Cults of Glorantha

Lhankor Mhy

Lankhor Mhy is the Orlanthi god of knowledge. His is not, however, a god who readily gifts knowledge but one who hordes it and keeps it close – as is the Orlanthi way. Lankhor Mhy was born before the Gods War of two members of the Celestial Court, Mostal (son of Acos Lawgiver) and Orenoar (Mistress of Truth). He lived with them upon the great Spike of Law and sang songs of Knowledge and Power.

When Orlanth slew Yelm, gods and goddesses of all forms of Light went with him to Hell. One of these was the goddess of the Light of Knowledge and Lankhor Mhy was suddenly bereft of inspiration. He set out during the Lesser Darkness to find the missing goddess. Along the way he met the others and when the Spike exploded Lankhor Mhy joined with them to rescue the Sun and free all light from the Darkness.

While Lankhor Mhy was able to embrace all knowledge, mortals have no such opportunity and have found ever since that their knowledge must always be incomplete and what they know does not always apply to the problems the face. Yet many follow Lankhor Mhy’s constant quest for knowledge, for the thirst for knowledge remains and his worshippers constantly search for new knowledge. They also constantly gather such shards of the Spike as are collectable, to better understand the universe that once took its form from the Spike.

Runes Stasis, Truth.

Mythos and History

Lankhor Mhy Finds Shards of the Spike (Resonance 90%) – How the world, and its knowledge, was broken: Whilst walking in calm fields, Lankhor Mhy came across a curious red stone. It was as large as him and irregular but possessed certain symmetries, which he noted in his mind and found agreeable. He looked at the stone from all angles and was not astounded when it spoke to him. ‘Do not stare at me,’ it said. ‘You are curious, for sure, but are no spirit. Nor are you flesh. You are mineral, like so many other stones.’ Lankhor Mhy replied.

‘I Am Secrets.’ The stone said, sharply and Lankhor Mhy knew then that he had come upon a piece of his ancestral home and was thrilled but did not show it.

‘I am a keeper of secrets,’ he said. ‘A collector.’

‘I have nothing to collect.’ Said the stone.

Lankhor Mhy sat down before the stone and watched it closely. The stone tried to shift from the god’s gaze but could not. After a while it grew angry. ‘You may have one secret and then you must be gone.’ Lankhor Mhy thanked the stone for its generosity.

‘I would like to know how to bring the Sun back into the sky,’ the sage said. ‘That is a secret that eludes me.’

‘You must know Truth, first, for I Am Truth.’ The stone said. ‘And then you must know stillness, for I Am Stillness.’ Lankhor Mhy understood that this was not a riddle but an answer. ‘I must become Like the Spike,’ he said.

‘That is the way of Secrets,’ the stone said.

So Lankhor Mhy became like the red stone. First he adopted its form, so that two stones of identical nature stood in the field. Then he gazed inward and took stock of all that he knew. He knew many lies and these he spat out. Trickster lurked close by and snatched up the lies and made off with them, knowing he would find a use for them. Lankhor Mhy did not care. He was left with Truth and the Stillness of Truth. He realised that All is One and All is Not Complete; merely part of the greater All, which is, Infinity.

He realised also that all Truths are Still but not static. When one gazes upon the stone, the light strikes it from many angles and distorts what is perceived even though the stone’s nature is the same and does not change. Stasis, therefore, moves and movement is Stasis also. Knowing this, or realising it, Lankhor Mhy gained True Wisdom and knew how to free the Sun.

Nature

The cult of Lhankor Mhy seeks truth and seeks to keep it within its own halls, which are known as libraries. Ultimately all knowledge will be gathered together in one place, which is Lankhor Mhy’s great library in the God Plane; until that time earthly libraries serve well enough. The aim of the cult is therefore to gather knowledge from wherever it comes, discover the truths within and use that knowledge to mend the universe and prevent the shards of the Spike from being further spread apart.

Lhankor Mhy cultists are sages and scribes; Law Speakers and librarians; seekers of knowledge and its keepers. Worshippers know that they will travel to his Court inside the Tower of Ivory to sit at the feet of the Eternal Source of Knowledge, on their passing from earthly life. Their time in the tower will depend on how well they have fulfilled the lifetime quest of the cult: the amount of true knowledge known determines the time allowed in blissful research before mortals once again take their place in the eternal circle of life and death.

Lords and priests of Lankhor Mhy prefer to be laid into stone tombs, whether natural or constructed; shaft graves are preferred. The poorer members are simply buried with a rock as a pillow. Members buried with cult rites always have long accounts of their knowledge read during the services.

Organisation

Lankhor Mhy Temples are well established across Glorantha and provide sources of knowledge and repositories of it for all who serve the cult and travel in pursuit of truth and learning. No single leader presides over the cult and inter-cult discussions are presided over by the Priest with the most seniority, which specialises in the field under discussion, and final decisions are made by a vote. These conclaves are extremely rare.

Within a temple, the structure is more formal. A Temple of Lankhor Mhy is presided over by a High Priest who is also the Official Chief Librarian. Three subordinates who deal with the duties of the Temple answer to him.

Provost of Apprentices – This is usually a Sage Priest or Sage Lord but may, depending on the size of the Temple, simply be an Initiate. His duties have to do with maintaining the physical grounds of the Temple and arranging for room and board for the apprentices and other Lay Members. His is the responsibility for collecting payments from instruction. For this he takes a 10% tithe of the payments for himself and his retinue.

Chief of Loremasters – This must be at least a Sage Lord and preferably a Priest. He is in charge of administering all non-Magical instruction in the Skills of the Temple and its associated Cults. He is also responsible for the copying of scrolls and books and is the main Librarian.

Chief Priest – The Chief Priest is in charge of all Magical training, Common and Divine, and also administers the Temple’s service of Evaluation of Treasure, for which he collects a percentage of the fees.

Outside the Temple, many priests of Lankhor Mhy are solitary researchers, probing into ruins and areas of strange phenomena to seek out the innermost secrets. These Wild Sages, as they are known, are disdainful of their cloistered compatriots and the regard is usually mutual. Most are not seen except during major Holy Days when they must appear for religious observances. Some have gone so far as to set up small shrines within their research areas to make all their religious observances there and are only seen by occasional wandering Adventurers.

The Block, the largest existing chunk of the Spike, is a very Holy Place to the Sages. Every Year during the Sacred Time, caravans of pilgrim Sages arrive at the Spike for their sacred investigations. They pay well to be guarded carefully by the Priests and Khans of the Storm Bull, although these Berserker nomads have very little regard for the learning of the Cult. God Day of Truth Week of each Season is the Holy Day of the Cult and the God Days of the Sacred Time are particularly holy, being times of celebration of the return of the Lightbringers from Hell. The first God day celebrates the return; the second celebrates the beginning of Time.

Membership Standard.

Rune Priests of Lankhor Mhy are known as Sages and must have at least three separate Lore skills at 90% or higher.

Rune Lords are known as Sage Lords and must observe the following practices:

• Temple Sage Lords must never get involved in individual quarrels nor participate in wars, unless the temple is threatened, a Lightbringer priest is in danger of death or if facing Chaos.

• They must spend half their time teaching and pay 90% to the temple.

• They may never marry an Initiate priest or a Lord of an elemental deity. Spouses must become at least a Lay Member of Lankhor Mhy.

• They must never allow a repository of knowledge to be threatened, which includes preventing all scroll burning, tablet shattering and so on. Any items of importance to the gathering of knowledge must be acquired for the cult.

Common Magic

Lhankor Mhy has access to all Common Magic but will only teach spells to those who have served the temple in some capacity and donated some form of important knowledge to the archives.

Higher Magic

The following Divine spells are provided: Amplify, Behold, Dismiss Elemental, Dismiss Magic, Extension, Heal Mind, Meditate, Mindlink.

Gifts and Compulsions

Lankhor Mhy cultists are obsessed with gathering any and all knowledge and locating shards of the Spike. This leads them into dangerous places and situations for which they may be ill-equipped. If a Lankhor Mhy follower senses any new knowledge – or believes a shard of the Spike to be present – he will be hell-bent on retrieving it.

Cult Skills

All Lores. Insight, Meditation and Perception.

Allied Cults

Chalan Arroy provides Heal Body.

Issaries provides Create Great Market.

Orlanth provides Telekinesis.