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Copyr ight Informat ionGlorantha – The Second Age ©2006 Mongoose Publishing. All rights reserved. Reproduction of of this work by any means without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden. All signifi cant characters, names, places, items, art and text herein are copyrighted by Mongoose Publishing.

This game product contains no Open Game Content. No portion of this work may be reproduced in any form without written permission. To learn more about the Open Game License, please go to www.mongoosepublishing.com. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United Kingdom. This product is a work of fi ction. Any similarity to actual people, organisations, places or events is purely coincidental.

RuneQuest is a trademark (TM) of Issaries, Inc. Produced under license from Issaries. All rights reserved. Printed in China.

Contents

Credits & Contents 1

Welcome to Glorantha 2

The Two Empires 15

Major Cultures 32

Major Races 65

World Gazetteer 82

Campaign Setting:

Safelster, Cities of Intrigue 125

Index 158

Author Robin D Laws

EditorIan Belcher

Cover Art Tony Parker

Cover Design Bob Cram, Dan Howard &Jeff Koch

RuneQuest LogoAnne Stokes

Maps Keith Curtis

Interior Illustrations Craig Brasco, Bob Cram, Jeff Cram, Mike Hamlett, Rick Hershey, Tim Hibbetts, Dan Howard, Jeffrey Koch, Tom Scholes, Joe Slucher & Colin Throm

Publications ManagerIan Belcher

Production DirectorAlexander Fennell

Proofreading Brian Leech

Special ThanksIan Barstow, Richard Ford & Greg Stafford

Credits

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WELCOME TO GLORANTHA

A Classic Setting, RevisitedGreg Stafford’s world of Glorantha has been thrilling and inspiring gamers since 1974, with the appearance of the board game White Bear and Red Moon. RuneQuest, the original Glorantha roleplaying game, debuted in 1978, published fi rst by Chaosium and later by Avalon Hill. Since then legions of fans have plumbed Glorantha’s depths and puzzled over its secrets. It supports a thriving convention scene and robust Internet presence. Subsequent Gloranthan games include the King of Dragon Pass computer game and HeroQuest roleplaying game.

The new Mongoose Publishing edition of RuneQuest is the fi rst to lift the veil on Glorantha’s Second Age, which has previously been presented as a murky past of wonder and mystery.

This book contains everything a roleplayer needs to launch an epic RuneQuest campaign set in the classic setting of Glorantha, a world of mythic

adventure. Glorantha puts its own distinctive spin on the classic themes and images of the fantasy genre. This chapter gives both the Games Master and players a grounding in Glorantha’s essential concepts, cultures, races and history.

Myth and AdventureGlorantha is a world permeated by magic and shaped by myth. Its heroes achieve power by questing for runes, physical manifestations of the eternal abstract forces that shape its destiny. Eventually they graduate to even more powerful magics, learning to gain power by emulating the deeds of the gods, mastering the arcane formulae of the sorcerous arts, allying with spirits, or achieving meditative awareness of life’s unknowable secrets. In doing so, they draw on one or more of the mythic Otherworlds surrounding their everyday material world. With the right magic, they can travel to the realms of the gods, become participants in their ancestral myths and

return with wondrous new abilities. Those who fail these daunting tests may be diminished, destroyed or eternally lost in the mythic realms.

Explorers, adventurers and kings are not the only ones who wield magical power here. Ordinary people practice their own spells and charms, helping them to feed, clothe and shelter themselves in what would otherwise be a hostile environment.

Glorantha is a world of clashing cultures, where good and evil are not always easy to sort out. Though cursed with more than its share of tyrants, monsters and villains, no single one of its cultures maintains a monopoly on virtue. Two warring cultures can be, from their own point of view, equally right — or equally ruthless and brutal. Cultures differ on the correct way to live, the true events of myth and history, and the very purpose of existence. And that is just the humans: Glorantha’s inhuman races follow their own alien agendas, as laid out from the beginning of time.

In its glorious Second Age, Glorantha is the prize of warring Empires. Two Empires, more similar than they would like to admit, vie for ultimate dominance. The God Learner Empire seeks to crack open and lay bare the very secrets of the gods, manipulating them to their own ends. The Empire of Wyrm’s Friends works to transform its land and people into a gigantic, mystical dragon, which will take fl ight and reshape the entire world.

The Second Age is a time of unprecedented discovery and exploration. For the fi rst time, trade and travel allows the interaction of far-fl ung cultures. Both Empires innovate feverishly, unveiling new forms of magic, new devices, new modes of perception.

Against this backdrop of unfettered progress, dark omens gather. Men have pushed the Glorantha’s eternal laws of myth and magic to the breaking point. How long will it be before the world strikes back at them, punishing their unprecedented hubris?

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A Moonless SkyDuring the Second Age, Glorantha has only one moon, the Blue Moon, which is hardly ever seen, though its movements through the sky can be plotted indirectly, by marking the action of the tides. It briefl y appears every six days, as a blue streak dropping into Magasta’s Pool.

Keep this in mind during night adventures. Players hoping their characters can navigate via moonlight must be reminded that in this world, there is none to be found.

Gloranthan Themes

1. Everything is magical.2. Myth is real.3. The past shapes the present.4. Myth is true, even in its contradictions.5. Forgetting Number 4 can get you killed.6. Truth is a matter of perspective.7. He who embraces materialism at the expense of the

spirit can become temporarily powerful but courts ultimate disaster.

8. War can be heroic and glorious but is always devastating and cruel.

9. Ordinary lives are sustained by the idealism of communal sacrifi ce, of love for family and clan. The grand sweep of history is fuelled by greed, aggression and pride.

10. History is cyclical. The world rises from the ashes of catastrophe, recovers and prospers. People becomes proud and complacent, tampering with cosmic forces, visiting catastrophe upon themselves. The world rises from the ashes of catastrophe…

The WorldAt fi rst glance, the world of Glorantha seems to be much like our own. Land masses rise from a vast ocean. There are mountains and valleys, rivers, lakes, and streams. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Coniferous forests cover its colder expanses; jungles and deserts carpet its hot zones. Objects fall to the ground when you drop them. When not otherwise stated, assume that the basic facts of humdrum reality are the same in Glorantha as they are in our world.

Always keep in mind, though, that these resemblances are superfi cial, if not coincidental. Glorantha is a place governed by the laws of magic, not physics. Vegetation patterns exist because gods put those plants there, back in the time when deities and men mingled in the everyday world. The world’s terrain was shaped by divine action. Objects fall because the laws of magic decree that they should.

This can sometimes prove dangerous. Unlike like the reliable, repeatable laws of science, the rules governing magic are mutable and can change. And when they change, everything is up for grabs.

Geography Gloranthans believe that the world is fl at. They are absolutely correct.

Our world is a globe spinning in space, orbiting around a sun, which is part of a galaxy of other stars. Glorantha is an enormous earthen cube, fl oating on an infi nite sea, with only one of its surfaces ever so slightly exposed. Swirling in the centre of this exposed surface is a devouring whirlpool, Magasta’s Pool, which continually draws the world’s water down into it.

The sky overhead is literally a dome. Attached to the dome are Glorantha’s stars. Other celestial bodies, including Glorantha’s sun, move around the dome but are not fi rmly affi xed to it.

Other supernatural realms surround the material world of Glorantha, also called the Inner World. Beneath the cube and its enveloping sea is a realm of Darkness.

The world’s major land masses are the temperate, heavily populated continent of Genertela and the tropical, less hospitable land of Pamaltela, where grass does not grow.A major island called Jrustela serves as home base to the God Learner Empire. Other, less sweeping civilisations are found on smaller islands like Brithos and Vithela.

The Dragon is everything. Soon, everything will be the Dragon.

— Ervaling Scalemaker, Wyrmfriend Priest

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Magasta’s Pool Calendar

Before the rise of the God Learners, most cultures of Glorantha used their own calendars or no calendars at all. The God Learners chose the most popular calendar, that of a First Age culture called the Theyalans, and have popularised it throughout the world. Anybody who does business with the Jrusteli, even their enemies, knows how to use their calendar of choice.

Each week is seven days long. The days of the week are, in order, Freezeday, Waterday, Clayday, Windsday, Fireday, Wildday and Godday (in areas where more than one god is venerated, the last day is called Godsday).

Eight weeks make up a season. The seasons are named after the elements of Sea, Fire, Earth, Dark and Storm. These correspond to climactic changes: roughly speaking, Sea Season is like our spring; Fire Season is summer; Earth Season is fall; Dark Season is like winter. Think of Storm Season as an especially lengthy and turbulent transition between winter and spring. After Storm Season comes a two-week period outside the seasonal boundaries called Sacred Time, where ceremonies of rebirth are performed and the level of magical energy runs high.

Cultures and PeoplesGlorantha has always been a place of clashing peoples, where differences in belief and spiritual practice lead to confrontation on the battlefi eld. The Second Age is a time of cultural cross-pollination and consolidation. Both major Empires attempt to fuse previously incompatible beliefs into a new political and commercial unity. As traditionalists and innovators clash, old enemies have become new allies.

The Old WaysTheist cultures access their higher magic through emulation of multiple gods. Though priests may dedicate themselves to a single deity, these cultures are pantheistic, deriving benefi ts from their adherence to an entire pantheon.

Orlanthi, Worshippers of the Storm TribeOrlanthi people worship the tumultuous gods of the Storm Tribe, led by the warrior deity Orlanth and his wife, the earth mother Ernalda. The popular image of an Orlanthi is that of a cattle-herding hill barbarian who lives in a clan-based society. Although pure Orlanthi are likelier to be found in a few remote, hardscrabble areas, plenty of Storm worshippers can be found in towns and cities, practicing an urbanised version of this boisterous, freedom-loving creed. Orlanth’s myths describe him as a violent, wandering troublemaker who is somewhat tamed by his bountiful, nurturing wife, whom he stole from the Sky Gods.

He and others of his rowdy, uncompromising pantheon remain highly popular with adventurers. His divine allies include Issaries the trader, Lhankor Mhy the scholar, Humakt the slayer, Yinkin the cat and Chalana Arroy, the healer. Followers of Orlanth’s even more violent brother, Urox the storm bull, are hard to fi nd these days. Urox was famed as a fi ghter of the dread corrupting force known as Chaos, but Chaos is not much in evidence in the current Age of Empires.

Orlanthi will fi ght nearly anyone, counting trolls, dragons and Chaos creatures among their roster of foes. Those

Me and my adventuring comrades call Sacred Time ‘Trouble Time’, on account of there’s so many ways to get into trouble during it. Take my advice. Go to a nice peaceful ceremony somewhere, or stay home and pull the covers up over your head.

— Gurek Runespear, Mercenary of Safelster

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CurrencyWhile Glorantha in the Second Age uses gold, silver, copper and lead in their currencies, the coinages are referred to differently. Gold ducats are instead referred to simply as gold or sometimes gold pieces. Silver pieces are more commonly referred to simply as silver. Copper pennies are called coppers or occasionally copper clacks. Lead coins are mostly only used by the uz (trolls) and are referred to as lead bolg.

Gloranthan Metals Bronze: An alloy of tin and copper, this is the standard metal of Glorantha and grants no specifi c bonuses or penalties.

Iron: Iron interferes with a bearer’s spellcasting ability. Every ENC point of iron carried by a bearer reduces his Magic Point maximum by one. In essence, the bearer’s POW is considered lower than normal, for the purposes of determining maximum Magic Points and regaining Magic Points only.

Any damage dealt by an iron weapon against aldryami or uz is doubled. Iron weapons will also affect creatures normally unaffected by non-magical weapons.

Silver: Too soft to be formed into a sharp edge or tip, only crushing or bludgeoning weapons can be made from silver. Silver weapons will affect creatures normally unaffected by non-magical weapons.

of central Genertela have always warred against the Pelorians, whose gods they call the Fire Tribe. Nowadays, conservative Orlanthi of these parts fi nd themselves with more in common with haughty Pelorians than the weird, dragon-loving wyrmfriends. Together, these beleaguered theists have joined forces under the banner of the Old Day Traditionalists, determined to bring down the oppressive and blasphemous Empire of Wyrm’s Friends.

Pelorians, Worshippers of the Sky GodsPelorians, native to the land of Dara Happa, worship the sun god, Yelm. They rank themselves in a strictly hierarchical society, in which all people, from the lowliest farmer to the Emperor himself, fulfi l the roles handed down to them by their stern paternal deity. An urbanised people, they place the family above the clan.

Dara Happans consider their Emperor to be a divinely-inspired carrier of Yelm’s mantle. Things are right in the world when a descendant of Yelm sits on the Dara Happan throne and woefully wrong on those few occasions when the lineage is broken. Now they are conquered and a dragon from the Empire of Wyrm’s Friends shockingly occupies the Emperor’s throne! Once disdainful of the rude Orlanthi barbarians to the south, they have covertly united with them to wage a harrying insurgency against their draconic occupiers.

Pelorian adventurers do not derive their power directly from the imperial god of the sun, but from the pantheon’s fi ery warriors and staunch attendants. These include: the volcanic Lodril, lusty god of the common man;

Lokarnos, god of trade and travel; and Yelmalio, hot-tempered warrior and defender of the faith. Other deities of great importance to their society, but lesser import to adventurers, are Yelm’s consort, Oria, the aloof star god Dayzatar and the fertile river goddess Oslira.

Other Sky God worshippers include the Horse Nomads of Pent. These fearsome warriors of the steppes to the east of Peloria worship a sun god called Kargzant, who is as harsh and uncompromising as the lives they lead.

New EmpiresThe simmering revolts of the theist cultures have been stoked by the growth of two disturbingly innovative Empires. Neither worries as much about the threat posed by their beleaguered subjects as they do about each other. The God Learners and Empire of Wyrm’s Friends see themselves as locked in a battle for world supremacy.

God Learners Though properly known as the Middle Sea Empire, most people simply call the far-fl ung Jrusteli seafaring

The blows we have struck so far against the accursed wyrmfriends will seem but a prelude. Wait until we unleash the destructive power of the dread god Shargash!

— Varustori Gold-Beard, Exiled Noble of Dara Happa

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An Immanent Master of Kralorela

Empire the ‘ God Learners Empire’. The Jrusteli follow the Malkioni religion, a monotheist faith venerating the Invisible God. The faith is named after Malkion, the great deity’s defi ning prophet. Malkioni accept that other gods, like Orlanth and Yelm, exist, but see them as lesser beings, or even demons.

The Invisible God grants little magic to his followers. They must secure their own supernatural powers, through logic and scholarship. Expert practitioners of Sorcery, the Jrusteli discovered a secret called RuneQuest Sight, a means of perception allowing them to detect the fl ow of magic and belief. It allows users to see connections between the myths and practices of unrelated cultures and, by venturing into the magical Otherworld called the Hero Plane, to change the details of those primal stories. These changes then radiate to the material world of Glorantha. For example, half a century ago, the God Learners went so far as to switch the grain goddess of two different cultures.

The second prong of the God Learners’ power lies in their defeat of the seafaring Waertagi people nearly two centuries ago. Until that day, the Waertagi controlled all sea traffi c in the world. The Jrusteli rapidly fi lled the gap and now control cities and outposts throughout the world’s coastal regions.

WyrmfriendsCentral Genertela used to be the cradle of theism but has now given birth to a new blend of old-style worship and dragon magic. The Empire of Wyrm’s Friends, or EWF, are former Orlanthi who have formed a mystical sect devoted to the pursuit of dragon wisdom. They owe their origins to their rivals, the God Learners, who stole the secret of dragon speech and began to teach it in the central Genertelan city of Nochet. Those who learned the language called Auld Wyrmish were able to communicate with dragonewts, a cryptic race of reptilian humanoids related to true dragons. From them they learned a new mode of mystic worship. It caught

on like wildfi re, transforming local Orlanthi society within a generation. Followers of the new wyrmish way persecuted conservatives determined to cling to the time-tested traditions.

The mystic sect quickly transmogrifi ed into a political movement, declaring itself an Empire over three hundred years ago. Along the way, they have weathered repeated incursions from the God Learners, who are intent on capturing the secrets of dragon magic for themselves. Riding into battle on the backs of dinosaurs, they have expanded militarily, conquering their neighbours, including the proud Dara Happan lands. These occupations serve their fi nal goal: they want to transform the land and people into a new form of dragon, bigger than any ever seen before on Glorantha. This is no minor ambition, given that existing Gloranthan dragons can be as big as mountain ranges.

DragonewtsDragonewts are reptilian humanoids who progress through a series of forms as they hone their state of mystical attunement with their draconic natures. This transformation occurs via reincarnation. When a dragonewt dies, its soul migrates into a new egg. If it has progressed spiritually, its new form is more dragon-like than the one before it. It begins as a scout, or crested dragonewt, onward to the warrior (beaked dragonewt), noble (tailed priest) and fi nally the ruler (full priest). Although their motivations and perceptions are thoroughly Sa

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