Pamaltelan guys

From: David Cake <davidc_at_cs.uwa.edu.au>
Date: Tue, 10 Sep 1996 23:24:57 +0800


>Does anyone have any details on the following cults which were mentioned
>recently please?
>Fonrit - Ompalam, Artmal

        I don't know much about Ompalam. He is the god of slavery. In some places he is seen as a destructive and dreadful force, in other places he is an important god who helps keep civilisation running properly. His cult accordingly varies. I don't know much about him, but I assume his worshippers can vary from slavetraders that are paragons of evil and depravity to well intentioned servants of the state.

        Artmal is the old god who used to rule Pamaltela long ago, before the great darkness. He went to fight chaos, and was beaten by it. He was a son of the blue moon, and the Veldang were his people. They are still his only worshippers. Along the costal cities he is a slave god of a slave people, among the Veldang of inner Pamaltela he is still thought of highly (but they are a broken people, irrelevent to the world).

        The one spell of his that has been written up is called Vesper, and it casts a glow over a reasonably large area that strengthens all his worshippers within it (adds an MP, I think). This glow is now bright red, but Sandy once told me that it used to be blue, and only turned red when the red moon rose (the only consequence of its rising in Pamaltela I know of).

        IMG Artmal is known to the Doraddi of central Pamaltela, but is not worshipped. He is an important figure to their myth though, largely as an object lesson in what was wrong with the world before Pamalt. Artmal is the bad ruler who thinks only like a warrior. He ruled a great empire, and loved to conquer. When chaos came, he went to fight it, but he fought it alone as warriors do, and lost. Pamalt is more than that, he is the true chief not just a warrior, and knows the warrior skills of fighting and leadership, but also the womens skills of organisation and coordination and cooperation. When Pamalt fought, everyone fought with him, and he beat chaos. Vangono the warrior god is a bit like Artmal, but he is the good warrior who does what Pamalt says and does not wish to conquer.

        To the Doraddi Jraktal is a perfect example of the superiority of Pamalt as well. Artmal fought him, and failed dreadfully, and his people became Tappers for while. Pamalt fought him, and beat him, and Tapping is unknown among the Doraddi. The Six Legged Empire tried to bring Jraktal back as well, but Hon Hoolbiktu defeated Jraktal again, because he walked Pamalts Right Footpath.

>Andrew Joelson joelsona_at_cpdmfg.cig.mot.com -|-
>aka Rupert von Harl; Cults of Seven Mothers, Yanifal Tarnils and Humakt |
> "Contradiction? No, I always did tend to kill chaos creatures anyway" /

        This still annoys me - if he was in my campaign he'd be asked to accompany a three eyed chaos magician retainer to the provincial governor on a tour of the barbarian tribes. That would make him choose his side of the fence :-) - or see how he copes when his YT comrades are resurrected. Why any good Lunar would want to mess with backwards barbarian worship practices is beyond me anyway :-)

        Cheers
                David





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End of Glorantha Digest V3 #183


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