New Pelorian

"When a nomad wants to talk of home, when a servant wants to talk of freedom, when a priest wants to talk of the world, or when a merchant wants to talk of gods; they use New Pelorian. It is a language which turns the unknown into the known, turns the strange into the familiar, and the foreign into the intimate. New Pelorian is the greatest gift of the Goddess, for it reveals that We Are All Us." - Poem by anonymous author.

Before the Goddess was reborn, there were three great languages found in Peloria:

• In the centre was the ancient tongue of Dara Happa, inflexible and exacting, they claimed it was the original tongue of all people. To make the unchanging runes, the Buseri scribes used reed pens pressed into soft clay which was then baked; or carved with chisel and hammer into raw stone.
• In the west was the strange sounding language brought by the Carmanians. They claimed it was the original tongue of all people. The glyphs used by the Carmanian wizards were painted on papyrus scrolls, made from the reeds around Lake Oronin.
• In the south came the barbaric Therelmic tongue, which was used in Sylila and the other storm worshipping lands. They claimed it was the original tongue of all people. The ancient symbols were inscribed into wood, and scratched into the hides of animals by the Greybeard sages.

The Goddess saw this, and knew that each language was wrong, but also right. They could not all be the original tongue of all people, but they each contained seed from it. Each had a written form, but they were hidden away by knowledge hoarding cults.

The Goddess sent her daughter, the Great Sister Deneskerva, to find the truth hidden within the languages, so that her message could be spread to one and all, sage and savage. Deneskerva went abroad the fledgling Empire to speak and listen to all those who would talk with her. She heard their words, and found the right ones within them, the words that would be the True Language of the Goddess. When she had them, she went to a scribe to build that tongue. Together, she and the scribe also shaped the Dara Happan runic script into something that could be written on papyrus.

The result, New Pelorian, was a language unlike any other in Glorantha. Its words came from languages all across Peloria, but healed and repaired, so that they were as one. Although one word may come from Carmanian, and another from Dara Happan, through the miracle of the Great Sister, they could be used and understood together, as if they were always meant to be.

The Great Sister spoke to the missionaries of the Red Goddess, instructing them in this new language, which they shared with the people they went to enlighten. Its perfection made it easy to learn, and soon the foreigners could understand the missionaries perfectly. The missionaries were also able to carry sacred texts with them, for papyrus was much lighter than clay tablets.

Within the Empire, the script and words were shared with the scribes of Irippi Ontor, who were not afraid of change like other scribes. They used it to translate the ancient texts into new scrolls that could be read by anyone. They taught it to workers, to priests, and to nobles. Even when their own language was sufficient amongst their own people, New Pelorian was used to speak to foreigners, to record information, and to read the words usually kept hidden by the old priests.


The symbols of New Pelorian
New Pelorian's script was derived from the ancient Dara Happan Sacred Alphabet, but altered to make it easier to learn, read, and write. Allowing literacy to spread like wildfire.

Z        Little changed from the original Dara Happan rune, being only altered to use a pair of strokes.

T        This glyph has not fundamentally changed from the Sacred Alphabet.
U        The bottom part of this glyph has been left off, while the rest has been rounded into a simple loop.

R        This glyph has not fundamentally changed from the Sacred Alphabet.
L/Y        The ancient runes L and Y were simple dots within a square and triangle. New Pelorian has merged the two symbols, if not the sounds themselves (usually), by replacing the containers with the celestial circle.
Th        This glyph has been rounded, and the two sides have been fused at the top for less strokes to be required.
F        Once a diamond with a small line within, the line has been lengthened, and the diamond rounded into a glyph resembling the Moon Rune.
P        The bottom side branches of  this glyph has been left off, while the rest has been rounded into a simple loop.
I        The crossbars have formed a loop to the right of the glyph.
E/V   This glyph still resembles the Dara Happan rune for E, even though it has absorbed the rune for V. This has resulted in a "paddy field" effect for some names, like Everina, the goddess of rice.
M       This glyph has not fundamentally changed from the Sacred Alphabet.
S        The lower half of this glyph has been rounded.
O       The left and right extremes of this glyph have become more flamboyant, but otherwise it has changed little.
A       This glyph combines both the old A rune of the alphabet, with the feminine suffix which made the same sound, while simplifying both.
H       Like many others, this rune has been rounded, especially at the bottom.
G       This glyph has changed little, with only the characteristic rounding having taken place.
N       This glyph has not fundamentally changed from the Sacred Alphabet.
D       Like the glyph for L, the old Dara Happan D rune has been rounded, turning a oblong into a circle.
Sh      This glyph has changed little, with only the characteristic rounding having taken place.
J         The top crossbar has merged with the upper limbs of this glyph, which have themselves been curved, making it resemble a staff with an inverted stasis rune atop it.
Qu      The wings of the ancient rune have become a continuous loop, with the dark core being replaced by light.
W       While the crossbar has remained unchanged, the diagonals have become curves.
B        The lower strokes of the ancient rune have gone, taking it to a simple glyph.
K        The diagonal stroke to the top right has been eliminated from the ancient rune, and its form exaggerated into the modern glyph.

Moonstones

Inspired by discussion on the Glorantha Google+ page here

Gold and Carnelian broach depicting the Red Goddess.

The term Moonstone is used within Glorantha to refer to a wide variety of objects. From the nearly mundane pieces of sard and onyx used as jewellery by the lesser nobility of Peloria, to the myriad charms used by the unkindled lunar worshippers, the term can refer to almost any stone; although usually only those of red, black, white, and blue are considered truly sacred.
However, these moonstones are pale reflections of true Moonstones, just as spirits and spells are pale reflections of the true magic of the Red Goddess.
True Moonstones are said to have come from the Red Moon itself, and can take nearly any form or substance; making it easier to understand how the lesser or false moonstones could be mistaken for the real thing.

What sets them apart is their power. Each Moonstone seems to glow with the light of the Red Goddess in one of her seven phases, even those associated with the dying or black moons shine a contradictory bright shadow. Lunars who have kindled their Moon Rune find this spiritual radiance calming, and those who have been crazed by Occlusion can find their madness quieted when in its presence. The Orlanthi claim to find the glow of a Moonstone irritating, and attribute this to the Moon's Chaotic nature. At least one instance of kinstrife has been blamed on poisoning by powdered Moonstone.

The effects of Moonstones have been well attested, if not well understood:

• The Moonstone may be used to summon a Lune, much as a shade can be summoned from a pool of darkness, or a campfire can be used to give birth to a salamander. The stone will typically crumble after use, or at least be lessened by the summoning.
• The Moonstone can be used to to craft a Glamour as if the Moon was full. The Moonstone can only be used a few times for this purpose before it crumbles to dust.
• Even those whose Moon Runes are not kindled can use a Moonstone to create an Evocation based upon the phase of the Moon the Moonstone is associated with. The Moonstone is always consumed by this. Regardless of the phase of the moon, this is always a stretch.

Natural Moonstone prism.

What only the most Illuminated understand about the Moonstones, is that they are not truly real.

Each Moonstone is a fragment of the Red Moon's power, substantiated in Glorantha. They are solidified Lunar magic, a Glamour made manifest. As such, they can be unwoven from their material shape, and used to shape Glamours. When used to summon a Lune, the Moonstone is instead rewoven into the form of a Lune, and some say that Lunes can be turned into Moonstones in turn.

Because Moonstones are a form of Glamour, Moonstones can be created by powerful magicians, such as the Crater Makers.  The making of Moonstones is an exhaustive process, and even then the Moonstone is lesser than those created by the Goddess and her attendants, and will fade eventually.


This of course, leads to a further revelation. As Moonstones are made from the same substance as the Red Moon, and as Moonstones are a form of Glamour; the Red Moon itself is a Great Glamour, woven by the Red Goddess to be her footstool when she ascended. This is why it waxes and wanes with the Lunar cycle, not as its cause, but as its symptom. The Goddess Rufelza, seen as the material aspect of the Red Goddess, can also be seen as the Lune manifested as the Red Moon.


Blue Moonstones
Blue Moonstones, also known as Dead Moonstones are superficially similar to normal Moonstones. They give off a spiritual light and are connected to the ancient Blue Moon of the gods age. Despite the name, Blue Moonstones are rarely blue, instead being a dull grey. It is only when viewed with magical senses, that the deep blue light they give off becomes visible.

Unlike regular Moonstones, Blue Moonstones cannot be used to create Evocations, nor can they aid the creation of other forms of Glamour.
Instead of a Lune, a Blue Moonstone may be used to summon a Selene, also known as a Dead Elemental. These spirits are invisible to normal vision, but are all too real when they engulf their victim. Those unfortunate enough to be swallowed by a Selene slowly has their soul unravelled. Their fire goes out, their breath becomes shallow, their body becomes withered and frail.
They can only take form from the invisible light of a Blue Moonstone, making them thankfully rare.

The Red Goddess

Mythos and History
The Red Goddess began as a daughter of Yelm, who resided in his celestial court, eternally in place and peaceful.
When the First Rebel entered the heavens she, in curiosity, moved to follow his path. When the Rebel revealed himself to be an enemy, and was driven out of the heavens, the goddess was driven out with him, for they feared she had been corrupted by his influence. In grief, she departed, and left only sorrow behind, which took the form of a bat and hid from Yelm's gaze.
Driven out from the heavens, the goddess came to rest over the lands of Mernita. Here the people pledged themselves to her, to follow her and accept her rule, and she went amongst them as the mortal Queen Cerullia.

Lesilla and Cerullia. Mernitan Ivory.

As queen, the goddess protected her people. When the floods came, she rose Mernita up above the waters, and when the people died, she took them to her bosom to protect them until they could be reborn.
When the flood-waters receded, a Mernita was greeted by the Emperor Lukarius. He was the son of the goddess, and claimed he ruled all the world, including Mernita. The goddess said that a son should never rule his mother, and in anger Lukarius took his bow and loosed an arrow at the goddess. When the arrow of betrayal struck her, the goddess fell to the ground, and she and her people were slain, leaving nothing but a blue corpse which was later infested by monsters.
When the dead returned to haunt the living, the goddess was released to, and sought out the people of Yelm. They recoiled at the sight of the dead goddess, and barred her way from returning with a massive dome. Alone, the goddess wandered, giving solace and suffering to those who deserved it.
When wandering the endless darkness, the goddess discovered a fragment of herself, who revealed that suffering was not existence, and existence was not suffering. With this revelation, the goddess Illuminated herself, and went out amongst the world to find and teach people how to live. She had many followers, who called themselves names like Davu, Nysalor, and many others. With their help, the goddess remade the world.
Despite remaking the world, the goddess was incomplete. She had been gravely wounded, and was in pieces. For most of time she remained in this state, but in the Third Age, things changed.
In the third age, a great empire had claimed the land, and was oppressing the people. Seven desperate people performed a great quest, heading into the darkness before time, to find their salvation. They found the Red Goddess and reunited her with her missing parts, becoming her Seven Mothers.
The goddess was reborn into the world, and united her people, conquered Chaos and accepted it, and fought the old rebels for her acceptance into the world. When they failed to oppose her, she rose a great orb of earth into the sky, and shaped it into a great sphere. This was her footstool, the Red Moon.
The Red Goddess had been reborn, to unite everyone and make them all us.

Nature of the Cult
The Red Goddess is the deity of the Red Moon, a great celestial body which appeared in the sky in the Third Age. She is also known as the Sister of Chaos, Lurker on the Veil, Rufelza, Sedenya, and a host of other names.
She is a goddess of mystical enlightenment, commonly known as Illumination, which her worshippers can learn as part of their goddess' goal of healing the world.
Despite being a great goddess, few Lunars worship the Red Goddess directly, preferring to instead follow other deities or immortals who have been healed by the Red Goddess' power.

Depiction
The Red Goddess is typically shown as a woman with red skin and hair, sat with crossed legs and making signs of welcome and peace with her hands. Upon her brow sits her mystical third eye, revealing her nature as an illuminated being.

Runes
The Red Goddess is the owner of the Moon Rune, and is also strongly associated with the runes of Life and Chaos. This makes her one of the Great Gods of Glorantha, acknowledged by many cultures that do not even worship her.

Life Rune
The Red Goddess is the great cyclic power of life, who was slain many times in the Great Darkness, but returned each time in a new form. An incomplete list of the abilities her initiates have been known to use the Life Rune for includes: banishing hunger, bringing contentment, driving off sickness, healing madness, making others happy.
The Life Rune aspect is associated with Rufelza, the common name for the Red Goddess, and those with a strong affinity with this Rune are generous, loving, and open-minded.

Moon Rune
The Red Goddess is the source of the Moon Rune, and has immense powers of creation. Those initiates who have awakened their Seventh Soul through the kindling rites may possess a Moon Rune Phase.

Chaos Rune
The Red Goddess is associated with the Chaos Rune through her acceptance of Chaos. An incomplete list of the Chaos features that may afflict those initiates with the Chaos Rune includes: being highly flammable, growing a valuable gemstone somewhere on their skin, explodes on death, corrosive touch, cannot be healed by magic, easily surprised, large horns.
Those with a strong affinity with this Rune are hateful and self-loathing.

Particular Likes and Dislikes
The Lunars pride themselves on the inclusiveness of the Red Goddess, who they claim has no true enemies. Even the rebellious gods of the Air and the monstrous forces of Chaos are not her foes, but merely forces to be healed of their hatred.
Despite this inclusiveness, the Red Goddess does treat some more equal than others. Those cults who adopt the Lunar way of inclusiveness and cyclism are viewed as closer allies than those who merely begrudgingly accept the goddess' existence.

Cult Organization
All members of a Lunar cult are also lay members of the cult of the Red Goddess, joining in her worship on her holy days, and visiting her temples to pay her homage. Despite this, and her popularity and ubiquity in the empire, only one in a hundred Lunars ever joins the cult of the Red Goddess as an initiate.
The goddess' old incarnations, the seven Ancient Goddesses of the Moon also have shrines across Peloria. often inside the larger temples of the Red Goddess, or their ancient temples still in use after the Red Moon rose into the sky.

Center of Power, Holy Places
The cult's most sacred place is the city of Torang, in the satrapy of First Blessed. Here lies the first Lunar Temple, built on the site where the Red Goddess was born. All other Lunar cults hold this temple sacred as well, and it receives many gifts and tributes from across the entire empire.

Holy Days and Sacrifices
The Red Goddess' holy days vary by region, for they are held weekly when the Red Moon is full. For most of the provinces of the Lunar Empire, the holy day is on Wildday, but in Carmania, it takes place on Freezeday.
The High Holy Day of the Red Goddess takes place on Godsday, Disorder Week, Dark Season. This is the day that the goddess was born in Torang in the Lunar Empire, and great festivals are held all across the empire on this day.
The goddess cares not for the sacrifice of material objects, and prefers her followers spend their holy day celebrations in aiding others, through teaching, mission, and revelation.

Initiates

• All Initiates of the Red Goddess have a Moon Rune phase at a minimum of 1W.
• Those who do not have a connection to the Moon Rune must undergo kindling, as mentioned in HeroQuest Glorantha page 190.

Rufelza
Rufelza means "Red Moon", and is a common name for the Red Goddess in Peloria, for it is the great orb they see above them. Those who do not possess the Moon Rune may initiate to the Red Goddess in this aspect, even if it is looked down upon by those who worship the Red Goddess in her true cyclic aspect.
To initiate to Rufelza, the initiate must have a Life Rune rating of 1W or greater. This rune serves as their divine Rune affinity until they choose to awaken their Moon Rune with the kindling rites.

Chaos and the the Red Goddess
The Red Goddess is also known as the Sister of Chaos, and all Lunars are tempted by the power of Chaos. Those Lunar initiates who swap their Moon Phase with the Chaos Rune (as described in HeroQuest: Glorantha, page 186) and lose their connection with the Moon, may initiate to the Red Goddess' cult if they have a Chaos Rune rating of 1W or greater. This grants them no magic, but allows for a certain measure of protection in Lunar society.

Subcults
The Red Goddess has many subcults, the most common being those of the Ancient Goddesses, those incarnations of the ever-changing Moon throughout the Gods' Age. Any initiate of the Red Goddess may join the subcult associated with their Moon Rune phase. Those initiates who have been Illuminated may join any subcult, for they have awakened their mastery over all phases of the Moon.

Verithurusa
Verithurusa was the first incarnation of the Red Goddess, the innocent and pure Red Moon. She was part of the Perfect Sky of the Golden Age, but descended from the heavens when her curiosity overcame her fear.
Verithurusa is associated with the Full Half Phase of the Moon Rune, and her followers can create glamours designed to avoid danger or resist impurity without them being considered stretches.
Common Strictures of the Verithurusa subcult include: Never Use the Moon Rune as the Chaos Rune, Remain Chaste, Never Deny Love.

Lesilla
When Verithurusa descended, she became Lesilla, the loving and nurturing Blue Moon. She ruled the kingdom of Mernita, both above them as light, and amongst them as Queen, until her son betrayed and slew her, destroying both her and her kingdom.
Lesilla is associated with the Crescent Go phase of the Moon Rune, and her followers can create glamours designed to bless and heal family members or children without them being considered stretches.

Spolite Statue of Gerra

Common Strictures of the Lesilla subcult include: Never use the Moon Rune as the Chaos Rune, must not be a virgin.

Gerra
When Lesilla was slain, she became Gerra, the mournful and tortured Black Moon. She did not abandon the world, even when it abandoned her, and went among the populace to teach them how to endure suffering.
Gerra is associated with the Dying phase of the Moon Rune, and her followers can create glamours designed to cause or relieve suffering in the living or dead without them being considered stretches.
Common Strictures of the Gerra subcult include: Never ignore suffering, Obey Dara Happans, never forget what you have lost.

Rashorana
When the world turned against Gerra, she became Rashorana, the illuminating and enlightening Black Moon. Whenever her foes defeated and destroyed her, she returned in a new form, as Illumination can never be truly eliminated.
Rashorana is associated with the Black Moon phase of the Moon Rune, and her followers gain no abilities to create glamours, or require the following of strictures. Instead the subcult of Rashorana teaches illumination to its members. (See HeroQuest Glorantha, page 202 onwards.)

Orogeria
When no one would listen to Rashorana, she became Orogeria, the seeking and hunting Blue Moon. She rose in the darkness, and sought for people to follow her, providing them with shelter and food so that they might oppose their enemies.
Orogeria is associated with the Crescent Come phase of the Moon Rune, and her followers can create glamours designed to track down and hunt enemies without them being considered stretches.
Common Strictures of the Orogeria subcult include: Never use the Moon Rune as the Chaos Rune, share your bounty with others.

Natha
When Orogeria had assembled an army, she became Natha, the avenging and balancing Red Moon. She opposed the gods who had destroyed the world, and forced those who should be dead into the underworld, and those who should be living into the mortal world.
Natha is associated with the Empty Half phase of the Moon Rune, and her followers can create glamours designed to avenge injustices without them being considered stretches.
Common Strictures of the Natha subcult include: Avenge injustice, be honourable in all thoughts and actions.

Zaytenera
When Natha has balanced the world, she will become Zaytenera, the White Moon which is to come. She is said to be the original form of the goddess, even before Verithurusa, and when she rises the entire world shall be perfect once again.
Zaytenera is associated with the Full phase of the Moon Rune, and her followers can create glamours designed to discover secrets and reveal hidden truths without them being considered stretches.
Common Strictures of the Zaytenera subcult include: Never lie to others or yourself, never Use the Moon Rune as the Chaos Rune.

Lesser Moon Immortals
The Red Goddess is queen of the Lunes, minor spiritual entities of Lunar magic. These beings take many forms and colours, and some are little more than mindless concentrations of magic, while others are almost fully fledged New Gods in their own right.
Some of the recorded forms of Lunes are described below.

Madness Spirits
These are Lunes of the Dying and Full Moon phases, and are favoured by many Lunar Magicians for the sacred lunacy they bring. Madness Spirits appear as faces, eternally spiralling in the air and wracked emotions such as crazed laughter, fits of sorrow, or screams of rage. When summoned, Madness Spirits will attempt to fill a person with madness, driving them into divine passions which defy prediction or logic. Some Lunar demagogues willingly offer their bodies to Madness Spirits, believing they will gain a glimpse of the Red Godddess' nature through breaking the chains of sanity.

Vecors
Vecors are Lunes of the Crescent Come, Full and Empty Half phases, and appear as humanoid warriors with red skin on their left, and black skin on their right. Their weapons, armour, and tactics vary, often resembling those of a particular people of the Lunar Empire, such as peasant spear-men, feathered Rinliddi skirmishers, or proud Yanifal Tarnilsi swordsmen. Vecors are often summoned by Lunar magicians to act as bodyguards or to fight the petty gods of enemies.
It is said that the Red Emperor is protected by a full regiment of Vecors, who descend from the Red Moon to protect him when he is threatened by danger.