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Subject: RuneQuest Daily, Tue, 07 Jun 1994, part 2
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From: wadsley@chipmunk.cita.utoronto.ca
Subject: Defeat (?) of the Lunar Empire
Message-ID: <9406060843.AA17878@hawk.cita.utoronto.ca>
Date: 6 Jun 94 08:43:27 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 4390
I haven't played RQ in ages ( left my players back in Australia ),
but I read the daily now and then. There always seemed to be hints that
the Orlanthi were going to put up some serious opposition to the
Lunars, but everything I read seems to put all the cards in the Lunar
hand. I just read a snippet about the Crimson Tears and I got to
thinking that with the Crimson bat, Lunar magic and so on the Orlanthi
might as well all migrate south. While I'm here, I might as well put
in my vote for the Crimson Bat being obscene.
James Wadsley.
---------------------
From: SMITHH@A1.MGH.HARVARD.EDU (Harald Smith 617 726-2172)
Subject: campaigns etc
Message-ID: <01HD7Q2H9CBAQ825Y3@MR.MGH.HARVARD.EDU>
Date: 6 Jun 94 02:33:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 4391
Hi all--
- Devin (x-rq-id 4111) inquires about types of campaigns run.
I have run both microcosmic and larger, heroic campaigns. The latter
typically grow out of the former.
The first campaign I ran started as a microcosmic look at the Kingdom
of Imther. The players proceeded to explore a long haunted area of
the kingdom and ended up with a mission to hunt and destroy chaos in
Imther with a couple of tools with which to do so. Well, where to
start? They didn't know so they asked their priests. Since the
majority of the characters were initiates of the Conquering Daughter,
the priests said to go and consult the Oracle in Jillaro.
So off they trekked down the great Daughter's Road from Hilltown,
pursued by bad guys. After significant danger, several characters
reached the Oracle and asked their questions. They received cryptic
answers in the forms of riddles, but interpreted enough that they
decided they had to find a legendary castle of giants--Gonn Orta's
"castle" to be precise.
And so began a great quest across Balazar (using Griffin Mountain).
The characters met kings, talked with great hunters and resident
priests, fought chaos (including a rather nasty scorpion dragonsnail
where they came to the rescue of a party of trolls--over the objection
of the Khelmal initiate) and Himile-wielding trolls of the Rockwoods
to finally reach Gonn Orta (who politely ignored them). They
accomplished their mission at Gonn Orta's castle and ... have yet to
make the return journey which is a heroquest which I haven't been able
to fully flesh out yet.
The quest included specific events at various locales as well as an
extensive downtime narrative (in the form of a journal by the Irripi
Ontor scholar). Incidentally, if anyone is interested in seeing a
posting out of this journal let me know. Since the journal focused on
the quest through Balazar and the Elder Wilds (across Blank Lands in
the current terminology) it will not see the light of Yelm in any
other fashion.
My current campaign is definitely microcosmic as I flesh out more and
more of Imther in the heroic attempt to publish a pack on Imther
(definitely a long enough effort to qualify as a heroquest, I think).
It has worked through politics and sinister activities in one of
Imther's main cities. Now, the characters are engaged in a great
effort to bring relief to the Central Mines following a devastating
earthquake. This has led the characters deep into the earth and even
into the dwarf realms (where after a particular comment by one
character they were nearly recycled into the World Machine). With
only one key action left to go in this piece, though, the campaign
will probably be moving on. And since one character, Tanaiya, a
Carmanian adept and personal friend of Palamtales, is the Keeper of
the Carmanian Archives on Dwarven Affairs and is supposed to be
bringing dwarven artifacts back to Carmania to support the archives
there, I suspect that a trek across the empire via Jillaro, Dara
Happa, and perhaps Glamour is in order.
- Mike Dickison (x-rq-id 4126) has some nice comments about trading.
My campaigns have invariably had at least one character interested in
trading. My original campaign had Hysterius, a trickster of Orlantio
who claimed he was a trader (hasn't been a traitor yet :-) ). Never
got far with any major trading expeditions, though.
In my current campaign, Ipas (named by GM fiat when the player
couldn't come up with a name and said "I pass") has a scheme to become
a lumber merchant using the extensive non-elf forests in Imther's
eastern reaches (very hilly region extending from the main mountain
range down to the Elf Sea). There are difficulties with this trade,
of course. The eastern border includes bandits and regular raids from
the Kingdom of Garsting. Whether there are hostile elves or not
remains to be seen.
Another character, Grucius the Grey (named by the player for the
seeming lacking of personality which Grucius had) is a fighter who in
downtime married the owner of a outfitter's shop. With the effort to
help the Central Mines after the major earthquake, Grucius decided to
make a tidy profit on selling blankets there. Unfortunately, blankets
turned out to be in far greater supply than was needed and he has lost
his investment. And the Lunar bureaucracy attended to events has even
gone so far as to have the characters deliver a wagon load of blankets
to a village which desperately needed food and had already received a
prior load of blankets.
(As a side note, I use the RQ Cities character catch-up fairly
extensively for downtime, supplementing it with local rumors and
events.)
- where is gold and copper mined?
Copper is mined in Imther. It is a royal monopoly, owned by the King
and Queen of Imther, who employ purchased slaves to dig out the ore
(sometimes with dwarf aid). The King and Queen use the copper to pay
their Imperial taxes. What is left is then sold to the Native Imther
corps, other mercenaries, and the khelix (local brotherhoods/guilds)
of armorers, smiths, or weaponmasters, or used in trade with other
provincial kingdoms.
- Imtherian trade
Exports from Imther include copper (as noted above), preserved foods
(a specialty of the cult of Imthus and Aidea, the kingdom founders)
such as cheeses or dried meats, and apple cider.
- Close friend of little Elvis (x-rq-id 4151) asks about a deity
dedicated to crafters and artisans.
Martin (x-rq-id 4182) noted Iphigios, the Pelorian craft deity. And
yes, as he noted, the Conquering Daughter is also a patron of crafters
and artisans--in fact, as much a patron of crafters as she is of
warriors.
My writeup of the Conquering Daughter includes the divine spell of
Finecraft (1 pt, ranged, one day, nonstackable, reusable). This spell
doubles the normal skill percentage of the target in all crafts
associated with the cult for the spell's duration. It does not effect
skill bonuses. (The cult related crafts are Cooking, Masonry,
Pottery, Sculpture, Shieldmaking, Stoneworking, and Weaving -- the
last because the Conquering Daughter helped weave together the
southern provinces of the empire).
Now, I should note that the mythos for the Conquering Daughter is
currently in a state of transition. Greg had expressed some
reservations about the version I had written. Following discussion
with him at RQ Con and further correspondence since then, the mythos
for Hwarin Dalthippa is taking some interesting turns (which emphasize
her little understood fertility powers over the martial powers
previously assumed). I will refrain from posting anything more on her
until the dust settles and I can get the cult writeup reworked.
- Nick Brooke (x-rq-id 4177) answering Mike Dickison on trade.
I like the idea of amber from Garsting along the shores of the Elf
Sea. Particularly since that trade would be exploited by Imtherian
merchants to bring the gems into the southern provinces of the empire
(and even on to Dragon Pass), bypassing the circuitous route down the
Arcos and back up the Oslir rivers. And this would certainly explain
why one faction in the Lunar Provincial Administration (pushed by the
Etyries merchants) wants to establish a border fort along the Elf Sea
itself.
--Harald
---------------------
From: gkca16@udcf.gla.ac.uk (S.Phillips)
Subject: Clouds are made from wool, Sheep are sponges..
Message-ID: <15659.199406061201@rockall.cent.gla.ac.uk>
Date: 6 Jun 94 14:01:18 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 4392
Hi from Sam... (The one who can't tell Nysalor from Gbaji)
- Oops! This was returned due to lack of subject %|s
|Sam here:-
|----------
|
|I'm somewhat behind due to the Exam season %\(
|
|Pam:
|----
|>2. How would an Orlanthi clan chief deal with a young man from his clan who
|>had been caught robbing strangers? Fines? Banishment? Confinement? Lop off
|>body parts? Make him do extra work?
|
|It would depend on who the strangers are. I suspect nothing. Or if they were
|no friend to the clan then he may take a cut. Either way, robbing the next
|door clan is seen as sport by the Orlanthi. Robbing strangers is just, well,
|something to do on a quiet day...
|
|I had lots of rude things to say about dogs in Sartar. But I think I have
|been convinced the other way. Hmm! I am so fickle..
|I think I'll post out dwarvern dumplings with sparklers anyway..
|
|Cheers, Sam
|(%\P> <-- Self portrait.. (without hat)
|Only 5'11&3/4".. But willing to take on the tallest of ya!
|(....In a cookery competition)
Ahem.. I have changed my mind about dogs again - more on this in a mo.
Sandy:
------
> I figure Dragon Pass is more like Scotland or Wales. You can farm there, can't
> you? (Sam?)
Actually, the farming in the hilly parts of Scotland is very poor, ditto Wales.
It is mostly heather, bracken and sheep here in scotland. The more sheltered
valleys support cattle. The lowland areas and major river valleys are very good
farm land, though a lot of the fuit and veg is grown under glass/plastic.
If Sartar is like Scotland then it is mostly sheep with a few cows. However,
I suspect it may be like the limestone hills of the south of France. You
certainly can't grow grapes up here! I'll need to find out which region I mean
- full of very Sartarian looking mountains and spectacular ridges ala Starfire.
I also like the idea of Sartar being made of limestone 'cos then you can have
lots of nice caverns and the like..
If Dragon Pass is like the lowlands of Scotland then yes. Was It not you, Sandy,
who said the Dragon Pass was incredibly fertile due to the amount of blood
spilled into the earth there?
>You must be from some lush rainy place like Washington state,
>Dave. Come visit Utah some day, and you'll see that "comparatively
>poor upland areas" are able to grow some crops, too.
Well, Scotland is an incredibly rainy place. Though not "lush". It just
doesn't get enough Sun to grow large amounts of fruit'n'veg etc. I suspect
Sartar may have this problem, what with all those Cloud Callers. Quite how
they *do* grow grapes is a mystery - A secret pact with Yelmic types?.."you
supply the sun - we'll supply cheap wine. Oh, I forgot - you don't drink".
And as for all those orchards - no way!..
I suspect that it is the gradient of the land as much as the climate that
prevent major cultivation. I will need to consult my live-in Geographer.
The Scottish diet in notoriously bad - mainly because until the major supermaket
chains moved in in the past ten years you couldn't buy any fruit or veg other
than turnip and potatoes, cabbage in season and the occasional apple - no joke!
But I'm getting foodie again. ;-P''
DDunham:
--------
>King of Sartar (in the indispensable-to-quote Report on th
>Orlanthi) says that the relative importance of the "Four Providers"
>(farmer, hunter, herder, fisherman) varies by locale.
^^^^^^^^^
Here I go again... I want Lakes in Sartar. I have seen a few in old maps but
they seem to dissapear. My own clan have quite a sizeable fishing lake.
>haven't most of the Utah clouds lost their moisture content crossing the
>Rocky Mountains?
I thought clouds were just moisture. Again I must consult my Geographer.
Are Gloranthan clouds not made from wool? That's what my grandfather told me..
Come to think of it, if sheep were once water born creatures are they just an
advanced type of sponge?
Alex:
>the ground's so steep a cow'd roll off
-Arf! Thats why haggises have one pair of legs longer than the other..
Pam:
>3. Someone else (the intrepid pony-trekker) understandably lamented the
>lack of horse details. We noticed this long ago, and already have several
>horse types created, as well as (hang onto your seats) a HORSE COLOR CHART!
>( How can a well-adjusted gamer adventure for years from the back of a
>trusty equine, without even knowing what color he/she/it is?)
White Dwarf - Before it died the death of a thousand Warhammers published
Stats'n'info on different kinds of horses - including Wingana and Rockwood
Mountain pony - We used this a lot. I could dig it up if you fancy.
"Oh! the Rockwood Mountain Pony" - sung to the tune of Big Rock Candy Mountain.
Boris:
>____________
> In X-RQ-ID: 4225, Close friend of Little Elvis writes:
>>On the back of the pink Gloranthan Player (?) Book is a picture of a
>>village dwarfed by a dragon's head.
>>
> I always thought that the warriors there must be reknown for their bravery.
> I mean, if you grew up next to a dragon, nothing much less is likely to
> frighten you.
I don't think that you would be frightened by a dragon if you lived next to it.
I am sure you would revere it and worship it in much the same way as people
living next to volcanos do, but I would have thought you would consider it
'yours' and appreciate the way that other people were scared of it. Are
warriors who live next to volcanos braver than warriors who don't? Most Scots
who live near mountains have a real passion for them. They revere tham, they
worship them (quietly) and they really like the way they kill tourists.
Alex:
> Unfortunately, as a matter of Gregged Gloranthan Fact, dragons
>are too alien to receive worship from humans
Mind you that doesn't mean you can't give it. If they don't want it - thats up
to them..
>sepia actually came from cuttles
My favourite creatures. They are called sepia in a number of European countries.
>>Being nailed to a Death Rune has
>> got to have some effects.
>
>Smarts a tad?
Its got to beat being nailed to a Beast Rune. owch!
Cats'n'Dogs
-----------
*Both* created by Heler I believe, during a particularily heavy rainstorm.
Surely domestic dogs act as they do due to the fact they have been bred by
humans. Wouldn't this stand for cats? Wolves don't hunt radically differently
than, say, lionesses. Do they? If a wolf can be bred to round up sheep then
why not cats? Dogs, ptoo! Why not have lots'n'lots of different kinds of cats
all to serve different purposes. Big, small, hunting, fishing, herding..
Vinga
-----
*Does* anyone have a write-up of Vinga? I have two female Orlanthi warriors in
my group. It would very be handy..
Sartar Mountains
----------------
The mountains on the maps vary quite a lot. How big are the Quivini peaks? Any
ideas? I am starting to lean towards the Pyranese (sp?) as my Sartar.
"Not Andorra but Boldhome". ;-)
I am also looking for ideas about; the Cinder Pits, Tarndisi's Grove, Larnste's
Table etc..
Why is Apple Lane not on the Swan River? Any Ideas?
also..
I have been writing up my Sartar Campaign. Anyone want a copy? A fair bit of
the background has been filched but the characters and adventures are all
original (well, with a few apoligies to Goscini & Uderzo).
Cheers, All
Sam. x
Keep Lovin' RuneQuest.
---------------------
From: SMITHH@A1.MGH.HARVARD.EDU (Harald Smith 617 726-2172)
Subject: misc
Message-ID: <01HD7QU0NJX2Q827NT@MR.MGH.HARVARD.EDU>
Date: 6 Jun 94 02:35:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 4393
Some assorted comments as I finish catching up.
- Jonas (x-rq-id 4212) on East Ralios history
I enjoyed reading this. The range of hsunchen seems well thought out.
I would expect that either some storm-worshipping tribes exist, though,
or that certain hsunchen (elk, moose, mountain goat perhaps) worship
storm spirits such as King Umath as well as their founding spirit.
- Paul (x-rq-id 4210) on horses
Way back in White Dwarf 42 (that's back to 1983 now!) there was an
article by Graham Cobley about horse breeds in the Dragon Pass area.
The stats are all RQ2 of course, but includes breeds like the Klepper (a
powerful war horse), the Grazelander pony, etc.
- Gary James (x-rq-id 4282) asks about effects of illumination
You may lose the ability to determine whether your personal actions are
good or bad because you lose the ability to connect to a particular
moral base. You are no longer so sure frex of your Orlanthi convictions
that freedom is always a good thing. You may now accept things as part
of the world that formerly you would have opposed as wrong.
- John Hughes (x-rq-id 4310)
I liked the "Greg will change it later anyway" light bulb joke.
I think your point that fire-theft is not always part of trickster is
correct. This is true in the mythos I'm developing for Imther. It is
certainly part of the CULTURE HERO category. (I would argue that
Prometheus is a trickster, just not in the joking sense that we seem to
always place on Gloranthan tricksters. Who but a trickster would leave
Pandora's Box in the hands of his dumb brother?)
- Martin (x-rq-id 4286) on cat breeds
These are quite useful. I still have to figure out which breed was used
by the Carmanian sorceress in my campaign to create her familiar (a
shadow cat whose SIZ was augmented to 10). Luckily there are no
Orlanthi around in Imther to complain!
- Nick on Yinkin
Loved the story! And I think you're absolutely right that these are the
kind of stories that are commonly told around hearths, etc. as opposed
to the more heavily cult-oriented mythos. We need more.
--Harald
---------------------
From: jonas.schiott@vinga.hum.gu.se (Jonas Schiott)
Subject: Murderous Eurmali.
Message-ID: <9406061611.AA09130@vinga.hum.gu.se>
Date: 6 Jun 94 19:20:20 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 4395
Alex:
>This doesn't (necessarily) mean that all are literally one (set of) aspect(s)
>of the same God, in full-blown GLerish sense. Though then again, maybe they
>are.
Having seen the (incomplete) Chaosium write-up, I can answer that with a
definite maybe.
>And even if they are, it _still_ doesn't answer the question of whether
>Eurmal is worshipped/recognised as embodying the Murderer side of Pan-
>Trickster. Or to put it at its mundanest: Is there a shrine to Where Did
>You Get that Sword, Eurmal? Put it Back at Once! anywhere in the Barbarian
>Belt?
Yes, there is. At least according to the aforementioned write-up.
( Jonas Schiott )
( Institutionen for Ide- och lardomshistoria )
( Goteborgs Universitet )
---------------------
From: jonas.schiott@vinga.hum.gu.se (Jonas Schiott)
Subject: Dangans
Message-ID: <9406061619.AA09153@vinga.hum.gu.se>
Date: 6 Jun 94 19:28:56 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 4396
Gary:
>does anyone have any views on whether these are the
>Dangkae of Jonat's Saga / descendants of King Dan, or whether they have
>something to do with the Dangan Confederacy of Jonas Schiott's East Wilds
>History? If the former, then the draining of the Fens must have been Second
>Age...? Erm...? As for the latter, I'm a bit confused about the dates for the
>Dangan Confederacy. Jonas says the First Age - are they still there now?
>BTW Jonas; people have told me there are sources referring to the
>Confederacy, but I don't seem to be able to find anything. Are they really
>obscure, or am I just missing my Scan roll a lot? Help!
OK, the Jonat's Saga stuff I simply do not believe in, it's contradicted by
too many later (and published) sources. Of course, if Greg decides to
_publish_ the Saga, I might have to eat these words... Though Jonat seems
to be a much cooler guy than Arkat (better name, for one thing), so I
probably wouldn't mind all that much.
The Confederacy...well, I must admit that I've lost my original notes for
the History, so I'm no longer sure exactly where everything comes from. But
the Dangan Confederacy is called "Theyalan converts in Ralios" in the
Glorantha Book, and it also claims that these people are the reason the
Council moved to Dorastor in the first place (!!!...no other source
corroborates this, so we have glossed over the _reason_ in our history and
just stated that they move). A few paragraphs later, the loyalty of eastern
Ralians to Nysalor is established - in order to tie a few loose ends
together, we drew the conclusion that "Dangans" and "eastern Ralians" where
the same. And no, the confederacy is not around today, but the descendants
of the people who _formed_ the confederacy are.
Note that the Genertela Book gives a whole new version of the New Fen's
origin, saying nothing at all about any Dangans.
You want my guess as to the origin of this confusion? I'd say the bits
about the Dangan Confederacy, the Dangim and the Dangan Empire were all
written by different people, who new that there was _some_ kind of
Dang-people _somewhere_ in Raios (possibly getting this info from the
Jonat's Saga excerpt), but not much else. The oldest of these writings can
safely be discounted (though it was interesting to read about its origins).
But it _is_ irritating that two books from the same box weren't checked
against each other. Of course, the Genertela Book wasn't even checked
against itself, so this is just a symptom of a much more widespread
problem.
( Jonas Schiott )
( Institutionen for Ide- och lardomshistoria )
( Goteborgs Universitet )