History of Ygg Islanders

[VikugnaVikugna]

Pretty new to Glorantha, currently thinking about running a game about the Ygg Islanders. During very early prep, it came to my attention most Glorantha resources I read say very little about the history of the Ygg Islanders before the 1600s - at most, I think, Jeff once made a post in which he mentioned they were visited by Dormal in 1583 and then fought a war against the Loksalmi. This is not good enough for me, as I would like to know how they fared for the 600 odd years the Jrustela was separated from the Genertela or, even further back, during the Middle Sea Empire days. I assume they either were originally Orlanthi from Genertela or natives who somehow avoided conversion to malkionism? I can't really see how, with the 600 years of separation, they would be converted to worship Orlanthi gods unless I'm missing something

Any concrete information on the topic or do I have to fill the void myself? 

[jajagappa]

36 minutes ago, VikugnaVikugna said:

During very early prep, it came to my attention most Glorantha resources I read say very little about the history of the Ygg Islanders before the 1600s - at most, I think, Jeff once made a post in which he mentioned they were visited by Dormal in 1583 and then fought a war against the Loksalmi. This is not good enough for me, as I would like to know how they fared for the 600 odd years the Jrustela was separated from the Genertela or, even further back

There's a bit in Wyrms Footnotes #11 on the Sea of Neliom including the Ygg's Isles. Also the Guide, primarily p.232 and 258 (the latter notes situation during the Closing).

Key factors to bear in mind: 

• The Closing hits Fronela and the Ygg's Islands in 922. The isles are totally cut off from the Sea and anything overseas (including the Middle Sea Empire) at that point. So for nearly 700 years, there is no contact with the wider world.
• Dormal arrives in 1583 and initiates the Opening of the Ygg's Isles at that point. 
• Harrek arrives somewhere between 1615 and 1617 (I think the Guide is incorrect in the latter date as Harrek leads the pirates to the Holy Country in 1616), and there is a great migration from the Ygg's Isles at that point.

So from 922 until 1583, they are close enough to the coast to likely be able to reach the Winterwood, and there is mention of trade with the elves. Perhaps hugging the coast, they might occasionally encounter Fronelans (but the Fronelan fleet is confined to Ozur Sound), but otherwise, they are dwelling alone on the isles and living via fishing as long as they stay close to land. 

 

[metcalph]

There was a mention in Missing Lands about them having to eat their own children to survive the severe overpopulation during the Closing.

The Glorantha: Introduction had a page (which I didn't write) about them fighting the God Learners in a naval battle but being betrayed by the Elves who grew over their lands and confined them to the offshore islands.    This may be related to the mysterious land of Bija which appeared on a map in Cults of Terror.

But all this is apocryphal.  Whatever the history of the Yggites is need nnot contain any reference to the above.  No landside population of Yggites appears in the historical maps in the Guide.

[Ynneadwraith]

In the absence of much written history, may I post this thread (and especially Sir_Godspeed's vision of the beliefs of varied Ygglings).

There's also some good discussion in and around the Ygg Isles in the rest of the thread. Not quite the history you're looking for, but might provide a bit of a jumping off point for you to create some of your own.

[John Biles]

I am surprised that no one has mentioned the writeup of the Cult of Ygg in Cults of Glorantha 2:  The Lightbringers (which includes all the major Storm Pantheon people).

So Yigg survived the God's War without dying or submitting to anyone, right down to he and Valind trying to destroy Brithos (they failed).  The coastal island people of Fronela served Yigg at the Dawn.  They made deals with the Aldryami to get timber in return for tribute.  Loksalmi tried to horn in and the Aldryami drove them out of the trade.

They then lived a quiet, boring life until the Closing, which wrecked their whaling and were stuck hunting seals and fishing.  Dormal the Sailor reached them and enabled them to whale again but they now also suffered Loksalmi rule; the Wolf Pirates now arose and crushed the Loksalmi.

Anyway, it's all in the Lightbringer book but there's not a lot of history.

 

 

[Joerg]

6 hours ago, John Biles said:

They then lived a quiet, boring life until the Closing, which wrecked their whaling and were stuck hunting seals and fishing. 

They already were foes of the Loskalmi God Learners, and there is a good likelihood that they raided even Hrestol's Kingdom of Loskalm and other neighbors in the Dawn Age because that is what Vadrudi cultures do. True, the Waertagi were strong in and around Sog City, and they all but monopolized river traffic all the way to the Thunder Delta as well as on the high seas, but local sailing traditions in coastal waters persisted. Encounters with the Waertagi might have ended quite a few sea voyages, but far from all of them.

It is possible that they encountered the Vadeli fairly early on within History, and that their cooperation with the Vadeli after Dormal discovered both inside the Closing simply picked up an earlier cooperation against the coastal Brithini and their descendants. Even at the height of their power, the Waertagi could not be everywhere at once. Then the Free Men of the Sea removed the Waertagi threat from the oceans, replacing it with their own great God Learner fleets before the Closing wiped those of the surface of the Seas.

Dormal puts emigrants from Ygg's Island and the pirate culture they brought into the limelight in the northwestern seas, then Harrek spreads that around the Homeward Ocean with his (first) Circumnavigation, establishing their recurring presence in the places he visited. But the colonies of Ginorth, in Jrustela and on the Threestep Isles are more cosmopolitan than the backwater homeland of the Yggites. While their culture persists, they have become little more than one of the bigger ethnic minorities on the Threestep Isles.