Orlanth

Orlanth is the King of the Gods, Master of Storms, Death Wielder, and Bringer of Light. He is one of the Seven Lightbringers, and is the chief of those deities. His worship is widespread throughout much of Glorantha. He made the world what it is with his strength, and his virtues keep it that way. By right of his deeds Orlanth claims overlordship of the universe. He is the god of warriors, farmers, and rulers, all three.

Before Time
Orlanth was one of the many sons of Umath. His mother was a mountain goddess named Kero Fin, and he has always been associated with mountains since then.

The Orlanth and Yelm rivalry is known and in their myths their contests are central to worship. One such contest is when the gods made weapons.

Yelm made the silent and far-shooting arrow while Orlanth stole Death from Humakt and brandished it in the form of a sword, Orlanth used this new power to kill Yelm, which brought the Lesser Darkness upon the world.

Chaos crept into the world upon the Darkness. Monsters and demons scouted through the cosmos, preparing the way for the Devil. Gods whose names are lost died. Realms of beauty were lost and there was fear among the gods when Flesh Man gibbered his visions of the future to them. Ordered slipped, Orlanth found his mother dead, saw his father suffering and chained between the earth and sky and took upon himself the task to set right the wrongs which had brought such disaster about. He took what tools and weapons he could, called some allies and met others along the way and thereby joined the Lightbringers who searched unknowable paths to rescue the world.

For his leadership of the Lightbringers and his acknowledged superiority over Yelm, Orlanth was confirmed as chief of the Air Gods. He also achieved the title of High king of the Gods; a title recognized by Lightbringers and some others but not by all the deities of the world.

Since Time Began
The worship of Orlanth was known throughout most of the world in the Dawn Ages and his worshipers brought the secrets of the Lightbringers down from the mountains to civilize the lowlands where the broken remnants of sun-worshippers struggled against the dark. But even inside of Time the ancient rivalry between the two deities rose again and soon the worshippers of Orlanth in the hills and mountains were struggling with the worshipers of Yelm in the lowlands.

In the Second Age the Empire of the Wyrms Friends was a center of Power for Orlanth worshipers but the peoples turned to Dragon Magics and away from their old gods. Orlanth's people both rebelled and aided in the Wyrmish projects. In the end the Dragons had no mercy for any humans who fought them and destroyed thousands of people in the Dragonkill War of 1200. After that both Yelm and Orlanth were weak.

In the Third Age was born a new rival, the Red Moon. This goddess had some skills and magics like those of both Yelm and Orlanth and others more arcane. Through the passage of time the worship of the Red Moon grew in Peloria and spread southward into the highlands towards Dragon Pass. The northern gods of light fell before her march and then she set herself against Orlanth as well. Through the years her worshipers have converted and conquered those of the storm god and the gods themselves have been seen brooding anxiously over their children during wars between men.

Holy Days
Windsday of Movement week in Storm Season is the High Holy Day. Each season, the Windsday of Movement week is a seasonal holy day, as are the Windsdays of Sacred Time. Additionally, Orlanth has a “floating” seasonal holy day each season. These holy days are determined by the priests of the cult and not fixed by calendar.

Important Myths

 * The Lightbringers' Quest

Initiate Membership
Requirements: Standard.

Cult Skills : 1H Sword, Battle, Cult Lore (Orlanth), Farm, Herd, Orate, Scan, Sing, Speak (Stormspeech), Worship (Orlanth).

Favored Passions : Devotion (Orlanth), Hate (Chaos), Honor, Loyalty (Temple).

Spirit Magic : Bladesharp, Demoralize, Detect Enemies, Disruption, Fanaticism, Heal, Mobility, Protection, Strength.

Subcults : The Orlanth cult has two major subcults: Adventurous and Thunderous. An initiate picks one subcult or the other when they join the cult of Orlanth—typically whatever subcult is locally favored. No additional POW sacrifice is necessary.

Other important subcults include Orlanth Rex and Vinga. Only tribal leaders can join the Orlanth Rex subcult. The tribal king is the High Priest of Orlanth Rex for that tribe; the Prince of Sartar is High Priest for all the tribes of Sartar. The Vinga subcult is an all-female warrior subcult that worships Orlanth in female form. Initiates must dye their hair red. It is otherwise identical to Orlanth Adventurous. initiates of Orlanth can always tell when a change in the weather is coming. Wind Lords and Storm Voices can tell approximately what the weather will be one day in advance.

Rune Magic
Common Rune Magic: All.

Special Rune Magic (all subcults): Dismiss Air Elemental (small or medium), Increase/Decrease Wind, Summon Air Elemental (small or medium), Summons of Evil, Wind Warp.

The following Rune spells are available through these subcults:

Orlanth Adventurous: Dark Walk, Earth Shield, Flight, Leap, Lightning, Mist Cloud, Shield, Wind Words.

Orlanth Thunderous: Cloud Call, Cloud Clear, Dismiss Air Elemental (any size), Summon Air Elemental (any size), Thunderbolt.

Orlanth Rex: Command Priests, Command Worshipers, Detect Honor.

Vinga: As per Orlanth Adventurous, plus Fearless.

See Initiate Membership, Subcults entry.

Enchantments: Ban, Binding Enchantment, Enchant Iron, Magic Point Enchantment, Matrix Creation, Spirit Armor Enchantment.

God-talker
Requirements: As per Storm Voice.

Storm Voice (Rune Priest)
Orlanth Thunderous Subcult

Requirements: Standard.

Storm Voices are the spiritual leaders of the Orlanthi. A candidate must belong to the Thunderous subcult.

Special Rune Magic: Bless Thunderstone.

Wind Lord (Rune Lord)
Orlanth Adventurous Subcult

Requirements: Wind Lords are the temporal leaders of the Orlanthi. A candidate must belong to the Vinga or Adventurous subcult, have a 90% Sword skill plus 90% proficiency in any four abilities chosen from among the following: Battle, Climb, Drive Chariot, Honor, Jump, another Melee Weapon, Missile Weapon, Orate, Ride, Scan, Sing, Speak (Stormspeech), and Worship (Orlanth).

Note: A Wind Lord must donate 9/10 of their time and income to the cult.

Special Rune Magic: Bless Woad.

Associated Cults

• Barntar: Provides Tame Bull.

• Chalana Arroy: Provides Restore Health to both Adventurous and Thunderous subcults.

• Ernalda: Provides Heal Body.

• Eurmal: Provides Charisma.

• Heler: Provides Rain to Storm Voices.

• Issaries: Provides Lock.

• Lhankor Mhy: Provides Analyze Magic.

• Mastakos: The god of Movement is Orlanth’s Charioteer. He provides Guided Teleportation to Thunderous, and Teleportation to Adventurous.

• Odayla: Provides Bear’s Strength to Thunderous.

• Storm Bull: Provides Face Chaos to Adventurous.

• Valind: The god of Winter engages in fraternal contests with his kinsman Orlanth each winter. Valind provides Snow to Adventurous.

• Voriof: Provides Command Sheep.

• Yinkin: The god of shadowcats is Orlanth’s half-brother, and many Orlanthi heroes have shadowcats as allies. Provides Identify Scent to Adventurous.