Talastar

HOMELAND - Talastar Your character is from Talastar. Your people are called Orlanthi because they worship the gods Orlanth and Ernalda, as well as the many other gods and goddesses of the pantheon of the High Free Ones or Tarkarlings. Their religion teaches that our existence – both now and in the afterlife - is constantly endangered by evil forces called Chaos. Only the valiant struggles of gods, heroes and ordinary folk has saved Glorantha so far.

Talastar is a very hilly and rocky country, producing inferior crops, but supporting hardy sheep and hillmen. Below Talastar is the fertile valley of the Erinflarth River and behind it is the Tobros Mountains. It is hot in the summer and cold in the winter with moderate rain year-round.

There are Seven Tribes of Talastar: the Arkailing, Biling, Linsting, Skanthing, Tenling, Ulreding, and Vosdaling peoples. The Biling, with their mighty fortress at the Hold, are traditionally the most important of the Seven Tribes and have in the past often collected tribute from the other tribes. The Skanthing are the most resolutely independent and wild.

Both the Erinflarth and the Tobros Mountains have their source in the haunted and cursed Dorastor. Once a rich garden inhabited by men and gods, the proud people of Dorastor became the rulers of the High Council of the Lands of Genertela. They abandoned wisdom, tradition and caution, and when the hero Lokomayadon convened the Second Council, its ruin was begun.

Lokmayadon sought order without principle and created his own god – Nysalor – a god who was empty and false. He tried to conquer the world and kill the good gods and goddesses, but Harmast Barefoot quested into the lands of myth and brought back the nemesis of Nysalor. Harmast returned with Arkat the Destroyer, who did not rest until he destroyed Nysalor.

Arkat destroyed Dorastor, and commanded all the gods to curse it, and set great signs to keep everyone away from it forever. That should have been the end of it. But it wasn't. Foolish magicians and mystics went into Dorastor and performed rites which reawakened the cursed to life. The evil ones have awakened.

The Erinflarth flows down through the lowland cities of Lakrene and Dara Ni, until it finally joins the Oslira river in the marshes around the dread green walls of Alkoth. These lands are now ruled by the powerful draconic magicians of the Empire of Wyrms Friends (EWF).

The Talastarings view themselves as a strong, proud and independent people who rely on themselves and their gods, and who will not bend to the will of any Empire, or to the horrors that come out of Dorastor. Outsiders view the Talastarings as rebellious and feuding bandits, whose lives consist of herding and stealing sheep.

APPEARANCE The Talastarings are a sturdy and hardy people with brown or reddish hair and olive skin. Men and women grow their hair long and men wear beards. Rich and important men often affect long and oiled beards, which are frequently curled with tongs to create hanging curls. Both genders are tattooed with markings of clan, cultic initiation and for other magical-religious reasons.

Commonly, men wear a fringed wool skirt and cloak – these are brightly coloured and patterned. Rich men usually wear ornate tunics over the wool skirt and sport abundant jewelry. Some nobles even wear a resplendently coloured wool toga.

Women typically wear a wool dress with bare arms and shoulders and a cloak. Some women affect male clothing (skirt and cloak or skirt, tunic and cloak) for cultic or ceremonial reasons.

The poor are barefoot and wear no footwear, as are members of certain cults and religious societies. Most people wear heavy soled leather sandals with a long lace that was wound up the wearer's leg.

Headgear – either a stout broadbrimmed hat or a felt cap – is common. Many priests and godtalkers have distinctive headgear, most distinctively a high, horned conical hat associated with the gods or the cap with ram's horns sewn into it associated with Hagodereth and Vorios.

King Bilinith "the Great Captain"
Great Captain of Talastar (445-448), King of Talastar (448-457). Served the High Council of the Lands of Genertela during the late Gbaji Wars as a Warlord and placed in charge of the defense of Talastar. He and his kinsmen held out against the Army of Truth at the mighty fortress of the Hold until managed to break the demoralized besiegers with a sortie. They pursued the besiegers to the Erustus River but were defeated by the Army of Orlanth. Bilinith submitted to the Army of Orlanth and was recognized as King of Talastar by the priests of the Army of Orlanth.

Later other Talastaring leaders gathered and were acclaimed king as well, but Bilinith was always strongest and forced them to pay tribute to him and acknowledge him as overlord. When Bilinith died, his lieutenant Matulanth became King of Talastar, and he led his army to fight the rebellious Dara Happans. He was killed fighting in Terarir in 460. His successor was King Hantruvanth who was acclaimed king of the Bilings (460-475). He failed to make himself King of Talastar despite many attempts and many wars.

King Haramatuth the Undying
Born in 817. King of the Bilings (847-present). Once a vigorous and energetic king, he was crippled and cursed by Erzadanang in 855. Forced to submit to Erzandanang' s draconic power, Harmatuth unnaturally endures and cannot die a natural death of old age or sickness. Now senile and powerless, he is a mere puppet of High Priest Laneth Fork Tongue.

Viskuranth
The oldest name of Orlanth in Talastar is Viskuranth ("Son of the Spike") - this is the Orlanth that lives on Top of the World, rescued the Great Goddess Ir by killing Emperor Yelm. He then received Kingship of the Gods from the Great Goddess Ir and lives on the Top of the World. Viskuranth is associated with the Ram and Thunder. In the First Age, Theylan missionaries proved that Viskuranth is just another name for Orlanth. No worshiper of the Viskuranth believes that Viskuranth is not Orlanth – they just have several names for him.

Matu
Matu is the Great Storm of Orlanth physically manifest as storm and thunder. He lives atop the Sacred Thunder Mountains of Talastar and breathes out storms with every breath. Matu commands all other winds and storms; he is sometimes called King of the Umbroli or even just Umbrol. He knows the winds of all the seasons. Matu is sometimes called Umatum or even Umath and has a great rivalry with Shadzor of Alkoth.

Ir the Great Goddess
Ir is the Great Goddess, Queen of the World. She is also known as Ernalda. Despite being Queen of the World and the Source of Power, Ir was enslaved by the Emperor Yelm when the Old Gods appointed him Emperor. However, Viskuranth fell in love with Ir and rescued her by killing Yelm. She married Viskuranth and made Viskuranth King of the Gods and now lives with Viskuranth atop Mount Visku.