Skip to content
The Well of Daliath
Menu
Menu

A few thoughts on the Imperial Lunar nobility

Posted on November 30, 2014

A few thoughts on the elite of the Lunar nobility. The highest nobility are those who are within two or three generations of the Red Emperor. So a few numbers to see what that pool might look like.

Since 1460 (say 160 years ago), there have been ten masks of the Red Emperor. Before that, the Red Emperor had existed 1250 to 1449 (about 200 years) and had fathered at least a 100 children. Some of these children and their families were recognized by Magnificus during the restoration of the Empire after 1460. Many others had been destroyed by Sheng Seleris or had rejected their birthright to survive in the Celestial Empire.

So let’s assume in 1460 there were 20 “Lunar Imperial Nobility families” that had survived Sheng Seleris. This includes Hon-eel, some of the priestly lineages (possibly House Assiday), and many of the families that have rights to travel on the Silver Bridge. These are the Old Nobility with the most status (although not necessarily the most powerful. In the last 160 years, there have been 10 Masks of the Red Emperor. The Emperor typically maintains several consorts and concubines. Some (like Magnificus, Robustus, and Militaris) many; some (like Artifex, Celestinus, and Reclusus) very few. Let’s say on average, each Mask sire one child a year. That’s a 160 direct descendants. Each is the founder of an imperial lineage (with a few weird and powerful exceptions like the Tharkalists). By now, the “average” imperial lineage is 4 generations old, with about 300(!) descended from the founder. That means the New Lunar Nobility probably numbers about 45,000 people (!). For comparison, that’s about three times the size of the modern Saudia royal family. Like that, power and status is concentrated in about 2,000 to 6,000 individuals, who probably include:

  1. All the satraps
  2. All the Provincial Kings
  3. Most of the Imperial bureaucracy
  4. The entire Full Moon Corps
  5. Most of the important priesthoods
  6. All the Masks of the Red Emperor

In fact, in the Lunar Heartlands, it might be difficult to find someone of power who isn’t part of the extended imperial family (this is at its most extreme in the Silver Satrapy and probably at its least extreme in Sylila).

Jeff Richard

Next
Previous
Artifex (mask), Celestinus (mask), Hon-eel, Lunar Empire, Lunar nobility, Magnificus (mask), Militaris (mask), Reclusus (mask), Red Emperor, Robustus (mask)

Sections

  • Search Tips
  • Current RuneQuest Glorantha Publications
  • RuneQuest Glorantha Corrections and Q&A
  • Catalogue
  • References for Glorantha
    • Gloranthan Canon
  • Gloranthan Documents
  • RPG Systems & Versions
  • Gallery
  • Role-playing in Glorantha
  • About This Site
  • Get involved!

Latest Posts

  • Defunct Sartar Tribes

    The Dundealos tribe was “destroyed” by the Lunar Provincial Government …
  • CHArisma

    CHA is arguably the most important characteristic in the game …
  • Sartarite Names

    Many Sartarite names combine prefixes and suffixes as per below; …
  • Dragon Pass Map Forest Overlay

    Just because I find it interesting, here’s that composite map …
  • Ramalia

    So the last major polity in Maniria is Genertela’s answer …

Links

  • Chaosium
  • Glorantha on BRP Central
  • RuneQuest on BRP Central
  • RuneQuest Glorantha on MeWe
  • Glorantha Wiki on Fandom
  • Prince of Sartar Webcomic
  • Glorantha G+ Archives on Tapatalk
  • Search mailing list archive

Latest from BRP Central

  • Looking for VTT players for Pol Joni campaign
  • Sorcery Runes and Components
  • the length of spirit magic spells ?
  • 5th session in and Vishi was having a bad night.
  • Clarification sought on Jonstown Compendium
  • Daily life expenses in Sartarite cities
  • What Prevents Dead Trolls from Self Resurrecting by Returning Back to the Surface World?
  • Shargash Crown (not Helmet)
  • Orlanthi crafting
  • The Scared Girl

Popular Tags

2007 Avalon Hill Boldhome Chaosium Chaos pantheon Cult demographics Cults of Glorantha (preview) Deprecated cult Doraddi pantheon Ernalda Esrolia (homeland) FR G+ post Greg Stafford Guide to Glorantha Guide to Glorantha (preview) Humakt HW Issaries Jar-eel Lhankor Mhy Lunar Empire Lunar Pantheon Magazine Map Michael O’Brien Mongoose Nomad Gods Oriflam Orlanth Orlanthi pantheon Prax (homeland) RQ2 RQ3 RQG Sandy Petersen Sartar (homeland) Solar pantheon Spirit Cult Subcult Tales of the Reaching Moon Tatou Troll / Uz pantheon Yelm Yelmalio

Recently added or updated

  • CHA4034 Red Book of Magic – Chapter 02 Rune Magic Q&A

  • Defunct Sartar Tribes

  • CHA4029 RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack – Q&A

  • Red Emperor

  • Notes on The Red Emperor

  • Takenegi

  • Thed

  • Daak

  • Dakkalesilla

  • DonKivis the Aesthete

  • Barntar

  • Yelmalio

  • Entekos

  • Runes (2004)

  • Bagog

  • Shargash

  • Entekos in the Lunar Heartlands

  • Buserian

  • Myth of the Month: Clouds (2000)

  • Welcome to the Glorantha Resource Site

©2023 The Well of Daliath | Design: Newspaperly WordPress Theme