After Every Storm The Sun Will Smile

Since 1979, what has been fundamental to RuneQuest and to the world of Greg Stafford’s Glorantha, has been the integration and prominence of its myths, pantheons, and their worship into the setting and as part of everyday life for the Player Characters. Although the original RuneQuest—more recently published as RuneQuest Classic—mentioned the importance of cults, it only detailed three of them, offering limited choices for the player and his character. That changed with the publication of Cults of Prax, which presented fifteen cults and their myths and magics dedicated to fifteen very different deities. Fifteen very different cults and deities which held very different world views and very different means of approaching problems and overcoming them. Fifteen cults which provided their worshippers with a link to their gods and in turn their gods with a link from god time to the real world. Fifteen cults which provided their worshippers with great magics granted by their gods and with paths to become Rune Lords and Rune Priests and so bring the power of their gods into the world. Cults of Prax provided the RuneQuest devotee or Gloranthaphile with a framework via which his character could enter the world of Glorantha, giving form and function to faith and above all, making it something that you could play and something that you wanted to play. For at its most mechanical, a player and his character’s choice of cult works almost like a character Class of Dungeons & Dragons, giving the character benefits and powers in terms of what he can do and how he does it. However, to reduce the cults of Glorantha to such mechanical simplicity is to ignore the ‘why’ of what the character can do, and it is this ‘why’ where the world of Glorantha and its gods, myths, and cults comes alive. Cults of Prax did not ignore this ‘why’, but introduced it, and that is arguably why it is the most important supplement ever for both Glorantha and RuneQuest. However, in 2023, some forty-four years after its publication, Cults of Prax has a successor—or rather, a series of successors.

Cults of RuneQuest is a ten-volume series of supplements each of which is dedicated to the different pantheons of Glorantha. Each entry in the series details the gods—both major and minor—within their pantheon, along with their myths and cults, magics, favoured skills, requirements and restrictions for membership, outlook and relationships with the other gods, and more. Each book is standalone, but because each of the gods and pantheons has connections and often entwining myths with other gods and pantheons, the series will together provide a wider overview of all the gods of Glorantha as well as differing approaches to them. This is further supported by the two companion volumes to the series—Cults of RuneQuest: The Prosopaedia and Cults of RuneQuest: Mythology. The standalone nature of the series means that the Game Master or the player—and it should be made clear that each of the ten volumes in the Cults of RuneQuest is intended to be used by both—can pick or chose their favourite pantheon and use the gods and cults from that book. However, some volumes are quite tightly bound to each other and some are, if not bound geographically, have strong ties to certain regions of Glorantha. So, for example, the first two entries in the series, Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers and Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses are tightly bound to each other as the myths of their gods often combine and cross paths, not least of which is the fact that the heads of the pantheons in both books are married to each other. Geographically, Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers and Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses provide support for the region of Dragon Pass, including Sartar, Esrolia, Prax, and Tarsh, whilst Cults of RuneQuest: The Lunar Way provides similar geographical support for the Lunar Empire and its client states. This is not to say that the presence of the cults in these volumes will not be found elsewhere, but rather that these are the regions where their worship is most prevalent and if a Game Master is running campaigns in these locations, then the relevant geographical volume will be very useful. Lastly, of course, the Gloranthaphile will want all of these volumes because he is a Gloranthaphile.

Each of the entries in the Cults of RuneQuest series is well-organised. The introduction explains the purpose and subject matter for the book, highlights how the book is useful for player and Game Master alike, and examines some of the book’s themes and both their nature as myth and mature treatment of subject matters including death, sex, gender, survival, vengeance, and unconscious fears given form. It also notes that the artwork throughout the book is divided between depictions ‘in-Glorantha’, seen within the world itself, and those seen from without in reading the book. All of this is tailored slightly to the pantheon presented in the particular entry in the series. This is followed by a group depiction of all of the gods of the pantheon—which the book notably returns to a few pages later with a labelled version—and a hymn to them all, and then an overview of the pantheon, answering questions such as, “Where does the world come from?”, “Where do I come from?”, “Why am I here?”, “How do I do magic?”, and more. Lastly, there is a discussion of the relationship that the pantheon has with other pantheons and a listing of all of the gods in the pantheon or associated with it.

The bulk of each book though is dedicated to individual entries in the pantheon. Each of these follows the same format. They begin with the Mythos and History of the god, the Nature of the Cult and its Organisation, its membership at various levels—lay member, initiate, God-Talker, Rune-Lord, Rune-Priest, and Chief Priest, and continue with subservient cults, associated cults, and subcults, and more. This will vary from god to god and from cult to cult. This follows the format seen in RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, but in every case greatly expands what is included in the core rulebook, whether in terms of individual entries or additional entries. The number of pages dedicated to each god and thus each cult will also vary. A god whose worship is widespread—and also a popular choice for players to select for their characters to worship—is explored over the course of multiple pages whereas a less popular and less worshipped god many only receive two or three pages. All gods though, receive a full colour depiction at the start of their entry that includes their runes too, in addition to their being depicted elsewhere.

Cults of RuneQuest: The Gods of Fire and Sky is the fourth examination of a pantheon in the series. It is a slimmer volume than the previous three, detailing just thirteen cults in comparison to the nineteen of Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers, the sixteen of Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses, and the fifteen of Cults of RuneQuest: The Lunar Way. With the mighty sun god, Yelm, at its head, it looks at the deities of heat and light, fire and sky, order and obedience, who regard the Orlanthi gods, those of the storm, as barbarians who rose up and threw down order, Orlanth himself striking the blow that would kill Yelm, and so began the Gods War. Despite their histories, the members of the differing pantheons maintain a rivalry between each other rather than an open hostility and there are gods, such as Chalana Arroy and Lankhor Mhy, who are part of, or strongly associated with, the Solar pantheon, yet are worshipped by the barbarians. On the other hand, Yelm and his celestial court maintains strong ties with the Lunar pantheon—which the Orlanthi despise—and know the Lunar pantheon as a subcult since the Red Goddess is the reborn daughter of Yelm. Within the Lunar Empire, worship of Yelm, the Red Goddess, and the Red Emperor is intertwined. In regions outside of the Lunar Empire, this is not the case, such as in Sun County, west of Prax, but nevertheless, worshippers of Yelm and his pantheon are far more tolerant of Lunars than any Orlanthi.

The supplement begins with an examination of Yelm’s foundation myth and an overview of the gods of the Solar pantheon in the style of Cults of RuneQuest: The Prosopaedia. The supplement begins with an examination of Yelm’s foundation myth and an overview of the gods of the Solar pantheon in the style of Cults of RuneQuest: The Prosopaedia. The former is examined in more detail in the first examination of the cult in Cults of RuneQuest: The Gods of Fire and Sky, which naturally enough, begins with Yelm. His worship is likely the one to be most recognised by those outside of his cult and so he takes pride of place. His ‘Mythos and History’ is a fascinating read since it directly counters and complements the foundation myth of his interaction given under the similar entry for Orlanth in Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers, but even though they fundamentally tell the same story, the variances between foundation myths do not vary between pantheons, but also between gods. For example, according to Yelm, when the Earth appeared beneath the Sky, his elder brother, Dayzatar, withdrew from its impurity into the Sky World, whilst he ascended into the Middle Sky to become Emperor of the Universe. Their younger brother, Lodril, gave into the temptation of the world and descended into gross matter. According to Dayzatar, who remained the God of the Sky and Above, Yelm descended to the Middle World and Lodril to the Underworld, whilst Lodril, God of Peasants and the Fire Below, says that Dayzatar, his eldest brother, sleepy and selfish, turned his back upon the great work their father asked of them and was rewarded with emptiness, whilst Yelm, his elder brother, asked for another task and received a more challenging task, a disloyal family, and a strength that ebbs and flows. Thus, Lodril gained the greater inheritance, a larger family care of the Central World, and greater inner strength. This all serves to bring out the tensions and differences between the gods and their cults, and so add a little further depth that a player can help enhance his roleplaying.

Many of the entries in Cults of RuneQuest: The Gods of Fire and Sky do not lend themselves to ordinary adventuring types. Indeed, some cults are so dedicated to their respective gods that their members. For example, worshippers of Dayzatar are monks, ex-priests of other Sky cults, who are typically retired and spend their days in solitary worship and meditation, staring at the sun and going blind! Similarly, the cult of Ourania, his virginal daughter, Goddess of the Sky and Heavens, consists of nuns who devote themselves to maintaining the Celestial Song through its highly regarded choirs. This is not to that there are not roleplaying potential in the members of these cults and in many cases, they could be the basis of interesting NPCs. Conversely, cultists of Yelm, of course, are ready made as the basis for adventuring Player Characters, but potentially so are worshippers of Polaris, the Polestar and General of Heaven, who is a war god for some of the Dara Happen regiments, of Shargash, the God of War and Destruction, whose worshippers can summon Underground Demons, and of course, Yelmalio, the Bright God, as seen in Sun County and Tales of the Sun County Militia. Certainly, it should be no surprise that the write-ups of Yelm and Yelmalio are the longest in the supplement. Female warriors, seeking life free of the paternal, even misogynistic strictures of the cults of Yelm and Yelmalio, may seek membership of the cult of Yelorna, the Starbringer, though they still chafe under the attitudes of male warriors, despite being reknowned by the knowledgable for their prowess and for the fact that their cavalry ride unicorns into battle. 

Cults of RuneQuest: The Gods of Fire and Sky comes to a close with a guide to the Gloranthan celestial sky at night, when Yelm descends into the Underworld, followed by a description of the Orlanthi hijacking of the Celestial Realm to invade the new Temple of the Reaching Moon in Dragon Pass in Earth Season, ST. 1625, and disrupt the Lunar ritual to consecrate it and so trigger the Dragonrise. It brings the supplement to a dramatic close. In addition to detailing its thirteen cults, Cults of RuneQuest: The Gods of Fire and Sky also describes the various Rune spells known to each cult and delves into the history of the solar-worshipping empire of Dara Happa and its ties to both Yelm and the Lunar Empire today. The origins of the horse, ripped from Hippogrif, during the Gods War are also given. One aspect of Yelm not explored in the supplement though, is his Illumination. That though, lies outside the scope of traditional Solar worship.

Physically, Cults of RuneQuest: The Gods of Fire and Sky is very well written and presented, but needs a slight edit here and there. As with the earlier Cults of RuneQuest: The Prosopaedia, Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers, Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddessess, and Cults of RuneQuest: The Lunar Way, the artwork in this supplement is of an extremely high quality. Some of it is of an adult nature.

Cults of RuneQuest: The Gods of Fire and Sky is a great counter to Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers and in that it complements Cults of RuneQuest: The Lunar Way. There are fewer cults in the book and fewer straightforward adventuring cults, but none of them are no less interesting for that, and some of the less adventuring cults would still be interesting to bring into a game. Ultimately, Cults of RuneQuest: The Gods of Fire and Sky presenting a fascinatingly different point of view than we normally see in RuneQuest through Orlanthi eyes, and makes it playable. There can be no doubt that for certain regions of Glorantha and for certain campaigns, Cults of RuneQuest: The Gods of Fire and Sky is going to be no less than indispensable. For elsewhere and in other campaigns, it still has the potential to be very useful and if not that, an informative and enlightening read.