There are some 100+ deities recognized pretty much everywhere Glorantha. Most of these are identified on the Catalogue of the Gods. These deities might have different names in different places, but with…
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Exploring the Mythology of The Lunar Way with Jeff Richard
Really Dicey interviews Jeff Richard, VP at Chaosium, and discusses with us the complexities of mythology and the new RuneQuest RPG sourcebook coming out shortly called Cults of RuneQuest: The Lunar Way.
Diet in the Lunar Heartlands
When we think of the staple diet in the Lunar Heartlands (especially Silver Shadow, Darjiin, Kostaddi, and Sylila) think of rice. Not the domesticated white rice Oryza sativa) but North American wild…
Magic from Demigods
In general, you can’t get Rune magic by offering worship to a living demigod such as the Red Emperor, Jar-eel, Belintar, or Androgeus. You offer them magic points out of respect, self-interest,…
The Dara Happan Emperor
In 1247, the Red Goddess ascended into the Middle Air as the Red Moon. She appointed her son as her temporal viceroy, and charged him with the responsibilities of her affairs in…
Communication in the Lunar Empire
The Red Emperor has a much easier time communicating with the rest of his empire than say the Roman Emperor did. Distances To begin with the distances involved are much shorter. Just…
Map of Glamour and Raibanth Area
Here’s another neat map showing the area around Glamour and Raibanth. I believe Nick and company used this as the base of a map in the Rough Guide to Glamour. Note how…
Master Maps of Central Genertela
So these are the “master maps” for RQ – series of poster size maps that go from the Crater to Vultures Country, from the Elf Sea to Maniria. The scale is 1…
Comparative Timeline of the Settlement of Dragon Pass
From time to time I think it is worth reminding that the settlement of Dragon Pass after the Inhuman Occupation has a shorter history than the British colonies in North America +…
Population Movement in Dragon Pass
Apropos of my previous post – there’s a lot of interaction between the peoples of Dragon Pass, Prax, and the Holy Country. Many leading Sartarite families have married Esrolians, many Goldentongue merchants…
By Caravan from Swenstown to New Pavis II
The traditional caravan route between New Pavis and Dragon Pass goes from Swenstown to Pimper’s Block and then along Caravan Alley to Bigglestone, from there up to the Paps, and then on…
The Moral Evil of Glorantha
Wakboth is the moral evil in the world. Let’s parse that out for a moment. Most of the gods – Orlanth, Storm Bull, Lodril, Yelm, Shhorg, etc. – caused destruction and “bad…
Chaos in Glorantha
From the earliest days of Glorantha, Chaos was not like the other Runes. It first shows up in Greg’s stories with Gbaji. The earliest description of the Chaos Rune places it among…
Yanioth
It should be of no surprise that Yanioth is one of my favorite pregens. She’s no fighter, with no combat skills beyond an axe she can’t actually use with her shield (but…
Vasana Ernaldoring
Vasana Ernaldoring is one of those who fought in the Hero Wars. We know of her largely through the saga about her life attributed to Sorala Tor, a scribe who followed Argrath…
Cults of Runequest series
These are the six books so far printed that are the results so far of the Cults of Runequest series. I’m including Red Book of Magic because it is the result of…
By Caravan from Swenstown to New Pavis I
It takes just under two weeks for a caravan to go between Swenstown and New Pavis. That will take you along a route that goes to Pimper’s Block, Days Rest, Tourney Altar,…
Hero Wars 1621-1627
The Hero Wars are the Big Story for the RuneQuest setting. What initially drives the Hero Wars is simple – the Sartarite drive to free themselves from the Lunar Empire and the…
Darkness Genealogy II
The Darkness pantheon is an unusual in that most of these cults are worshiped primarily or even exclusively by non-humans. Darkness is deadly, fearsome, devouring, crushing, cold, silent, secretive, and mysterious, and…
Understanding Gloranthan Cosmology
To really understand Gloranthan cosmology, keep two things in mind: 1. The world is created by the conflict/dance of the five elements – Air, Darkness, Earth, Fire, and Water. This interaction is…
Orlanth Subcult Membership
In Sartar, more than a third (35%) of all Orlanth initiates belong to the Orlanth Adventurous subcult. A little less than two thirds (62%) belong to the Orlanth Thunderous subcult. And a…
Rune Masters
So why is there variation in cult Rune Masters, some have only Rune Lords or Rune Priests, while others have both? Good question. So Rune Priests are the most common way that…
The Syncretism of Elmal and Yelmalio
If you start from the position that these are “two divinities” you are always going to run into problems. So start with this proposition – “two names”. At the Dawn, the Orlanthi…
Oldest notes on Orlanth
I’m going through some files and found some of Greg’s oldest notes on Orlanth (from about 1977): The council of gods in Dragon Pass is made of several major deities. Orlanth is…
What are the Hero Wars?
As the books repeatedly say, the backdrop for RuneQuest is the Hero Wars. But what the heck is that? The Hero Wars has at its core the conflict between Orlanth and the…