Tarsh 1627

[Jeff]

Here's a few notes about the government of Tarsh and some people of interest, circa 1627:

The King of Tarsh serves as the chief priest, commander-in-chief, and chief judge for the tribes and cities of Tarsh. He also serves as the chief judge and military commander for the Lunar province of Tarsh. The king pays an annual tribute of silver, goods, slaves, and obedience to the Lunar Empire in the person of the Provincial Overseer, whose residence is in Mirin’s Cross, several days down the Oslir River. As a provincial king, his decisions can be appealed to the Provincial Overseer in Mirin’s Cross, although that is an expensive, and thus rare, process.

Since the passing of Phargentes, the king normally appoints deputies to carry out his duties. The king governs Tarsh with the assistance of a small council (or “ring”) of eminent Tarshites, chosen by the king. This council typical includes his advisors, royal companions, important cult leaders, generals, and representatives of the cities. The king is served by royal scribes of the Irrippi Ontor cult (who have marginalized the scribes of the Lhankor Mhy temples).

Until recently, Fazzur Wideread was the most powerful noble in Tarsh and second only to the king. The uncle of King Pharandros, holding the imperial offices of Provincial General and Governor-General of Dragon Pass, Fazzur was a valued counselor and loyal supporter of his nephew. In early 1622, however, the Red Emperor removed Fazzur from his imperial offices. Although Fazzur remained the king’s preeminent general, King Pharandros attempted to assassinate his most powerful supporters in 1625, while Fazzur was fighting in Sartar. The king failed and Fazzur has returned to his family lands on Kordros with many armed supporters. Fazzur now rules much of Kordros Island without regard for decrees coming from Furthest.

The lifestyle, language, and customs of the common Tarshite person are Orlanthi in manner. Feuds are common between clans and sometimes result in tribal warfare. Combat by champions is widely recognized as a binding way of resolving disputes, although clans and tradition encourage alternatives to bloodshed, such as compensation or blood price. Disputes between tribes are subject to mediation by the chief judge of the ruling city, and can be appealed to the king’s officials in Furthest.

Tarsh is divided into six regional districts each centered on a city. A deputy of the king, whose title is sometimes translated as “duke”, rules the district. Each district is divided into tribes, federations of clans led by a chief or petty king. These regional districts are responsible for collecting tribute, keeping peace, and levying the militia for the king. The position of regional deputy is often hereditary; for example, King Phargentes appointed Vostor Blacktooth as deputy of Dunstop, and his sons Farrad and Fazzur inherited the position in succession.

People of Interest

Annstad of Dunstop: The younger son of Fazzur Wideread, Annstad was initiated into the mysteries of the Red Goddess in his youth. Annstad is notorious for seducing priestesses and married women, and surprised all by initiating to Orlanth Thunderous at Kero Fin in 1625. He has recently traveled to Boldhome and joined the court of Prince Argrath.

Fazzur Wideread: This 63 year old retired general is a legendary figure in Tarsh. Chief of the Orindori clan and ruler of Kordros Island, Fazzur is a Rune master of Yanafal Tarnils and initiated into the mysteries of the Red Goddess. The soldiers of Native Tarsh Corps are devoted to him, perhaps more loyal to him than to his nephew, King Pharandros. Fazzur and Pharandros are bitter enemies and the king unsuccessfully tried to kill several of his uncle’s key supporters in 1625. Since then, Fazzur has retired to his estates outside of Dunstop, raising horses and writing an account of his campaigns.

The Shaker High Priestess: The High Priestess of the Shaker’s Temple is so ponderous she has to be pulled about in an oak cart drawn by six oxen. She is attended by forty-seven male and female cannibal virgins.

Onjur of Dunstop: The eldest son of Fazzur and his wife Harama of Bagnot. Onjur is a Rune Lord of Yanafal Tarnils and an initiate of the Red Goddess, the captain of his father’s old cavalry regiment, and a talented poet. Onjur achieved fame throughout Tarsh when he killed the Half-Troll King of the Tusk Riders in 1622. He had twins, Maroflo and Marenpora, with Yenestosa the Wintertop Priestess. Onjur hates his cousin Pharandros.

Pharandros, King of Tarsh: This king was educated in Sylila and Glamour and steeped in the subtleties of Lunar Magic and imperial intrigue. An initiate of the Red Goddess, Pharandros is descended from the Red Emperor on both sides of his family. The most powerful king in the Provinces, Pharandros spends regally on both frivolities and the military. Like his father before him, Pharandros is a patron of scholars and mystics.

Pharandos and his uncle Fazzur were once very close, but are now bitter enemies. 

Unstey: The king of the Wintertop Exiles since 1625. He was raised by the Shaker Priestesses and is loyal to the High Priestess, but otherwise fiercely independent. Unstey steadfastly opposes both King Pharandros and the Fazzurites.

[Joerg]

I always wondered about these cannibal virgins. Are they obligate cannibals, eating no meat but from (sacrificed) humans, or are they the ritual eaters of some pieces of a sacrifice?

Shaker Temple is known for its human sacrifices, and it is considered bad luck to get captured by the warbands worshipping there.

I wonder whether they get voluntary sacrifices, whether they trade for slaves for feeding the sacrificial altar, or whether the surrounding clans don't have much of a penal system but are wont to nominate duty as sacrifice in case of major demeanors.

[Noita]

"Onjur achieved fame throughout Tarsh when he killed the Half-Troll King of the Tusk Riders in 1622"

 

So are Tusk riders half Troll? What's the other half?

[Patrick]

"Onjur achieved fame throughout Tarsh when he killed the Half-Troll King of the Tusk Riders in 1622"

 

So are Tusk riders half Troll? What's the other half?

I don't think the trollish half is certain, but people believe it.

The "first half" is human, from the people who followed Aram in the first age.

[soltakss]

I always assumed that the Tusk Rider Hero stole some of the powers of the Great Boar and infused his followers with them. So, in my Glorantha they are half-boar. They might have some trollish blood as well, of course.

 

 

[M Helsdon]

So are Tusk riders half Troll? What's the other half?

They aren't entirely human, and bear the mark of troll ancestry as well; some sources say this interbreeding dates to the Great Darkness before Time but more reliable sources indicate the troubled times at the end of the Second Age. Their skulls are human, save for the troll-like elongated face, diminutive tusks and the ridges at the back of the skull attached to their jaw muscles.

The skin-walker Tusk Brothers, despite the similarity in name, are different in nature and behavior to the Tusk Riders.

[Joerg]

They aren't entirely human, and bear the mark of troll ancestry as well; some sources say this interbreeding dates to the Great Darkness before Time but more reliable sources indicate the troubled times at the end of the Second Age. Their skulls are human, save for the troll-like elongated face, diminutive tusks and the ridges at the back of the skull attached to their jaw muscles.

The skin-walker Tusk Brothers, despite the similarity in name, are different in nature and behavior to the Tusk Riders.

I still think that that the Aramites managed to get Tusker blood into their folk. I doubt that they are connected to Kyger Litor, although they qualify as darkness creatures for an easier rite of adoption.

[dragonewt]

How do trolls view the Tusk Riders? As Half-Brothers, Darkness Kin, or an Abomination?

Do Tusk Riders share any Troll spirit ancestry with Trolls?

Edited October 25, 2015 by dragonewt

[Joerg]

One reason why I doubt the connection between Tusk Riders and Uz is the fact that they don't have any trollkin. The Aramites of the Dawn Age had ordinary human appearance, even though they were darkness worshippers already back then. I have theorized a descent from the Harandings of Maniria or an Entruli background. The Aramites don't appear in Vingkotling tales, but are present in the Heortling tales of Dragon Pass.

The epithet "halftroll" appears to be of Orlanthi origin. It is also applied to Urrrgh the Ugly (an individual suggested to have ties to the House of Sartar and/or to the Kitori tribe).

The first Aramite called Halftroll is Karastand, the warleader of the Stinkwood forces in the troll wars during the early years of the Inhuman Occupation (described in King of Sartar). Their tusked appearance already spread during the EWF wars, when they were fighting in Ralios, even before the machine wars. In any case, the tusks seem to appear after the trollkin curse.

[Pentallion]

The Karn are described as having troll blood, being larger and stronger and being known for their assassins, which suggests an affinity to darkness.  Yet they are neither Tuskers nor do they give birth to trollkin.  So I would think that A:  Tuskers could be troll related and B: the answer to the cure to trollkin lies somewhere in the answer to why at least Karn don't breed trollkin like offspring.

[Joerg]

The Karn are described as having troll blood, being larger and stronger and being known for their assassins, which suggests an affinity to darkness.  Yet they are neither Tuskers nor do they give birth to trollkin.  So I would think that A:  Tuskers could be troll related and B: the answer to the cure to trollkin lies somewhere in the answer to why at least Karn don't breed trollkin like offspring.

The Karn, as in Vampire Legion of Karn, as in Karn's Stead, or something else? Where is that term from?

The Tusk Riders probably still call themselves Aramites, regardles of their changed appearance.

One old theory was that the son of Harand Boardick that was given to Jogo Zaramzil might have been a missing link to the Aramites.

I discussed a possible sidestep to the trollkin curse when the nature of the Kitori was discovered on the World of Glorantha yahoogroup - a troll mother mating with a (full) Kitori would give birth to a dark troll shaped Kitori half-breed, never a trollkin birth. The problem with this was that the offspring somehow was not reckoned to be a descendent of Kyger Litor, if I understood Greg correctly:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/WorldofGlorantha/conversations/messages/5831

and

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/WorldofGlorantha/conversations/messages/5839

So, while this specific troll mother wouldn't spawn trollkin, she neither would spawn valid heiresses for her lineage from Kyger Litor, as far as I read this exchange.

By becoming something else than Kyger Litor's spawn, the uz cease to be uz. Their shape or size is meaningless compared to this loss.

The Aramite method (relying on a darkness demon which Gouger had been sent out to kill) might enable a troll mother to give birth to tusked aramites. I don't see how that would be any more desirable than it would be for a non-aramite human woman.

According to the Tusk Rider side story in David Dunham's King of Dragon Pass, the Aramite traits can be acquired through an initiation/rebirth rite at the Ivory Plinth, and they breed true when an Aramite couples with an Orlanthi woman. (Although the ability to spawn a child at all may have resulted from the father being a converted human rather than an Xth generation Aramite.)

On the other hand, both Cragspider's Great Trolls and the half-Dehori Pikat Yaraboom are counted among the uz without any problems. Maybe it is that iron tolerance that breaks the ancestral bond?

 

[M Helsdon]

One reason why I doubt the connection between Tusk Riders and Uz is the fact that they don't have any trollkin. 

Nor do other troll variants. Trollkin are only born to Mistress Race, Dark Trolls and possibly a few others.

The Guide to Glorantha states that Tusk Riders are weird human-troll hybrids.

[Patrick]

Trollkin are only born to Mistress Race, Dark Trolls and possibly a few others.

Hmmmm, I kind of recall Uzuz never have trollkin - their problem is to bear Uzuz, rather than "mere" Uzko.

Trollkin are born to Uzko (Dark Trolls) and other trollkins (often stillbofn, but they do have children).

That's all, IMHO. The Curse was put on Kyger Lytor.

 

[Pentallion]

The Karn, as in Vampire Legion of Karn, as in Karn's Stead, or something else? Where is that term from?

 

 

Hearts in Glorantha, Issue 1 Vol 1, page 22. 

In the Eastern Wilds, Nysalor’s taming reign was
destroyed by Darkness loving trolls and traitorous
humans known as the Karns, powerful seven foot
tall warriors with troll blood in their veins.
Many a wise priest of Nysalor was killed by a Karn
assassin, burning with hate and envy.

[Joerg]

This is straying from the topic of Tarsh a lot...

 

Hearts in Glorantha, Issue 1 Vol 1, page 22. 

Thanks for the reference. To be honest, this is not the kind of "proof" I expected - while Newt makes a great fanzine, bringing up such an obscure aside mention from a personal campaign isn't really helpful.

"troll blood in their veins" - I'll play along and posit that there was a race of darkness-loving seven foot tall people with the appearance of humans that hated Nysaloran missionaries and killed them where they encountered them. Does this mean they have to be related to Kyger Litor?

The Dawn Age knew other man-shaped denizens of the Underworld inhabiting the surface world, like the Shadzorings of Alkoth - hellspawn of Shargash. There is no reason not to have another such race hidden away somewhere in the Elder Wilds. If they were foes of the Bright Empire, there's a good reason why we don't find them any more.

Another possibility could be some kind of vampiric cult that somehow bleeds troll blood into their veins to gain superhuman stature.

Losing the connection to Kyger Litor is a surefire way to get rid of the trollkin curse (doesn't help much if the subject already is a trollkin, though). The example that Sandy Petersen discussed at Kraken are the jungle trolls who lost their Cold to a wound caused by Pamalt.

There is little information on crossbreeding among the races of Darkness.

What we know:

An uzko mother mating with a Zorak Zorani demon will mother a male Great Troll thanks to a heroquest by Cragspider.

Bina Bang mating with the Dehori demon Lord Lurker in Shadows produced the male uzko Pikat Yaraboom (uzko mostly, but beware the demonic Left Hand of Death).

There could be a trend here - Darkness demons are able to father sons on uzko mothers. Unions with uzuz mothers might produce even better and valid forms of uz.

I think that Neep Trollbane might have managed to mate with uzko mothers, but it is unknown whether the Neepspawn were the result of such activity or born from matings with (superior?) trollkin mothers.

There is no data on other crossbreeding efforts other than with the Kitori. A (full) Kitori mating with an uzko mother will father uzko-shaped half-Kitori, never trollkin. If these descendants breed on, they may form a clan that looks like a clan of dark trolls. They don't belong to Kyger Litor without a ritual of adoption, though.

There are no recorded attempts for crossbreeding jungle trolls with dark trolls. The new/rediscovered race of Horned Trolls among some jungle trolls in Pamaltela hasn't been around for long enough to tell whether they can crossbreed with their jungle troll relatives and what would result from such unions, or whether they breed true.

 

 

[bturner]

 

Losing the connection to Kyger Litor is a surefire way to get rid of the trollkin curse (doesn't help much if the subject already is a trollkin, though). The example that Sandy Petersen discussed at Kraken are the jungle trolls who lost their Cold to a wound caused by Pamalt.

The jungle trolls worship Moorgarki, but I had thought that they also still worshipped Kyger Litor. The fact that she isn't preeminent in their religious practices definitely speaks to the loss of connection. Perhaps the only jungle trolls who are able to initiate to her are those who have undergone a ritual to reestablish the connection? This sounds like a heroquest, though maybe a minor and well-known one. On that basis, any jungle troll who did worship Kyger Litor would be at risk of having trollkin children - yet another Dark Secret of the jungle trolls.