> I propose that Shargash have a High Holy Day only once every two years.=
Seems unnecessary. Why not rotate the presiding role between the Green an=
d
Red Kings, depending on where the planet is on the appropriate day ("up o=
r
down")?
> Perhaps the variation of the Southpath should be in a 27 year cycle?
An eminently sensible suggestion. Someone else can program it, though.
> Does Glorantha have comets?
One of the units in WB&RM/DP is the Comet Seers. Those of an inquiring mind may learn more about them in the last few pages of "Tarsh War". A comet (possibly the same one) is mentioned in the Seleric Verses, cf. Tales #16. And, in discussion with Greg, he was happy with the idea of a periodic comet heralding the End of the Age (etc.), though we didn't get into specifics.
There seems no reason to doubt Gloranthan comets, especially given the WB&RM mention (which prevents the SimGloranthan argument from silence).
> 1) Are there any published sources detailing myths of the Lunar Empire?=
> More specifically, myths about the Red Goddess and the Seven Mothers?
Not really, alas. If you have the "Gods of Glorantha" material ("Talking to the Moon Woman" and the Prosopaedia), that's about it for official, RQ3-era printed stuff. There was a cult of the Seven Mothers writeup in "Cults of Prax" (which hasn't been in print for a decade and a half).
However, there *is* lots of forthcoming, almost-available Lunar stuff.
Greg Stafford has written a brief pamphlet, which he was handing out at conventions last month: "The Story Of Our Red Goddess, Called Rufelza". This gives the core of the ur-Lunar myth (i.e. stories of those previous Moon Goddesses of whom the Red Goddess is the current incarnation). I don't know how you'd get a copy of this (other than at a Con).
An article called "The Lunar Pantheon", by Greg Stafford including stuff by myself and Sandy Petersen, should be included in the next release (the=
first "real" release) of the Rough Guide to Glamour. This includes brief paragraphs on all the deities of the Lunar Pantheon (NB: that's the Lunar=
gods, not the others embraced by their religion) and some ideas about how=
they fit in to mythology, how their cults work, etc. Should be out 1/98.
"Enclosure" (just out) includes Greg's notes on the "Gods and Goddesses of the Lunar Empire" -- among the lewd herons and miscellaneous agrarian deities, you can *just* find the occasional Lunar deity of interest. :-)
The Chaosium web server should soon include several out-of-print articles=
of Gloranthan interest. Among these are the History of the Lunar Empire pieces (from "Wyrms Footnotes" and "Heroes" magazines), which give good background on some aspects of Lunar mythology (particularly in the Zero Wane). Look for an official announcement here when these are launched.
Other recent odds and ends include "The Fortunate Succession" (the Emperors of Dara Happa, including details of the many Masks of Moonson), "Tales of the Reaching Moon" #16 (which includes cult writeups for the Red Emperor and Danfive Xaron, plus some heretical fiction about the Seven Mothers), and the "RQCon 2 Compendium" (good speeches by Greg).
Also some bits and bobs on my homepage:
<http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Nick_Brooke/>
I'm sure many of us would be *delighted* to discuss Lunar mythology, if you have any specific questions about the Goddess, the Mothers, or any other prominent figures. Please ask!
> 2) While rolling up a High Llama Storm Bull initiate, one of my
> players asked me what exactly the taboo against horses meant. Does
> it mean that horses are Extremely Holy to the Praxians or that they
> hate them and try to kill them on sight?
Horses are hated, unclean, aberrant, unnatural, etc. to the Praxians. The=
only good horse is a dead horse, and most Praxians wouldn't stop short of=
flogging one, either. Though they wouldn't eat it afterwards. This isn't *quite* as extreme as the Praxian hatred of Chaos, and apparently is also=
tempered somewhat outside of Sacred Prax itself -- in discussion with Sandy, he said that Praxians raiding into Dragon Pass wouldn't go out of their way to harm horses, as horses in Dragon Pass aren't soiling Prax with their foul presence. So they *can* be practical about this, though they'd kill any horses they didn't have to go out of their way to get to.=
::::
Nick
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