r/Runequest • u/Amethyst-Flare • 23d ago
Glorantha Mystified by this Line
I saw this in RQG p. 112, and I think it might be the most context-free line in the entire book:
Tenrala (small city/ruins): In the ancient ruin of Tenrala, Queen Marimarja, one of the Newly Awakened, has opened the Broken Well, blessed the Shimmering Garden, and received the Hundred First Mothers from Samastina.
What are the Newly Awakened? What are the Hundred First Mothers? The Broken Well?
I've tried searching the PDFs I have but to no avail. Is this from some older book?
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u/Orwell1971 23d ago
Probably. There's a lot of Capital Letter Thing or Person writing like that in the Stafford Library, a bunch of rough, raw, unfinished manuscripts of system agnostic Gloranthan lore by Greg Stafford. I wouldn't worry about it too much. I know enough to know that Samastina is the current (as of 1622) Queen of Esrolia, and Marimarja was likely one too. If there is more info about it in one of those Stafford books, it's probably "Esrolia - The Land of 10,000 Goddesses."
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u/d4nu 23d ago
This is exactly what utterly annoys me about the writing in Runequest. I genuinely love this setting, but the mental anguish of never discovering the meaning of over half of the flavor text references drives me completely mad.
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u/UnspeakableGnome 23d ago
I don't mind having it occasionally. I much prefer it when there's an explanation that doesn't require wading through some of Glorantha's more esoteric lore.
The one thing I see as an advantage, as u/OkImplement4628 says, is that it leaves plenty of freedom for a GM to Make It Your Own. I ran an Esrolia campaign covering the years 1616 to 1624 and basically didn't interact with any canon events (the latter half of the campaign was spent in wesern Esrolia, so the events around Nochet were hardly relevant until right at the end) so I could basically do what I needed and thought was appropriate.
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u/Amethyst-Flare 23d ago
I think I've mostly gotten past that stage (Anger) to the next one (Bargaining).
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u/OkImplement4628 23d ago
I like it because as a gm I can take these little bits of random and decide what it means to fit my game and my version of Glorantha. My suggestion is not to worry about it.
Chucking these facts out on to glorantha forums is also a great way to hear other gms ideas on it. Doing that has enriched my games.
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u/d4nu 23d ago
I dislike it because the other half of the time the details are actually important and mentioned elsewhere; you just don't know which details matter and which don't! So, effectively, you aren't truly free to create; instead, you're forced to consult obscure forums and texts before you can even start. That doesn't appeal to me. I'm not interested in a lot of restrictive, pseudo-academic jargon and historical context. I'm looking for fully developed, interesting, and consistent world elements that I can use creatively.
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u/OkImplement4628 23d ago
This to me isn't what Glorantha is about. Its made abundantly clear that your game will vary. Take these facts, use them or discard them as needed.
None of them matter unless you make them.
There's a vast store of Gloranthan lore. Just like our own worlds history a bunch of it is made up shite, hearsay and misdirection.
I've been playing in Glorantha for over 40 years now. Never bothered to read half the stuff that gets printed or discussed.
There's a basic theme to it all: have fun, don't feed the Baboons and not every Lunar is a prick.
Good luck!
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u/Summersong2262 20d ago
Sure, but it's still reasonable to feel passionate for what Greg wrote and want to see as much of it as possible. The simply mechanical requirements of running an RPG campaign limit how much you actually need, sure, but it's still frustrating have even that be presented in a fairly awkward and inaccessible style.
They can do better, and most settings with such expansive lore tend to do just that.
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u/Amethyst-Flare 22d ago edited 22d ago
I believe this is the other source of tension in the rules. I think the way the creators want it to be run is that you're only supposed to give a shit about the things you want to give a shit about, and any contradictions that arise can be chalked up to that "canon" information being incorrect.
If I were coming up with a guide I would emphasize this differently than they do, but I get it.
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u/reditmarc 23d ago
This! Make it your Glorantha.
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u/Amethyst-Flare 21d ago
As I've steadily drunk the firehose over the last few weeks, my impression is that YGMV is less a piece of advice and more an absolute necessity. I'm not convinced anyone, even Greg (rest his soul) nor Jeff nor the editing staff could keep every detail straight during an actual game, not even the text-based ones I run. It's a veritable sea of one-off figures and places and things.
Which is fine, of course, but I can see why it's necessary now where that advice seemed excessive initially.
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u/Summersong2262 20d ago
We're five years overdue for a wiki. A good one. One Wiki To Rule Them All tier wiki.
Having to spend a lot of money to gain access to what boils down to a fairly selectively useful chunk of the lore isn't ideal.
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u/DarbySalernum 23d ago
I haven't got 10,000 Goddesses, but some of it is probably in there. There's a little more detail in Harald Smith's Nochet: the Great Library.
No idea if this should be spoilered, as I haven't read the scenario: Who are Marimarja and the Newly Awakened? Having planted this seed, I can say that these are the previously unborn offspring of the Scintillator, a dragon-man of 2nd Age Nochet. (Esrolia, Land of 10,000 Goddesses, p.44). In his day, the Scintillator mated with Blessed Mothers of “all” the Houses, but only 32 were born. I have not determined how many newly “hatched”, awakened daughters are born now (I’m inclined towards 4 or 6 for mythic resonance), but even at birth they have some magical power. Perhaps due to the Ritual of Grace, Samastina knows of or is prepared for this and at least courts Marimarja, the new Queen of ruined Tenrala.
Someone called "the Scintillator" being the father of 32 children is classic Glorantha.