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Swords of Central Genertela


M Helsdon

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22 hours ago, Runeblogger said:

Of course. But please tell us, who is the skull guy standing next to the centurion?

A Kill You Regiment militiaman (Alkoth).

I don't usually publish roughs, but here's one for the next sketch, doodles and all. Hmm, I need to angle the arm and shield out a little more.

Additional: Jeff says this is a senior file-leader.

Granite rough.png

Edited by M Helsdon
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Ah, they have Pixies in the Granite Phalanx, isn't he cute, presumably a mascot of some kind.

Or, they could have a couple of giants in the Phalanx, even better.

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Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

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I think the Alkothi you're reconstructing would've obviously changed since the SA period, but if you wanted to - we used some Mayan influence (skull shaped jade death whistles), they have bronze spiked maces or spears, bronze or jade lamellar in a vaguely Chinese/Siberian style, Assyrian-like bronze bucklers or domed round shields. Their warriors lengthen their skulls, to mimick demons, and the huge ones are actually called "demon men".

The best image for inspiration would be the illustration for a battle with the Alkothi, though that one is not on the Wiki. (yet?)

Also you can look at Shargash: http://sixages.wikia.com/wiki/File:Shargash.jpg

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2 hours ago, JanPospisil said:

I think the Alkothi you're reconstructing would've obviously changed since the SA period, but if you wanted to - we used some Mayan influence (skull shaped jade death whistles), they have bronze spiked maces or spears, bronze or jade lamellar in a vaguely Chinese/Siberian style, Assyrian-like bronze bucklers or domed round shields. Their warriors lengthen their skulls, to mimick demons, and the huge ones are actually called "demon men".

The best image for inspiration would be the illustration for a battle with the Alkothi, though that one is not on the Wiki. (yet?)

Also you can look at Shargash: http://sixages.wikia.com/wiki/File:Shargash.jpg

Holy crap, that Shargash is terrifying. Not only in a monstrous sense, but there is genuinely something creepy, uncomfortable about him. Kudos to the artists.

The artwork in the Glorantha Sourcebook make him out to look more like a traditional "savage" berserker (which (I like too - hence the need of an Emperor and all that), but this version looks positively malevolent.

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I suppose the Alkothi's hang for body-modification might also explain why the First Council forces saw them as non-human demons and distinct from the other Pelorians/Dara Happans. (Although I still prefer the idea that there was something additional going on with Alkoth connecting to the Underworld and celestial-humans and underworld-beings mixing in there during the Darkness somehow - but that's just my own wishful thinking.)

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3 hours ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

I suppose the Alkothi's hang for body-modification might also explain why the First Council forces saw them as non-human demons and distinct from the other Pelorians/Dara Happans. (Although I still prefer the idea that there was something additional going on with Alkoth connecting to the Underworld and celestial-humans and underworld-beings mixing in there during the Darkness somehow - but that's just my own wishful thinking.)

I think of the human appearance of the Alkothi as a body modification...

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Telling how it is excessive verbis

 

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Apropos of Pelorian armaments - what units of the Lunars will be using curved swords? Judging from the artwork I've seen, there seems to be a back-and-forth over whether Lunar regiments (not necessarily the Hoplite Phalanxes of pre-Lunar origin) should be using sabers or khopeshes and the like or not. Jar-Eel is famous for her "moonblades", which are seemingly curved, but are these unique in shape, or is there a general trend in curved blades among newer Lunar regiments, and if so, what shape do they take?

Sorry for the aside, just thought it'd be pertinent given the wealth of info on armaments here.

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On ‎1‎/‎29‎/‎2019 at 1:48 PM, Sir_Godspeed said:

Apropos of Pelorian armaments - what units of the Lunars will be using curved swords? Judging from the artwork I've seen, there seems to be a back-and-forth over whether Lunar regiments (not necessarily the Hoplite Phalanxes of pre-Lunar origin) should be using sabers or khopeshes and the like or not. Jar-Eel is famous for her "moonblades", which are seemingly curved, but are these unique in shape, or is there a general trend in curved blades among newer Lunar regiments, and if so, what shape do they take?

The Lunar Army List indicates which use kopis swords, and there are four or five listed as using sickle-swords (varieties of moonswords, khopesh etc.), but I believe it would be a mistake to assume a uniformity of arms and armor beyond basic definitions. In the ancient period, what an individual carried as their secondary weapon, depended more upon choice than any uniformity or regimentation. You have to get to the late Republican Romans before there's a uniformity of equipment (and we have texts where soldiers are reported as moaning that their helmet or armor doesn't fit (some workshops seem to have manufactured them to small, medium and large templates), and the Roman Army isn't a good fit for any Gloranthan force).

In Glorantha, in this period, I suspect the only units that are uniform in arms and armor probably consist of Iron Dwarves.

So in a given regiment, you might find numerous types of kopis, of different weights and curves, and even where the kopis is the 'standard' some will carry other types of sword instead - even straight swords (a short straight sword is very practical for close-in fighting in a phalanx when your spear has broken, and there isn't room to swing a sword), or a sickle-sword, in a non Lunar regiment where the officers are initiates or more of Yanafal Tarnils and will probably carry a curved sword of some description.

[Spent the evening roughing out the next one, which will be a bit complicated and so may take a week to complete. Illustrating the initial section about plunder. Two figures: one happily displaying his loot. It will be a bit grim: taken note of the earlier comment about war being nasty, brutish and inhumane.]

Edited by M Helsdon
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Working on the current sketch. Starting to plan the next...

But:

Does anyone have any canonical information about these regiments please?

  • Hell Sisters - wear skins and furs.
  • Blessed Daughters - female archers.
  • Flowers of Death – mixed unit?
  • Moon Arrow – all female light cavalry?
  • Wing Temple
  • Yalamese
  • Bell Temple
  • Green Bows - mixed male/female Sairdite archers?

I have 'some' information about some of these, expanded with assumptions.

For example:

 

Bell Temple

Type

Heavy Cavalry

Armor

Bronze breastplate, helmet

Weapons

Long spear, broadsword, round shield

Morale

Regular

4

Patron Deity

Redaylda

Notes

Supported by the Bell Temple.

Magic Factor

Medium

5

Missile Factor

0

Melee Factor

5

The city of Filichet on the shores of Lake Invaress is famed for its Great Earth Temple known as the Bell Temple.

The temple was built in the late Second Age around 1041, at the site where the sacred Golden Stallion ended his progess. There, the priestesses built a temple to Redaylda Holaya, the Red Woman, which they claimed as their own and to which they brought the Helmet of Perides[1], later claimed by Hwarin Dalthippa.

The tunics and helmet decorations of the regiment are green.

The regiment was at the Battle of Dangerford in 1625.

 

[1] A fragmentary text suggests this was the First Age Vanchite King Periades, who fought in the Battle of Night and Day.

Latest figure in the small versions. Illustration figure has a different right arm...

 

thirty smaller3.png

Edited by M Helsdon
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Part of the next sketch. Had a drawing by Da Vinci and a painting by a Renaissance artist I can't identify in front of me when sketching this. It is in part a counterpart to the earlier demon 'black horse'.

A bit experimental - attempting to draw a white creature without outlining it in black. Tomorrow will start on his rider. Mane requires more work...

The previous drawing was intended to shock - it isn't PC, but then war isn't.

It was 'part of life' in the Bronze and Iron Age that women and children would be seized as slaves; this is also recorded in the Iliad, where the Trojan women are simply part of the loot (and the tablets recovered from Mycenae record the slave women working in the manufactories by nationality). In Classical Greece, it was normal behavior when a town or city was captured to enslave the women; the men were often killed outright or sent to the mines (and the latter would have short brutal lives ahead of them). The Hittites and Assyrians often deported populations, but didn't kill them outright, instead settling them on land to make it more productive, and ensured their usefulness by moving them into unfamiliar territory (the Assyrians only turned really nasty when a subject people/city reneged on their earlier oaths). The Assyrians also had the policy of inducting defeated enemy soldiers into their army as auxiliaries, not killing them all as the Greeks often did. In Glorantha, the multinational nature of the Lunar Army demonstrates a similar policy.

unicorn small.png

Edited by M Helsdon
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Amazing pics, as always. The one with the slave was certainly shocking. I know this was often the case during the Bronze Age, but even so, associating it with the fantasy world I love is hard. 

The unicorn is great, but it looks as if it were suffering or bored. Also, I would make its mane wilder.

The Blessed Daughter is very cool BTW. Why do you depict her with a veil?

Read my Runeblog about RuneQuest and Glorantha at: http://elruneblog.blogspot.com.es/

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The unicorn's face does seem to have some of that Renaissance oddness, as if they were struggling to apply human facial principles to an animal - if that makes any sense.

Beyond that, is the mine an erect one, or is it lying over the neck away from the viewer?

Kudos for including the cloven hooves and the goatee. Without them Unicorns often just look exactly like horses with a horn.

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36 minutes ago, Runeblogger said:

Amazing pics, as always. The one with the slave was certainly shocking. I know this was often the case during the Bronze Age, but even so, associating it with the fantasy world I love is hard. 

Slavery in Glorantha definitely exists, and is of economic importance to the city of Slavewall, and to the Lunar Empire. After considerable thought, given that slave-taking and other plundering is mentioned in the book, I decided it should be (relatively tamely) depicted - it isn't nice, it isn't condoned, but if you adventure in a Bronze Age world then there's going to be some culture shock, and instead of the usual fantasy art clichés about pretty slaves, it seemed wise to show that it is a nasty ugly business dealing in human misery for profit. The Slavewall Regiment is also described as being known for its slave-taking. The young woman, is, by what is left of her garb and jewelry, probably a wealthy Sartarite, and the picture should be a reason for all red-blooded Orlanthi (male and female) to hate the regiment...

36 minutes ago, Runeblogger said:

The unicorn is great, but it looks as if it were suffering or bored. Also, I would make its mane wilder.

Unfortunately, on my laptop, the balance/colour saturation looks okay, but on my desktop with its better screen, it doesn't; I intend reworking the picture tomorrow. Afraid I'm not good enough at sketching to depict a non-human expression.

36 minutes ago, Runeblogger said:

The Blessed Daughter is very cool BTW. Why do you depict her with a veil?

Thank you. The canonical description shared with me mentions the veil - in combat they only show their faces to those they give a mercy killing.

I believe this may turn up as a miniature...

30 minutes ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

The unicorn's face does seem to have some of that Renaissance oddness, as if they were struggling to apply human facial principles to an animal - if that makes any sense.

Beyond that, is the mine an erect one, or is it lying over the neck away from the viewer?

Kudos for including the cloven hooves and the goatee. Without them Unicorns often just look exactly like horses with a horn.

It does, and perhaps they were? The face is derived from a Renaissance painting, and whilst 'odd' I liked it. The mane is intended to be erect, a bit like a zebra's mane, but the experimentation doesn't work, for the reason noted above. Carefully read the RQ Bestiary description and that in the RQ Companion before starting the sketch. If there's time to rework the picture, will share it tomorrow.

May redraw the face...

renaissance unicorn.jpg

Edited by M Helsdon
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9 hours ago, M Helsdon said:

Slavery in Glorantha definitely exists, and is of economic importance to the city of Slavewall, and to the Lunar Empire. After considerable thought, given that slave-taking and other plundering is mentioned in the book, I decided it should be (relatively tamely) depicted - it isn't nice, it isn't condoned, but if you adventure in a Bronze Age world then there's going to be some culture shock, and instead of the usual fantasy art clichés about pretty slaves, it seemed wise to show that it is a nasty ugly business dealing in human misery for profit. The Slavewall Regiment is also described as being known for its slave-taking. The young woman, is, by what is left of her garb and jewelry, probably a wealthy Sartarite, and the picture should be a reason for all red-blooded Orlanthi (male and female) to hate the regiment...

Even the Orlanthi have thralls, so yeah, we don't need to look beyond our backyard to find it.

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2 hours ago, Grievous said:

Even the Orlanthi have thralls, so yeah, we don't need to look beyond our backyard to find it.

The Slavewall regiment is Orlanthi in culture, though not in worship. The vast majority of Lunars in Tarsh are Orlanthi clansmen who worship the Seven Mothers or a specific aspect of them rather than Orlanth, and who worship Ernalda just like the Sartarites or the Esrolians do. While you find less Ernalda worshipers in a military unit, they all are quite close to the hills, in case of Slavewall literally (less true for northern Tarsh which lies in the vast fluvial plain).

Only the Hendriki and their descendants have ancestral obligations to let thralls go free, most Heortlings and definitely most Orlanthi have no such compunctions and will take captives in battle or raiding and bring them home to do low status work (or ransom them back).

Hendriki descendants seem to be over-represented in the make-up of Sartarite clans - this special attraction to liberty may have been a selection criterion when Heortlanders packed up after Belintar took over. Kethaelan Heortland has maybe 20-50% Hendriki-descended clans, with the clans that fell under Aventus' foreigner laws making up the rest.

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Telling how it is excessive verbis

 

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