Skip to content
The Well of Daliath
Menu
Menu

Theyalan Celestial Gods

Posted on April 24, 2023

Throughout much of the Theyalan Belt, people recognize several major celestial gods:

First is of course Yelm, the Sun. The Sun travels across the Sky Dome each day, only to die and enter the Underworld. He is reborn each dawn. Yelm is the patron of the rulers of Peloria and the Pure Horse People, but others consider him distant and unreachable to common people.

Second is Yelmalio, the Lightfore. Yelmalio is that part of Yelm that did not die and remained to provide light in the Darkness. Yelmalio is much easier to approach than Yelm, and the god aided humans, elves, and others to survive the Greater Darkness.

Beyond Yelm and Yelmalio is Dayzatar the Pure, the god of the Sky itself. Dayzatar is a god for mystics, monks, and ascetics, and rarely is of much use to ordinary people. His daughter Ourania leads the Celestial Chorus and protects purity. These deities are of little importance to the Theyalans, although they are acknowledged.

Polestar leads the stars and defends the Sky and those mortals who call for his aid.

There are the planets – wandering celestial gods. Some are friendly – Lokarnos, aka the Wheel or the Mule, who aids Issaries, some are hostile, such as Tolat, aka Shargash, who fights with Orlanth and the Storm Gods, or Artia the Bat, who is cursed. Most are acknowledged but play little importance in stories, such as Moskalf or the Twin Stars.

Finally there is the Red Moon, whose presence fills many Theyalans with unease or even dread. She is acknowledged, although most Theyalans view her as a dangerous (but very powerful) interloper.

Some add Annilla to this, but outside of the coastal areas (where she is revered for being the Maker of Tides), she plays little roles in most stories.

Your ordinary Orlanth or Ernalda cultist would know all these deities.

Do Sun Domers venerate Dayzatar and Ourania? Even amongst the Sun Dome temples these cults are marginal. Their cults are very small and the deities are almost always worshiped as associates of another deity. You have to get into the Heartlands to find much of an independent cult for either.

Antirius? Antirius is simply another name for Yelmalio. Is this known by the Yelmalio and Pelorians? It is generally known that Dara Happan is a different language from the Theyalan languages and they have different names for things. But just as we know that both “kibtu” and “godhūma” are different words for wheat, we also know that they both refer to the same thing.

Jeff Richard

Next
Previous
Annilla, Antirius, Artia, Dayzatar, Lightfore, Lokarnos, Moskalf, Ourania, Pole Star, Red Moon, Shargash, sky, Tolat, Twinstars, Yelm, Yelmalio

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

  • Stat modifiers for Perception skills
  • Core Glorantha and Jonstown Compednium
  • A possible suggestion for sorcery
  • Out now on Jonstown Compendium: RuneQuest without a Gamemaster, a guide to playing RuneQuest solo or co-operatively with a group
  • Are there any official RQ scenarios regarding Mostali?
  • Cults books - state of completion, undocumented cults
  • Jeff Kyer's Blood Over Gold
  • Gagarth's steed
  • Does Issaries have a magical language?
  • How the Rebel Storm Set Me Free

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

  • Kralorelan Pantheon

  • Godunya

  • The Exarchs

  • Udam Bagur

  • Ω Urangar Vorderos

  • ISS1304 Lunar Handbook Vol 2 – Under the Red Moon (2006)

  • Ω Dakkasinoda and Dakkahoneel

  • Noonlight

  • Tribes of Sartar Map, 1625-1626

  • The Gloranthan Sky (1997)

  • Mad Max Part 1

  • Mad Max Part 3

  • Myth of the Month: History of the Race of Trolls (1998)

  • Part 1 – Mundane Carnivores

  • New Gamemaster Month 2019

  • Notes on the Big Rubble

  • Mad Max Part 2

  • Mongoose RuneQuest Products

  • Library of Londarios: The Kings of Seshnela, Part Two (1999)

  • Library of Londarios: The Kings of Seshnela, Part Three (1999)

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