RITES OF PASSAGE: AN

ADVENTURE FOR
RUNEQUEST, HEROQUEST,
AND 13TH AGE
GLORANTHA
The modern field of Orlanthi Studies owes its existence to
pioneering scholars like Greg Stafford, whose tireless
translation of the fragments left to us has produced
definitive pieces like The Book of Heortling Mythology or
his Orlanthi Initiation Rites. I have consulted these
seminal explorations in the preparation of this work. As
might be expected in such work, there are areas in which
my research dovetails with his own, and areas in which
they seem to contradict each other. For example, the clan
which is detailed in the records I have been translating the
last three decades—the Black Stag—is indicated to be of
the Colymar Tribe. And yet, in all of Stafford’s translations
of the Colymar clan lists, “the Black Stag” are not
mentioned. On the other hand, detailed examination of
the manhood initiation rites included below parallels some
of Stafford’s observations, particularly his translations of
“The First Hospitality” and “The Initiation of Orlanth.” How
do we explain such discrepancies? Perhaps that is best
left to the researches of those who follow us. People like
you.As a final note, to the modern reader some of these
ritual practices—meant to initiate adolescents into
adulthood—may seem brutal, even barbaric. We would do
well to remind ourselves who the Orlanthi were and what
sort of world they lived in. This was a warrior culture,
where every adult male was expected to be able to kill
with the same ease with which he might plow a field.
Surrounded on all sides by hostile tribes, inhuman forces,
and the ever-present threat of Chaos, pacifism was not a
luxury they could afford…nor was innocence. If we bear
this in mind, there is a certain nobility in these practices,
embedded with reminders that violence is not the only
option, and imbued with a deep spirituality. These rites
helped breed a powerful race that would reshape the
world.