Bell Digest v940531p1

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To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (Daily automated RQ-Digest)
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Subject: RuneQuest Daily, Tue, 31 May 1994, part 1
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X-RQ-ID: Intro

This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on
the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's 
world of Glorantha.  It is sent out once per day in digest
format.

More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found
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From: 100102.3001@CompuServe.COM (Peter J. Whitelaw)
Subject: non-Gloranthan notes.  Batch Four
Message-ID: <940530153058_100102.3001_BHJ55-6@CompuServe.COM>
Date: 30 May 94 15:30:59 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 4260

THE TASKAN EMPIRE
==================
 
Cities of the Taskan Heartland - Part I
----------------------------------------------

Taskay, Zygas Taga'a Imperial Capital
For over 300 years Taskay has been the home of Zygas Taga, the man become God.
The Emperor lives in a great palace surrounded by high walls of red stone, on a
rock at the end of a promontory that stretches out into the gulf of Taskay.
When the Emperor shut himself within he did so in the company of 1000 soldiers,
officials, servants and slaves, who were forbidden to leave the premises.  Their
descendants serve the Emperor still, and noone on the outside knows for sure how
many there are and how they are organised.  Supplies are brought to the palace
gates in great quantities every day, but no human being from the outside is
allowed entry, and the supplies are handed over to palace staff for carrying
into the inner precincts.

Taskay's other famous features include the Great Market, a huge circular plaza
where traders buy sell and exchange goods from every corner of the empire, and
the Temple of Thesh, which sits on a hill facing the palace across the harbour.
Outside this temple is a great bronze dish supported by a tripod m high in which
flames of a dozen elementals leap and dance.  Also well known are the Wall of
Tears, which stretches 8km across the width of the peninsula on which the city
stands and which is its only major defence-work; and the royal cranes, birds
sacred to Thesh which inhabit a small island some 200 yards off the shore.
Taga's Court is the paved and cloistered area at the foot of Temple Hill where
Zygas Taga first held court upon capturing the city, and where the first formal
rites of Emperor-worship were performed.  Here now stands an unprepossessing
altar to the Emperor, and it is here that the notables of enemy nations captured
in war are brought to offer sacrifice to his name.  It is also here that they
die if they refuse the offer of mercy and pardon.

Beyond the suburbs but still within the Wall of Tears there is pasture and
parkland, and several cemeteries where the city's dead are housed in family or
communal mortuary structures built to house large numbers of funerary urns.
Also here is the expanse of open ground, known as the Choosing Ground, where the
levy is held on Army Day and the militia are trained.  Abutting the Wall of
Tears is the Fortress of the Unconquerable Heroes (popularly known as the
Fire-eaters),  the barracks for a regiment of 1100 men, devotees of Thesh, who
form the Imperial Guard.  At any one time about one third of the regiment's
manpower is in barracks, while another third is on active duty with the Iron
Simulacrum and the remainder are on courier duties or special missions.

From the Wall of Tears you can see the much of the rest of the peninsular.  At
the foot of the wall are a ramshackle but extensive collection of fire-hazardous
dwellings, where those who have not been granted a right to live within the
walls are forced to stay.  Here too are animal pens, unlicensed trading stalls,
and even the occasional collection of nomad tents.  The Great Imperial Highway
brings all kinds of people to the Emperor's capital, and many find themselves
stranded at its gates because the guards see fit to refuse them entry out of
suspicion, prejudice or sheer bedevilment. 

People of Importance
The most influential inhabitants of Taskay are:

Naraspan Gubast
Arch Priest of Thesh, High Priest of Taskay's Emperor-cult and adept sorcerer,
Gubast is the most important person in Taskay after the Emperor himself.  He is
a crotchety and bilious old man, for which he might be forgiven given that he is
132 years of age.

Kepil Narmost
Kepil commands the garrison of Taskay.  He is one of three senior officers in
the Imperial Guard, and is always posted to command of the troops stationed in
the city.  Kepil is a priest of the Emperor cult belonging to the Taskay College
as well as being a priest of Thesh.  His ambition is to succeed to command of
his regiment and thereby to gain a permanent place at the side of the Iron
Simulacrum as one of the Iron Companions.

Sutermin Tethistan
The official in charge of victualling the palace.  Sutermin squandered much of
the fortune he inherited in bad business deals, but nevertheless won appointment
to the Taskay College and then to his current position, in which he earns great
fortunes from the bribes offered by would-be suppliers to the Emperor's
household.  A haughty and arrogant man.  

Maglut Taramank 
A very wealthy merchant who is an unofficial leader of the businessmen of the
city.  Maglut is well known for the frequent entertainments he lays on for the
populace out of his own pocket.  Maglut has business interests in many cities
and lands, not to mention huge agricultural estates near the city which supply
much of the palace's demand for foodstuffs.

Darkot the Magus
Darkot is reputedly the most powerful sorcerer in Taskay.  He keeps a fine house
in a rich area of town, and is well known for his novel parties featuring all
manner of magical display and his enormous popularity with Taskay's smart set.
Darkot uses magical illusions to change his appearance with unnerving
regularity.  In all his varied but distinctive guises he may be recognised by
the missing finger of his left hand. 

Jarmostin Filkar
This character is the captain of the naval detachment stationed at Taskay.  He
has 15 small galleys under his command.  Filkar is an Iron Companion belonging
to the college of priests which attend upon the Iron Simulacrum and form the
army's general staff.  He has been stationed here 6 years and is very bored of
the posting.  He claims to be the finest swordsman in Taskay, a boast which
results in no end of would-be contenders attempting to engineer his
participation in a duel (which he usually takes care to avoid).

Samistina Taramank
Samistina is the most respected matron of Taskay, who is the high priestess of
Samanse's temple and thus leader of the women of Taskay.  She is sister to
Maglut, and was married to Sutermin Themistan's predecessor until his death 8
years ago.  Now 42 years of age, she is a proud, independent and very clever
woman.  Every titbit of gossip shared by the women of the city will at some
point be picked up by one of her network of informers, and the most interesting
passed on to her.  Information gathered in this way has led her to suspect
Sutermin of having a hand in her husband's death.


Pryjarna, Holy City of Bast
Pryjarna is a barrack town on the southern limit of the heartland.  The city is
built on a plain and surrounded by tall circuit walls.  Beyond this point the
landscape is barren and almost treeless, and the soil harsh and dry.  The
surface water in the area is mostly seasonal, but there is adequate water to be
found beneath the ground for it to be used in irrigation and to supply the needs
of the settled population.  Stationed at Pryjana are 4000 levies drawn from the
cities of Pryjana, Ramlyrra and Tarsang, a mercenary detachment of 500 Escars
and some 70 Soribisi scouts, and regular troops consisting of 100 lancers and
150 Machank devouts.  Most of these men are rotated between the barracks here
and a string of forts along the border with the badlands. 

The military forces of Pryjarna clearly have quite an effect on the town's
economy.  Leatherworkers, blacksmiths, armourers, victuallers, prostitutes,
taverners and assorted other hangers-on make their living off the soldiery.
Similarly the cult of Bast, which has its great temple here, gains many
worshippers from among their ranks, even though the majority of them are
short-service conscripts who will probably lapse as soon as they are
demobilised..

Pryjarna has a caravanserai outside the walls, abutting the earthworks of the
army camp.  Caravans set out from here to Djesmirket, Yegusai, Sharranket and
Morkesh, although in recent years the route to Morkesh from Losteng along the
Onislik valley has become more important.  There is a small Sharranketan
presence in the Caravanserai, agents for the merchant houses of Mirdaza and
Ramsadis whose caravans pass through here en route to Tarsang.  Soribisi pitch
their nomad tents there, who have come to trade or who have thrown in their lot
with the Taskans and come to settle. 

The city's circuit walls stand 20m high crowned by machicolated battlements.
There are five gates, of which two have not been opened in years.  The largest
gives on to the Caravanserai, and is flanked by immense statues of Najoor and
Bunais, the twin sons of Bast representing truth and life.  Its doors are of
wood studded with bronze and reinforced with bands of copper which are said to
bear many enchantments of defensive magic.

The city has five suburbs within the walls.  These are the Priests' Quarter, the
Farmers' Quarter, the Artisans' Quarter, the Soldiers' Quarter and the Holy City
of Bast.

The Priests' Quarter is the administrative centre of Pryjana and its environs,
where the Pryjana college of the Emperor cult is located.  Its focus is the
Zygas Taga temple, and the open court attached to it where the priests sit in
plenary session.  The Holy city of Bast features the dazzling marble-faced
Temple of Bast and a network of plazas, as well as the sacred Fount of
Athronash, the city's necropolis and a small temple to the death god Gomorg,
Basts' arch enemy. 

The Farmers' Quarter is the largest suburb, being a residential area, many of
whose inhabitants set out from the city each morning to tend to flocks and work
the field.  Others are employed in workshops in the Artisans' Quarter.  Pryjana
is known for its metalwork, and has more workshops per head of population than
any other city in the Empire.

The Soldiers' Quarter is so called because this is where soldiers pass their
off-duty hours if they have any money to spend.  It is a place of taverns,
brothels, and gambling dens.  The most distinctive feature is the theatre, used
for the competitions in athleticism, wrestling and marksmanship of which
soldiers are very fond, and also for entertainments by local or travelling
players.  On the high holy day of the death god Gomorg, the theatre is used for
public executions of captured enemies and condemned criminals.  Those of the
condemned who are strong of limb may draw for the opportunity to take part in
ritual combats.  The priests of Bast have the right to intervene and reprieve
those who put on a courageous display.

People of Importance
Pryjana's notable inhabitants are:

Jerenk Hasandarin
Hasandarin is patriarch of Bast's cult, and chief priest of Zygas Taga.  He is
the only non-sorcerer to hold this title in the empire.  Originally from
Ramlyrra, he served his time as a soldier stationed in Pryjarna, and became a
worshipper of Bast.  His family were killed when the Gumathenings sacked
Ramlyrra, so he decided to settle here and upon mustering out of the army he
gave himself over to serving the god.  Hasandarin is now 52 years old, but still
strong and quite handsome.  He is a highly respected statesman and a popular
leader.

Torporil Gutethis
Torporil is commander in chief of the forces stationed at Pryjana and the
associated forts and outposts.  He is an Iron Companion on secondment from the
military staff in attendance on the Simulacrum.  At 35 years old, Torporil is an
active commander, and often accompanies his men on patrol.  He has as his
ambition to recover some or all of the Marble Simulacrum, which was destroyed
some 300 years ago in a battle at Fakash, across the southern border.  He has
recently heard that a hand of the Simulacrum is in the possession of s Soribisi
nomad chieftain.

Samisdan Jamarjin
This man is the leader of Pryjarna's own militia forces, and thereby responsible
for the security and defence of the city.  He is a priest of Pryjarna's Emperor
cult, and an initiate of Bast.  At 40 years of age, Samisdan is a staid
character who plays everything by the book.  He is constantly irked by the
antics of hell-raising soldiers in their off-duty hours, which it is his men's
job to police.  His only passions are for Nasindra, a Pryjarnan courtesan of
celebrated beauty, and he spends as much time as possible in her company, even
in public (which some regard as scandalous).