So as you all know there are a bunch of books now scheduled for release. Now I think they are amazing for all sorts of reasons – they broaden play, given you all tons of myths, let you see how these cults work in the game, have amazing art, etc.
But they also help to give a better feel for how Glorantha works as a setting. So in Sartar, the Lightbringers and the Earth Goddesses are the most important clusters of cults. But Solar is not insignificant, nor is the Horned Man. In Prax, the Lightbringers, Earth Goddesses, and the Horned Man are probably most important. In Tarsh, the Lunar Way, Lightbringers, and Earth Goddesses are what you want, but in the Lunar Heartlands, you likely want the Lunar Way, the Solar Religion, and maybe Sea Gods (!) (because of Oslira). In Esrolia it is a big mix – buy them all (except Lords of Terror)!
In other words, most Gloranthan cultures have multiple cultic centers of power – they are truly polytheistic in ways that many modern Westerners have difficulty immediately getting. My hope is that not only are these books going to be AMAZING game aids, but they might even help us think about the world in a different way.
The Lightbringers are important in Prax? Waha is the son of Storm Bull, brother of Orlanth. He’s certainly in their orbit and has been since shortly after the Dawn.
How closely is Waha tied him to the Lightbringers? He’s a Grey Age deity, and doesn’t do much while they are around. Heck, he doesn’t even have a lot of mythic overlap with his Mother and Father, but nonetheless he is within their orbit. And Prax has had the Lightbringers for a LONG time.
Is Waha still the predominant (male) deity or are the Lightbringers ? Waha, yes. As I said, we have many clusters within these groups of gods. The BIG cluster is Orlanth + his team, but Storm Bull + Waha is significant in Prax. But these clusters all overlap – the Sartarites know of Waha (although he isn’t particularly important – less important than the cat god), but the Block is sacred to them as well. Heck you can see the Block from Boldhome!
in short, these cults have lots of overlaps. Waha is Neutral towards Orlanth, but he’s also Neutral towards almost everyone! Heck he’s only got about 5 cults he’s associated or at least friendly with. He’s way more aloof than Yelmalio!
Orlanth in contrast is associated or friendly with nearly 40 cults, and even Storm Bull with 18 cults! I think maybe the problem is that Waha is just awkward around others!
The entire series covers a LOT of ground. More than the old GoG did with their short-hand descriptions of spells and little more. There is still room for local cults and localised variants to appear in homeland books such as the forthcoming Sartar book, but when complete, this plus the Guide pretty much opens the entire setting.