Glorantha Sourcebook
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Glorantha Sourcebook By Greg Stafford and Jeff Richard with Michael O’Brien and Sandy Petersen This book is dedicated to Greg Stafford, who first discovered Glorantha. COVER ARTIST: Jon Hodgson EDITOR: Jason Durall ART DIRECTION: Jeff Richard DESIGN & LAYOUT: Malcolm Wolter CARTOGRAPHY: Darya Makarava, Simon Bray, Colin Driver, Lawrence Keogh, and Matt Ryan ARTISTS: Dan Barker, Bernard Bittler, Simon Bray, Antonia Doncheva, Jed Dougherty, Rich Fleider, Lisa Free, Kate Glasheen, Merle Insinga, Kalin Kadiev, Jennifer Lange, Michelle Lockamy, Jan Pospíšil, Jakob Rebelka, John Snyder, Tom Sullivan, Eric Vanel Art provided by A Sharp is copyright (c) 2018 A Sharp and is provided under license. PROOF READER: T.R. Knight, and our tribal faithful. SPECIAL THANKS GO to those people who have contributed greatly or a little to Glorantha over the years: Dan Barker, Joerg Baumgartner, Rick Becker, Simon Bray, Nick Brooke, William Church, Ian Cooper, Robert Corbett, Gene Day, David Dunham, Christopher Gidlow, David Hall, Rob Heinsoo, Martin Helsdon, Jon Hodgson, Mark Galeotti, Janelle Jaquays, Kalin Kadiev, Daniel McCluskey, Rick Meints, Peter Metcalfe, Luise Perrene, Steve Perrin, Jan Pospíšil, Kevin Ramos, Neil Robinson, Ken Rolston, Harald Smith, Steve Swenston, Ray Turney, and Jonathan Tweet. Our apologies to any who were unrecorded. May Lhankor Mhy bless the Stories contained WITHIN and protect their Secrets GLORANTHA SOURCEBOOK SampleA Chaosium Publication CHA4033 file Copyright © 2018 by Moon Design Publications, all rights reserved Glorantha is the trademark of Moon Design Publications Chaosium Inc., 3450 Wooddale Ct., Ann Arbor, MI 48104 Sample file table of Contents introduction ........................................1 time ......................................................... 133 Geography ......................................................... 3 Time and the Cosmic Compromise ........... 133 The Mundane World ........................................ 3 Kinds of Time ............................................... 134 The First Age ................................................. 137 history of Dragon Pass ............ 9 The Second Age ............................................. 141 In the Beginning ............................................... 9 The Third Age ............................................... 143 The Holy Country .......................................... 12 The Grazelanders ........................................... 13 Gods of the lunar way ............147 The Settlement of Dragon Pass .................... 14 Seven Ancient Moon Goddesses ................. 147 Old Tarsh ......................................................... 15 The Blue Moon ............................................. 148 Sartar the Founder ......................................... 19 The Seven Mothers ....................................... 148 Lunar Tarsh ..................................................... 24 The Red Goddess .......................................... 149 The Hero Wars Begin ..................................... 37 Illumination .................................................. 149 Crimson Bat .................................................. 150 the Elder races.............................49 The New Gods ............................................... 150 Aldryami ......................................................... 49 Dragonewt ...................................................... 51 the redline history of Mostali ............................................................. 53 the lunar Empire..........................153 Uz ..................................................................... 58 The Carmanian Empire ............................... 153 Zero Wane: The Red Goddess ..................... 153 theogony .............................................65 The First Wane.............................................. 161 The God Learners ........................................... 65 The Second Wane ......................................... 165 Before Creation .............................................. 65 The Third Wane ............................................ 168 The Draconic Creation Myth ........................ 67 The Fourth Wane.......................................... 171 The Twins ........................................................ 69 The Fifth Wane ............................................. 175 Glorantha, Empress of the Celestial Court . 70 The Sixth Wane ............................................. 181 Celestial Court ................................................ 70 The Seventh Wane ........................................ 185 The Mortal Races ........................................... 73 The Eighth Wane .......................................... 189 Deities of Darkness ........................................ 76 Deities of Water .............................................. 81 Gloranthan magic ........................191 Deities of the Earth ........................................ 87 Runes ............................................................. 191 Deities of Sky and Fire ................................... 95 What is Magic? .............................................. 198 Deities of Air ................................................. 106 The Lords of Terror ...................................... 120 Gods and mortals .....................203 The End of the Gods War ............................ 128 Gods and History......................................... 204 SampleHeroes ............................................................ file205 Sartar magical union................211 Warlocks ........................................................ 211 Sample file Orlanth the Storm God. Introduction n 1966, Glorantha first burst into the consciousness . Gods of the Lunar Way: The new gods of the of Greg Stafford. A unique fantasy setting, Glorantha Lunar religion. I owes far more to Bullfinch’s Mythology and Joseph . Redline History of the Lunar Empire: A com- Campbell than to the epics of J.R.R. Tolkien. It is a prehensive history of the Lunar Empire since its Bronze Age world ruled by demigods and priest-kings; founding and going until the early Hero Wars. where horse-riders fight against those who ride bison, . Gloranthan Magic: A short essay on the Gloran- sable antelopes, and even rhinos; a dangerous and exciting than Runes, types of magic, and some theories place where kingdoms are carved out by the brave; where about what is magic. strange non-human species older than humanity plot their return to power; and where the fate of the world is up . Gods and Mortals: An overview of gods, mor- tals, and those who straddle both worlds. for grabs. Glorantha is the best-defined gaming setting there is, . Sartar Magical Union: A list of the magical units with over fifty years of material written for it. The details that serve Prince Argrath in his war against the of the setting, its cultures, kingdoms and empires are Lunar Empire. described in the Guide to Glorantha. However, this book is not a gazetteer or an encyclopedia. The book is more mythological than materialist; within, lands are defined by their goddess and history is the deeds of kings, heroes, and prophets, not economics, agricultural output, or tax Glorantha is the best-defined gaming revenues. Nor is it a “gaming book”— there are no game mechan- setting there is, with over fifty years of ics, rules, or scenarios contained within. Instead, this book material written for it. contains a collection of Gloranthan texts on the following: . Geography: A basic overview of the geography of Glorantha. History of Dragon Pass: A history of the central crossroads of Glorantha. Some of this material appeared in a draft or partial form in the fourteen issues of Wyrms Footnotes (1976 to 1982). The Elder Races: A short overview of the main non-human species that predate humanity and Other material appeared in partial form in King of Sartar once dominated the world. or the Guide to Glorantha. However, the material presented . here is far more complete than ever published before. Theogony: The story of the gods of Glorantha, For those readers who are new to Glorantha, it is our Sampleprimarily arranged by element (Darkness, Water, file hope that these texts shall provide the start of your explo- Earth, Fire, and Air). rations into this rich and exotic world. For those of you . Time: A history of Glorantha since the first who have already begun your adventures, we trust that Dawn. you will find new secrets and unknown depths. I y,eAgBo?wp.bi Sample file The Gloranthan cosmos. .