Windstop

[Alexandre]

Hi all,

what are the effect of the Windstop (from Orlanth is Dead) in RuneQuest terms? I can see several possibilities but I am not sure which one is the best. First of all I don't think it would apply to all Air magic (including Sorcery). So maybe just Rune Magic from Orlanth would not work? But this means that Rune Points could be used for associated deity's spells? Would it include spirit magic learned through Orlanth? 

Thanks,

Alex

[metcalph]

25 minutes ago, Alexandre said:

Hi all,

what are the effect of the Windstop (from Orlanth is Dead) in RuneQuest terms? I can see several possibilities but I am not sure which one is the best. First of all I don't think it would apply to all Air magic (including Sorcery). So maybe just Rune Magic from Orlanth would not work? But this means that Rune Points could be used for associated deity's spells? Would it include spirit magic learned through Orlanth? 

Thanks,

Alex

No Rune Magic from Orlanth.  No Rune Magic from Ernalda.  Whether other gods can use Storm or Earth Rune Magic is debatable but I think not (Storm Bull could use a Berserk Spell for example but not a Command Sylph).  Spirit magic is not from the gods so works normally.

[Darius West]

1 hour ago, Alexandre said:

Hi all,

what are the effect of the Windstop (from Orlanth is Dead) in RuneQuest terms? I can see several possibilities but I am not sure which one is the best. First of all I don't think it would apply to all Air magic (including Sorcery). So maybe just Rune Magic from Orlanth would not work? But this means that Rune Points could be used for associated deity's spells? Would it include spirit magic learned through Orlanth? 

Thanks,

Alex

It wasn't just Orlanth who died at Whitewall, but Ernalda as well.  The fall of Whitewall represented a huge catastrophe for the Orlanthi.  Rune Magic became unavailable for those two gods.  Other deities in the pantheon were unaffected, and a great many heroes started going on major hero quests to deal with the problem.  Two years later the problem was fixed.  In the interim, there was famine in Orlanthi lands, and an abnormally harsh winter, as Valind gained the supreme air rune and used it to overwhelm the Kalikos Icebreaker cult, leading to hard times and a vicious 2 year winter across the Lunar Empire too.  Of course the Lunars still had other magic to draw upon to improve their situation as their main gods weren't dead.  Of course Gods are immortal within Time, and so things restored themselves somehow.  It is likely a bit like Earth in 536AD (the worst year in recorded history).

Edited April 10, 2023 by Darius West

[Akhôrahil]

57 minutes ago, Darius West said:

Valind gained the supreme air rune and used it to overwhelm the Kalikos Icebreaker cult, leading to hard times and a vicious 2 year winter across the Lunar Empire too. 

Is there a source for this, or is it your interpretation?

[Alexandre]

If spirit magic is still available the impact in RQ terms will be very different from HW (where all magic becomes unavailable). What about hero cults of Ernalda, namely Baroshi from Snakepipe Hollow (whom the PCs are the first and only initiates!).

[metcalph]

1 minute ago, Alexandre said:

If spirit magic is still available the impact in RQ terms will be very different from HW (where all magic becomes unavailable)

Orlanthi heroes could still use basic magic which is a (rough) equivelnt of RQ's spirit magic.

1 minute ago, Alexandre said:

What about hero cults of Ernalda, namely Baroshi from Snakepipe Hollow (whom the PCs are the first and only initiates!).

I think Baroshi is still alive.  He was active throughout the Great Darkness when Ernalda was dead.  A mere Windstop's not going to stop him, no?  Whether he still provides Earth Rune Magics is a decision for the GM.  

[hipsterinspace]

9 minutes ago, Alexandre said:

If spirit magic is still available the impact in RQ terms will be very different from HW (where all magic becomes unavailable). What about hero cults of Ernalda, namely Baroshi from Snakepipe Hollow (whom the PCs are the first and only initiates!).

Ernalda is said to remain reachable by the Earth Witch shamans of her cult even in the Heroquest materials, but the absence of Orlanth is the really difficult part. It's worth noting that spirit magic is far more limited in terms of both effect and efficiency if you aren't a shaman.

As for Baroshi, there are some other things going on there, including some potentially big changes (11 Lights spoilers):

Spoiler

I would suggest looking at the 11 Lights book if you have access to it. In the big heroquest that brings back part of Orlanth with the New Breathers, you have the opportunity to add Baroshi to the Orlanth's Ring constellation alongside several other entities, it would make Baroshi a hero/sub-cult of Orlanth and probably net a lot of new worshipers.

 

Edited April 10, 2023 by hipsterinspace

[Alexandre]

20 minutes ago, metcalph said:

 

I think Baroshi is still alive.  He was active throughout the Great Darkness when Ernalda was dead.  A mere Windstop's not going to stop him, no?  Whether he still provides Earth Rune Magics is a decision for the GM.  

Actually this ties the two adventures even better: The PCs became Baroshi initiates because they were meant to use Baroshi’s magic during the windstop! Retcon? Nahhh it was what I had in mind all along! 

[Soccercalle]

Associate cults getting Rune Spells from O or E should also be affected. Not totally but regarding those spells.

 

 

[Nick Brooke]

3 hours ago, Alexandre said:

What are the effect of the Windstop (from Orlanth is Dead) in RuneQuest terms?

Pick up The Company of the Dragon, it has a playable version of the Windstop for RQG.

[jajagappa]

2 hours ago, metcalph said:

I think Baroshi is still alive.  He was active throughout the Great Darkness when Ernalda was dead.  A mere Windstop's not going to stop him, no?  Whether he still provides Earth Rune Magics is a decision for the GM.  

If you play through the 11 Lights though...

Spoiler

he may be one of the Three Stars that are rescued from Hell. So one of the quests to overcome the Great Winter.

 

[Shiningbrow]

5 hours ago, Alexandre said:

Hi all,

what are the effect of the Windstop (from Orlanth is Dead) in RuneQuest terms? I can see several possibilities but I am not sure which one is the best. First of all I don't think it would apply to all Air magic (including Sorcery). So maybe just Rune Magic from Orlanth would not work? But this means that Rune Points could be used for associated deity's spells? Would it include spirit magic learned through Orlanth? 

Thanks,

Alex

Part of your answer here will depend on how you see the gods in Glorantha - are they individual entities who have or control the Runes? Or, are they effectively the Rune itself? The embodiment itself.

If the first, then only Orlanth's & Ernalda's Rune spells would be affected (and probably any Associated Cults which have their spells - e.g., Stormbull probably can't use Shield). And that's about it!

However, if you decide that the gods are the rune, then that changes everything - including affecting sorcery (well, depending on how YGV).

[Akhôrahil]

9 hours ago, Soccercalle said:

Associate cults getting Rune Spells from O or E should also be affected. Not totally but regarding those spells.

Would symmetry suggest that O&E cultists could use spells from Associated Cults during the Windstop, in that case?

[jajagappa]

7 minutes ago, Akhôrahil said:

Would symmetry suggest that O&E cultists could use spells from Associated Cults during the Windstop, in that case?

Depends on the Associated Cult. If it was someone like Aldrya or the Grain Goddesses for Ernalda, or Valind or other Storm gods (and I include Heler in this too since he gets carried by the clouds) for Orlanth, then I've followed the "No" route. When Ernalda goes to sleep, all her Earth associates go to sleep as well or accompany her corpse to the Underworld (just as in the myths). When Orlanth dies, all the "Air" (i.e. divine winds/storms) die as well, hence the Windstop. 

If it's a Spirit Cult or there is mythic justification (i.e. I can see an argument for Babeester Gor retaining/providing her magic based on myths), then I'd say "Yes".

[Soccercalle]

19 minutes ago, Akhôrahil said:

Would symmetry suggest that O&E cultists could use spells from Associated Cults during the Windstop, in that case?

Probably not. They get it thru O/E. If its from OR thru O/E it goes away.

[davecake]

I’ve played it as no use of Orlanth or Ernalda Rune Points, or access to their spells from associated cults. 

[French Desperate WindChild]

On 4/10/2023 at 9:28 PM, jajagappa said:

or Valind

hello great loremaster

I would say that I se an issue then : if all storm gods are very affected then the period should not be the great winter, but the great drought ?

or we "exclude" the storm part of Vadrus and consider him as his darkness part during the period ?

[jajagappa]

3 hours ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

if all storm gods are very affected then the period should not be the great winter, but the great drought ?

If it was just dry (or hot and dry) then I'd call it a drought. But since it's also Cold (and cold being a Darkness related feature, not Storm) then Great Winter is appropriate.

3 hours ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

we "exclude" the storm part of Vadrus and consider him as his darkness part during the period ?

Valind is the God of Snow as much as anything so he is affected and cannot reach the Windstop zone (but that does not mean he is significantly affected elsewhere, i.e. on the Glacier or even in Fronela or Peloria or Pent). I'd likely argue that the Lunar Kalikos expedition succeeds very well that year though so that Peloria is relatively snow-free.

But really the "ruler" that comes out is not Valind (snow does not fall either), but Himile the God of Cold.  Himile is unaffected as he is darkness-related (and Inora is unaffected in her ice aspect, though her mountain winds die off too). 

[Akhôrahil]

On 4/17/2023 at 12:14 PM, French Desperate WindChild said:

hello great loremaster

I would say that I se an issue then : if all storm gods are very affected then the period should not be the great winter, but the great drought ?

or we "exclude" the storm part of Vadrus and consider him as his darkness part during the period ?

One feature about Orlanth is that winter stops because he blows it away (this is how you get Storm Season, the one that doesn’t have an Earth analogue).

Without it, winter just doesn’t end.

Also, I don’t think all Storm gods are affected - it’s just Orlanth.

[Qizilbashwoman]

3 hours ago, Akhôrahil said:

this is how you get Storm Season, the one that doesn’t have an Earth analogue

sir i live in new england and it was glorantha that finally provided the correct number of seasons for me

[Akhôrahil]

On 4/17/2023 at 8:53 AM, davecake said:

I’ve played it as no use of Orlanth or Ernalda Rune Points, or access to their spells from associated cults. 

Agree. Or DI.

[jajagappa]

11 hours ago, Qizilbashwoman said:

sir i live in new england and it was glorantha that finally provided the correct number of seasons for me

And as another who lives in New England, I can attest to the sequence of Darkseason followed by Stormseason.

[Qizilbashwoman]

10 hours ago, jajagappa said:

And as another who lives in New England, I can attest to the sequence of Darkseason followed by Stormseason.

the real question is when Sea begins