> Nowadays I am less concerned of being Gregged than being
> Brooked, in fact.
Urg. I hope the normal term is "Nicked", which (in UK English) neatly adds some all-too-appropriate overtones of pilfering.
I do hope my ramblings, musings and random suggestions haven't really caused you any "concern" -- certainly, I'm unaware of ever having done so, which (given the Freedom of the Digest) I'd hope would swiftly become apparent.
> It seems to me that Pent really ought to be a more interesting
> place than I have hitherto worked out. Not only did they success-
> fully invade the Lunar Empire in the past, they're about to have
> another go now. Now the idea that a civilisation could mount such
> an assault 'on a shoestring' - so to speak - doesn't seem right
> to me. The Pentians must actually be quite rich in order to equip
> their armies, and given the lack of natural resources in Pent this
> wealth must have come about through trade.
Er, not necessarily. For a start, calling the Nomad Hordes of Pent "a civilisation" is stretching use of the word to breaking point. These need be no more civilised (in the traditional sense) than Attila's Huns or Ghengis Khan's Mongols. Nomads don't launch invasions when they have enough tax revenues to do so...
Secondly, a fair amount of Sheng Seleris' power and backing came from Kralorela, where he occupied extensive lands throughout the period of his campaigns in Peloria. Indeed, it'd be fair to see him as primarily a Kralori historic figure, with occasional distractions in Peloria. Any "trade" (or civilised hinterland) would have been with the civilisation on the far side of the Steppe, not (as far as we know from published sources) with any Samarkand-style emporia in the middle.
Trade between the Lunar and Kralori Empires is primarily through the Red-Hair Caravans (cf. Genertela Book for details). And Xanadu would be where it was in the Mongol parallel -- at the far end of the route, not slap-bang in the middle of the desolate, wind-swept Steppe.
> So how about it? Spice Caravans, rich horse nomads dressed/armoured
> in all sorts of foreign gear, beautiful new cities full of scholars
> from around the world, haunted ruined cities full of forgotten
> artifacts from around the world, and so on.
I think we already have the Spice Caravan; any booming cities would IMO be at either end of the route (Oraya Sultanate and the northern province of the Kralori Empire), not in the middle of nowhere; and Pentan nomads' gear would surely be a mix of traditional, Pelorian and Kralori styles, whatever happens. But it's great to see you using *inspiration* to catch people's imaginations: more power to your elbow!
(Just my 2p'orth).
> I would like to see a catalogue of mysteries, major and minor,
> whose effect on the history of Glorantha is well documented and
> integrated... This would give us a clean way of running major
> adventures which are guaranteed not just to not tread on the toes
> of the rest of Glorantha but also to become part of it.
You mean you can't? Here's four to be going on with. AFAIK, you can feel free to make up your own "answers" (for your own game, natch), and needn't fear contradiction so long as you preserve them as "Mysteries" in your Glorantha -- that is, even if you *know* the Answer to the Question, surely your players will only discover it at the end of a long and arduous campaign of worldspanning investigations: it won't be Common Knowledge. (As GM, you may *think* you need to know who shot JFK in order to run an 80's Cthulhu game -- but you don't, really; any more than you need Answers to these Questions to run a Gloranthan game).
What was the Secret of the God Learners, what power did it have, and did it survive the Downfall of the Middle Sea Empire (and the Gift Carriers of the Sending Gods)?
Was Arkat Gbaji? Was Gbaji Nysalor? Was Nysalor Arkat? Who was it that survived the last battle of the Chaos Wars and emerged from the Tower of Dreams in Dorastor? (And what, if anything, did Ralzakark have to do with any or all of this).
How did the Kingdom of War begin, what does it want, how can we defeat it, and what happens to us when we do?
And, why Ducks? And can we get rid of them, please?
::::
Nick
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End of The Glorantha Digest V5 #347
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