Skip to content
The Well of Daliath
Menu
Menu

Chaotic features in the Lunar Empire

Posted on December 1, 2021

The Red Goddess provides Chaos Gift to many Lunar cults, including initiates of her own cult and to senior priestesses of the Seven Mothers (but also to initiates of Danfive Xaron, priestesses of Deezola, Rune Lords of Hwarin Dalthippa, initiates of Yanafal Tarnils, and Yara Aranis. As we all know, this spell temporarily grants the caster with a random Chaos feature and permanently taints the caster with Chaos. So let’s assume somewhere less than 1% of the Lunar population is tainted by Chaos, but that percentage is primarily in the ruling class or its henchmen.

Remember that a Chaos feature is much more than just a cool power – it is something that warps and mutates the recipient. Often it results in mutated horrors, but even when beneficial the results can be inhuman. People with features too smooth, uncanny valleys, exaggerated or grotesque body parts, and so on. But also those gifted have the sensation of wielding blasphemous power ripped out of the cosmos. Now 99% of the population have never experienced Chaos Gift, but that less than 1% are tainted by the experience. Many are Illuminated, but many are not. Needless to say this likely has some cultural effect.

How would a high chaos rune affinity affect someone’s personality? I don’t think Chaos has a single personality. It is corruption, entropy, and evil. It is formless, emptiness, the void, or the abyss. It is the antithesis of the cosmos – the complex system we know as Glorantha. Most normal creatures are instinctive repelled by Chaos and most mortals find it terrifying and wrong.To reference the other roleplaying game, Chaos triggers SAN checks, sanity loss, and cosmic horror.

This aspect of the Lunar religion is often papered over by cults like the Seven Mothers but it is there at the heart of the Red Goddess cult. She is Life, Moon, and Chaos after all.

Jeff Richard

Next
Previous
Chaos, Lunar Empire

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
  • About This Site
  • Get involved!

Latest Posts

  • Humakt and Orlanthi society

    The relationship between the cults of Orlanth and Humakt also …
  • The Size of Sartar

    At the time Argrath is acclaimed Prince in 1627, Sartar …
  • Sun County, Prax

    There’s about 19,000 people in Sun County, with some 4350 …
  • Hey that’s cool Jeff, but what the heck am I supposed to do with that in my Runequest game?

    I posted two “deep” background articles on the nature of …
  • Introducing Gloranthan Gods and Cults

    Gaming a lot of RuneQuest in a lot of different …
  • Argat / Arkat / Argrath

    Here are a few more notes for Discord. Now from …
  • The Cycle of History

    Some notes from a discussion on the Chaosium Discord channel …
  • Magic Items and Runequest

    So. Lets think of some of the categories they might …
  • The Grasslands of Prax

    Something to keep in mind about Prax. The grasslands of …

Links

  • Chaosium
  • Chaosium’s RuneQuest RPG Wiki
  • Glorantha on BRP Central
  • RuneQuest on BRP Central
  • RuneQuest on Discord
  • Prince of Sartar Webcomic
  • Glorantha G+ Archives on Tapatalk
  • Search mailing list archive

Latest from BRP Central

  • Korolstead: Secrets of the Smoking Ruin
  • Find Enemy vs Invisibility spell
  • Holiday Dorastor: Scale & Chaos
  • Murder Mysteries in Glorantha (RQ:G Meta Question)
  • No shipping from UK
  • Human worshippers of Xiola Umbar and where to find them
  • Future of the Starter Set
  • What Actually Happened at the Dawn?
  • Holiday Dorastor: Scale & Chaos
  • Jonstown Kralori players guide on drivethru

Popular Tags

Boldhome (large city) Chaosium Colymar (Sartar tribe) Contents Cult demographics Cults of Runequest (preview) Ernalda Esrolia (homeland) FRA Furthest (large city) G+ post Gods Wall Greg Stafford Guide to Glorantha (preview) Humakt Jar-eel Lunar Empire Lunar Pantheon Magazine Malkioni pantheon Map Michael O’Brien Mongoose MRQ1 New Pavis (small city) Old Glorantha Q&A Orlanth Orlanthi pantheon Photo reference Population demographics Prax (homeland) RQ3 RQG Sandy Petersen Sartar (homeland) Spirit Cult Star Subcult Tapatalk post Tarsh (homeland & Lunar province) Troll Pantheon Yelm Yelmalio Yelm Pantheon Youtube

Recently added or updated

  • Humakt and Orlanthi society

  • The Size of Sartar

  • Sun County, Prax

  • Spirit Magic by Cult and Associate Cult

  • Humakt Temples, Shrines and Sites

  • Ernalda Temples and Shrines

  • Orlanth Thunderous Temples, Shrines and Site

  • Maran Gor Temple, Shrines and Site

  • Barntar Temples and Shrines

  • Seven Mothers Temples and Shrines

  • Hon-eel Temples and Shrine

  • Twilight

  • Nightlight

  • Lunar Deities

  • Petersen’s Campaign Log (1984)

  • Ducks – A Sartarite Tribe

  • Thoughts on The Lightbringers Quest

  • Aronius Jaranthir

  • Iphigios the Crafter

  • Hwarin Dalthippa

©2025 The Well of Daliath | Design: Newspaperly WordPress Theme