Pamaltelan Orlanthi

[The Prettiest Parrot]

So, I just allowed my players to pick from a list of cultures for our next game, and they chose the one that takes the most effort for me. They want to play as Orlanthi in Pamaltela, which I take to mean Umathela. I have all the stuff in the Guide to work from for this, but it's pretty sparse overall. If any of you know of other good sources or have fun ideas, I'd love to steal them.

Mostly I've been thinking about how the whole Earth complex might change with Pamalt being alive. Feels like masculine Earth gods should be more prominent, maybe with a direct Pamalt cult, but maybe Orlanthi would parse it more in terms of a prominent Nandan instead? Or both? I think there's something workable there, but not enough for a cool setting, hence me coming here.

[jajagappa]

Yes, a bit more challenging!

You might start with this thread: https://basicroleplaying.org/topic/12774-orlanth-in-umathela

This is an old site from David Dunham that may give you some ideas: https://www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha/umathela/

There's a bit here too: Introduction to Umathela (1997) – The Well of Daliath (chaosium.com)

And a bit here: Umathela – Notes From Pavis

For an old fanzine's take on Umathela try this issue of Tradetalk: Tradetalk # 14 - Outside Genertala: The Southern Continent - RuneQuest Gesellschaft e.V. | DriveThruRPG.com

[metcalph]

The thing about the Umathelans is that they've been under Elven thumb.  The strongest Elf influence would be Gods worshipped by them so Babeester and Ehilm would have greater roles in Umathelan society. 

Pamalt has a image problem in that the Elves dislike Pamalt.  So even if there's some Earth Goddess acknowledgement of him, that's not going to a very major part.  The last Umathelan that we know of to give Pamalt any attention was the Lord of the World's Knowledge (cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses p116) and the Elves killed him.   Could there a local version of Pamalt like Elmal to Yelmalio?  I had thought for a time this would be called Talpam (based on a list of Elf names in the old Elder Secrets Book).  But this cult would be intentionally constrained as the Elves would be well aware of who he is (they have a different view of the gods than humans do).

Most of the Umathelans are aware of their history as God Learners and have avoided the Wizards ever since their fall.  There might be a stronger avoidance of sorcery as being Evil Magic that Almost Destroyed Our World than there would be in Genertela.  Such an attitude would still be around - some clans might be intentionally illiterate - but has largely receded as a result of the havocs wrought by the Cult of Silence and the Fonritans. 

The Orlanthi would know of a predecessor Storm God, Baraku, who would also be a God of Bandits in Fonrit.   He could be a Waha analog as his chief hero was the Lord of Beasts who warred against the Artmali.  

[Joerg]

The Doraddi cult of Pamalt (a bit more than Tada in Genertela) and the Aldryami are at odds. The Male Earth of Pamaltela and the forests are close allies. Different aspects of the same deity, I guess.