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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Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 is the fourth volume of source material and scenarios begun in Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1 and continued with Fires of Mingai: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 2 and Islands of the Lost: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 3, all written for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.
It is a one-hundred-and-seventy-four page, full colour, 48.83 MB PDF.
The layout is clean and tidy, but the text feels disorganised in places and requires an edit. The artwork varies in quality, but some of it is very good.
The cartography is decent.
Where is it set?
Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 is set Sironomandidi, a large islands in the Shorenti Chain of islands located to the north-east of the Korolan Islands.
Who do you play?
Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 is designed to be used with Player Characters who are native to the Korolan Islands. The possibility of outsiders playing the scenario, along with a Player Character native to the islands, is explored in more depth than in previous volumes in the series, suggesting that alongside at least one Player Character who is native to the islands, the outsiders could be ‘new hires from strange lands’.
What do you need?
Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 requires Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1, Fires of Mingai: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 2, Islands of the Lost: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 3, RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, the Glorantha Bestiary, and The Red Book of Magic. In addition, the Guide to Glorantha and The Stafford Library – Vol VI Revealed Mythologies may be useful.
What do you get?
Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 explores an island that is radically different to those visited in the previous supplements. It is notable for its lack of buildings and other structures, the earth god Olaraoshay having forbidden their construction. Indeed, any building put on one day will be found collapsed the following day. Instead, the inhabitants of the island live in cave dwellings, several of them the size of cities. Indeed, the only building still standing on Sironomandidi is a temple to the antigod, Bodastu, located in the Bleeding Morass, an anti-god-infested swamp. Three Human factions dominate the island’s politics. The Lingbutans are ruled by hereditary nobility of the northern clans; the Polished Grounders worship the gods rather than recognise mortal leaders; and the Gouvanists are followers of the ancient Dragon of Gou, who long ago defeated a heartless trio of rock monsters and transformed Sironomandidi into the vibrant island it is today. However, the Dragon Gou has not been since before the coming of the demonic Slavering Horde, and his worshippers have become adept martial artists, capable of protecting themselves. Besides Humans, Sironomandidi is home to Varanids, Mostali, Black Elves, and the Eresteenes of the swamp.
Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 explores an island that is radically different to those visited in the previous supplements. It is notable for its lack of buildings and other structures, the earth god Olaraoshay having forbidden their construction. Indeed, any building put on one day will be found collapsed the following day. Instead, the inhabitants of the island live in cave dwellings, several of them the size of cities. Indeed, the only building still standing on Sironomandidi is a temple to the antigod, Bodastu, located in the Bleeding Morass, an anti-god-infested swamp. Three Human factions dominate the island’s politics. The Lingbutans are ruled by hereditary nobility of the northern clans; the Polished Grounders worship the gods rather than recognise mortal leaders; and the Gouvanists are followers of the ancient Dragon of Gou, who long ago defeated a heartless trio of rock monsters and transformed Sironomandidi into the vibrant island it is today. However, the Dragon Gou has not been since before the coming of the demonic Slavering Horde, and his worshippers have become adept martial artists, capable of protecting themselves. Besides Humans, Sironomandidi is home to Varanids, Mostali, Black Elves, and the Eresteenes of the swamp.
Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 provides a wealth of setting and background information on the island. This includes its history, descriptions of its cave cities and other places of note, full write-up of all the island’s current leaders and notable personalities, and the cults particular to the island. Amongst these are Sedsaru,the antigod associated with theft and deception, the Cave City Gods, and Dragon Gou, all written up in the standard format. The combination of its large size and the urban nature of its cave cities means that certain Occupations are found here that are rarely followed on the other Eastern Isles. Thief is the one that stands out, but the others include Captain, Noble, and Scholar. There is a surprisingly extensive bestiary too, with entries for such creatures as the Three-Eyed Blood Bat; a variety of the demon breeds known as Andin; the Manananggal, the demonic female which can grow bat wings from its back and preys on pregnant women; Orangutans who sometimes learn Roaring Orangutan Martial Arts; and the demonic shapeshifting Rakshasa. Varanids, a lizard men species with semi-intelligent workers and warriors and intelligent Shamans are presented as a playable option. More fully detailed Sofali, whose culture is tied to the lifecycle of the turtle and with so few breeding islands and beaches, they are very much dispersed across the Eastern Isles.
The Game Master is supported with a wide selection of rumours and an even wider selection of encounters and events, some which the supplement notes the Game Master should use to lay the groundwork for Bezarngay Boil: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Vol 5. There is no help to that end and it would have been useful had the rumours and events been marked in some way to help the Game Master in that objective.
The ‘Korolan NPCs Encounter Table’ and the ‘Sironomandidian NPC Encounter Table’ are both useful since they also lists= the possible mini-adventures they are involved in, as well as the adventures, involvement in previous supplements, and where extra information about them may be found. Some of the encounter write-ups are surprisingly lengthy and many can be developed into fuller adventures. There are some interesting and entertaining encounters here, such as being asked by a Dream Dragon for help, receiving helpful advice from a Great Sea Turtle, needing to appease a Hungry Ghost in a set of temple ruins, and discovering a tribe of red-skinned islanders who revere a giant crocodile who walks on two legs and definitely do not want the adventurers to leave.
In addition to the some detailed forty encounters of the encounter tables, Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 includes eight mini-adventures such as coming to the aid of a Sofli tribe on whose island hunters from a neighbouring island who have set up camp to hunt the tribe’s totem animal, the Olive Sea Turtle; guarding a caravan of dinosaurs on a trip into the interior of Sironomandidi; and the High Chief of the Lingbu Caves, fearing that he is soon to die, hires the Player Characters to clear out a tomb despite it still being occupied by Queen Rogo’s gold-masked mummy! This is followed by forty adventure seeds! All together what this means is the Game Master is given an impressive array of playable content—and yet, none of this is immediately playable content. To one degree or another, the Game Master must prepare this content. Plus given that unlike the previous supplements detailing the Eastern Isles, there are no pre-written scenarios, the Player Characters are not necessarily going to experience particular plots, events, encounters, and intrigues on Sironomandidi. Instead, Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 includes will play out more like a sandcrawl and feels radical compared to the previous supplements in the serious. As much as this gives a lot of freedom of action to both the Game Master and her players, it is not the best set-up as a lead into the scenarios in Bezarngay Boil: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Vol 5.
Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 is rounded out with a selection of supplementary information. These include details of various martial arts schools from across all of the islands; a description of Ferendalo, an island to the north of Sironomandidi in the Haragalan Commonwealth; and descriptions of Dream Magic, which is practiced in the islands. It possible for a Player Character to become a Dream Magician, but it takes years of sacrifice, and in the Eastern Isles, its practitioners are not always trusted. It depends primarily on if the Dream Magician are worshippers of Thella, Goddess of Dreams, or Avanapdur, the God of Nightmares.
As with the previous entries in the series, Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 would have benefitted from the inclusion of a set of pre-generated Player Characters. Given the differences between the setting of Dragon Pass and the Korolan Islands, pre-generated Player Characters would serve as a way to ease the players into and past those differences, showcasing the different Occupations and Cults. It would make the content in Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 easier to run and give the Player Characters motivations to be involved in the many plots and scenarios presented in the supplement. The number of encounters, mini-adventures, and adventures also make a campaign on and around Sironomandidi more challenging to run since the preparation requirements are higher and more demanding.
Is it worth your time?
Yes—Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 continues the exploration of the Eastern Isles, but with almost a hundred encounters and adventure ideas. This gives the Player Characters the freedom to explore the islands like never before.
No—Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 is too location specific and too radical a change in cultural outlook to be of use in a general RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha campaign.
Maybe—Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 is too location specific and too radical a change in cultural outlook to be of use in a general RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha campaign, but its scenarios could be used to explore a clash of cultures.
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