Skip to content
The Well of Daliath
Menu
Menu

The Pol-Joni Tribe

Posted on January 30, 2021

The Pol-Joni live on the Plains of Prax. Unlike the other Praxian tribes, the Pol-Joni are horse-riding, cattle-herding nomads who worship Orlanth and the storm gods rather than Waha. They mainly herd domestic cattle and a smattering of Praxian beasts taken from raids or trade. As a result, they are hated by their fellow Praxians and called the Cattle Bastards. However, even the Praxians respect the Pol-Joni for their martial prowess.

By 1420 cattle-herding, horse-riding people had been re-introduced into Prax by Derik Pol-Joni, a friend of King Yarandros of Tarsh from the Dundealos tribe, who was in command of defending the Praxian March. The event caused considerable unrest and fighting, but the newly arrived people were well able to take care of themselves. They carried battle magics, and their magicians worshipped Rune gods, unlike the shamans of Prax. These cattle people offered proper sacrifice to the deities of the Paps and steadily forced their way into Prax history as the “illegitimate” tribe of Prax. The animal nomads were content when the “cattle bastards” kept mostly to the regions of No Mans March, the Better Place, and the approaches to the Storm Mountains and Moonbroth Oasis. Horse clans did, however, wander far on occasion.

In 1489 a nomad shaman alliance summoned many of the old spirits who had driven out the Pure Horse People some 230 years earlier. Led by temporarily incarnated spirits acting as puppet leaders for the shamans, the barbarian tribes began a terrible war against the cattle peoples. The Pol-Joni proved more powerful than anticipated, and were aided by mercenaries from Dragon Pass as well. The ancient spirits, who had been counted on heavily, were defeated by the Pol-Joni, who were aided by Orlanth and his god-children from Dragon Pass. The shaman alliance began internal squabbling, but the appearance of the holy man Sartar saved the situation and provided honorable compromise for all. Sartar himself recompensed much of both sides, and personally led a campaign against recalcitrant shamans. Sartar offered the Pol-Joni a partnership in the city of Swenstown. They agreed and there formed a bond between the land of Sartar and the people of the Pol-Joni.

The Pol-Joni were always fiercely loyal to the House of Sartar and bore them great love. During the Lunar Occupation, they no longer could rely on the support of the other Sartarite tribes, and in 1608 the Praxians drove them away from Moonbroth. Two years later, the Lunar Army defeated the Praxians. The Pol-Joni continued to herd their cattle along the Pol-Joni March, and their numbers were bolstered by the Dundealos exiles. The Pol-Joni swore loyalty to the White Bull in 1624 and aided him to defeat the Lunar Army at the Second Battle of Moonbroth. After the Dragonrise destroyed the Lunar Army, they aided their Dundealos kin in reclaiming their homeland.

  • Tribal Center: nomadic
  • City: Swenstown
  • Population: 10,000
  • Clans: Three (Amber, Ansil, and Potor)
  • Major Temples: Orlanth Adventurous (3 major temples), Humakt, Storm Bull
  • Minor Temples: Ernalda (3 minor temples), Issaries, Yelmalio, Eiritha the Cattle Goddess (3 minor temples), Waha (3 minor temples)
  • Notable Shrines: Chalana Arroy, Lhankor Mhy, Foundchild
  • Notable Spirit Cults: Hippoi, Hyalor, Kuschile, Lightning Boy, Thunderbird, White Bull
  • Language: Sartarite, Praxian

Jeff Richard

Next
Previous
1420 ST, 1489 ST, 1608 ST, 1624 ST, Amber (Pol-joni clan), Ansil (Pol-joni clan), Battle of Moonbroth II 1624 ST, Cows, Derik Pol-joni, Pol-Joni (Praxian tribe), Pol-Joni March, Potor (Pol-joni clan), Prax (homeland), Sartar (homeland), Swenstown (small city), Yarandros (king)

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

  • Why Most Sartarites Hate the Lunar Empire

    From time to time it is worth reminding people why …
  • Suntown and the Eiskolli

    Suntown has always been in the hands of the Sun …
  • A Few Notes on the Grantlands

    To the south of Sun County are the former Grantlands, …
  • Sartar Cities

    Sartar can be thought of a confederation of small cities …
  • Catalogue of the Gods revisited

    This piece from the Mythology book is among my absolute …
  • Thunderbolts in Art

    One of the things that really got me down the …
  • RuneQuest Art

    So let’s talk RQ art for a moment. For the …
  • Top Five RuneQuest Cults

    So it is absolutely no surprise to me that in …
  • The Greatest of the Power Rune gods

    So lets think about the greatest of the Power Rune …

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

  • Clearwine Assembly Hill and Orlanth's High Holy Day
  • Sun County pdf is drivethrurpg’s Deal of the Day for July 1st
  • Permission to use exerpt from map in Starter Set in a Jonstown Compendium release?
  • Speculations on warlock rules in RQG
  • Turning adventures into heroquests
  • Summon of Jaldon
  • Jonstown Compendium: Spawn of Molokka - The Cephalopods of Glorantha
  • Runelords and Retirement
  • Hospitality Hearth spirits - what are they ?
  • Clearwine Burned & Argrath's Orphan Childhood

Popular Tags

1625 ST 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 Tarsh (homeland & Lunar province) Troll Pantheon Yelm Yelmalio Yelm Pantheon Youtube

Recently added or updated

  • Rynglorem

  • Hobimarong

  • Why Most Sartarites Hate the Lunar Empire

  • Sun County Continued part 1

  • Suntown and the Eiskolli

  • A Few Notes on the Grantlands

  • East Isles Pantheon

  • Gods Wall

  • Himile

  • CHA4013 Griffin Mountain (1981, 2018)

  • Helpwoman

  • Henshie

  • Harana Ilor

  • Hesezjagu

  • Majadan

  • Antigods

  • Hensarava the Golden Archer Prince

  • HeenMaroun

  • Harantara

  • Halisayan

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