Skip to content
The Well of Daliath
Menu
Menu

The Orlanthi of Fronela

Posted on December 27, 2023

There are some 2.4 MILLION Orlanthi in Fronela, far more than in Dragon Pass and Peloria.

The Lightbringers came to Fronela in the First Age, reaching what is now Charg by 238 ST and Oranor by 317 ST. The cult established strongholds on both sides of the Nidan Mountains, as the Lightbringers also came to Vesmonstran even before that time (around 204 ST). The Lightbringers have been the dominant cults in that area for more than 13 centuries.

Many cults accompanied the Lightbringers, and two in particular were enthusiastically embraced by the locals – Humakt and Storm Bull.

With 1.6 million people, the Kingdom of Jonatela is the largest Orlanthi confederation in Fronela, and second only to Esrolia in Glorantha. It is ruled by a superficially-Malkionized king (as in he claims all the rights of a ruling Talar while still offering sacrifices to the Lightbringers and other deities) descended from Jonat Big Bear The king directly rules Syranor and is allied with several lesser tribal confederations.

During the Ban, these Orlanthi regions were largely isolated from each other for more than a century, allowing them to develop their own institutions and blend of cults and philosophies.

Prior to the Ban, Charg included the Baloris tribes and the Bull Lords of Vangstal, the so-called Urox-land. These tribes placed the Bull Shahs on the throne of Carmania and were their most ferocious supporters. After the defeat of the Blood Kings, the lands west of the Esel River remained independent of the West Reaches and never submitted to the Red Emperor.

The Lifting of the Syndics Ban, map by Colin Driver from the Guide to Glorantha, page 201

Of the different Orlanthi kingdoms in Fronela, which would be the most interesting to set a campaign in, and why? Really depends on what you want to do. Jonatela is a rough-and-tumble “barbarian” kingdom – think medieval Russia, Merovingian France, etc. Dangerous politics, with sorcerers and shamans, but also traditional Orlanthi cults and tribes.

Now if you look at those dates on the maps, what is interesting is how recently Jonatela appeared. The kingdom has risen out of nowhere in the last ten years.

Jeff Richard

Next
Previous
204 ST, 238 ST, 317 ST, Bull, Charg, Fronela, Guide to Glorantha, Jonatala, Map, Nidian Mountains, Oranor, Orlanthi (culture), Population demographics, Syndics Ban, Syranor, Vangstal, Vesmonstran

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 Grasslands of Prax

    Something to keep in mind about Prax. The grasslands of …
  • Praxian Kinship Groups

    Praxian tribes are divided into smaller kinship groups or clans, …
  • Lunar Resettlement of Tarsh after 1460 ST

    After 1460, large sections of Peloria (especially east of the …
  • The Spread of the Lunar Way

    In the Lunar Provinces, about 26% of the total population …
  • Gods of Fire and Sky and the Lunar Way

    The Gods of Fire and Sky co-exist alongside the Lunar …
  • How Much Land is a Hide?

    So in RQ, a “hide” is a unit of accounting …
  • Agricultural Data for RuneQuest

    Back in the late 70s and early 80s, Greg‘s only …
  • Farming in Dara Happa

    In anticipation of the Fire/Sky Book, here’s a few notes …
  • Farming in the Big Rubble

    There are some 1600 humans in the Big Rubble, with …

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

  • creating a spirit cult of Fralar
  • Thoughts on running an Animal Nomad/Praxian game
  • Fillable excel RQG character sheets?
  • Where is there a list of temples in Dragon Pass?
  • New on the Jonstown Compendium: Many Suns
  • Subcults vs Associated Cults
  • Gorgorma and Dendara's Chess Game
  • Merged deities
  • Elf plant ships and dwarf stone ships
  • Do Dwarves have souls?

Popular Tags

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 Tapatalk post Tarsh (homeland & Lunar province) Troll Pantheon Yelm Yelmalio Yelm Pantheon Youtube

Recently added or updated

  • Spirit Magic by Cult and Associate Cult

  • ISS1102 Glorantha: Introduction to the Hero Wars (2000)

  • Dragon Pass – A brief outline (2013)

  • Some Fronelan Population And Cultural Details

  • Notes on Fronela III

  • Notes on Fronela II

  • Notes on Fronela I

  • Hon-eel Temples and Shrine

  • Seven Mothers Temples and Shrines

  • Ernalda Temples and Shrines

  • Barntar Temples and Shrines

  • Babeester Gor Temple and Shrines

  • Voria Shrines

  • Ty Kora Tek Temples and Shrines

  • Asrelia Temples and Shrines

  • Maran Gor Temple, Shrines and Site

  • Odayla Shrines

  • Humakt Temples, Shrines and Sites

  • Orlanth Rex Temples, Shrines and Sites

  • Hippoi Shrines

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