We all know about the Machine God, that strange Saviour Machine experiment of the God Learners, but as part of an experiment with the University of Yoranday, the God Learners also created…
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Clan membership
Joining a Clan Although every clan traces its origin to a common founding event, spirit, or other occasion which forged the clan, outsiders can and often do join a clan. This is…
Pockets of Boldhome IV
The dwarf-made Pockets of Boldhome are particularly remarkable. They are usually labeled as the East Pocket, West Pocket, and Top Pocket. Each Pocket extends deep into the cliff, and is split into…
The Breather Sisters
A random passage from the Boldhome booklet that I find interesting: The most important cult within the city is that of Orlanth. The Prince is the highest priest of the Orlanth Rex…
Bandits and Bureaucrats: the Ottoman Route to state centralization
Reading a fascinating book “Bandits and Bureaucrats: the Ottoman Route to state centralization” which may well be one of the more useful sources in understanding how the Lunar Empire operates. Highly recommend…
Clans of Sartar Sketch Map WIP
And my map sketchess of each of the Sartarite tribes are finished and now in Matt Ryan’s capable hands. This draft map of all 134 clans of Sartar does not include the…
The Population of Lunar Tarsh
About 35% of the population of Lunar Tarsh are members of Lunar cults and a little less than 20% of the population of Lunar Tarsh came from or are descended from settlers…
Clan Map of Central Sartar
So as part of a Work in Project that Matt Ryan and I are working on, here is every clan in central Sartar and its approximate borders. The map is a composite…
Clan Map of the Culbrea, Kheldon, and Aranwyth tribes
As part of several projects, I have been looking at how the various tribes and their component clans lock together. Now that we have a master map of Sartar and all of…
The Lunar Empire is a universal empire
The Red Emperor does not acknowledge the existence of other peers – his sovereignty and lawful authority is everywhere touched by the light of the Red Moon (ie., the entire Surface World)….
Heroquest: “What is It?”
One of Greg’s earliest manuscripts on heroquesting hits all the key points, explains what it is, and the key elements involved. I’ve added a few footnotes, but let this digest a little….
Facing the facts of a chaotic past…
Just the other day we had a fan ask about the Chaosium “Dragon” logo and why it didn’t always have the dragon facing to the left on our products. While a short…
Here’s a story every Orlanth initiate knows
It is worth a careful read as there are some interesting details in this (and the story is more complete than in King of Sartar): One day, at the Hill of Victory,…
Harmast’s Heroquests
This excerpt is from Greg Stafford’s unpublished Harmast Saga (1991) Here are the times that Harmast went to the Hero Plane before he returned with Arkat. First, for a glimpse, at his…
Wilmskirk I
I know that people focus on Pavis, Jonstown, and Boldhome in their games – and probably in that order. But Wilmskirk is definitely worth a look. This was Wilms the Artist’s first…
Ranging and Joining
A technique developed by participants in the Tournament of the Masters of Luck and Death, these questers range at the edge of an ongoing quest or ritual and watch for events or…
Caladraland
Of course the Orlanthi know Lodril – he is the great god of Caladraland, a nation of nearly a half million people at the edge of Esrolia. Lodril lives here in a…
Some Strange Holy Country facts
There is a “tame” version of Aldrya worshiped in Esrolia as the Goddess of the Orchards? She’s worshiped through the Ernalda cult, but still present and revered. The strangest livestock in the…
Two worlds lie close in the Holy Country
One is the mundane world of the many races and tribes of Mortals. This is a rich and powerful land, capable of turning aside the mightiest armies and fleets of invasion. The…
Empty-Head’s Tale – Another God Learner text
Another God Learner text for your enjoyment! The following is a folk tale in one form or another among the peoples of the whole continent of Genertela. Its widespread distribution is indicative…
Some Ancient Commentaries on Magic and Chaos
A God Learner text annotated by Greg Stafford, recently rediscovered in a warehouse in Berkeley: The Nature of magic is in the origins of the world, wherein the gods performed the actions…
A Beginners Guide to RuneQuest Gods
– an interview James Coquillat did with me recently.
Arkat as Colonel Kurtz
If I sometimes imagine Argrath as a Bowie-like chameleon, I often imagine Arkat as a Colonel Kurtz figure, particularly in the last stages of the Gbaji Wars. I could imagine him giving…
Dart Wars
Something that is often underappreciated is the Dart Wars of the noble houses of the Lunar Empire. The combatants in these secret wars are spies and mercenaries, analogous to ninja, that are…
Justice in Dara Happa and the Lunar Heartlands
In contrast to the Orlanthi, the Dara Happan (and Lunar Heartland) concept of justice has two parts: 1. Proper social order. That means everyone is in their proper place, with the strong…