Cult

A religious organisation. Not to be confused with a small group of nutters. Instead of cult read religion.

Elmal

Orlanthi[?] god of light, loyalty, steadfastness and horse riding.

Empire of the Wyrms Friends

This empire occupies the middle of the continent and preaches a type of mystical creation of a giant dragon. Their religion warps the Orlanthi[?] religion by adding draconic elements. Their religion is exciting and addictive and has spread amongst the Orlanthi.

Glorantha

A fictional world invented by Greg Stafford. His company Issaries[?] own it and license it to Mongoose Publishing to base their game Runequest[?] around. It is a world that on the surface seems familiar to fans of science fiction. It has elves, dwarves and trolls: but in Glorantha these species have a living culture and eco-system and are never black and white in their relationship with people.

Each culture, human or otherwise, is multifaceted and believable. A culture like the Orlanthi[?], for example, on the surface seems like a celtic or germanic tribal society. It is turbulent, settles arguments with violence and they wear kilts. Scratch below the surface, however, and you will find: a subtle form of hospitality and social ritual, sexual equality in occupation, politics and property ownership, a democratic and egalitarian ownership of communal property. It has a culture of oral history and very complicated poetry.

This is just one culture of many. Boring you might say but it lets you take part in the cut-throat politics of the region as well as chasing monsters for their magic point matrices.

GM, Games Master

A person who runs and narrates a game of Runequest[?].

Heroquest

Both a ritual re-enactment of a myth and the name of a game set in Glorantha published by Issaries[?].

The ritual of re-enacting a myth can open a gate to the otherworld. If you succeed where your god succeeds and behave the way your god behaves (in the right places) your virtue brings powerful rewards for your community and yourself. The rewards are related to the myth, so if your clan is suffering from a drought you might re-enact the myth of "How Our God Beat the Drought God and Brought Rain". Do everything right and solve any unexpected problems and your clan may see the end of their drought.

Issaries

Both the owners of Glorantha[?] and a Gloranthan god of communication, trade and arbitration. Issaries the company can be found at www.glorantha.com [outside link].

Kinstrife

This is the worse thing that can happen to a clan and brings with it the dread curse CHAOS. Everybody in a clan is related by blood, marriage or adoption. They are kin. When there is serious, bloody violence amongst kin a curse is brought down upon the clan and wild, treacherous events take place that may threaten its very existence. Those who commit kinstrife risk execution at best and exile at worst.

Lunars

A northern people with a strange language, colouring, manners and downright suspicious religion. Some say that they use chaos as a weapon. If this is true they are evil also. The lunars occupy Sartar[?] in the 3^rd Age.

Orlanthi

A people who follow the laws of the god Orlanth. More specifically they follow the laws of Heort that describe how to live in Clans and tribes without killing each other. The Orlanthi are a tempestuous people who believe strongly in the values of freedom and social responsibility. They can simply be described as a Celtic or Germanic analogue who hold clan lands in common and elect their chiefs who they have to obey except when they don’t feel like it.

Pol Joni

A nomadic horse tribe that worships the Orlanthi[?] cults[?], as well as, IN MY GAME, an older contaminated spirit tradition.

Runequest

A roleplaying game set in Glorantha[?] published by mongoose publishing [outside link]

Sartar

A principality within Dragon Pass and also the name of its founder. It hasn’t yet been created in the Second Age but in the third a hell of a lot of adventuring, politicking and war-making goes on there. Occupied by an Orlanthi[?] people called Sartarites.

Shire-reeves

Often pronounced "sheriff", the shire-reeve reports to the king of the tribe your clan is part of. Because the Orlanthi[?] are fiercely independent the relationship between clan and tribe is confederal (ie, power doesn’t just come from the king it mainly comes from the individual clan council and chief). However those tribal laws the clan has agreed to obey are upheld by the shire-reeve who represents the king in the clan. He is always an outsider. His job is mainly to report back to the king and to bully the chief into backing up the king’s laws. Though the job sounds powerful it isn’t. He can arrest someone but if that person is a clansperson the chief or council can free them.

Stead

Small settlements dotted around a tula[?]. In safe areas there will be up to a dozen farm-steads with little or no fortifications and with up to half a dozen buildings. In dangerous frontier lands there will be fewer bigger and more fortified steads. This sets aside agricultural productivity for the sake of defence. Early clans and those clans that have exhausted their land build wooden, wattle-and-daub and thatch long-houses on refreshed or virgin land. Those clans that have developed and not exhausted their resources have reinforced their steads with stone and brick. They build granaries, underground chambers (fougous), watchtowers, bigger ditches, taller ramparts and wide squat stone towers called brochs.

Thane

A thane is a clan-mate who is richer and more powerful than average. His is a formal rank just below that of chief, but his power is very often nominated by the chief and not often hereditary. The chief’s companions, leaders and priests of a clan are its thanes.

Tula

A tula is a hill clan’s land, usually a few miles by a few miles in size. It is collectively owned and the produce of that land benefits the entire clan. A tula is also the furthest a clan’s spirit (see Wyter[?]) can see and hear.

Wyter

A wyter is a clan’s spirit and could be categorised as a small god, representing and manifesting the very soul of the community. It is autonomous and powerful but acts behind the scenes and its presence is often indicated by something small such as a ray of sunshine, a rustle of leaves or the song of a distant bird. Very often it "lives" in an object close to the chief’s house (such as a tree or stone) and often speaks only to the chief.

Its power reaches only as far as the edges of the tula[?]