What, who and when
Tilntae and boggles are two of the last remnants of the Gloranthan Court.
This body of ancient “deities” created Glorantha, and set the pattern for
the worlds to come. Each of the original eight Power Rune deities made,
bore, transformed into, or otherwise created a race of beings that were like
their single parent. In the Age of Creation, these entities filled the world,
and helped to create the deities, spirits, and other beings that fill Glor-
antha.
Each of these “pure” runic races acted as its parent did. Thus, boggles are
pure manifestations of the Disorder Rune – they cannot act in any other
way even if they want to, which of course they do not. Tilntae are the
essence of the Life Rune, and cannot do anything except Love and bring
Life.
Most of these runic beings vanished with the Spike, for like their parents
they could act in only one way. Although others of these races may have
survived, only the tilntae and boggles have appeared in the world of time.
Tilnta (Life Nymph, Love Daimon, Love Essence,
Love Spirit, Uleri)
Ages: Green, Golden, Storm, Historical (rare in all but Green).
Distribution: Worldwide (but rare).
Habitat: Any Other Side Realm.
Tilntae are found in every Otherworld. When in an Otherworld, tilntae always
take the appropriate form. Thus, in the Divine Realms they appear as dai-
mones, on the Spirit World they take the form of spirits, and in the Sorcery Plane
they appear as essences. Tilntae cannot manifest in an Otherworld as the
wrong type of being, but can appear in the Inner World in any of these forms.
Unlike most Otherworld entities, tilntae never take an alien world modifier. As
such, they do not receive a +20 modifier to abilities in any of the
Otherworlds (see pg. 188).
In the Inner World, a tilnta takes the form of whatever seeks, loves, or needs it.
If several individuals are devoted to an individual tilnta, it takes the form of
whichever has the greater desire. Thus, in many stories a devoted wife or lover
abruptly takes a new shape and departs from home, and this indicates that she
is a tilnta. In the Dance of Desire, a tilntae goes from dancer to dancer, chang-
ing form every time.
Tilntae have all the powers of a daimon, spirit, or essence while in the Mortal
World, without necessarily taking one of these forms. Thus, even when embod-
ied a tilnta can project an Aura of Love, and even possess an embodied being
as if it were a passion ghost (see pg. 232). However, if a tilnta needs to, it can
fully become one of these entities. Thus, if bound into a fetish, a tilnta could
change into an essence, and so escape the binding.
While embodied, a tilnta has a physical body, and can mate and produce chil-
dren. The child will have none of the tilnta’s Otherworld features or abilities,
and will always appear similar to the other parent. In this form they are erotic
figures, often dancers in the court of a greater deity. Some appear in the assem-
blies of fertility gods, pleasure deities, and other manifestations of desire.
When a tilnta abandons its physical body to manifest as an essence, it is invis-
ible to all but magical senses. Rather than manifesting in a substance, as ele-
mentals do, a tilnta manifests as love and friendship. In this form, the tilnta
becomes its Aura of Love, and fosters a sense of community among beings that
enter its “body.”
Tilntae are the essence of Life, and bring love and attraction wherever they go.
They are the children of Uleria, Goddess of Love, and are one of the eldest races.
People label them variously as Love Nymphs, Love Daimones, and Love
Essences, but these labels are all wrong. The tilntae existed before the
Otherworlds, and so those distinctions do not bind them.
