A last comment on the various Chaos discussions. A lot of people seem to assume that people in Glorantha are clear about what constitutes “Chaos” – and of course, outside of the Storm Bull cult, there is no such certainty. In some places, like Talastar or the Wastes, the Storm Bull cult does act as a “final word” on whether something is Chaotic, but that is hardly universal, even among the Orlanthi or Praxians. Storm Bull is not always right – sometimes he says that folk who are clearly victims of Chaos are Chaotic. Other times, he says folk who are clearly Chaotic are not (for example, Red Goddess initiates cannot be sensed by the Bull, even though the Storm Bull cult holds her to be a Chaos Goddess).
In short, it is dangerous and wrong to assume that an Orlanthi who befriends a Telmori is somehow a bad cultist – any more than it is dangerous and wrong to assume than an Orlanthi who befriends a Seven Mothers cultist is somehow a bad cultist.Lines are of course drawn – Orlanth hates the Red Goddess, Bagog, Cacodemon, Gbaji, Krarsht, Mallia, Thanatar, Thed, and Vivamort, and views their cults as enemies. But the Seven Mothers is like Magasta, Mostal, Ourania, Sharagash, and even Pamalt – hostile but not enemies. And the Orlanth cult is actually only Neutral towards Telmor! And even Storm Bull is a little conflicted about Telmor, treating him as hostile rather than an enemy.
The Orlanthi urban environment tends to be a lot more disorderly and tolerates a lot more dissonance than the Heartlands. Lanbril becomes just another temple to accommodate from Orlanth Rex’s point of view. Which results in people acting up, exploding, and getting rowdy because somebody took their stuff or screwed with their livelihood. But as long as that is ïn the open” it is just accepted as part of life.
Note that Storm Bull doesn’t have the Truth Rune. Storm Bulls are known to lie about something being Chaotic even if they didn’t sense it.
There is that Tame Bull spell. I have been annoyed about how it was nerfed so as not to apply to Storm Bulls. The spell reads:
If the caster overcomes the target bull’s POW, this spell calms the bull enough for the caster to castrate it, hitch it to a plow, or even ride it. The spell works on all male cattle (including all male Praxian herd beasts), castrated cattle (oxen), or sky bulls. It also calms even berserk Storm Bull cultists and puts them in a peaceful mood.