>In KoS on page 157 we read the sentence "...Argrath began building the
>Temple of the Reaching Storm to protect all of Saird from ravages of
>nomads from the north and east." My question is : what is the magical
>effect of this temple that it can protect from nomads ? First I thought
>that it could be an opposite to the Temple of the Reaching Moon making
>the moon in the sky always look dead (Dying phase). But this isn't
>helping very much against nomads, is it ?
David Cake has already mentioned the goddess of the temple is Yara Aranis (which I also have posted before about). Yara Aranis is the ban of the nomads in that she terrorises them 'and slays them if need be'. Thus the Orlanthi would go to the temple to learn magics that Frighten the Horses.
The real problem is the 'reaching' aspect IMO. Yara Aranis's abilities as the bane of all horses is almost independent of her ability in extending the glowline to the extent that she looks like she has multiple personalities. Furthermore the Orlanthi have no real need of a glowline or analog. I suspect that the answer lies in the Pentan cult of her mother. Perhaps in the places where her cult was strong, there were vile auras that poisoned the horses? The lunars would then twist this ability to that of causing the glowline (since they also needed horses for their army). So when Argrath sets up the Temple, he is actually using an older version of the cult.
Arnold Andersson:
>Resurrect is one of the more powerful spells you can cast in
>Glorantha. Could I have some suggestions for how the spell/
>ritual would look to an outsider?
IMG, the Yelmic ritual is very elaborate and ritualised. First the Priest and any helpers dress up in barbarian clothing and proceed to mock and abuse the corpse until the sun goes down. Then they run away in fright. The corpse is then dressed in magnificent funerary robes and placed within the nercropolis. Then at midnight, the Priest and helpers enter dressed in ashes and sackcloth. There with tear streaked faces and bloody knees, they abase themselves and beg forgiveness for their impious deeds. If the rites are successful, the corpse comes back to life at the Dawn.
David Dunham:
Me>> There's also mention of a seal people but I forget where...
>I can't remember if it's semi-official or just in my campaign, but I think
>there were once seal people in Ralios. (In my campaign it was in a lake
>that no longer exists, next to High Llama Pass.)
I was thinking of the extinct barred seal people of Kralorela.
Dave Bailey:
[Asks about ritual magic]
>We have decided that when they sacrifice for the [ritual] spell they
>get the base level.
The exact details of ritual skills is given in the section of learning rituals (p136 of the magic book). They are independant of the spell and represent the knowlege of the props and suchlike. If one does not know how to enchant but gets the enchant [thingy], then they are unable to cast the spell. Normally it takes a full week of instruction to get a base chance in a ritual skill other than ceremony (which has an automatic base 5% chance).
>Do they have to increase there ability in the ritual through research
>without casting the spell? Could they continue this progress even if
>they'd already cast the spell?
The only way a ritual skill can be increased is by research and/or training. No knowlege of a spell is needed.
Nick Brooke:
>Peter writes:
>> There are times when a leader _must_ turn his or her back. This happens
>> when a more important loyalty is at a stake.
Um, 'twas Paulo who actually wrote that.
>Follow-on question: if a Light Son orders his hundred troops to help an
>Orlanthi village, and one of them has this geas, how does he reconcile the
>military need to obey orders with the divine prohibition? Would you expect
>him to go immediately to the commander and say why he can't help? And what
>would the commander's reaction most likely be? (Especially if in a
>stressful situatuon)? I don't think a Templar would "quietly disobey" (do
>nothing, in defiance of orders), but I'd be interested to hear how other
>GMs and players would resolve this situation. Is "Sorry, Sir, but I can't
>do that: I have a geas!" something you'd often hear from the ranks of the
>Sun Dome Templars?
If a Yelmalion had that geas and was ordered to help the village to defeat the broos, then he would rely on intermediaries to talk to the Orlanthi. He would also adopt tactics that will be detrimental to the Orlanthi in repelling the Broos. If the Broos are spotted in a corn field, then he will order the cornfield burned. He would attempt to meet the Broos in the village so that much of the town is destroyed in the street-to-street fighting. Any captives that he takes for intelligence purposes, he executes by throwing them down the well. That way he can reconcile his orders with his geases.
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