In the thread about nobility, I got a little side-tracked by suggesting NPCs exploiting the laws of hospitality. I remarked that providing such a set would make a possible short work for the Jonstown Compendium, so I sat down to create a first example, and to look at what we have in the currently published body of RQG that deals with the subject.
Doing a text search of my RQG and systemless Glorantha pdfs, I found astonishingly few mentions of hospitality. I guess we will have to wait for the Sartar campaign book to see an edited reprint of the Greeting box in HQ2 Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes (p.89).
That box offers a series of questions, first established in King of Sartar (p.51 of the hardcover edition) that are exchanged between the home team challenger and the visitor.
Hospitality is one of the greater virtues of Glorantha, across pantheons and species. Even some of the heroes of Chaos like Ralzakark or Gagix Two-barb obey the universal laws of hospitality when approached correctly.
The Orlanthi of Dragon Pass (including the Esrolians, Caladralanders, Islanders, Ironhoof’s Beast Folk, the Vendref and their overlords and some of the Praxians) share the ritual challenges that were established when Veskarthan of the Deep visited Umath’s Camp (found in King of Sartar p.51, or in the (sadly out of print) HQ2 Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes p.89 with Orlanth and his half-brother Quivin as the protagonists.
The Greeting starts with a challenge whether the arrival is friend or foe, and then for the name of the visitor. These are not yet part of the hospitality offer, as the guards/home team may demand that the arrival leaves. Such a demand would require a recognized feud or an unreasonable demand made by the arrival, though.
Once the home team decides to offer hospitality, they offer the most basic terms, protection and water, in exchange for the promise of non-aggression: “I will not rob you, nor bare arms” framed by the signature phrases “I accept this, with gratitude:” leading the guest statement, and “and I will speak ever of your generosity.” as the closing phrase.
The recipient of hospitality will be protected from open attacks by the guards of the home team, and while other visitors (under oaths of hospitality) may accuse the arrivals of misdeeds, any aggression against a recognized guest is also an aggression against the host.
The guest will be allowed access to the public area for guests. The gift of water may be a symbolic cup, or it may be the opportunity to wash off dirt, water the steeds and drink their fill depending on the situation.
Whether tax collectors may demand these terms of hospitality when they expect to enforce payment in the case of non-compliance is another question. Neither the Kitori Shadowlords nor the Lunar occupation forces may have been welcome. Offering the minimum hospitality should in theory prevent such arrivals from ransacking storages or searching houses for suspected rebels or withheld taxes.
While under these oaths of hospitality, visitors may find themselves confronted with other guests who are their foes, up to the possibility that these other guests brought captives that the visitors want to free, or that these other guests are people they have vowed to slay.
All of this can result in roleplaying opportunities.
Subsequent levels of hospitality that can be obtained from locals are
- A blanket to sleep under, aka shelter from the elements. Access under a communal roof if there is one. (Hospitality laws extend to herders' campfires or similar outdoor presences, too.)
- Meat, or other food? Meat is an invitation to a feast, really, but then not hosting a feast for a visitor might be regarded as a slight. I would have expected an offer of gruel or some other day-to-day food (bread) first.
- Salt
- Duty
These levels of hospitality may vary in everyday application.
Entering a Sartarite city will come with obligations of hospitality, but to whom? The City Rex extends toleration to those who pass the city guards and enter the city, but how much hospitality does access to the city infer?
What are the duties of a guest? Are these duties dependent on the level of hospitality they receive? Are they dependent on the (professed) social status of the guest?
How does the trope of the ruler (or a deity) visiting in disguise, under an alias or otherwise adopted name, affect these customs?
Are there rites to adopt an alias as the honorable and legal representation of identity? Or is this a case of "You may address me as <alias>!" which would become a honorable way of hiding one's identity?
A simple farmer offering hospitality to a king would easily be robbed of a few years of income if he had to provide something approaching royal accommodation, which is why there may be a custom for high status travelers wishing to stay with locals to introduce themselves with one of their less haughty titles or roles. A prince of Sartar might introduce himself as a builder of roads, for instance, establishing the legal fiction that it is ok to give him the treatment of a journeyman guildsman. Establishing one's presence as a pilgrim is another common way to accept a certain category of welcome.
The Weapons & Equipment Guide p.55 mentions the expectation that hospitality is always given in Orlanthi society:
QuoteNo matter the reason, the outcome always call upon kin or strangers additional courtesies or aid.
only to go on detailing the cases where this is not an option, and the professional services of an inn or a caravanserai need to be searched instead.
QuoteFor places without any available kin or a nearby friendly temple, they usually must find an inn.
This is quite a flip towards the phrasing in HW/HQ1 Barbarian Adventures p.10, Inns in Sartar.
The RQG era description of Sartar makes it clear that there is a network of caravanserais in Sartar, with each place marked on the map as "Inn" providing one, as well as other hamlets. Thus, Apple Lane and the hamlet of Farfield in Pegasus Plateau: The Rattling Wind each provide an inn run by the local Issaries cult representative.
Quote
Inns in Sartar?
Gloranthan maps are notoriously inaccurate. For example many maps of Sartar circulated outside its borders show a net work of inns dotted at convenient intervals across the territories of the tribes. Colorful and inviting names such as “Yellow Bear Inn,” “Dancing Apple Inn,” and “Wark’s Hotel” suggest that modern, comfortable accommodations await visitors to Sartar. However, the reality is somewhat less encouraging. Strangers are never automatically welcome in any Orlanthi community, no matter what any maps says. Certain families or individuals are especially interested in playing host to travelers. They may be traders angling for opportunities and contacts, sages or magicians hoping for information about the outside world, or simply curious folk looking to ease their boredom. Some visitors to clan lands, after being directed to “the place travelers go,” false ly conclude that they are staying in a backwoods inn. Some of these habitual hosts find this amusing, and even come up with names for their “inns” when prompted to do so. However, the joke stops being funny when travelers assume too much about their rights as “patrons” of the inn, and find out too late that they have offended an entire clan of well-armed people who have an elaborate and violent code for dealing with insults.
This text reflects the situation e.g. in early medieval Norway, where the most well-regarded farmers would host travelers of rank in their homes, possibly distributing multiple parties between different households. While this is a fascinating opportunity for roleplaying, with (spurious?) claims of kinship coming into the contest, the current depiction of Sartar as a country that thrives on the merchant traffic.
Places with available kin may provide "private accommodation" away from the chief's hall, at least for the kinsperson, but what about their companions (and their steeds and pack animals, servants, hired guards, etc.?)
Will a merchant rely on the kin of one of his followers (or caravan guests') kinfolk for accommodation? Would this snub the chief (or other local bigwig)?
Book 2 in the Starter Set mentions places that adventurers may be entitled to find hospitality at - the tribal mansions in the city. (pp.46f)
QuoteTribe members are entitled to hospitality here.
Which begs the question about how long the entitlement to hospitality will last, and what level of hospitality the host will have to extend to the travelers, and perhaps their companions.
And what compensation such guests are expected to provide to their hosts?
When visiting kin (which usually would be people born to one's own clan married into the host's clan), news from home are a valuable commodity. Carrying messages to the community of the host(s) is a form of guest gift, too.