Re: Quick Summary of Gloranthan Cultures Part Two: Westerners

From: Scott <romulan_ace_at_Hv5QroB496oZgZip3Fh0EQHIxZFaorlxm-JAsiLbOILEJol23pCJnOKwQfyNCldP>
Date: Sat, 03 Dec 2011 23:02:29 -0000

As far as I'm aware, the first published mention of the West was Greg's 1979 article "Knights, Priests, and Sorcerers in Glorantha" in the fanzine Son of Sartar # 3. A relevant quote:

When I began writing stories and encyclopaedias about Glorantha way back in '66 the setting was very mediaeval. That was my primary source for fantasy, after all, and I hadn't a great deal of exposure to other sources or to life in general. Those first stories took place beginning Year 2 in the Kingdom of Frowal, which later became the Kingdom of Seshnela after the first book. From there the time and space of Glorantha have grown immensely into the world we now know.

But Seshnela has never left Glorantha! There has always been a "mediaeval" area of Glorantha which dominated the Western lands. Their entire mythology and magic were also different. However, I was not interested in portraying that at the time of RuneQuest's publishing, hence they have had little development.

There were also summaries of an upcoming Western RQ supplement in Wyrm's Footnotes # 8 and # 11:

MORTAL LORDS - Knights and Wizards of the the West by Charlie Krank. The rules for the wizards of Glorantha. Set in first age Seneshela, Mortal Lords will be fully compatible with the standard RQ rules, and will include many maps, legends and adventures in this legendary land. Journey into the dark interior of Ralios to fight the Krjalki demons, explore the forest of Kanthor and more. Wizards master the powers of the self rather than relying on the abilities of the gods.

>
> WBRM was mid to early 70's and *that* was Dragon Pass. No mention of the West that I can recall until Pendragon came along. I certainly don't remember it mentioned at all in any of the Wyrm's Footprints I have.
>
> --- In WorldofGlorantha_at_yahoogroups.com, David Weihe <blerg2@> wrote:
> >
> > "Howard" green27_at_ wrote:
> > > Personally, I have always hated the West. To me, rightly or wrongly,
> > > it
> > came about b/c of Pendragon and Greg's work on that game/mythos,
> > > and
> > that was too much. To me, it never belonged in Glorantha. This
> > > version I like much better!
> >
> > Wrongly, as it happens.  The West was the first part that Greg thought about, firstly Prince Snodal running away to the North until he got to Altinae, then whatshisname and BigBear the Troll in 2nd Age Janube.  Central and Eastern Genertela was the afterthought.  Almost everything was sorta in place in the late 1970s, when I picked up RuneQuest in college, ages before PenDragon.  Lots of fleshing out, retconning (Yelmalio/Elmal, frex), etc., but the overall structure came before the idea of gaming there.  This is probably why there seems to be *so* much detail on Glorantha, because it wasn't  created with the view of gaming in it, any more than Barker's The Empire Of The Petal Throne world or Tolkein's Middle Earth, and had decades of thought before being published.
> >
> > Admittedly, playing in the West isn't as much my cup of tea, either.
> >
>