Vyrms FootnotesVyrms FootnotesVVTHE GLORANTHAN MAGAZINE

ISSUE 15 Vol. IV, No. 1Summer 2012 $14.95

Setting Glorantha back 30 years...

THIS ISSUE:

Greg StaffordSandy PetersenJeff RichardRick Meints

The World of Glorantha is a place of fantasy, mythology, adventure, warfare, romance and horror. It is a place of gods and heroes, thieves and adventurers...

In the heart of the Kingdom of Sartar lies the Upland Marsh, home to the eternal Delecti the Necromancer. He and his Dancers of Darkness bid you welcome...

In Sartar’s Woods of the Dead, on the darkest nights, you may encounter an entrancing young nobleman riding a jet black steed. He offers you a simple choice...

These are but a few of the stories found within this latest issue of Wyrms Footnotes.

After a mere 30 year hiatus, Moon Design Publications is relaunching this flagship Gloranthan magazine with issue #15. It is suitable for use with any roleplaying system that uses Glorantha as its game world.

What is Glorantha?Glorantha is the fantasy world of legendary game designer Greg Stafford. A world of exotic myth and fantastic magic, Glorantha is self-contained and unique in its creation. An ancient world, rich in magic, and where myth is reality. Here the gods and heroes live, and act to protect their followers and further their own mysterious goals.

HeroQuest, Runequest, and Glorantha are registered trademarks of Issaries, Inc. All rights reserved.

Discover more at: www.moondesignpublications.com.

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1WYRMS FOOTNOTES

Adventure Time with Sandy Petersen 3Archive Runequest Miniatures 7Special Dragon Pass Encounters 11Upland Marsh Locations 15Delecti the Necromancer 28Tribes of Sartar 30Songs of the House of Sartar 32Sun Dome County 35The Far Place 40Campaigns of Dragon Pass 49War in Glorantha 58The Battle of Night and Day 63Magical Regiments in the Hero Wars 73Making King of Dragon Pass 2.0 78Why Chaos is Bad 80Wyrms Footnotes Index 81

Table of Contents

The pen of Lhankor Mhy wrote this book, and his blessing lies upon it and all who use it properly.

Copyright © 2012 Moon Design LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this work by any means without written permission from the publisher, except short excerpts for the purpose of reviews or game play, is expressly

prohibited. Glorantha and HeroQuest are trademarks of Issaries Inc. and are used with permission.

Issue 15 - Summer 2012

Would you like to know more about Glorantha? See our extensive website at moondesignpublications.com

Authors: David Dunham, David Hall, Rick Meints, Michael O'Brien, Sandy Petersen, Jeff Richard, Greg Stafford and Ray Turney.

Cover: Jennell Jaquays. Art and Maps: Phil Andersen, Simon Bray, Yurek Chodak, William Church, Gene Day, Colin Driver, Alberto Foche, Max Heim, Jennell Jaquays, Duck Nicolson and Valentina Romagnoli.

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WYRMS FOOTNOTES2

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Our GoalOur Goal is for Wyrms Footnotes to be a place where we can regularly publish articles, maps, short scenarios, background, and more, without needing everything to fit together. Anything HeroQuest, Gloranthan, or even RuneQuest 6 is fair game, as are any licensed products of Moon Design.

Format and ScheduleThe format will be 64-96 US letter sized (8.5 x 11) pages, with a color cover. The internal pages will be greyscale text with limited art. We chose the initial page count because we are trying to increase the likelihood that we could publish the magazine on a more frequent basis, perhaps 2-3 times a year. Obviously, the more articles and art we receive greatly helps achieve this goal.

What We Want to PublishWe’re happy to publish anything Gloranthan that is well written, playable and consistent with canon. Each issue will contain a potpourri of subjects relating to Glorantha and the Hero Wars. We may do themed issues if enough material comes in. The preferred length of articles is 500 to 3,000 words (one to six pages). As for the main article types:

Scenarios (Episodes)Ready to run scenarios are the most popular, especially for the new GM’s we are trying to attract. The less preparation work needed the better. They can be either for a single evening of play or for multiple play sessions.

Gamemaster TipsTake a few of the rules that can be awkward to new GMs and explain how to conquer them with ease. Provide examples of what works well. This could become a “how to effectively Gamemaster” column.

Places and ThingsThese could detail a village, shrine, wyter, tribe, clan, temple, tula, swamp, stream, or other notable place. A cool map would significantly help the article. We have a number of cartographers available if you need improve your sketch map into something more professional.

PeopleThere are so many great characters sketched out in King of Sartar, various Runequest supplements, and other assorted previously published materials that

this could be a lifetime’s work for someone. Just grab the name of a Gloranthan person and write them up. Around 500 words is probably the best length to aim for, unless you are writing up somebody very famous, powerful, and/or with a long history.

CreaturesWe would love to have a few creatures (with a picture of each) per issue. Most of them could be written in 500 words or less. Look at The Sartar Companion for inspiration and examples.

Minor Cults (Magical Keywords)Whether they are centered on a single Hero, a minor deity, a great spirit, or whatever, about 500 to 1,000 words is the recommended length. Look at Sartar: Kingdom of Heores for inspiration and examples.

Mythic Tales (Heroquests)While daunting at first look, this is a natural extension of a good piece of fiction. These could be anything from 500 to 3,000 words in length. Look at Sartar: Kingdom of Heores for inspiration and examples.

Everything ElseIf what you want to write doesn’t fit into one of the above categories please contact us if you are unsure about whether we would publish it.

Art SubmissionsGeneric Gloranthan art is always welcome, but most of the art will be commissioned. We also encourage authors to contact any artists they know and see if they can work out the art themselves. With the exception of the cover, there will be few requirements (or space) for full page art. On average, most of the pictures will be no larger than 1/2 of a page in size. Please see the extensive "look of Glorantha" info found on our website for more information. We also have detailed map scale and presentation standards being developed.

What Do I Get Out of It?Authors, artists, and volunteers who make contributions will get a free copy, of course. Multiple published submissions are rewarded with multiple free copies. We will also give you discounts on other products that Moon Design publishes and buy them free drinks the next time we see them in person.

A Little HistoryFrom late 1976 through the Spring of 1982 Chaosium published 14 issues of Wyrms Footnotes. Ranging from 32 to 44 pages in length it often came out about twice per year. It contained a combination of larger and shorter articles, and towards the end a few regular columns. Having bounced the idea off of a number of people and having secured the green light from Greg Stafford, we have decided to relaunch the magazine with issue #15, and hopefully get a few issues published per year.

Foreword

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3WYRMS FOOTNOTES

Count Felagga lives in the East Isles, but sometimes makes trips far afield – to Pavis, Esrolia, and Western ports, so he could be met anywhere.

His native money is Wheels (20L), Pieces of Eight (1L), and Bits (1/8 L). The “Bits” are actually 1/8 pie-fragments of a Piece of Eight, which are designed to break into these chunks. In Genertela, most change is made in Clacks, which are worth 1/10 of a Piece of Eight. This presents Felagga with a bit of a problem. He solves it by giving people tickets at the gate – the tickets cost either 8 per Lunar or 2 clacks for one ticket. The tickets say prominently “One Bit”.

Felagga always hires an experienced local trader to ease the path with local authorities, and to stand at the game and identify people who might be trouble. For instance, Storm Bulls are not allowed as guests, because they cause trouble in the Chamber of Horrors. Likewise, Humakti are not allowed, because they often want to destroy Felagga’s undead oarsman.

If Felagga has legal trouble, he always hires the best local scribe or lawgiver to make his case, and is happy to bribe officials as appropriate. His primary goal is always the protection of the creatures within the menagerie.

When traveling by sea, the zoo takes two East Isles cargo vessels to move, and mercenaries are hired to protect against piracy, and to prevent trouble among the dangerous animals; particularly the Duocanth, Mermaid, and Sorns. When traveling overland, the zoo requires a whole caravan, and Felagga avoids dangerous areas. As by sea, he hires mercenaries to protect against bandits, and to watch the dangerous animals, though he is much less worried about the

Mermaid when on land. (The Duocanth is still a risk, if it can get to a body of fresh water.)

When the menagerie stops, the first day Felagga constructs his buildings from local materials, using local labor. Felagga also pays for digging the Ambelodon Moat, the Duocanth Pond, and other necessary bodies of water. He leaves the buildings behind when he departs, usually gifting them to the landowner whose property he used.

The Zoo StaffMost of the time, his “staff” seems to be only Count Felagga himself. However, the keets are actually his staff and they feed and care for the animals. They sit quietly in the Rare Keet Habitat most of the day, but sometimes one will be found in other parts of the exhibit.

Safe Animal SectionThe zoo is divided into three sections, each walled off by a high palisade. Visitors first enter the Safe Animal section. Entrance costs one Bit (8 tickets for a Lunar).

The Rare Keet Habitat:

• Flamingo-man• Great Auk keet• Puffin-keet• Avocet-keet• Killdeer-keet• Albatross-keet• Loon-keet

Adventure Time with

Sandy PetersenCount Felagga’s Mystic Menagerie

(famed far & wide)

Art and WordsWhen we emailed

Sandy Petersen about writing an article for this "relaunch" issue he sent us his article in about 15 minutes.

Sandy dipped into his unpublished articles

and came up with wonderful gem. Of course it makes us wonder how many

more are lurking on his hard drive...

Simon Bray 's art delightfully captures the fantastic nature of the place and its inhabitants. Rick's

only art request was to give the keet a fez...

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WYRMS FOOTNOTES4

a,cdSghijloKOstWXwxy4 a,cdSghijloKOstWXwxy4Glorantha• Booby-keets – red, blue, & green-footed. The

green-footed keet is a fake, and is really just an ordinary masked booby-keet (who have pale grayish feet).

• Anhinga-keet (snakebird)• Jaeger-keet (carnivorous! But civilized)• Osprey-keet (piscivorous)• Wind child• Penguins (not intelligent and not real keets)

Keets are intelligent flightless birds, much like the Ducks of Dragon Pass, though they come in varieties in the East Isles. Even in the East Isles, most Keets are Ducks, but none of those are present in the Menagerie. The keets in the zoo mostly live in lean-tos, with privacy curtains. (They are well-off, and have fancy homes back in the East Isles.)

Ambelodon – (shovel-tusked mastodon) quite tame. “Ride the ambelodon! Five Pieces of Eight.” The ambelodon stands on an island surrounded by a moat. It can wade the moat easily, but putting it on the island allows for crowd control and the collecting of tickets.

Undead oarsman from Kralorela – in a boat floating on the small moat surrounding the Ambelodon island. If ordered in Kralori, it transports people to and back from the island for free, and also gives boat rides around the moat for one Piece of Eight.

Blemmye (speaks no Tanyen) – reasonably friendly. Also helps out around the menagerie at night, doing physical labor and acting as security (he keeps a bow inside his hut). For those who don’t know, a Blemmye is a headless man with his face in his chest. He lives in a small hut and is either there or wandering around the Safe Animal Section.

Cotylosaur – a large amphibian, sort of like an obese giant salamander with a tiny hideous head. Herbivorous and unaggressive. Kept in a pond.

Ephemerae cocoons in a grapefruit tree. Also near this tree are polished Lucan wingcases & head-armor. Ephemerae are mayfly timinits, who live but a single day.

Jackals – quite tame. Treats are provided to feed the jackals, 1 copper each. They adore the blemmye and follow him around at night. They are plainly a different species of jackal from those native to Prax.

Joybird flock of 8 – Joybirds are large moa-like creatures. Harmless unless seriously provoked.

Magikin – he spends most of the day sitting gloomily in his hut. Won’t leave the hut unless nagged to do so. A magikin is an imp or goblin-like creature with legendary mystical powers. If provoked, he’ll produce a shower or sparks or, if angered, turn someone’s skin an unusual color (wears off in a few minutes).

Phoenix eggshell in a dark room. It glows faintly in a glistening rainbow of colors.

Sweet Silver-tailed Skunk (male & female pair) – unlike most skunks, these ones smell terrific. Some people are allergic, though (10% chance).

Count FelaggaDressed in flamboyant silk robes or elaborate costumes, Count Felagga always makes quite an impression. He hails from Haragala and maintains a residence on Golden Mokato (although he is not native to that island); Felagga has made a not-so-small fortune with his traveling menagerie. He received his title from a delighted King of Teshnos.

A pragmatic man, Felagga has no interest in philosophical or theological matters; his obsession is acquiring and caring for his menagerie of remarkable creatures, and making as much silver as he can off the curious.

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Dangerous Animal SectionCosts 1 Lunar (or Piece of Eight) to enter, and children are only allowed if accompanied by at least two adults.

Dwarf Lions – a male, two females, 2 cubs. They are about the size of a St. Bernard, but are honest-to-goddess lions behind a palisade. Mostly they sleep.

Duocanth - “Warning! Do NOT speak with the duocanth!” It sits in a very small pool surrounded by a fence. It is fluent in every language, and very persuasive.

Mermaid – “Talk to the mermaid! One Bit. Hear the mermaid sing, by special appointment only.” (The special appointments are after dark and cost 1 Wheel per person.) It is a female Ludoch kept in a bathtub size tank, and is quite attractive.

Mounted Nandi Head - about the size of a wild boar’s head, so probably a subadult. Animal Lore indicates that it is, indeed, a genuine Nandi head. A “Nandi” is a terrifying Kralorelan monster which takes on the memories of whoever it has devoured. A known Enemy of the Emperor. Sense Chaos indicates that it is indeed slightly chaotic, but this one is dead.

Roc feather - Plant Lore indicates it is a white-painted palm leaf

Pudding Flea - “Do not disturb or attempt to touch the Pudding Flea with any object. Do not throw anything at the Pudding Flea. Wear ear-plugs at all times while inside the enclosure. If the Pudding Flea begins to call, evacuate the area at once and notify Count Felagga’s assistants.” Read Edward Lear for more information.

Spectre - by appointment only (1 wheel per person). It lives in a cauldron and is summoned forth at need. A Spectre is a living creature made of illusion

spells gone wrong so its shape, size, and appearance are unstable.

Dragonewts and Varanids – consists of 2 scout ‘newts and 3 varanids. They stay on opposite sides of the enclosure. Count Felagga has no idea what type of newt the Varanids are and offers a 100 Pieces of Eight reward for information concerning their origin. (Varanids are intelligent lizard creatures from western Pamaltela. Relatives of Slarges, but not as intelligent nor as dangerous.)

Stuffed Xamalki hand – two thumbs & eight fingers per hand, the size of shovels. Some of the fingers have claws. Xamalki are huge burrowing chaos things. Unknown in Genertela, however.

Chamber of Horrors Costs 3 Lunars (Pieces of Eight) to enter, and no one under the age of 15 is admitted. All exhibits here are in sturdily constructed huts.

Sorns – 3 bedraggled Rhamphorhynchus & 1 pterodactyl sorn, plus the tanned wing of a pteranodon sorn. Sorns are evil East Isles monsters. In Legend, they are keets who chose the wrong side during the age of Chaos. Sorns rarely have chaos features, and these are no exceptions.

Sparhog – a kind of electric boar from Teshnos. It is slightly chaotic, non-intelligent, and herbivorous. Two heavy wooden fences are used to separate people from the beast’s zaps.

Seething Gorp pit – during transport, Felagga only takes a large glass carboy of the gorp with him. Upon making landfall, he builds the gorp up in size by feeding it refuse or rotten meat, or whatever is cheap. He is painstaking about killing the rest of the gorp when he leaves an area.

Grayskin + 6 ½ offspring (the ½ is very small, but precocious). Mildly chaotic, but more pathetic than dangerous. In chaos-tolerant regions such as Kralorela and the Lunar Empire, he lets the Grayskin and the precocious tiny baby do simple work around the zoo. Otherwise they stay under lock and key.

NandiThe Nandi are originally from the Kingdom of Ignorance. When first born, a nandi is just another insensate monster. Its most salient feature is its alarming ability to ingest the memories and knowledge of anyone it eats. As it devours beings more intelligent than itself, it gains their wisdom. It must eat the entire body of a victim to gain such knowledge, which makes the animals rather selfish. The great danger is that a nandi sometimes manages to kill and eat an intelligent being, which makes the nandi sentient, too.

Nandis are large four-legged mammals with a shoulder hump and a low-slung long-snouted head. They are large, with skulls a yard long, and mouth split back to the eyes. Their fur is mangy, and hangs in strips. The more knowledge and wisdom they attain, the more lumpy and hairless their shoulder hump becomes. Eventually the lumps on the shoulder hump become horns, thrusting every which way.

DuocanthThe amphibious duocanth is vaguely reptilian in nature, with a mottled hide. Atop a short dumpy body is a crescent-shaped head, with eyes spaced evenly around the outer curve of the crescent. The beast's shark-like mouth is just below the crescent rim. Around the base of the body sprout six boneless limbs. By tradition, three of them are termed "tentacles". These three are long, muscular, and ridged for gripping. The other three are termed "tails". These three are shorter, stouter, with a cluster of spikes near the end, plus a stinger-tip. The scales on the duocanth's body are huge and spiny.

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7WYRMS FOOTNOTES

Archive Runequest Miniatures

A Little about Rick's Minis

My main gaming related hobby is

Glorantha in all its wonderful forms, be it

RPG's, wargames, or miniatures. I've been

collecting all things Gloranthan since the

late 70's, and love publishing Gloranthan

books via Moon Design Publications.

I have a nearly complete collection

of Runequest/Gloranthan minis

from Archive, Citadel, Martian

Metals, Ral Partha, Tabletop, Lance &

Laser, and the latest licensed producer

- Mad Knight.

The MinisMaster of Fire,

a Walktapus and Delecti.

A Brief HistoryArchive Miniatures produced the first “Runequest” miniatures in 1976. Even though they are generally referred to as “Runequest” miniatures they predate the launch of the Runequest RPG, which debuted at Origins in 1978. Greg Stafford met Nevile Stocken while they were both living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Greg was focused on supporting his original Gloranthan wargame White Bear & Red Moon, published in 1975. Archive Figures 808, 809, 811, 812, 813, and 816 represent specific counters in the game. As they discussed what figures to make Nevile suggested that if the world of Glorantha included some of the creatures Archive already had in production they would be available for sale immediately. The most vivid example of this would be the Gloranthan Jack O’Bear, a large bear with a jack o’lantern for its head. Archive was already selling it as Dungeon Nasty #764 – “Pumpkinhead”, or “Bugbear”. Further figures in the initial series (825-829) were linked to Greg Stafford’s second Gloranthan war game Nomad Gods, released in 1978.

The Initial 800 SeriesThe 800 miniatures were sculpted by Nevile Stocken and Steve Lortz, with the sculptor’s name engraved on the bottom of the figure. The two or four digit year of their creation, along with a copyright symbol are also on the bottom. Figures with larger bases, such as Cragspider, also had some or all of the name of the figure carved as well. The figures were packaged in sealed clear vinyl bags with a green backing card stamped with the name of figures, quantity, and their catalog number. Many of the minis were packaged in small groups, such as Morning and Evening Star, or Harrek and Gunda, or Beat Pot and Jar Eel in another.

For some of the minis, the quantity in the bag varied over time. Miniatures that depict a singular being, like

Delecti the Necromancer, were only sold in quantities of one, but miniatures that

were more generic, like the Dragonewt with Demi-bird, ranged from 1 to 4

miniatures in the bag. The 800 series was produced while Archive listed their address

as PO Box 93, Burlingame CA 94010.Some of the minis, like the Pavis

Survivors and Ironhoof, are works of art in terms of their detail and

creativity, while others like the Snow Princess and Lampressae appear cruder in detail and

less inspired in concept. Like any range of miniatures, earlier castings tend to have clearer details, fewer production flaws, less flash, and similar. While many of the figures relate to counters in the White Bear and Red Moon and Nomad Gods games, they really couldn’t be used for game play on a map with half-inch hexes. There is no standard size across the range, with some people being far larger than others.

The Dragonewt demi-bird rider, the Sundome Templars, and the Centaurs with Pikes came with separate thin wires for the shafts of their weapons. The pike or spear head was cast separately as well.

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