From: Nick Brooke (Nick_Brooke@compuserve.com)
Date: Mon 28 Apr 1997 - 22:23:15 EEST
______________
Joseph Troxell had three very good questions (usual definition applies):
> 1) Where is there information about the Lightbringers Quest?
Best source: Greg Stafford's book, "King of Sartar".
Second-best: "Wyrms Footprints" (for an extended remix of the previous best
version, which was in ish #13 of Wyrms Footnotes magazine).
Vital extra info: "Cults of Prax" (see below), "Cults of Terror".
They are obscure and mysterious figures who do not receive any normal
cultic worship. Both were described in "Cults of Prax", and nowhere
substantial other than that, so I've attached those descriptions at the end
of this post. (You can find some more information in the Chalana Arroy
cult's mythos, as given in River of Cradles). FWIW, I see useful parallels
between Flesh Man and the Great Prophet Malkion...
> 2) What's the deal with Yanafir Tarnils?
YanaFAL Tarnils is the Lunar God of War. I have a draft cult writeup which
may make it into the next issue of Tales (this summer?), and have attached
the Mythos and History section, again at the end. Note that this isn't
"official" and variant versions may exist: take your pick.
But if you wait for an "official cult writeup", you'll be waiting a long
time: Chaosium only ever produced a draft, and are unlikely to have much
interest in writing up Gloranthan cults for RuneQuest in the near future...
> 3) The long Dormal cult writeup mentions that Dormal is really
> only popular in the Holy Country. Which begged the question,
> "Who do other sailors worship?"
They do exactly what Dormal showed them how to do, with maybe a few local
twists and rituals. But he isn't "popular" as such: they don't necessarily
tell stories of his life and heroic voyages, or consider him an iconic
figure worthy of worship as a god, or indulge in any of the religious
"excesses" popular in his home ports around the Mirrorsea Bay. (A frivolous
comparison: PC users do things the way Bill Gates showed them. But is he
popular?)
====
Nick
====
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APPENDIX A: FLESH MAN AND GINNA JAR (from "Cults of Prax")
FLESH MAN was a mortal being, a grandchild of Grandfather Mortal, who was
first-made Man and who lived on the slopes of The Spike. Save Humakt and
Eurmal, he was the only witness to the death of Grandfather Mortal. This
sight made him prophetic, but all his outcries and anguish failed to warn
the greater beings of the cosmos. As the world slowly succumbed to the
vices of Death the Flesh Man grew more and more crazed by the weight of his
knowledge. He fled, but found only the future wherever he went...
[Flesh Man meets Chalana Arroy, who follows him; the other Lightbringers
join in]
... The six were together when they reached the edge of the world where the
ocean seeped across the land. Beyond that place, the lap of cold chaos
froze the very stuff of the world. There, upon the edge of the cosmos, they
discovered the mysterious being called GINNA JAR. Throughout elder myths
Ginna Jar remains an enigma, occasionally personified as either male or
female, occasionally reaching out to assist or interfere, but never taking
form. Its identity remained unknown, though many cults claimed its
revelation through heroquests. The worship devoted to it was always
desperate and usually ineffective.
Detailed research and speculation has indicated that Ginna Jar may have
been the ghost of GLORANTHA, the Great Goddess of the Cosmos who had once
headed the Celestial Court. There is no mention of Glorantha after her
defeat at the hands of the Devil. But there is a mysterious goddess in Hell
who combats the Devil and, with the aid of the other gods, defeats it and
devours it, shortly afterwards giving birth to the force called Time. The
mysterious goddess is called ARACHNE SOLARA in myths and worship and she is
generally the vague force of Nature in the world. It is our contention that
Glorantha, Ginna Jar and Arachne Solara are the same being. The many
differences in their worship is a measure of the wrack and ruin wrought
upon the world at the end of Godtime. This is still speculation and further
research will surely shed light on the matter.
___________
APPENDIX B: MYTHOS AND HISTORY OF YANAFAL TARNILS (unofficial)
When the brutal Carmanian Empire ruled over the conquered cities of Dara
Happa, the Satrap of Yuthuppa shone out as a just and fair man. Though a
loyal brother to the Bull Shah, enemies at court spread poisonous lies
against him: he was convicted on trumped-up treason charges, hideously
mutilated, and then executed. His dispossessed heir fled into exile,
guarded and guided by the chief mage of the Satrap's household, an
astrologer-priest named Irrippi Ontor. In the little town of Torang, these
two joined the conspiracy of the Seven Mothers, and were instrumental in
the rebirth of the Red Goddess. For his part in this, the first Lunar
ritual, Yanafal Tarnils is called "Ram and Warrior".
Yanafal Tarnils had from his earliest days studied the Carmanian Art of
War, mastering sword, lance and bow, as well as the secrets of leading men
to fight and die. With the birth of the Red Goddess, Yanafal Tarnils
founded the Red Army, the military arm of her New Moon Queendom. He became
Warlord of First Blessed, sole leader of all its armed forces, and was
relentless in battle, unyielding as steel, inspired by the passion for
Truth that blazed within him. He fought to create a better world, willing
to die for his Goddess: and, because death was unimportant to him, he
transcended it to become a Hero.
When the Goddess left the world to prove her divinity, Yanafal Tarnils ably
defended her lands against the full force of the Carmanian host, working
miracles of strategy and tactics to delay their inexorable advance. On her
return at the Battle of Chaos, when the flower of Carmanian chivalry was
blasted and devoured by the Crimson Bat, Yanafal wept. But his loyalty
never wavered, and he unflinchingly stayed on the path he had chosen, even
walking the Sword-Bridge despite the burden he bore.
He proved his Truth against his foes at the Battle of Four Arrows of Light,
when the Magi of Carmania summoned Humakt, God of War and Death, to defeat
their enemies. The two strove against each other in mystical and mortal
combat, matching their weapons, skills, powers and souls. Without his love
for the Goddess, Yanafal would surely have been slain. But the Truth he
fought for prevailed: Yanafal defeated his master, shrugging off his mask
of mortality to be enthroned among the deities of the Lunar pantheon.
As in most Lunar cults, no specific life after death is promised, though
Yanafal's own example is taken to prove that there is a life after death.
Those most valiant in the service of the Red Moon might be recognised in
the ranks of the Full Moon Corps, a legion of immortal demigod fanatics
clad in crimson Steel armour.
Burial customs follow local practice. Lay members are interred in mass
burials or cremated communally after battles. Initiates are members of
their regimental burial club, which pays funerary expenses on behalf of the
fallen. Scimitars, the military heroes of the Empire, may be enshrined in
the wall of the Citadel of Halfway, facing onto Red Square, emerging to
participate in the annual parades. Unlike Humakt's, this cult permits and
even encourages the resurrection of fallen members.
The cult's runes are Death, Moon and Truth.
-NB
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