Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, the Jonstown Compendium is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s mythic universe of Glorantha. It enables creators to sell their own original content for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, 13th Age Glorantha, and HeroQuest Glorantha (Questworlds). This can include original scenarios, background material, cults, mythology, details of NPCs and monsters, and so on, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Glorantha Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Glorantha-set campaigns.
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Caravan Alley is a supplement for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha which describes the next two stops along the Caravan Alley, a trade route running from Sartar to the Eiritha Hills in eastern Prax, its inhabitants, and their daily lives.
It is the sequel to Day’s Rest.
It is a thirty-seven page, full colour 3.98 MB PDF.
The layout is tidy and the artwork excellent.
Notes are provided to enable the content to be used with QuestWorlds (HeroQuest).
Notes are provided to enable the content to be used with QuestWorlds (HeroQuest).
Where is it set?
Caravan Alley is set at at two oases on a southern trade route in Prax. One is ‘Tourney Altar’, which has a temple and dueling ground sacred to Humakt, the other is ‘Biggle Stone’, renowned for its unusual fungi.
Who do you play?
Caravan Alley details two locations that almost any Player Character can visit. A Humkati might want pray or duel at Tourney Altar, an Issaries merchant would want to trade at Biggle Stone for its fungal products, and a Lhankor Mhy might to study the fungi for its properties.
Caravan Alley details two locations that almost any Player Character can visit. A Humkati might want pray or duel at Tourney Altar, an Issaries merchant would want to trade at Biggle Stone for its fungal products, and a Lhankor Mhy might to study the fungi for its properties.
What do you need?
Caravan Alley requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and The Book of Red Magic. Both Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers and Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses may be useful. Day’s Rest has details of how to create Oasis Folk Player Characters and NPCs if necessary.
Caravan Alley requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and The Book of Red Magic. Both Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers and Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses may be useful. Day’s Rest has details of how to create Oasis Folk Player Characters and NPCs if necessary.
What do you get?
Caravan Alley follows the format of Day’s Rest in detailing its two settlements. Both are populated by tribes of Oasis Folk and both are controlled by the different Praxian nomad tribes. The Bison Tribe in the case of Day’s Rest and Tourney Altar and the High Llama Tribe in the case of Biggle Stone. All three have markets where visitors can trade and stop under the supervision of the controlling tribes, whilst the area where the Oasis Folk dwell and have their fields is separate. Contact between the Oasis Folk and visitors kept limited and the controlling tribe for each oasis benefits from the goods and crops that the Oasis Folk grow and make.
Of the two, Tourney Altar is the more important as it is the site of the only permanent temple to Humakt in Prax or the Wastes, outside of the River of Cradles. Consequently, it has more visitors and thus all five of the NPCs given are Humakti, including a zombie-hunting Duck who turned to Humakt because he was squeamish about bringing death to the living, but not the undead, and an Impala Rider wanting to prove himself on the duelling field. Current permanent residents include the current high priest of the temple, Emund Dwarfbane, who is the most senior priest of the cult in Prax and a respected Humakti philosophers. A Pol Joni, he is better suited to the sedentary role of priest at the temple than any Praxian nomad. The temple also has a permanent swordsmith in residence, and that is currently the Bison Rider, Takeer Redson. The description of Tourney Altar includes some details of the worship of Humakt in Prax.
Where Tourney Altar consists of cliffs upon stand the temple to Humakt and the dueling ground with the oasis and the fields and village of the Oasis Folk below, Biggle Stone sits around a swamp that sit in a cleft in the Eiritha Hills. Here the Oasis Folk, different to those of Day’s Rest and Tourney Altar, work their fields and tend to the rich fungal growths that pervade the swamp itself. The description details the secret worship of the Oasis Folk, connected to a Darkness spirit, mostly ignored by their High Llama Tribe masters. The High Llama Tribe residents of the oasis are more transient than those at either Day’s Rest or Tourney Altar, but this does not mean that its current inhabitants are no less interesting, like Bodrak Drosh, the Storm Bull Chaos Fighter, who wandered into the oasis from the caves below, has no idea quite where is, refuses to ask for help, and is still convinced that Chaos can be found in the caves, and Ogzad, a Troll merchant actually come to oasis to find fungi!
The descriptions of both Tourney Altar and Biggle Stone includes a map of each oasis and extra information. In the case of Tourney Altar, this is details of Humakti worship in Prax and in the case of Biggle Stone, it includes foodstuffs, poisons, and medicines derived from fungi as well as several exotic fungi. The numerous NPCs—ten for Tourney Altar and eleven for Biggle Stone—are all accorded detailed descriptions and full stats, but do not include their ages, oddly. However, they do include hooks and motivations that the Game Master can develop into plots for her campaign and Player Characters.
Of the two, Tourney Altar is the more important as it is the site of the only permanent temple to Humakt in Prax or the Wastes, outside of the River of Cradles. Consequently, it has more visitors and thus all five of the NPCs given are Humakti, including a zombie-hunting Duck who turned to Humakt because he was squeamish about bringing death to the living, but not the undead, and an Impala Rider wanting to prove himself on the duelling field. Current permanent residents include the current high priest of the temple, Emund Dwarfbane, who is the most senior priest of the cult in Prax and a respected Humakti philosophers. A Pol Joni, he is better suited to the sedentary role of priest at the temple than any Praxian nomad. The temple also has a permanent swordsmith in residence, and that is currently the Bison Rider, Takeer Redson. The description of Tourney Altar includes some details of the worship of Humakt in Prax.
Where Tourney Altar consists of cliffs upon stand the temple to Humakt and the dueling ground with the oasis and the fields and village of the Oasis Folk below, Biggle Stone sits around a swamp that sit in a cleft in the Eiritha Hills. Here the Oasis Folk, different to those of Day’s Rest and Tourney Altar, work their fields and tend to the rich fungal growths that pervade the swamp itself. The description details the secret worship of the Oasis Folk, connected to a Darkness spirit, mostly ignored by their High Llama Tribe masters. The High Llama Tribe residents of the oasis are more transient than those at either Day’s Rest or Tourney Altar, but this does not mean that its current inhabitants are no less interesting, like Bodrak Drosh, the Storm Bull Chaos Fighter, who wandered into the oasis from the caves below, has no idea quite where is, refuses to ask for help, and is still convinced that Chaos can be found in the caves, and Ogzad, a Troll merchant actually come to oasis to find fungi!
The descriptions of both Tourney Altar and Biggle Stone includes a map of each oasis and extra information. In the case of Tourney Altar, this is details of Humakti worship in Prax and in the case of Biggle Stone, it includes foodstuffs, poisons, and medicines derived from fungi as well as several exotic fungi. The numerous NPCs—ten for Tourney Altar and eleven for Biggle Stone—are all accorded detailed descriptions and full stats, but do not include their ages, oddly. However, they do include hooks and motivations that the Game Master can develop into plots for her campaign and Player Characters.
As solid a pair of descriptions as Caravan Alley gives, there are two or three issues which do make it as easy to use as it could have been. A minor issue is that the map of each oasis could have more closely placed to its key or the keys included upon both maps. A few story hooks would have been useful to more readily get the Player Characters to either location, beyond the hooks already included for each NPC. The main problem with the supplement is that it does involve slavery. Now this is part of Glorantha as a setting and whilst the treatment of the Oasis Folk as slaves is not necessarily a poor one—in game or out, this does not mean that everyone is going to be comfortable with either its portrayal or even its inclusion in their game.
Is it worth your time?
Yes—Caravan Alley is a useful addition for any campaign set in or passing through Prax, or involves Praxians or worshippers of Humakt.
No—Caravan Alley is specific to Prax and a Game Master’s may not be set there or may not want to enter an area of Glorantha where slavery is obvious.
Maybe—Caravan Alley is a useful addition for a campaign involving Prax or Humakt worshippers, but it involves themes which not every player will be comfortable with.
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