> I used to think Sartarites were a downtrodden people deserving of release
> from the Lunar/Tarshite shackles, but on reading BoS they are just a bunch
> of ignorant/illiterate barbarians.
>
Well, yeah, they are. From some perspective. One of the things I like about Glorantha is that pretty much every culture is virtuous by its own lights and deviant/nasty/evil by its neighbors'. So, yeah, the Sartarites are a bunch of uphills hicks who are appallingly ignorant and violent, fractious, hide-bound, and generally nasty. Or they can be the last voice of Freedom, people preserving a sacred way of life that extends back to before the Dawn, fierce in defense of their traditions. Or, you could play it somewhere in the middle, with young Sartari finding the world outside of Dragon Pass and wanting to bring the benefits back with tehm only to have tor struggle to first get acceptance and then to keep teir new knowledge from corrupting what they value.
Similarly, Lunars can be insane Chaos-worshipping invaders, well-meaning but deluded "occupiers," or the bearers of a New Truth that will wash away the mistakes of the Old World (and, with luck, not make any mistakes of their own). And the Malkoni and the Uz and the Praxians and the... well, you get the idea.
I really think you have to pick and chose what elements of Glorantha you want to accentuate, depending on where you are setting your game and what themes you and your players want to make prominant.
Peter Larsen
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