This is something I wrote a couple of weeks ago as a draft, now it looks like I won't be finishing it anytime soon. So here is the first draft, warts and all.
BRINGING MYTHOLOGY DOWN TO EARTH PART I: MINING INFO FROM SPARSE SOURCES A lot of sources are available on Gloranthan mythology... but how does this affect a campaign? Through the rules, the cult writeups, etc., give us some guidelines but these are pretty sketchy. I want to address a different way in which the published myths can enrich a campaign. There are other people out there who have written on this topic, notably John Hughes, but I think that more could be said, and that some of what they have said bears repetition.
From an external POV, we tend to think that the stories people tell about their gods and heroes reflect the lives of the people who tell them: their wants and needs, their hopes and fears, their manners and customs, etc. If we try to look at Glorantha from the 'inside' and accept the Gloranthan theists beliefs as true, I think a different explanation comes to the fore: in the beginning, might beings acted as they would, setting the pattern of things for all time. (Though that pattern can, with great effort, be shifted.)
Examples:
Ga sat and moved little, now earth pretty much sits there.
Aether leapt up into heaven, now all fires leap up toward heaven.
Zaramaka circled around the Earth, now all waters tend to swirl.
Later, more personal beings appeared, some still embodying principles, others became the culture heroes for groups of people:
Grandfather Mortal (who had many names...) was killed, now all his children carry the seed of mortality within them.
'Orlanth' killed the Sun, now every nightfall and every winter this act is reflected in miniature.
Krarsht tunnelled into the earth, and so now do her children.
Etc.
This principle of reflection or repetition in minature extends not only to what we class as 'natural phenomena' but also into the world of human behavior. This can be viewed as an instantiation of the same natural law, as a conscious choice on the part of people, or as some combination. Orlanthi emulate Orlanth, either because that is the nature of things, or because they choose to do so, but in any case they emulate him.
So how does this help me run my campaign, you ask?
Simple. When you are are constructing people and places for your players to interact with, you can consult the published myths, or make up your own, and then use these myths as a mine for ideas. The modern people are like miniature,imperfect reflections of the great heroes of yore and the gods. For example, you want to construct a Pelorian village. Looking in game related products for cultural sources, you find a scanty writeup, less than a page, in the Genertela Book in the Lunar Empire section. It tells you that a Pelorian village has two to five extended families and a few other things, but does not tell you who is important in the village or what they are like. But it does mention thatLodril is worshipped. He is primarily the men's god, you've heard, so you will use him as a model for the men of the village.
Frustrated, you look up the Lodril writeup in Gods of Glorantha. It doesn't say too much, apparently Lodril is god of volcanoes and peasants. You wish you had the old full writeup from Wyrm's Footnotes but you don't - yet - so let's just look at what there is in GoG.
Runes: Heat and Disorder
The villagers value warmth: hearths, warm cornbread, hot stew, all are important... and the village is not a serene place. People reflect their gods..if Lodril was disorderly, so will his people be, as a tendency. The village will have slobs, fun-loving drinkers, robust and hearty men who like to brawl, marriages that are imperfect, etc.
"Lodril is willful yet obedient to his superiors..."
OK. So then are his distant descendants. Remember, that there are many influences on them, not just Lodril, and that the modern Gloranthan is at best an IMPERFECT reflection of his god. So there is a lot of variation among individuals, yet, as a whole, the men of the village are a surly lot, grumbling but ultimately obeying the dictates of society. They may complain, but they do pay their taxes.
Family relationships can reflect this also... in this village, it's well knownthat teenage males get rowdy and talk back to their fathers and grandfathers. But most ultimately obey.
"His children are the Lowfires... He and the Lowfires -- Mahome, the Hearth, Gustbran, the Forge, and Oakfed, Holy Fire - are mainly worshipped by peasants." OK. Now we can add more detail to the village. Each house has a hearth, and it is considered sacred... after all, it houses Mahome, child of Lodril. Probably each hearth has an image of Mahome, which can be described after consulting the Prosopaedia. That source also tells us Mahome is a daughter, not a son, so some woman or women of each extended family probably has a duty of tending the hearth. Make up a local custom for your village: for example, the oldest unmarried daughter in a house might be responsible for the and if it goes out, she is shamed. Such customs vary from village to village, so you needn't worry about some kind of consistency with official sources.
Gustbran the Forge tells us that the redsmith is an important and respected man (man because Gustbran is male, from Prosopaedia) and that his functions are sacred as well as profane.
Oakfed: Holy Fire... probably bonfires for cremation and other important ceremonies. And oak might be holy...
"His cult is widespread and important"
So most of the men in the village participate in some Lodril rituals.
"and his temples come in all sizes".
Hmm. So the village has a temple to Lodril... and probably shrines and sites as well... each house might have a small Lodril pillar (a pillar is appropriate, more on that later) and there is some sort of place that is the 'major temple' of Lodril for the entire village...
Some ideas for a Lodril temple: He is the peasant's god, so it will not be
an ornate marble building or some such. Rather, it could be something like
a men's longhouse... a special place where all the men of the village can meet
away from the women's prying eyes. (Of course the women have their own secrets
as well)
Or you could decree that the village square is the sacred Lodril site, with
a pillar/maypole/world axis/phallic stone in the center.
Or both, the men's house for secret ceremonies and the village square for public ceremonies.
..."Shrines teach Earthwarm"
Why Earthwarm? It must be useful for agriculture in Peloria if it is the standard spell. So give the villagers some temperature sensitive crops - fruit orchards, tomatoes, whatever. And they worry about them.
"Skills - Climb, Jump"
Uhh, I get little from these... maybe you could. Since I know from the
old WF writeup that Lodril is a wrestler, I'd actually replace Jump with
Grapple...
".. Spear Attack"
So we can know : Lodril uses a spear as his weapon... and that the village
militia probably trains with spear. Possibly secretly, if there is a weapon
ban, which there might be.
"Any Craft Skill"
So all craftsmen are highly respected. This helps us people the village.
"Spirit Magic :
Disrupt," - I would of course rule this as a burn for Lodril.
"Endurance" Enduring strength must be a quality of the main god, hence I
would guess that it is admired in this village.
"Extinguish" The culture teaches that it is your responsibility to control
fires. See Suppress Oakfed below.
"Heal" Hmm. "Heat Metal" Again, smiths are important - I see this as a smith's spell. "Ignite" Lighting fires is a sacred act as well as a mundane convenience.All fires are respected...
"Associated Gods
Dendara - provides Regrow Limb"
Tells us that there must be a myth with Dendara helping Lodril, maybe healing
him or giving him a power to heal. For our village, tells us that the healers
might be women.
"Pamalt - Provides Earthtouch (in Pamaltela only)"
Seems like you should ignore this for a Pelorian village, no? Actually it tells us two things: one, it reminds us that these writeups are only broad generalizations and that you can flesh in lots of local variation and detail. Two, that there might be some myth of how Lodril was important to Genert.
"Yelm - provides Shield"
So there must be a myth in which Yelm protects Lodril somehow... either
directly or by arming him. Thus we can deduce that it is the duty of the
Yelmite rulers to protect these Lodrilite peasants... if a danger threatens
the village, they can go to the authorities.
"Special Lodril Divine Spells
Cremate Dead" "... cult member"
Tells us that cremation is the preferred form of body disposal for members of the cult, i.e., the bulk of the adult male population. Women might get buried or might also get cremated. I would guess that the cremation is usually done with a pyre, not 'just' with magic, and that someone does a ritual for every cremation.
"Earthwarm" Discussed above under shrines.
"Enhance Gustbran" Again with the redsmith
"Enhance Mahome" Can make some groovy bonfires for ceremonies...
"Firespear" Confirmation about Lodrilites having spear as main weapon
"Summon Lodril" Uhh... no active volcanoes here, sorry
"Suppress Oakfed" Again, responsible people control fires...
This can even be done completely on the fly. Suppose your players are in Prax, and stop by an oasis. You think they are going to drop by the Lunar temple at Moonbroth and try to find some information about a missing friend. You mention the oasis slaves going to and fro, carrying waterskins or some such. The players stop an oasis slave and want
End of Glorantha Digest V1 #162
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