Glorantha: Cult of the Seven MothersCult of the Seven Mothers
originally published in Cults of Prax

This document is Copyright © 1998 Issaries, Inc. It may be freely linked to, and 
one copy may be printed for personal use, but any other reproduction by 
photographic, electronic, or other methods of retrieval, is prohibited.
Table of Contents
  Mythos and History 
  Other Lunar Cults 
  Other Notes 
Mythos and History
These deities were not alive during the Gods Age in their present form, but 
rather were all human beings born since History began. This section will, 
instead, be used to explain the circumstances of their lives before their 
conception of the Red Goddess.
Before the coming of the Goddess, the lands of her birth were a dangerous 
frontier between the Carmanian Empire and the plains tribes of mounted nomads in 
Pent and the Redlands. A group of dissenters, exiles, and priests secretly met 
and prepared the most incredible ritual of all time, and in 1220 they achieved 
their goal despite Carmanian interference. In searching the planes and worlds of 
the spirits, they had located the shattered pieces of an obscure, long-broken 
goddess. Inside the wall of time they managed to reconstruct her into a living 
entity. This was the birth of the Red Goddess. Those who wove the spell are 
called the Seven Mothers, and are worshipped together in a cult.
In the year 1247 S.T. the Red Goddess attained her own immortality and proved it 
to the rest of the cosmos. Those who had aided in her creation were honored by 
her presence, and found their own way to divinity as well. Within 30 years of 
the Apotheosis of the Red Moon, they all had left the earth and joined the 
goddess in immortality.

Queen Dee'zola was a ruler of lands on the Arcos River, and a priestess of 
Arachne Solara. She is called the "Binder Within" in the Lunar pantheon, and she 
is the source of the cult healing spell.
Jakaleel the Witch is called "Spindle Hag" and was once a priestess of Zorak 
Zoran in the mountains of Jord. She is the source of the Lunes of the pantheon.
Teelo Norroi was called "Young Life" and she was drawn apparently at random from 
the streets of Torang for the ritual. In the pantheon she is cupbearer to the 
Red Goddess, and also the source of the Fund for the Poor movement.
Irrippi Ontor was called the "Brown Man" in the old texts, and is known to have 
been an outlawed priest of Lhankor Mhy. He came from Yuthuppa and was a friend 
of Duke Yanafal.
Yanafal Tarnils was called "Ram and Warrior" in the old rituals. He was an 
exiled nobleman from Yuthuppa who still ruled his lands. He later defeated his 
master, Humakt, in battle and became wargod for the Lunar pantheon.
Danfive Xaron was a bloodthirsty outlaw who volunteered for the most dangerous 
task in the ritual and was called "Bridge for the Seeker." His partial success 
earned him the position of Gatekeeper, Porter, and Night Watchman for the 
pantheon.
"She Who Waits" is a mysterious, unnamed personage in the myths whose identity 
was unknown to outsiders. She probably was a priestess of the Blue Moon.

Throughout the rises and declines of the Empire in the 300+ years since it was 
founded, these deities together have performed the same function as they did 
while alive. During their own lives they were responsible for lighting the spark 
of the Lunar spirit in the world, and now in their immortality they are 
responsible for lighting the Lunar spark in all persons who enter the cult.
Their popularity has risen and fallen with the fortunes of the Empire, but in 
times of strength it is often this cult which is found at the fore.
The cult is specially powerful at the edges of the Empire where they form 
instructive temples to serve as bases of Lunar operation. Thus they are ever at 
the beginning of the Empire just as they were at the beginning of the goddess. 
Even within the Empire there are many who are content with knowing this 
superficiality of the Red Goddess and worship only the Seven Mothers, without 
exploring the potentials or ramifications of the individuals.
The Seven Mothers will not promise anything except that there is certainly a 
Life after Death, and that they can teach a worshipper the gateway to the Red 
Moon, wherein lie all of the keys to the secrets of Life and Death. They point 
proudly to their own goddess' death, dismemberment, rebirth, disappearance, and 
subsequent return as proof of this.
Resurrection is a regular cult function and High Priests will bring back devout 
worshippers if possible.
For persons beyond resurrection, local preference always is given to burial 
functions. Rune Priests and Rune Lords will have their bodies preserved until 
the full moon, but others will be taken care of right away. Both will have songs 
of creation sung during the rites, and have their souls commanded to the 
"Circles of the Moon, of Time, and of Being."
This cult contains an unusual mixture of runes. The central point consists of 
the Lunar rune, while to either side are the runes of Life/Fertility and Death. 
Like many Lunar cults, this one also has limited access to other elements 
without being directly connected with the runes.
Other Lunar Cults
The Seven Mothers cult is an introduction to the extensive and sometimes 
bewildering Lunar religion. Initiates and priests from this cult have many 
opportunities to transfer to associated cults which may, in turn, allow transfer 
to still other cults, each specializing in some deity or aspect to bring the 
worshipper closer to unity with the Red Goddess. This list makes no attempt to 
be complete, referring only to those cults likely to have been known in Prax and 
Pavis.
Note that these associated cults already have their appropriate skills and 
spells listed in the descriptions of the cult. This list's associated cults are 
those which an Initiate, priest, or lord could transfer to, thereby continuing 
their education by specializing in their favorite cult. These brief notes are to 
indicate the potentials of the expanded cults outside the Seven Mothers group 
cult.

Jakaleel the Witch: This cult explores the diverse horrors and solaces contained 
in the secrets of darkness in its many forms, and some close associations with 
the Blue Moon are present. Most trolls who join the Lunar faith gravitate toward 
this cult.
Teelo Norri: There is little real development of this cult, save for the people 
interested in simple protection and innocence, though she is revered as the 
Lunar goddess of youth.
Deezola: The cult of Deezola includes large healing interests and is the 
favorite of nobles and poets. It also includes earth magics.
Yanafal Tarnils: This cult resembles Humakt's cult in most respects (including 
spells), but excludes Humakt's hatred of chaos. High honor and bravery are 
upheld here. This is the major war cult of the Empire, though others are nearly 
as popular.
Irrippi Ontor: Irrippi Ontor fulfills the same cult functions as the Lhankor Mhy 
cult outside the Empire. The spells and general rules of conduct are the same, 
except that the priests need not wear beards.
Danfive Xaron: This cult is actually very gloomy and presents a last chance for 
society's most desperate dregs to rehabilitate themselves. Criminals of any sort 
get refuge, but the cult has harsh standards (looking at the opposite sex in the 
first year merits blinding and dismissal). Remaining in the cult pays off only 
after many years of hard effort if a member becomes a priest of the Lunar 
religion. This cult has some connections with the Ferryman of the Dead.
Etyries: This goddess is called a daughter of Issaries, and she is the Lunar 
goddess of trade. The main cult is very similar to that of her father, the 
Lightbringer, and shares its magic. Like Issaries she has many mystical 
associations connected with her duties as Messenger of the Goddess.
Yara Aranis: This savage, six-armed goddess, the daughter of the Red Emperor and 
a barbarian demon, was conceived with the intent to terrorize the horse nomads 
and slay them if need be. The cult is more popular in the north, where the 
barbarians still fear the mother as well as the daughter, but a shrine is 
usually included in all borderland temples.
The Young Elementals: These are the major spirits of the Elements, born when the 
world ended but imprisoned outside of Time until the coming of the Red Goddess. 
They control appropriate elementals of each type and serve to focus such spells. 
But these cults generally are unsophisticated and simple, fulfilling more 
mystical than religious interests.
Other Notes
Lunars and Chaotic Balance
The world hates the Empire because it includes chaos within its worship. This is 
a clear and necessary stand for the old gods to have, for their very existence 
is based upon the fighting of chaos.
But the Red Goddess, born inside Time, has other options available, and wisely 
uses them to maintain her power among the gods of the cosmos. Her secrets are 
woven into Balance and Time, resulting in the Lunar cycles laid upon the surface 
of the world.
The Lunar religion is one of unendurable freedom compared to most of the 
religions and societies of its time. Inner secrets reveal the immense dangers of 
such freedom, and Lunar disasters of over-experimentation sometimes are noted. 
But to attain such cosmic freedom it is necessary to include a worshipful 
understanding of the chaotic bondage of mindlessness and the Void. Such 
concepts, though, are alien to most trained minds of the world, and proven ways 
of life and religion do not bend easily in the face of novelty. The Lunars, of 
course, consider this rigidity to be ignorance and imbalance.
It is unnecessary for Lunars to be exposed to the gruesome chaotic things of the 
cosmos, and warnings spread throughout their teachings admonish the unprepared 
to stay off those dismal paths. The more awful manifestations of chaos, such as 
the Crimson Bat, are no more loved by loyal Lunar citizens than they are by the 
Empire's enemies. But chaotic elements are tolerated officially, and rather than 
knowing nothing but fear toward such monsters, Lunar citizens have the 
questionable surety of the words of government and religion that such horrors 
can be controlled.
Lunars, Chaos, and Enemies
It has been stated that most of the cults dislike, hate, or fear chaos, but that 
the Lunar religion includes the unthinkable things within its worship and 
thereby earns the enmity of the world. The effect of this needs consideration.
Practicality is a major determinant in the resolution of all vague disputes 
unless instinct or emotion provides an override, and this is true in Glorantha 
whenever a person finds himself in a situation not made clear by his religion. 
Further factors, such as social demand, personal feeling, manipulative spirits 
or gods, and so on also will affect any decision.
It is impractical for living beings to carry hatred too far, especially if the 
object of hatred has proved its battle prowess, is dangerous only when provoked, 
and is nearby: so the rest of the world sees the Lunars. Disliked everywhere, 
they are everyone's official scapegoat. The Lunars accept this abuse and make 
their way despite it. Prepared for the worst at all times, they also are 
prepared to accept almost anyone who wishes to sample the Lunar Way.
Some circumstances, though, always will provoke recognition of the Lunars as 
chaos' agents by certain non-Lunar cults, and this is likely to force some 
action. Not all Lunars will be so recognized. Only members who have voluntarily 
used chaos or related powers will provoke the reaction. This includes priests 
who know a chaos-spell, anyone who has had it cast on them while Initiates of 
the cult, or those who have worshipped some chaotic thing.
Moon and Air
The strife between the Lunar goddess and the air gods is deep and permanent. 
Philosophical and mythic reasons explain this.
The turbulent air gods represent a driving force in the cosmos, and their 
erratic natures are integral to their force. They value the surprise effects 
they can create, and are willing to suffer the misfortunes which their 
instabilities may make.
The Lunar Goddess has tamed this seething conflict and turned it into a 
predictable servant for herself and her worshippers. They have imposed an order 
upon the formative and destructive powers of the world.
So far the Lunar way has proven dominant in Peloria, and the older hierarchies 
of the storm gods have given way to the Goddess. This has included mundane world 
effects, for since the coming of the Red Goddess the weather in Peloria has 
warmed noticeably. The ice storms which once roared southward from the Wastes of 
Valind still bring snow, but the snow lasts only a couple of months. Lunar 
priests regularly challenge the Ice Demons to combat, and often defeat them. 
This way the cold armies are reduced, and the dark destructive storms of ice 
have not pelted the Empire since the barbarians were driven out over 150 years 
ago.
Lunar domination seems halted at Dragon Pass. Perhaps it is because the storm 
gods of that area and nearby are so powerful. Perhaps the light of the Red Moon 
cannot reach so far. Perhaps it is only a matter of Time, as the Lunars always 
say.
The Temple of the Reaching Moon
This large temple complex is a small town in fact, a loosely-organized center of 
provincial religion. From this center (both fort and school) the priestesses, 
armies, and scholars can go forth to grip and convert the region to the Lunar 
way.
As conversion proceeds, different lengthy rituals are performed which will, 
after several years firmly establish the Lunar presence by allowing the light of 
the Red Moon to creep forward and engulf the region. This forward line of red 
light is called the Glowline, and it establishes the edge of Lunar domination.
The Glowline
The Red Moon sits in the sky and views all the lands for whom her son has 
conquered. She sees the whole empire, and so it also is possible to see the Red 
Moon from anywhere within her realm.
Beyond Peloria the Lunar Source cannot be seen directly, though her effects 
certainly can. As travelers near her borders, she becomes more and more visible. 
The Jonstown Chronicles contain an anonymous description:
  As I journeyed north through Dragon Pass there did appear a thin pinkish hue 
  in the distance, laid like a thread on the horizon. When I had reached 
  Glasswall, overlooking Dwarf Run. that light in the north was a sunset of 
  blood.
  Once across the Bush Range, the glow becomes full and rich and warm, rising 
  higher and higher into the sky. Bagnot marks the end of the Glowline. and 
  there appears a thin arching sliver of crimson above the horizon. The glow 
  surrounding it is less, as if the light gathered to become the moon itself.
  Riding further north causes the moon to seem to rise into the air, also 
  significantly reducing the actual size which it appears to be upon the 
  horizon. Thus the closer one goes to the orb, the smaller it grows, and the 
  higher and higher it appears in the sky. It is a most remarkable sight, and 
  surely would alarm anyone not prepared for it beforehand.


See also:
Gods in Prax: Invader Deities
The Travels of Biturian Varosh: The Market at Moonbroth
The Redline History: Zero Wane
Talking to the Moon Woman
Cult of the Crimson Bat


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