RQ Homeland Hargala
Sisällysluettelo
Description
(Taken from Guide to Glorantha, pages 473-476. Used without permission as fair use.)
The islands are generally covered with tropical forests, inhabited by a variety of creatures, including tigers, rhinoceroses, monkeys, and countless species of birds. Most islands are quite small and have a population of a few hundred people. More than a thousand people makes a population significant, and only a few have more inhabitants than that. They have avoided overpopulation by adhering to their local gods’ demands, and in most places life is easy. Every island is distinct from its neighbor, though many share some traits (like language dialects, the ways they make baskets, the way they favor or disfavor the hat cult, and so on). All share a richness of color, a friendly disposition, and a total disinterest in changing their lives to acquire the goods of foreigners, whether toys, weapons, or foods.
In one sense, the islands are close, since
they usually have immediate neighbors.
Everyone on the coasts has canoes or
small boats. From the time that the islands
were made people were boating between
neighboring islands. Even during the Closing
it was possible to sail from one island to
another.
In another sense, the islands are distant,
as this vast archipelago covers millions of
square miles. Islands range from 15,500
square miles (Haragala) down to tiny rocks
which disappear at high tide.
They are luxuriant and, to outsiders,
exotic. Furthermore, they become truly
fabulous traveling further and further east.
No one can truly say where these exotic
islands end and the fabled Lands of the
Dawn begin.
Culture
Each island is an independent government and has its own native deity. Every island is different in some way from its neighbors. The huge number of islands provides many exceptions to any cultural norms which are categorized here. Nonetheless, these broad generalizations are far truer for the majority than not true.
Most East Islanders live in small,
monogamous family units. Children normally
leave home at maturity, except for the
youngest who generally remain to take care of
their elderly parents.
East Islanders are unusually tolerant
of weird and outlandish ways, finding them
interesting or amusing rather than frightening
or dangerous. They delight in elaborate
costumes, flamboyant speech, exotic food,
haggling, and music of every sort.
Magic is integral to life. It is used, for
instance, to deal with criminals. They are not
imprisoned, but receive punishments designed
to fit the crime and properly humiliate the
criminal. For instance, a swaggering bully might
be reduced to the size of a cat for a year.
Inhabitants
Humans are the most populous, inhabit the largest number of islands, and are the only creatures to occasionally organize in numbers large enough to enter the stage of world history. The East Islanders are mostly yellowskinned, black-haired people, similar to the Kralori and Vormaino.
Keets are a native race of avian people
identical in all but superficial essentials to
the ducks of southern Genertela. They
are divided by appearance and cultural
preferences into several types. Most keets are
smaller than humans, between 2 and 4 feet
tall. They dominate in several island chains,
are a minority in several others, and migrate
through most of the rest.
Sorns are evil relatives of keets who did
not lose their powers of flight during the
Demigod Wars. They are reptilian and fly with
leathery wings. They are approximately the
same size as keets. Sorns are notorious for evil
deeds, such as stealing children, cutting ship’s
rigging, spoiling food, and so on.
Ludoch are also strongly present. A large,
organized tribe populates the waters of the
southwest section of the East Isles.
Elder Races are rare. Yellow elves inhabit
most of the larger islands but lack any interisland
interest. Maromonkotro has some very
tall mountains where some green elves live.
Andins are a race of demonic creatures
which inhabit many of the islands. They
are cruel and evil creatures that are avoided
wherever possible, and confined to their islands.
Occasionally among the islands are even found
strongholds of the Adpara, the evil gods.
Government
All government is local. Several organizations coordinate, rule, or somehow command groups of islands, but all are openly acknowledged as temporary. The current largest government is centered on Haragala, and is primarily financed by a widespread network of voluntary tribute.
Language
Most islanders speak Tanyen, a family of Vithelan languages. It has many variants, most of which can be understood by other speakers. Some island clusters have their own languages, but they also speak “Trader’s Tanyen”, which was spread by the Mokato Empire about five centuries earlier.
Tanyen is associated with four written scripts. The most common script is Parlothadi, which has symbols for each combination of a consonant and a vowel. It was the official script of the Mokato Empire in the Second Age, and is used widely throughout the East Isles. The rarest script, Yederjalif, uses the sacred Runes and can express only the words of the Highest Gods. Kadijalif is a complex system of hieroglyphs made for the description and explanation of holy words. Fenvalo is an easier-to-use hieroglyphic system, now used largely by scholars for puzzle games.
Military
The seagoing East Islanders are unsophisticated at land warfare. They lack extensive mineral resources, so local weapons are of wood, stone, coral, seashells, and even shark’s teeth, often blessed by their god’s magic.
Traditionally, from even before Mokato, islands
fought ceremonial (though bloody) naval battles;
when an island’s fleet was defeated, the island simply
surrendered. Foreigners ended that custom. Well armed invaders also caused islands to surrender, for few standing armies exist and even native militia are
uncommon. Horses are not native to the area and are
of little use shipboard, so cavalry is virtually unknown.
Most East Isles ships are quaint merchant vessels,
coming in many outlandish varieties. Most of the larger
islands maintain a war fleet to protect themselves and
their tributaries from raiding Vormaino, Teleono, or
Haragalan pirates.
East Isles warships are small, relying upon magic
to decide the battle rather than boarding or ramming.
Most ships have tall masts with sails reaching only
halfway up their length and often have towers in
the middle, fore, or aft of the vessel. During battle,
magicians sit in the crow’s nest or atop the towers and
use their magic to defeat enemy ships from a distance.
Religion
Thousands of deities coexist under a blanket of common beliefs.
Mysticism is commonly known, but mostly
ignored. Occasional great centers of Stillness decorate
the East Isles, and mystics are often found wandering
around. These are mortal beings who, through the
meditative practice of Detachment, acquire an inner
strength that allows the greatest of them to defy any
of the gods. But in general, such beliefs and practices
are too lofty for ordinary people. In contrast, martial
arts are one of the most common manifestations of
low mysticism, and every East Island has its favorite
schools of martial arts.
The Parloth are a tribe of High Gods which
are generally known on most islands, but are not of
major importance. A few are worshiped in various
places for various seasonal rites, like preparing Veldru
to be the hurricane shield. Other deities receive sacrifices to achieve some specific purpose,
like sacrificing to Karkal before attacking
an Andin stronghold. However, the Parloth
gods are (almost) nowhere acknowledged to
be the most important deities. Instead, those
High Gods created the world through dance
and music, play, and indulgent pleasures. They
then fought against the enemy Adpara tribes
of antigods, and for various reasons have
withdrawn into the forces of Nature, leaving
the island gods to treat with mortals.
Priests of the Parloth are respected,
but are not regarded with superstitious awe.
Everybody knows it takes as much politicking
as spiritual worth to become a priest and it is
just another profession, though an honorable
one. Most East Isles priests wear long silk
robes. Such robes are generally monocolored,
to set them apart from the brightly-decorated
costumes worn by laymen.
Island gods are the most important.
Every native’s most important deity is their
island deity or deities, and every adult native
of that island regularly worships that deity.
The deity is the entity which tells them
how to live a life of pleasure and luxury,
in harmony with the larger gods of Nature
and each other. Membership in these cults
is determined entirely by being a native of
that island. Converts are highly unusual
and entirely unexpected. Even permanent
immigrants to an island don’t bother to join
the native faith.
Most island residents know exactly where
their deity lives, and regularly do whatever
is required by it. Many of these manifest in
great natural phenomena; others inhabit
temples which were constructed to protect
the precious god.
This single great temple generally
determines the capital or tribal center for
large islands. On the larger islands, many
shrines exist to remind worshipers of their
deity, and often convey some power to the
main site as well. It is not unusual to find
shrines in the most remote reaches of an
island, probably put there in ancient times
for the resident's convenience.
Every island is different. Yet to outsiders
they seem to form a homogeneous whole,
often bizarre and overly colorful.
Creating a character
To create a character from East isles.
Base passions
| Passion | Value |
|---|---|
| Love (Family) | 60% |
| Loyalty (Clan) | 60% |
| Loyalty (Crew) | 60% |
Occupation tables
Roll 1d20 for parents occupation, or choose from the table.
| Roll | Occupation |
|---|---|
| 1 | Assistant Shaman |
| 2 | Bandit |
| 3 | Crafter |
| 4 | Entertainer |
| 5 | Farmer |
| 6 | Fisher |
| 7 | Healer |
| 8 | Merchant |
| 9 | Noble |
| 10 | Philosopher |
| 11 | Priest |
| 12-15 | Sailor |
| 16 | Scribe |
| 17-18 | Ship's officer |
| 19 | Thief |
| 20 | Martial artist |
Family history
This table determines the history of player characters grandparents and parents. Years are approximate outside of dragon pass, but they correlate fairly well with the years in family history sheet.
| Year | What happened | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your grandparents history | |||||||||||||
| 1582 | If your favorite grandparent was male, his wife is kidnapped, else her Kinswoman is kidanpped. The assailants are unknown. | ||||||||||||
| 1597 | Kralorelan merchants arrive and tell that the oceans are open again. Roll 1d20, add +5 if Merchant.
| ||||||||||||
| 1602 | Your grandparent had to adjudicate between a Hargalan trader and a Keet. Roll 1d20:
| ||||||||||||
| 1603-1604 | Grandparent fell in to debt because of a few bad investments. Roll 1d20:
| ||||||||||||
| 1605 | After the debt incident a very lucrative deal was offered, risk was high, but so was the revard.
| ||||||||||||
| Your parents history | |||||||||||||
| 1608 | The Vormaini raiders hit the island of Kaharside.
| ||||||||||||
| 1610 | A fairly normal year in east Isles:
| ||||||||||||
| 1613 | Parent took a risky business venture:
| ||||||||||||
| 1615 | Your parent did some investigation on the Three Petal society. Roll 1d20:
| ||||||||||||
| 1616 | You parent was offered a place in the crew of treasure ship Quang Yang. Roll 1d20 add +5 if parent is in maritime profession.
| ||||||||||||
| 1618 | Normal year.
| ||||||||||||
| 1619 | An expedition to the Vithalas was organized. Roll 1d20.
| ||||||||||||
| 1620 | Captain Fogio had a wedding, and your parent was invited. Roll 1d20.
| ||||||||||||
| 1621 | Rumors told of firebergs in Sshorg sea. Otherwise a normal year.
| ||||||||||||
| Your personal history | |||||||||||||
| 1622 | While sailing at sea, you met a crew of Wolf pirates. A loathsome crew of cutthroats. Roll 1d20 add +5 if Warrior or Martial artist.
| ||||||||||||
| 1623 | Befriended a Magic man. If you want, you can take Wizard's apprentice as you occupation. | ||||||||||||
| 1624 | While you were walking in the streets of Champaya a masked assilants attacked you. You managed to get a glimpse of the symbol of three petal society, before you lost consciousness. When you woke you were on a slave ship. | ||||||||||||
Rune affinities
Water +10%
Cultural skills
| Skill | Value | Cultural weapon | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boat | 15% | 1H Axe | 10% |
| Ride | (0%) | Dagger | 15% |
| Swim | 10% | 1H Mace | 10% |
| Bargain | 10% | Rapier | 10% |
| Fast talk | 10% | Throwing dagger | 10% |
| Homeland lore (Pick one) | 10% | Self Bow | 10% |
| Shiphandling | 10% | Small shield | 10% |
| Speak other language (Tradetalk) | 20% | ||
| Speak other language (Boatspeech) | 20% | ||
| Speak other language (Pick one) | 10% |
