Re: Artwork in Heroquest 2

From: Richard Hayes <richard_hayes29_at_Hm2kumL_agKGMxyrV_Srb-Nqq-3nd096SOG4AzVVH-3XepYB2gLhi94ft4tp>
Date: Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:59:29 +0000 (GMT)

I am assuming that Jeff's indication about artwork is to suggest that HQ2 will present a more unique and fantastical vision of Sartar than a single historical metaphor (or even a melange of the two traditional ones).  
Personally  I hwonder whether maybe there isn't also something of the pre-Christian Kievan Rus about Sartar:

The relationship between the cities and the countryside -- not found to the same extent in the same way in Scandiavia or Celtic lands AFAIK Something architectural too (if you've ever seen e.g. the pictures of early Kiev on low denomination Ukrainian banknotes) Having a storm god as the chief of the gods in the ruling local pantheon, (although in the pantheon of the Kievan Rus he is called Perun). This fits better than parallels with Norse mythology. In Viking terms, Orlanth is like aspects of both Thor (Orlanth Thunderous/Adventurous?) and Odin (Orlanth Rex?)  The Viking gods were also more tolerant of goats. There is a further parallel between Perun's battle with a water-dragon and Orlanth's battle against Aroka (though Orlanth's battle with Shah'kaharzeel is probably more like Thor's battle with Jormungand  -- apart from the fact that Orlanth survives being poisoned) The sample player character in the early RQ rules was called Rurik. Whilst the name sounds a bit Viking,  Rurik was also the name of an (unsuccessful) pretender to the throne in the earlist days of the Kievan Rus  
That said I don't believe the analogy is a perfect one, because I suspect that there was no one 'real world' source for Sartar, and a certain amount of Sartar is probably more or less new.  
Just as there is no one source for the Lunars either. They are a bit Persian (especially dualist Carmania with its Bull-Shah), a bit Roman (legions, decadent toga parties, a dignified senate contrasting with a functional army/bureaucracy, the cult of the emperor)), with a bit of anachronistic Soviet Russia for good measure too (at least in Tales of the Reaching Moon), together with some signifncant new elements.  
Richard Hayes (whose baptismal name is Vladimir)

• On Wed, 29/4/09, Jeff Richard <richaje_at_PBN-BfaWxO0JO84ULzxDqtDM5V4NOmk9YkDNWJOm_peTVHeYekTIU91wEwHZLHuYiDzLgzUl5zHE.yahoo.invalid> wrote:

From: Jeff Richard <richaje_at_PBN-BfaWxO0JO84ULzxDqtDM5V4NOmk9YkDNWJOm_peTVHeYekTIU91wEwHZLHuYiDzLgzUl5zHE.yahoo.invalid> Subject: Re: [HeroQuest-RPG] HeroQuest (2nd Ed) will be avaible this June! To: WorldofGlorantha_at_yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, 29 April, 2009, 10:03 AM

> > ... "And lots of distinctive art that helps to make it clear to folk that the Sartarites are not Celts or Vikings.:)" ...
>
      

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