Guide to Glorantha Group Read Week 9 - Tarsh

[David Scott]

Tarsh section discussion here!

Don't forget Colin Driver's epic maps and the artwork.

https://basicroleplaying.org/topic/6664-guide-to-glorantha-group-read-week-9

https://basicroleplaying.org/topic/6665-guide-to-glorantha-group-read-week-9-deep-discussion/

https://basicroleplaying.org/topic/6640-guide-to-glorantha-group-read-week-9-errors/

[jrutila]

So, Tarsh is Orlanthi lands that has already been for a while under Lunar control. I think this resonates with Lunar Heartlands that is Yelmic culture influenced by Lunar Religion.

The map differentiates Lunar and Orlanthi population. But isn't Orlanthi a culture and Lunar more of a religion?

It says that King Pharandros crushed the Sartarite rebellion. What rebellion is this? Further discussion about the rebellion might be suitable in the deep discussion.

[metcalph]

52 minutes ago, jrutila said:

It says that King Pharandros crushed the Sartarite rebellion. What rebellion is this? 

Starbrow's rebellion

[Oracle]

The Wooing of Sorana Tor. This leaves a quite different impression of Sorana Tor than the one, that I've got from reading her short description in Sartar:Kingdom of Heroes, p. 86, where she is mentioned in the context of human sacrifices. The only hint in that direction is the mentioned, but not visible bloody sacrifice knife made of copper and obsidian, that she usually wears.

So it seems, that Arim the Pauper courted the priestess of a very brutal goddess ...

Edited September 17, 2017 by Oracle

[Joerg]

10 minutes ago, Oracle said:

The Wooing of Sorana Tor. This leaves a quite different impression of Sorana Tor than the one, that I've got from reading her short description in Sartar:Kingdom of Heroes, p. 86, where she is mentioned in the context of human sacrifices. The only hint in that direction is the mentioned, but not visible bloody sacrifice knife made of copper and obsidian, that she usually wears.

So it seems, that Arim the Pauper courted the priestess of a very brutal goddess ...

The Black Widow aspect of Sorana Tor came to the full only in the Illaro dynasty that followed Arim's Twin Dynasty. Earth worship in Tarsh had always had a good bit of the Dark Side of the earth to it - Shaker's Temple is ancient, from Vingkotling times or earlier. (Though probably rebuilt a couple of times...)

Courting any goddess has its dangers, often mortal ones. That's part of what makes the mortal men courting them heroes.

Kero Fin has always been a mother goddess - four of her children are better known, Orlanth, Yinkin, Quivin, and Inora. Tara/Velhara, the Lady of the Wild, may be a daughter or an aspect of Kero Fin, just like Sorana Tor. It was winning her affection (symbolized by bearing her necklace) that put Aram ya Udram on the First Council rather than the high king of the Heortlings. Aram having been a civilized diplomat besides an accomplished warrior and tamer of demons may have played a role in this, too, but also in winning her affection.

Sacrifices aren't really unusual for leaders to perform, though usually on animals rather than sentients. Most leaders fulfill a religious function that causes them to cut throats, hew of heads or stab hearts, possibly cutting them out before. Priests may do this more often, but leaders will lead sacrifices at times.

As a native speaker of German, the terms "victim" and "sacrifice" are pretty much synonymous for me ("Opfer"), so it may have taken me some more acclimatisation with the mindset to "offer" (linguistically the same as Opfer) lives to the powers of the Other Side. (Note another interesting linguistic construct, to "give up" something - passing it on to the elevated Other Side.)

So, human sacrifice. Few human cults in Glorantha do this out of the blue. In many cases, the sacrifices volunteer for this. In other cases, victims ("overcome ones") are foes captured to go this way. Often this was a weird sort of honoring the enemy, too - you didn't pass on just anyone, the nobler the better.

A sacrifice might evade the trip to the Court of Silence, and move directly to the afterlife of the receiving deity. They shouldn't be available for resurrection via the normal means. (Raiding the deity in question on the Other Side might be a viable method, but you'd have to be a demigod to pull something like that off.)

Anyway, I am fairly certain that Arim knew about the man-eating side of Sorana Tor. That did not deter him in the slightest - it may have increased her allure.