Cults of Glorantha

Barntar

Barntar is the god of land-workers: ploughers, tillers, tenders of the land. This is a simple cult that finds strength from the earth and works its nature, its rune, to create the conditions for a bountiful harvest. It is a cult of preparation, methodical, hard-labour and dedication to making the earth work on behalf of the community.

Runes: Air, Beast, Fertility.

Mythos and History

Barntar Makes the Plough (Resonance 75%) – Making Tools to Till the Earth;

How Co-operation brings Prosperity: Ernalda needed to plant the seeds she had found but the earth was hard and packed and nothing she did would make the seeds stay in the ground. Barntar passed by her one day as she sat, cross-legged, making holes with her fingers and dropping seeds into them. He saw her frustration and saw also that a simpler way might present itself. ‘I have a way,’ he said.

‘Show me,’ Ernalda replied.

So Barntar went and found the jaw bone of a dragon that Orlanth had discarded. It had a sharp edge and a long curve and Barntar dug the edge into the ground and then pushed against the curve, causing the ground to split and make deep furrows. The teeth in the jawbone raked and turned the earth, breaking it and making it soft and ready for anything to be planted into it. He ploughed a long straight line from one side of Genertela to the other and this is called the Ploughline: it marks the Storm Tribe’s country from that of the Sun Emperor, where all is hard-baked and difficult to work. The work was tiring and Ernalda fetched Barntar water. He drank of it and then the two of them walked the length of the Ploughline dropping seeds into the furrows. Aldrya, mistress of the Elves, came to watch and approved, even though the two gods were not planting trees. ‘This is a good tool,’ Aldrya remarked, ‘but not a tool of elfs.’ Barntar agreed that it was not a tool for them but certainly a tool for the Storm Tribe. When Orlanth returned from wherever he had been, he paused at the Ploughline and saw, in the distance, Ernalda and Barntar dropping things into the ground. He caught them up and asked to be taught the secret of the dragon jaw plough. Barntar showed him but Orlanth could not make it work. ‘The ground is hard,’ Barntar said. ‘We need help.’ So Orlanth went to the Wastes and caught Storm Bull who was grazing. Storm Bull reared, kicked and gored but Orlanth wrestled him to the ground. ‘Help me,’ he said, ‘and I will welcome you to my hall.’ Barntar and Orlanth brought Storm Bull back to the Ploughline and Ernalda used some of her hair to fashion a yoke, which they used to attach the plough to Storm Bull. Then Storm Bull charged across Genertela, with Barntar guiding the plough and soon the entire land was furrowed and ready to accept all the seeds Ernalda had gathered. Storm Bull was released but created his ox-sons so that he, a god, would not be forced to work the land any more and they could take his place. Orlanth called rain down onto the tilled earth and all plants that were not trees sprouted and flourished. Grain arose and from this bread was made. With other grains beer was made, when Minlister found a way to combine it with water. When the harvest was through, Orlanth made a great feast in his hall, with Barntar and Storm Bull at the chieftain’s table, where Ernalda and her daughters served them. So was First

Plough made and so First Harvest followed.

Nature

Barntar’s cult promotes farming and husbandry. It is a cult for farmers, cottars and landworkers of all descriptions although ploughmen tend to proliferate. The cult is open to both males and females but the vast majority of members are male whilst females tend towards Ernalda or other Earth/Fertility cults. It is a passive cult, having no Rune Lords and is focused very much on managing the land for the common good. It is, as a consequence, viewed as something of a pacificistic cult although many of its members are also members of Orlanth, in recognition of the special relationship between the two.

Organisation

Rune Priests of Barntar are known as Plough Masters and their duties are mainly concerned with the rites of preparation for sowing, in Sea Season and Harvesting, at the end of Earth Season. Most clans have a Plough Master who may serve on the clan’s advisory ring, although this is not always guaranteed. Temples to Barntar are rare although shrines in or around temples to Orlanth and Ernalda are common. The plough is the sacred symbol of the cult as it forms the chief tool of its members.

Membership Standard.

Initiates to the cult must be landworkers within their own community or demonstrate the ability to work the land to a degree deemed acceptable by the higher ranks.

Common Magic

Bladesharp (for use on ploughs and scythes), Clear Path, Coordination, Detect Stone/Boulder, Endurance, Mobility.

Higher Magic

Standard.

Channel Strength, Rain, Shield, as well as the following cult spells:

Command (Ox, Boar, Ram)

Duration 1 Day, Rank Acolyte

This spell gives the caster complete control, for one day, over the specified animal; there are therefore separate spells for oxen, boar and rams. Whilst under the control of the spell the animal works tirelessly and will obey the caster completely. The animal will not, however, betray its nature or perform duties to which it is clearly unsuited.

Plough Strong

Duration 1 Day, Rank Initiate

This spell endows a plough with the ability to effortlessly break through the hardest packed earth or the most stubborn rocks. The plough must still be controlled by the ploughman but his work becomes infinitely easier as Barntar’s own hand helps guide the path. The spell is usually cast just before dawn and it expires at dusk. At the end of the working day the plough must be cleaned and sharpened in preparation for its next use. The spell will not work on a dirty or blunt plough.

Gifts and Compulsions

None.

Cult Skills

Brawn, Drive, Lore (Barntar), Lore (Farming), Resilience.

Allied Cults

Ernalda: provides Heal Body.

Orlanth: provides Call Winds.