In thinking about the Holy Country, it is perhaps worth remembering that almost 80% of the population are Orlanthi. However, there is a decidedly Earth religion and matriarchal shade to things, as…
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Notes on Esrolia
Some material facts on Esrolia that I think are of importance. Esrolia is perhaps the most densely settled and intensely cultivated area in the world. It has 1.78 million people in an…
Boldhome Map Preview III
As Matt Ryan and I continue to work on the Boldhome foldout map for the Sartar boxed set, we’ve made a few tweaks based on Greg’s notes. Greg really insisted that the…
The City of the Gods
An account from earliest records of Glorantha, probably circa 350 ST. The City of the Gods (Hrelar Amali) is located on the Crimson Plains between the lands of Ralios and Seshnela. It…
Malkioni Empires
Speaking of Malkioni, their two big empires are Seshnela and Loskalm. Both are about a third the population of the Lunar Empire (Loskalm a little more, Seshnela a little less). But their…
The Red Emperor’s revenues
There was a recent question on where the Red Emperor’s revenues come from. Here’s a few thoughts: So when the Red Emperor wants something, he just decrees it. It is up to…
A Civilization of River-and-Grasslands
Where Sartar is a silk road kingdom, with its riches coming from its command over the trade routes through strategic Dragon Pass, the Lunar Empire is a river-and-grasslands civilization. Because of its…
Notes on Handra & Corflu
A lot of people instantly associate Handra and its isles with Venice. But another City of the Seven Isles is Mumbai, with its isles of Bombay, Parel, Mahim, Mazagaon, Worli, Colaba, and…
Notes on Ralios
Ralios is a syncretic mash-up of “Barbarian Old Gods”, Lightbringer cults, and Hrestolism, along with the some troll and elf cults. Arkat’s Dark Empire unified this land for several centuries, but has…
First publication of Moon Boats
Does anyone recall of hand the first published mention of Lunar moon boats. I recall them being present in special expansion to WBRM, but can’t find the reference and might be misremembering…
Lay Membership
It is worth remembering how common lay membership is. In my adventuring party, one character – an initiate of Orlanth Thunderous and the Sun Dragon – is also lay member of Storm…
Pockets of Boldhome I
Of all the unique architectural elements of Boldhome, the Pockets are to me the most fascinating. Dwarf-made and carved deep into the mountain cliffs, they are an impossible combination of the facades…
Quivin Mountains Map WiP Preview II
Boldhome is the largest settlement in Sartar, comparable in size to all of the other cities of Sartar put together. It is the religious, political, commercial, and cultural center of the kingdom…
So what are dragons?
One theory is that they are manifestations of Glorantha’s unconscious – primordial beings that predate even Chaos. They are intrinsically connected with the Cosmic Egg and the birth of Glorantha. By this…
What constitutes “Chaos”?
A last comment on the various Chaos discussions. A lot of people seem to assume that people in Glorantha are clear about what constitutes “Chaos” – and of course, outside of the…
Telmori Chaos Taint
As for the Telmori being tainted by Chaos – of course being cursed by Chaos taints you with Chaos, and of course the Storm Bull cultists can sense that taint. That may…
Sarostip Coldeye
This is a snippet from the Sartar Book: Born in 1572, Sarostip Coldeye is a Sword of Humakt and part of the ruling dynasty of the Malani tribe. Sarostip abdicated all clan…
Sartar Telmori
Another Sartarite group that is curiously neglected in many campaigns are the Telmori. There are 6500 Telmori – Chaos-tainted werewolves, disliked by every other tribe (except the ducks who are apathetic) who…
Sun County Settlers
Just as New Pavis attracted settlers and exiles from Dragon Pass fleeing from the Lunar Empire, so did Sun County in Prax. Although Yelmalio is neutral towards the Seven Mothers, the cult…
Chaos Tainted
Lists of things I have heard are tainted with Chaos: The list is intended to be illustrative not comprehensive. And we KNOW Storm Bulls often have false positives (and false negatives), and…
Yelmalio Initiates in Prax and Sartar
Something that is worth thinking about is that there are more Yelmalio initiates in Sartar (which includes Sun Dome Temple and the Far Place) than in the Civilized River of Cradles. However,…
The Duck People of Sartar
The diminutive Duck People of Sartar are a strange lightning rod for some people. But in Dragon Pass, they are no stranger than the Horse People (centaurs), Bull People (minotaurs), Dragon People…
RuneQuest Design Decisions
So I figure I’d walk folk through some of the design decisions behind the current RQ releases. 1. The Cults Book underpins everything. If you want to have Lunars, Praxians, Balazarings, Sartarites,…
Reference Texts
So in my previous post, I listed my A0 texts. These are the texts that everything else is built off and that I constantly refer to in world building, rules building, etc….
A Sartarite Farmer
One of my absolute favourite pictures Ossi Hiekkala has done for the forthcoming Sartar Book. This shows a typical free Sartarite farmer (of the Orlmarth Clan to be precise) and his child….