From: Troy Bankert (tsl@cs.mu.OZ.AU.)
Date: Sat 11 Jul 1992 - 09:56:33 EEST
In an earlier RQ DIGEST there were some some enquiries made about Eurmal, the
Lightbringer aspect of Trickster. An official write-up of the cult has never
been published, although Bill Masek published his version in 1980 [see
below], to my knowledge the first concrete information about Eurmal or the
Trickster, even if it was unofficial. Greg Stafford completed some or all
of a large section of the various aspects of the Trickster for OUTLAND
CULTS, a book of cults for RQII which never made it to publication. The
Trickster section probably served as the basis for the information provided
in GODS OF GLORANTHA. The following is a list of sources and descriptions
of the Trickster, usually in his embodiment as Eurmal. Some sources are
possibly missing, but I have included all that I know of, except where
Trickster is mentioned by name only. Sources have not been organized by
Trickster aspect, but most refer to Eurmal or Ratslaff.
RUNEQUEST II
Cults of Prax; the Lightbringers Quest [p.57]
Cults of Terror; Vivamort (Mythos and History) [p.48]
Borderlands Referee's Book; The Agimori [p.18 - reprinted from WF #12, p.26]
RuneQuest Companion; Jonstown Compendium (1474) [p.9], (1486) [p.33]
RUNEQUEST III
Intro to Glorantha Book; the Runes chart, Illusion and Disorder runes [p.13]
Gods of Glorantha Prosopaedia; Bolongo [p.3]; Eurmal [p.6]; Ratslaff [p.15]
Gods of Glorantha Cults Book; Trickster [p.70]
Gods of Glorantha What the Priests Say; Staves From the Storm Priest (Eurmal);
The Chieftain Speaks (Bolongo)
Gloranthan Bestiary; Hoolar [p.23]; Jelmre [p,25]
Elder Secrets Races Book; Mostal (Mythos and History) [p.22 - mostly
reprinted from DIFFERENT WORLDS #24]; Mostal - Dwarves [p.51]
OTHER SOURCES
Nomad Gods; Independent Spirits - Raven [p.54] - Hyena [p.55].
Wild Hunt #55; Cult of Eurmal by Bill Masek.
Different Worlds #4; Waha's Quest [p.30, 32]
Wyrms Footnotes #5; The Celestial Court [p.27, 29]
Wyrms Footnotes #6; The Greater Gods (Eurmal) [p.26]
Wyrms Footnotes #7; Deities of Darkness (Sinjota and Kaldar) [p.26]
Wyrms Footnotes #10; Gods of Light and Fire (Lowfires) [p.25]
Wyrms Footnotes #13; The Orlanth Pantheon (Minlister) [p.4]
Trickster is normally classified as one of the *Burtae*, or Young Gods, and
so he postdates the Celestial Court. However, Ratslaff is often considered
to be an aspect of Trickster, and so he has been included.
Eurmal and Bolongo are the best-known aspects of the Trickster, but others
are acknowledged. Raven, a spirit of Prax and the Wastes, is known to be
the Darkness aspect of the Trickster; Hyena, another spirit of the Wastes,
may be the Earth aspect, and Minlister, a spirit of the Orlanth pantheon,
may be the Air aspect; others undoubtedly exist. Notations for these
deities have been included as well.
Other gods are sometimes called Trickster, usually by Yelm worshippers or
members of the Kralori Empire. Thus, some people say that Trickster slew
the Sun, even if they know that the god was actually Orlanth. Umath,
Vadrus and Orlanth are the deities most often referred to in this fashion.
Rumours circulate that the Red Goddess is simply an aspect of the Trickster
born within Time and thus able to circumvent the Compromise, and some say
that Nysalor was a Light aspect of the Trickster; a chaotic aspect is also
rumoured.
Some basic information can be inferred about Eurmal. He is the post-Time
source of the Illusion Rune; he possesses Disorder as well, and possibly a
third rune such as Luck. His parents are probably Tylenea, Celestial Court
goddess of illusion, and Ratslaff, Celestial Court god of disorder. His
worship would include minor temples in some few cities; he would provide
most if not all Trickster spells that were in Gods of Glorantha Trickster
section. Unusually, he would probably not have shrines dedicated to him,
relying instead on the generic Trickster shrines. Whether or not his cult
would have access to any common divine spells is unknown, although
Spellteaching is probably available to teach the spell of Hotfoot (and
possibly others).
If anyone has or knows of any additional sources, particularly ones from
Greg Stafford or CHAOSIUM, I would appreciate the information (if not the
actual item itself). I will soon be on the net myself; until then,
direct snail mail to:
P.O. BOX 272914
Concord, CA 94527-2914.
USA.
======================================================================
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.7 : Sat 05 Jul 2003 - 20:28:27 EEST