith in, as Robin had worked previously with Greg.

[soltakss]

Derak the Dark Troll was sold to the Zoo. He was not happy about it, mainly because he lost all the magic items that he had amassed.

[Erol of Backford]

I see it, thank you. So totally different, map clip from the 1983 Rune Quest Companion p.22.

 

(From HotHP) Zoopolis: Semeren of Malkonwal was the scion of a wealthy house, so when he was stationed at Seapolis he indulged himself by importing creatures from around the wall and housing them on one of the Rightarm Islands. It became known as Zoopolis and many people came from far away to view the creatures there. (I assume wall is supposed to be world here?)

It doesn't seem like anything God Learner crazy was going on there but over time and maybe with some chaos injected you could have evolved into something terrifying?

Edited February 26, 2023 by Erol of Backford

[jajagappa]

2 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

It doesn't seem like anything God Learner crazy was going on there but over time and maybe with some chaos injected you could have evolved into something terrifying?

I don't think you need Chaos involved to get to something terrifying. Just have to imagine the sections breaking down, and a natural ecosystem developing with typical island characteristics (e.g. gigantism for smaller creatures, dwarfism for larger ones) and some reasonable predator-prey balance after 600+ years.

[Erol of Backford]

1 hour ago, jajagappa said:

I don't think you need Chaos involved to get to something terrifying. Just have to imagine the sections breaking down, and a natural ecosystem developing with typical island characteristics (e.g. gigantism for smaller creatures, dwarfism for larger ones) and some reasonable predator-prey balance after 600+ years.

My initial thoughts were along those lines, chonchons, gorgons, jabberwocks, stoor worms, cliff toads, wyverns, wyrms, any number of dangerous creatures from say, the Monster Coliseum but I liked the mutant starfish octopus thingy from Barrier Peaks... was thinking in Gloranths it couldn't happen without chaos but why not, it's a magical world. I suppose I was thinking the Feldichi Devices for flying around the island to view, as closely as you wished, the creatures on the island.

On that same note over 600 years why wouldn't Chaos have taken root as well, you could go either way?

How would touring the island been done over 600 years past?

[Joerg]

7 hours ago, David Scott said:

As for Delecti and the Stitched Zoo, Forang Forash met Delecti in Voss Varainu, but that's about it (see WF#15, Delecti article). If you need his backstory, I'd either make it up or base it on Robin Law's take in Mongoose's Glorantha Second Age (page 32) which does seem to confirm some of Forang Forash's wilder discounted statements. This one of the few Mongoose books I have any faith in, as Robin had worked previously with Greg.

The MRQ1 edition had some flaws as stuff in King of Sartar and the History of Heortling Peoples was ignored when collecting the sources for the EWF, resulting in Vistikos and the huge dragon project getting the main stage rather than the Third Council with Isgangdrang and the other Short Cut dragonlords, which is why I would advise to use only the MRQ2 edition, that had some of the worst omissions rectifiec by LOZ. (I didn't boy either of the MRQ serries before it became available in Humble Bundles after getting the chance to read the EWF bit.)

I seem to recall that there were two named colleagues of Delecti from Remakerela, but cannot find them with a cursory search of my disjunct pdfs.

[Erol of Backford]

23 minutes ago, Joerg said:

but cannot find them with a cursory search of my disjunct pdfs

The best line written over the past few months. I do like how while searching for references I end up running down rabbit holes that are loosely related.

I'll look into Remakerela. (Sorry about this rabbit hole unrelated to Zoo in this post Mr. Orange.)

[Agentorange]

2 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

The best line written over the past few months. I do like how while searching for references I end up running down rabbit holes that are loosely related.

I'll look into Remakerela. (Sorry about this rabbit hole unrelated to Zoo in this post Mr. Orange.)

Such is life, we aren't the Borg 😆

[David Scott]

15 hours ago, Joerg said:

The MRQ1 edition had some flaws

IMO, the single paragraph on Delecti is fine to base some background on. 

[Erol of Backford]

The WF Note 15 article Count Felagga’s Mystic Menagerie has a good bit about a traveling zoo... I am not sure about the talking flemingo with arms?

[jajagappa]

49 minutes ago, Erol of Backford said:

I am not sure about the talking flemingo with arms?

Flamingo-men are noted in the Caves of Chaos in Snakepipe Hollow ("like Ducks but worse") when Leika visits it on her crown-test (WF #14, and probably in the Stafford House Campaign doc as well).

[Erol of Backford]

Wasn't that when a Trickster set up a tent inside the Caves so hopefully they were an illusion or much worse actual chaos spawn that could fly and so they must be eliminated and burned? How horrifying is that...

Somehow I recalled these flying monsters from the 1970's.