[Glorantha] Source for info on Seshnela?

[Erik Ny]

Me and my players have agreed to set our HQ game in Glorantha, or at least use it as a foundation to mold to our liking. Now, I have been googling for information on Seshnela, but I'm just not having any luck, at least not finding the kind of information I was hoping for - essentially what the CIA world book would have to say about a country. Capital, what people live off, a map of its borders, etc. I'm fully expecting to have to make things up, but I figured these kind of things I should be able to find somewhere.

[Nick Brooke]

That kind of info (maps, etc.) was in an old RuneQuest boxed set called Glorantha: Genertela, Crucible of the Hero Wars (aka "the orange box"). I know of cunning plans to make it available again somehow, but any movement on that front is still a ways off. Do any of your friends have some of the old RuneQuest stuff? Also, some of what you're after can be deduced from the HeroQuest Voices for Seshnela (cf. "How do we live?"). And you could always try the "Seshnela" topic on Lokarnos. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

As for your specifics: the royal capital of the Kingdom of Seshnela is mighty Segurane, where King Guilmarn holds court. The head of its dominant Rokari Church, Theoblanc the Ecclesiarch, is based at the nearby city of Leplain, home to the Cathedral of Saint Mardron. People live off mostly typical mediaeval Western European foodstuffs, I guess, as that's the cultural template: the knights, clergy and nobles living well off the fat of the land, the peasants and townsfolk getting by with what's left to them by their "betters" (and stooping to snails, etc. to scrape by). There's a passable map of Seshnela's borders (and those of every other nation in Genertela) here, and a better one here, and a very nice one of all the West here, although the orange box has a more detailed map which also shows the borders of counties and duchies, etc. (And, a special bonus: before half the country was destroyed for dabbling with God Learning at the end of the Second Age, it looked like this).

Cheers, Nick

[Lamorak33]

Hi Erik

You will find more authoratative folk on the Gloranthan digest or maybe the Heroquest yahoo groups.  But there are some stalwarts here (like Simon Hibbs) and I will let you have what I know.  In terms of published material, though OOP, the best you could go for would be Genertela: Crucible of the Hero Wars.  That was a RuneQuest 3 product, and a very good one at that.  Ebay is your best bit here.  More recently there was 'Glorantha, Introduction to the Hero Wars ISBN 1-929052-02-2', although this is out of print, but you can still find it on ebay or second hand games outlets.  Its replacement book is supposed to be out this year.

But a lot of the stuff is fairly general.  If you want detailed information then look out for Trotsky on the yahoo lists.  He is Issaries 'Man of the West', and is writing Heirs of Malkion or whatever the supplement he is writing gets called.  It should be out this year.

If you want my suggestion then you have enough in the HQ rulebook.  They have the Rokari church in there,which is the dominant religion.  Heck, you could even become the Seshnela play test group!!  You can start the game in a local area, make up whatever georgraphy you like for example and just check out the new books when they come out.

I see Nick has given you the names of the head honchos down there, but I reckon you have loads to go on with.  I actually found the Pendragon scenario's quite portable, if you have a sim orientated group.

Any help?

Regards
Rob

[Erik Ny]

As for your specifics: the royal capital of the Kingdom of Seshnela is mighty Segurane, where King Guilmarn holds court. The head of its dominant Rokari Church, Theoblanc the Ecclesiarch, is based at the nearby city of Leplain, home to the Cathedral of Saint Mardron. People live off mostly typical mediaeval Western European foodstuffs, I guess, as that's the cultural template: the knights, clergy and nobles living well off the fat of the land, the peasants and townsfolk getting by with what's left to them by their "betters" (and stooping to snails, etc. to scrape by). There's a passable map of Seshnela's borders (and those of every other nation in Genertela) here, and a better one here, and a very nice one of all the West here, although the orange box has a more detailed map which also shows the borders of counties and duchies, etc. (And, a special bonus: before half the country was destroyed for dabbling with God Learning at the end of the Second Age, it looked like this).

Thanks both of you. The above really does a good job of covering what I need to know right now.

I actually found the Pendragon scenario's quite portable, if you have a sim orientated group.

We used to be die-hard sim players, and I think we've played almost every published Pendragon scenario. This time however we have decided to see if we can get a narrativist game going. I just want something on my feet when the players (who know as little about Glorantha as I do, if not less) ask about the country they're in...

[Lamorak33]

We used to be die-hard sim players, and I think we've played almost every published Pendragon scenario. This time however we have decided to see if we can get a narrativist game going. I just want something on my feet when the players (who know as little about Glorantha as I do, if not less) ask about the country they're in...

Right!  Did you ever do the Lady of Rydchan Adventure? (The Boy KIng P.28)  I have a fancy that a creative narratavist group could use that for a great early underlying theme.  And of course, the Rokari being such a tight arsed bunch there is loads of personal conflicts and stories oozing from the kingdom!!  I'm quite excited by your game and I'm not even playing!! lol

Regards
Rob

[Nick Brooke]

We used to be die-hard sim players, and I think we've played almost every published Pendragon scenario. This time however we have decided to see if we can get a narrativist game going. I just want something on my feet when the players (who know as little about Glorantha as I do, if not less) ask about the country they're in...

Hi again, Erik:

Do you have the paperback Glorantha: Introduction to the Hero Wars? It was published in April 2000, one of the first Hero Wars books, and might still be findable (I picked one up new from a games store in Michigan last year). There's lots of information there about the Malkioni culture (the religion that underpins Western society, including Seshnela's -- it's what the father and wizard in HeroQuest Voices are talking about), and good stuff on contemporary personalities and conflicts in Seshnela. (Although for the cities and duchies, population stats and strange out-of-the-way places, the orange box is still better).

Do remember to check out the links from Lokarnos (posted above) -- Joerg Baumgartner's "Seshnegi Villager Campaign Outline" in particular has some great everyday stuff, and I'm quite pleased with the flavour of my own "Seshnelan Sources".

Also, if there's any other background questions I might be able to answer, do feel free to ask away! It's a positive pleasure to dig this stuff up and pass it on.

Cheers, Nick

[Lamorak33]

Hi Nick

Out of interest, what is it that fascinates you most about Seshnela or the west of Genertela in general?  Of course your well known for your Lunar proclivities, but I have also heard you speak very enthusiastically about the west.  Did you write the Seshnegi 'Voices' piece?

I only ask because there may be some story material in the answer.

All the best
Rob

[Nick Brooke]

Out of interest, what is it that fascinates you most about Seshnela or the west of Genertela in general?  Of course your well known for your Lunar proclivities, but I have also heard you speak very enthusiastically about the west.  Did you write the Seshnegi 'Voices' piece?

Malkionism wasn't being done right. There was no attempt to make consistent use of previously printed material, to tell the stories behind the sects, or to show the historical development of the religion over time, while relations between sects were being badly mishandled. I saw ways we could make it work, and we (that is, me and my comrades in the Reaching Moon Megacorp, most notably David Hall) implemented those in How the West was One and the subsequent Tales Special. And now you're living with the results.

Nobody nowadays doubts that the unified "Cult of the Invisible God" was a Jrusteli creation ("correcting" previous forms of Malkioni into the modern mainstream, but missing the fringe cults), that Loskalm's distinctive Hrestoli Idealism and the Rokari Realism of Seshnela are manifestations of the Third Age (rather than pure and eternal forms, unchanged since before Time), that sects denounce and revile the founders of schismatic churches (rather than revering them as Saints), etc. At least, not if I'm standing anywhere nearby...

I'm sure there are more modest ways of saying this, but I don't have the time to find them just now. Dig back into the Glorantha Digest archives from the early nineties if you want to see what we were up against, and check out my History of Malkionism if you want to see how it all hangs together.

_{Oh, and Greg now says he'd thought of all my ideas first, according to the new IP policy... I suggest you believe whoever seems most trustworthy to you.}

Cheers, Nick

[Erik Ny]

Do you have the paperback Glorantha: Introduction to the Hero Wars? It was published in April 2000, one of the first Hero Wars books, and might still be findable (I picked one up new from a games store in Michigan last year). There's lots of information there about the Malkioni culture (the religion that underpins Western society, including Seshnela's -- it's what the father and wizard in HeroQuest Voices are talking about), and good stuff on contemporary personalities and conflicts in Seshnela. (Although for the cities and duchies, population stats and strange out-of-the-way places, the orange box is still better).

Do remember to check out the links from Lokarnos (posted above) -- Joerg Baumgartner's "Seshnegi Villager Campaign Outline" in particular has some great everyday stuff, and I'm quite pleased with the flavour of my own "Seshnelan Sources".

Also, if there's any other background questions I might be able to answer, do feel free to ask away! It's a positive pleasure to dig this stuff up and pass it on.

Cheers, Nick

No, I don't. I have the Heroquest rules and the Men of the the Sea supplement, which I don't expect to use much for this campaign. I think the material you have provided will be more than enough for what we have planned. Thanks.  :)