Aldryami Deities

For those who are not on FarceBook, I am copying here the post that Shannon Appelcline has shared yesterday on the “Glorantha Fans” group: a listing of the Aldryami’s spirits/songs/themes/gods. Missing: heroes and some of the Iri fragments.

Dramatis Prosopaedia: The Grower

• Potential. The unworshipped potential of the universe.

The First Planting

• The Grower. Potential reborn as the unworshipped creator of all things.

The Second Planting

• Eron. The healing waters. A piece of the Grower, and one of the Protectors.
• Gata. The broken earth. A piece of the Grower, and one of the Protectors.
• Halamalao. The warm sun. A piece of the Grower, and one of the Protectors.
• Falamal. The Grower reborn in the world, father of all plants.

The Pure Seeding

• Aldrya. The first seed planted in Gata.
• Haldrya. The first seed planted in Halamalao.
• Murthdraya. The first seed planted in Eron.
• Seyotel. The song that connects all life.

The Sundering of Seyotel

• Eirennor. The first Seer: Aldryami perception.
• Larayse. The first Mover: Aldryami mobility.
• Trileme. The first Doer: Aldryami action.

The Third Planting

• Bengara. Death-to-live, the power to prune, the Grower reborn to embody the Balance.
• Veratha. Life-after-life, rebirth, the Grower reborn to embody the Cycle.

The Hybrid Seeding

• Mee Vorala. The first plant grown in Trigora, a life in death.
• Slor. The first spore, equal parts life and death.

Dramatis Prosopaedia: The Taker

The First Planting

• The Taker. Potential reborn as the unworshipped destroyer of all things.

The Second Planting

• Ekeem. The sterile stone. A piece of the Taker, and one of the Pretenders.
• Iri. The enshrouding dust. A piece of the Taker, and one of the Pretenders.
• Zasara. The dark sun. A piece of the Taker, and one of the Pretenders.
• Bebester. The unworshipped Taker reborn in the world, the great pruner.

The Sundering of Iri

• Iniri. The freezing snow. A fragment of Iri, and a lesser Pretender.
• Kitipah. The burning flame. A fragment of Iri, and a lesser Pretender.

The Third Planting

• Ferotha. Live-to-die, natural death, the Taker reborn to embody the Cycle.
• Trigora. Death-after-death, the Underworld, the Taker reborn to upset the Balance.

 The post was followed by a Q&A:

Q: Which of these survived the Darkness? Which are still worshipped?
A: The Protectors are all wounded: Halamalao isn’t as bright (and isn’t at the top of the Sky Dome), Gata is broken into thousands of pieces; and Eron has definitely been damaged, but different myths give different descriptions of that (he took some fire into himself, he wept, he bled, he gave control of the oceans to Magasta).
Haldrya is lost, along with all the white elves.
As for “survived”, that’s a funny question, because Glorantha and Trigora (the Underworld) are just two parts of the Cycle. I know that at least one of the “spiritual songs” dwells in Trigora. Maybe Larayse. But that doesn’t stop Aldryami from communicating with him/her/it. (Technically, all three of the spiritual songs died, because they were normal plants that developed the ability to sense, to move, and to act, but I don’t know if they're all still in Trigora or not.)
And there’s certainly been a lot of movement between the Underworld and Glorantha: all of the Mreli and all of the Makisanti for a start. And there have definitely been rumours and prophecies that the Vronkali who were planted during Aldrya’s Woe will be returning.
Oh, and worshipped? The vast majority of Aldryami worship Aldrya (or Murthdrya). After that, small minorities probably follow Falamal, Eron, Halamalao, and Gata. Then Bengara and Veratha. There are also some very few ‘dark’ elves who follow Ekeem, Iri, and Zasara. The others (the “spiritual songs” in the top triangle) are more abstractions and powers.

Unusual Weapons for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha

As my players might tell you, I love unusual situations in my RQ games, and unusual weapons are an aspect of this. Here are three unusual weapons for your gaming pleasure. Since there aren’t any official statistics for them (yet?), I have created my own, mostly based on old RQ2 publications.

Blowgun

The blowgun is an exotic weapon used in Eastern and Southeastern Genertela. The elf blowgun (also called a dartgun) is described on p22 of the Glorantha Bestiary; the blowgun described below is used by humans, either primitive peoples or assassin cults. Trollkin are also known to use blowguns that are slightly different (they are longer and have 6 HPs).

The blowgun doesn’t do much damage: the reason it is used is because the dart may be poisoned, usually with fast-acting herbal poison (see p159 of RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha).

Category	Name	Base %	STR	DEX	Damage	HP	ENC	Range	SR
Blowgun	Blowgun	10	-	11	1D3	4	(3)	30m	2

Net, Trapping

The net will be described in the upcoming Gods and Goddesses of Glorantha. It is favoured by some Darkness and Chaos cults. Here is a simplified version I have used in my games in the hands of NPCs who wanted to capture the player characters.

A trapping net may be of any SIZ but requires one user per 20 pts. of SIZ. A net must have a larger SIZ than its intended target to entrap them whole; if not, roll the hit location as usual to determine the ensnared location.
The STR of the net is 1.5 times its SIZ.

Category	Name	Base %	STR	DEX	Damage	ENC	Range	SR
Net	Net, Trapping	05	9	9	Special†	2/3*	5m	2/1*

†cannot be parried; can be dodged
*the second figure is for a large net (SIZ>20)

A wholly ensnared character may try to rip open the net by rolling their STR v the STR of the net. It will take two rounds to crawl out of the net.
A net may also be cut through, either by the ensnared character or by their comrades, by delivering an amount of hit points of damage via edged weapons equal to the STR of the net. The problem is that, during combat, any damage to the net by a character outside of it is equally shared by the ensnared character.

A partially ensnared character is ‘wrapped’, see the description of the Whip below.

Whip

The Whip is favoured by Water cults and is quite unusual in the Dragon Pass area. I suggest this weapon should be placed in the hands of transient NPCs, possibly from the Mirrorsea bay area. Ideally the transient NPC should be a herder, teamster, caravaneer, slave merchant, or some ‘evil’ Water cultist (as whips provide Maximum Game Fun in the hands of villains).

The whip is a weapon of fixed range. It is useless beyond its range, and it can only be used to attack a target at equal to or more than half its maximum range. Within that range, the whip is useless.

Category	Name	Base %	STR	DEX	Damage	HP	ENC	Range	SR
Whip	Whip	10	9	11	1D4	12	1	5m	1

Wrapping
The whip will wrap around its target on any Special to hit roll. A wrapped victim cannot act. If a leg is caught, the target must roll DEX as a percentage to keep from falling.
The whip will loosen after one round.
If the Special hit is parried with a weapon, or if the hit location was the weapon-wielding arm, the whip encircles the weapon’s shaft and may whip it out of the user’s hand, roll STR v STR to disarm; if the whip user fails to disarm, the target may try a STR v STR roll to pull the whip from the user’s grip.

Whips are unpredictable and have a double fumble range.

the Library of Lhankor Mhy

OK, I have just discovered the Library of Lhankor Mhy... it is so useful if you are a true blue Glorantha buff. It is basically a searchable archive of all the online exchanges between Gloranthaphiles at the end of the 20th century, before G+, Facebook, etc.

For instance, I am obsessed about Orathorn at the moment. Well, I have had a look at my numerous RQ/Glorantha PDFs and couldn’t find much beyond “the Nights of Horror” yet a search in the Library of Lhankor Mhy yielded many hits.

Elemental Runes and Physical Appearance

Katrin Moondaughter is a talented artist artist who often posts Gloranthan-inspired art on social networks (@KleiosCanvas). She has recently posted the following about the effects of Elemental Runes on the physical appearance of Gloranthan characters, and she has authorised me to copy it on my blog.

Darkness
Skin: Pale, colourless, grey
Hair: Matte Black, Oily
Eyes: Dark Grey to Black, Large Pupils, Not much of whites visible
Facial Features: Sharp Teeth, Wide Mouths, Heavy Brow ridges
Other Features: Tall, Heavy Build
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Water
Skin: Olive with strong Green or Blue tint
Hair: Black, Dark Blonde to Light Brown, Green or Blue tint, Wavy and Flowing.
Eyes: Blue and Green, Large and Watery
Facial Features: Soft, Androgynous, little facial hair
Other Features: Soft and lithe, Androgynous, little to no body hair
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Earth
Skin: Olive to dark Brown
Hair: Dark Brown to Copper, Wavy to Curly, easily keeps its shape
Eyes: Deep Green and Brown
Facial Features: Broad nose, Full Lips, friendly.
Other Features: Short, Stocky and Heavy build, Well-Endowed.
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Fire/Sky
Skin: Light to Light Brown with Golden Tint
Hair: Light Blonde to Golden Brown, Straight to slightly Wavy
Eyes: Light Blue to Light Brown, Golden Speckles, Sharp, slightly slanted.
Facial Features: Aquiline Nose, High Cheekbones, Thin Lips
Other Features: Tall, Light Build, Bony
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Air
Skin: Light with Grayish tint to Brown with Bronze tint
Hair: Reddish Blonde, Orange-Red, Coppery Brown, Wavy, Curly and unruly
Eyes: Grey, Light Blue, Light Orange-ish Brown.
Facial Features: Angular, Bony, Fierce, much Facial Hair
Other Features: Muscular, much Body Hair
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Moon
Skin: Very Pale to Light with Pinkish tint.
Hair: Deep Red, Straight to Wavy
Eyes: Grey to Reddish Brown, Large
Facial Features: Soft, Feminine
Other Features: Soft Skin, Curvy