Black Horse County is land owned by a great mercenary, Eldrith, who = trains his own elite force of mounted and foot soldier mercenaries. He = earned his fortune through adventure and rides into battle on a giant = Hell Hound.
[Hell Hound? Yep, this _is_ an AD&D world...=20
My mean part feels like he is watching Pocharngo at work - what he =
doesn't destroy, he perverts. Look at this part from that Geography =
section:]
In the Pass itself is a small kingdom known as Sartar. It is ruled by a =
kind yet old king, Liberous. It was feared that the old king would not =
have a son to pass the kingdom to, until one year ago when his first and =
only son, Gregor [Greg!?], was born. Sartar owns the land where the =
moutain passes are located. Through the passes to the East are the =
plains of Fighad and through the treacherous southern moutain passes is =
the land of Irig. Near the southwestern corner of Sartar is a =
magnificent elven kingdom known as Wintertop. It is the only known =
organized elven kingdom in this part of the world. Among these elves a =
new religion to the Earth was born, and they have learned magics to =
manipulate the earth so the worshippers are called Earthshakers. To the =
south of Wintertop, before the mountain ranges are beautiful untamed =
sylvan plains. To the west of these are plains inhabited by a nomadic =
people, who are mostly left alone to follow the herds and live their =
free lives. To the north of Sartar is a forest known as stinking forest =
which marks the last of the valley before the mountains rise again. To =
the north of the Stinking Forest in the mountains there is a castle =
thought to be inhabited by a powerful witch. She is thought to control =
ogres and giants but she is a recluse so no one knows for sure. North of =
her is uncharted lands. Just near the north of Sartar is the only known =
entrance to dwarven undergrounds. The dwarves care very little about the =
affairs above ground and hold no lands. However, the land surrounding =
the entrance, although not offically lands of the dwarves, are patrolled =
by them to flush out... undesirables. Finally, to the north and west of =
Sartar is the land known as Tarsh. Tarsh is one of eight great kingdoms =
that span the western part of the continent. They are in constant =
warfare and have been so for as long as most can remember. A new threat =
has recently appeared to these eight kingdoms though. One hundred years =
ago, to this year, a comet fell to the earth and hit in the kingdom =
known as Thrall. Thrall was located mostly in the center of the eight =
kingdoms.
[This comet killed everyone in Thrall, except one guy who became a =
powerful wizard and established Moon worship and Moon magic]
But I have yet to tell you how the Empire was able to flourish under the = constant threat of the remaining six kingdoms. The old six kingdoms =
learned the magics of the Lunarians priests and knew that when the moon = was full their power was greatest, and hence when the moon was new they = were weakest. About 60 years ago, the first Red Temple was built. In it = was placed a piece of the moon rock and it was somehow able to channel =the influences of the moon even in its weakest cycle. All within miles = of the temple had the power of when the moon was full. Soon several of = the temples were built. The powerful magics flowed through The Moon's = priests constantly and they turned the tide of war in the favor of the = Empire's. Now, all that remain are 3 of the original 8 kingdoms. Five = are now part of the Lunar Empire. Of the three that remain independant, = two are far west, and the third is Tarsh.
[This guy did not only plagiarize or whatever you want to call it Greg =
Stafford et consortes, he has also touched upon Older Sources. Listen to =
this from the Religion chapter :]
Crom
Earth watcher, Keeper of Steel.
Alignment: Neutral Good.
Effigy: He is depicted as an older, muscular man surrounded by weapons = and armor.
Description: Popular with the barbarians in the Praxian plains (located = east of Sartar). He is seemingly unconcerned with the affairs of men. = The way of a warrior is the way of Crom. He symbolizes the strength and = wisdom that honorable warriors need. There are no real priests of Crom. = Warriors are the priesthood of Crom.
[Or to take a deity with vague Gloranthan roots:]
Sakamara
Demon of the Sea.
Alignment: Chaotic Evil.
Effigy: Shown as a giant saughin, horned, with a mighty Trident.
Description: An ancient pact with the Four Winds gives him the right to = cause chaos over the waters (e.g., hurricanes, monsoons, whirlpools, = etc). Followers are rare and do so only to tap into Sakamara's chaos.
[Well, you get my point... The big bone for me is that, well, he seems =
such a swell nice guy... if I found this on the web and knew nothing of =
Glorantha, I would think: "Well, well, such a pretty piece. It's =
bog-standard cookie-cutter fantasy, of course, but it is easily =
structured, seems to fit together internally, and such a nice =
web-page...". Not a shadow of a note about any ideas coming from =
Glorantha or anywhere else (though the appearance of Crom and Tyr in the =
deities list should say something), and this is what puts this guy on my =
Hate List, together with this: He's got the guts to denote his campaign =
name as 'TM', WHEN HE BLOODY WELL ALMOST INFRINGES ON A TM IN CREATING =
IT! Just look at this, from the introduction:]
Welcome to the Chronicles of Gloranthiatm! [you see! There it is!] This = site chronicles the continuing adventures of a small group of heroes on = a world known as Gloranthia. Once each week, usually at 8:00pm ET on = Sunday, the players and the Dungeon Master get together on the Internet = Relay Chat (IRC) channel #ad&d3 on irc.superlink.net to play Advanced = Dungeons & Dragons, a game that's similar to improv acting set in a = world of swords & sorcery. The Dungeon Master is the final arbitrator of = what can or can't happen, both the director and a writer collaborating = with the players. Currently we have a Dungeon Master and all the players = we need, but anyone's welcome to come on IRC to watch us play, or you = can read the logs of our sessions on this website. =20
=20
End of The Glorantha Digest V6 #603
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