Thunder Rebels - Quick Review

From: KYER, JEFFREY <jeff.kyer_at_...>
Date: Tue, 06 Feb 2001 13:25:37 -0500


Impressive. 256 pages of full of Heortling goodness.

Lets just look at it for a moment. The layout is the best to date from Issaries -- very well. The cover by Stefano is lovely and the interior art by Heather B really sets the tone. Simon Bray's "woodcuts" of typical Orlanthi artwork have a 'just so' feel to them. A few exquisite Angelo M prints (which I'd love to see in color somewhere) provide contrast. Steve Lieb's maps are also pretty neat. Along the top of the page is a header bar for each chapter. There is an index. A glorious seven page index.

Inside we find an 'I'm New Here' section -- there is a series of "sidebars" that illustrate what a 'typical' Orlanthi stead, clan, tribe, wyter and so on are like. Finally, we get a template for society! Scattered throughout are the usual profusion of myths and mythlets to illustrate just why things are the way they are for the Heortlings. In this its very much like what we saw in Anaxial's Roster. Including an index.

Custom, Kinship and Law are covered to an amazing degree but remain quite readable -- the writing is not dry! Its told from an insider standpoint, rather than an anthropologist's dissertation. Oh, and there's a write-up of the Heortling version of the mysterious "Greeting" too. Warfare and battle are covered in detail, showing how the Heortlings deal with varying enemies ranging from skirmishing trolls, charging knights to close ordered Dara Happans. You can find the enemies in the index.

Magic, though, is the main focus of the book. And it clarifies many things previously fuzzy. Initiation rites are discussed as is the annual cycle of sacrifice. Ceremonies are demonstrated and the nature of daimons discussed. The importance and _function_ of wyter is made plain. (Highly useful critters!) The sequence of worship from Communal, Initiate and Devotee is made clearer and a rather ingenious method of working out subcults is provided. Changing gods and cults are better defined as well. They are listed in the index!

Divination, an old standby from Runequest returns and is quite nifty -- and hard to do. Divine Wrath reappears too as do agents of vengeance and reprisal. And, true to the spirit of Orlanth, everyone is _responsible_ for their kinfolk's transgressions. Try not to have an apostate cousin... He's not in the index but the retribution is.

Throughout the work there's little snippets of information just casually tucked into keywords or paragraphs that do enrich the culture. I didn't know that the Orlanthi were fond of puppet shows. But hey, I can see Orlanthi having their version of Punch & Judy. They aren't in the index, you have to find these easter eggs yourself.

We learn about weather in Dragon Pass and in Engiziland. The Godworld about the Storm Tribe is mapped and defined, changing from Age to Age. The Storm Realm is a fascinating place, well worth visiting again and again. Well, i

Oh! And there's a calendar with the holy days throughout the year for Orlanth and Ernalda. Which, of course, brings us to the cult of Orlanth and Ernalda. The Great Gods have mostly the same form -- characters being carried over from Hero Wars will not have any trouble being converted (its more of an enhancement) and the sheer number of subcults available cry for use. Ernalda has 4 aspects (Healer, Allmother, Queen and Esrola the Mother) with over 20 subcults. Orlanth's aspects stay the same (Adventurous, Allfather, Thunderous) but now he has about 30 subcults. The only real change is that Orlanth Farmer, Thane and Noble were rolled together into an aspect that covers a spectrum of society. Vingkot has a subcult through each aspect of Orlanth! All of these cults have keywords, of course. I suspect that Niskis the Lover and Finovan the Raider will be popular with the menfolk and Brevara and Enferalda will find use among the ladies (though I think that most venturesome women will find Storm Tribe more to their liking). Did I mention the index?

Character development & options are enhanced greatly. All the sacred occupations are covered with keywords ranging from Beggar to Tribal King. None of the more esoteric professions like scholar are found but then, the more esoteric gods are in Storm Tribe. Interestingly, men and women now get different cultural keywords -- but that's okay. I'd rather have my wife know how to spin and weave rather than throw javelins. And since we're talking about characters, there's a selection of names. There are...um... 400 or so. More if you play with the endings. Many names are found in the index.

All in all, the best to date from Issaries. If this is the new standard for their work, then I'm pretty pleased with it. Especially the index.

Jeff Kyer

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