Skip to content
The Well of Daliath
Menu
Menu

Notes on Fronela I

Posted on July 14, 2022

Fronela is a strange place. Literally. It is a land that only recently emerged from the mists of the Syndic’s Ban, revealing strange cities, principalities, and barbarian nations. Everything is ancient and new at the same time.

And there’s a lot of Fronela there, with more than 9 million humans it is comparable in population to Peloria. But there is no empire providing unity – instead four or five big players (Loskalm, Jonatela, Kingdom of War, Rathori, and Uncolings) jostle in an environment with at least a score of independent minor players.

More than almost any other location in Glorantha, Fronela is inspired by classic sword and sorcery – Leiber, Moorcock, Smith, Moore, Wagner, Saunders, Asprin, and Delany, just to grab a few titles off my bookshelf. We have an enclave of immortal sorcerers at Sog City (shades of the God OF Lankhmar), weird short lived empires, barbarians, love priestesses, and so much more. And thanks to the Ban, none of it really needs to make much sense yet – everything just emerged from being literary concept within the last generation or two and is now confronting with reality (usually badly).

And of course at the center is Sog City – Greg’s answer to Lankhmar. A city of 50,000, it is far and away the largest city in Fronela. But unlike Glamour or Nochet, Sog City is dilapidated, decadent, and squalid. It is “owned” by immortal sorcerers who reside in the City of Brass and care little about what the mortal residents of the city do. It is a maritime city with ships coming in from far with great riches that rarely benefit most of the city’s inhabitants.

Big things are happening in Fronela. The idealistic Kingdom of Loskalm, with its philosopher-rulers, is locked in struggle with the Kingdom of War, which might well as be the Mabden of Corum, or the armies of Granbretan. Jonat’s heirs have united the tribes and cities of the south, through marriage, diplomacy, and by force. The Rathori and Uncoling barbarians raid and seek plunder in this disordered environment. And finally the Lunar Empire has its Red Eye on Fronela, and seeks to reunite the Arrolian Properties with the Empire.

Artist, Mike Perry from the Guide to Glorantha.

See Also

Fronela II
Notes on Fronela III

Moorcock’s Corum stories would not be out of place in Fronela, and I’ve long thought that the David McCall Johnson cover of “Knight of Swords” is a perfectly fitting Hrestoli heading off into the mists of Fronela:

Artist, David McCall Johnson

Jeff Richard

Next
Previous
Fronela, Sog City (metropolis)

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

  • The Nine Good Giant Mountains

    The Nine Good Giant Mountains are about 60 km or …
  • Why Most Sartarites Hate the Lunar Empire

    From time to time it is worth reminding people why …
  • Suntown and the Eiskolli

    Suntown has always been in the hands of the Sun …
  • A Few Notes on the Grantlands

    To the south of Sun County are the former Grantlands, …
  • Sartar Cities

    Sartar can be thought of a confederation of small cities …
  • Catalogue of the Gods revisited

    This piece from the Mythology book is among my absolute …
  • Thunderbolts in Art

    One of the things that really got me down the …
  • RuneQuest Art

    So let’s talk RQ art for a moment. For the …
  • Top Five RuneQuest Cults

    So it is absolutely no surprise to me that in …

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

  • ENNIES 2025 Spotlight – Lands of RuneQuest: Dragon Pass is nominated for Best Setting
  • Odayla Initiation Heroquest
  • Did anyone get a good look at WB&RM?
  • Clearwine Assembly Hill and Orlanth's High Holy Day
  • Sun County pdf is drivethrurpg’s Deal of the Day for July 1st
  • Lodril in Dragon Pass
  • Do Animal Nomads eat awaken beasts ?
  • Jonstown Compendium: The Sorcerer's Laboratory
  • Unsung Areas of the Big Rubble and Prax?
  • Sun County T-Shirt

Popular Tags

1625 ST 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 Tarsh (homeland & Lunar province) Troll Pantheon Yelm Yelmalio Yelm Pantheon Youtube

Recently added or updated

  • Gortania

  • Memenari

  • Path of Immanent Mastery

  • Grain Goddesses

  • Mwara

  • Wyrm’s Footnotes #08 (1980)

  • Manthi

  • Magasta

  • Tales of The Reaching Moon #10 (GBR 1993)

  • Tales of The Reaching Moon #09 (GBR 1993)

  • Tales of The Reaching Moon #08 (GBR 1992)

  • Notes on The Holy Country III

  • Jadarenasa

  • Boldhome Booklet

  • Sea Eagle

  • Loon

  • Otter

  • Turtle

  • The Culbrea Tribe II

  • The Forty-eight Old Ones

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