>IMO Uroxi in distant regions can worship the Eternal Battle for
>fighting chaos but it is harder for them. If your game is set in
>the Imperial Age, the Borists are around and only too pleased
>to help while Alakoring mysteriously has no conflicts with the
>much closer God Learners.
Sadly for your ideas, the game is set in Anadikki, so I can't think of a good way to introduce helpful Borists. And the God Learners aren't at all close (indeed, I'm not aware of any historical connections), though one of the original PCs gave me a plot hook I didn't play up.
>I note that History of the Heortling Peoples mentions "Orlanth the
>Law" p46 and "Alakoringite Magicians" p75. The earlier may be
>a thinko for Orlanth Rex but the latter hints at something mysterious.
Here's the player writeup (from Rob Helm) relevant to Orlanth the Law, as seen in my game. The setting is the Hill of Nardain in Talastar, Spring 910:
Over a thousand people gathered on the hill for sacrifices led by the hero, accompanied by a great deal of incomprehensible chanting in Ralian, which eventually gave way to the roiling clarity of Stormspeech. Soon even the women (and Gardi the shaman) could see the truth behind the ritual and glimpse the Storm Realm. And in that realm, we saw Orlanth placing a severed dragon head firmly into the sky, not putting on a dragon head or absorbing its insights. Hundreds of dragon-hating onlookers pledged themselves to Orlanth the Law on the spot, including Dangmarl (as promised).
Later, the bewildered Blue Frog herder was hard-pressed to explain to Voski what the cult was. Orlanth the Law appeared to be like Orlanth the Rune owner. It wasn't an aspect of Orlanth, nor Great Orlanth, but somehow Orlanth stripped of everything people used to make him more human: Orlanth the god, not Orlanth the man; one of the fundamentals of Glorantha. In the ceremony we saw little of Orlanth the Law's deeds, although other gods came and paid respect, and gave over rule of the six directions. One thing for sure: The cult was definitely not draconic.
Most of the Orlanth priests were as baffled as we were: Somehow, it didn't fit how they expected Orlanth to be. Even Valastor, a holy man but no priest, was skeptical of the cult: "It's true Orlanth," he said. "But it's not useful Orlanth. It's too remote, abstract. How can an individual get a hold of it? It's not a Thunderer, Warrior, or Father, or anything you can be. How can you be the law?"
"Maybe it weakens the EWF belief," Voski surmised.
"How do I get the dragon-killing powers?" grunted Lormak, impatient with all these musings. "What do I have to sacrifice to get that? I'm not interested in Orlanth the Law if it's not a stepping-stone to dragon-killing.
Later [after meeting Alakoring], we participated in another stirring sacrifice, with some 2,000 people this time, all worshipping Orlanth the Law. This time, Voski initiated to the cult, coming out with its strange tattoos.
--
David Dunham
Glorantha/HQ/RQ page: www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha.html
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