Icon on the Mythology Book - Just a symbol or a Rune?

[Auburnt_Amaranth]

I can imagine it symbolises the Monomyth as it appears there too, but it also looks like it could be a Rune, especially with its use in the background with the others.
Could we get any confirmation on this? And any ways, what would think it would mean as such, maybe Unification or Compromise?

- meant is the 4-lined "half-star"

[metcalph]

5 minutes ago, Auburnt_Amaranth said:

- meant is the 4-lined "half-star"

Dara Happan Sacred Alphabet.  Used as a prefix to denote an Immortal, Deity or Celestial.  Box Guide p349

 

[Auburnt_Amaranth]

13 minutes ago, metcalph said:

Dara Happan Sacred Alphabet.  Used as a prefix to denote an Immortal, Deity or Celestial.  Box Guide p349

 

oh wow, didnt even think about the possibility. I guess it is just a choice of the Art Direction etc, cause I doubt the God Learners would have used it.
Kinda underwhelming, but glad to know the answer. Thank you.

[mfbrandi]

9 hours ago, Auburnt_Amaranth said:

I doubt the God Learners would have used it.

Back in HQ1 days — if I have the right rune — I believe they did use it:

Quote

[T]hey saw that the Five Worlds were the basic divisions of the universe, and thus believed them to be the most powerful of the runes. These runes, sometimes identified as the magic runes, are almost unknown outside the God Learner system. Each simultaneously designates a philosophy, a world, a magical power, and an essential transcendent philosophy. — HeroQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, p. 264

… but that is very much ex-canon.

[jajagappa]

10 hours ago, Auburnt_Amaranth said:

I guess it is just a choice of the Art Direction etc, cause I doubt the God Learners would have used it.

It's also the Rune denoting Theya, Goddess of the Dawn, and the Theyalan/Lightbringer culture in general (hence use as "Theism" Rune).

[David Scott]

On 10/24/2023 at 11:18 AM, Auburnt_Amaranth said:

meant is the 4-lined "half-star"

It's called the Divine world glyph. 

It's had a number of uses and meanings over the years, in addition those above. It appears in the Glorantha Core Rune Font as the place holder for Godsday (now replaced by fate )

Note that the Khodavan version is a square shape and opposed to the rounder version above (and has a different meaning inverted)

 

13 hours ago, jajagappa said:

It's also the Rune denoting Theya, Goddess of the Dawn, and the Theyalan/Lightbringer culture in general (hence use as "Theism" Rune).

The Theya glyph is much uglier: 

 

[Auburnt_Amaranth]

thanks for all the response, didnt expect to see even more. Always interesting to see old things popping up. The Theya glyph is indeed "uglier".

i was already hyped when they showed the partial runes, which was new to me. so figured, might be as well one too.

btw related to that - is the Heler "rune" canon or just stylish/alphabet too?

[David Scott]

11 hours ago, Auburnt_Amaranth said:

btw related to that - is the Heler "rune" canon or just stylish/alphabet too?

The Heler glyph appears on page 98 of Lightbringers. It's not mentioned as a rune in the text, hence referred to as a glyph

[Auburnt_Amaranth]

53 minutes ago, David Scott said:

The Heler glyph appears on page 98 of Lightbringers. It's not mentioned as a rune in the text, hence referred to as a glyph

That one, yes. So far as how I understand it too. But still makes me wonder if there are possibility of other runes out there we dont know yet.

[Joerg]

8 hours ago, Auburnt_Amaranth said:

That one, yes. So far as how I understand it too. But still makes me wonder if there are possibility of other runes out there we dont know yet.

The last people who set out to prove the existence of another rune were the Zistorites of the Clanking City. Their research backfired on them.

You are perfectly free to invent other runes, or to create subrunes of existing ones like e.g. Malign Earth for your games, or use the single-glyph identifications of deities from the HeroQuest era.

Offering the players yet another percentile skill to increase usually makes them weaker even if that skill may be the coolest new thing.

Some cults have weird cult skills as some kind of Nostrum, a necessary expenditure to belong and remain rather than a useful gaming addition, like e.g. Lanbril. While game balance usually is a minor concern in the design of RuneQuest, these exotic skills may serve to slow the advancement to Rune Lord or Lord-Priest status in that cult. 

[Qizilbashwoman]

On 10/24/2023 at 6:24 AM, metcalph said:

Dara Happan Sacred Alphabet.  Used as a prefix to denote an Immortal, Deity or Celestial.  Box Guide p349

i.e. 𒀭 (dingir)

[Auburnt_Amaranth]

55 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Offering the players yet another percentile skill to increase usually makes them weaker even if that skill may be the coolest new thing.

Oh, I didnt mean for gameplay necessarily (though I guess that would be a consequence too). My interest is first a lore one. I got the vibe that there are others implied 
(and maybe just theoretical/symbolic ones instead of "theistic" ones).

It also reminds of the original idea behind the title Runequest and some later thoughts of maybe one day re-incorporating that idea/system.
Would be still cool to hear if any of the writers thought about it once again in lets say the last 2 decades.