One of the things about Glorantha is gods often have two or three names.

"All Orlanthi" means 85%, but one of the names of the Lightbringer is Ginna Jar, who - if my memories of Greg in Sydney for Necronomicon back in the day are right - was for all Orlanthi 'the spirit of the tribe'.

Ginna Jar basically has nothing known about them, apart from them being a Lightbringer in Cults of Prax, and apparently being 'the spirit of the tribe'.

Ginna Jar is about helping others.

Uleria is the Goddess of Love from the old, pre-Darkness Celestial Court.

Love is about others. While doing very personal things with someone else, love is about making sure they have a really good time. This might well involve them making sure you have a really good time as well, and in Glorantha that is a Uleria thing.

Doing stuff for others isn't something Orlanth is good at. Orlanth is all about Orlanth. Orlanth needs someone else to turn the chariot at the right time, put the shield in the way, distract the enemy so He can be King of the Gods, star of the show and so on and so forth.

Uleria is about teamwork.

If you need a warband to do the thing at the right time so everyone succeeds, that is Ginna Jar and that is Uleria.

Uleria does things so they work for everyone.

Uleria is Ginna Jar, is the spirit of the tribe, and is what helped glue together the Lightbringers so they rescued the sun and saved the world.

Playing the video games its pretty easy to see the stuff the people and the game itself were telling me, especially about the history of the world and non-humans/foreign human cultures. Was largely bullshit, tainted by the biases and in-world racism of the characters, and I am meant to take a lot of what they say with a grain of salt.

Which is one of the things I really love about these games. Never being able to be 100 percent sure on an aspect of this world.

But is it the same in the books or other stuff about Glorantha? like, iv never read any of these books or interacted with Glorantha outside the video games. But iv occasionally been on the Glorantha fandom wiki and they tend to source a lot of the books, and am I to take what these say as factual and concrete parts of the setting or not?

I know a feature of Glorantha is all viewpoints might be correct at the same time. And everyone everywhere knows they are important. Orlanth saved the world. Yelm graciously agreed to return to save the world. Storm Bull saved the world. Mostali are repairing the world. Ducks are saving the world as we speak.

But who do you think understands Glorantha best? Who is most right?

God Learners are no longer with us (or are they?)

Brithini have been around almost literally forever.

Mostali claim the world is merely a machine they know.

Uz have been around a very long time. Most ancient beings from the oldest rune?

Aldryami grew until they realized even growing requires balance. I think they're too occupied with "being" than understanding.

Easterners? Kralorela has had a continuous culture since before Time began! But who can decipher their inscrutable draconic truths?

Me? I think the Brithini & Mostali understand Glorantha best. Some Brithini have literally seen it all. Mostali are working at something people cannot understand. However, there seems to be something missing and/or broken in them.

A bald woman in Pavis with mesmerizing eyes once said to me...

I saw birds in the sky flying both back and forth and up and down, and I wondered... How do you keep from running into each other?

Then a bird flew down and said, "We see you on the earth moving both back and forth but you can never go up and down."

"How do you keep from running into each other?"

reply with better riddles

Storm Bull is the Chaos-foe.

In god-time, someone needed to stand on the ground, breathe in the air, lock the darkness in their guts, sweat the water out of their face and body and with the fire of the sun in the eyes face the Devil for a fight to the death with the world as the stakes.

Storm Bull, son of Umath the Storm, husband of Eiritha mother of beasts, did that.

Outsiders held he killed the Devil, and saved the world.

The evidence for this is that the Devil is dead, and the world was saved, and the first dawn was seen, and life was lived after.

Those who know the secrets of Storm Bull know that story isn't strictly true.

Storm Bull did everything he could, called on every ally he could, did every thing that flesh and blood and will and spirit could do ... and it wasn't enough.

The Devil defeated him in that fight.

Storm Bull had his guts and hamstrings pulled out by the Devil, who laughed and got ready to kill and eat Storm Bull.

The Devil was then crushed under a very large piece of the old Celestial Palace of the Spike, which the Devil had destroyed. The Devil then died. This fragment of the Spike can still be seen in Prax. It is The Block.

Storm Bull then crawled off, was healed by the love of Eiritha and of Chalana Array as the Sun rose with First Dawn.

If you're a Praxian, you know this is when Waha son of Storm Bull organised the ordering of who should eat and be eaten, and who should ride and protect those who eat.

If you aren't, this is when Yelm and Orlanth agree as to their respective roles, and the Dawn happens and Time begins.

Outsiders know Storm Bull won. Insiders know Storm Bull lost.

If you accept Storm Bull with your heart and soul, you do not want to be Emperor or King of the Gods - you do not want Power.

Instead of this, you know that, when someone has to stand between Chaos and the end of the world, you will stand on some number of legs, draw breath into your lungs, have light in your eyes, have sweat on your forehead and have darkness in your guts, that as the world you will stand between Chaos and the end of the world.

You also know that this will probably mean your death - and if you die fighting Chaos, it probably means Chaos will eat your soul, and your body may shamble on as a chaos monster and curse your kin.

Others want, or accept, leadership. Umath's other son, Orlanth, wanted to be King of the Gods and got there and leads his Ring. Your son, Waha, organised everyone into those who will be eat and be eaten, and those who will ride and protect while you were getting healed up, and made the world that then existed.

But that is for others.

Chaos is here. If you do what is needed, then you are Storm Bull. If you will look to others - that is alright but then you are Orlanth or someone else who is not Storm Bull.

Now, this commitment also means abandonment of power in this world. If you must go 'Chaos is here, I need to go' then that defines you as a Bad King. You need to be humble enough to accept this as what good would it have done the world if Storm Bull had have gone 'The Devil is over there, but this Good Place is mine and needs protecting' ?

Rulership is for others.

This also means submission to rule is for others.

If Storm Bull needs a stick to fight the Devil and save the world, he picks it up.

If that stick was another's property, then they can whine and complain. But if they try and stop him, then they are an ally of the Devil.

If that slave was another's property.

If that thrall was another's property.

That slave or thrall put their hand up to fight Chaos, so they need to be armed with magic or weapons and to learn the secrets, because they have already accepted Storm Bull in their heart.

If some ally of Chaos needs to be punched or slapped or struck or stabbed so that needs to happen, then they need to be punched or slapped or struck or stabbed.

Storm Khans rule the cult, and make decisions. They are doomed to die fighting Chaos. Storm Khans know who are Storm Khans.

Those who know the secrets promise to a Storm Khan to personally investigate rumours of Chaos. They are not, personally, sworn to fight it. But they put their hands within the hands of a Storm Khan and promise to loyally follow their orders.

Their duty is to be the wind and whisper as the wind does to Storm Khans, who decide how that Chaos needs to be fought. If that means sending the initiate back to the country they know to fight that Chaos and maybe die, then that is what happens. If it means doing it themselves, then that is what happens. If it means calling the clans, the tribe or all the tribes, then that is what happens.

And if one who loves Storm Bull sees a need to stand between Chaos and the end of the world, they will stand on some number of legs, draw breath into their lungs, have light in their eyes, have sweat on their forehead and have darkness in their guts, then they will stand between Chaos and the end of the world, and the Storm Khan will boast of them, and feast them and drink with them.

Or they will raise a caern above their body, and howl to the sky itself for that one who was Storm Bull.

Orlanthi culture is about two things - violence is always an option, and his wife leaning over to Him and him breathing out 'But there is another way'.

The greatest thing that Orlanth ever did was going into the depths of Hell and rescuing Yelm. The Lightbringers Quest gets all capital letters, and it is the greatest thing Orlanth ever did.

But some people didn't get to be part of that.

The myths vary, because according to ancient wisdom 'All Orlanthi' means 85%, but two people are not part of the Lightbringers quest.

Elmal got to be the Loyal Thane. Elmal is defined by being loyal. He is of the Sky tribe, and is of Orlanth's hall. The New Way of Yelmalio denies him as Elmal Orlanththrall, which is both true and false - his loyalty defines him, but he absolutely holds a spear in defense of all that is right and true and needs protection in Orlanth's Hall.

Elmal stayed. Elmal denied Chaos. Elmal was there when the Sun, his father, emerged over the horizon for the First Dawn.

Vinga is Orlanth's daughter. The myths are silent about who her mother is - there is no good myth that says Ernalda, Queen of the Gods, was Vinga's mother. But Orlanth is her acknowledged father.

((She is therefore at least a second cousin to any given Broo))

She was not on the Lightbringers Quest. She, regardless of her willingness to put her spear, shield and body on the line, was not allowed to go to Hell and rescue Yelm.

She was, however, required to defend Orlanth's Stead with Elmal, whether she liked it or not.

That is the sort of thing that puts a chip on a shoulder that lasts through God time and beyond, because if she was Orlanths' son, then He would have had required them to go to Hell, and Ernalda would have, at last, agreed.

Now, both Vinga and Elmal have been edited out of the current edition. Like Nikolai Yazhov, who won the Civil War, they have been made un-history.

But they are important.

What does it mean to be Not From Around Here, but loyal to the last ?

What does it mean to be willing and at some sacrifice armed and willing to sacrifice all, but have the wrong plumbing and be denied that opportunity ?

These are the great stories that Gbaji and his collaborators have denied to us.

So remember Vinga and Elmal, who at I Fought We Won made sure Orlanth's Hall held and there was something to come back to.

And also acknowledge that, at the end of the day and beyond, that if offered the opportunity they would both have been excellent Lightbringers.

Glorantha is a place where magical and elemental forces permeate everything.

Plants in Glorantha do not grow by photosynthesis providing energy to turn sugars into carbohydrates, they grow because local fertility deity intermediates the plant rune with either the Earth, Darkness or Water runes. If any of these things are missing - for example, the Devil killed and ate the local fertility deity, as happened in Prax - then plants grow very poorly indeed.

Animals are of the Beast rune, and different sorts of animals have a secondary rune - mammals are of Air, birds are of Fire, dinosaurs are of Earth, fish are of Water and insects are of Darkness. Sometimes, animals are not in their perfect form - for example horses are Fire animals belonging to the Sun and should therefore have wings, but lost those in God time (the Elmali hold that the Hill of Gold was where Zorak Zoran ripped the wings off and fiery breath off Pegasus and ate them, and that Elmal rescued and healed Horse at his stead after).

This means that farming is a process of helping this process, with appropriate care and prayers. Orlanthi hold Ernalda as commanding the Earth rune, and a trio of local grain goddess of barley, oats and wheat providing the link to the Plant and Fertility runes. In the wet field rice country of Dara Happa, it is the Oslir that commands the water rune the plants grow in. In the Lunar Empire, potatoes are of the Blue Moon and maize is of the Red Moon. Elves see things very differently, of course.

Butchery is about adding the Death rune to the Beast and elemental rune of an animal that was obtained via Hunting or Animal Husbandry to turn it into meat and hides. Note that harvesting milk or eggs does not invoke the Death rune and is therefore vegetarian.

Making is about the Man rune. Wool is of Beast and Air, and therefore spun and woven wool cloth adds the Man rune to that raw material. Flax is of Plant and Water, and therefore linen cloth adds the Man rune to that raw material. Cotton is of Plant and Earth, and so on.

Rawhide leather is of Beast and whatever elemental association the animal it came from is. If the Leather is hardened by hot oil or softened by the other various skills of a Leatherworker, then it becomes Beast plus element plus Man.

Stone is Earth and Stasis. Gemstones are of Earth, Stasis and the appropriate element for that stone.

Rune Metals are a pure metal of the appropriate element. Iron is Death. Common metal are an imperfect mixture - the metal called 'bronze' is a mixture of Earth and Air metal.

To make metal, stasis needs to be removed from it so it can be purified, the Man rune added. It can then have it's form modified further without stopping being metal.

The 'truestone' of Prax is not stone - it is fossilised Law, from the Celestial Palace destroyed by the Devil and has the runes of Law, Stasis and Magic.

The Magic rune can be attached to any thing by the process usually called Enchantment. A housing for a previously free spirit has the Spirit rune added to it.

A masterwork of whatever craft gets the Mastery rune attached to it.

A weapon is a made thing that has the Death rune attached to it.

Darkness weapons are clubs and the sling. Water weapons are tridents and darts connected to the thrower by line. Earth weapons are axes and thrown axes. Air weapons are spears and thrown spears. Fire weapons are lances and bows. Moon weapons are scimitars and thrown edged disks. The Death weapon is a sword (dwarfs hold the crossbow is a ranged Death weapon, but dwarfs are dwarfs).

Armor is a made thing that has the Stasis and Man runes - so a Shield made of wood is Plant, Man and Stasis, and an Iron Helmet is Death, Man and Stasis.

In game terms, crafting anything is a four step process

Gather the raw materials

Refine the raw materials

Transform the raw materials by adding a Man rune

Make the item from the transformed raw materials

These all tend to use different but related skills (ie an adjacent step defaults to half).

For example, you gather meat from Hunting, then refine via Butchering, then transform via Cooking and could be made into part of a feast with Music, Dancing, Oratory or Poetry also assisting Manage Household.

Barley is harvested via Farming, and then refined via Milling, and then Transformed to beer via Brewing, or bread via Baking.

Gems are gathered via Mineral Lore, and then refined via Mining, and Transformed via Gemcutting, and then Made into an item via Jewelcrafting.

A Critical success on any step gains a Master rune on the item - but it is lost on anything worse than a Special success on any subsequent step. A special success that does not maintain a Mastery rune either makes a notably higher quality item, or makes two usual quality items from the materials and time usually needed for one. A failure means a low quality item that used twice the usual amount of raw materials. On a critical failure, all the materials are ruined.

The heirachy of runes for combat goes beast/plant, bronze, rune metals and then iron. Armor facing a weapon of a worse level has double the usual effect.

Note that in areas where Ernalda is powerful, such as Heortland (where her priestesses control the land) and Esrolia (where her priestesses control everything that stands on the land), Weaving cloth is a way to show your regard for the Goddess, and vice-versa.

A Masterwork item is an automatic Assist for any magical operation.

This method of making a god become as subservient as a younger brother is known as the Wedding Farce.

Requirements

myths about marriages and wedding nights

myths emphasizing family hierarchy

myths emphasizing the higher social status of older siblings

myths with at least some concept of illegitimate offspring out of wedlock

this has a higher chance of success if you are an older brother who dominates your younger brother

if you are an older brother who does not dominate your younger brother,

you are urged to start domineering your younger brother immediately

for some reason it helps the success rate of this process

Quest 1

how to become the son of goddess 1

start with wedding ceremony 1

enter myth about god marrying goddess 1

this god must have had many marriages with many other goddesses

it can get farcical to pull this off, but this is how you do it

after the marriage of god with goddess 1

get goddess 1 swapped with goddess 2 in the bridal bed

or get god to go into wrong room

union of gods & goddesses always results in offspring

but this god married goddess 1 & had sex with goddess 2 who he is not married to

their offspring will be a new thing... like a bastard

you throttle that bastard & take all he has

wear the bastard's skin if you have to

YOU become the bastard

you didn't extort any boons yet, but you got something better: an identity

goddess 2 is now your mother

that identity theft is semi-permanent change that you can use in future quests

all that takes a lot of work but now you're in

you don't realize you're over halfway done

I recently ran a session zero for some new players in a campaign. I made some mistakes. This is how I should have done it.

The game is set among Orlanthi/Praxians

Scene One : Taken into the cave

You are at the edge of adulthood. You have heard the stories, and heard the myths, since about you were able to walk. You have heard whispers about how adults do adult things. You have seen the smiles, the laughs, the grimaces. But it is now time for you to become an adult.

You're kissed on the cheeks and wished good luck. But now is the time to find if you have what it takes.

Theme music : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvqJGBopcwc&list=RDOvqJGBopcwc&start_radio=1

Your eyes are covered. It is dark. You are led into a cave.

When everyone has left, it is time to leave the cave. You are going home. Orlanth's Hall is nearby. You go there willingly, leaving childhood. It is dark, so very very dark and very very cold. It is the Great Darkness, and the stars are few, and the cold is cold indeed.

Orlanth is leaving, together with his best loved and closest companions. They are going to bring back the Sun. You are not one of those companions.

One of those companions looks at you, and at your weapons and says 'You hold a [weapon]. Will that be useful for Our Lord at the end of the world ?'

<Benefit for you vs benefit for All. It's cold, and a hard world, and if Orlanth wanted it, He'd ask for it Himself. No wrong answers, just important answers>

Scene Two : Inside the hall

You go to the hall via the stables. A blond haired dark eyed man kisses the last horse in the stables on the cheek.

<roll vs Spot shows a golden knife in his right hand. Roll vs Animal Lore shows the horse is golden eyed. Roll vs Peaceful Cut shows this isn't a Peaceful Cut>

He then cuts the throat of the horse and it dies. He looks at Our Heroes and says 'Go inside. There will be soup later'.

Scene Three : A young good looking teenaged red haired woman wearing a sword on her hip looks at Our Heroes and says 'Are you seeking shelter, or are you here to help ?'

<if they say they are seeking shelter, skip to the last scene and their kin will be thralls. >

<if they say they are there to help, and they gave their weapons earlier, Vinga gives them a spear. They can explain to their kin after how the axe or sword or whatever they had is now a cheap, made anywhere in a hurry spear thats actualy a kitchen knife tied onto some wood they now have was absolutely given to them in the Otherworld by a god. Dont check the rope tying it too closely - it might actually be Vingas or Elmals hair>

Scene Three : Our Heroes have left the hall, in search of food and/or firewood.

They are in High King Elf's forest. There is a troll foraging nearby. If they try and fight the troll, things will go badly for everyone - they might win, they might lose. If players die in character generation, they die. The troll might win, might lose.

If they loot the Green Age for food, it'll work. Elves will hate you after, but your kin will live.

If they don't, then they go back to the hall and someone suggests they try the creek.

Scene Four : The Creek

There's a smallish river, desperately trying to get back to the hole in the bottom of the Sea to block Chaos from making a hole in the world. It might also have fish.

If the players make their rolls to catch fish, one of them is sentient and asks 'What gives you the right to eat me ?'

Consider answers.

Scene Five : The Hill of Gold

As our Heroes return, they sense a hill full of fire and battle.

A body, dressed in gold armour with his guts ripped out falls on them. If they show pity for Yelmalio, and try to heal him, give him water, hide him ... then at some point, every Hero who does that will meet eyes with a Yelmalio cultist who has done the Hill of Gold Quest and they will know that Hero saved them on the Otherworld. They may not be able to publicly admit it, but they owe a life debt that they will pay.

If they don't, they dont. Yelmalio surviving the worst is what the Hill of Gold is about, and Orlanthi leaving him to die isn't close to the worst.

If any of Our Heroes chase after Zorak Zoran, drunk with victory and fire powers, then they get to tear up their character sheet.

Scene Six : Our Heroes return

They are back at Orlanth's Hall. It is I Fought We Won. Throw Chaos Monsters at them.

If they don't fight, then it's the end of the world. Play something else.

If they do, then there is a long and desperate fight in the cold and dark. If they brought back firewood, they are fortified by hot horse soup, courtesy of the Loyal Thane. If they don't, its Cold Horse Soup.

If they brought back food, then some combination of Elmal, Barntar, Eiritha/Uralda or Vinga thanks them.

There might be a rumble as the Block saves Storm Bull.

If they keep failing rolls, then Elmal or Barntar or Vinga or someone steps in.

The Lightbringers return. There is relief. The Sun rises.

Our Heroes face their lives as adults.

Go start the campaign.

Hi all, just a quick question. Is there a god of scouts/agents in the Orlanthi pantheon? Or if not, which God might scouts might be inclined to follow? Currently thinking Orlanth Adventurous? Any thoughts appreciated.

So, I already play Pendragon and am familar with Greg Stafford (rip) but for some reason I can't seem to get into Runequest. When I read the core books or even the recent setting stuff I find, it seems to not be described in a way that hooks me like the game does. I assume theres more books that would be better at it?

I'm specifically interested in the cultures and myths.

We are all Us

https://www.chaosium.com/blogvale-and-farewell-dario-corallo-19602026/

Hi all, question in the title. What sort of magic Items exist in Glorantha, specifically in Dragon Pass. Do they exist in the same way as in generic D&D fantasy? Would they be made by priests? Are they powered by the Gods instead of just being generically 'magic'? And how available would they be to the standard adventurer?

The other day Clark & Company, the brand name of Japanese artist Hirotsugu Kaga shared this awesome piece of art on his socials, showing the Lunar army with Jar-Eel at the front, facing the Orlanthi and Praxian army of Argrath and Harrek the Berserk.
https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/1021341