101 part 2: where and who

[Ayrizale]

Lael
Lunar sorcerer born to Heortling father; two siblings, doesn't know them. I strongly suggest that they not be the player-characters. I am happy to suggest that one of the siblings be an important NPC; perhaps the character has already met him. Use the Dara Happan keywords (notice that you have a wide range of occupational keywords to choose from) and take Makkabeus for Magic.

Ok.  
Keywords:

Cultural: Dara Happan Imperial Citizen
Occupation: Petty Nobleman
    Repartee (1w)
Magic: Makabaeus
    Scribe Circle of Lunar Power (1w)

Other Traits:

Sedenya Eclipses the Sun
Dragonnewt Plinth Lore (5w)
Heortling Culture
Detect Lies
Lie

Spells:  (If I read the book correctly, I choose 12 spells from the Grimoires of my Order?)

The Tome of Bleak Dispair:
Heat Rock
Shatter Ice Demon
Slow Wind
Warm Body

The Tome of Grim Vengeance:
Curse of Frail Iron
Curse of Impotence
Suck Soul Strength
Tap Hope

The Tome of Humility:
Comprehend Rufelza's Love
Ease Suffering
Enhance Understanding
Touch with Joy

Goal:
     To learn about, understand, and catalog all of the details of the Dragonewt Plinths.  (As a place to start.)

[Ayrizale]

For my siblings, perhaps one of my siblings is an important member of the community where the game is set?  Or possibly he is on a quest for similar knowledge, or is set to stop the Lunars from learning about the Dragonewt Plinths.  I think that I like the first better, maybe making him a member of the local rebel forces would be interesting.

Perhaps the other could be someone that is more "on the fence" with regards to the Lunars, perhaps he is currently married to a Lunar woman and is just trying to stay out of the politics of the situation.

Lael

[Ron Edwards]

Lael,

Good character. Did any personality abilities come out of the keywords? Remind us all what they are. Consider also the Flaw, and furthermore, recognize that the Goal sounds more like an "assignment," so if it is the character's goal, is it because he merely has taken his mission as his personal goal (in a kind of robotic way) or is it because he's personally passionate about dragons in some way? The answers to these questions may call for slight ability revisions.

The second sibling sounds almost exactly like Ian's character - so either go with that (as Ian sees fit) OR change what the second sibling is all about.

Best,
Ron

[Ayrizale]

Good character. Did any personality abilities come out of the keywords? Remind us all what they are.

The Petty Nobleman Keyword had the Ambitious trait with it.  That was the only one.

Consider also the Flaw,...

I would like for the flaw to be related to his mother/siblings.  Possibly his more promenent brother as an adversary.  Since he does not really know about them yet, that would probably have to come out in play.  I could also go with the distrust of the community (works both ways, he does not necessarily trust the people, and they probably do not entirely trust him.)

... and furthermore, recognize that the Goal sounds more like an "assignment," so if it is the character's goal, is it because he merely has taken his mission as his personal goal (in a kind of robotic way) or is it because he's personally passionate about dragons in some way? The answers to these questions may call for slight ability revisions.

I see it more as a personal mission.  While studying in the Libraries of the Makabaean Order, he came across some tomes that gave sketchy details of some occurrances near Dragonewt Plinths.  These anecdotes intrigued him and gave him something to dream about.  An idea of a way that he could make a name for himself within the Order and possibly beyond.  He has set out to learn as much as possible about the Plinths, and maybe the dragonewts as well.

The second sibling sounds almost exactly like Ian's character - so either go with that (as Ian sees fit) OR change what the second sibling is all about.

True.  He could also be subordinate to Ian's character, maybe like a second in command.  On the other hand, making him a local scholar or priest might also be interesting.  Possibly a God-Talker or Priest of Orlanth, making him important to the community and also my opposite/equal.

Lael

[Blake Hutchins]

Very interesting, Lael.

Your description of the motivation behind your goal sounds "Ambitious" to me.

Best,

Blake

[AndyGuest]

Okay, I'm at work so I'm more or less posting off the top of my head.

Jenest
Culture: Heortling
Profession: Soldier (Hoplite) - with tweaks to reflect Heortling background - replace Loyal with Boastful, Spear & Shield with Sword & Shield.
Magic: Initiate - Seven Sisters (Yanaris thingy ;-))

Other Traits:-

Can I take to companions as traits ? Two other soldiers from my tribe and unit - one a Lunar-phile, the other a Lunar-phobe.

I'm tempted to have a single trait for a bunch of lesser companions representing the other soldiers who are from his tribe but I don't know if that is allowed/would work.

Stubborn - He's determined not to make the same mistakes his father made (in his eyes), so determined that he'll sometimes make bad decisions because his its not what his father would do. This leads to him being stubborn with authority more often than is good for him.

Charismatic - He has the charm of those who dance to their own drum. He is stubborn and headstrong and that appeals to people. His own tribe, subject to the Lunars but with some of their own rights remaining hate the compromise situation. Some want freedom, others want to fully integrate into the Lunar way of life. With his stubborness and rebellion against his father both sides seem him as a leader who could make their dreams come true. Likewise the soldiers in his unit appreciate his refusal to follow foolhardy orders.

Rating-wise, Charismatic at 5w, Stubborn at 1w and probably fighty skills at 1w.

His relationship traits include Loyalty to Clan (rather than Heortling or Lunar culture).

IS this okay ?

[Ron Edwards]

Hey,

Rock solid, Andy. I like the way everyone is addressing Premise without necessarily linking the characters concretely in every possible way.

Do a quick check on the keywords when you get a chance to look at the books, because the Seven Mothers and Yanafal Tarnils are both tremendously cool, and the information on them is a little sketchy - see if you can read between the lines and see how powerful they can be when the moon is full.

Just a wee point, my friends. A few years ago in Glorantha, Boldhome (the capital of Sartar) was taken by the Lunars in a stupendous battle. The Lunars won due to (1) Yanafal Tarnils military magic, which approaches Humakt in raw death-power and combines it with military organization; (2) the Lunar College of Magic, specifically the use of sorcery to channel raw lunar power to be shaped as desired (e.g. ramps for the YT soldiers to storm the walls); and (3) mercenary squads of dragonewts.

Now look at your three characters. This is the GM, smiling.

Best,
Ron

[Ian O'Rourke]

Is it just me or do you only grasp 50% of what Ron and Lael are talking about? They seem to have links that I don't have and therefore I sort of see the detail, but sort of don't.

Anyway, minor point.

With respect to Andy's last post - are we part of the same tribe/clan here? Or am I coming up with another one? Having trouble imagining the space/context we all live in.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Ian,

My understanding is that Jenest, Andy's character, is not part of the local clan or tribe. He is a member of the Lunar military effort in the area, which I conceive as not being a huge army, so much as a few squads who grumble about being stuck here. (There are prostitutes in Lunar-occupied Boldhome. There aren't any here.) I think that Lael's character makes most sense as a member of the same forces, although he's probably there more by intent ("Ooh! I'll go! I'll go!") because he was born there and is passionately interested in the dragonewt stuff.

Your character, by contrast, is the home-grown one. That makes you interesting. If this were a movie or novel, it would begin with your character, and his struggle to deal with his love vs. his politics.

As for the 50% that you perceive yourself to be missing, can you give me an example? Perhaps it's easier than you think.

Best,
Ron

[Ian O'Rourke]

My understanding is that Jenest, Andy's character, is not part of the local clan or tribe. He is a member of the Lunar military effort in the area, which I conceive as not being a huge army, so much as a few squads who grumble about being stuck here. (There are prostitutes in Lunar-occupied Boldhome. There aren't any here.) I think that Lael's character makes most sense as a member of the same forces, although he's probably there more by intent ("Ooh! I'll go! I'll go!") because he was born there and is passionately interested in the dragonewt stuff.

Okay, that's sort of put it in perspective now that it's all in one place for my simple thought patterns :)

Your character, by contrast, is the home-grown one. That makes you interesting. If this were a movie or novel, it would begin with your character, and his struggle to deal with his love vs. his politics.

Okay fair enough, with respect for your comment about the wife still being 'in contact' to some degree -I agree, that is in a way the whole point. If she'd gone of to the fair ends of the earth we'd just have Vampire angst - instead we have two characters with complicated dynamic neither of whom are wrong.

As for the 50% that you perceive yourself to be missing, can you give me an example? Perhaps it's easier than you think.

I think it is the references to places, religions, cultures and a history of the settings that you and Lael casually fling around - I don't have that depth of knowledge. If we were actually playing this could be a good thing, but it can be a bit 'wow' as part of this excercise.

As I say, not a major problem, just an observation.

With respect to my character sketch - is it now that I would include some sort of relationship trait to cover the tie to his wife?

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Ian,

Absolutely. One of the five abilities that you make up for the character should be a Relationship to the wife character. It also seems like a strong candidate for one of the two abilities to receive a 1w. (Whether you want to make it the character's central ability with a 5w is up to you, although I have observed most players to prefer to give that one to their character's favorite Combat or to a Magic ability.)

Other things to consider include: knowledge of the local dragonewts, perhaps a weapon or object specific to your family ('cause your character has that troubled memory of his father, and a "family axe" as a magical doodad could be neat for that) ...

As for all the setting details, feel free to ask. This is a fine game for a running list of questions. In playing HW, one of the primary tasks of play is for everyone to get Glorantha-literate, and one of the primary tasks within that is to realize that it's a process, over many sessions, and not some kind of crash-course-cram necessity prior to play.

Best,
Ron

[Ian O'Rourke]

History: married across the Lunar-Heortling line. No problem. Realize that this can happen fully within the Heortling culture, with no need for the woman to be Dara Happan or foreign in any way. That's because Lunar missionaries and political treaties have been around for at least a century, to one extent or another.

Okay, some examples of missing that essential information. I married across the Lunar-Heortling line. I'm fine with that, as I obviously came up with it, but the statement 'it can happen totally within Heortling culture' has me confused - surely then there is no line? I thought Lunar and Heortling represented cultures such as Saxon or Norman? You're either one or the other.

If it can happen within Heortling culture I suppose I'm a bit confused about what the divide is? And how the woman is a Lunar?

I'm probably missing something obvious

Also is the chargen method we are using (keywords, five picks, and then two at 1w and one at 5w) actually one from the book? Not that it matters if it is some amalgamation for this demo, I'm just curious.

I've got the Culture keyword (obviously) and then the Warrior keyword, but I'm having trouble with my magic keyword - suggestions on those? Keep getting drawn to Humakti - but that's the example from the book - I'd have to have a reason for taking up such a grim religion (it sounds grim anyway). Could I have taken up this religion post-break up and tribal problems? Or would I have likely been an initiaite in something by then?

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Ian,

Lunar is a religion, not a culture. Think of it as spread over and helping to unify a large, multicultural empire to the north. (Similarly, Heortling is a culture, but their religion is Orlanthi, which may be found in lots of non-Heortling parts of Glorantha too.)

The culture to the immediate north is Dara Happa, which has been warring with Heortling culture for a really long time. North of Dragon Pass, it's unequivocally won the battle, now that it's Lunarized and is part of the Big Ass Empire.

Lots of Heortlings right here in Dragon Pass are now lunarized as well, to various degrees ranging from resentful lip service to wholesale fanaticism. One reason is the missionary cult of the Seven Mothers, which does very well in border territories, although its doctrines make the Lunar priests back in the Empire roll their eyes.

So this means that your character's wife could have been, well, anybody. I was suggesting - and you don't have to accept this - that both people were Heortlings, right in this area of Dragon Pass, and she converted to the Seven Mothers or perhaps another Lunar cult like Natha. Or, if you want her to be (say) a Dara Happan, Lunar from the start, who'd travelled there, that's fine too. Whatever you'd like.

Best,
Ron

P.S. More fun vocabulary, in the interest of promoting Gloranthan details: "Sedenya" is the name of the actual Red Goddess of the Lunar religion; that name refers to one of three basic aspects, the others being Rufelza (the physical moon) and Taraltara (the mystic "inner fire"); Sedenya per se is actually represented by seven separate aspects with names of their own (e.g. Natha).

The Heortlings know nothing of all this aspect-facet-many-in-one stuff and just call the whole shebang "Shepelkirt," or Poison Blood, although they are referring mainly to the moon itself.

[Ian O'Rourke]

Okay, first shot:

Kailorn
Cultural: Heortling
Occupation: Warrior
Axe and Shield (5W)
Magic: Orlanth Rex
Cajole(1W)

Additional Traits
Love for Selayna (1w)
Lunar Culture
Dragonnewt Lore
Honourable
Bind Clan

Goal: To bind his clan and regain the love of Selayna.

He is born into a clan that is classed as a 'rebel' clan - but they faced constant strife over integrating with the occupying culture or not. It was prophesised that Kailorn would marry, and the marriage would bind the tribe. This has not occurred (so far) his marriage to Selayna has split the tribe further resulting in violence. I'm imagining a bloody fight among Dragonnewt plinths(?). This may have caused Kailorn to kill/injure his father/brother-in law with his Axe (the axe is important, magical or not I don't know).

I am assuming Selayna's conversion to the Lunar's at the behest of her immediate family may be caused the split.

Kailorn views himself as a leader, and an honourable man but he wants to bind the one great tribe, as well as not loose his driving love for Selayna. He has to come to terms with the fact that this may mean compromise.

[Mike Holmes]

Wow Ian, you've created a paragon of Orlanthi Heroism. Classic. He's even Honourable with an English "U". How cool is that. He's got the Celtic protagonist thing written all over him. Tell me he's got blue abstract tattoos all over, and goes about barechested.

Of course the axe is important, the axe is always important. How so in your character's case? If nothing else, it can now be called something cool like "Kinslayer". Do the irremovable bloodstains on the edge haunt him?

C'mon, you guys need to finish up with starting concepts so I can discharge my one function here, and name this game.

Mike