The God Learners first encountered the Kralorelan religion in the Second Age. As elsewhere, the God Learners were able to make numerous correspondences between the Kralorelan pantheon and that prevalent in much of Genertela. As with the Doraddi, the distance and comparative isolation of Kralorela required many magical contests and exploration.
The ultimate proof of their findings was made in 768 ST, when they confronted Emperor Yanoor and confounded him with comparative ease.
The God Learners determined that the Kralorelans followed a Solar religion, similar to that in Teshnos and Peloria. Among the correspondences they found were:
Kralorelan Deity (Vithelan name)= Genertelan Deity
- TarnGatHa (Vith) = Aether or Dayzatar
- HeenMaroun (Govmeranen) = Yelm
- Metsyla = Yelmalio or Lesser Yelm
- Halisayan = Dendara (but married to Emperor Thalurzni)
- Bodkartu = Gorgorma
- Serelaloon = Chalana Arroy
- Huocheng = Lodril
- Miyo = Krala (Grain Goddess)
- Ebe = Grandfather Mortal
- Okeria = Uleria
- (Oorsu Sara)= Umath or Orlanth
- (Chaquandarath) = Lhankor Mhy
- Yanoor = The returned Yelm
Some of these correspondences had anomalies. For example, Halisayan is said to be married to Thalurzni, an alchemical figure who set the elements back in balance and established magical harmony in the Kingdom of Splendor. Nonetheless, the God Learners were able to get Halisayan to identify herself as Dendara, and responded to the Dendara Rites.
For several centuries the God Learners ruled Kralorela through the New Dragon Ring, five people who ruled from five cities. They appointed a Seshngei nobleman as Emperor to assist them in rule. Kralorela was largely autonomous within the Middle Sea Empire.
The Kralorelan connection with the Dragon Religion fascinated the God Learners, but its secrets largely eluded them. They understood that the Kralorelan Religion had no fear of the Void that preceded Creation, and that some magicians even sought the Void through meditation and austerities and could gain great power – this they determined was a local Nysalorean religion of unknown origin. No God Learners managed to gain draconic magic by this means, and so the God Learners supported groups like the Path of Immanent Mastery, who mastered secrets of Charismatic Wisdom and magically transformed themselves into dragons.
Now interestingly, lists of the Kings of Kralorela from the Second Age bear little resemblance to the traditional list of Dragon Emperors contained in the Guide to Glorantha. Here’s a snippet from a Second Age Seshnegi source:
The Eastern Lands lived in peace. Although most of the land was dense forest, inhabited mostly by Aldryami, those parts which the Hsunchen inhabited were places of marvels and great splendour. These tribes of the First People were as follows: Vrimaki, children of Vrimak the Bird-god, in the northern Lonral (Shan-Shan) Mountains; the Damali, Deer people, in the central mountains; Nearly, Sheep People, in Teshnon; Sofali, Turtle People, in south-western Fethlon; and the Hykimi, dragon people and rightful rulers of all the people in Hykimela on the Alelre and Jemek rivers. These people all lived in peace, under the rule of the Hykimi emperors who served Genert. Huge cities on both the plains and mountains marked their habitations…
The Hykimi soon became the richest and most powerful nation. Expanding up the river valleys, they reaped huge wealth from them. But their power soon grew to pride. Instead of being the nominal rulers of many people, they wished to enslave them. With wile and weapons they attacked first the Vrimati, then the Damali, enslaving and conquering both. During one great battle, the Emperor Lemelt lost the magical sword of Trarlem. Without it the strength and morale of the Hykimi diminished. The Vrimaki and Damali attacked with newfound strength, sweeping into the land of the Hykimi and conquering. The defeated Hykimi fled to Looney and He-Tran while parts of both tribes took over the captured wealth, intermarrying, and re-naming themselves Kralori after their capital built atop the old. The rest of the tribes remained in the mountains, although they never were able to rebuild the great splendour.
Dragon magic was a terrible headache for the God Learners as it did not fit into their schema for understanding the cosmos.
The God Learners never really ruled the East Isles and the bewildering number of localized deities complicated their efforts to understand and synthesise the Vithelan mythology. But they did make a few identifications, based largely on their Kralorelan experience. For example, Vith was variously identified with Aether or Dayzatar. Govermeranen with Yelm, etc.).
IMO the Kralori equivalent of Lhankor Mhy is Vashanti with his Web of Righteous Knowledge. Charanquadath is probably the origin of the Isles of the Headhunters mentioned in the Thanatar writeup in Cults of Terror. You might think so, but that would be a pretty perilous association and one easily defeated by the Kralori. The God Learners did the Lhankor Mhy = Buserian = Priest of the Gods jump and easily made it. And now I have to look up the Kralori name.